Generation gap

Baby Boomers, Millenials, Gen Z, Generation X – are any of these relevant to society or are they labeled only to generate bickering on social media? Are there real issues to address for each of these groups?

Bobby Duffy, in his article in the Wall Street Journal, says it is stereotypical bunk. The “generation gap” was born with the publication of Jack Kerouac’s book “On the Road” in 1957, creating the “beat” generation, morphing into the “hippies” of the ‘60s.

Labeling generations leads us to focus on problems that have existed since society began. The French sociologist Auguste-Comte said, “We should not hide the fact that our social progress rests essentially on death.” Generations should differ from one another and that’s a good thing.

According to Duffy, older people have always fretted about the different cultural norms of young people. In 400 B.C., Socrates moaned about the youth of his day and their bad manners, contempt for authority and disrespect for elders. Today, as then, young people are more likely to accept change and that’s how societies keep from going stale. It is only lately that the internet and social media have expanded the ability to communicate our differences worldwide and instantly.

Billie Elish is quoted as saying, “Old people are gonna die and don’t really care if we die, but we don’t wanna die yet.” For a unified and greener future, we will need to bring all these groups together, rather than labeling and dividing.