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REFLECTIONS OF A SILENT GENERATION

REFLECTIONS OF A SILENT GENERATION. December 22, 1945. What’s wrong with this picture?. 1 st Sgt. John H. Lumpp Service Company 67 th Armored Regiment . 2 nd Armored Division. Father and Son HERMAN J. LUMPP SGT. JOHN H. LUMPP. 4277 Federal Blvd. Denver, Colorado 1943.

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REFLECTIONS OF A SILENT GENERATION

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  1. REFLECTIONS OF A SILENT GENERATION

  2. December22,1945 What’s wrong with this picture?

  3. 1st Sgt.John H.LumppServiceCompany 67th ArmoredRegiment 2nd Armored Division

  4. Father and SonHERMAN J. LUMPPSGT. JOHN H.LUMPP 4277 Federal Blvd. Denver, Colorado 1943

  5. 2rd Armored In the field with “Monty”British Field MarshallMontgomery(Gen. George Patton facing away?)Winter 1944

  6. WHAT DEFINES A NEW GENERATION? • Solves a problem facing the prior youth generation • Corrects for behavioral excesses it perceives in the current midlife generation • Fills the social role being vacated by the departing elder generation Millennials

  7. WHAT’S THE “LIFE-CYCLE” OF A GENERATION? • Public discovers the new youth (15-20 years after first birth year) • Full possession of youth culture (20-25 years) • Gets maximum public attention (25-30 years) • Ebbing of public interest (30-35 years) Millennials

  8. WHAT ARE RECENT GENERATIONS? • LOST 1883-1900 • G.I 1901-1924 • SILENT 1925-1942 • BOOM 1943-1960 • X 1961-1981 • MILLENNIAL 1982-2002 • (New Adaptive) 2003- Millennials

  9. GENERATIONAL NUMBERS Millennials

  10. WHO ARE THE “SILENTS”? Generation Type: Adaptive Born: 1925-1942 Total number: 49 Million (GI=63;BB=79) Oldest: 85 (2010) Youngest: 68 (2010) Percent Immigrant: 9%

  11. A “SANDWICH GENERATION” • Agenda dominated by • 63 m “Get-It-Done” older GIs and 79 m younger “If-it-feels-good-do-it” Boomers • “Born 20 yrs too early or 20 yrs too late” • Their story a book largely written about someone else • No leaders, no program, no sense of power, no culture of its own

  12. ADAPTIVE GENERATION • Recessive • Grows up overprotected, suffocated • Matures risk-adverse, conformist • Indecisive Mid-lifers (no agenda) • Respected as sensitive elders Millennials

  13. Some Well-Known “Silents” • Marilyn Monroe (1926) • Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929) • Sandra Day O’Connor (1930) • Clint Eastwood (1930) • Elvis Presley (1935) • Woody Allen (1935) • Jack Nicholson (1937) • Neil Armstrong (1930)

  14. Presidential Candidates • Walter Mondale (1928) • Michael Dukakis (1933) • Jack Kemp (1935) • Gary Hart (1936) • John McCain (1936) • Jesse Jackson (1941)

  15. Silent Presidents NONE

  16. Why “Silent”? • 13 of its 17 birth years were in crisis • Class of 1949: “Taking no chances” • Focussed on the system rather than on individual achievement, invention • Transitional, middle, betwixt and between, • “First you say you do, and then you don’t…you’re undecided now, so what’re you going to do?”

  17. Why “Silent”? • “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit” • The Organization Man” • “The Lonely Crowd” • “The Apartment”, “The Out-of-Towners” (Jack Lemmon) • Keep your record clean (McCarthyism) • Don’t rock the boat

  18. SOME KEY EVENTS When they were— 0-13 (1938) Snow White sets record 3-20 (1945) VJ Day (WW II Ends);A-Bomb 8-25 (1950) Korean War (50-53) 12-29 (1954) McCarthy and Perm Records 15-32 (1957) Sputnik; Rock and Roll 19-36 (1961) JFK President; Peace Corps

  19. SOME KEY EVENTS When they were— 21-38 (1963) JFK Killed; Feminine Mystique 26-43 (1968) MLK and RFK Killed 27-44 (1969) Moon Landing; Divorce up 32-49 (1974) Watergate; Nixon Resigns 37-54 (1979) Carter’s “malaise”;Iran Hostages 46-63 (1988) GI Bush beats Silent Dukkakis

  20. SILENT YOUTH • Overprotective, strict parents(Lost/GI) • 1st gen born mostly in hospitals • Always respect adults • Family survival; make do • Expect news to be bad news (war, etc.) • Carry a low profile • Expectation: get a good job, get on your own, settle down

  21. SILENT RISING ADULTS • Scrutinized forbearers rather than self • Encouraged growth, productivity, expertise • Supported GI Institutions: “If I had a…” • Clean-cut sports figures • Organized and gave voice to Boomer dissent and revolt (SDS, YAF) • Bridgers, facilitators, • Brought compassion, refinement

  22. MID-LIFE SILENTS • Tried to catch up/stay up w/ Hip Boomers • Envied Boomer passion • Conflicts with GI Manliness (Woody Allen vs. John Wayne) • Norris/Eastwood combine GI machismo and Boomer judgmentalism • Unsure: “vicars of vacillation” • While divorce spread, they were the ones who had kids in the house

  23. SILENT ELDERS • Wanted top role—voters went for the GIs: • Drive the youth industries: dietary aids, exercise classes, cosmetic surgery, hair replacement, relaxation therapies. • The silent are the only living generation whose members would rather be in some age bracket other than the one they are in. (Do it over knowing what you know now.)

  24. SILENT RELATIONSHIPS • Idealizing romantics: “Happy ever-aftering” • Earliest marrying, earliest babying in US history (23/20) • 94 % of silent females were mothers • At mid-life abandoned GI worship for belated Boomer sex-revolution (no fault) • “Ah, but I was so much older then; I’m younger than that now.”—Bob Dylan song

  25. SILENT WORK • Organization Man • Steady, regular, responsible • Rising affluence, few war causalities, lowest crime or other social pathologies • Lowest children in work force • Steepest rise in per capita income • Security conscious • Middle aged before their time

  26. SILENT WORK • Facilitators, experts, technocrats • Helpmates for other generations Presidential aides: Salinger (JFK); Moyers (LBJ); Erlichman (Nixon); Cheney (Ford); Ergenstat (Carter); Baker (Reagan); Sununu (Bush) • Consumer advocates (Nader)

  27. SILENT CITIZENS • Remember WWII from childhood • Class of ‘64: 16% Peace Corps (vs. ‘65) • “Rebels without a cause” • Followed GI role models to discover teenagers were in! • The Can’t-Do government (more staff, studies, debates, less action) • Referenda, grass-roots ballots • Generally supported the losers

  28. SILENT LEISURE • Transition from GI to Boomer • Big Band (Goodman), cool jazz (Brubeck), Sinatra to Tennessee Ernie Ford…(our parents’ music) • Gogi Grant, Bobby Darin (1936), Kingston Trio to Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, Four Freshmen, Pat Boone, Harry Belafonte to… • Elvis, Beatles, Beach Boys to…. • Acid rock, heavy metal…

  29. SILENT LEISURE • Movies: Good Guys win; Happy Endings • Westerns: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy • “Tammy and the Bachelor” • “Wizard of Oz” • “Three Coins in the Fountain”

  30. SILENT LEISURE • Radio: Lone Ranger, Straight Arrow, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon; Superman, Gunsmoke Our Miss Brooks; Great Gildersleeve • TV: I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, Burns and Allen I Led Three Lives, Foreign Assignment, Bishop Sheen, Quiz shows (“You Bet Your Life”; “$64000 Question”)

  31. SILENT LEISURE Mostly you made your own fun. In College: 3.2 beer

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