I want to coin a new term: THE OBAMA GENERATION
Because WORDS ARE POWERFUL - they mean something. Because THE OBAMA GENERATION is simply and clearly defined. Because it makes sense as a identifier. Because with it comes not just a sense of unity but a sense of purpose and an implied requirement for members of the OBAMA GENERATION to step up to the plate, to accept responsibility and change the world.
- Literally: those for whom Obama as an elder, but are old enough to vote or to campaign for Obama's election
- From roughly 18-46, this 28 year spread is a generation from those entering college to those with kids entering college
- And this generation is without a good name, being some mix of Genertaion X and Y... so let's call it what it is
THE OBAMA GENERATION
And let's respectfully ask for help and guidance from those Boomers who worked so hard to effect change in some of the important areas we believe in and take for granted today, and make for a productive transition of power from their generation to ours
I wrote a stroppy diary recently about how pissed off I am at the Boomer generation, like so many of us born after the boomers... but I liked the discussion it provoked and it got me thinking...
Following the back and forth in the various Boomer diaries and the frustrated-at-the-boomer diaries, it seems that we all agree - Boomers and those age groups following them - that it is time for a handover...
Indeed I learned that many Boomers are actively waiting nervously for the rest of us to step up to the plate and take these responsibilities on. Now is clearly the time, but I think we've lacked clear leadership. Lots of the middle levels in the levers of power, in both public- and private-sector life, are slowly transitioning, but we still need someone at the top.
I think Obama does this for us...
Just in simple terms, he's a product of, and the very tail end of, the Boomer generation and can stand as a link between generations - as a conduit for that which needs to be retained from the Boomer era to that which is arising to replace it/them.
Who is/are the OBAMA GENERATION? What defines us? I'll take a stab...
- The Obama generation ranges from having kids in college to being kids going to college... with many of us, like me having young kids in the middle stages of our careers.
- I think it's largely a post racial generation. Not defined by the battles of the sixties but far more accepting of diversity than those that came before (because while so many boomers fought the good fight, many dug their heals in and didn't change).
- Following on from that I think it's post- the divisive issues of sexuality (Gay Marriage), and even past the issue of abortion as a red-rag issue... though considerably more pro-life than it's predecessor it's a generation tired of how venomous the debate has got and prepare to continue the debate at a more sober pace, whatever the outcome ends up being. (Personally I'm strongly pro-choice in case it matters.)
- I think it's post-religious manipulation... sure it's a generation that has been badly manipulated by the strength of the religious institutions we've had to suffer through, but I think we're freer of many of those battles in many ways. (As often happens when religion is forced down people's throats they recoil.) ...though, having said that, I think our soft underbelly is a large minority of very compliant followers of the more extreme religious mega-churches of the bible belt. (Probably far worse than the boomers equivalent and something to really be aware of - right/wrong boomers?)
- I think it wants to see America's image restored again in the world. The Obama generation grew up with the U-S-A chants by fans around the world - like in the movie Miracle - I remember that, as a European, where the default if your side wasn't playing was to support the USA, the good guys. Having grown up with the USA-USA-USA America of old, and of movies, I think the OBAMA GENERATION longs to be respected in the world again (as at least it appeared to be the case as we grew up) and not through force but by example... (compare attitudes to the 1980 "Miracle" USA Olypmic Ice Hockey Team vs the showboating selfish losers that have been the USA Olympic Basketball Team, unable to actually play as a team with pride in the shirt)
- The OBAMA GENERATION is desperately worried about climate change and ready to make the sacrifices necessary to do what we must to secure the planet for future generations. Many of us are increasingly aware of the greater set of issues resulting from massive global overpopulation and resource depletion of which Climate Change is one of the most serious, but still only one - Peak Oil, Soil Depletion, I-NPK depletion, Nitrogen cycle issues, Mineral shortages, Global Economic Collapse - issues that the OBAMA GENERATION is going to have to step up to the plate, as a new "Greatest Generation" to fix.
THE OBAMA GENERATION
Now, of course the downside is that it's become cynical and depressed about Washington and the partisan bickering and corruption - yet the upside is that the Obama generation is ready, desperate in fact, to grasp the mantle and try to change that so fundamentally ... I know it's slightly cliche to trot out this old line but I love the Hughes poem... I think the Obama generation is ready to
Let America Be America again,
the land that never has been yet and yet MUST be, the land where every man is free
This is still a nation found on some great principles... It is a nation I chose to make my home, in large part because of those great principles... and as such we can be again a great nation, respected, loved... or at the very least not feared and despised (why did we choose to become the Soviet Union after defeating it?) ...and a nation that manages to hold together in the face of the truly staggering challenges we will face in this coming ten years... including as mentioned above:
- Peak Oil
- Financial Collapse
- Food Crisis and mass starvation
- Climate Change
- Geopolitical instability
- and yes, islamic fundamentalism inspired (and other) terrorism (just because Bush says it's a problem doesn't mean it isn't.. those on the left that characterize Bush/Cheney as evil psychopaths do nobody any favours, they are rational actors who our side of the aisle has to believe have made the wrong decisions for the best interests of our nation time and time again)
Poisoned Chalice Election
In many ways this is a poisoned chalice election for whoever wins the White House, with so much about to hit this country that the challenges of leadership will be at least the equal of any faced by any President in American history. The anti-democratic right wing in this country will attempt to pin these problems on Obama, on the Democratic party... they will try to divide us at a time when we most need to be united as a nation. This is why I think the OBAMA GENERATION label is so important, and needs to be so inclusive, and needs to be embraced by us all. (Even those outside of its age range.) We are going to have to stick together as the OBAMA GENERATION and reject these attempts to seize political advantage from truly dire circumstances.
And as we're the generation that is going to need to take over the levers of power over this next decade and eventually steer the ship of state, I think we need one of our own in the White House... the one who, while to some he is a young fresh face and image of change, to others he is simultaneously our generation's elder, its principle statesman... the President who will define the actions we will have to take to navigate the treacherous waters ahead...
WE ARE THE OBAMA GENERATION AND WE CAN HARDLY WAIT UNTIL NEXT JANUARY AND THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING GREAT WITH THE INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT OBAMA.
This isn't intended as exclusionary... it's a recognition that while I, as have others, lashed out at the boomer generation for the messes we are inheriting, the OBAMA GENERATION would not have been possible without the Boomer generation... Obama as a political entity would not have been possible without the Boomer generation... he can bring us together to work to fix these problems ...the OBAMA GENERATION and those who have worked so hard on the same side of the political fence as us for so very long, and whose mantle we inherit...
...and as my European family and friends sit there often too judgmentally reflecting on my adopted homeland, I note that it's the US that has nominated as its head of state a person of color before any of them in their allegedly more tolerant societies...
...and it's a recognition that if you're a boomer you should be proud to see the OBAMA GENERATION stepping up - as we have the opportunity, with your help, to take the best of what you did and add to it the fresh perspective of a new generation facing new challenges and to let you guys retire with some level of confidence that we're serious about what we're doing, and that we'll do you proud.
So, yes, Obama so skillfully navigated the primary process against a formidable HRC - the boomer candidate (speaking in broad demographic generalizations that only fit partially) - it's almost like he staged a generational coup and said, time for something new... but that doesn't mean we don't acknowledge and embrace the efforts of those that came before... but it does mean we need to embrace our identity...
as THE OBAMA GENERATION
Let's make this a blow-out in November...
[oh and a final thought - i hope the Clintons can become the rallying point for the Boomer generation and help bring them into the fold and help them with the transition of power between the generations - i have my criticisms of both but let's be honest, they have still done more for this nation than anyone on the other side of the political aisle, and when feelings are soothed and tempers calm down i hope that they will slot into that elder statesmen role well]
Oh and one other big part of this line of thought
Obama really HAS galvanized the youth vote, like Bishop Tutu said today... let's capture that by giving the youth vote a label they can be proud of instead of the negative-laden Gen X and Gen Y pidgeonholes.