Somebody asked for it in another post

If you turned 18 in 1945, you would be 97-98 now.

Here's a pic of him in Germany at the beginning of the occupation (corporal, in profile closest to the camera) :

Thank you...

The baby boom generation cohort is the only one recognized by the Census Bureau. What makes it "special" is ONLY because of the high birthrates during the years 1946-1964. It has nothing to do with what people experience.

The other "cohorts" are simply bullshit based on pretend characteristics. They are not actually real with a true characteristic.

High birthrates are. What people "remember" isn't.

I was born during the Generation Jones cohort, and our life experience is definitely different from that of the older boomers.

You didn't get to play with He-Man and Transformers. You guys missed out.

And the Incredible Edibles oven that burned your fingers. Good times!

I don't identify with Boomers or Xers. Too young for the former, too old for the latter.

We were in diapers for most of the 60’s.

Viet Nam finished when we were in grade school. (No Draft)

Elvis - old people music

Beatles - broke up prior to us hitting grade school or maybe complete first grade.

Kennedy/MLK/Kennedy assignations, prior to being born or PreK.

So, while the early Boomers dealt with the war, were drafted or enlisted, those of us on the back end had zero military service.

Our experiences were much diffferent than those born in the late 40s or 50s.

It tracks with your post. I was a senior in high school when they ended the draft. I'm not an Elvis person...more of a Zeppelin person. So yeah, boomers are not all the same.

GI Generation 1901 to 1927
Silent Gen 1928 to 1945
Boomers 1946-1964
Gen X 1965-1980
Millennials 1981-1996
Gen Z 1997-2012
Gen Alpha 2013-2028
Gen Beta 2029-2044

Micro Gens (some arguments over the exact dates, I lean towards 7 years for each)

Generation Jones 1958-1964
Xennials 1977-1983
Zillennials 1992-1998 (what I identify as, I was born in late 1996)

Just a few years ago, I remember 1981 being listed as Gen X. I'm 4 years older than a Xennial (1977 at the earliest), but I identify with them on a lot of things.

10 or so years ago, where the minority who claimed 1996 was the first year of Gen Z mostly gave in and reverted to now overall widely accepted standard 16 year Gen length.

Gen X - 16 years (1965-1980)
Millennials - 16 years (1981-1996)
Gen Z - 16 years (1997-2012)

The Boomer birth years have been established as 1946-1964 for a long time.

Of course, this is all open to overlaps when it comes to individuals.

I am a good example of that. My sweet spot in terms of experiential relatability is probably 1990/91 to 1997/98 borns. I skipped multiple years in the UK school system, so grew up with many who are solidly in the last half of the Millennial Gen, 3 to 5 years or so older than me, especially when I started uni right before I turned 15, in autumn (technically very late summer) 2011.

To take a 10 year sample cohort, I more than likely will relate more, on balance to a 1991 born person than a 2001 (and onward) born one. I really found that to be the case when I went to the US (Los Angeles, where I was born, but left before I was 2 years old when my parents moved back to London) in the mid to latish 2010s to read for my MBA.

I don't recall her name but I imagine she's been gone for awhile now.

I had asked the question as to what everyone's earliest memories were that involved politics. Mine was watching JFK's funeral on tv

any of the others.

It just happened that a bunch of things converged at this time.

Also, many boomers have done a lot of wonderful things.

those that have done good but the bad far outweighs the good IMO.

For instance the Bushes. The Trumps. Their kids go to the “best” schools from daycare on — schools that offer a good education, but even more valuable, create connections, friendships, networks that last a lifetime.

The top of the pyramid breeds the next top of the pyramid. The rest of us, not so much — but then, this is what collective action is all about: collective bargaining, civil rights movements, and all that.

My generation has done that — civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights. Our actions helped bring an end to an unjust war, and helped get rid of Nixon. We did that. And now we are old and dying off.

Tarring us all with the same brush is like saying “the Greatest Generation” was nothing but a bunch of middle-aged Archie Bunkers: ill-informed, racist, out of touch with the times. That’s not the whole story — and I hope you know that much.

But the power structure that bred Trump and formed the current SCOTUS and the attitudes that allowed the theocratic destruction of our public schools — that goes on from one generation to the next, and younger generations took their eyes off the ball as much as anyone older did. The powerful of the country, the ones totally focused on remaking the country in their un-free image — they have worked with single-focus for well over 50 years. And they have almost all the broadcast/cable media plus billions of dollars at their disposal.

Tell the youngsters for me to get a move on. My gray-haired cohort is already at the protests.

Trotting out the divisive 'Generation Blame Game', in any case, seems a like a bad idea, especially in this extremely difficult time.

there are so few of us younger folk here to push back (I will grant some older DUers do push back on the bashers, and I am so grateful for them).

Look at this poll.

Out of 217 responses, FIVE per cent are under 44yo. Zero are under 28yo.

I honestly can't say I've seen much, if any bashing of the younger folks here, but I may have just missed it.
Bashing ANY one generation (or race or gender) is dumb, in any case, imo. .As a poster downthread mentioned, things happen at certain times, and it's hard for those who weren't confronted by them and the need to live through them, to accurately 'judge' those who were.

Really?



I wish to hell I could post direct examples, but DU TOS forbids it. I could post hundreds, no cap. To give just one topic that drew the bashers out, go look at some of the student loan forgiveness threads.

If I had a go at Boomers like many here have a go at us young folk, I would be flayed alive.

I don't know these categories

70's baby here!

You share your nickname with a mythical game of the same name?

Social cycle theory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_cycle_theory

snip



snip

Polybius

According to Polybius, who has the most fully developed version of the kyklos, it rotates through the three basic forms of government: democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy, and the three degenerate forms of each of these governments: ochlocracy, oligarchy, and tyranny. Originally society is in ochlocracy but the strongest figure emerges and sets up a monarchy. The monarch's descendants, who lack virtue because of their family's power, become despots and the monarchy degenerates into a tyranny.

Because of the excesses of the ruler, the tyranny is overthrown by the leading citizens of the state, who set up an aristocracy. They too, quickly forget about virtue, and the state becomes an oligarchy. These oligarchs are overthrown by the people, who set up a democracy. Democracy soon becomes corrupt and degenerates into ochlocracy, beginning the cycle anew. Polybius's concept of the cycle of governments is called anacyclosis.

Polybius, in contrast to Aristotle, focuses on the idea of mixed government: the idea that the ideal government is one that blends elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. Aristotle mentions this notion but pays little attention to it. Polybius saw the Roman Republic as the embodiment of this mixed constitution, and this would explain why the Roman Republic was so powerful and why it remained stable for a longer amount of time. Polybius' full description can be found in Book VI of his Histories.

snip

What is Anacyclosis?

https://anacyclosis.org/portfolio/what-is-anacyclosis/



The theory of anacyclosis represents the culmination of ancient Greek political thought on the evolution of political communities. It is a “unified theory” of political history in that it attempts to explain the evolution and dissolution of all regime types, including democracy. The theory is most clearly and succinctly expressed in the writings of the historian Polybius, though many aspects of the theory were described by earlier thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle. Recognized by Machiavelli for its explanatory power, Polybius’ model was studied by the Founding Fathers of the United States and profoundly influenced their vision of the republic they were founding.

The word anacyclosis has been variously translated as “the cycle of political revolution” and “the cycle of the constitutions.” In short, the theory states that the six regime archetypes that the Greeks identified and which we still use today (monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and ochlocracy or mob-rule) each represent different stages of one long process of political evolution. There is good reason to think that Polybius and his predecessors arrived at this theory empirically. After observing the rise and fall of many hundreds of city-states, most of which cycled through several of the governmental forms mentioned above, Greek political thinkers concluded that these transitions from one form to another were not random. Rather, they seemed to follow simple and recognizable patterns. For example, tyrants were frequently overthrown by groups of aristocrats, while popular revolutions frequently overthrew oligarchies and ushered in democratic rule. Interestingly, the reverse of these trends (aristocracies being overthrown by tyrants or democracies turning into oligarchies) were statistically less likely to occur.

Through such observations, Polybius extrapolated the likely complete course of political evolution for an independent state whose lifecycle is not cut short by war or disaster. According to our interpretation of his model, the cycle proceeds as follows. Political communities are first ruled by kings. Kingship is eventually corrupted into tyranny. The last tyrant is deposed or forced to share power with an aristocracy. Aristocracy degenerates into an oppressive oligarchy. Occasionally, an independent middle economic stratum – a middle class – emerges; hoi mesoi in Aristotelian terms. If this middle class is entrenched, democracy emerges. In time, however, a plutocracy emerges, stratifying society between opulent and dependent. The hopes of the dependent masses fuel an intensifying competition among their political patrons, transforming democracy into mob-rule, perhaps better described as rule by demagogues. This tournament of demagogues rages among a narrowing field of popular leaders until a single champion arises victorious, dragging political society back to some form of monarchy, thus completing the cycle.

At the Anacyclosis Institute, we believe that this ancient model contains much truth. We also believe that the astonishing longevity of the US Constitution, specifically designed to resist the Polybian cycle, speaks to the validity of many aspects of the theory. Nevertheless, while inspired by the anacyclosis model, we do not believe that human history rigidly follows any fixed evolutionary sequence. What we do believe is that a careful study of history can tell us a lot about where we are and where we are headed. We now have many more tools at our disposal than Polybius had for the study of historical patterns, including archaeology, economics, demographic models, and complexity theory. One of our objectives is to use these tools to develop a more comprehensive model of political change. Pending the completion of that task, however, a revised version of the ancient narrative provides a convenient template against which to chart the general outline of political evolution. The Anacyclosis Institute is committed to encouraging and supporting all new research that attempts to understand the trends, forces, and patterns of history for the benefit of humanity.

What bug is in your avatar?

That’s neat! I touched a bee once. It didn’t sting me.

That’s nuts! Glad I never got stung by that!

Mind if I communicate with you over DU Mail?

Good deal!

I am a huge classic gamer. I have about 50 different gaming systems and 25 computers.

pretty cool!

A boomer by now.

Yeah, it's probably just me.

Not just you.

we should embrace them, not be scared of them!

while I am among the older of Gen X. We probably have more in common with each other than with people at the extremes of our generations. A person born in 1946 would have memories of Ike, Kennedy, the moon landing and would have been draftable for Vietnam. My brother, born in 1964 wouldn't have memories of Johnson let alone Ike and wasn't an adult until 1982. Meanwhile I was born in 1967 meaning I have some memories of Ford, many of Carter, and was an adult for over half of Reagan's second term. I vividly recall the Challenger explosion and voted for Dukakis and all subsequent Democratic candidates. Someone born in 1980, couldn't vote until Gore, was in elementary school while Reagan was in his second term and was in kindergarten or 1st grade when the challenger exploded. They never didn't have VCRs or computers and never saw Star Wars as a first run movie in a theater. I very much recall Star Wars and how hot I thought Mark Hamill was.

to belong to different generations. If one was born New Years Eve 1964, and the other New Years day 1965.

I wonder if they'd be blaming each other for their generations wrecking the world.

I was a very late boomer and my step sister a very late gen X er. She was very mature for her age, mentally and physically, while I was immature for my age.

We watched the same TV shows and movies, listened to the same music, and got into the same trouble. She actually got her period before I did. (Sorry for the TMI)

Her brother was an even later boomer than I was. Missed being X by less than two weeks. He was kind of annoyed when she skipped a grade and then got way better grades than him.

Not sure what point I'm trying to make.

Just a bunch of nonsense mostly imo.

Last edited Mon Apr 7, 2025, 04:43 PM - Edit history (1)

But half of us are boomers and half of us are X?

Yeah, I don’t think so.

We have the same parents. We were kids at the same time in the same house experiencing the same shit.

These generation tags are bullshit.

I wish there was a way to attract younger Democrats here, because we're really going to need them in the coming years!

https://bit.ly/demunderground Share this around!

There should be.

I was 10 years old in ’68; it’s ridiculous to put me in the same cohort as adult men subject to the draft and being sent to Vietnam – it’s a completely different generation, experience and world view.

Generations should be determined by the years you come of age, like Millennials.

I don't feel that old (81).

Late Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era.

aging like a fine wine that still packs a punch!

Depending on the way you divide the generations there is an overlap. People born in the late 70’s, or (like me) early 80 (the 76-85 cohorts) fall into group as a micro-generation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xennials