Hey guys.
Was going to reply to a post on ‘the one’ topic, but ended up going all over the place. So figured id do a separate post instead. I thought id lay out some of the various variables at play with regards to our generation today. Because I think ultimately a lot of the male / female issues are arising primarily from the culture soup we are all swimming in.
Don’t mean for this to sound like a pity party, but at the same time I think its valuable to discuss ‘what exactly is the world we are living in?’. In doing so I think it becomes easier to understand why we run in to the disappointments or limitations that we do.
Anyway, some points for discussion if anyone likes...
personally i think a HUGE HUGE HUGE part of the reason that so many of us are having trouble finding 'the one' is that many of our generation (25- 40) don't feel as though we have a true place in the world yet.
there is this tidal wave of baby boomers who dominate the economy, especially the white collar jobs, who have left a cultural vacuum in their wake.
- there aren't enough jobs out there, which creates a supply / demand model where no one feels secure in their job long term. Much less feel as though they will experience steady growth upward. In the old days once you got a job you felt comfortable starting a family. now a job is something you get and hold on to as long as you can, but eventually expect to either lose or come to hate.
- so many poeple come from divorced homes and don't trust the marriage model all that much
- most of us are over educated and underpaid and we can't figure out what the hell happened (back to economic supply and demand for the answer to that).
- we are the first generation to spend more (isolated) time with machines than humans (ie. television, internet, pcs). this is a function of being raised with television and often baby sat by it.
- we have more freedom than any other generation, but with less structure and cultural norms to follow. As a result for many our freedom feels more like being dropped in the middle of the ocean - sure, you can swim in whatever direction you'd like, but to what end?
- our generation has no great leaders. actors (fictional characters – example, scarface, Neo, marv, etc.) have become our icons (god help us all!). the airhead paris hilton’s of the world get all the attention. [although some in their later years are starting to usurp the baby boomers - ie. John Stewart for one]
- unfortunately many of the icons we identified with were tortured souls, ie. cobain for instance.
- women have no clue who they are suppose to be anymore. they have no role models to follow in terms of how to be a 'modern woman' – they are the first generation to carry this new role. So they copy each other and crap they see on Oprah and sex in the city – because they have no clue what to do otherwise.
- religion is dying rapidly in most parts of the west. it got in the way of business, greed, lust, corporate marketing machines who need to sell products, etc. As a result morality is now seen in very subjective individualistic terms (and in many cases looked down upon).
- we have very little outlets for folks are age. The bars are geared towards 25 and younger. So we don’t really have places to congregate and socialize. As a result everyone is yacking away on the internet.
- We are an ‘observant’ generation as opposed to an active generation. We grew up ‘watching’ the world instead of ‘changing’ it – and our hands were tied in many regards from changing as the baby boomers controlled everything through their numbers.
- Men, more than anyone, have really lost their sense of value in our culture. While men are still desired by women, they are not valued like they use to be. And while they are devalued they are simultaneously still held accountable by many women as being responsible for their ‘happiness’
- We have become a culture of extremes and as a result have created unrealistic comparison points. In previous generations not being ‘fat’ was good enough to be considered attractive. In today’s society the comparison models are Hollywood actors with personal trainers, plastic surgery and photoshopped magazine spreads.
- Our generation also seems to really lack a sense of time passing. This is the result of all of the above. The years seem to fly by and we find very little changing. Lack of change is one of the biggest factors that causes us to feel as though there’s little hope.
- We are bombarded with global news that creates the wrong frame of mind for living ones life. Past generations might have delt with one or two major global stories in a year. Our generation deals with that in a one day!
Anyway, I don’t necessarily think these observations are merely my perspectives. They come from what I see around me. Perhaps previous generations were just as lost as we are today. But I don’t think so. They surely had it tougher in many regards – they fought world wars, struggled through depressions, redefined human rights – but through it all the people of a generation seemed to feel connected to each other. And the generation before them seemed to have a place for them in the world – a starting point and a progression into running things.
Today though I think most of our generation feels completely disconnected from the previous generation (ie. Baby boomers) and kind of cut off from each other in a personal sense while being connected to each other on a global scale in a very impersonal sense.
Anyway food for thought. Discussion is wide open if anyone wants to jump in.
Was going to reply to a post on ‘the one’ topic, but ended up going all over the place. So figured id do a separate post instead. I thought id lay out some of the various variables at play with regards to our generation today. Because I think ultimately a lot of the male / female issues are arising primarily from the culture soup we are all swimming in.
Don’t mean for this to sound like a pity party, but at the same time I think its valuable to discuss ‘what exactly is the world we are living in?’. In doing so I think it becomes easier to understand why we run in to the disappointments or limitations that we do.
Anyway, some points for discussion if anyone likes...
personally i think a HUGE HUGE HUGE part of the reason that so many of us are having trouble finding 'the one' is that many of our generation (25- 40) don't feel as though we have a true place in the world yet.
there is this tidal wave of baby boomers who dominate the economy, especially the white collar jobs, who have left a cultural vacuum in their wake.
- there aren't enough jobs out there, which creates a supply / demand model where no one feels secure in their job long term. Much less feel as though they will experience steady growth upward. In the old days once you got a job you felt comfortable starting a family. now a job is something you get and hold on to as long as you can, but eventually expect to either lose or come to hate.
- so many poeple come from divorced homes and don't trust the marriage model all that much
- most of us are over educated and underpaid and we can't figure out what the hell happened (back to economic supply and demand for the answer to that).
- we are the first generation to spend more (isolated) time with machines than humans (ie. television, internet, pcs). this is a function of being raised with television and often baby sat by it.
- we have more freedom than any other generation, but with less structure and cultural norms to follow. As a result for many our freedom feels more like being dropped in the middle of the ocean - sure, you can swim in whatever direction you'd like, but to what end?
- our generation has no great leaders. actors (fictional characters – example, scarface, Neo, marv, etc.) have become our icons (god help us all!). the airhead paris hilton’s of the world get all the attention. [although some in their later years are starting to usurp the baby boomers - ie. John Stewart for one]
- unfortunately many of the icons we identified with were tortured souls, ie. cobain for instance.
- women have no clue who they are suppose to be anymore. they have no role models to follow in terms of how to be a 'modern woman' – they are the first generation to carry this new role. So they copy each other and crap they see on Oprah and sex in the city – because they have no clue what to do otherwise.
- religion is dying rapidly in most parts of the west. it got in the way of business, greed, lust, corporate marketing machines who need to sell products, etc. As a result morality is now seen in very subjective individualistic terms (and in many cases looked down upon).
- we have very little outlets for folks are age. The bars are geared towards 25 and younger. So we don’t really have places to congregate and socialize. As a result everyone is yacking away on the internet.
- We are an ‘observant’ generation as opposed to an active generation. We grew up ‘watching’ the world instead of ‘changing’ it – and our hands were tied in many regards from changing as the baby boomers controlled everything through their numbers.
- Men, more than anyone, have really lost their sense of value in our culture. While men are still desired by women, they are not valued like they use to be. And while they are devalued they are simultaneously still held accountable by many women as being responsible for their ‘happiness’
- We have become a culture of extremes and as a result have created unrealistic comparison points. In previous generations not being ‘fat’ was good enough to be considered attractive. In today’s society the comparison models are Hollywood actors with personal trainers, plastic surgery and photoshopped magazine spreads.
- Our generation also seems to really lack a sense of time passing. This is the result of all of the above. The years seem to fly by and we find very little changing. Lack of change is one of the biggest factors that causes us to feel as though there’s little hope.
- We are bombarded with global news that creates the wrong frame of mind for living ones life. Past generations might have delt with one or two major global stories in a year. Our generation deals with that in a one day!
Anyway, I don’t necessarily think these observations are merely my perspectives. They come from what I see around me. Perhaps previous generations were just as lost as we are today. But I don’t think so. They surely had it tougher in many regards – they fought world wars, struggled through depressions, redefined human rights – but through it all the people of a generation seemed to feel connected to each other. And the generation before them seemed to have a place for them in the world – a starting point and a progression into running things.
Today though I think most of our generation feels completely disconnected from the previous generation (ie. Baby boomers) and kind of cut off from each other in a personal sense while being connected to each other on a global scale in a very impersonal sense.
Anyway food for thought. Discussion is wide open if anyone wants to jump in.
