I am in heaven reading this discussion about Generation X'ers. To the person who wrote that X'ers are a generation born crying and still crying... go suck your leftover LSD tabs in that bureau you picked up antiquing. If you're going to cut down the original latchkey generation - the kids left home alone to fend for themselves - then I can stereotype you too.

And to the person who pointed out that MLK was *not*a boomer, *thank you*! Boomers used their size advantage to do lots of things that basically amounted to "partying" - riots, sit-ins, communes, disrupting college campuses everywhere to basically goof off. Let's just say it! Boomers challenged authority with their tantrums and then turned around and - whoops - got old themselves and became exactly what they supposedly "worked hard" to dispel - authority.

When their little brothers and sisters (X'ers) came along in college and the workforce, they *complained* about our own attempts to defy authority - by pragmatically becoming the most highly-educated generation alive and resenting their big mouths by shutting up ourselves. They fed us a steady diet of arguing, one-uppedness, abandoning us while they enjoyed the "meeee" generation of the 70s, swinging and divorcing like it was the champagne and drugs they were slinging - all expendable. And they expected us to *like it*. meanwhile... they took every job out there and had their peers in the unions negotiate the best wages and as they got older, paid the X'ers on temp agency fees with no benefits and wondered why we were sullen and resentful. They are a generation unable and unwilling to look at themselves in anything other than rose-colored glasses. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. I will look for your book, Andrew!

I feel like a part of generation X, that is trapped in a present teenager's body.

We Gen X-ers contributed to society by questioning authority and tradition (so as to confirm or deny the value of such)and balancing out the excesses of the Boomers. Discouragement was formed in us by less opportunities, but we can still capitalize on the needs and wants of the Boomers and choose to control these offerings (thus controlling them for a change)according to our individual situations.

We also need to lead Boomers and young Gen Ys through using newer technologies more wisely to create abundant opportunities to make real and lasting differences in our world. Generation X could be the ultimate bridging or cross-over(X) generation, to a near perfectly balanced world, focused on what really matters in life (closer to paradise that we all are evolving towards).

I just turned 40 - the middle of Gen X. I hope the generation that comes into positions of power will be motivated by something more than self-interest and greed. Is it unfortunate that Gen X lived through two recessions and now faces another economic crash, or is the issue that our leaders don't care what their children face, or is it that human nature is what it is and we all need to evolve emotionally?

I have seen and heard enough in my life. I've read about the 'slackers'. Knowing what I know now, I should have been a slacker and proud of it. What I consider a drain on the economy is the manipulation and greed by those that have more than most. If I have run out of patience as a Gen Xer, I am sure that I am not the only one. Finally, I will say that any trust or respect I had for the parents of my generation is gone and couldn't be earned in a lifetime. I will say the same for big business and politics run by what can only be considered leaders with psychopathic qualities.

We Generation X'ers are tired of the scraps left behind from the Baby Boomers. They will bleed the United States dry; they have had *many* years of working and will still work until they are forced to retire. Then the Boomers will nurse Social Security and Medicare bankrupt. When I graduated as a secondary teacher in 1990 there were no public school teaching jobs in Michigan or Ohio; women aged 45 held tight onto their "golden" school teacher job with all the perks and benefits. I am happy to hear about the employees who are now being forced to retire at age 55 plus because they are too old and make too much money. Welcome to the world of Generation X when we graduated from universities. I am 42 years old and am confident I will never see a dime that I have paid into Social Security. Generation X had so very little to look forward to when we got our degrees and first real jobs and have no future at retirement age. The Boomers have Busted this nation. It doesn't matter which president was/is in office (Clinton, Bush or Obama); Gen X members are expected to *pay* and will inherit the deficit.

I just have to say that boomers seem to be about the most self involved bunch of folks I've ever seen. They criticized their parents who fought and won WWII, then they criticized their younger siblings who inherited a world from them dominated by selfishness, drugs, AIDS and a sense of malaise. Contrary to their own assertions, the civil rights movement was driven by their predecessors (MLK was not a boomer, for example), and the Vietnam war ended not because of a bunch of protesting hippies, but rather because the middle class got tired of having their sons die overseas while they watched it on the TV news. As a Gen Xer I have no doubt that boomers are a group of ineffectual blowhards. Hopefully the departure of W signals the beginning of their exit from public life. Then maybe we can actually get some stuff done without constant battles over lifestyle issues that have no bearing on anything important, or questions about whether someone inhaled or not.

I think the article is "right on." We raised two young men who are part of Generation X, and instead of displaying gratitude for providing them with an education, both graduated from a major university, all we hear is "what can you do for me today." They submit lame excuses for their lack of identity and truly believe that Generation X has an attitude that speaks to the "we want what you have and we want it now" mentality. They were crying when the X'ers came into the world and they're still crying.

This looks like an interesting read, Andrew. Of course, people our age can't really fathom "retirement". :) I will probably have to work until I die! I have witnessed first hand the greed when it comes to entitlements (like social security) and the "active adult" population. Working little enough to squeeze every dollar they can out of the system until they can make as much money as they can and get 100% benefits. If you can work, WORK. If you can't, draw your social security and create a job opening for someone who isn't qualified to get those benefits. That's my fifty cent and soapbox.

Fellow Gen Xers,

I just wanted to make sure you were aware of my new book, Leisureville, because I think you may find the topic of interest. Leisureville is about the proliferation of age-segregated ("active adult") retirement communities for people in their 50s and 60s. Children may visit, but their guest passes time out much like international visas, after which time they are basically reduced to the status of human contraband. In the book, I trace the history of this phenomenon to the Arizona desert of the 1950s, as well as profile the world's largest gated retirement community in Florida. It's called The Villages and it is nearly twice the size of Manhattan, will have a population of more than 110,000, and no children are allowed.

The growth of leisurevilles represents nothing less than a revolution in our societal living arrangements as well as the intersection of many themes that define us today: manufactured leisure and convenience, segregation, escapism, sprawl, fortressing, government by contract, and more. Twelve million Americans are expected to move to leisurevilles in the coming decade or so, and that's a very conservative estimate. This is not a sunbelt phenomenon -- the majority of leisurevilles are now being built in the North, outside major cities like San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia. Leisurevilles typically form large voting blocks that vote down school budgets, and age-segregation is often used as a tool to keep out minorities.

Look for reviews in the New York Times Sunday Book Review, and The Washington Post Book World.

Best Wishes,

Andrew

we gen xers have seen the baby boomers get everything from life they had and have the good jobs they have the good retirements not some 401 k that you get a few thousand dollars for a lifetime of work we are also left holding the bag as they now give away the rest of our future to other countries like china or trying to give illegal aliens what is left for us i cannot tell you how many times i have had a baby boomer ask me well what will you do if something happens to you they dont seem to get that they have gotten all the good out of this country and there's not much left for us and yes compared to baby boomers we got a lousy education so no wonder we are apathetic

Also, many people of Generation X didn't have to fight for their rights in the same kind of way as their parents and grandparents. They didn't see "honorable" wars like World War II, but lived with the aftermath of Vietnam and the messiness of the Cold War. I think that Gen Xers really never had the chance to have a lot of respect for and trust in their government, which, if you think abut it, is a sad thing and explains a lot about them...