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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Those born between 1943-46 to about 1965 or so. Of course there are variations WITHIN this group, but they were the first generation to have a pretty 'modern childhood' living in cloistered domestic bliss with television, lots of toys.etc, along with the late Silent Generation the first real 'teenagers' (prior to that you went from being a kid to an adult), and the generation which was divided by the biggest 'generation gap' from their parents.
Do you think it's accurate to group them with the generations that followed: Gen X, Gen Y/Millenials, Gen Z? I'd say in the way they seem sort of 'eternally youthful', I mean many 60 year olds these days seem 40 in the way they think, being fairly active.etc. Many are plugged into the internet, as well...the biggest difference is probably the privileges they had as youngsters, the opportunity to travel abroad, more choice in their career path, women weren't expected to be housewives.etc. The older Boomers were part of movements which shook the social fabric of America and the world, from Free Love to Civil Rights. They grew up with having these rights enshrined.
It just seems people born before about the late 1930s seem more 'old fashioned to me.' Like MAINSTREAM society was a lot more conservative from the 60s onwards, they might be more closed-minded.etc but also more polite and gentlemanly, for example. They strike me as sort of more accepting of the way things are/were, and the last which experienced true hardship on a generational level (e.g. growing up during the depression). They were the last generation for whom say the idea of expecting a woman to be a stay at home homemaker wasn't a shocking thing. Many of the values we associate with conservatives were more 'mainstream' back then. They'd also say be a lot closer with their neighbours or something. It's like they came from a black and white world.
The Boomers invented the 'youth' society that successive generations enjoy, yet in may ways they embody the standards of their predecessors. A bridge culture to be sure.
As a boomer myself, I find this question fascinating. But I don't know how to answer it. Part of the problem is that the Boomer Generation spans two decades and includes tens of millions of people. A diverse group.
In simplest terms, my wife is probably a bit more like her parents than our kids. I'm probably a little more like our kids than my parents. But we're both pretty close to 50/50.
To the OP (Trimac20): You have written a thoughtful post, which recognizes both the positive and negative aspects of the generation prior to the boomers. However, it seems to me you have emphasized the negatives and glossed over the positives; this paints the boomers (and the changes that came with them) in a positive light. And of course many of the changes were indeed positive, such as civil rights.
I would like to expand the list to include the other side of the coin. Many changes wrought by the boomers were negative. I'll start with the big one - drugs! I believe those born after about 1950 were the first group in which fairly large numbers of people risked their mental health in this most unproductive pursuit. It was the ultimate in short-term thinking and immaturity - do what makes you feel good right this moment and to hell with any and all consequences.
A second large and widespread (and horribly negative) change was the different attitude toward, and widespread availability of, almost unlimited credit. I was born in 1944 and as a child I don't think there was any such thing as a credit card; at least in our family it was not on the radar. This nation is on its knees economically right now because of the extreme abuse of credit - or at least that is a major reason, as I admit there are other reasons too.
Just trying to round out the picture to make it more balanced.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,029,399 times
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Well if you're talking about illegal drugs - a lot of the recreational drugs the Boomers and later generations enjoyed were fully legal before the 60s. Remember 'Reefer Madness'? I think the weed craze might've actually began before that. Either way, making it illegal probably actually made it MORE popular, so it was as much the government's fault IMO. Not to say there aren't other pretty horrible drugs. I think they were more prevalent before the 60s than you think. Amphetamines were pretty big in the 30s, how do you think they were able to dance like that? And alcohol abuse, tobacco etc has been entrenched for many generations.
But yes, definitely agree about the other part. The Boomers are the first generation that pursue leisure and material goods to such a great extent. While most weren't hippies, they were largely the first generation who 'worked to live' instead of the opposite. America after the War was prosperous and full of cool things to buy. The first shopping mall was built in 1956, shopping became a national obsession which has spread throughout the world.
Interesting OP. I'm 39 but my dad was born in 1919, and my mom in 1938. My half sibs were born in 1940 and 1945.
I can certainly say, it's made things interesting.
I grew up in a home with a stay at home mom (until I was 12) and then she got a part-time job, and she never drove,never wanted to.
I'll have to think about this one.
Well if you're talking about illegal drugs - a lot of the recreational drugs the Boomers and later generations enjoyed were fully legal before the 60s. Remember 'Reefer Madness'? I think the weed craze might've actually began before that.
Sorry. Pot wasn't legal before the 60's and plenty of users went to jail for using it. Neither were any of the other "recreational" drugs. Unless you count the speed masquerading as diet pills and the Valium doctors wrote prescriptions for in the 50's and early 60's.
There's a reason "tune in, turn on, drop out" was a counter culture mantra. It was illegal **** and one way to stick it to the man. (Ask a Boomer if you need help interpreting that. )
I don't want to turn this thread into a discussion about drug use but, opiates and cocaine were widely legally used until the 1920's. Herion addiction addiction was not uncommon. As for marijuana, again it wasn't a rarity with stories in the New York Times in 1854 as one of "Our Fashionable Narcotics."
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