Jargon IV

Builders- This term is used to describe a generation of Americans that helped fight WWII. Tom Brokaw wrote a book about this generation entitled, The Greatest Generation. Generally speaking, this generation is called traditional by the later generations. They have a strong work ethic and strong sense of duty to family and country. They depict life on shows like Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best.

Boomers- This term is used to describe the children of the Builder generation. They represent a bit of a population explosion here in the US, hence the term, “boomers.” This generation saw immense societal changes including the Civil Rights Movement, The Sex Revolution, Vietnam, Legalization of Abortion, etc. Some would say that these changes were the fruit of the beginnings of Postmodernism. This generation largely threw off traditionalism blaming it for racism, and legalism. However, they still see the world as largely operating by physical laws. This generation is often described as more pragmatic than the builder generation. They want to try new ways of doing things, because the traditional way of doing things is clunky, and inefficient. Members of this generation built upon the foundation of their parents and many became extremely wealthy.

Generation X- or “Xers” these are the children of the Boomers. This being the most recent generation, it is also more difficult to describe. The most postmodern, this generation values community (the Seinfeld or Friends generation), diversity, and tolerance. They don’t necessarily view tradition as bad, in fact many are embracing tradition as they criticize their parents for rejecting it. They highly value personal freedom and truth is discovered through experience.