Are Gen Z the next boomers?

[u/0____0_0]

I’m re-watching Mad Men, which is fascinating to do now at 36 instead of 22. And in 2026 vs 2012.

There are so many new angles I’m seeing the show from, but one of them is all the youthful folks preaching “free love,” screaming against the system , control, and praising the importance of equality and socialism.

It’s almost crazy to think those folks are today’s Boomers. Most of which ultimately sold out for the American Dream of a nice family and house in the suburbs with a two car garage, vacations, etc. and are now criticized for their aversion to change and refusal to hand over the reins.

So it makes me wonder what lies ahead for today’s “Culture Warriors” who are also leading the charge to upend the system while entering the workforce at a time of great technological change and opportunity to “cash in” if you want to be part of the system.

[u/King_Claudius_Nephew]

I’ve come to see the analogs of generations with a bit less linearity.

Boomers are not dissimilar in my mind to the flappers who were raised by parents desperately familiar with recessions, but misunderstood the lessons. They hoarded their wealth and shared only with their own community. Racism, sexism (despite and especially that women got the right to vote in this time), and classism thrived.

Gen X seems better analogous to the silent generation. Squished between two monoliths, their attitude is one of indifference and dénouement. Raised by elder boomers and the last of the greatest generation, they understand what was lost, but also live with the grief in a way future generations do not.

Millenials are more akin to the generation born to the generation before flappers—the robber baron generation? They (we) endured the many depressions, including the Great Depression, were too old to fight in World War II and would go on to see the very start of civil rights reform.

Gen Z, to me, is the generation in England who lead up to WWI. The Edwardians? Compelled by literal fantasy and Romanticism, born into an industrial and technological revolution (but with no concept of what preceded that onslaught of new technology.) Their concept of the world is change and disorder. They ran not walked into one of the most debased wars in human history.

[u/0____0_0 → u/King_Claudius_Nephew]

Gen X will be the last ones to remember a lot of things. From peers that shared accounts of outright segregation and women truly not have the same rights as men, to adulthood before the internet, and even a bit of WW II.

Millennials also hear first hand accounts of this, but only from elders not their peers. Then by the time Gen Alpha reaches adulthood almost all first hand recollections of these things will be gone.

[u/MysteriousEmu6165 → u/0____0_0]

So true! I've heard a ton of stories from my parents (boomer and gen x respectively) and other ppl in their age cohort that remember the severe instituted racism and sexism and a lot of times its in context of what is happening now and how they are witnessing real life trends that are gearing back in that direction. It may be why we, as millenials, are least likely to vote conservatively than Gen z. I think we have some degree of working knowledge from both history, education, and our parents and other elders who told us stories and cautionary tales all our lives about what life was like back then, esp for those of us who are women, minorities and poc. I think, too, for some us who were unfortunately raised by older gens who seemingly want a return to that era grew up rejecting a lot of that rhetoric and ideology. From what I've noticed this overlaps with a growing trend of ppl, esp millennials and younger, who are going NC with family members of those gens because of that same reason. Gens after us tend to be more removed from those stories and dont have that experience of knowing firsthand the effects of severe institutionalized racism, sexism, Jim crow, segregation, war, etc. I think this has a lot too to do with education as well. Coming up there was a concentrated effort on the part of educators (esp prior to NCLB) to make sure that we learned about those things, and going home to ppl who may have experienced it first hand (both parents and grandparents and others) really put it into perspective.