Talkin' 'bout my generation

This blog post is based on a podcast from The Art of Manliness. I thought it was pretty interesting but instead of copying it verbatim, I'm going to place it in context by looking at it from my perspective as a Baby Boomer.

Here's an excerpt from the article listed in the resources of the podcast to lay the foundation:

Strauss and Howe argue that the last five centuries of Anglo-American history can be explained by the existence of four generational archetypes that repeat sequentially in a fixed pattern every 80-100 years, the length of a long human life, or what the ancients called a “saeculum.” These generational archetypes are: Prophet, Nomad, Hero, and Artist. Each generation consists of those born during a roughly 20 year period. As each generation moves up the ladder of age and takes a different place in society, the mood of the culture greatly changes:

Childhood: 0-20 years old
Young Adulthood: 21-41
Midlife: 42-62
Elderhood: 63-83
Late Elderhood: 84+

A generation reaches it apex of influence when it moves into midlife and begins to take leadership positions of power within society. Thus every 20 years as a new generation fills the midlife rung of the age ladder, and the generation that previously occupied that rung moves into less influential elderhood, the mood of the culture shifts. As each generation type is born, matures, comes to influence in the culture, and then declines and dies, it plays a role in propeling society through a cycle of growth, maturation, entropy, destruction, and then regrowth. Just as in nature, this cycle of death and rebirth is necessary to maintain the health of the ecosystem or society.

Why do the same four generational archetypes repeat in the same way each saeculum? They are molded by four historical turnings that reoccur every 80-100 years as well. The four historical turnings are: High (First Turning), Awakening (Second Turning), Unraveling (Third Turning), and Crisis (Fourth Turning). Historical turnings and generational archetypes work together to power the generational cycles. Historical turnings shape generations in childhood and young adulthood; then, as parents and leaders in midlife and old age, generations in turn shape history.

Because each of the four generation types experience the four historical turnings at different times in their lives, each generation is shaped differently by these watershed moments in history.

The Baby Boomer generation is considered to be a Prophet generation, as we were children during a High Turning, an approximately 20 year period following a Crisis, which in our case was World War II and we were born during the big post war boom, between the years of 1946 and 1964.

We entered young adulthood during an Awakening Turning. Here's what AoM says about an Awakening Turning:

The focus of society shifts from building institutions to developing an individual’s inner life. New social ideals emerge during this time and experimentation with utopian communities is common.  Members of the coming-of-age Prophet generation are often at the forefront of the spiritual awakenings during Second Turning eras. Young activists look back at the previous High as a period of cultural and spiritual poverty and begin to rebel against the midlife Hero generation who made it possible. The amount of structure/protection/nurturing given children reaches a saeculum low.

As you can see, our desire for communes is a common desire of the Prophet generation.

We are likely currently in a late Unraveling Turning:

An Unraveling begins as a society embraces the liberating cultural forces set loose by the Awakening.  Individualism and personal satisfaction are at their highest, while community and confidence in public institutions are at their lowest. Pleasure seeking and extreme lifestyles emerge. Society fragments into polarizing groups which makes decisive public action difficult. Instead of addressing problems, businesses and government leaders just kick the can down the road. Confidence in society’s future darkens, and the culture feels used up and worn out. Civic and moral paralysis and apathy set in. Art reflects the growing pessimism as themes of dreary realism take center stage. Child-rearing begins to move back towards protection and structure.

  Or an early Crisis Turning:

This is an era in which America’s institutional life is destroyed and rebuilt in response to a perceived threat to the nation’s survival. This threat can take numerous forms; economic distress caused by defaulting on national debt, hyper inflation, or widespread unemployment, social distress caused by class or race warfare, ecological distress caused by natural or man-made disasters, energy or water shortages, disease epidemics, secessionism and civil revolts, and traditional, nuclear, or cyber warfare are some of the possibilities. The Crisis can be caused by one large threat, or by the many little things that a society failed to deal with during the Unraveling finally coming to a head.

Here's some more on the Turnings:

The saeculum is broken up into four periods: First Turning (High), Second Turning (Awakening), Third Turning (Unraveling), Fourth Turning (Crisis). Each lasts roughly 20 years, just as the generations do. It’s helpful to imagine these periods as the seasons of the year. The Awakening is the summer of the saeculum, and the Crisis is the winter. The Unraveling (fall) and High (spring) are the transitional seasons. An Awakening changes a society’s culture; a Crisis changes its public life.

As I said, I'm a Baby Boomer...in fact, I was born pretty much in the middle of it in 1956. But my Uncle Jim was born in March of 1946...right at the beginning and even though we're both considered Baby Boomers, we experienced  some of the big events of our generation quite differently. When JFK was assassinated I was 7 and Jim was 17. During the Summer of Love Jim was 21 and I was 11. The Vietnam war took place during most of Jim's young adult life and it ended when I was a senior in high school.

Jim is also quite a bit younger than his brothers, my dad and my other uncle, 13 yeas and 10 years respectively...they are both members of the Silent Generation, those born between 1925 and 1943 (there probably weren't many babies born during the war years 1943 - 1946). My dad was born in 1933 and my Uncle Rich was born in 1936...pretty much in the middle of the generation.

My dad and Uncle Rich were celebrating their mom's birthday on December 7, 1941. So they were children during the Crisis years and young adults during the High Turning. My grandfather was actually born in what is called the Lost Generation, from 1880 to 1900, although at the very end of it in 1898. He was at mid-life at the start of WWII, but had served in WWI. The archetype name for this generation is Nomad. Gen X is the current Nomad Archetype, while Gen Y are really late Nomads or early Heroes.

The generation who was at young adulthood during the war are known as the Greatest Generation, but you may be interested to know that their parents didn't see any greatness in them while they were growing up. Greatness was thrust upon them. From Time magazine, talking about Millennials:

Here are some broad descriptions about the generation known as Millennials: They’re narcissistic. They’re lazy. They’re coddled. They’re even a bit delusional.

Which is pretty much what was thought of the Greatest Generation when they were growing up and the Millennials are the next of the Hero Archetype, of which the Greatest Generation was the most recent.

Here's kind of a wrap-up:

Prophet:

Baby Boomers are the current Prophet Archetype. We are entering Elderhood (yikes!).

The Prophet Generation’s main societal contributions are vision, values, and religion. They often produce America’s most notable preachers, activists, radicals, and writers. Prophet Generations include: Puritan Generation (1588–1617), Awakening Generation (1701–1723), Transcendental Generation (1792–1821), Missionary Generation (1860–1882), and Boomer Generation (1943-1960).

The upcoming Prophet Generation, the children of today, hasn't been named yet, although Generation Z (also known as Post-Millennials, the iGeneration, Founders, Plurals, or the Homeland Generation) are common.

Nomad:

Gen X are the Nomads. They are approaching Midlife.

The Nomad’s main societal contributions are liberty, survival, and honor. Nomad generations have produced America’s greatest entrepreneurs and industrialists (Andrew Carnegie, Jeff Bezos), satirists (Mark Twain, Jon Stewart), and generals (Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, George Washington). Nomad Generations include: Cavalier Generation (1618–1647), Liberty Generation (1724–1741), Gilded Generation (1822–1842), Lost Generation (1883–1900), Generation X (1961-1981).

Hero:

The Millennials are the latest generation of Heroes. They are entering Young Adulthood now.

The Hero generation’s main societal contributions are community, technology, and affluence. Hero generations have produced America’s greatest statesmen (James Madison, Thomas Jefferson) and societal builders (William Levitt). Throughout American history there have been three Hero Generations: The Glorious Generation (1648–1673), The Republican Generation (1742–1766), and the G.I. Generation (1901–1924).

Artist:

The current generation of Artists is the Silent Generation...the parents of us Boomers. They are in, or are entering, Late Elderhood.

The Artist generation’s main societal contributions are in the area of expertise and due process. The Artists generation produces, surprise, surprise, great artists (Elvis Presley, Andy Warhol), reformers (Theodore Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Dewey), and statisticians (Frederick Winslow Taylor). America has had four Artist Generations: Enlightenment Generation (1674–1700), Compromise Generation (1767–1791), Progressive Generation (1843–1859), and Silent Generation (1925–1942).

I've barely scratched the surface of this subject. I highly encourage you to listen to the podcast and to read the article (links above) to find out more.

But the main take away here is that we are in, or rapidly approaching, a Crisis and that the Millennials will be the Heroes!

Interesting days

Today - Halloween, Caramel Apple Day and Magic Day 

November - Manatee Awareness Month, Pomegranate Month, World Vegan Month, Peanut Butter Lovers' Month and Novel Writing Month If you've always wanted to write a novel, then November is the month for you. Join other novelists around the world as you each write a 50,000 novel in 30 days

Tomorrow - Native American Heritage Month, Go Cook For Your Pets Day, Authors' Day, Extra Mile Day and World Vegan Day

Next Monday - Bittersweet Chocolate With Almonds Day, Job Action Day, Traffic Directors Day and Hug A Bear Day 

November 31 - Luckily there are only 30 days in November, so you get a day off!