I came across an article this morning that sort of hung around the back of mind most of the day. It didn't really inspire me much at first but as things progressed I kept coming back to it over and over again. Little nudges here and things noticed there kept bringing it back up in my mind.
Throwaway Americans
It's just another sad story of yet another White Boy baby of the 60's who got clobbered by the crash of 08 and has yet to recover.
This guy doesn't qualify as a generation X'r he is a tail end baby boomer but the truth is I have long thought those generational markers should be set aside and a new one put in it's place.
Hence in my mind Generation Conceived in the 60's.... was born.
There are not many 60's children blogging I have noticed. Or more guessed really because 60's children, especially the men, have a very distinct attitude and most of them right now are in the same shape as, or not far removed from, the dire straights the guy in the article finds himself in. There are a few Bloggers out there I suspect that are 60's children, more women than men. Really if you want to see the opinions of the Male members of that decade's children you need to follow the III% blogs or the Manosphere sites. Most of the Men who were born in the 60's don't have time to blog these days, they are working menial low wage jobs. They are still unsure exactly what has been pounding on them so hard the last 30 years or so and wondering if the ones above them are ever going to retire.
White, American Men born in the 60's were the first generation of Men to confront the beast unleashed by those who came before them. They were the first to face racial and gender quotas that put them at a severe disadvantage. They were marked from the start as the ones who would actually pay the reparations their father's agreed to and suffer the slings and arrows all other groups were hoping to throw their way. Children of the 60's were halfway raised in one world and then thrown out into a far less sheltered one than any Male generation that came before them had to face.
They were the most educated group of American Men and the first generation of American Men who it has been said did not achieve the same levels as their fathers. Of course they didn't because they were marked to pay the price of their father's imagined guilt.
Certainly 60's children didn't have to come out and go right into some major war. They did have that going for them at first anyway. Of course the 60's children lived under that specter didn't they? Freezing their tails off in Germany or Korea at first wondering if the Cold war was going to go hot and then being cast aside when they weren't needed. Some were called back to go into the desert but most were left as a forgotten sacrifice on the altar of diversity.
Most of us, for yes I am a 60's child myself, came of age just in time to feel the true effects of the first Obummer Presidency named Carter. We watched over and over again as the Men we were suppose to look up to yammered incessantly about abstract political ideas and versions of utopia and unicorns with rainbows coming out their a$$. Yet these lofty goals never quite included us did they? In fact we slowly began to understand these concepts were to be built on a foundation made up of our shattered dreams.
We Men of the 60's were expected to uphold the social contracts that came before us but give up every advantage that came with those contracts. Not only that we were expected to remain silent why the older guys still enjoyed those perks we were never going to get.
No as the day went by I thought more and more about Mr. John Ruth and I began to feel more thankful as each minute passed that I at least have been lucky. Lucky enough to have made some right choices, lucky that I knew enough to repress my own ambition and be happy with a humble life of obscurity. Lucky that I figured out I was a target and planned accordingly by removing myself from the shooting gallery Mr. Ruth found himself in.
All I can say to Mr. Ruth is. Hang on and take heart Sir this ride isn't over yet.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!
I'm barely a child of the 60's, born in '69, but still feel some of the "new utopian" dysfunctionalisms today. I'm a self-described realist with a wicked sarcastic streak (that I've managed to mellow with age). I am sure that I am in the minority for my age groups for blogging, as most people I know don't read anymore than Facebook posts. Quite a sad commentary of my "circuses and bread" generation.
ReplyDeleteK - Ya I must admit like you point out although many men born during the 60's are well educated few of us seem to be particularly well read these days. I believe a lot of that is because we were denied the old school works and didn't much care for the new stuff they were trying to force feed us. That's just a theory though.
DeleteSarcasm though is a trait I have noticed that is quite common to 60's children. I wonder why that is?
Having been born in '55 (yeah, I know ... I hear enough about it from my daughters!), I didn't have the issues you wrote about, here. I credit my parents, children of the Depression, for the work ethic I have. "Get a job, do it well, move up, and prosper!"
ReplyDeleteThe part they didn't get was having to change jobs, and careers, every few years. Most of us won't work at one place for 30 or 40 years, ever again.
RP - Well the real Affirmative Action policies didn't start applying to private sectors until the policies about government bids and contractors came around and I believe that was the early 80's. Before that AA mostly just applied to direct government jobs.
DeleteAs far as work ethic goes I believe the work ethic for those of us born during the 60's suffered a major schism. The first time many of us were treated like just another resource and let go without a shred of concern many of us began questioning the trade off of a work ethic. Since we were already screwed by the social ethic it was be damned we were gonna be screwed again.
I think I have a wonderful work ethic especially when I know I am working for the good and under the approving eyes of the Lord. I somehow cannot project that ethic on a cutthroat company that discards me when convenient however. Those places get what they give.
1968 here. DH is 1969. You get it.
ReplyDeleteXL - Growing up with the changes certainly had an effect.
DeleteI am a 60's child born in 1960. I credit my work ethic to living with my grandparents. I did work hard and move up. I have ran into some blocks along the way, #1 no college degree. Shouldn't matter in my book. vs company policy. #2 was not being able to get student loan.to tech school.
ReplyDeleteI also did not invest in the stock market. learned early on to pay cash for what I need vs want.
Rob - Yet every other race/gender combination seems to have no issue getting student loans. The male/female average in college was tipped in the 80's and has not stopped tipping towards female ever since.
DeleteAnother good example.
I was born in the very early 50's. I never thought of myself as belonging to any "generation." Things have changed considerably in that period of time from then to now but I've made out alright I guess.
ReplyDeleteMe and Harry....hate to admit it but I'm a product of 1951...oh, never mind.
ReplyDeleteHarry and Stephen - I am gonna reply to you two together because in so many ways you two are a very lot alike, or at least seem to be over the internet.
DeleteYou guys are really a good yard stick to measure the changes with. The first thing that strikes me as obvious is that neither of you had to directly compete against Women and more than likely not against many minorities. Either on a level playing field or not. It shows and shows strongly. You guys never had to see other groups in the same light we 60's kids were forced to and it does show.
I am not saying it is a bad thing at all mind you I am just saying you can tell a big difference.
I would also like to add that a number of guys are hung u more on generational things and really bad mouth the baby boomers. I have done so a bit myself but more from an individual take than a generational. But we 60's kids can;t blame baby boomers for the mess we ran into. The boomers maybe older but it wasn't the boomer who were calling the shots. Boomers just came early enough that they didn't have to deal with the repercussions as much.
DeleteI am from the 50s but I don't feel like I belong to any generation, at least one that is alive. I grew up with a lot of people from the 1800s still around, learned the old tools and ways, I even learned to drive on a Model A. I am kind of lost in time I guess. This mess began over a hundred years ago when progressives started their conquest and they won, now we get to see their flawed philosophy fail. They infiltrated both political parties, education, and the churches, it was a complete victory just like the communists in Russia and China or Nazis in Germany. Early on they were friends and cooperated with our progressives as they had similar goals.
ReplyDeleteSf - Interesting take. I always thought from my reading that the early progressives had been completely crushed until the Feminist saw their opportunity and resurrected the whole thing under the so called civil right movement.
DeleteMaybe it just went underground?