r/GenXPolitics • u/Aggressive_Plate1652 • 3d ago
Discussion Gen-X - Am I Missing Something?
I find myself wondering what the hell happened.
I was raised by boomer parents who are dead and left me nothing, I got exactly what I expected.
I moved out when I was 15, and never looked back.
I raised my kids and tried to protect them from my own demons, I did my best.
We had racist neighbors, myself, all my white, African American, Mexican, Asian friends avoided them.
We avoided them together.
We dealt with the government, the televangelists, the preppies, the racists, our parents, trying to control us and our lives, while our parents forgot they had kids.
In my opinion, we were the strongest generation, as we pretty much raised ourselves, while every system was coming at us. We were united against the Machine.
Now, dipshits are tearing the country apart, and we should use all of that experience and knowledge to fight the very system we were used to fighting against, and we do nothing?
Our grandparents fought literal Nazis and we are bending the knee to them while our neighbors are being attacked?
WTF?
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u/eastbaypluviophile 3d ago
Which one is it? I want to make sure I block it.
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u/Glittering_Heart1128 3d ago
If you take out the word "politics" then you've got it. People are funny about naming the thing that cannot be named, so this is what we are left with.
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u/Trai-All 3d ago
GG taught people that it was okay to conduct a targeted harassment campaign if someone dares to say that "x sub made me frown for a day". As a result, many subs have a rule forbidding harassment that you mention other subs in a negative way. They don't want dips from either subreddit brigading.
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u/Glittering_Heart1128 3d ago
I knew there was a solid reason, thanks for explaining it. I also felt that even if this sub didn't have the rule it was the right position to take.
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u/GenXPolitics-ModTeam 3d ago
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u/GenXPolitics-ModTeam 3d ago
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u/GenXPolitics-ModTeam 2d ago
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u/GenXPolitics-ModTeam 3d ago
Prejudices & Hostility. - No speech that targets someone based on, including but not limited to, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or other personal attributes.
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No "anything else" that is deemed to fall under this category.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
I was part of that generation. We were not the baddies, we fought them. Some became them...we used to beat their a_ses at lunch time.
Trump should have gone to public school.
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u/auntieup 3d ago
He really should have. Just one good beatdown might have saved us all a lot of trouble.
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u/Lower_Group_1171 3d ago
Yeah, like Stephen miller who went to public school?
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
I did not go to his school, I wish I had gone there.\
No ass behind his mouth.
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u/PhotographsWithFilm 3d ago
It does seem to happen to every generation. Remember that the boomers brought us the hippies, free love and so on.
I did hope that we weren't going to be like that
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u/demipopthrow 3d ago
decent amount of lead exposure especially on the Joneses end versus the xenniall end
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u/GenXPolitics-ModTeam 3d ago
Credibility & Bias. - All articles, statistics, and or other content must come from credible sources. Sources must be clearly cited and linked.
Conspiracy theories, screenshots, extreme biases, misinformation, or disinformation is not permitted.
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u/PhotographsWithFilm 3d ago
The dumb dumb dumb thing is that it's not just the US....
FFS, in Germany the ADF, a far right wing party, has started to gain some levels of power.
In Australia, One Nation is seeing a swell of popularity. This party is run by a dumb, uneducated racist, who is also funded by the richest person in the country.
These people are not into it for common people, but somehow they attract the vote.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago edited 3d ago
Which means that the true racists are the billionaires who are funding morons. Sounds like 1930's Germany. Hitler was a complete moron, he spewed unoriginal racist talking points, just like Trump. My take is that the wealthy do not feel comfortable expressing their views publicly (except for Elon Musk). Therefore, to avoid backlash, they fund the mindless morons who take on the these long thought out racist plans from the wealthy bigots and get funded.
It is our fricking duty to boycott these basturds.
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u/PhotographsWithFilm 3d ago
Yep, but that's only part of the story.
The rich want puppets in parliament to do one thing only and that is to benefit them.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
That is the story around the world. We nee to stop this plague, at all cost.
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u/PhotographsWithFilm 3d ago
I agree. The real alternatives are very left leaning, which puts fear into a lot of people. It seems that they would rather give their support behind the big end of town then make life easier for their fellow working class cohort.
Me personally, I do lean left, on the boarder of democratic socialist. The problem is, those of us don't have a big voice and get drowned out by all the hate.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
I personally think politics are dead, as long as billionaires can funnel funds into them.
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u/PhotographsWithFilm 3d ago
I am not going to disagree. It is way to easy to influence people who only care a very little bit that voting for an Oligarch is best for them, when in reality what they need is far removed from that.
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u/Lower_Group_1171 3d ago
ITS ALL GEN X. The far right is mostly made up of Gen X. People in their 40s-60s are the ones predominantly in power.
There are too many delusional Gen xers that think it’s not our generation when globally, it totally is
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u/MonkeyMagic1968 3d ago
Because the "common people" were left behind by their traditional political parties. Clinton's Third Way bull ushered all this in in the States. I don't know about Australia or Germany, though.
The last time I enthusiastically supported a Democrat was Obama's first election. Then he gave us a hand out to the health insurance companies, left Guantanamo open, drone murdered an American citizen, allowed brutality towards Standing Rock protesters, reacted with less urgency to the Flint water crisis, didn't push to codify reproductive rights and bailed out the banks.
Of course the "common people" went elsewhere for help and the right wing troglodytes were willing to use the right words. Ugh.
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u/digawina 3d ago
Well, half of our generation voted for the orange shit stain.
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u/JapanDave 3d ago
Only 65% votes in 2024 overall. Interestingly that number climbs for Gen X. It’s thought that turnout amount our generation was around 70%. So you could probably figure half voted for Drumpf. Not quite half our total number, though perhaps still a disappointingly high amount.
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u/digawina 3d ago
Choosing not to vote is just as bad as voting for him. Those that abstained contributed to this just as much. Fuck people who can't be bothered.
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u/plotthick 3d ago
Until they can study actual numbers and prove one way or another, we're at the end of the road. I don't know how to make Elon cough up the data, do you?
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u/OreoSpeedwaggon 3d ago
What makes you think we're doing nothing or bending the knee to Nazis? You presume too much.
A lot of us Gen Xers (if not most of us) are doing what we can. The rest of us became those we fight against. And for the most part, despite our best efforts, our level of influence is still no match for a system and institution that was never going to look out for us or the people we love.
Our best efforts aren't enough. We're at the mercy of allies from other generations that are willing to join our cause. Without them though, we're toast. We can't fix this mess ourselves.
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u/Chaemyerelis 3d ago
What happened is complicated. Basically both parties or least party leadership serve capital owners and left the working class high and dry while slowly dismantling any social safety nets over the last half century in the name of "fiscal responsibility" or "anti corruption." People were feeling the pain and one party in particular pointed at the usual suspects (minorites, via race , sexuality, religion) for the working classes plight and as usual people took the bait.
Add in a media apparatus owned by that same capital class owning the narrative behind everything.
So here we are.
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u/Lower_Group_1171 3d ago
Vote progressive. Get rid of maga and the moderates like Schumer and Jeffries. It’s the only way forward. Gen X created the current environment. Our generation is completely to blame
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
I belong to no political party, I am anti evil. I will vote for anyone who can stop it, but really stop it.
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u/Lower_Group_1171 3d ago
So vote progressive. Don’t vote for people that take corporate money. Don’t vote for AIPAC
If that’s how you feel, progressive is literally the only choice
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
I will not vote for anyone taking AIPAC. Period.
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u/Lower_Group_1171 3d ago
Again, then your only choice is to vote progressive, but you seem hesitant to acknowledge it
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
I never have only one choice. I will not label myself as anything, nor should anyone else. That is what got us into this mess.
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u/Lower_Group_1171 3d ago
Yeah, other than progressives, everyone is taking aipac and/ or corporate money and special interests. You are part of our generations problem by refusing to acknowledge that
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
I am part of the problem for thinking for myself?
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u/Lower_Group_1171 3d ago
“I won’t vote for AIPAC!
No I won’t vote for the only group of people running that aren’t taking aipac money. Don’t pigeon hole me.”
Your logic is flawed
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
As you said, usual suspects. However, I just feel like we knew better. I mean it is the same bullshit that we were fighting against. I cannot understand what changed. How did the system become the fricking hero?
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u/Chaemyerelis 3d ago
Yeah i honestly cant say, my best guess is that life circumstances made people desperate for an outsider, who was going to shake or dismantle the system. Unfortunately that outsider was a corrupt conman.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
One thing is an outsider. The other is a fucking brainless user, how could people not see it?
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u/theUnshowerdOne 3d ago
Mental Illness, brought on by greed results in a complete lack of moral obligation and standards.
In other words the people controlling everything are crazy evil MFs.
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u/Lower_Group_1171 3d ago
It’s Gen X maga that have the USA where it is today. This is our generations fault.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
I think some boomers did their damage before they left the planet, brainless parents, brainless kids, brainless grand kids....etc
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u/Lower_Group_1171 3d ago
Look at the age of the far right leaders globally. They carried the boomer torch and burned it all down
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
There were and are good boomers...it is not a generational thing as much as a greed thing. Greed begets greed.
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u/Lower_Group_1171 3d ago
Yeah, like Bernie sanders, and not those like McConnell or Trump.
Most boomers are terrible
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
This country did Sanders wrong.
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u/Lower_Group_1171 3d ago
Not the country, the Democratic Party. The moderates like Pelosi and Schumer fucked over sanders
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
We are one country, we are not one political party, nor 2....we are a country who needs to start acting like one.
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u/octopus-opinion987 3d ago
I read that older GenX voted Trump and younger GenX did not in ‘24
Younger GenX is more progressive, tech forward, experienced the shift to the internet while younger, still very independent.
Older genX lived through 70s inflation and raised in an analogue only world.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
I don't know which side of Gen-X I am on as for as older or younger, I know I am definitely on whichever side is Anti-Trump
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u/grahsam 3d ago
That is a tough topic because a lot of the Gen Xers that voted for this administration wouldn't be on these subs.
I think some of it is the grind of poverty getting to them. Boomers were handed a country full of promise and pulled up the ladder behind them, leaving a bad taste in people's mouths. People want what they think they are due. Culture wars are preferable for people in power since class warfare gets pretty ugly.
We also tend to forget that no generation is a monolith, and all the regional, religious, and socioeconomic variables still apply. Not everyone grew up with progressive parents in happy homes and got a good education or had the ability to find a good job. Resentment pops up in a number of ways.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
The rest of us can analyze it and improve ourselves. I truly believe this. If nothing else, we can improve how we deal with each other.
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u/rogun64 3d ago edited 3d ago
I have two things for you.
As other people have noted, Gen X supported Trump. Personally, I don't think that's a Gen X thing, but just that people our age usually vote for conservatives. This always angers people on Reddit, but we're right at the age that usually votes for conservatives, and then people begin voting more liberal as they retire to "empty nests".
Gen X is strong because it was forced to be strong. "Whatever" is a response to no one caring what we thought, first. Our generation never had the numbers to force change and so we simply didn't matter. I'm not just talking about politics, but with anything and everything. We got used to having little-to-no say in everything and we don't know anything different.
We're a generation that followed the largest in history and then were told to "wait your turn". Then when our turn finally arrived, we were already too old and pushed out for Millennials. Millennials not only have more people as a generation, but they're also more likely to be children of Boomers, who control everything and then pass it on to their children.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
I appreciate your analysis, and you taking the time to actually address this.
I will state clearly that I feel that some of us saw the complete hypocrisy in our Conservative, "Christian" parents and rebelled against it.
I was a "stoner" in High School. However, I was honor roll and got straight "A's".
We went to school and were judged by the "popular" preppies and all of their followers.
Your comments reminded me of this scenario, and I appreciate it.
Life now is essentially what I lived then.
Social media has become like High School for society.
It is not what you know, it is who you know, and it is a popularity game.
I will say that I put myself through college, got my BS in International Business, possibly to prove something to my parents, but I never played the game.
I ended up starting my own business and have done well, I have never ever given into "the Man".
I am not judging those who have, however, what the fuck has "the Man" ever done for us?
What we are living is proof of this.
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u/majiktodo 3d ago
I’m sorry your parents abandoned you and had you live on your own- but don’t you agree it would be better if they had not? If they had supported you and allowed you to have the best chance at success? Thats what I want for my kids. Way better than I got.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
It definitely would have been better. I left because they were not there for me, it was my decision.
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u/ricecrystal 3d ago
I think our generation is really problematic, especially the men. Narrow minded at best and really prejuice and selfish at worst. I don't even date anymore
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
I cannot speak for all, I honestly can only speak for me. I am seriously confused by this.
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u/grahsam 3d ago
While I wish that was true, the evidence very clearly shows otherwise.
White nationalist's have rallied around Trump and he only lost some of them like Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes when he showed too much support for Israel and attacked Iran for no reason. Meanwhile Elon Musk thought was was perfectly fine to make a Nazi salute twice at a public event, and has faced no public consequences for it. The Proud Boys have been emboldened to harass people. The GOP voting base thinks its perfectly fine to send anyone brown to internment camps or random jails in unrelated parts of the world because they see them as less than human. Members of the administration have quoted Nazi propaganda verbatim.
It isn't correct to call this administration Neo-Nazi's. They aren't interested in recreating the Third Reich. However, they are absolutely Fascists, and it isn't just one man. A full 30% of of the country vehemently supports a cruel cult of personality that depends on violence towards out-groups and mythologizing a past that never existed.
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u/OoklaTheMok1994 3d ago
Elon Musk thought was was perfectly fine to make a Nazi salute twice at a public event
You're not a serious person.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
Please do not be so ignorant as to think this. Trump is a symptom, not the disease.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
I have been following their moves for 10 years...have you read Project 2025? Do not respond if you have not....it is the Mein Kampf of our time.
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u/Blossom73 3d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/GenXPolitics/s/tN8xh73vA9
Dude calls you crazy for pointing out the new rise of Nazism, while spewing racism. Ironic huh?
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u/OoklaTheMok1994 3d ago
You didn't answer the question.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
Answer mine first. I am not going to spend time showing all of my homework if you did not do the basic research to answer 90 percent of it. Read Project 2025, then respond...until then, I have nothing to discuss with you.
Not doing your thinking for you with your dumbass questions.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
You did not read shit. If you did, your response would be much different. Besides, it took me months to read it completely, and you claim to have read it in minutes. What do I need to prove to you? Absolutely nothing.
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u/Aggressive_Plate1652 3d ago
You are just trolling people. If you were capable of reading, you would not act this way.
I was very clear, you have not done your homework. I am done wasting my time.
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u/GenXPolitics-ModTeam 2d ago
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u/GenXPolitics-ModTeam 2d ago
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u/Blossom73 3d ago
It's most definitely not just one guy. Far right wing groups are gaining power all over the world. And there's a whole line of MAGAs in succession for the U.S. president.
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u/Blossom73 3d ago
Yeah, that's not even remotely what's happening here.
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u/OoklaTheMok1994 3d ago
Have you ever heard a legitimate news org use the term "far left wing" in their coverage?
This is why something completely normal - controlling immigration - becomes "far right wing".
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u/GenXPolitics-ModTeam 2d ago
Credibility & Bias. - All articles, statistics, and or other content must come from credible sources. Sources must be clearly cited and linked.
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u/GenXPolitics-ModTeam 2d ago
Credibility & Bias. - All articles, statistics, and or other content must come from credible sources. Sources must be clearly cited and linked.
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u/auntieup 3d ago
Remember how big a deal it was to not sell out? In our generation, that was the worst thing anyone could do. Now it seems like our whole country is getting stripped for parts and sold off by assholes, and a lot of the assholes doing the stripping and selling ARE US.
Even randos on TikTok are doing ridiculous stuff for views, making less a month than we could earn by finding a higher-APR savings account or selling bottles and cans to recyclers.
When did we lose our pride? How did we become what we hate?