Segment 1: Understanding Generations Studying the ebb and flow of generations is a unique way to understand history, as it incorporates attitudes, beliefs, prejudices, norms and values in addition to events. Most importantly it paints a picture of how are culture was formed and how it has changed with time and why. Segment 1 provides an overview of causes for generational differences, how they have historically followed a cycle, what the cycle is, and how it can predict to some degree the future. It serves as a foundation for the study of 19 generations of Americans that will be covered in this series.
Segment 2: The Colonial and Revolutionary Cycles Researchers have categorized the 19 different American generations into five cycles. Segment 2 covers two such cycles. The first is the Colonial Cycle which begins with the Puritan Generation in 1584 and ends with the Enlightenment Generation in 1700. The Puritan Generation was seeking religious utopia in the New World. The third generation of the cycle, the Glorious Generation, was the generation with the greatest impact taking America from chaos to stability, poverty to affluence, and culturally from fanaticism to science. The fourth and last generation of the cycle, the Enlightenment Generation solidified the gains by indecisiveness which kept the culture from moving too far in any direction.
The second generational period was the Revolutionary Cycle commencing in 1701 and ending in 1791 in which all four of their generations came together at an epochal moment to give birth to a new nation. The third generation of the Revolutionary Cycle was one of the most notable in our history – the Republican Generation. Interestingly, they followed the Liberty Generation noted as drinkers, thieves, and rioters.
Segment 3: The Civil War Cycle A short excerpt from Generations by William Strauss and Neil Howe provides the flavor of this segment. “Lincoln’s Transcendental Generation (born 1792 – 1821) had in their twenties provided the original core of the 1830-era evangelical and abolition movement. In their fifties, this generation was fully prepared to shed younger blood to attain what they knew was right. They were a generation others feared but followed.” The follow-on Gilded Generation “as 35-year-olds saw ruined farms, starving widows, diseased prisoners, dead bodies, and amputated limbs. Gilded leaders dismantled Reconstruction and left their Black peers to fend for themselves. Many from the generation became rootless ‘bums’ and ‘hobos,’ wandering along newly built railroads and evading ‘tramp laws.’”
Segment 4: The Great Power Cycle The Great Power Cycle covers births of Americans from 1860 to 1942. Its four Generations include:
Missionary (born 1860 – 1882)
Lost (born 1883 – 1900)
G.I. (born 1901 – 1924)
Silent (born 1925 - 1942)
From an event standpoint, this cycle covers the “Gay-Nineties,” World War I, “Roaring Twenties,” Prohibition, the Great Depression, and most of World War II. Each generation was at different ages when these series of events took place which impacted them each very differently. For instance, the impact on molding their values, parenting, education, and family situations was in very different ways with different outcomes.
Segment 5: Generational Analysis Throughout the first four segments you will be exposed to some of the concepts developed by the generational “founders,” William Strauss and Neil Howe. This segment provides a refresher of the concepts, most particularly the cyclical four types of generations as researched by Strauss and Howe. Importantly, the segment has excerpt snippets of the 15 generations presented to date but categorized by these four types of generations. This provides you the opportunity to assess the validity of their theory and, if so, then determine whether the next four generational types (which we are currently in) match the theory.
Segment 6: The Boomer Generation We are currently in the Millennial Cycle of Generations which are for those people born between 1943 and 2012. The four generations are named Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z. The series has a segment for each of these generations which facilitates a deeper understanding of these generations than those in previous segments. This segment on the Boomer Generation includes excerpts from three different books. It covers such topics as lifestyle, characteristics, family, politics, societal impact, sex before marriage, drugs and alcohol, Black Americans, women, and mental health – each as it pertains to the generation and then the resultant impact on our society.
Segment 7: Generation X Generation X is the second generation of the Millennial Cycle and encompasses people born between 1965 and 1981. Excerpts for this segment come from four different books. A sample of from each are:
Generations by William Strauss and Neil Howe: “Gen Xers are growing up in what is described as ‘a world of information overload.’ They struggle to filter out noise, cut through rhetoric, and isolate the handful of practical truths that really matter. Also, unlike the homogeneous young Silent, Gen Xers are coming of age with sharply diverging personal circumstances in education, family economics, and career opportunities. Where their parents once struggled to break free from a tight generational center of gravity, Gen Xers wonder if they will ever be able to find one.”
Generations Reimagined by Amanda Lisetti (a Gen Xer herself): “Generation X is often referred to as the ‘forgotten’ generation, as they came of age during a period of relative calm between two major events: the Vietnam war and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. During the 1970s and 1980s, America experienced a shift away from traditional values and social structures. This was the era of the civil rights movement, the sexual revolution, and the feminist movements, and it had a profound impact on Generation X. Many of them grew up in broken homes with divorced of single parents, and they were left to fend for themselves.”
Generations by Jean Twenge: “Young Gen Xers picked up on the racial tension. During the 1990s, the number of high school seniors who said Black-White race relations were getting worse skyrocketed, as did the number who said they worried about race relations. College students believed it was more important than ever to promote racial understanding. Although same-sex marriage will likely have a larger impact of the lives of Millennials and Gen Z, Gen Xers were at the forefront of the legal and political fight to get it legalized.”
The History of Generation X by Athanasios Vamvakas: “Rights that were enslaved for hundreds of years became a reality of the modern world. Nations that were enslaved were freed and minorities that were oppressed were liberated. For the Xers it was a time of learning that every human being is the same and that racism and segregation does not lead to anything.”
Segment 8: Millennials There are five sources and four authors from which excerpts have been drawn for the Millennial segment. Two of the authors are millennials who are defending their generation. Many authors and commentators refer to this generation as the “Me-Me-Me Generation as the incidence of personality disorder is three times as high for people in their 20s than those 65 or older according to the National Institutes of Health. What the Millennials are most famous for besides narcissism is its effect: entitlement. Millennials’ self-involvement though is more of a continuation of a trend than a revolutionary break through from previous generations.” But, overall, as a generation they are marked by idealism, diversity, and adaptability and hold great promise for shaping the future of America and the world. The reasons behind the perceptions are articulated in the segment.
Segment 9: The Coddling of the American Mind The excerpts of this segment come exclusively from the book The Coddling of the American Mind. The book describes how the modern-day universities environment has and is influencing the development of Millennials and Gen Zers by creating a culture of safetyism – overprotection from physical and psychological harm, shielding students from the exploration of ideas, and suffocation of the non-in vogue ideology. The culture of safetyism had its beginning in 2013 and 2014 and was caused by rising political polarization, changes in parental practices, decline of free play, rising levels of teen anxiety and depression, the growth of campus bureaucracy, and changes in ideas about social justice. The impact on the two generations is significant.
Segment 10: Generation Z Generation Z’s views on gender and gender fluidity are having a significant impact on society. One out of 18 young adults are identifying as something other than male or female. In 2021, 16.1% of young adults (1 out of 6) identify sexually as something other than straight heterosexuals, more than twice as many than just seven years ago. Generation Z is a very pessimistic generation, most concerned about the future of our country and capitalism. As one author put it, “just as Millennials have been characterized as optimistic and self-interested, Generation Z is characterized as independent and cynical.” The segment looks in-depth at the generation – the effect of technology, the difference in communication and entertainment, shifts in family structure, romance differences, career aspirations, and civic engagement. Also described is how technology coupled with social media is profoundly affecting the mental health not only of the Millennial Generation but particularly that of Generation Z. This needs to be a government regulatory priority.
Segment 11: The Future This last segment begins with a summary of the five living generations giving the reader the opportunity to absorb the differences generation to generation and some explanation as to why. Then it shifts to looking at seven trends that will shape business and society in the future – remote work, safe spaces and speech, the different impacts of Generation Z versus the Millennial’s Generation, everything being political, mental health, flattening of hierarchal structures, and nonbinary identification. The segment also provides perspectives on the future of family, politics, technology and regulation, religion, and the trends of current generations.