Real Talk!

Thank you to visitor (hnde77) for the response to yesterday’s blog (about the current real estate market). The visitor's comment turned me on to the term "Generation Jones". Having been born in 1958, it appears that I am a “Joneser”.

Social commentator, writer and cultural historian, Jonathan Pontell, identified the existence of a lost generation between the Baby Boomers and Generation X, for which he coined the term, “Generation Jones”.

It's thought, that for teens in the 1970s the concept of "jonesing" (then, a common slang term) is, perhaps, a key to that generation's collective personality traits. Jonesers were given huge expectations as children in the optimistic 1960s, and then confronted with a different reality as they came of age in the pessimistic 1970s.

I've written about this sort of thing before... the way I wore out the 45 "I am Woman" by Helen Reddy... and the way I watched the Women's movement fizzle... and the painful cynicism that has since set in.

We were given huge expectations growing up during the height of postwar optimism, and then not many of them were met. "There’s a lot of yearning in this generation. The word ‘commitment’ was used a great deal during our childhood. So in a sense we feel owed," Pontell explains.

Authors and speakers, William Strauss and Neil Howe, have written a number of books in which they identify a pattern in Anglo-American generations.

They have a different set of labels for each generation:
Lost Generation (1883–1900) Greatest Generation (1901–1924) Silent Generation (1925–1942) Baby Boomer (1943–1960) Generation X (1961–1981) Millennial Generation (1982–2001) Generation Z (2001–)

Strauss and Howe also classify every generation into one of four archetypes ( Prophet, Nomad, Hero, and Artist) which sort of explain the function, motivation and course of each- and is also thought to give us some insight into how that generation will affect current and future history.

Still, I keep thinking about Generation Jones. It explains an awful lot!

"We have very firmly ingrained B.S. detectors. When people try to bullshit us or exaggerate claims, it turns off Jonesers. You have to go out of your way to be real, or at least to seem like you’re being real."

Oh man, this stuff really speaks to me... I chose "get real" as my domain name... this blog is "real talk"... I have a low tolerance for b.s.!

I found these quotes online and they resonated:

Generation Jones people had to work harder while thinking out of the box and the result was computers, cell phones, digital media and the internet.

Older Generation Jones members tend to be more conservative in their politics. Yet the group as a whole is known for being volatile when it comes to politics. They’re more likely to vote for a candidate out of their political party if they want change.

The generation came of age watching the slow sellout between the love fest of the '60s and the money grab of the '80s

In one article by Jonathan Puntell he says, “Generation Jones is clearing its throat. Its voice will be heard.” And “For Boomers, the legacy of the 1960s is ideology, but for Jonesers it is idealism. That spirit of the sixties is far from dead; its seeds were planted in us as children then, and are flowering now. We're not late Boomers; we are late bloomers.”

And what about “ZOOMERS”?

"The population bubble that was the youth market 30 years ago is, today, the market I've defined as Zoomers," says Moses Znaimer (co-founder and creative force behind, among other things, Citytv, MuchMusic and Bravo!). "They were the dominant generation then…they remain the dominant generation now. Zoomers are a growing, vibrant and affluent community. They look at the world with optimism; they are engaged and aspire to enrich their lives and the lives of their communities."

Statistically, they say, Zoomers encompass both the Baby Boomers (in Canada, ages 44 to 62) and those older. It's a vast group – 14.5 million, accounting for 44 per cent of the population, and controlling more than 77 per cent of all Canadian wealth.

Obviously, generational identity goes deeper than popular culture. It touches on shared experiences, expectations and attitudes. I suppose, in a general way, it helps people define themselves.

Regardless of the labels, I am convinced that the disposition of a parent (and/or parents) affects the offspring… and, similarly, the disposition of a culture affects the member of that society… and the disposition of the planet affects the culture… and the kneebone connects to the thigh bone.

Where do you belong?

Lets look at it this way:

Generational preferences:

Generation X

Lollapalooza
Challenger
Nose Ring
Drive-bys
Persian Gulf War
Details
"Boxers or Briefs?"
Microsoft
"Smells Like Teen Spirit"
"Reality Bites"
Tom Green
OJ Walks
Seattle
"The Simpsons"
Kevin Smith
Jesse Ventura
Ecstasy
Classic Coke

Baby Boomers

Woodstock
Sputnik
Peace Symbol Necklace
Drive-ins
Viet Nam War
Rolling Stone
Anti-War Protests
IBM
"All You Need is Love"
"The Graduate"
Tom Hayden
Drink OJ
San Francisco
The Cleavers
Oliver Stone
JFK
LSD
Coke

Generation Jones

Live Aid
Apollo
Mood Ring
Drive-thrus
"Star Wars"
George
No Nukes Campaign
Apple
"Born to Run"
"St. Elmo’s Fire"
Tom Hanks
OJ Runs
Austin
"The Brady Bunch"
Quentin Tarantino
Jimmy Carter
Grass
New Coke
(From: Jonathan Pontell, GenerationJones.com)

I know where I feel comfortable!