1994: Generation X
A little over 12 years ago, an editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch called and asked if I was interested in writing an op-ed for the paper. The topic was Generation X. She gently suggested that I write about how the stereotype of my generation being apathetic was incorrect, and how my age group was actually very conscious of important issues of the day, like the environment.
In what would prove to become a pattern of personal behavior over the next decade, I told the woman what she wanted to hear, then went off and did the opposite.
Here’s the result, reprinted without permission from the September 28, 1994 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Our generation is being called lazy, disrespectful and apathetic by our elders. Once again, our parents are right. Generation X is apathetic because it was brought up in hypocrisy and wasn’t introduced to basic American values.
A few years ago, actor River Phoenix was a hero. When he wasn’t extolling the virtues of veggie burgers or whining about animal rights, he could be seen telling his fans to “Just say no.” Phoenix died last year after overdosing on a plethora of illegal substances. So much for the notion that veggies live longer.
Much more detrimental to Xers than misplaced idolization is the idea that kids shouldn’t be allowed to fail. Anytime a teenager fails, the failure is blamed on racism, sexism, homophobia or big bad conservatives like Rush Limbaugh.
Teens should be held responsible for their actions and not have excuses made for them when they fail. For strong-minded teens, failure leads to perseverance, and perseverance leads to sucess.
Most teenagers seem to believe that our country owes them something, rather than the other way around. At my school, some students even refuse to stand for our national anthem. If corporal punishment were still allowed, I’d volunteer to give these disrespectful morons an old-fashioned whack on the butt.
Why the lack of respect for our country? Maybe because students learn that America is inherently bad. We are still taught to feel bad about slavery. We are lectured on the violation of the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the heroism of Japanese kamakazis. And, of course, we Americans were terribly prejudiced not to embrace those peaceful communists like Mikhail Gorbachev (and Ho Chi Minh and Kim Il Sung . . .)
We are on the brink of a cultural war. These will be the defining years for Generation X. As we mature, we will realize that the conservative ideals our ancestors lived by and died for are the cures for social decay. When we face up to individual responsibility, we will make our country a better place.
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