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Edited on Fri Aug-29-08 10:59 AM by LeftHander
'61-65 folks are sort of a transition generation.
lost between two cultural identities. Gen-X experience much different from Boomers.
And (based on personal experience) I never felt welcomed by either.
Too old for Gen-X and too young for boomers.
There are numerous things that indicate this.
1. We were the first generation to come of age post VietNam.
2. We were the last generation to come of age that still remembers America before it's "Mallification" by greedy boomers.
3. We are the last generation to be able to recall "where we were when" MLK and RFK were killed and Nixon resigned.
4. We were the youngest generation to watched the Vietnam war on TV, The moon landing The RFK and MLK assasinations and civil rights bloom. All while we were so young and impressionanable.
In some ways I think what that we are "Forest Gump" metaphorically speaking. We saw the world much as Forrest Gump did, through the eyes of a child and we saw a lot. We saw our older brothers, fathers and relatives never come home from a war we watched on TV. We saw them bloody, wounded and dead in our living rooms. I think many of us withdrew and pursued lives that were greatly different from our older sibilings and parents. We politics saw exposed in all it's ugliness and the pain it had on our parents and not really understanding why until years later and seeing it only get worse, culminating in 911 and great vomitus spew that was the last 8 years.
We saw all that was great, horrible and wonderful about America in such a way it deeply effected us as we grew older. I think in many ways a lot of us are still trying to get our heads around it and one thing we know is that we must put an end to the Depression and War generations greed and racism.
Last night was a cathartic moment in American history on so many levels. It made me understand why I was drawn to Obama when I first heard him speak in 2004.
Amazing.
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