I'm not sure to which generation I belong. I was born in a cutoff year for generational definition - 1977. I was one of the few oldest siblings in anything I did, whether it was school, softball, or Girl Scouts. I suppose that has something to do with a whole generation of young men getting killed in Vietnam, a generation that would have been starting families around the time I was born if they had been alive.
Regardless, I don't think there is much of a difference between Generation X and Generation Y. They are both characterized by material worship and apathy - I figured that would be the norm for the rest of American existence. That's why I was surprised to read this article in WaPo today about the new generation being worried about global climate change - and they're actually doing something about it. One group of kids carried around signs on the playground at recess that said "Stop Global Warming." Another group of college kids convince an entire campus to vote for a $25 tuition increase that would cover the cost of the campus going green. That's really impressive.
It's to the point where we can see the change with our own eyes. Although snow in April is not unheard of, even here in the more southern DC, the amount of snow the country has received and the lasting cold temperatures is not normal. I hope these kids continue to care as they grow older and don't resort to the apathy of generations before them. And by that, I don't mean everyone in those generations, for they were the ones who started the environmental movement. I just mean "caring about the environment" or whatever you want to call it was not mainstream.
It is now.
Gore 2008!
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