"They claimed that we had no passion, values, or desire to fight for a cause and so they labeled us "X" as in nothing. How wrong they were."
Generation X is the next "Greatest Generation".
A LONG time ago I read a review of a book titled something like the Fourth Wave. About how there are 4 styles of generations and they just keep going in cycles. The greatest generation of WWII fame was very much like generation X. Very absorbed in themselves and their work until something great happened (Pearl Harbor) which turned their strong drives to a greater good.
The book was written before 9/11, and said the same of the Generation X'rs - very self centered and strong drive. But, if something big happened to unite them they would become the next "Greatest Generation".
Every time I hear a story of our brave young troops I think this theory is a good one!
(Not a generation X'r myself - just proud of them!)
This is a good analysis. During the last election cycle, I kept trying to communicate to the Boomers I know that 9-11 was a defining moment for the Gen X and Gen Y generations. But that generation is so locked into Vietnam and the 1960s as their defining moment that they seem to see everything through that lens.
I'm not sure who "They" are, and I don't believe the above description is necessarily a widely accepted definition of "Generation X" (some writer somewhere probably came up with it, and assumed that everyone would accept it at face value. Not so). As a "Baby Boomer" born in 1952, I applaud all of you Freepers who belong to Generation X. Keep up the good work!