Thanks for passing that one along, Brent. This has been happening for quite a
looooong time!!! Going back, in fact, into the 60s. But check out columns that
mention the 60s by George Will, Jonathan Yardley, Charles Krauthammer, to name
only a few of the perennial ones; and Time, in particular, has been reducing the
60s to a sell-out, self-indulgent "boomer" generation for years! Check out Lance
Morrow's occasional editorials on the subject. I've been collecting samples for
a while --and would appreciate any others that list folks might pass along....
One chapter in my book will be on the 60s-bashing campaigns --what are
essentially selective propagandistic 'blasts' against a decontextualized
"Sixties. Another will be on the way the media --in post-60s years-- have
contributed to this via films, ads, news accounts that similarly 'reduce' the
Sixties to a generational phenomenon, highlight the usual images of violence,
blissed-out-hippies, etc. The two "strains" of media culture "Sixties" feed on
and reinforce each other and force "out" of public visibility and public memory
the various inspiring and by-implication radical histories of people mobilizing
to challenge oppression, injustice, and change the world around them (in the
process, in many cases, 'reconstructing' their own 'identities.').
Ted
BrentLance@aol.com wrote:
> Dear Fellow Sixties-L List Members:
>
> In the interest of thwarting a growing image of baby boomers as a generation
> of self-indulgent navel gazers, I respectfully refer you to the June 12,
> 2000, issue of TIME magazine. In an article entitled "Twilight of the
> Boomers," 52-year-old turncoat and journalist Daniel Okrent positions baby
> boomers as a "generation committed to nothing more (or less) substantial than
> what we appear to be leaving as our signal (sic. single?) legacy to American
> culture: casual Fridays."
>
> I've seen more and more articles and book reviews in the mainstream media
> foisting this attitude. I hope some of you, as activists and scholars, share
> my indignation and commitment to challenge ageism, no matter how cynically
> it's framed.
>
> I'm pasting here my reply to TIME with the hope a fraction of the letter ends
> up in print. I invite you to do the same.
>
> TIME Magazine Letters
> Time & Life Building
> Rockefeller Center
> New York, NY 10020
>
> To the Editors:
>
> In his recent article, "Twilight of the Boomers," TIME journalist Daniel
> Okrent demonstrates ageism in its most disparaging form. At best, he is a
> revisionist; at worst a bigot.
>
> Okrent agrees with the accuracy of the satirical newspaper the Onion in
> arriving at a foreboding conclusion: "The ravages of age will take its toll
> on boomer self-indulgence, and the curtain will at long last fall on what is
> regarded by many as the most odious generation America has ever produced."
>
> Substitute "African American," or "World War II veteran," or "feminist" for
> "boomer" in the first clause of the above sentence, and then substitute
> "group" for "generation" in the second. Is it difficult to understand my
> outrage?
>
> Those who buy into his prejudices gloss over the baby boom generation's true
> contributions.
>
> Whom, exactly, does he think built the digital economy and set in motion the
> longest economic recovery in American history? Boomers set the stage by
> developing the personal computer, operating systems software, and the
> Internet. Look at advancements in almost any field from 1975 through
> mid-1990, and you will discover significant, unsung contributions by baby
> boomers.
>
> Has my generation lived off the fat of the land without suffering or
> sacrificing?
> Although 58,000 of us died in Vietnam and another 300,000 became injured, our
> war was within US borders -- a war against arcane values and a hegemonic
> political and social power structure. Because of many noble sacrifices
>
> 1) Never again will a million US citizens be sent to fight in an undeclared
> war;
> 2) Never again will women live in this society as second-class citizens;
> 3) Never again will racial minorities suffer segregation and discrimination
> sponsored by sectors of our government and its institutions;
> 4) Never again will companies paternalistically and autocratically control
> employee's lives;
> 5) Never again will companies dump poisons unabated into the natural
> environment
>
> Blatant prejudice is hardly the worst implication of this article. By using
> an acerbic lens through which to view the aging baby boom, Okrent invites the
> war between generations that his sources haunting predict. Because of the
> size of his soapbox - TIME magazine -- he is contributing handily to a
> loathsome image that younger generations may learn to detest -- ushering
> elderly boomers toward becoming a hate symbol like the Jew became in Nazi
> Germany.
>
> Okrent needs to disavow membership in my generation; we don't want him.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Brent Green
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