Posted on 04/21/2009 11:34:49 AM PDT by Linda is Watching
Susan Boyle, the Newest Voice of "Generation Jones"
by Alie James
I never cry, but I cry each time I watch Susan Boyle singing, "I've Dreamed a Dream". Recently discovered on Britain's Got Talent, she's an amazing celebrity find for Generation Jones. I'm sure many of you have already viewed her YouTube video, but if not I suggest you do. As for the expression, Generation Jones (GenJones for short), you may not know that this is a newly identified Generation, one which lies between the Baby Boomers and Generation X. Since I'd like to focus on Boyle in this article, I'll refer you to a recent USA Today article by Jonathan Pontell and a website for futher information about Generation Jones, since millions of you will realize you belong to the GenJonesers, rather than the Baby Boomers.
Susan Boyle is a reality show's dream. Her instant celebrity will put Britain's Got Talent and the "evil" Simon Cowell in history books. Even better than that, though, Susan Boyle will become someone we remember who reignited our belief in goodness and possibilities. She has come to us at exactly the right time, as many of us are trying to recover from the economic downturn of recent years, which has left so many of our dreams shattered.
Wouldn't you agree, we need a reason to dream again? So, let's just do it, if not for ourselves, then for Susan Boyle. She is a champion we can cheer on and believe in, someone we can rally around and be inspired by. Her story begins with Simon Cowell, who I'm quite familiar with since I regularly watch American Idol. He is so easily bored, doesn't smile often during a performance, and rarely gives a positive review. Actually, he's quite rude and demoralizing (but strangely enough, he's usually right on the mark.) To see Simon so delighted during her performance was thrilling. I watched as she penetrated his cold heart. Wow! I really mean, wow - no one gets to Simon like that. The impact she had on him tells me she instantly earned a place in history and in our hearts. Perhaps, (dare I say it) she might become the People's Princess in the way that Princess Diana did.
A recent article from a Scotland news site entitled, "Alastair Campbell has new spin on Susan Boyle phenomenon", discusses the topic of "authenticity". I have been writing about "authenticity" for quite some time, even as recently as my last BlogCritic's review. Authenticity is a trait the public is responding to, probably due to our fascination with reality shows. Being authentic is the way winner's win, beloved leader's lead, and great artists perform. In other words, it's the way ordinary people become legends. The public, if allowed to see the person for who they really are, will respond to them - this is reality.
Susan Boyle will inspire all of us, especially those of us who are GenJonesers and Baby Boomers. She'll remind us how to rise above the things that keep us from succeeding and how to keep our flame burning. Let's just remember her "starburst" when we begin to feel like "has beens", used up, and out of ideas. Let's listen to her sing, whenever we watch ourselves, day after day, being passed over in order for a member of the younger generation to get a chance to shine.
I really don't think life has to be static. Life can change at any time - in a flash, in a note, in a stroke. It's that quick! So, let's embrace her moment, our moment, and begin anew to dream a dream for all of us.
Being a part of GenJones, much to my surprise, I think it has more to do with the constant focus on Baby Boomers as those born in the 1940s. A generation is twenty years, but the media and the culture pretty consistently ignored those born in the last half of the baby boom.
Ah. Who voted to subject the medical expense deduction to an income limitation?
Yes, I have a bias, against a generation that has voted themselves my money.
That is what happens when you rob Peter to pay Paul - Paul is your friend, but Peter is not.
Why are you here? Most Freepers are Boomers.
Do you know how stupid it sounds to blame a generation??? Sheesh!
Go on, hate us.
Why are you here, to tax those born in 60 - 64 more? to get us to agree to it?
Frankly, I think the “Jonsers” will go down in history, as being the most robbed generation in history.
Supported our greatgrandparents (SS), our grandparents (SS), ourselveves (No benefits), and our kids (Take this eductaion, kid - it is all I can give you, and I have to pay for it with after-tax dollars...)
And then we are going to die like Poe, poor, broke, and in the gutter.
You are proud of that?
Don’t change the subject.
You hate a generation. Why don’t you blame those responsible? Not all Boomers who make up the vast majority of Freepers?
Get real!
I don’t hate anything, or anyone, Ma’am. I do get annoyed on occasion.
Hate is a sin.
And one of the things that annoys me the MOST, is being called a boomer.
Having said all that, I thinks that their is sufficient evidence that Generation Jones exists, and does not like to be called boomers.
Which was the point of the disagreement.
You are blaming a generation which I think is stupid. I know you do not agree.
But most Freepers are Boomers. Think a bit on that. you would not be here if you did not agree with most of us.
You should have seen the fights I used to have with my granda - Born 1914, he served a bit in WWII, and maybe a bit before.
He always claimed SS was his, he had earned it. And, in a way, he did.
But we fought over it.
“Grandad, I am a poor college kid, supporting a wife and child, on Veteran’s benefits that arrive 13 months late? Hello? They take about a third of what I do bring home, and give it to you? Hello? You are a millionare, and my child is starving, to get you that check? Hello?”
(ok, I exxagerated - Grandad helped out. What of the folks without Grandads?)
IMHO, there’s an overemphasis on “generations”, but I do find the subject interesting. And here’s a point to consider:
The government (via the census bureau) might define a generation according to birth dates/birth rates because it has no reason to define it any other way. For example, the government might need to know how many people are retiring and qualifying for social security, or how many children are being born now and will qualify for public education, etc.
But, a “generation” might be defined a different way by, say, a company who wants to sell a product, or a politician who needs to target voters. The company or politician might need to divide people into smaller groups in order to market more effectively to those groups.
The first half of the Boom came of age during Vietnam, so their experiences involved hippies, Woodstock, Vietnam War protests, etc. The second half came of age during the Jim Jones massacre, the Iran hostage crisis, and became the so-called Reagan Youth. So, if a politician wanted to appeal to a particular group of voters, he might have to tailor his message differently for the first half of the Boom versus the second.
I remember reading that the second half of the Boom is the largest. This past election, political pundits were paying closer attention to that second half. But, I also remember reading somewhere that this half tends to be swing voters/independents, rather than just conservatives.
I seem to remember the older Boomers did not want to be associated with us (the younger). ;-) I remember reading articles many years ago, sometime in the '80's, written by older Boomers criticizing the younger crowd who came of age during the Reagan era. (Ironically, the second half of the Boom is the largest.)
But, I do agree all the "generation" talk is overblown. It seems as if it was started by the Left in order to create a division between young people, specifically the early boomers, and their parents. Then we all fell for it, and everyone began seeking to belong to a "special" generation. ;-)
Still, in discussing differences between age groups, splitting the Boom in half does make sense. Our experiences were very different. Someone like myself, born at the end of '64, wouldn't have much in common with someone born in '46, for example. Our experiences would've been very different.
As the writer of this article, I was suprised to see the difference of opinion about whether GenJones is legitimate or not. I am a Baby Boomer and proud of it (1953). However, the reason I’m open to the grouping of folks born between 1954-1965 as Generation Jones rather than Baby Boomers is because of a book I read many years ago - The 4th Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe. It’s a fascinating study about cyclical history, and presents the case about how generational archetypes, although named differently in each particular age, still act out events in similar ways. That’s why I think it’s possible to imagine that there is indeed, this newly identified generation.
For these types of discussions we need to differentiate between generations of birth (normally about 30 years) and generations of experience (which can vary in length).
I would describe the Boomer generation as moralists (liberal morality is about "diversity," smoking bans, environmentalism, etc.). I would describe Generation X as pragmatists.
I identify most with Gen X in that I am a basically pragmatic, a little bit cynical, and a little bit disconnected. We Xers are cynical and disconnected because we watch the moralistic Boomers squander the cultural and actual capital of our nation at the same time as they tell us how we should live our lives.
The Xers have suffered divorce and broken families, the forced demographic change to our nation, multi-culturism and “diversity,” outsourcing and reduced job security. Gen X is the generation that struggles to do even as well as their parents did. They are dismissed as slackers and selfish. The Fourth Generation called us the “Nomads.”
The Fourth Turning also discussed a “crisis” that the “Nomads” (Gen X) would need to solve. It discussed how the “Nomads” would have to fight the worst excesses of the Boomers and Millennials (Gen Y). It looks like we might have our crisis. So maybe this lost, forgotten, dismissed generation will have its time in the sun. Maybe Gen X will become the next “Greatest Generation.” If we do have to hit <ctrl> <alt> <del> on the USA, there is only one generation I would want pressing the keys.
Welcome aboard! :-) Thanks for your reply. I noticed the very next message following yours refers to the same book. I think I’ll check it out.
I'm not aware of any great coverage of the oldest boomers born from 1946 to 1949. I actually think that the group of people who's actions and influence has been most covered is the generation that entered the 1960s ranging from age 15 to age 35, the "silent generation" (1925 to 1945), they were the hippie movement, the music makers, and the young radicals, the media for some reason attributed all of that to their children and younger brothers and sisters called the boomers.
Start googling the celebrities and rock stars of the "hippie" generation and you will be surprised at who they really are, hint, they weren't the 10,12,20 year olds.
You will find that Hendrix, John McCain, Jane Fonda, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, William Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Joan Baez, Rod Stewart, Yoko Ono, Peter Paul & Mary, the Chicago Seven and almost everyone like them are from pre boomer generations.
I’ve been listening to the generation talk for the past four decades. Every article defines the generations a bit differently.
I think college is a good gauge to measure the attitudes and cultural experiences of a “generation”. Which majors do they pick to study? What’s happening in college at that time? When the early boomers got to college in the late sixties, there were war protests and left-leaning politics. Majors like psychology were popular in the early seventies.
I went to college in the early ‘80’s, along with other people my age born in the early to mid-sixties. We were mostly business, accounting, and marketing majors. And college at that time was Republican-friendly. Students and professors openly supported Reagan. I still remember one professor, who told us he was a Republican, teasing our class one day. He said, “You people are boring. I remember teaching in the seventies, and the students would have something they called ‘earth day’, and they’d all come in wearing gas masks. They were much more interesting.” (LOL. I’ll bet he - none of us - had any idea Earth Day would be taken seriously one day.)
I returned to college in the early ‘90s to take classes again. These were the “Xers” now. And it was a whole different crowd - they were very left-leaning and shared the views of their parents (the first half of the Baby Boom). They were Clinton supporters. Maybe they’ve become more conservative with age.
Of course, everyone is an individual. Most people don’t fit into a category perfectly.
Here’s a relevant post in a discussion on another thread about age and voting patterns, including links to research:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2234547/posts?page=92#92
I left college in the mid-80's. I went to graduate school shortly after the first Gulf War, and things were a little different, from my perspective, but not entirely disimalar. Of course, I wasn't nearly engaged in the campus life as I was married and my wife was pregnant so we really didn't socialize.
I came back to campus in the summer of 2004 to help the GOP with recruiting and advisement. I was stunned. It was as far removed from my 80s experience as it could have been without changes continents. The faculty was much further left, and vocal. The students were much further left, and less civil. It was really a sobering experience.
This last go around was much of the same as in 2004, but with much more energy and enthusiasm for the left. I think it's interesting that you've mentioned the crowd "shared the views of their parents". I believe it was a similar phenomenon last year - I could be wrong, but that's what it seemed to me. Which is strange as it runs counter to the notion that kids of that age are rebellious. Apparently rebellion no longer includes disagreeing with your parents politically.
Finally, after a career in the military, I am surprised how insulated I was from what was happening to our youth. I thought, after spending so much time with 18-25 year old men that I really understood today's young people. It's why I volunteered to help with college recruiting and organization. But, as it turns out I was wrong. Although the people who enlisted in the Marines were familiar to me, their college-bound peers were cut from an entirely different cloth. I think it's a fascinating subject and topic and I hope more scholarly research is done to explore this new generation.
I don't know what you mean by that, the boomers came out of the chute in 1972 voting for Nixon.
#55 and #56 are interesting.
Thanks.
X begins with those who were either too young to remember the JFK assassination (or not born yet) and ends with the first crop of Boomers’ kids. ~ 1960 - 1980something.
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