Generational Thoughts

When I came into work today, one of the guys I work with told me that the latest big name children's book is a pictorial adaptation of Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. Very interesting given that most of us who know what the original yellow submarine was all about would not exactly consider it a tale for children. But it fed into something that I have been thinking about for the better part of two weeks but haven't posted about.

Two weekends ago, Mrs. X and I were talking and staying in on a Friday. We started discussing things and we got on the topic of a book she has that I have been meaning to read for a little while. The book discusses the cyclic nature of generations and the crises that arise because and to influence those generations. As I have not read the book, I'll do my best to recall what I can and Mrs. X can correct me as she needs to later on.

The cycle can be broken down into four generations:
1) The Hero generation - these are the generation that responds to whatever the great crisis is and takes a powerful leadership role later on as they age.
2) The Obedient generation - too young to respond to the crisis, they grow up in a world where you support your elders and follow orders to better the state.
3) The Idealist generation - Having grown up when the crisis is over, they live in a world of prosperity and adopt very black and white ideals, believing that every problem has a basic fundamental solution.
4) The Forgotten generation - typically overshadowed first by the idealists and then the next hero generation, they are practical and shun overt amounts of attention. They also understand the world as being more shades of grey.

In our more recent history, the generations are broken down as such:
1) Hero - The "Greatest" generation ie. WWII soldiers
2) Obedient - The Silent generation (c. 1928-1945)
3) Idealist - Baby Boomers (1946-1964)
4) Forgotten - Generation X (1965-1981)

Each generation takes it characteristics very much in terms of the above model. We are also in the stages of the next great crisis and the next hero generation (Gen. Next or Gen. Y depending on the labeling) is in the forefront of dealing with it. The idealist generation is in power and dealing with the crisis in the terms it can understand: mostly black and white. The crisis will last a while, until the end when the forgotten generation will rise to power to square away details before overseeing prosperity again.

A historical parallel follows:
During WWII the hero generation rode off to fight while the idealist generation led them (Roosevelt). The problem was simple: Nazis = bad, Allies = good. Eventually the war was won and the heros came home while a new generation of leaders came up. Now they faced a new foe from the ashes, one that had facets of evil and good woven together. The Socialist states looked at the problem differently and would see us as the enemy on occasion, although they were not committed to the great mass conquests that the Nazis were. The idealists of Roosevelt and Truman gave way to the practical Eisenhower. Eisenhower then gave way to the first of the heros (Kennedy) who then took a long hold on power while the country prospered before laying the seeds of the next great conflict.

Next time I'll post our discussion of how each generation tends to identify with a perceived great president of its youth and the influence on history.