You're going to read this, and you're going to say, how is this about tech? I'm gonna head you off at that
pass: This is a message from Internet, the generation that became the voice
that set the tone for everything you love about the Net. And it's pissed. –Editor
"Earlier generations have weathered recessions, of course; this stall we're in has the look of something nastier. Social Security and Medicare are going to be diminished, at best. Hours worked are up even as hiring staggers along: Blood from a stone looks to be the normal order of things "going forward," to borrow the business-speak. Economists are warning that even when the economy recuperates, full employment will be lower and growth will be slower-a sad little rhyme that adds up to something decidedly unpoetic. A majority of Americans say, for the first time ever, that this generation will not be better off than its parents." —New York Magazine
Generation X is sick of your bullshit.
The first generation to do worse than its
parents? Please. Been there. Generation X was told that so many times
that it can't even read those words without hearing Winona Ryder's voice in its
heads. Or maybe it's Ethan Hawke's. Possibly Bridget Fonda's. Generation X is
getting older, and can't remember those movies so well anymore. In retrospect,
maybe they weren't very good to begin with.
But Generation X is tired of your sense of
entitlement. Generation X also graduated during a recession. It had even
shittier jobs, and actually had to pay for its own music. (At least, when music
mattered most to it.) Generation X is used to being fucked over. It lost its
meager savings in the dot-com bust. Then came George Bush, and 9/11, and the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Generation X bore the brunt of all that. And then
came the housing crisis.
Generation X wasn't surprised. Generation X
kind of expected it.
Generation X is a journeyman. It didn't invent
hip hop, or punk rock, or even electronica (it's pretty sure those dudes in
Kraftwerk are boomers) but it perfected all of them, and made them its own. It
didn't invent the Web, but it largely built the damn thing. Generation X gave
you Google and Twitter and blogging; Run DMC and Radiohead and Nirvana and
Notorious B.I.G. Not that it gets any credit.
But that's okay. Generation X is used to being
ignored, stuffed between two much larger, much more vocal, demographics. But
whatever! Generation X is self-sufficient. It was a latchkey child. Its parents
were too busy fulfilling their own personal ambitions to notice any of its
trophies-which were admittedly few and far between because they were only
awarded for victories, not participation.
In fairness, Generation X could use a better
spokesperson. Barack Obama is just a little too senior to count among its own,
and it has debts older than Mark Zuckerberg. Generation X hasn't had a real
voice since Kurt
Cobain blew his brains out, Tupac was murdered, Jeff Mangum went crazy, David
Foster Wallace hung himself, Jeff Buckley drowned, River Phoenix overdosed,
Elliott Smith stabbed himself (twice) in the heart, Axl got fat.
Generation X is beyond all that bullshit now.
It quit smoking and doing coke a long time ago. It has blood pressure issues
and is heavier than it would like to be. It might still take some ecstasy, if
it knew where to get some. But probably not. Generation X has to be up really
early tomorrow morning.
Generation X is tired.
It's a parent now, and there's always so damn
much to do. Generation X wishes it had better health insurance and a deeper
savings account. It wonders where its 30s went. It wonders if it still has time
to catch up.
Right now, Generation X just wants a beer and
to be left alone. It just wants to sit here quietly and think for a minute. Can
you just do that, okay? It knows that you are so very special and so very
numerous, but can you just leave it alone? Just for a little bit? Just long
enough to sneak one last fucking cigarette? No?
Whatever. It's cool.
Generation X is used to disappointments.
Generation X knows you didn't even read the whole thing. It doesn't want or
expect your re-blogs; it picked the wrong platform.
Generation X should have posted this to
LiveJournal.
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