For years (maybe even a couple decades) folks have asked — well, some of them have — “Where are the GenX leaders? Why aren’t they running for office? When will they step up?”
So, for starters, Gen X (b 1961-1981, and, yes, those are the more-aligned and accurate dates for Xers) are the NOMAD archetype in the understanding of generations as “types” that move through time and have their own story lines.
Xers, by their nature and design, are the children during society’s Great Awakening eras, which come through the nation about every 80-90 years. During awakenings, adults suddenly become very self-absorbed, the needs of children plummet in the ranks of a nation’s priorities, and children are, essentially, neglected.
Much more to say on that another time.
What’s important here is the Xer/Nomad child (every single one of them) realizes/understands/groks at the core of their existence that the net, the protections and the support offered and made available to other generations isn’t there for them now and won’t be there for them down the road. It’s a Nomad Knowing, so to speak.
This understanding creates a core value around SURVIVAL. The first goal is to survive, and to do that, one needs to become intensely aware of others around them (their needs and motivations), eagle-eyeing for advantage and opportunity, and ever and always looking for a niche, a crack in the shell to get in or a potential upside in a too-risky-for-others market or situation.
Which creates a savvy, hustling, market-focused, gritty, disaffected, risk-embracing, colorful generation.
Each person in a generation is, of course — ever and always, their own person AND a generation is an archetype: the sum total, the collective identity, the model.
Xers/Nomads also learn early in life that “adults,” which as children means parents, teachers, government, media, the church (etc.), law and all institutions, neither has their back nor has their best interest on their radar.
That knowing creates distrust, and disinterest, later in life for institutions, which is why THE PRIMARY GENX INTELLIGENCE & DRIVE GOES TO BUSINESS! (You’re welcome.) That world you live in now where you can think of something and have it delivered to your doorstep … by way of the sophisticated web of marketing, international supply chains, databases, amazing customer service, delivery capacity and all the other things that make your life so, so, so much easier — at least in terms of your physical existence — that fundamental shift is GENX ENERGY and capacity.
Amazon. Google. Ebay. Zoom. Dell. Slack. Airbnb. Twitter (founder and now). Tesla.
Drive. Risk. Survival. Making life easier. Market competition. All of this change is primarily and significantly influenced by the Gen X / Nomad archetype nature, now represented in society’s age-based social role of midlife (about 44-65 years of age), which is a time when a generation has the predominant say in HOW society is managed. Midlife is a time of power. (It’s also a time when a generation has the most influence on the generation of children growing up.)
But politics?
Eh, less so for Xers. FWIW, Boomers, the Prophet archetype, come to the elected office late in life and want to stay, stay, stay … just loving the thought of social and values engineering; and Millennials, the Hero archetype, come to the elected office EARLY in life, chomping at the bit to get moving on their Golden Era dreams and visions, which will begin to start in the early 2030s.
But Xers in politics? Some of the worst! Marjorie Taylor Green, Palin, Ted Cruz, Ron DeSantis. Just blech.
AND, and, and …
Xers are the RELUCTANT HERO generation, the one that saves the day because, “Heck, it’s Tuesday and no one else seems to be around.” All those movies with the, “Ah, gosh, I wasn’t planning on saving the world today, but I guess I better get to it because, well, it needs doin’ … clearly” were quite the popular genre, especially during Xers young adulthood years. A lone person — the most unlikely of heroes — happens to be the one who just happens to have the skills needed (along with a few rag-tag and unlikely friends) — pulls off the impossible, completes the suicide mission (and maybe doesn’t die … maybe does), and like the Lone Ranger, doesn’t stay in town to get rewarded (and wouldn’t be anyway because they’re Xers and Xers don’t get society’s rewards, thanks or acknowledgements).
Side note: Xers prefer the acknowledgement — the nod — from their peers who look at them and say, “I see you. I saw what you did. Nice,” over the accolades, public recognition and generational-directed financial rewards the Millennials/Hero archetype will receive later in life.
But in political leadership, GenXers don’t move toward centers. They don’t move, en masse, toward national leadership, preferring LOCAL leadership where they can GET MORE DONE and where the redness or blueness of their views has less impact and the doing-ness of their doing is more important.
But when the CRISIS comes, it’s always the Xers who are the GENERALS: the ones who provide the direction to the troops, the ones who fight the battles with ridiculously little resources, outrageously difficult odds and with nary a hope.
George Washington is the ultimate Nomad. He was, in modern parlance, an Xer.
And our nation would not be our nation without his grit, determination, cunning, leadership and tactics.
Ulysses S. Grant (who rarely-never gets the credit he deserves for the post-Civil War “mending”) was, in modern parlance, an Xer.
And Kamala Harris is also an Xer.
We are seeing now just the beginnings of the amount of power she holds in just the tip of her pinky. The force of power she is unleashing — both in the energizing of a nation stagnated in the red-blue Boomer-fueled national divide is immense.
And it’s just and only beginning.
The nation will never be the same after her leadership.
The world will never be the same.
Xers do what needs to be done … against all odds. All, all, all with a focus on protecting children and ensuring we have some fun along the way.
Behold, the emergence of Xer political power. Behold.
