Reply #58: Interleaved populations with alternating tendencies [View All]

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I started noticing 30-40 years ago that it seemed that the country had a "cycle" with a period a little over 30 years. In other words, more of "us" resemble our parents on the selfish/sharing scale than we resemble those 10 years older or younger.

I noticed that the 1950's looked a lot like the 1920's and the 1890's; the 1960's like the 1930's and 1900's. The third decade in the sequence seemed less defined. The children of one decade in the cycle form the bulk of the cycle corresponding to that of their parents.

I think of these as the "me" versus the "we" generations. The "me" focused on getting ahead, work, family, work hard and you will be rewarded, believe in the "Protestant work ethic", that they had worked hard and earned everything on their own, and that those with less had no one to blame but themselves for their hardships and were thus underserving of anything else. "Why share what I had to work so hard for with those too lazy to work, who just want to live off welfare." Take care of your own, follow the "rules", the Hell with the rest of you. Consumption.

The "we" seemed more of the "it's tough, but maybe together we can get through this tough spot" and "I was lucky to get a education and I'm grateful for that little student aid that made the difference in being able to stay in school" or "if I got sick and couldn't work, I don't think I could make it." The "we" wants a fair deal for everyone; the "me" think everyone already has a chance, they just have to get off their butts and quit expecting a handout from their betters.
Conservation.

It appears almost genetic, with the period of the cycle roughly a generation. with these distinct populations co-existing and alternating political and economic control. Obviously, this is an overly simplistic theory: not everyone has children at the same age, there are all types in each period with only their relative ratios varying, events can overwhelm underlying tendencies.

As I predicted, the 1980's reinforced my perceptions. Certainly a "me" decade. In the 1980's I also noticed that my liberal friends were waiting to have their children, increasing the mixing within these previous populations. I think that is a good thing.

Others have noticed this pattern and there are a few articles and books which describe it. Recent DNA mapping coupled with experiments hint that our tendencies are in our genes, including things like selfishness, shyness, and aggression.l

The third group in the cycle is hard to define. They almost get lost following the focus on the previous decades.