That’s gen X, basically from 65 to 85 (although some divide it up differently). I was born in the 70s, as was my husband, my sister, etc.
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Absolutely. It’s a major component (even more than birth year) in determining whether or not someone is a Boomer. Obama did not have that upbringing, so even though he’s technically old enough to be considered one, he’s rightfully put in the Gen X category instead.
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I translated it as: all the generations are fighting except gen-x, so gen-x is the one pulling the strings (of the fight and/or of things in general. I’m not sure which, but I’d assumed “in general”, which set off my temper, because most of us are in charge of very little. 
)
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Thanks for clarifying. That’s what I thought it meant, but I still don’t get it.
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I think the thing to get is that the person is ignorant about Gen x and the amount of actual power we wield… I guess you can argue we have some cultural power, but American pop culture is so oriented to youth, that’s hard to see. But maybe gen xers don’t care about power as a general rule? Maybe we just want to be left alone to get on with things…
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Why invest that much effort in something you’re never going to have?
Boomers won’t let go of political power, and by the time mortality forces it upon them, Millennials will argue we’re far too old.
Remember when we were told there was going to be such a massive retirement boom that we could pick our jobs and minimum wage would be a thing of the past, because everybody would be offering huge incentives just to get bodies to fill positions? Yeah, how’s that working out?¹ Where’s all this upward mobility? Wasn’t an education going to ensure that you had no upper limits?
We’re not pulling anybody’s strings, because what’s the fucking point? This isn’t our world, never was, never will be. We are not your problem, kids.
¹ Most Boomers are not responsible for this in any way they could help. They just got trapped when a few fucked things up for everybody, save themselves. But look at the number of lawmakers and corporate board members who could be quietly and comfortably collecting a pension, but refuse to let go. For them, it absolutely is about power. And them, I fucking blame, 100%, absolutely.
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Yep! Spot on.
Right? Too many boomers either won’t or in many cases can’t retire!
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What I think this person is doing is shitposting possible scapegoats to avoid discussing some more fundamental problem, possibly wealth.
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It’s a joke. The millenials vs boomers rivalry is a big thing culturally, but us Gen-Xers have no real place in it.
We were raised with boomer ambitions, but those were squashed by the end of the 80s or somewhere in the 90s. At least by 2000. So we’re already old and jaded. We don’t expect it to be easy to buy a house on part-time minimum wage, and we know how hard it is even on full-time professional salary. We don’t share either of the naive idealism of the young nor the well-this-is-how-its-always-been-ism of the old.
We just sit here building things and minding our own business. Limewire, napster, and bittorrent. We also created a lot of the modern internet - facebook, google, youtube, wikipedia, etc. We built social media, streaming, P2P, online video games, much of ecommerce. But nobody notices.
We’re certainly not the stereotypical low-tech boomer, and we’re not going to claim that you could so easily buy a house if only you didn’t put avocado on your toast. But we’re also not going to rail against it because we got adjusted to that way back in the 90s. We’re still not in power, and estimates are that we’ll only have a brief stint of majority in congress etc. sometime in the next 4-10 years before the millenials overtake.
We’re ok just chilling and slacking and getting stuff done; letting the olds and the kids argue.
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I really hate it when there’s just some small bit in a larger interview that makes you do a 180º on someone famous you’ve always appreciated up to that moment (but hey, good on the BBC!):
The BBC wanted me to be Doctor Who. They said, “William Hartnell is getting older. We’d like you to play the Doctor in a different way.” I was still a young man, so I said, “I’d be interested, but I want to make him Oriental. His name is Who, so I’d like to play him like Charlie Chan.” That terrified them. They went, “Good God, no!” and dropped the idea.
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Yep. The sixties had quite a side effect of atonal and odorous hot takes and “ideas” from people who should have totally known better. Nuclear cruise missles, casual racism and misogyny, etc.
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Blessed should know better. His name is not “Who.” His name is “the Doctor.”
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Ugh… there is also an interview with Patrick Troughton (second doctor) who said he actually floated the idea of playing the doctor in black face… I guess we have to keep in mind that the BBC had a minstrel show in their line up until 1978!
The DVD of third doctor story, the Mutants has a great documentary which discussed race and racism on the BBC, on Doctor Who, but on the channel more widely. It shows that clip with Troughton, discusses the yellow face during the 4th doctor’s run (The Talons of Weng-Chiang, I believe).
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I understand that people have different ideas of what is and isn’t political.
But when people insist that the murders aren’t political or shouldn’t be considered political, or shouldn’t be politicized, I’m wondering how they could be any more political.
I mean apart from abortion and euthanasia, deliberate or negligent killing is an act of domination, so how could it be any more political? Well, white supremacy, male supremacy, victim-blaming, and so on are also systems of domination, so I guess that’s how.
But if I explain that it’s an act of domination, so it’s political, other people sometimes insult me for not agreeing that it isn’t political, without offering any explanation of why they think it isn’t political.
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I found Grape Nuts in a grocery store! Boxes and boxes of it! Hopefully my long breakfast nightmare is over.
But do you know what I can’t find now? Wheat berries. What happened to the big bags of wheat berries I used to find? There’s quinoa. Piles and piles of that stuff in every color imaginable. But what has become of the humble wheat berry?
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A side-effect of many anti-anxiety meds is increased anxiety.
Not me, but someone close.
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Grrrrrr. I lost a screw from my best pair of eyeglasses today, and I can’t find it. Fortunately, I’ve got a second pair, so I’m not blind (yay!) But try as I might, I’m having a heck of a time trying to find out what size replacement screw I need to fix them. It’s the screw that tightens the frame around the lens; apparently these are not universal, and the screws I have don’t fit. I tried looking at the remaining screw, but it’s too tiny for me to measure accurately. And my Google-fu completely failed at locating the screw specs. 
…
Tomorrow I’ll call my eye doctor to see if I can get the info to order what I need. Normally I’d just drive out there and see what they can do… but my car’s down, again, so I won’t be able to get out there any time soon. Grrrrrrrr.
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If you don’t have a screw, you may be able to use some thread as a short-term patch.
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Or strip the paper off a twist tie from a bread bag and use that wire.
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