So we've had two boomer presidents, and now a GenXer

[Taverner]

So what election do you think we will see our first Millennial in the White House?

[charlie and algernon]

1. I'm a millennial and would first be eligible in 2020

But I'm guessing we'll see our first around 2024-2032.

[guitar man]

2. I thought

the last of the boomers were born in '64, has it been redefined?

[KitchenWitch]

3. No it has not. I am a Boomer

I do not really relate to Gen X

[guitar man]

7. I thought so

I was born in November 0f '63 and I have always been identified as a tail-end boomer. :hi:

[Zuiderelle]

5. Wiki says Genx is from 65 to 81.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X

And it says Boomers go from 46 to 64.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomer

I've always considered myself a late boomer. :D

[guitar man]

8. me too

11/63 :hi:

[KitchenWitch]

10. I am a late boomer as well!

I was a late bloomer too! :rofl:

[Taverner]

67. Look at the right side my friend

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Z
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X

[Zuiderelle]

69. The right side is wrong. :)

[4_Legs_Good]

95. The only way to know for sure is if he can finish this question: "Conjunction Junction... ?"

If he can: GenX

If not, forget it!

David

[Zuiderelle]

4. He's not a GenXer. He's a boomer.

[Taverner]

12. He is not a boomer - the cutoff year is '59

Technically he's part of the transition generation, but he identifies more with Gen X than the Boomers. How do I know this? Look at his iTunes playlist. That tells me all I need to know :)

[Zuiderelle]

15. That's not true. I'm a year younger than he is, and I'm a boomer.

The Baby Boom generation goes through 64.

You just WANT him to be a GenXer because you are. Sorry, doesn't work that way. :P

[Taverner]

57. Well WIKIPEDIA sez:

* Lost Generation (1883–1900)
* Greatest Generation (1901–1924)
* Silent Generation (1925–1942)
* Baby Boomer (1943–1960)
* Generation X (1961–1981)
* Generation Y (1982–2001)
* Generation Z (2001–)

That puts you in the Boomer Generation, and him in ours.

Nyah nyah nyah nyah! :P

[Zuiderelle]

59. Funny, when I actually include a LINK to wiki it says 1946 - 1964

Which I already linked in a post above... http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=8235082&mesg_id=8235117

So there. :P

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomer

[Zuiderelle]

62. Oh, and you don't make sense. How can he be a genXer if he is OLDER than I am and me be a Boomer?

:rofl:

[Taverner]

66. Oops I read that wrong - We're both Gen X

As well as Obama

so chew your Blackjack gum and LIKE IT!!!!

[Zuiderelle]

68. LOL

[Midlodemocrat]

19. Nope. It's '64.

Sorry. He's one of us. :P

[Zuiderelle]

20. You got that right! Obama is of MY GENERATION!

Which according to Taverner's definition works out anyway since I'm a year younger than Barack, I just don't want to be considered a GEN-Xer. :D

[Writer]

23. And that's the problem. Gen X carries with it a heavy stigma.

That's why people will say "post-Boomer" or "Gen Jones..." God forbid they say Gen X.

[Xithras]

30. Heh, we were originally called the "Baby Busters"

Had to do with the huge drop in births to boomer women, mostly attributed to better education, job opportunities, and birth control that showed up for that generation. They were the Baby Boomers, and their children were the Baby Busters. We became the Xers when the Boomers decided we were worthless in the 1980's and would never really stand for anything.

No stigma here.

[Haole Girl]

64. Transition generation, huh?

Now I know.

[Xithras]

28. Xer = child of a boomer. Barack's mom was a boomer. He's an Xer.

The year isn't quite as important as the generation. His grandfather was a WW2 soldier, his mom was a postwar boomer, and he was among the first of the boomer-child Xers.

[IndianaJones]

45. my grandfather and great-grandfather were in WWII. Is my granddad and dad a boomer? nt.

[Chan790]

90. Just your dad...

assuming he is a post-war baby. Your father presumably was born during the explosion in births following the end of WWII when the troops returned home, which coincided with the rise of the nuclear family and the two-earner household.

Part of the problem here is that the cutoff points between generations are not and should not be defined by chronological dates but by cultural touchstones and to a lesser extent the social milestones of one's parents and culture. Sociologists don't define generations by years except rarely as ranges with some significant overlap. A child born in 1962-1966 could go either way depending what their cultural identifiers are/were. Based on that criterion measurement for Barack Obama, he's clearly of the baby bust and not a boomer.

Chronologically, I'm a Gen-X baby (1979)...except that all my cultural touchstones lap my birth-date by about 4-5 years. The first presidential election I remember happening was 1988. I couldn't have told you who Ronald Reagan was. I didn't grow up in the shadow of fear of the Cold War. The first significant global event I was aware of was the fall of the Berlin Wall. I don't remember a time without a home PC and barely remember a time before the internet. I might be chronologically Gen-X, but by any sociological classification...I'm the leading-edge of the millenial generation.

That's why sociologists don't define generations by years and why the Wikipedia is wrong to suggest chronological dates for generations. Just because it's a common practice (based on bad social-science and broadly-held (incorrect) knowledge) does not mean they should promulgate it as fact.

[Left Is Write]

98. Ann Dunham was born in 1942. She was NOT a boomer.

[mentalsolstice]

6. I think Obama is a boomer

I was born in Dec. 1960, he was born in Aug. 1961. Right now we're both 47. My understanding is, the baby boom went from 1946 to 1964. Perhaps we'll see a Gen Xer in 2016.

[UndertheOcean]

9. 47 is OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD

[Haole Girl]

65. I think I'll put you on triple ignore for that!

:rofl:


j/k

[KamaAina]

11. Barack a GenXer? He's three years (and a day) older than me.

At 44, I've always considered myself to be right on the border between boom and X.

[Taverner]

13. Yes, technically he's part of the transitional gen

But like my mom, who was part of the previous transitional gen (born 1939) she chose the Boomers to identify with culturally, and thus she's pretty much a boomer.

Same goes for Obama - and he identifies with GenX

[Zuiderelle]

14. When did he say that he identifies with GenX? I find that hard to believe.

[Writer]

24. This article will explain why.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hNIYcOlVvU-kzjFaRvyCKszO0Izw

[Zuiderelle]

26. I suppose there are a lot of definitions, that's the only one I've seen that goes back to 1961.

Everything else I've seen describes it as 1965 to 1981.

"Generation X — roughly defined as anyone born between 1965 and 1980"
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1731528,00.html

"The Gen Xers, generally defined as those born from 1965 through 1980 "
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/retirement/2008-05-19-generation-x-retirement_N.htm

"Generation X is a term used to describe generations in the United States born between the approximate years of 1965 to 1981"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X


I am a baby-boomer born in 1962, as is Barack, born in 1961. :P

[Writer]

32. That's because what you're quoting is taken straight from the US Census.

Strauss and Howe also focused on cultural shifts and added that to their definition of Gen X, which produced the dates of 1961 to 1981. However, everyone brings to the table his or her own experiences, so no one is going to be completely anything... especially those who share historical experiences with both Boomers and Gen X'ers. So it depends on how each person identifies him or herself.

Here's an article from 2007 after he first announced - back when it was still okay to call him an X'er:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/20/opinion/main3528584.shtml

That article quotes Obama as saying "Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what's needed to be done. Today we are called once more -- and it is time for our generation to answer that call," declared Barack Obama, uttering the word "generation" no fewer than thirteen times in his speech announcing his intention to run for president. There is no mistaking his campaign theme: it's time for the old to move over and make way for the new.

[Zuiderelle]

35. It's a stretch to claim that he identifies as a Gen Xer just from him saying "Our generation"

I consider people at the beginning of the so-called baby boomer generation to be a completely different generation than me, and people at the end of the Gen-X generation to be a completely different generation than me as well.

I consider Barack Obama to be in my generation. And I agree with him that it's time for our generation to make necessary changes.

[Writer]

37. Here's something else pulled from that article:

Obama's book The Audacity of Hope makes it clear just whom he's calling old: "In the back-and-forth between Clinton and Gingrich, and in the elections of 2000 and 2004, I sometimes felt as if I were watching the psychodrama of the baby boom generation -- a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago -- played out on the national stage," writes Obama. It's a theme he's returned to with increasing frequency lately. "There's no doubt that we represent the kind of change Senator Clinton can't deliver on. And part of it's generational," Obama told Fox News in early November. "Senator Clinton and others have been fighting some of the same fights since the '60s. It makes it very difficult for them to bring the country together to get things done."

[Zuiderelle]

39. Just like I said, the labels that they apply don't exactly define real generations.

I consider the Clintons to be a different generation than me, just as Barack does. And I consider someone born in the mid-70s to be a different generation than me as well, just as I'm sure Barack does.

The baby boom generation covers a LOT of years and can contain both parents and their children with parents born at the beginning and their children at the end. It's a catch all for a generic time, which generally falls somewhere in the middle, exactly where the Clintons are.

I agree with everything he says about the Baby Boom generation with that definition in mind.

But... still... he is a Baby boomer. Whether he likes it or not. He's just a very young one. Like me.

[Writer]

42. You know, someone could ASK Barack Obama...

That would clear this up.

[Zuiderelle]

51. But it still doesn't really matter. He doesn't get to define the Baby Boomer generation

all by himself. :D

[crispini]

70. He definitely has younger cultural resonances.

I have a lot of Boomer friends and they're more culturally "children of the 60's" musicwise, moviewise, etc.

Obama listens to rap. Enough said.

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. No, he's a Boomer, but he's a young one.

Close to X, but missed it by 4-5 years.

[IndianaJones]

17. jeez, pretty soon my mom will be considered a gen x'er too. nt.

[Midlodemocrat]

18. Barack is at the tail end of the Boomer generation.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

21. Well JFK was the first President born in the 20th century

And he only assumed office in 1961. It is possible we could be waiting a while

[Writer]

22. Good luck trying to convince people that Obama HIMSELF does not ID with Boomers.

Go ahead and pull the quotes from his writing... the countless articles calling him a Gen X'er, including Strauss and Howe's (or Howe's) assessment of him as a Gen X'er, but you're still going to get this weird petty pointing at the line in the sand. Obama is on THAT side of the line in birth year, they say, so he's a Boomer.

Except that Obama doesn't believe he's a Boomer. I guess what Obama thinks, and how Obama defines himself, doesn't matter.

[Zuiderelle]

29. Where has he said it?

Anyway, I could identify as a GEN-Xer, but it doesn't MAKE me one. Since I was born in 1962, I'm a baby boomer, and so is Barack.

[Midlodemocrat]

34. Exactly. Well said.

[IndianaJones]

36. I'll switch. Coming of age in the 80's sucked. nt.

[Zuiderelle]

40. True that.

[IndianaJones]

41. from now on, though I was born in '71, I will consider myself Gen Y. nt.

[Writer]

43. Actually, no, you're definitely a Boomer.

I was born in 75, so I'm a Boomer, too.

My parents were born in 40 - I guess that makes them Boomers.

My sisters were born in 63 and 66 - DEFINITELY Boomers.

Heck - EVERYONE'S a Boomer!

[IndianaJones]

44. I thought it was what we considered ourselves. I like to think of myself storming Omaha Beach. nt.

[Writer]

46. Yes, I feel the need to associate myself with greatness, too.

I just burned my bra while watching a re-run of the Brady Bunch.

[IndianaJones]

48. I'd like to claim that Abe Lincoln was a gen x'er....like me. nt

[Writer]

49. No, no. He's a Boomer, no doubt.

I mean, did you see his beard? Talk about a way to stick it to The Man!

[Xithras]

31. Obama would be wise to keep that to himself.

I know many people who supported him precisely because he wasn't an old fogey boomer and they wanted some younger blood in there. Self-identifying as a fogey would be a mistake.

[Xithras]

25. By definition, 2020 is the earliest possible.

Gen Y, or the Millenials, started with babies born in 1982. The first of them will hit 35, the legal minimum age for the Presidency, in 2017, and the first election after that is 2020.

Of course, the Xers hit that point in 1996, and it took an additional 12 years to get one into office. If the Y's follow a similar path, which is reasonable considering the life skills and experience we expect of our leaders, you're realistically looking at the 2032 election or later.

[CBHagman]

27. It's been said, but not everyone has said it.

Obama is a boomer.

And by the way, it would appear the presidency completely missed the silent generation (or whatever you want to call them)-- i.e., anyone born too late to have helped win World War II and too soon to fit into the postwar boom. A whole generation has been excluded.

On edit: Oops, I forgot that Biden fits into the silent generation precisely. He was born in 1942. Ooh, and he's got a birthday coming up on the 20th. Happy birthday, big guy.

[cemaphonic]

86. "Silent" Generation is a kind of odd name

for the generation that spawned most of the Boomers' rock music heroes.

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[sasquatch]

38. Boomers have damn near FUBAR'd this country so they need to claim actual competent leaders as-

one of them.
:rofl:
Wow this is sad.

[Zuiderelle]

50. Barack is one year older than me, so my claiming him in my generation isn't really that odd.

What's odd is that people (presumably gen-Xers) are trying to redefine the Baby Boomer generation as not going up to 1964 as it is commonly defined. I understand that you want to claim him as an X-er though :)

I don't really care, except that it's just what it is. I didn't make myself a baby boomer, my being born in 1962 made me one, and him being born a year earlier in 1961 made him one.

[Midlodemocrat]

77. I agree. And, I think all this talk defining people by their generation

is flat out stupid. It's a demographic based on the year you were born FFS. It's not as if you had any control over it.

Barack Obama is a boomer regardless of whatever music he listens to.

[sasquatch]

96. No he isn't, his mom was a boomer so he can't be a boomer

Discussion over.

[Taverner]

55. Boomers didn't FUBAR this country any more than any generation did

Did David Bowie, Al Gore, Garry Trudeau, John Mellencamp and Bill Clinton FUBAR this country up?

[LisaM]

47. Obama calling himself a GenXer (if he does) is a case of wishful branding

Technically, I think there is a generation of Tweeners - what we would consider at the tail end of the Baby Boom, but before the GenXers. It's an overlooked demographic, IMO. Someone born in 1964 is not going to identify with someone born in 1946, but on the other hand, Obama, born in 1961, is not really like someone born in 1981.

[Crabby Appleton]

52. Obama's a boomer, not a slackerX

[Writer]

58. Fuck you.

Sincerely,

~Writer, An X'er working on her PhD~

[Zuiderelle]

60. Get a job, slackerx!

:bounce:

[Taverner]

81. Hey now - didn't we just prove you were a SlackerX too?

:P

[Zuiderelle]

84. Dammit.

No. :P

[driver8]

53. I was born in 1962 and I don't consider myself a Boomer or a Gen X-er...

what the hell am I??

[Burma Jones]

54. He's in Generation Jones

Dazed and Confused as we are.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Jones

[Taverner]

56. FROM WIKIPEDIA

* Lost Generation (1883–1900)
* Greatest Generation (1901–1924)
* Silent Generation (1925–1942)
* Baby Boomer (1943–1960)
* Generation X (1961–1981)
* Generation Y (1982–2001)
* Generation Z (2001–)

That places the President Elect in Gen X by a hair.

[Zuiderelle]

61. LINK FROM WIKIPEDIA...

This is fun...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomer

"Baby boomer is a term used to describe a person who was born during the Post-World War II baby boom between 1946 and 1964"

[LisaM]

73. Here's the deal - if you are a MAN I believe you get to shave off a few years

Thus a late Boomer male who looks fit and dresses well will look cool and GenX will identify with him. GET IT? But a woman of the same age who might have a couple of kids and isn't six feet tall will have a terrible time getting herself tagged an Xer. It's all about looks.

[Zuiderelle]

74. LOL!!

You're probably right. That explains all the bad hair plugs I've see on men in their mid-40s. Trying to fit into a too-young generation.

:rofl:

[Taverner]

75. But on the same page - this, more accurate description

Besides, a generation lasts 20 years, not 24 :P

[Zuiderelle]

78. Hey whatever man. Obama is a year older than me, I'm whatever he is!

So there! :P

[Taverner]

80. Cool - does that mean you've crossed over to our side?

Should I start getting you that pair of Doc Martens you always wanted but never had the audacity to wear?

[Zuiderelle]

82. I grew out of Doc Marten's years ago.

:P

[Taverner]

85. So you ARE a real GenXer after all

No boomer would be caught dead in those boots!

[Haole Girl]

63. Obama is part of the un-named and forgotten generation

I know. His birthday is just days from mine!

[Swede]

71. 1945-1964 the baby boom years. Here's links comfirming this.

http://www.hearingreview.com/issues/articles/2002-09_04.asp

http://www.paramountbooks.com/prodpage.cfm?cat_selected=44&product_selected=40&startrow=1


http://www.waxingamerica.com/2005/12/baby_boomer_194.html

http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/babyboom.htm


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-World_War_II_baby_boom

http://www.answers.com/topic/baby-boomer

[Taverner]

76. But here's information off one of your links that contradicts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Boomer

[Chan790]

93. I'm getting tired of saying this...

chronological dates should not ever be used or cited to define the parameters of generations. Thus anybody arguing that someone's DOB defines which generation a person is in, regardless of which side of the current debate they are on...is wrong. That makes anybody citing a generational boundary (whether 1961, 1962, or 1964) wrong.

It's bad sociology based on the needs of people to define things with hard boundaries where there should not be...generation changes don't occur that way, they occur through transitional phases. For those born on the cusp of a generation (it's about 5 years on either end), the defining characteristic is what cultural and social touchstones shaped them...not their DOB.

[Writer]

97. Holy fucking shit - it's the voice of reason.

Someone, get me a glass of champagne to celebrate! :toast:

[cemaphonic]

72. ~20 years is just too long to ascribe a stereotypical character to.

Plus, the stereotypes tend to get attached to the older members of the generation.

I was born in '74, and while I recognize some of myself in the Gen X stereotype, I also see at least as much of the Gen Y stereotype. My brother, born right on the cusp in 1980, is still an X-er, by most definitions, and he definitely fits the Gen Y stereotype.

In Obama's case, I think the stereotypes of the Boomers apply best to the members of the 46-54 cohort, and the younger cohort shares as much in common with the older X-ers as they do with the older Boomers.

[Taverner]

79. The stereotypes are bs, but the common experience is the same

For example, many boomers had parents who served in the military during WWII

Many boomers developed an affinity for Rock and Roll

Many boomers were of draft age during the Vietnam War

Likewise, we Xers have our own common threads:

We spent all of our HS years to be scared stiff of Ivan, and then Ivan went and collapsed on us when we graduated

We never knew a world without TV

Most of us never knew a world without COLOR TV

We came of age after Civil Rights and Women's Rights Movements

[Zuiderelle]

87. I had a father who served during Korea, and my grandfather server in WWI and WWII

I remember the fight for the ERA, and we always had television, but I remember getting our first color TV and I remember MLK being assassinated. I was WAY under draft age for Vietnam, as were my older brothers and I grew up loving Michael Jackson.

I guess I'm a tweener.

[Taverner]

91. Some folks have kids late - doesn't change the kid's generation

Although I find that, having older parents myself (I'm 38 and my parents are 75 and 76) I tend to get along with children of older parents.

[Sebastian Doyle]

83. GenX rocks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ-bnob1edA

[Taverner]

89. Great song about masturbation!

[CBGLuthier]

88. OK, speaking as someone who is three weeks older than Obama

As much as I hate to admit it, we are considered boomers. If we are genXers then we are the old men of the group.

I personally feel I belong to the group that didn't get labeled. And that's just fine with me.

[Taverner]

92. Aw c'mon to the GenX side - we have cookies

[KG]

94. how bout a prez w/ a boys child?

last 3 prez - 5 girls, no sons.