For a generation that inherited a post-war golden age of utopian Americana and made it their life’s work to usher in the end-stage capitalist hellscape that is the modern United States, Boomers are awfully keen to ridicule those who came after them.
Enjoyed this article Keaton... but, it’s interesting how many of these pieces overlook the role of Gen X. Granted we are the smallest generation, but we are the bridge between the Boomer “greed is good” generation and Millennials & Zoomers. In general we are a cynical bunch who mostly had to raise ourselves. A lot of our heroes died of overdoes for a reason. Some of us older Gen X were already young adults when the internet first became available, and as such we had to “red pill” ourselves through random message boards and hints of ideas which sounded like crazy conspiracies. Many of the people I worked in the Bernie “movement”, for that is what we thought of it at the time, we’re older Gen X women with kids (not the proverbial “Bros”). I see the true possibility of revolution now as the government blatantly commits genocide in Gaza while hollowing out the US in service of corporations, but what hope do we give to our kids? Our young Gen Z’s are becoming adults and right now we cannot offer anything but the idea that the American Project was all a scam...
This borderline boomer agrees with you. Born in 1962, raised in the Vietnam war era, I rejected the anti-war sentiment in the 90's, with much success. Raised a family, started a successful business, embraced the propaganda of the times. The last 4 years (or longer) has me realizing we don't really have a capitalistic system in the free world. You aren't rejecting capitalism, you are rejecting the lies that built and maintain the war machine. Kudos to you.
So because the political elite have lied and manipulated responses to geopolitical events, your solution is just tossing the whole damn baby out with the bath water? Just shitcan capitalism because selfish people exist? And how would that change in a Democratic Socialist society, exactly? In a Marxist utopia?
The essay is a mess of oversimplification. You sound like you haven’t really lived long or in many places. I highly recommend some travel. Go to rural areas, VFW halls, mining towns, all over America and have some serious conversations with the people. Ask them questions. Listen to their answers. Heck, talk seriously with your grandparents.
You might find you have a lot in common about what’s ailing this country, but I suspect the causes and solutions might be where you differ.
Go somewhere and get some real historical perspective- not the manufactured bs offered on college campuses.
Then take a trip overseas. Ask what it would take to become a citizen.
Have you really compared the tenets of the world’s religions?
Yeah it seems the newer generation is not as locked into the propaganda because their times are different than when we only had radio and TV and newspapers which the past generation grew up and believed. Funny cause the people in the USSR knew it was bullshit.
Keaton, I like y'all show but your microphone sounds muffled. I think you have it turned up too high or some auto volume thing is making it sound shitty....
The UN created Israel out of European guilt and the horrid dilemma of where to dump those powerful Jews who had managed to survive The Holocaust. If an Israel had to be created it should have been created out of German land. So yes a terrible injustice was done to the Palestinians and yes after WWII the US became a monster of worldwide imperial oppression. But wealthy warlord Bin Laden is not exactly the truth teller we all need to learn from. What kind of monster state do you believe his ilk would usher in? As a working class lesbian woman I am way better off living here, fighting as I have my whole life against US imperialism, than I would be in any Islamic state or the Russian state or the Chinese state. There are no states with clean hands. Men like Bin Laden are not very different from the men who ran western imperialism for the last 3 or 4 centuries. The main difference is how much power they are able to wield. I don’t think Bin Laden did any better than Bush with the power he had.
The letter pretty clearly states they hate us for our freedoms (in particular the freedoms women and gay people enjoy in the West).
There’s certainly a valid critique of America’s terrible foreign policy in there, but it’s undermined a bit when it’s mixed in with calls to convert to Islam and blaming every problem in the Muslim world on “The Jooooooos!”
Zoomers are or were as ignorant of any reason behind 9/11 as Boomers were of what came before Pearl Harbor. To this day, WWII is called the Good War, even by those who were anti-war, (or anti-draft). Try googling “Why did Japan bomb Pearl Harbor?” for how many pages it takes to find any source that will illuminate same old old old story: “U.S. government engaged in a series of increasingly stringent economic warfare measures that pushed the Japanese into a predicament that U.S. authorities well understood would probably provoke them to attack U.S. territories and forces in the Pacific region in a quest to secure essential raw materials that the Americans, British, and Dutch (government in exile) had embargoed. . .”
Concerning your closing remarks "However, be forewarned: this has left me very disillusioned…I have entered into another timeline.” I have to say: What the hell took you so long to figure that out, I mean to say, "never look at this country the same'? I'm simply amazed at your laziness in NOT studying your own history, it's all there and you simply have to do the work, the research to uncover what this nation, the one and only USofA, has been doing in your name. For a start, read these four works (Howard Zinn's 'A Peoples History of The United States' David Vine's 'The United States of War: A Global History of America's Endless Conflicts, From Columbus to The Islamic State' and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's two excellent works 'An Indigenous Peoples' History of The United States' and certainly of great importance 'Not A Nation of Immigrants': Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and A History of Erasure and Exclusion') which will give you a great start on what your country has been capable of ever since its beginnings! For me, my education of this Nation began when an Army sergeant came to our door to announce that my oldest brother had died for his Nation (he was drafted) in Vietnam. Believe me when I say, my education began then and there, and it continues to this day as I read some 20-40 books a year as well as reading independent media (stay the hell away from corporate media) daily. And hey, it's a lot of work and it never stops. So please, stop your whining (and I do realize that someone your age never really received an adequate public education, especially the humanities of which history, our history, a true history was never taught to anyone's satisfaction), get busy, continue to educate yourself and share that education, our history, with anyone who will listen.
One last thing, read General Smedley D. Butler's very short (35 pages), getting to the point quickly 'WAR IS A RACKER' A quote from pg1 "A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the few, at the expense of the many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes" as in "The War on Terror" You don't have to be an insider to find out what the "Few" know, you need to do the work, diligently! Now get to it!
The people of Israel are beautiful. I love them and always treasure my interactions. I almost married one and should have - what a warm sensual being she was. Man.
But.... they were sold a bag of lies and have no claim to that land. Hell, I could lose my house in California to squatters!
Great piece on how the Zoomers discovered the actual narrative behind 9/11 and the nefarious doings of the US in the Middle East.
In contrast, my generation, the Boomers, of late confine the limits of their political consciousness to Trump Derangement Syndrome and voting Blue-no-matter-Who. Red pills are anathema to their settled and cushy way of life. Hope rests with the young.
The 'letter' itself is just an Anti West screed of the sort you'd find in any grievance studies department.
The key accusation is that Israel was created by the United States and therefore the latter has declared war on the Muslim world.
This just isn't factual, the Jews created Israel themselves over many decades preceding the Holocaust.
Which just leaves the rest of the 'letter' which is just a whinge about other aspects of western culture - so yeah, they do hate us because of who we are rather than what we've done.
This whole tiktok phenomenon is just a bunch of kids reveling in confirmation bias of a terrorist manifesto as a result of the indoctrination they've received at University.
"Yes, the generation that protested for civil rights and an end to the Vietnam War, only to sell the country to Ronald Reagan as soon as he dangled a dollar in front of their faces,..." This is simplistic horseshit, Keaton, completely ignorant of the time and place, and it is BENEATH your usual stellar commentary. I guess you had to have been there. P.S. I sincerely doubt that this "letter" is even authentic. I think it's more like them throwing down everything to keep us from getting too close to the truth on the topic of 9^11. But that's just me, having been there also.
Enjoyed this article Keaton... but, it’s interesting how many of these pieces overlook the role of Gen X. Granted we are the smallest generation, but we are the bridge between the Boomer “greed is good” generation and Millennials & Zoomers. In general we are a cynical bunch who mostly had to raise ourselves. A lot of our heroes died of overdoes for a reason. Some of us older Gen X were already young adults when the internet first became available, and as such we had to “red pill” ourselves through random message boards and hints of ideas which sounded like crazy conspiracies. Many of the people I worked in the Bernie “movement”, for that is what we thought of it at the time, we’re older Gen X women with kids (not the proverbial “Bros”). I see the true possibility of revolution now as the government blatantly commits genocide in Gaza while hollowing out the US in service of corporations, but what hope do we give to our kids? Our young Gen Z’s are becoming adults and right now we cannot offer anything but the idea that the American Project was all a scam...
This borderline boomer agrees with you. Born in 1962, raised in the Vietnam war era, I rejected the anti-war sentiment in the 90's, with much success. Raised a family, started a successful business, embraced the propaganda of the times. The last 4 years (or longer) has me realizing we don't really have a capitalistic system in the free world. You aren't rejecting capitalism, you are rejecting the lies that built and maintain the war machine. Kudos to you.
So because the political elite have lied and manipulated responses to geopolitical events, your solution is just tossing the whole damn baby out with the bath water? Just shitcan capitalism because selfish people exist? And how would that change in a Democratic Socialist society, exactly? In a Marxist utopia?
The essay is a mess of oversimplification. You sound like you haven’t really lived long or in many places. I highly recommend some travel. Go to rural areas, VFW halls, mining towns, all over America and have some serious conversations with the people. Ask them questions. Listen to their answers. Heck, talk seriously with your grandparents.
You might find you have a lot in common about what’s ailing this country, but I suspect the causes and solutions might be where you differ.
Go somewhere and get some real historical perspective- not the manufactured bs offered on college campuses.
Then take a trip overseas. Ask what it would take to become a citizen.
Have you really compared the tenets of the world’s religions?
Be very, VERY careful of what you wish for.
Yeah it seems the newer generation is not as locked into the propaganda because their times are different than when we only had radio and TV and newspapers which the past generation grew up and believed. Funny cause the people in the USSR knew it was bullshit.
Keaton, I like y'all show but your microphone sounds muffled. I think you have it turned up too high or some auto volume thing is making it sound shitty....
Thank you - a good analysis. You are now obviously a candidate for coordinated attacks and censorship...
The UN created Israel out of European guilt and the horrid dilemma of where to dump those powerful Jews who had managed to survive The Holocaust. If an Israel had to be created it should have been created out of German land. So yes a terrible injustice was done to the Palestinians and yes after WWII the US became a monster of worldwide imperial oppression. But wealthy warlord Bin Laden is not exactly the truth teller we all need to learn from. What kind of monster state do you believe his ilk would usher in? As a working class lesbian woman I am way better off living here, fighting as I have my whole life against US imperialism, than I would be in any Islamic state or the Russian state or the Chinese state. There are no states with clean hands. Men like Bin Laden are not very different from the men who ran western imperialism for the last 3 or 4 centuries. The main difference is how much power they are able to wield. I don’t think Bin Laden did any better than Bush with the power he had.
The letter pretty clearly states they hate us for our freedoms (in particular the freedoms women and gay people enjoy in the West).
There’s certainly a valid critique of America’s terrible foreign policy in there, but it’s undermined a bit when it’s mixed in with calls to convert to Islam and blaming every problem in the Muslim world on “The Jooooooos!”
Really enjoyed this article. Generational analysis is always tricky and I think you stayed appropriately focused.
Zoomers are or were as ignorant of any reason behind 9/11 as Boomers were of what came before Pearl Harbor. To this day, WWII is called the Good War, even by those who were anti-war, (or anti-draft). Try googling “Why did Japan bomb Pearl Harbor?” for how many pages it takes to find any source that will illuminate same old old old story: “U.S. government engaged in a series of increasingly stringent economic warfare measures that pushed the Japanese into a predicament that U.S. authorities well understood would probably provoke them to attack U.S. territories and forces in the Pacific region in a quest to secure essential raw materials that the Americans, British, and Dutch (government in exile) had embargoed. . .”
Born 1953. Been here, done this. Comments seem to be alot about Gen X vs Gen Z vs Boomers vs Godzilla.
Now we're going to add Gen division on top of Class division? Double, double..Trouble.
Z-onists, Liars and Shares, oh my!!
Concerning your closing remarks "However, be forewarned: this has left me very disillusioned…I have entered into another timeline.” I have to say: What the hell took you so long to figure that out, I mean to say, "never look at this country the same'? I'm simply amazed at your laziness in NOT studying your own history, it's all there and you simply have to do the work, the research to uncover what this nation, the one and only USofA, has been doing in your name. For a start, read these four works (Howard Zinn's 'A Peoples History of The United States' David Vine's 'The United States of War: A Global History of America's Endless Conflicts, From Columbus to The Islamic State' and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's two excellent works 'An Indigenous Peoples' History of The United States' and certainly of great importance 'Not A Nation of Immigrants': Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and A History of Erasure and Exclusion') which will give you a great start on what your country has been capable of ever since its beginnings! For me, my education of this Nation began when an Army sergeant came to our door to announce that my oldest brother had died for his Nation (he was drafted) in Vietnam. Believe me when I say, my education began then and there, and it continues to this day as I read some 20-40 books a year as well as reading independent media (stay the hell away from corporate media) daily. And hey, it's a lot of work and it never stops. So please, stop your whining (and I do realize that someone your age never really received an adequate public education, especially the humanities of which history, our history, a true history was never taught to anyone's satisfaction), get busy, continue to educate yourself and share that education, our history, with anyone who will listen.
One last thing, read General Smedley D. Butler's very short (35 pages), getting to the point quickly 'WAR IS A RACKER' A quote from pg1 "A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the few, at the expense of the many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes" as in "The War on Terror" You don't have to be an insider to find out what the "Few" know, you need to do the work, diligently! Now get to it!
Kids are right, so why were you so wrong?
U probably didn't read the unibomber manifesto either or ever hear of branch davidian WACO murders, ..
https://bilbobitch.substack.com/p/israel-shits-its-pants-as-bin-laden
The people of Israel are beautiful. I love them and always treasure my interactions. I almost married one and should have - what a warm sensual being she was. Man.
But.... they were sold a bag of lies and have no claim to that land. Hell, I could lose my house in California to squatters!
Great piece on how the Zoomers discovered the actual narrative behind 9/11 and the nefarious doings of the US in the Middle East.
In contrast, my generation, the Boomers, of late confine the limits of their political consciousness to Trump Derangement Syndrome and voting Blue-no-matter-Who. Red pills are anathema to their settled and cushy way of life. Hope rests with the young.
Nah, I don't buy it.
The 'letter' itself is just an Anti West screed of the sort you'd find in any grievance studies department.
The key accusation is that Israel was created by the United States and therefore the latter has declared war on the Muslim world.
This just isn't factual, the Jews created Israel themselves over many decades preceding the Holocaust.
Which just leaves the rest of the 'letter' which is just a whinge about other aspects of western culture - so yeah, they do hate us because of who we are rather than what we've done.
This whole tiktok phenomenon is just a bunch of kids reveling in confirmation bias of a terrorist manifesto as a result of the indoctrination they've received at University.
Nothing to see here, move along lol
"Yes, the generation that protested for civil rights and an end to the Vietnam War, only to sell the country to Ronald Reagan as soon as he dangled a dollar in front of their faces,..." This is simplistic horseshit, Keaton, completely ignorant of the time and place, and it is BENEATH your usual stellar commentary. I guess you had to have been there. P.S. I sincerely doubt that this "letter" is even authentic. I think it's more like them throwing down everything to keep us from getting too close to the truth on the topic of 9^11. But that's just me, having been there also.