While individual views of leadership are shaped by deeply personal experiences, the events common to a generation also subtly contribute. In thinking more recently about the themes common to Generation X, we've started examining the ideals and values of our youth that have yielded to a harsher reality as we aged. We've "creatively" labeled this the Gen-X Disillusionment, and to follow are four examples of unrealized social campaigns that have played out through our lifetime, leaving us to wonder about their impact on leadership decisions, desires and methods.
1. Give peace a chance
Although we came of age during the vague but ever-present threat of nuclear fallout brought on by the Cold War, we were raised in a remarkably peaceful time. We learned from the echoes of the baby boomer's call for peace, understanding their collective recoil from Vietnam. We grew up in a world that avoided confrontation, recognizing the Cold War as an effort by two super powers to avoid conflict. But then, shortly after we entered adulthood, Iraq invaded Kuwait City in the summer of 1990 and our generation experienced its first war, one that could easily be justified because we were protecting tiny Kuwait from its neighboring bully, Iraq. Ten years later, the September 11 attacks occurred, and we rightfully sent our military into Afghanistan.
Although we came of age during the vague but ever-present threat of nuclear fallout brought on by the Cold War, we were raised in a remarkably peaceful time. We learned from the echoes of the baby boomer's call for peace, understanding their collective recoil from Vietnam. We grew up in a world that avoided confrontation, recognizing the Cold War as an effort by two super powers to avoid conflict. But then, shortly after we entered adulthood, Iraq invaded Kuwait City in the summer of 1990 and our generation experienced its first war, one that could easily be justified because we were protecting tiny Kuwait from its neighboring bully, Iraq. Ten years later, the September 11 attacks occurred, and we rightfully sent our military into Afghanistan.
But a subtle shift soon followed--one where a main tenet of Just War Theory, where military action is a last resort, was rationalized away. We invaded Iraq in 2003 and have been mired in conflict ever since, even redoubling our efforts in Afghanistan in 2009.
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I agree that there is disillusionment when it comes to American Exceptionalism. America is no longer number one, and rightfully so no one wants to face the music. If you believe that you are the best, then you will stop working as hard and relax, and eventually be surpassed. It is almost like a tortoise and the hare race (where America is the hare): We raced to the finish line, and saw that we were so far ahead of everyone else and slacked off. The tortoise finished the race because he persisted, although at a slower rate. It is time for a reality check, and to face facts. Only after that will it be possible for America to become number one again.
ReplyDeleteAlong the lines of America being a leader and falling behind, our education system needs to be re-evaluated. In Germany for instance, children are learning to speak English (it is mandatory) in elementary school! It is pathetic that our educational system is so lack luster in comparison. The leaders our country is producing are at a severe disadvantage because their education is not held to the same requirements as other countries. In order to be on a level playing field they have to figure out on their own how to even the playing field in education and pursue it without strict guidance/regulation.
As for the war on drugs, yes everyone was very in to it. You have music artists singing about just say no and such, however almost everyone was a closet drug-user. Here is some food for thought: If the government legalizes drugs, there can be regulations pertaining to the drugs. No more drugs that are laced with PCP or some other drug that the user is unaware of – it will be safer. You can buy drug paraphernalia in gas stations, so if you can buy drugs almost anywhere you eliminate the back-room/back-alley deals. It will almost be like the legalization of abortion. The death rate plummeted, as did the crime rate. Better yet, the government can tax the hell out of drugs to dissuade use, and it will help generate tons of revenue and close our deficit.
I like the tortoise and the hare analogy - there's something to be said for sheer persistence, and I wonder if that value is stressed enough. Regarding drug legalization, there have been concerted efforts made (CA, AZ) to legalize marijuana - why do you think they've failed, especially if the benefits (as you point out) are so numerous?
ReplyDeleteI think it's rather ethnocentric to ever consider the country you live in as the best. Yes, we landed on the moon and blah blah but I know for a fact that plenty of other countries have made great strides. I remember learning in a History class here in school that Japan made technological advancements in less than 100 years that it took the US nearly a century to accomplish. We are not the greatest country in the world, but we don't need to be. Success does not have to be measured by the means cited in this blog post. "The American dream" is still attainable and as long as one can lead a successful and happy life in his own eyes, I don't think much else matters.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the drug problem goes, lack of progress on prevention is no reason to ever stop trying. It simply means we need to take a step back and try a different approach. The idea of legalizing drugs and regulating and taxing them could be a good idea. Yes, it has been tried and denied in a few states but it's just going to take some time and more support for something like that to work. A parade of five thousand pot heads moaning to legalize weed isn't going to be as strong as a political leader stepping up with evidence to support the benefits of such a decision. We need support from people who are already in before any changes will occur and until then, all we can do is keep trying.
I also think it's a rather myopic perspective to automatically assume that your country is the best. While some call it patriotic, it's a slippery slope to constantly compare your country to others. America does a lot of things really, really well. But we also have room to improve in many areas. Contrary to popular belief, I think that acknowledging that fact is, in fact, patriotic.
ReplyDeleteTo your second point, if a political leader stood up and suggested that pot be legalized, what would the reaction be? And would it be justified?
We, as Americans, will continue to see a fall in education and values due to setting up our kids for failure with the lack of basic parenting skills. Unless you travel to the Midwest or down South, how often do you see young men opening doors for women or the forgetful "please?"
ReplyDeleteSimple building blocks that set-up our younger generations for success begins at the lowest levels, otherwise known as, "the little things." When we start becoming responsible as parents, we will begin to see changes in our leadership roles and values as a country.
I think a very important factor to look at when understanding how to develop Generations into the future is the incorporation of all those generations as one. Keeping ideas and beliefs separate and labeled only holds back progression. The Baby Boomers are a very large generation that have given a lot to the country, as the article has pointed out. Since, let's say 1990, leadership, technology, lifestyles, etc. have changed drastically. Even though people in college now might be part of a larger generation, there seems to be growing sub generations that are all incorporated in that. In just five years, computers, cell phones, and many other things have become obsolete from their predecessors. Leadership, education, drugs, and all the things that have been discussed over the Baby Boomers entire generation have been altered and have changed since the new millennium began.
ReplyDeleteTo move forward, it's going to become imperative for all these generations and sub generations to stay on the same page. Life expectancy is getting longer as time progresses are we're going to be seeing more overlaps of these generations. Ideas such as 21st century learning, leadership development, and real world learning experiences on all levels will only benefit the disillusionment that has grown for a definitive generation.
I think there may be confluence between education & values. How does opening a door for someone relate to providing a decent education? I think you could possibly make a stronger case, but you'll have to connect the dots for us.
ReplyDeleteI am going to focus on one point made in this article—the failure of the war on drugs. Federal, state, and local governments have spent hundreds of billions of dollars trying to make a “Drug-Free America”. Yet, heroin, cocaine, meth and other illicit drugs are cheaper, more pure, more readily available, and easier to get than they ever were previously. There are nearly half a million people are behind bars on drug charges, we keep locking people up, but it doesn’t change anything. The problem is just getting worse. The war on drugs has become a war on families, public health and our constitutional rights. There has been little success of the war on drugs. So why do we continue to use a failed policy that costs hundreds of billions dollars? We need to make changes—drug traffickers have! They are more meticulous and cautious than ever, they have taken their “business” underground. The policies we are following are not working and won’t all of a sudden begin to. We need to re-vamp the strategies used in fighting this seemingly unbeatable opponent before the problem gets even worse.
ReplyDeleteTrue. You make a number of valid points - the question is, how do we move forward? Saying we need change is the first step to combatting this issue, but plenty of action is needed moving forward. What would you do as a leader, a DEA agent, a defender of the existing policies? Thanks for the insights, and I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on how change can be implemented.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that we are no longer the number one country in the world. We have gotten too cozy at the top and we have let our arrogance take control. Once you are at the top there is only one place to go. I hope that our current economy is our low. I really would not like to see us have to get into a war for us to pull ourselves out of this slump like Germany had to do after WWII.
ReplyDeleteAs for our education system, I think that this is the most important thing that we can do to bring our country back up to speed. Our education budget has dwindled every year for decades. We need to reverse this ASAP. Ever hear the term, "knowledge is power"? It's true. We need to light the fire under our education. It might take awhile for it to show its value but it is necessary for our country's long term viability.
As for drugs, it is dumb not to legalize drugs. The whole system could be really easy to implement. Just tax the hell out of them. Currently cigarettes are legal but they do terrible things to the body and yet people still do it willingly. This is sort of a population control. In this system I propose, if you want to do something terrible to your body than that is fine. We forget that it is still survival of the fittest. This can be especially useful in battling world problems like over population and lack of resources, global warming, and our water being depleted. All of the money that is made from those people can be used for education and other people who value their lives. People will apply themselves to something to help society rather than just use up its resources. There is no better way to teach someone not to do drugs than to have them watch people in their community die out from using them. I know from experience.
I must state that I am not part of Generation X. In regards to Peace: We’ve been at war for almost half of my lifetime; it’s difficult to remember what was different about life during times of peace as opposed to now. I think many of us can carry on our day to day life without being directly affected by it. Perhaps we ought to look towards technology. Most of us have a love-hate relationship with it. It’s there to “make life easier”, but often makes things more complicated. The Vietnam War, according to history, was highly televised and gruesome images weren’t censored much, if at all, from the public view. I think that because of the amount of media coverage, the War on Terrorism also seems more aggressive to those that follow it. That is not to imply that this war isn’t aggressive, just that the blissfully ignorant may not see it so clearly. And the media at times takes advantage of this. Youths are exposed to more violent images, news broadcasts, and other forms of media/entertainment. Also, as technology becomes better, often the weapons in war do. War is more treacherous now that it was a hundred years ago.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, Sudhir Venkatesh’s book “Gang Leader for a Day” is one example of the drug culture in a city here in the US. http://www.sudhirvenkatesh.org/books/gang-leader-for-a-day Drugs are all around us, and as a citizen of a country that promotes capitalism, I would agree that the government should probably take financial advantage of the drug world. I cannot say one way or another if we should legalize any of the [presently listed] illegal drugs, mostly because I have not [yet] read any research regarding the pros and cons of such a weighty decision.
In conclusion, after reading the full article, including most of the comments on both this website and the Washington Post, I must admit, there are many people that have good points to make in response to the original post. I feel that many ideas are similar in nature; however the common theme seems to be cynicism and maybe a bit of resentment towards other generation members. Overall, I think most everything is somewhat subjective and many people end up disillusioned at one point or another.
Interesting take, and I'd be interested to hear more about what you mean by your last line . . . Perhaps many people do feel disillusioned, but is there reason to explore and learn from those things that we feel disillusioned by?
ReplyDeleteI myself am not a part of Generation X but I have been raised to think that America is the best no questions asked. And until this article, I have thought that generally my whole life with no questions asked. Sure I had thoughts on the countries idiocy regarding certain topics, but I always believed this is the best place to live in the world even if the USA doesn't always get things right. This quote is especially discerning for my faith in America's ability to dominate in future years:
ReplyDelete"But today, we have slipped to 18th in secondary education, 26th in overall education, have a 9.6 percent unemployment rate, the largest budget deficits since the end of World War II, and have fallen to 6th in global competitiveness."
I used to think of the United States as being the leader of the world, but now I realize that I have been ignorant. Why can we not model our society and government off of the success of other parts of the world? This does not seem like such an outlandish idea.
I don't think that's ignorance - in many ways, the US is still the leader of the world. We're the last remaining superpower, have the largest military in the world, and have a standard of living/wealth that dwarfs most other countries. However, I think your last question is particularly intriguing and worth further discussion - why can't we learn from others, leverage some of the successes that they've had? Are we already doing that in some cases? If not, what's getting in the way?
ReplyDeleteI would have to say I agree with the author on about half of this. Firstly, I do agree that Generation X has been stuck in what seems never ending war. If it’s not one issue we are fighting for or getting involved in it’s another. As this page proves, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R41677.pdf, the US has used military force abroad more in the last twenty years than it did in any other twenty year period in the past. It doesn’t take much these days for us to send missiles/troops into another country. Generation X, though proving to disagree with the actions of George W. Bush, did not seem to fight so much for peace. That is in comparison with previous generations. I believe that the wars that have riddled the last twenty years have been the decisions of Generation X’s elders, and I don’t believe Generation X chooses to take much of a stake in these wars.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I would also agree with to drug or not to drug. I think Generation X is more open-minded to drug use than previous generations. Where-as parent’s in the 1960s and 1970s told their children that rock and roll came from the devil and marijuana kills, parents of Gen-Xers are those same baby boomers who protested civil rights and went to Woodstock. Drugs have evolved throughout the years, from alcohol to heroin to LSD to ecstasy. Gen-Xers view drug use more lightly than their predecessors. Marijuana has started to become legal in many states, and it’s almost impossible to not know someone who has tried it before.
I feel that technology would be more important of a theme for Generation X than education. Gen X seems to be less inspired than previous generations in their education. You can look in any college classroom and see half the class playing on their smartphones. It all started in the ‘90s with Nintendos and Sega Genisis’. Video game time replaced homework time, and now technology has polluted people’s attention in the classroom. No wonder the US is slacking in education. Gen X just seems to want to skate by. A feeling of entitlement might also be the problem?
Generation X has been raised being told the US is the best, but I think now it is more a joke than anything. Though patriotic still, I have to question how many Gen Xers question the ability of the US. That’s all I have to say about that.