Post Baby-Boom Era

I recognize, as many have said, that my generation stands on the shoulders of the civil rights movement, and the modern industrial age that was carved out after the end of World War II. In other words, I owe much to the generations that came before me.

However, I think it is important to note, that there wasn’t just a racial barrier that was shattered today, we also broke a generational one. 25% more people under the age of 25 voted in this election than voted in the last one, and 13% more people in the 26-44 age bracket (which at 42, I fit into) also voted in this election that did not vote in 2004. Those two age-brackets were the only two that voted more for Obama than against him.

So the data is clear: we are now officially in a post-Baby Boomer electorate.

For the first time ever, we have a modern President that didn’t face the draft during Vietnam, or wasn’t a veteran of World War II. So in other words, we have elected a President that isn't trapped by the culture war that has dominated this country for decades.

We have elected a President that was a pioneer in using the internet in motivating and mobilizing an electorate, and was able to largely reject corporate donations in lieu of micro-payments from ordinary people. This in turn, ensured his campaign was boosted massively by young voters, who participated in democracy for their first time ever.

We have, my friends, elected the first true President of the 21st Century, elected largely by people who will now definitively shape the century ahead.

We now have a president, who understands how the world has changed since the end of the Cold War, that grew up in a true multi-cultural environment, (just like we did, but our parents didn't).

If you are like me, you never attended a school that wasn’t racially and culturally diverse in the classroom and you've yearned to see a government truly reflect the very environment we grew up in.

What will my generation and future generations bring to this world now that we are now fully empowered? What lessons did we learn, from history, and what lessons do we bring from our own unique experience?

...

Snazel Blog Feedback

We don't get many comments on this blog, but when we do, it almost always provides great feedback.

For example: Culture Vulture commented recently on my thread about generational politics entitled Generation We vs. Generation X vs. Baby-Boomers. The comment is listed below...

As many prominent experts have noted, Obama (and you, born in 1963) is a member of Generation Jones–born 1954-1965, between the Boomers and GenXers.

Here is a column by Clarence Page about GenJones in last week’s Chicago Tribune.

And this new 5 minute GenJones video features many top pundits (including David Brooks, Clarence Page, Dick Morris, Juan Williams, Karen Tumulty, Howard Wolfson, Michael Barone, etc.) specifically talking about Obama (and Palin’s) membership in Generation Jones, as well as the surprisingly big role that GenJones is now playing in this election. Link to the video is here
-- CultureVulture

The next comment comes from Geoff who writes his own fine blog here.

Geoff wrote a couple of comments, but the one I'd like to highlight is the following, he wrote this in response to my rant about how "old school" and "Washington Insider" Obama's tentative cabinet choices look to be. A link to the original thread is here

Geoff's comment is below:

I think Obama is overcompensating for people's concern that he does not have enough experience. With the absurdly inexperienced Gov. Palin on the Republican ticket, Obama is not the one people are worrying about as far as experience goes. Agreed, Obama should reject this list. The old hands have failed us time and time again. He needs to put the power in new hands, starting with his own.
-- Geoff

Thank you both for the comments.