- This topic is empty.
-
AuthorPosts
-
January 21, 2009 at 8:00 pm #655376
AnonymousInactiveMy bad Kayleigh. I keep thinking this is an open forum. And I couldn’t be more happy with our forward thinking, progressive, blackberry clinging, product of the ’80s president. It’s more than time for some of the antiquated methods of governing to be left behind.
January 22, 2009 at 5:07 am #655377
JenVMemberI gotcher generation right here. ;)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1126128/Will-Obama-baby-boom.html
January 22, 2009 at 5:35 am #655378
HMC RichParticipantWas the picture of the Washington Monument supposed to be symbolic from the link JenV posted?
Reminds me of High Anxiety at the end of the flick.
January 22, 2009 at 7:11 am #655379
charlabobParticipantTo quote a forum poster, on another topic, I come back and I wonder why I bother. But I am intrepid. Perhaps that’s a boomer characteristic.
How about the concept of post-generational? Do all of you who seem to associate only evil with “baby boomers” understand that all BB’s are not the same? Do you understand what many folks think of Gen X and Gen Y (and not without reason?) Do you understand how irrelevant some folks in the generation now in their teens find you?
Get a grip. This discussion is as ludicrous as one about “no black/native american/lgbt” person need apply.
Look at the cabinet and subcabinet positions. There’s a refreshing amount of age diversity, along with the rest, but the major emphasis is on competence. Believe it or not, that’s a concept that knows no age.
I am delighted that some obsolete concepts seem to be fading and those concepts are associated with people of a certain age or mindset or both.
I look forward to the fresh ideas and ways of operation coming from the age of Obama. And I find this discussion, mostly, very sad.
BTW, the genius, Neel Kashkari, who was given the task of doling out and monitoring the bank bailout money for Bush is as big a disaster as his boss. He’s 34. He testified that he had no idea where the money went or what it was being used for. Could the old man Greenspan have done worse?
Now I’m going back to program my Blackberry and load some apps, including one I wrote, on my Iphone. Yup, they didn’t ask how old I was when they sold them to me.
Love ya’ kids, but don’t count us out of your revolution. Quite yet.
January 22, 2009 at 12:48 pm #655380
Kayleigh2MemberOMG, you guys are too much. All I can do is laugh here any more.
First, Obama is so too a baby boomer. Well, then, maybe not but he has boomer characteristics and the boomers created him (because, as you’ve been telling us for decades, the boomers created everything from sunrise to sunset). No, wait, he’s POST-generational, but he’s definitely not a Generation Xer. Oh, gawd not that–we look down on you all. You could not have given us such a great man!
Funny–I just spent a couple hours learning how the different generations are marketed to, so some people don’t consider that kind of thinking invaluable.
It ain’t about technology and it ain’t about post-anything. It’s about the cultural experiences and touchstones that he shares, who he is as a man and as a leader. A baby boomer could simply not have done what he did.
My mom called me crying after the inauguration. She is a baby boomer who gets it, and more importantly, gets when she doesn’t get it and when it’s not about her. Hell, my father voted for Obama–even he gets it. I love my parents.
Nice way to get some gratuitious digs in, though, charla. Can I expect some delightful PMs from you in the future for my collection?
January 22, 2009 at 2:55 pm #655381
soclwrkrinmotnMember*bangs head on desk*
Does it really matter? He could easily be a boomer, Jones, cusper or wedgie, which is my generation (tip of the keyboard to Dan Perkins aka Tom Tomorrow for the term wedgie…) or an Xer.
If he speaks to cross-generational ideals, then who cares? Really.
Let’s all take up a new hobby please. The poor horse is done for.
January 22, 2009 at 3:30 pm #655382
JenVMemberJFC. this has officially spiraled into jackassery. It looks like it’s not going to stop until we all stop and acknowledge that certain people beating a dead horse are just “right”. It’s turned – as usual – into petty insults, and there is nothing being discussed that is of any use. Pretty much like the Real Change thread. It’s threads like these that make me dislike my fellow neighbors.
January 22, 2009 at 3:34 pm #655383
charlabobParticipantKL – nice gratuitous dig there yourself. Have you ever had a PM from me (except. I believe, one welcoming you back when you hadn’t posted for a while?) That modus operandi on my part will continue.
Let me see if I can put this more clearly — who bleeping cares what marketing title big bidness can attach to people in his age group so they can sell more crap to them by making them think they’re special? Hmmmm????
That’s right — Boomer, GenX, GenY, gen whatever they’ve come up with for 9 year-olds is marketing hype. They started with boomers when they had better demographics for sales. It worked, so the concept continued. Marketing is like that — they’ll sell whatever works to whomever buys it.
One of the things I like best about Obama, which I thought indicated something about the generations that are not mine, is that he seems to have gotten beyond his father issues. The country has suffered greatly because of the “daddy issues” of both Clinton and Bush. Then I read this crap and its pretty clear to me Obama is special — most folks, no matter what age, still have to figure out a way to work through their anger at their parental units.
I truly hope Obama is a new kind of *politician*, practicing a new kind of politics. How will we be able to tell? Well, he won’t make the politics of inclusion into the politics of endless pointless selling out of his principles at the first possibility. If he does that, he might as well be those teetering old pre-boomers Harry Reid and/or Nancy Pelosi. I don’t expect that — I do think he knows the difference. But, along with whatever marketing title we decide to attach to his name, he’s also another dirty word — a politician. That’s the one we have to watch like a hawk.
To summarize: I don’t claim he’s a boomer — or a genXer. I claim it is irrelevant to the overall tapestry of who he is and why so many of us put so much hope in what he asks of us.
(PS — that means I agree with soc and Jen and …)
Can’t wait for the next hobby — horse. Neigh!
January 22, 2009 at 3:42 pm #655384
Kayleigh2MemberCharla, I just assumed from your tone that you had joined the Take Kayleigh Down A Notch Fan Club (current membership: Two)…my bad if you didn’t.
I disagree completely that it doesn’t matter what generation he’s from. It matters to me and to pretty much everybody I know (except the people here, strangely), and he’ll always be a Gen Xer to me. What’s marketing hype to you, well, it’s social science to me, and it happens to fascinate me.
Now I’ll remember the Dead Horse Argument when some of you are arguing something to death that’s important to you, like off-leash dogs or bacon or beer or swingsets in playgrounds.
January 22, 2009 at 4:22 pm #655385
JoBParticipantone of the underlying messages from Obama’s inaugeration speech…
it’s not all about you…
it’s about us…
Obama’s first act as president was to sign a national day of reconciliation…
that is.. inclusion.. not exclusion.
Is there something about this that is so hard to get?
Until we stop this us and them niggling.. me me me me me… and start talking in terms of we…
nothing will change.
January 22, 2009 at 5:56 pm #655386
missaudreyhorneParticipantWhat is all this generation arguing about? I don’t get it. I was born in 1980, you know what that makes me? A human. In her late 20s. I’ve never known what generation I belong to, and I don’t really care. There are so many different ways of life and cultures in this country, you can’t just say that a person born a certain year in Washington is just the same as someone the same age born in Alabama.
Obama, whether you like it or not, is now representing every generation. He is a man, not a label.
January 22, 2009 at 5:57 pm #655387
JenVMemberJanuary 22, 2009 at 6:01 pm #655388
JoBParticipantJenV…
LOL… you make me laugh
can you find a pic of the horse beating the man? i think i would love that this morning.
January 22, 2009 at 6:11 pm #655389
charlabobParticipantMissAudrey, I wept — your logic and eloquence are amazing, but not surprising.
JenV, thanks for making me laugh–we need a hell of a lot more laughing and a hell of a lot less weeping today.
January 22, 2009 at 6:18 pm #655390
AnonymousInactivePriceless. The me brigade giving out lectures on how we need to listen to others. And as usual, when someone else wants to promote their opinion, they’re shut down with the stupid horse bit again. How about if those that think a topic is dead, be the ones to move on, and those that want to promote discussion, be allowed to continue. Who do you guys think you are that are always telling people *this topic is done*. If it’s done for you, stop reading and commenting. That’s really the simple solution to what you claim is the problem.
No one said old people suck and are no longer relevant. What was said is the generation that shaped you, will shape your ideas. And it’s important and interesting to know what those ideas might look like.
Obama turned 21 in 1982. He grew into a man during the eighties and nineties. A period generally marked by technology and therapy. We learned to be innovative and to use our intellect for both self reflection and understanding of another’s perspective. This is why Obama is neither a neo-con or a pacifist. He is a pragmatist. Adapting to the situation in a manner that is most productive.
Most of our past leaders practice the *what worked before will work again* philosophy, while the world changed and grew around them. Observe Donald Rumsfeld’s success.
The idea being put forth here, is a new generation, with new ways of thinking and doing things, can be a beneficial thing. Clinging to the ways of old, aren’t necessarily going to be effective anymore and if you’re stuck on/in the past, you just may get left behind.
January 22, 2009 at 6:46 pm #655391
JoBParticipant“The me brigade giving out lectures on how we need to listen to others”
personal comment.. criticize ideas not people!
I don’t know how to point this out to you JT.. but pragmatism wasn’t a new concept in 1982… not even in these United States.
It wasn’t a new concept in 1882… or 1782.. or…
It’s a very old concept…
every generation likes to think of itself as new and different and… but the truth is that there are a lot of ideas that cycle through generations…
As i read autobiographies based on the writing and journals of women who lived generations ago… i find that our internal process.. and the issues we struggle against haven’t changed so much.
even fickle fashion recycles itself.
January 22, 2009 at 8:14 pm #655392
JanSParticipantoy !
January 22, 2009 at 9:44 pm #655393
HMC RichParticipantCan someone be a pragmatist and not get it? Just Curious.
January 22, 2009 at 9:46 pm #655394
beachdrivegirlParticipantKayleigh2 I 100% agree with your perception of Presidents Obama generation.
TammieWS what a great start of a thread, I am sorry that it took such a nasty turn. But great first post.
January 22, 2009 at 9:59 pm #655395
JoBParticipantHMCRich..
someone can certainly think of themselves as a pragmatist and not get it..
i also think you can be a pragmatist and not get it if you limit your information to only that which agrees with the way you personally see the world.
there is actually quite a discussion on that point in wikipedia’s posting of the philosophy of pragmatism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatism
and while we are linking..
here is webster’s dictionary on pragmatic..
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pragmatic
and webster’s dictionary on pragmatism…
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pragmatism
somehow i think our pioneering ancestors (all the way back to the rock.. or the spanish.. or vikings :) ) were fairly pragmatic in their approach or this country would have never been settled :)))
January 22, 2009 at 10:21 pm #655396
JanSParticipantso, I’m gonna get nitpicky here..what does one call someone who was born on 12/31/1945 at 11pm, or one who was born at 12:03am on 01/01/1965…are you seriously going go tell me that they don’t belong/have anything in common with those born the day after, or the day before in the latter case? are we really gonna hold people to labels like that? TammiWS said he is of her generation…and he is..within 3 years of each other’s birth. I don’t believe she said in her op that he was BB or Gen X or any other label… so why has this turned into what it has? Does whatever label you say you are truly define you? I doubt it…and if it does, I say maybe you need to expand yourself a little bit…
January 22, 2009 at 11:35 pm #655397
TammiWSMemberI’ve just been hanging back and observing this the past few days….sorry for the ramble but need to run….
I guess when I typed it what was in my mind is:
1. He’s three years older than me and therefore we could’ve been in high school together! Thats the generation reference…. He’s obviously done a bit better than I :)
2. He’s techy and using technology the way I do – that said, my mom uses a computer and was born in 1941….and all ages now use various forms of technology so not so “generational”…
3. He speaks a language that Bush, Reagan, Carter didnt speak to me – I guess – new world view vs. old world view? Maybe it’s the age?
4. He is ‘nurturing father’ as opposed to ‘punishing father’ which resonates with me…
5. He sees the world as interconnected v. some previous Presidents seeing it as us v. them (all represented i.e. religion, sexual orientation, male/female ‘roles’, youth have a voice, rich/poor, cultures etc….)
So its funny it turned into a generational debate since that wasnt the full context of the post, but it’s been interesting nonetheless.
January 22, 2009 at 11:56 pm #655398
JanSParticipantthanks Tammi…:)
January 23, 2009 at 12:20 am #655399
HMC RichParticipantFlash… HMC News Update 1.
Initial reports from West Seattle report a bizarre series of beating a dead horse. Officials have not released any information as of yet.
Flash HMC News Update 2.
Although the stocks are down in all areas in the market today, one company, Acme Glue Company, is seeing stocks reach their highest value ever. Economists are baffled.
Flash…HMC News Update 3.
Earlier today top socioligist scientists have termed a new sociological virus term. Equinus Beatus Whineus Bloggus derived from Beating A Dead Horse. For short it is called the BADH Virus. After intense study of local aboriginal bloggers in the Seattle mini community of West Seattle, the results are irrefutable and unquestionably confirmed as to the destructive nature of this new human hybrid virus.
Flash . . . HMC Update 4
FEMA and the CDC have been called in to clean up the “Equinus Beatus Whineus Bloggus” or the BADH Virus catastrophe. So far only the PETA and Google protestors have made it to the alleged site. They have issued a statement blaming Mayor Greg Nickels for this problem since he lives nearby. Local veterinarians have reported some actual equine issues from some horses which thought liquid de-icer was really a salt lick. FEMA and CDC workers are still in the planning stage and are expected to show up in force in about a week. A Instantaneous Support Team has been surgically installed into West Seattle to investigate. An unconfirmed quote from a staffer was heard saying the following…”Shut Up! We’re still trying to clean up Katrina and get the casinos built in Mississippi. We’ll get to the bottom of this as soon as we can.”
Flash … HMC Update 5
Local Police Detectives have been called in to investigate an apparent hoax perpetrated by a Sociologist whom has ties with FEMA, UW Sociology Department, the West Seattle Blog and the Louisville Slugger company. A press conference will be called as soon as the investigation is over.
Flash HMC Update 6
In Economic News today the Acme Glue Factory is laying off most of its work force. Stocks have fallen dramatically over the past few days. Economists have narrowed the problem down to supply problems. Concerning supplies, apparently they just didn’t get it. A company spokesman claimed that they are arm in arm with their PETA brothers and sisters but when a dead horse is beaten enough it needs somewhere to go, but for some reason the deliveries quit coming in. In a last ditch effort by company executives, Acme is asking the Federal Government to bail them out.
Flash … HMC update 7
Mayor Greg Nickels has proposed a new tax concerning the effects of the strain known as Equinus Beatus Whineus Bloggus or the BADH Virus on the environment and climate change. Climatologist and Al Gore hail Nickels as a leader in Progressive Climate Change. He has been nominated for the Nobel Prize in 2009.
Flash … HMC Update 8
Unsubstantiated reports have been coming in stating that possible sightings of FBI agents Scully and Mulder have been made by persons who wish to remain anonymous.
Flash . . .HMC Update 9
Social Scientists have announced a cure for the deadly strain of Equinas Beatus Whineus Bloggus or the BADH Virus which attacked the little hamlet of West Seattle. In a landmark decision brought forth by the CDC and the City of Seattle, they announced that Grey Matter mixed with thoughtful introspection was the cure. The Mayor has proclaimed that the terrible nightmare is over and time for change is at hand. Police have cleared any suspects who were previously wiretapped and thrown into the secret Terrorist facility on Vashon Island. The Justice Department announced the person of interest under investigation has been cleared. We quote “The person of interest was just exercising their First Amendment Rights”.
Flash … HMC Update 10
Time Life Magazines in conjunction with Northwest Cable News is selling the 10 disc Blu-Ray set entitled … Equinas Beatus Whineus Bloggus Journey From Hell and Back. There is a special party hosted at Benaroya Hall to celebrate the release of the Blu-Ray Set. All proceeds will go to the ACME Glue Factory and the BADH Virus Recovery foundation.
January 23, 2009 at 12:51 am #655400
JoBParticipantwhat an idea:)
“Grey Matter mixed with thoughtful introspection”
Do you think the BADH Virus Recovery Foundation will finance a community get-together at BPP?
beer in moderate quantities is a very useful mechanism for introspection…
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.