Generation Jones

[Daniel]

I can't recall off the top of my head the starting and ending birth years, but some people believe that there is a, "Generation Jones," between the Boomers and Generation X.

This was news to me.

I am Generation X, raised in a family that precisely aligned with the WWI, WWII, Boomers, X progression.

I don't know which generation my brother, 14 years younger than me, and my sister, who was 12 years younger than me, would part of..., though; they definitely have/ had a different life experience than myself.

So, the theory is that Generation Jones was given the same set of expectations about opportunity as the Boomers, but received none of the same economic certainties. The theory is that this disconnect lead to despondency in this generation.

We Generation X people (if we were the least bit aware of such things) knew that we faced a different economic set of realities than our parents' generation.

It didn't take a Ph.D. in economics to figure this out, or to see the changes that were happening in real time in the '80's, or to see that the economic reality of the '70's was not applicable to us, because we were children and adolescents then.

I'm always interested in how people divide and describe generations.

My view of the number of generations after mine is hazy. I won't lie.

[Mark]

More labels. Ugh. The Baby Boom was a distinct time frame after WWII. period. The term "boomer" I want nothing to do with nor do I share any of the mindset associated with the derogatory term "boomer". If I have to call myself a member of generation Jones to escape such a label I am proud to do so. I know people of the "boomer" mentality that are not even close to be being born during the baby boom or even a Gen-X'er.

[Daniel]

The only Boomers (sorry it's pegorative- that's not what I intended) I liked were my mother and father.

The others, starting with my mother's sister and brother, and working outwards to first cousins, etc., and including my father's brother and his wife, etc. were the most self-centered, most ruthless people I've met.

If my opinion sounds harsh, that's ok with me. This has been my experience.

I agree that not all people fit into generational labels nor labels in general.

But I think it's fair to label the WWI generation as such; they fought in WWI.

WWII, the same.

The large generation born post-WWII is a generation. I now see that the name they were given is pejorative. There's nothing I can do about that.

This generation had children sometimes in their early 20's (in my mother's case 19) and I can assure you that this led to Gen-X.

Who thought of "X" and why is a mystery to me.

I'm not trying to "label people" and there are exceptions to every rule.

[Axtremus]

@Mark said:

More labels. Ugh. The Baby Boom was a distinct time frame after WWII. period. The term "boomer" I want nothing to do with nor do I share any of the mindset associated with the derogatory term "boomer". If I have to call myself a member of generation Jones to escape such a label I am proud to do so. I know people of the "boomer" mentality that are not even close to be being born during the baby boom or even a Gen-X'er.

OK, boomer.

[Daniel]

This post is deleted!

[Mik]

See my comment in the sigma thread. Labels serve only to reduce people to a stereotype.

[Daniel]

Well, the notably large generation born after WWII ended and the US focused again on civilian life again, and especially building the economy, accumulated a vast amount of wealth, and this wealth is, or will be in the fullness of time, transfered to people and institutions.

My father included me in his will, share and share alike, to my complete surprise, as I've said. My beloved sister died at 39, so this leaves my brother and me. I always just assumed, for various reasons, that he'd leave his estate to my brother. This is, in all modesty, a life changing amount of money, and such a blessing.

My aunt (going in birth order) has a net worth I would conservatively estimate at over 3 million. She has this quirk (and she really does) in that she considers her own nuclear family, her first cousins, and her ancestors to be her family. My mother's children are viewed as only an extension of my mother, and we "died" along with my mother. She had no children. She was physically unable to for a reason I was never told. Her treatment of me (in life) isn't rational but, of course, people aren't always rational. Moreover, of course, she had a perfect right, the same as anyone else, to execute her will. My guess is that she will donate most of it to FSU and the rest to animal welfare groups.

My uncle is the stereotypical (sorry) uncle people talk about when they talk about maybe they have a rich uncle without children who they hope (um, I know he's a real person, believe me) will leave them money (and I haven't spent a second let alone a minute hoping he would do any such thing, because I know him. He (not me) decided that we would be estranged for life after his mother died. I called the my father's house after my mother died (I knew my aunt and uncle were there), he answered the phone. I said, "My condolences on the death of your sister." and he said, "My condolences on the death of your mother." Then I asked him to put my aunt on the phone. Those are the last words we will speak to each other. I would estimate his net worth at between 5 and 10 million. Again, I don't care what he does with it. It's his right to do anything he wants. But he won't be leaving me a penny. That's for sure.

I can't complain. I'm not complaining. On the contrary, I am very grateful to my father.

I guess I'm in a contemplative mood sometimes and that this serves to anchor me, to keep my feet on the ground.

I'm about to make a transition in my life that is a bigger transition than any I have made in 35 years, maybe a bigger transition than any I have made in the past.

This is the part people around me don't understand (with notable exceptions): this is something I have to do alone, a series of decisions and actions I have to take.

It's not something that anyone could do for me. It's not something that anyone could "give" me.

As to generations, I am Gen. X. I know it. It doesn't offend me.