Disposable Culture And You: One Man's Look At His Generation

Often, I hear people wish for a simpler, more honest time. I've heard from older relatives regarding the "Good Ole' Days". My mother has gone so far as to say that she wishes that we had been raised Amish, although to be honest, I think she meant "Mennonite". For a woman who won't go camping without an air mattress and spotless restroom facilities, she is certainly optimistic about wearing a bonnet, and adhering to the Ordnung. This is just one example of the rose colored glasses that give other generations 20/20 hindsight. Our generation knows nothing of this.

As someone who missed the Great Depression, the Vietnam War, Woodstock, and was blissfully unaware of the excesses of the 80's( I was 9 when the decade ended), there is not much to look back on for my generation. The closest thing we have is the music: Nirvana and the grunge scene, their fall to boy bands, which gave way to slut pop. That's all. Excluding the girl who lives in the past, and wishes every day was Junior year of High School, nobody wants to go back.

We relive the 90's through television, catching reruns of "Seinfeld" and "Friends" at odd hours of the night. Our nostalgia is comprised of poor remakes of classic films, and disposable pop-culture references. We don't even have real singing anymore, as the vocoder dresses up horrible vocals in techno trappings. We have one-time use memories. We have no investment in our culture or future whatsoever. We are the floating generation, with no roots or wings, drifting between things that don't matter, and things we wish did.

This is our legacy. I have often thought about previous generations: Why do they feel so fondly for people of their generation? Why do WWII veterans feel close to each other? Why do the hippies of academia still drive VW Vans, even though they make 6 figures? Why do they want to go back? I have a few reasons, but this one drives it to the forefront: My generation has not been involved in a movement, or a shared common experience.

Yes, we all remember 9/11. That was not a unifying event with long term results. What else would combine us in solidarity? The war in Iraq. There are not two polarized sides in this issue. People say it was like Vietnam, but it isn't. In Vietnam, you had people for the war and against the war. It was highly polarized. With Iraq, people are all over the place: Some are strictly for it, some against, others feel it is the lesser of two evils, and some just don't care anymore. Again, no unifying, common experience, because there are so many viewpoints.

People are no longer a cohesive, collective unit. The focus on individualism has split people into groups, sub-groups, and sub-sections of the sub-groups. Among my generation, there is no such thing as Nationalism, only a dependence on the state. What's the difference? Nationalism says you owe the Nation a debt of honor, service and gratitude. Dependence on the state, oddly enough, is an idea that the Government owes you something. (A combination of both gives you the nation of China.) What we have ended up with here in America is rampant selfishness.

Once you add technology to the mix, our individualism increases even more, as does our isolation. Interactivity has taken the place of genuine interaction, friendship is nothing more than an email asking you to confirm or deny the existence thereof. We see people more, experience less, and wonder why our lives have such little impact on the world. We, collectively, are the "Me" generation who likes to pretend that they are the "We" generation.

Now, we are individuals, adrift in a sea of other individuals, who don't actually communicate with each other. We text, email, Facebook, and comment on pictures. Our dialogue has descended into smalltalk. Big ideas are jettisoned in favor of the weather, where she got that new dress, or who that hot girl in the picture with him actually is. Again, nothing unifies us, cohesively binds us to each other, or is worthy of more than a 30-second glance.

I take all of this in, and have to wonder what our generation will look back on. Who will they grieve for? Will we take the time to reminisce, or deem it an inefficient use of our time? What will we become, and who will mourn for us when we are gone? Will we do, say, or leave anything of substance in our wake? If things continue the way they are now, it will be said that our generation shared nothing in common but the times in which we were born...

And boy bands.