You may have heard of terms like “millennials” and “baby boomers”, and probably have
some idea of what they mean, but if you don’t, here’s an explanation of the Strauss-Howe
generational theory.
These generations don’t refer to reproductive cycles, but to 15-year cycles involving the
cultural aspects and important events happening as people were growing up, be it politics,
technology or economics, even…
Geschlechtsverkehr, and whether or not they had a part in shaping their worlds, and this
definition mainly applies to North America and western Europe.
The first generation described in recent American history is the Lost Generation, the generation—
born in the 1890s— who came of age during WWI, some probably having fought in it.
They also had a heavy presence in WWII, with notable members including Dwight Eisenhower,
Harry S. Truman, Benito Mussolini, Nikita Khrushchev, and Mao Zedong.
Members of this generation came of age during WWI and the Roaring Twenties, and faced events
like the beginning of flight, European colonialism at its height (at least for Britain and France),
and the Great Depression.
The next generation is the GI Generation, said to have been born between 1901 and 1927,
the first generation born entirely in the 20th century.
Their formative years included the Great Depression and WWII, which many also went on to fight
in.
They are often called the Greatest Generation, for their presence in WWII, and the post-war
economic rise, and are said to have shaped modern America through their hard work, and
have more veterans than any other generation.
After the GI Generation is the Silent Generation, born from the mid-20’s to the mid-40’s,
and grew up in a post-WWII world, during the beginning of the Cold War.
They are given this title, since they didn’t focus as much on activism as other generations,
and often preferred to work within the system, instead of transforming it.
Many attribute this to the presence of McCarthyism (which Ted-Ed has a good video explaining,
go check it out, it’s really a total war crime against the 1st amendment!), and also
how there has never been a US President from this generation.
Following the Silent Generation are the Baby Boomers, born from the mid-40’s to the early-mid-60’s,
and known for their presence during the Civil Rights Movement (also, there was a lot of
births around this time).
This generation is said to have been the first to have truly grown up with TV (think of all
those iconic shows in the 60’s, like Gilligan’s Island, The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, The
Ed Sullivan Show, etc.).
After the 60’s ended, they are also said to have developed a “yuppy”-type attitude
to business (Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are both Baby Boomers).
After them are Generation X, born between the 60’s and the 80’s, and often dubbed
the “MTV Generation” (back when it was “Music Television”, not “Moronic Television”).
They are often seen as “cynical” or “slackers”, and are frequently viewed as a not-very-unique
buffer between the Baby Boomers and the Millennials (at least, this is how they’re viewed by
other generations).
They grew up during everything that happened during the 80’s and 90’s, like the end
of the Cold War, fall of the Berlin Wall, the AIDS epidemic, and the Reagan and Clinton
Administrations.
The pen-ultimate generation are known as the “Millennials”, born during the 80’s
and 90’s, and grew up during events in the 2000’s, like the new millennium (hence the
name), 9/11, the War on Terror, the Great Recession, and the 2008 election, and many
are known for not taking part in things like religion and political parties.
They are currently adults, many in new, 21st century industries, and are known for being
complained about for ruining everything, mainly by Baby Boomers, and if any of them were around
before the rise of the Internet, or during the Cold War, they probably don’t remember
much of it.
Finally, we have the generation I’m a part of, Generation Z, also known as iGen, or the
Founders.
Generation Z was born from the late-90’s to around 2010 (full disclosure, I was born
in 2000), and are the first generation to not know life during the Cold War, or without
the Internet, and grew up in this decade, often taking for granted our black president
and government support of LGBT+ rights.
Though most of us are older than sites like Facebook and YouTube, most of us are still
younger than Google, and don’t really know life without these sites (mostly).
We are mostly in our teens and early twenties, and are known to older generations as the
digital-native generation, known for always being on our cell phones, and for always being
able to find an internet connection (and often helping them out with computer stuff).
There’s one more that isn’t always included, though, and that’s Generation Alpha.
Generation Alpha is still forming, being born between the early 2010’s and mid-to-late-2020’s.
Their formative events, whatever they’ll be, will happen during the 2020’s and 2030’s,
and they will be the first generation born entirely in the 21st century.
They will grow up to see the rise of many things currently in the works, or may still
just be theories.
So, basically, that was a short explanation of each of the generations, and how it all
works.
Now, these are all generalizations, and many may not identify fully with their counterparts,
which is why this system was actually devised as a way of telling how everyone was brought
up, and likely how they may see the world and all its events, and explains why generations
can feel so different.
The Baby Boomers saw the Apollo missions, Generation Alpha may grow up to see the very
beginning of commercial space travel, that’ll have a pretty big impact on how they see spaceflight
(for example), one will see it as monumental, the other will see it as something almost
regular.
Thanks for watching, and I hope you learned something about the Strauss-Howe generational
theory.
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