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Seems like you have the generations mixed up. Boomers are born 1946-1964. JFK, MLK, and Malcom X were not Boomers, they were all born during the Greatest and S

Seems like you have the generations mixed up. Boomers are born 1946-1964. JFK, MLK, and Malcom X were not Boomers, they were all born during the Greatest and Silent Generation. Most of the Boomers were children when those men died. Rock and Roll was invented before most of them were born. The birth control pill first became available to their mothers before half the generation was/wasn’t conceived. Divorce law changed before many of them could be married so they were more likely the to be the first generation to have divorced parents.

jollybean 5y ago
You're conflating the pedantic aspects of an aspect of cultural epiteths such as 'when people were born', with the materiality of their impact. All of the things I've mentioned 'came of age' during the Baby Boomer era - those are cultural epithets of their generation - not previous generations. It doesn't matter when Malcom X was born - he was a figure of the 1960's 'massive shift in social justice' which is a definitive characteristic of the Baby Boomer generation - the were the one's out on the streets. 'Divorce' did not start happening in a material way until that time. Baby Boomers were the first generation to start to experience it as children - and then - were the first generation to do it themselves at rates never seen in history. Baby Boomers were the first generation to embrace Birth Control as socially normative. Sex without babies. Both of those things alone - Divorce and Birth Control - those are enough to make a very unique generation in history, but the Boomers had so much more. You know the song 'The Age of Aquarius'? Well, they were not wrong, it was the dawn of a new age. I recently saw some film footage from Manchester, 1907, with what seemed to be all sorts of happy children in the streets, though most of them were literally homeless. Children. All over the streets. Maybe it's a fact we are 'aware of' but seeing it live is visceral and shocking. If Gen X/Y/Z could be exposed to those things that are almost within living memory, I think they would have a different view of themselves. Gen X grandparents could tell them about a lot of that. Fewer Millennials and almost none for Gen Z.
- alphabettsy 5y ago
  I think you’re right about the impact of many of these on the Baby Boomers especially divorce and birth control. I also feel like in your defense of Baby Boomers you’re taking away from previous generations, especially with regards to the civil rights movement which my grandparents were involved in and experienced first-hand when my parents were too young or weren’t alive yet and my parents are Boomers. Same with music like Rock and Roll. No doubt Boomers grew up with it but the people at the first shows weren’t Boomers. The civil rights movement had the most impact on the Boomers, but how could they be on the streets when most of them weren’t born or weren’t old enough to be involved?

jollybean 5y ago

You're conflating the pedantic aspects of an aspect of cultural epiteths such as 'when people were born', with the materiality of their impact. All of the things I've mentioned 'came of age' during the Baby Boomer era - those are cultural epithets of their generation - not previous generations. It doesn't matter when Malcom X was born - he was a figure of the 1960's 'massive shift in social justice' which is a definitive characteristic of the Baby Boomer generation - the were the one's out on the streets. 'Divorce' did not start happening in a material way until that time. Baby Boomers were the first generation to start to experience it as children - and then - were the first generation to do it themselves at rates never seen in history. Baby Boomers were the first generation to embrace Birth Control as socially normative. Sex without babies. Both of those things alone - Divorce and Birth Control - those are enough to make a very unique generation in history, but the Boomers had so much more. You know the song 'The Age of Aquarius'? Well, they were not wrong, it was the dawn of a new age. I recently saw some film footage from Manchester, 1907, with what seemed to be all sorts of happy children in the streets, though most of them were literally homeless. Children. All over the streets. Maybe it's a fact we are 'aware of' but seeing it live is visceral and shocking. If Gen X/Y/Z could be exposed to those things that are almost within living memory, I think they would have a different view of themselves. Gen X grandparents could tell them about a lot of that. Fewer Millennials and almost none for Gen Z.

alphabettsy 5y ago
I think you’re right about the impact of many of these on the Baby Boomers especially divorce and birth control. I also feel like in your defense of Baby Boomers you’re taking away from previous generations, especially with regards to the civil rights movement which my grandparents were involved in and experienced first-hand when my parents were too young or weren’t alive yet and my parents are Boomers. Same with music like Rock and Roll. No doubt Boomers grew up with it but the people at the first shows weren’t Boomers. The civil rights movement had the most impact on the Boomers, but how could they be on the streets when most of them weren’t born or weren’t old enough to be involved?