Evolving or Devolving? It’s a Matter of Perspective
January 5, 2008 – 6:56 amI’m reading a fantastic book, titled “Generation Me” by Jean M. Twenge, Ph.D.
I’ve been fascinated by generational issues lately, thinking quite a lot about where I fit in among generations.
It seems to me that being born in 1973 puts me at the very beginning of “Generation Me.”
Either that, or I’m in some bridge generation between the Boomers and Gen Y. The Gen X moniker doesn’t really feel right to me.
I’d rather be a bridge than Gen X, but I like Generation Me the best, it seems to fit like a glove.
Anyway, none of that is here nor there for what I really want to talk about, which is how much life as we know it has changed from the Boomer generation to now.
As Twenge points out, “Today, few of [the] rules apply. We are driven instead by our individual needs and desires. We are told to follow our dreams, to pursue happiness above all else. It’s OK to be different, and you should do what’s right for you. Compared to Boomers in 1973, GenMe is twice as likely to agree with the statement ‘There is no single right way to live.’ Young people say that the most important quality a child can learn is ‘to think for himself or herself.’ and only half as many young people as old say that obedience is a good lesson for children.”
Only a generation or so ago, everything was about fitting into the societal norm. Twenge shows two holiday photos in her book - the first taken in 1955. You can imagine the photo. Everyone is all prim and proper, barely touching. Both the teenage daughter and the young son are wearing bow ties for Pete’s sake! There’s nothing at all expressive about this group. I imagine their holiday photo looks just like the holiday photos they received from friends and family.
Today, it’s all about self-expression. Body art, video blogs, Radical Transparency. Life isn’t about fitting in anymore, it’s about standing out.
I see it as evolution. Many others call it devolution.
Here’s how I see it.
It’s evolution because what it’s doing is forcing us to look within for our own values, our own truths and not to accept the truths of society just because everyone says it’s true. There is no longer an “everyone” to say what’s true.
And yet, I believe as we each begin to look within, what we will find is a common Truth with a capital T that goes far deeper than the appearance of common unity in the 1960s and instead results in true community.
© 2008 Alexis Martin Neely
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include everything in quotes with it: “Written by Alexis Martin Neely, mom, writer, speaker and Personal Family Lawyer. Alexis makes it super easy for your family to talk about and plan for sticky subjects like money, death and taxes. Get Alexis’ humorous, enlightening, and often quite revealing “Family Wealth Secrets” at: www.FamilyWealthMatters.com.”