In Reply to: Actually late boomers and early GenX posted by DSCBruin on November 03, 2026 at 11:17:22
Boomers: Vietnam was surely a big factor, as was various liberation and civil rights movement, the beginning of the cold war, pot, sex, rock music, a general optimism and faith that things can get better if we just believe in change hard enough, punctuated by moments of grimness brought about by assassinations. Tie-die shirts, kaleidoscopes, and psychedelia.
Jonesers: Late Nixon - Carter, Watergate, a general disillusionment with America, No Vietnam worries but the invasion of Afghanistan that elevated nuclear war anxieties, oil crisis, inflation, a general collapse of idealism, more heroin and cocain, disco, punk, a sense of futility. Dark and bleak on the one hand, faded sepia candy colors on the other. The wonders of pong.
Xers: came of age in Reagan's America with its weird nationalistic optimism, heavy shift towards the right, religious revival, post-punk and new wave music plus all that glossy pop driven by synth, hair metal, AIDS, sexual anxieties, rising fear of crime, the me generation and yuppies, Things are looking up and everyone thinks they have an in. Wall Street and even more cocain. (Does crack come into the picture at this point?) Arcade games get their start.
(My rule of thumb is kinda: if you remember the Beatles as an active band that released new albums, you're a boomer. If you had to decide between disco and punk, you're a joneser. If you got your first kiss during the Reagan years, you're an Xer.)