Grammar alert: "...the Boomer generation should turn over their power..." should read "...the Boomer generation should turn over its power..." Error = suitable penance for pompous pedantry. Shall now go out to bathe a horse and muck his stall, as activity more suitable to actual level of brainpower.

I don't think it can be argued (at least successfully) that the majority of our 'older' generation has pretty much historically screwed the political pooch. (As supported by our apathy, abdication of responsibility to stand up and speak out, make changes, et al.)

Perhaps we should get half votes and those under 55 a full vote in elections?!? (Randomly picked the age.)

All I know is that what we have or haven't been doing has delivered horrific consequences. And evaluating the odds that the majority of us over a certain age will do better, well - what do you think?

Good post and rec'd. Thanks WWS!

Erica Jong thinks we are the "whiplash" generation. Most of her emphasis in this regard pertained to gender roles (how women of our age are torn between the sexist values we learned from our stay-at-home mothers, and the egalitarian values we made possible for our daughters, while failing to find and enjoy a genuine comfort zone in either.
But the whiplash theory also applies to politics. We are the generation raised with the my-country-do-or-die principles of the late 50's to mid 60's, but who are now united, I think, in sadly, but more wisely, absolutely opposing the war in Iraq. But in that whiplash sensibility, we are also the generation that, in between, was divided in its responses to Vietnam. Some of our generation clung, predictably, to the parental values of the Greatest Generation, and signed up, or were drafted and accepted that draft to serve in Vietnam. And some of us neck-swiveled at that decision, took a stand on principle, as we later did on gender role assignment, and said: "Hell, no."
So part of our generational psyche is to have a split personality. George W. represents the throwback to my-country-do-or-die (although in his case it is my-country-is-always-right-so-you- young-folks-die). But the rest of us can never go back; sadly though, neither can we completely belong to a world in which these shifts in perspective are taken for granted.
We are, in a sense, out of synch with everyone else. And it has been a shock to many of us for that not to be recognized, to be lumped together -- quite possibly, as you suggest, because of Bush -- with our parent's generation, when we did so much -- including the elimination of the draft -- to change things for the better, for ourselves, post-Vietnam, and certainly for our children.
There's a rather wonderful, if bittersweet irony in this. I can remember my father's dismay that we did not seem to recognize the sacrifices his generation made to create a safer, more prosperous world for our sakes. And now, if you will forgive the triteness of the phrase, I understand what he felt. Because "I never thought I'd see the day" when our efforts -- which seemed to us to be so hard won and which, for our time, were so radical -- would be regarded unilaterally by our children as a botched job, that only the young can correct.
Never mind. So be it. Just let me know what I can do to help.
Side note: thank you for the compliment on another thread, which I think was from Dante?

Jason:
You are quite right that we blew paying attention to alternative energies, etc. You would be quite right if you said, although you didn't, that we spent a lot of years, post-Vietnam, and post efforts towards ERA, feeling entitled to focus on material success. And if your generation manages to create order out of the chaos we face that is, as you suggest, not your doing, then I will be interested to see if your generation also gets that post-effort entitlement flaw, as the two generations before you did.
Here's one difference between your grandparents'generation and ours: your grandparents, our parents, never approved of your parents, our Boomer generation's, efforts to change the world. But we do approve of your desire to do it. And approval, Jason, as well as support,is a mighty gift; take it as a bonus and use it well.

the long response above was also addressed to LuxUmbraDei. Reply posiiton Sigh.

Some of our generation . . . accepted that draft to serve in Vietnam. And some of us neck-swiveled at that decision, took a stand on principle . . . . wwstaebler

Necks stopped swiveling pretty quick once Nixon ended the draft, though.

After that, it was all "Me Generation." Gordon Gecko doesn't do social activism -- or pay his fare share of taxes.

If only we can count on them to be all that you say. Deep breath taken, thanks for that.

I am confused by your references, Ellen, yet you have brought up a good point -- each generation has cusp sub-sets, who have are transitional, who tend to make their mark culturally, rather than politically.
The years you cite (1925-45)refer to the birth and coming of age of the Greatest Generation, who fought and won WWII, with all those unquestioning patriotic values. So it was the half generation behind them, their much younger brothers and sisters, who were the "beats" in the early 50's who loved jazz. Similarly, it was those who followed them, who were born a few years before the Boomers and who came of age in the late 50's, who loved Elvis and American Bandstand. And so,it was not until their younger siblings (OK, my demographic) came into themselves and went wild for the Beatles (and later Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, the Who, the Doors, etc.) that a full generation had passed between Greatest Generation and the Boomers.
So your lumping of these various subsets together is interesting, as if there were not great cultural divides among them, subgroup to subgroup. Which makes me wonder what nuances I have missed in the difference between GenX, Gen Y(is that right?) and the Millenials. If you know, please explain it to me. As ignorance is not bliss, at any age.

Can we count on them to be all that, Barefooted? I don't know. Perhaps those are unrealistic expectations as a package. But if the alternative is to leave things in the hands of people like me -- when I have, this year, begun to misplace my keys, then the keys to the kingdom belong in the hands of those whose focus and self-confidence has not yet been shaken. Which is not to say that they may not err on the side of cocksure hubris... the perfect age, in fact, seems to be Obama's age, on the cusp between Boomer and GenX.(I realize that W. was only 52 when he took office, but he may as well have been 35-40, as he suffers from arrested development. Correction, with apologies to that age group, of which Jason is one: W. may as well have been 19 or 20, as the frat boy never died. only know that I, as one Boomer among many, have started misplacing my keys

OK -- that would be "to whom do you refer.." Way too many typos and errors, so it's time for me to rest my case, or lose it. Carry on. And thanks for joining me.

No, you didn't miss a post. I just have an active fantasy life.

I know. There aren't very many of them. Especially since blondes aren't my type.

Just look what you get when you search for "attractive GOP" on Google images. It's not hopeful.

http://images.google.com/images?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=attractive%20GOP&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

Desidero:
You said, "I don't have a generation. I have a sub-segmented market niche that includes age, gender, ethnicity, education, geographical location, religion, entertainment preferences and smoking/drinking habits."
Fantastic -- by revealing your belief in demographics as the most relevant form of identification, we finally know who you are in real life. And who among us would have suspected that you are Marc Penn?