Generational System.

Continued from A1... 

Boomers & Millennials (Negative stress)

Childhood: Safe, Family focused, Economic upswing, Rise of convenience, Mass consumerism, Over socialization

Teens:

•Economic decline in late 60’s —> ‘07 crash (inflation increased due to both).

•Gulf of Tonkin  —> 9-11  (boost of patriotism and recall of US greatness in WW2).

•Pentagon papers —> WMDs

•Cars (great American road trip) —> internet (Both opened up and changed world views, allowed people to interact and see how other Americans lived).

•TV  —> Internet: new “mixed” media mediums.

•Over socialization due to large generational cohort.

•Rebelled against the Establishment (Tshirt & denim —> Hoody & Flip Flops)

•Dawn of convenience (super markets  —> Amazon),

•Birth of consumerism (keeping up with the joneses)

•Parents taught entitlement

•White flight  —> suburbanization of urban areas (gentrification)

Comfort in conformity

•Vietnam   —> WOT (Both drained the US piggy bank)

•Immigration act of 65   —> Muslim migration due to war on terror/dreamers/8 years to citizenship and drove xenophobia and racism; sense of displacement for white men

•Fighting a soft war against China, but in Vietnam   —>  Fighting a war with Iran, but in Afghanistan/Iraq/Yemen/Syria/etc.

•McCarthyism  —> Trumpism

• Serial killers  —> Mass shooters

•Nixon   —> Trump /  Ford   —> Biden

•Decline of quality of life

•Death of Main ST. due to box stores  —> death of shopping districts due to malls  —> death of malls due to Amazon  —>  death of box stores due to Amazon.

•Start of Cold war with Russia   —> Start of War On Terror (loss of safety)

•Gap  —> Supreme (false rebellion)

•Obsession with looks and status within their groups/society: Greasers V Soches, Hipsters V Bros, SJW V Proudboys “with us or against us”

•’70s economic decline and gave birth the the 80’s yuppies  —> ‘07 crash gave us Unicorns and “YOLO”, no deeper thought other than “they have, I don’t. I want.” - you can tax the wealthy Americans to get your debt paid, but who’s going to pay those slaves in the Congo mining rare earth metals for your smart device or the ones in eastern China? You can not take a knee for injustice here, but line your pockets with money made from injustice off shore.

     Both groups grew up in “safety” and a world order where their country held power, economic upswings. 9/11 and Gulf of Tonkin shattered that illusion. The US wasn’t the mighty country it was portrayed as. Then they spend the rest of their lives trying to find the safety, economic stability and abundance they had as children or rather the illusion of it. Victims of nostalgia conditioned by the market to be overly entitled loud mouths.

 

Gen X/Z (negative stress):

Childhood: Chaos/uncertainty, Native Media (Tv/internet), Children of Divorced (Co-parenting). Economic decline and lack of a "future" 

•70’s urban area loses manufacturing jobs and NAFTA causes Rural area to lose manufacturing jobs

•High unemployment or people quit looking for work.

•Crack  —> Fentanyl

•Bloods/Crips  —> Proudboys/Antifa (Sad irony: Black Americans have been shit on so much they know the Gov. don’t give a fuck about them. So instead of expecting change they shrugged it off when they didn’t get help and got busy handling their own shit, like always. Middle class folks? Well, y’all been feeding their ego and telling ‘em they matter so much now that they’re ready to set it off cause shit ain’t working out.)

•Isolated, feels alone. Express by writing graffiti, punk/dyed hair and fashion: you can ignore me when you see me, but I’ll make sure you notice me.

•High rate of depression  —> mental illness

•Punk&post-punk  —> SoundCloud rap

•Compton Gangster Rap—> Chiraq drill                                          

•DIY

•Latchkey kids: children at home alone due to single parent working/children home alone due to Covid shut down (lots of free time)

•Gov failures on full display

•Gender expression (Ricki on My So Called Life/Non-binary: “I don’t want to be a girl, I  just ike hanging out with them”)

•Political, think global act local

•Energy crises(oil)  —> global warming

•MTV  —> Tiktok

•Jerry Springer  —> Twitter

•Beavis & Butthead  —> Joe Rogan

     Everyone up until Gen Z is experiencing a sense of “foundational break-down” not a single one of us grew up with this landscape being native, no tech, no internet, no world connection and no mass world wide disruption. We are all experiencing a sense of shakiness right now due to the advances and are all trying to grasp what’s taking place. Find our footing in a world that looks nothing like the one we were born into or grew up in. We are all longing for secure times which we could make sense of and navigate. The stress factors for all of us are beyond the limits of most people who were privileged enough to have two parents or even a childhood home. We are all feeling like we on That MOJO bitch and we need some milk.

     “Keeping up with the jones” used to only take place among your direct neighbors, but due to social media every one is your neighbor. This constant wealth flex has driven a constant feeling of “why don’t I have.” **