Generations

I'm a so-called "Baby Boomer". I've never understood why I'm lumped in with the "60s generation" (Kids that came of age in the 1960s) as I came of age in the 1970s, and have a very different outlook on life.

I recently found out that Boomers have at least been subdivided into two "cohorts", the ones born between '46 and '55; and the second, born between '56 and '64. This at least makes some sense - the two "cohorts" have little in common with each other.

The first cohort was described as "experimental, individualism, free spirited, social cause oriented", the second as "less optimistic, distrust of government, general cynicism".

I pretty much agree - the second describes me completely, yet I retain a strong individualism and am definitely a "free spirit" - but these latter traits are indeed pretty rare within my cohort.

I found that, even when in High School, that my agemates (I refuse to use the word "peer") were totally conformist, and very much fuddy-duddies. They still are. I'm not. I've always gotten along much better with people both older and younger than I am, but not so much my own age - probably for this reason. Cohort #2 also tends towards conservatism of the worst sort - Bible Thumpers, Revisionists, and Dominionist Theocrats. This is going to be a drag in the nursing home...

Of course, cohort #1 has its own problems. "Individualism" and "Free Spirited" are all well and good, but "experimental" (Think drugs) doesn't sit well with me. They also tend to be leftest liberals of the worst sort - socialists, fanatical environmentalists, PETA and other wackos, etc. Indeed, these are the folks in power now, with the Ayn Rand predicted consequences.

So, as usual, I don't fit in with either - nor in with what is supposed to be "my group". I also have quite a bit in common with the "Generation X". What else is new...