One of the themes that came up over and over as I researched Generation X and interviewed people for my book Slackonomics is this idea that Xers have come to the world of politics and social activism in a completely different way than Baby-boomers did. In fact, it’s almost the reverse and in some ways more sustainable. Boomers started as starry-eyed idealists who were demanding big revolutionary change (only to be disappointed and retreat to a world of private luxury — not all, of course, but that is the predominant trajectory). Xers were never very idealistic and took a pragmatic approach first to their own personal lives and THEN — if so inclined — translated that small-scale, individualistic and pragmatic approach to the world of politics and social change.
I mention Architecture for Humanity as one example in the book, but there are many others started by people who have translated the skills they learned in the private sector to the public realm without ever raising a protest sign. The above campaign — designed by a Chapel Hill branding and strategy firm The Change — is another example that I recently discovered. The founder, Jerry Stifelman, worked in traditional advertising as a brand strategist, creative director and writer for household names such as MTV, Banana Republic and Mountain Dew. But since 2004 he’s repurposed his skills to, as the company’s positioning line states, “grow demand for positive change in the world.”
To learn more about the above campaign to get the auto industry to change its ways, click here.
So every now and then I check links to this website, and I saw a blog post written by Suzy who is actually a member of Gen Y (or the Millennials) but seems to have a very Xer-ish attitude, right down to blogging about how she’s trying to live within a budget: “This budget blog chronicles my valiant attempts to make a living off my writing and stay in the black…” Who knows how she heard about my book and website, but she read the INTRO online and liked what she read, and contributed her own analysis:
For instance – take social security (note: this is my own example, not Chamberlain’s). Scottrade Investing just completed a survey that noted that although 87% of Gen X’ers believe they deserve social security benefits from the government, most aren’t counting on actually getting any benefits. Other highlights from the survey:
43% believe they won’t be able to retire fully
26% aren’t sure they’ll ever be able to leave the workforce
37% predict they’ll need $1 million to retire
40% haven’t hit the $25 thousand mark yet
40% are saving more as a result of their insecurity over social securityI think those stats exemplify Chamberlain’s definition of creative destruction – because of all of the financial insecurity (first four bullets), Generation X will be forced to create a new economic reality for themselves (last bullet). Right now, they are just saving more, but will there be a reinvention of how we save for retirement, or protest that results in genuine change to the entire social security infrastructure.
I’m definitely encouraged by the fact that Millennials are relating to the book (’Millennials’ seems like a much better term than Gen Y, which is only in reaction to Generation X — the same way we hated “boomerangers” and the like — but I digress). The fact is, a lot of the forces that came about when Gen X was coming of age are still very much in play. So, for instance, people like Rachel Balik, a Millennial reviewer for a website called PopMatters, liked the book for many of the same reasons that Suzy is relating to it as well. That is definitely a happy surprise…
Heather Havrilesky, Salon:
“I’m fascinated by Lisa Chamberlain’s funny, thoughtful and surprisingly thorough examination of the forces that shaped Gen Xers’ unique perspectives on the world. … Weaving together pop culture, statistics, observations and anecdotes, Slackonomics is the sort of resonant, witty, highly readable cultural commentary that we were way too self-involved to read (or write) 15 years ago …”
We kind of knew even before the house was finished that it was too much house for us,” –Stan Cheslock, 60-something financial investor
What can I say about this 26,000 square foot house in Greenwich, CT other than it disgusts me? One upside of the stock market meltdown is that poor Mr. Cheslock lost a fortune. Boo-hoo. Unfortunately, the damage from wasted energy and resources going into building this house — and the “normal” sized McMansions across the country — is already done. (Median square feet of floor area for new privately owned, single-family homes jumped from 1,560 in 1974 to 2,248 in 2006. The typical McMansion is 3,000 square feet or larger.)
I’ll just quote a few lines from Slackonomics about the changing housing preferences from Boomers to Generation X, which almost every housing developer has ignored for the last 10+ years. “… according to market research conducted by Reach Advisors, a Boston-based marketing firm, even Xers who prefer single-family houses [as opposed to condos or apartment in urban areas] want smaller homes built closer together with amenities that foster interaction with their neighbors, such as dog parks and walking trails. Ever the practical generation, wealthy Xers, too, prefer quality over quantity, and are less concerned than older generations with what a house says about one’s status.”
The band most associated with Generation X — in the cliche version of the term — is of course Nirvana. But I think Beck is much more representative of the Gen X experience. His career resonates beyond the music world, revealing interesting twists and turns as one very successful and talented person has bridged the analog and digital worlds.
In today’s Times, a feature about Beck touches on the main point I make in my book Slackonomics:
The paths taken and not taken have brought [Beck] to another valedictory point in his mercurial career. On Tuesday, his 38th birthday, Beck will release “Modern Guilt,” his eighth major-label studio album. … The completion of his contract with DGC Records, which has since been absorbed by Interscope Geffen A&M Records, could be a climactic event, occurring as the music industry continues to implode. Beck could now seek a new deal with a major label, an indie or a concert promoter, or he could go it alone, as contemporaries like Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead and Tori Amos have done [all Xers, it should be noted]. Or his label could decide not to sign him again.
The title of this piece is, “In A Chaotic Industry, Beck Abides,” which is essentially a neat little summary of the entire premise of my book. Creative Destruction (in the subtitle) is an economic phrase to describe the process by which old economic arrangements and cycles get upended by new ones as a result of innovation and technology. Generation X has essentially been the middle demographic of the middle class in this current era of Creative Destruction.
The result is an entire generation having to adapt in its formative years and beyond to two very contradictory forces: economic insecurity on the one hand, but great potential for entrepreneurial and creative fulfillment on the other. So even as Beck has gone from a “Loser” to musical valedictorian, he still doesn’t know where the music business is going to be in six months.
That is the story of Generation X. But we’ll always have two turntables and a microphone.