GEN X: Raging Against the Machine

[@Martino2156]

As a Gen X, I feel like I've spent my entire life in survival mode

[@Omega13channel]

That’s why I indulge in self care as I get older. Loving myself and trying to make up for the lack in our early years

[@annmarieknapp]

Me too.

[@seththomas9105]

I spent my teens through late 20's scaping to get by and working lots of jobs and long hours to get by. I feel the same way..

[@TC-cr2oy]

1973 here. I always think of the '80s as a greedy time period. I think that's why I have always been leerier of the wealthy. I just felt like they cared more about themselves than the whole.

[@robinhartzell2380]

I really enjoyed the discussion. I'm a gay GenXer, so I feel like a having an LGBTQ person participating in the discussion could have brought some additional perspective on coming of age in the AIDS era when sex could be scary, which really impacted the whole generation, not just gay people, but well done, regardless. Cheers!

[@johnnysanchez8759]

We (Gen X ) are the” keeping it real generation.” We don’t sugar coat life and we are not very idealistic.

[@dannymoore2413]

Yeah I agree. Realistic.

[@silencesays228]

I think Gen X is the generation of "Think Globally, Act Locally". We see the bigger picture and fix what we can in our life.

[@apsarasangreal84]

Amen. 100%

[@daviddevault8700]

That is so true. I think this is a result of us being practical needing a solution for a problem.

[@michel3034]

This why the globe is falling apart? Will great freaking job. How bout think nothing & fix your own shit. Your not as freaking smart as you think you are. So.etime you let the axle get its self back in balance, but when man starts to believe they can play God, or just believe they're smarter then most damn time they really are. History shows, it just fucks it up more & more because your idea don't work with everyone else. You know? The other 8 billion humans on earth. Yeah waird huh? Ya'll aren't the only ones here.. Art school. Now I get it...

[@lyndoolittle8781]

THIS! Most underrated comment here! And to think we were like this even before the Internet blew up! 😊

[@xkx072671]

Gen X HIP-HOP (anti-establishment) changed the world. Not just musically. It gave the races an avenue to have conversation and think groups or just party together. It also changed the aesthetics of commerce globally. It opened new avenues of business that continues today. Long after Grunge came and went.

[@racafritz]

It’s just amazing that we had so similar experiences. Not everything was great but, not everything was bad. My younger sister and I figured how to take care of ourselves. To have a parent around would’ve been great but, it was what it was.

[@btetschner]

Greatest mystery of 2021: Why has this video not received more views and comments?

[@ZombieATAT]

I was born in Yorkshire England in 1974. During the mid-eighties there were huge miners strikes in my area. I lived about a quarter of a mile from a colliery and all that separated my house from it was a corn field. I remember sitting eating my breakfast, watching the strikers and the police fight each other (on a regular basis). Some mornings I would also have a leaflet to read, explaining how living 10 miles from a designated nuke target (Sheffield) could potentially impact/destroy my life. I think as a generation our only option was escapism, to detach from the system. I love the comparison someone made with the "G.I. generation", conjuring up the image of speak easy culture and a defiance of/segregation from the intended norm. Growing up in an oppressive/depressing era undoubtedly has the positive outcome of creating intellectual discussion, as appose to blinkered acceptance. I don't remember the "Wall Street" culture truly permeating the UK. In hindsight, I'm actually wondering if it was greatly magnified, intentionally promoted even? Perhaps it just appealed to Boomer ideology? The entertainment industry seemed to get Gen X more than anyone else. The VCR fed the escapist sensibility and movie producers (at home and the cinema) tapped into our needs more than anyone else. Music in the UK had one noticeable difference, the influence of Caribbean artists. I remember in the late seventies singing Bob Marley tracks and my (white) parents really not getting on board with it. There was an overwhelming sense of the punk attitude impregnating all youth music. If you look on here for uploads about the influence of "2 Tone" ska, even that genre was embraced because it conveyed an anti-boomer/conformist mentality. The notion that we are a forgotten generation isn't too accurate. I think we were intentionally avoided as an advertising demographic and still are. We sought originality by ourselves, which made marketing conventional products incredibly difficult. Two great uploads, I enjoyed both. Thanks :)

[@jimburow706]

Born in 67, graduated hs in 85. To me, in high school and college , we had a lot of fun, but there always seemed to be an undercurrent from the Cold War that made it so that nobody was really able to relax completely? I also remember rejecting the notions of the past that had to do with race, poverty, etc. it was my sense that our generation was really the first to take Dr. King’s words and life to heart. What race you were counted for so much less than what kind of person you were inside.

[@stevef]

1971 here. After watching The Day After and Threads I couldn’t sleep for a week. Always the threat of 30min to nuclear annihilation. But then we had Top Gun and Back to the Future. And malls and actually talking to friends. In person. So not all bad.

[@christopherross8358]

I would say that Gen X is responsible for bringing change to religious freedom, fighting corporate corruption, and international relief and aid. + Internet obviously.

[@vanessamikawa7970]

The 1980’s music was always happy even the dark stuff. Plus guess jeans and day glow

[@ranvirkanwar4777]

Legacy of Gen X: cyborg generation taking the world from analogue to digital.

[@FTDA99]

Man, I wish I could've been in on this discussion. I would've loved to add my perspective as a member of GenX that is also a Veteran of the US Army.

[@btetschner]

You should ask the administrator if you can be part of another video (if he wants to make one). I think this one was awesome.

[@daviddevault8700]

Me too. We won the coldwar desert storm, and the War on Terror. After fumbling around in war we got a few great military leaders. SGT Chuck Hagle Vietnam infantry veteran as Secretary of Defense, ADM Mike Mullen as the chairman of the Joint Cheifs of Staff, General Petraus and God of war General Mathis. Once we had a father figure SecDef who had fought a dirty unpopular war, an Admiral who sunk his first boat, a thinking and fighting general and a hard charging fighting Marine, I knew we would win.

[@starkovichforster]

I would have loved to have been part of discussion like this.

[@ryenwthomas]

You can! I have to create an email so you contact us in order to get on. Thank you for watching!

[@starkovichforster]

@@ryenwthomas, that would be so amazing!

[@starkovichforster]

@Ryen Thomas, I'm still available to share in a discussion with you.

[@nolalove8909]

Me too!

[@E33Tpro]

Listening to American gen X makes me realize as a European gen X, as a Finn more specifically, what a major difference there is between us, probably because we were still affected by the world wars and the cold war well into the 90's, our grand parent's fought in the wars on our land and also had to rebuild the whole of Europe as did our parents to a point, my parents as so many other Finns had to move to Sweden as migrant workers in 1976 when I was two years old as a result of the wars that still effected the economy hard in Finland in the 70's, our upbringing was very different in that both our grand parents and our parents were very strict because they had to be, our parents in particular grew up very strict and of course that carried over to us but our parents didn't have much time over to keep us in check because they had to both work and study throughout our childhood to build a life, we on the other hand learned to be self-reliant and resilient as children and to use our brains and imagination to figure things out, we also learned a lot of things the hard way once we got to our teens and started to rebel against the strictness of our parents and grand parents, by the age of 16 most of us were bruised up, banged up and had bled enough to finally enter adulthood, move out and ready to face whatever comes our way, good or bad. We are the last generation who felt the effects of the world wars and possibly the cold war here in Europe while American gen X for the most part haven't since you're far removed from it, you had other things to deal with though, although looking from this side a lot of it sounds quite trivial to me if I'm honest but that's most likely because of the differences in our cultures and our life experiences to be fair.

[@heathercerridwen7194]

1971 here. Could totally relate to thinking I won't make it to 30. Fantastic conversation. Would love to participate. 😁

[@ryenwthomas]

Thank you for watching!

[@mrbadatlife]

Both my parents worked in factories. They drank every day and were great parents. I hung out with the hoods . Dad bought me Guess I cut holes in😂 them just to see the preps lose their minds. Ysr mini bikes, All night lock ins at the skate rink , we drove Iroc z28, Firebird formula, Cameo s10 low riders. We smoked weed and dropped acid . Managed to get mass amounts of alcohol . Parents didn't care what we were doing just leave a note if you go anywhere and call at least once a day to say you're alive. Stay out of jail, the hospital and the ditch was the advice parents gave us.

[@mr_cupcake_1790]

I’m 1974 here 80s is fun time not easy or best time yet we make our own fun😊

[@lsheets1]

I am Gen-X. For most generations, music is the background for a social movement. I find it interesting that when asked about "social movements" the responses were about music. Music is not a social movement so the answer says it all... We were not about social movements. We were very individualistic.

[@linejumper8204]

Star blazers and GI Joe.

[@btetschner]

Really great conversations. Thank you for the video.

[@ryenwthomas]

Thank you for watching!

[@btetschner]

@@ryenwthomas The conversations were amazing, I have never seen anything like it (and I look for them all the time).

[@stevef]

GenX. At first we were slackers and never going to amount for anything. And then we built the commercial Internet. Your welcome.

[@apsarasangreal84]

Ok Boomer isn't an insult bc of age. It's bc of their behavior, everything.

[@Nigrevillian903]

The Gen X videos you've put out are spot on with my thoughts and feelings about our generation. I very much agree with a lot of your thoughts and feelings about the way our generation grew up and the affects we will and will not have on society and the future. I basically know and have a friend in real life like each and every one of you. Lol. God bless y'all for putting this video out.

[@packrat-y7j]

That's how I roll too: "I'm in competition with myself."

[@leebuck8532]

90s movement: Bangarang!

[@MorrigansRaven3944]

GenXers came into adulthood choosing whether we were going to question authority or 'go along'. We raised our kids very '70's' and '80's' in our household; to find out 'why' and use their voices like we did.

[@DonReichSdeDios]

I was in grade 1 when our teacher chorusly taught us to sing Magkaisa and grade 3 We the world0

[@DonReichSdeDios]

in the Philippines I watched club dredd, undergroud punk scene a Pinoy Alternative Music 1990 ,

[@creativealchemyoflife9143]

Red Dawn and Ferris Buehler's Day Off. I watched them both over 100 times as a kid lol. That says a lot.

[@creativealchemyoflife9143]

They didn't raise us. They weren't around and didn't pay attention. My parents did the bare minimum. We raised ourselves.

[@DonReichSdeDios]

I think that we are all carefully observe and we are the next in line and not the younger generation

[@karmaalegre6478]

For me, my family and community was heavily targeted with narcotics. Suddenly 14 - 20+ year olds were driving supped up customized Datsuns, Honda Civics, Saturns, and Toyotas for street raicing. I didn't understand what all these changes meant. I was in my tween years, so for me it was very cool to go to my neighbors house and my bestfriend's brother and boyfriend had these cars and was always working on them to make them better looking or faster. So unfortunate that in later years the brother died in a motorcycle accident and the boyfriend was killed. I became old enough to notice that death became a casual event. And everybody wanted to look like Miami Vice thugs.

[@gcanaday1]

I wish I were on that panel so bad... I had a lot to say on much of it that wasn't said.

[@toricoltori]

Movements of Gen X: Hip Hop, Grunge/Punk, War on Drugs...

[@brianward2600]

Absolute corporate monopoly of music; the exact same playlists on every radio station and mtv

[@PeopleLiveFprPeople]

Gen X watched the American Dream become a billionaire's paradise. Welcome to the jungle...

[@x_mau9355]

That world is crumbling, piece after piece. I know they will fight back... but they are at the end.

[@paulweaver4376]

That 70 show

[@DonReichSdeDios]

I am in owe that the US / Thomasites share the English American language , a civil servant and a MM visual artist GenX model 1977

[@saltyarmyberzerker]

This group is too affable, well mannered and polite to be a representation of Gen X. We were a generation of rebellious hell raisers. The opposite of the peace and love flower power hippies that came before us. We were punk rock, gangsta rap, heavy metal mosh pit. We are not a touchy feely nicey-nice generation. We are not afraid to say what we really think and we don't give a fvck if it could offend you. This is because we didn't even have the luxury of being raised by wolves, we raised ourselves and had to figure it all out on our own. Yeah, we're nice people though, until you give us a reason not to be. But this group seems more docile and socially acceptable conformist that your average Gen X-er.

[@Jeremy-lu8ig]

I really like this video I have to say being Gen X for myself right in the middle of the 80s and I would agree with quite a few of the younger ones Here and I think by the end of the 80s it was just mad angry and then Grunge started coming But the 90s I feel was more inconsistent as it went from The Excess of the 80s hard rock and New Wave and other big stars like Madonna ,Prince ,George Micheal etc And keep in mind a lot of these solo singers were in other bands George Michael being part of Wham! Belinda Carlisle doing really well coming out of the Go Gos Susanna Hoffs kind of trying to break away from the Bangles And others and there’s so much amazing music you know that just to me a lot of it and experimental I’ve really noticed with an early new wave of 80s it was very so experimental & they played with all kinds of different sounds like a Sitar & flutes and just other sounds that you never finally do you know would think you’d ever hear Yet from others not so much instrumental types of sounds you know hard rock office service base with drums and electric guitar and bass but I’m just a diehard NewWave fan but I do see all the different significant things that & then it went into grunge and then the Rap and gansta Rap The Boy bands like NSync and Backstreet Boys Which wasn’t near as we had the new kids on the block and yeah we had some really good female trio singers like expose and even solo seems like Chaka Khan in the early 80s and these are people that are still around but I think that’s one of the things I really like is the fact that there’s still so much that’s 80s influence that it’s around nobody wants to recognize nor do they want to get the credit for it especially this millennial generation who likes to take things from different generations and claim it without giving credit- But like we started stuff like innovative stuff like toys like a Atari to rubix cube ,Light Brite or even to music. Heck even rap it started when you think about it rap was starting on the 70s you know Debbie Harry from Blondie one of the first with Rap in a disco song and yeah I listen to so much of this other stuff about it’s something I’m really glad to hear about the nuclear war threats was something that bothered this panel between the United States and the Soviet union it was her that was a scary time I was never scared of horror films or like a lot of what we had grown-up but stuff like the Cold War and nuclear threat Like when you had like cable and MTV my parents were so worried my mother didn’t like us watching like Showtime because it had a lot of horror films and yet there was a lot of the porn from the 70s that was still floating around on odd channels and I think about the early 80s was like really hard rock but soft rock like REO Speedwagon Carly Simon But then you know like Ozzy Osbourne broke off from Black Sabbath and you had a lot of hair metal of the 80s you know Motley Crue one rotten kiss still going on but then you get like the where I really checked it was the new wave music of the early 80s you know it was postponed after pumping late 1970s it all the glam Rockin I’m at my age now 47 But then I think he had the influence of like films like John Hughes who was amazing I really feel like he caught it one it’s like they talk I heard people say this is like the quick generation and I think it’s the truth I don’t know if it’s funny because I still feel like that goes on in high schools nowadays I don’t think it’s as like in your face but I do feel like there are still those clicks you know the cool kids as opposed to other kids We questioned authority and we’re rebels I love that but I do think that they do try and get along better from Millenial to Gen Z But the 80s built movies around movies more because like the early days of 50s and 60s you had a lot of the doo-wop girl groups and just whatever but it was so much more kind of a façade and the way it all through the 60s you had like that show her where they had a bunch of hippies and the free love and all that and go into the 70s it was all disco like Saturday night fever with John Travolta but I really think the 80s really built a lot of films around the soundtrack because obviously are mixed tapes with cassettes and it all the video camera and I think that’s why I like for example the Goldbergs is built such a empire in away because it was based on this kid recording his family back then because we had video cameras back I really love the early 80s done early NewWave what are used to call the New Romantics But like Visage and Gary Numan but the. There was like add Boy George it started with a Culture Club but There was a lot of the ongoing stuff like it was more pop but it was bands Depeche Mode or INXS U2 or like the Thompson Twins and yet you have like Madonna rising to fame and you had Prince with really great female like Apollonia to Shelia E To Chaka Khan and and there’s so many amazing artist back in that time and I love the 80s fashion I loved most of the 80s movies And I’m even watching ones that I never did get to see as a kid whether my parents felt they were inappropriate or just some that were not as big as something like Topgun and I can say that I’ve never seen that one still to this day but I don’t like Tom Cruise so but I love most anything out of the 80s loved most of the stuff going on But anything like pop culture wise for the most part it was amazing and I don’t think we’ll see anything like that again it’s why I hold so dear to it now there’s nothing like it and I would agree that we were transition Because you have you know we were the first latchkey kids we were the first to know and work with computers and Atari , Nintendo in the early 80s and yet at the same time we had so many novelty type things you know the Garbage Pail Kids Gremlins Rubiks cube and Smurfs and Transformers and just amazing stuff you know and kids still went out and played do you know we didn’t hold ourselves up you know for hours on end in front of the gym gaming system or the fact of white the millennial generation where everything is done on their phone your other phone is stuck to their face I have an I have smart phones I’ve had him since I’ve been out and I love it but I don’t use it the same way that the younger generation does you know they act like they’re so above it all and they act like Can’t be bothered to cook learn how to cook and know how to clean I wanna buy a mortgage and I’ll get into a home they’ll rather rent to let somebody else take care of their crap with their parents dead and I just think our generation was amazing and my parents I think was really cool about it too because the fact that their generation was the one that transitioned you know from the days of the war as kids you know and it was one time in America that we really had started becoming a civilized nation and now in the last 20 years it’s just gone downhill Jake climate change and a lot of waste in kids are just spoiled brats their parents you know do all their crap for them and rather than let them be held accountable for their own actions the ones that have to get their trophies for participating in stuff. The 80s was So Amazing And I do agree with like a lot of people saying that the system wasn’t working so we just did our own thing and I do have to say I would like with the one older woman is talking about the fact what was the Gen X movement I think that we were transitioning a lot of things you know when it comes to technology with computers and I think the fact of the HIV aids crisis and I think with the international relief you know like live Aiden farm agent we were just becoming more and more aware of what the world had and what we could do to change things and celebrities a lot of musicians the music that’s where winter that was like are protesting in that regard there’s a lot of pushback with a lot of artists and I mean if you look at and most of them they’re still alive that’s OK dad you know you had Cindy Lauper and Madonna be on the biggest influences there’s so many of the rock age from Hard Rock and New Wave and Pop Love this stuff still I can’t go wrong with 80s 🤘🏻🤘🏻👨🏼‍🎤🧑‍🎤👩‍🎤😎😎 I’ll be Die Hard 80s Always !!

[@lsheets1]

I completely disagree with the guy in the hoodie regarding schools teaching about all contributions from every corner of society. That is everything wrong with the Millennial Generation. I know the guy in the video is late-X, but he had clearly already adopted the victim/intersectionality mindset. That is what drives society apart, not what brings it together. He sounds more like a Millennial obsessed with social change than a Gen-Xer focused on changing the part of your world (family, community, etc.) that you can change.

[@ButterCookie1984]

I agree.

[@thealpinerabbit3201]

no mention of #occupy nor 9/11 !? "collective forgetting" or "social amnesia" GenX 'Damnatio memoriae'

[@kevinholeman8123]

Early GenX here and the threat of nukes and the cold war was very real with me and my friends. Say the current popular things if you want but the combo of Reagan/Thatcher/Pope JPII/Walesa brought an end to the cold war

[@btetschner]

Mikhail Gorbachev was the key figure for ending the Cold War. He was the one who dissolved the USSR. Those other dopes would have done nothing but stirred up war till the end of time simply for their own political gain.

[@btetschner]

Regan was very much a member of the G.I. Generation who thrived on pushing wars for their own political gain.

[@daviddevault8700]

I was just a kid and I was at the county fair to sign a petition to not spend any money on the military, because that would make the Russians mad. I wrote on all the pages "Buy tanks and planes and boats and bombs and don't back down to bullies Mr Regan. They did end the Cold War. I was in highschool when we had world peace. Then Desert Storm, then 911 and off to fight for freedom.

[@apsarasangreal84]

The white lady w/o kids:: me too. Never thought I'd make it to 30. No kids for the exact same reason. Lost all $ in 87. Got some( a little)back in 90. I'm viking with the mid- 70s born white woman... 100%

[@Salamon2]

"We'll edit out this comment" The video premiers with the comment intact. ;)

[@ryenwthomas]

;)

[@pistachiosandpopcorn7146]

I like Channa's (I think that's her name) view on school. Girl on the bottom on the left.

[@apsarasangreal84]

The '63?:: white lady:: she is Almost *Silent* I want her opinions too please. She's 12 years older than me. I became political around 1990. First vote was for Perot.

[@frankpepper4797]

Gen X you shouldn’t waist your time putting yourself into a box , it’s like judging by skin colour .

[@DonReichSdeDios]

updates fellowXers: regarding AI kids Doomers TransHuman scenario,, it wont happen as Master Jeoffrey and Fei fei say,, pls find time to search them here on KZbin

[@GenXwarrior]

The 80's was crack

[@the-original-ghost]

The 80’s was a awesome time to be a teenager.There was a good vibe and people were starting to get along better.

[@RhetoricalMuse]

Before it collapsed in the noughties.