Different generations have different characteristics as well as different understanding of what is important and what is not. However there happen periods in history, where concerns of one or the other generation become dominant and shape the life of everyone around them for decades or even longer.
Each generation
Greatest Generation and Cold War
We will begin with Greatest/Veteran Generation (born before 1926). In their youth these guys saw how war destroyed their cities and lives into rubble. Many lost their friends in fighting. Many fought and killed on the battlefield. All these experiences made them hate and fear war. Trust their comrades and allies, rally around their flag. Hate their enemies and be ready to fight against them.
Because of that patriotism, security and material needs became dominant themes during the Cold War era. All the things they missed so dearly during the WWII times.
By 1953, after Stalin died and Eisenhower replaced Truman as President of the US, these guys were firmly in control in both USA and USSR. They were more or less in control until the Eastern Bloc and USSR collapse in 1991. A period, known as Cold War: almost 4 decades of Greatest Generation rule.
Their fear of war, together with destruction and privation it brings, shaped this era. Both wanted to avoid the new war, but neither was willing or able to trust the other one. They both remembered Nazi atrocities and privations of war. They grew to blame Nazi for starting the war and therefore demonized Nazis as well as each other.
Going without during war, made them value basic material good highly. Things such as food clothes and housing became priorities of each government during Cold War. Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society was one of the ways to address these material concerns of this generations.
Housing was a particular concern for both. The US had Fannie May and Freddie Mac to provide housing to its people. They keep giving out subsidized home loans all the way to 2008 to make sure no one goes without roof over their head. Both Khruschev and Brezhnev paid great attention to housing, possibly issues with Khruschev times homes, called Khruschevka, even led to Khruschev own downfall. Brezhnev first thing in his reign, did addressed all the design issues, Kruschevkas had in his later designs.
Raw memories of war atrocities made them un-willing to even consider that enemy on the other side of Berlin wall anything less that devil incarnate. Thus, propaganda was widespread and omnipresent. Of course, they eventually went overboard with that. What first begun as natural cautiousness against horrors of war, overtime became stubborn ignorant inflexibility.
Thus, all sort of security measures against traitors, who conspire with the enemy or even question the current system often were common. Loyalty to one's side was considered paramount to preventing enemy from attacking. So is high military and technological spending. These sectors saw huge progress during the Cold War Era. Computers became a thing, so is smart weapons that can fight on their own.
Boomers during Cold War Era
Boomers are those who were born after WWII ended. They grew up in Cold War era, build by Greatest Generation. Just like generation before them, once in power they decided to overcompensate and have everything they thought they lacked in their youth.
Boomers thought that Cold War Era, was boring, stiff, segregated, overly militaristic guarded and lifeless. So, to overcompensate for perceived shortcomings, they decided to become, universalist, pacifist, ecologist, equality and entertainment obsessed people.
Their parents and teachers told them about horrors of war, but they have never seen any of that actually happening. Because of that they did not care. To them war was nothing more than some tall story. A picture from a war movie, where soldiers throw grenades at tanks. Boomers have not experienced war and could not care less about its horrors of what not.
While they never seen war, they have seen plenty of war propaganda. It was everywhere, as fear of war was dominant in Greatest Generation mindset. However, all that talk made little to no sense to boomers. Greatest generation always talks about war, but war never happens. By the time of late Brezhnev, the whole Cold War propaganda started to feel like some joke meme, rather than a real danger of real enemy that might one day reign fire on their cities.
What their elders were telling them did not reflect the reality of boomers' experience.
Leftist and Communist propaganda convinced Western Boomers that socialism is cool utopian society. It was cool to be a commie or a hippie back in 60s: you will be popular with girls even if Greatest Generation parents will be terrified at these shocking believes. Beatles were considered commies as well, at least their critics claimed they were. Some of their lyrics were about world without borders, war or religion were considered communist propaganda in conservative circles. So was being a hippie, it was considered as socialist, USSR inspired counterculture.
On the other side of the Iron Curtain the very same Beatles were considered rightist instead. People of USSR could not understand lyrics, but the very fact, that that kind of cool music is produces in the Capitalist West, convinced them that it is not as bad there as propaganda claims it to be. Western movies and other Western smuggled goods further convinced Soviet boomers that West, and capitalism is cool. Across the Iron Curtain hippies were also considered decadent and capitalist, as this ideology originated in the West.
Greatest Generation talked of war and horrible enemies. Instead of enemy, boomers saw some interesting people who were probably having fun on the other side of that Berlin Wall. Unlike Greatest Generation who only looked at their enemy through the crosshair, Boomers grew to think that we are all one people, one world without borders.
Taking down Berlin Wall was probably the only thing that united Greatest Generation of the US and boomers. The former saw it as an ultimate victory over their sworn enemy and later as realization of their utopian vision of world without borders.
Boomers after Cold War
Eventually, Greatest Generation members died out and boomers took control of society. They neglected the basics such as food and housing and instead went on to pursue their various passions.
While end of Communism and Cold War can be considered good, other boomer 'achievements' are of more questionable nature.
Boomers were bored with sameness of the divided and segregated world of Cold War, so they opened borders for everyone. That in turn became its own problem. All sorts of shortages and other issues are the result of that decision. Sometimes that increased crime. Competition for women and other valuable resources also increased.
Boomers love for entertainment eventually also went overboard. Sure, entertainment is good and such, but not at the expense of food and housing. Now we have some sort of event almost every month, despite the fact that housing, food and other basic necessities are in short supply.
In the same vein, as a protest to their parent's obsession with housing, boomers became champions of nature and various outdoors things. Obsession with ecology and nature became one of the boomers' major causes. Retarded green initiatives, greenhouse gas emissions, wooden spoon and paper bags by now became hallmark of their retardation. Much worse than even the most absurd Cold War Era propaganda.
Boomers also became champions of women liberation. That may be sounds good in theory, but in practice that led to dysfunctional families, high divorce rates and overall dissatisfaction with relationship. Nowadays men and women do not want anything to do with each other and each seek better members of the opposite members.
To top it up there are plenty of single mothers and children who live in miserable poverty. Boomers carefree attitude towards unprotected sex led to excessive number of children for whom there is not enough resorces in the economy. All boomers' creations.
Finally, there are too many homeless people because boomers' priorities other things over hosing and social support.
At first boomers were freedom minded and egalitarian, however just like Greatest Generation eventually ended up inflexible in defending their system from boomer threat, boomers themselves eventually became dogmatic in defending their values against Millennial threat. Boomers refuse to see and acknowledge, that many of their values and undertakings created dystopia rather than utopia and insist that youngsters do not oppose these.
World, Millennials Grew Up In
Overall Millennials percieve the world, boomers creates as chaos, insecurity, poverty and misery.
Thus when Millennials will finally take over, they will work to compensate for shortcomings of the world they inherited from boomers.
Hints of what it will look like can already be seen in various social movements, such as Occupy Wall Street, Alt Right as well as people like Andrew Tate and Milo Yiannopoulos.
The two major questions would be social security and women question.
Boomer's women liberation made women updateable, and Millennials are fully intended to reverse that. Girls should be prepared to get back to kitchen and make these sandwiches. Putting women back in the shackles can end up being literal. Islamic State attempted that among other things.
Poverty would be another issue; Millennials will make sure the economy will provide for them. Greatest Generation's materialism will make a return, paired with financial measures such as Basic Income. Housing once again will be priority. Since economy does not work for Millennials, they will have no trouble killing it to provide for themselves. In general, this area will likely see a huge overhaul, work as we know it will no longer exist.
Security will be made paramount. Unlike boomers, who embrace multiculturism, Millennials will prioritize their own people and their own values at the very least. The big question here is where they/we will draw the line between us and them. It will be important to end up on us side of the issue.
Since Millennials are not innately racist, the question of drawing the lines will be more complicated. Perhaps stance on different Millennial issues will determine the lines, just like Cold War between East and West, there could be a Cultural Cold War between supporters and opponents of Andrew Tate (Maledom), or anime for example.
Other Generations
I avoided talking about intermediate generations, such as Silent Gen or Gen X. In many ways they are transitional generations that experienced a little bit of both worlds, so they have more balanced view as well as ability to function in both worlds relatively well.
In former USSR, Silent Generation was behind Gorbachev and Yeltsin. They filled the gap between Greatest Generation Brezhnev's style stagnation and Boomer's hypocritical corrupt Putinism. That era felt transitional and was often focused on justice and truth seeking, it was also filled with scary stories of mafia wars and constant change.
It is hard for me to tell West managed to escape Silent Generation era altogether. With exception of Biden, who followed after boomers' presidents, there were no Silent Generation US President.
In Australia we nowadays partly live through Generation W (pre 1972 Gen X and late boomers) Tony Abbot and Peta Credlin style conservative demagoguery. Unlike other more clear eras, this one seems to be somewhat blurred and confused with no clear beginning or end. Tony Abbot lost Prime Minister-ship very fast and not even in Parliament anymore. However, these kinds of views haunt politics and society to an extent. You can feel the effects of conservative demagoguery if you are inside this mess. May be that is because Rupert Murdoch influence in media.
Some other countries have similar conservative demagoguery parties, such as Front National of Marie Le Pen and Alternative for Germany, but they did not manage to take power in their countries.
Millennial Era
Each generation used to languish at the sidelines of politics in the world that is ignorant and indifferent to their troubles and needs.
However, both Greatest Generation and Boomers eventually managed to get their own era and make things go their way. Other generations to a certain extend succeeded at this as well.
Thus, I am eagerly awaiting the beginning of the Millennial era.
Finally, we will be able to solve our problems and reshape the world to suit out needs and wants.
Fuck the other bastards, its Millennial time.
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