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Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Discussions related to the physiological and psychological effects of peak oil on our members and future generations.
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Are they up to the task of dealing with scarcity?

Yes
14
No votes
No
13
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No better or worse than any other generation
22
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Other
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Total votes : 53

Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby mos6507 » Sat 08 Nov 2008, 20:47:04

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('VMarcHart', 'S')orry about being way off topic. Are you saying George Lucas pulled the biggest rip-off ever and got away with it?


Star Wars is a pastiche of influences, not simply a ripoff from one source. For instance, the WWII meme, the western, King Arthur, etc... It is greater than the sum of its parts. It's also more the creation of those around Lucas than just Lucas, such as Gary Kurtz and Lawrence Kasdan. Lucas is clearly no auteur, as the prequels can attest to.
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby wisconsin_cur » Sat 08 Nov 2008, 20:59:56

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('VMarcHart', 'S')orry about being way off topic. Are you saying George Lucas pulled the biggest rip-off ever and got away with it?


Star Wars is a pastiche of influences, not simply a ripoff from one source. For instance, the WWII meme, the western, King Arthur, etc... It is greater than the sum of its parts. It's also more the creation of those around Lucas than just Lucas, such as Gary Kurtz and Lawrence Kasdan. Lucas is clearly no auteur, as the prequels can attest to.


No story , invention or creation is without its influences. We must judge the thing for what it is, recognizing that it is like many other things, yet it is not other things. It is, itself.
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby Loki » Sat 08 Nov 2008, 21:52:32

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', 'S')tar Wars is a pastiche of influences, not simply a ripoff from one source.

I believe Lucas was also influenced by Joseph Campbell and his theories about mythology, especially hero stories.

I agree with the importance of Star Wars to Gen X'ers. This is the earliest movie I have any recollection of watching. It has definitely made its impact on me. I've watched it and its sequels many many times. I was only 4 when it came out, but it was the first thing I ever saw on that new fangled technology known as the VCR. Also remember standing in line with my mom to watch Empire Strikes Back on the first day it came out. The only movie I've ever bothered to see on the first day of its release.

Star Wars as the Gen X movie is not without its ironies, though. Star Wars is very black and white, good vs. evil. But Gen Xers, or at least this Gen Xer, are cynical to the bone. The world is gray, not black and white. No hero blowing up the death star and defeating evil with his blond-haired goodness, just grungy gray grinding reality that requires one to make the lesser of evil choices on a regular basis. Much more like the most recent iteration of Battlestar Galactica (which I absolutely love), or Road Warrior and Red Dawn, two movies that I've watched too many times.
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby mos6507 » Sat 08 Nov 2008, 23:14:03

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Loki', '
')Star Wars as the Gen X movie is not without its ironies, though. Star Wars is very black and white, good vs. evil. But Gen Xers, or at least this Gen Xer, are cynical to the bone.


Star Wars appeals to the escapist part of GenX. Same deal with things like games (think World of Warcraft). I think something like Family Guy reflects the current mindset of GenX, or Stephen Colbert. Our only form of 'activisim' is to mock.
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby Ayoob » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 06:23:49

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Loki', '
')Star Wars as the Gen X movie is not without its ironies, though. Star Wars is very black and white, good vs. evil. But Gen Xers, or at least this Gen Xer, are cynical to the bone.


Star Wars appeals to the escapist part of GenX. Same deal with things like games (think World of Warcraft). I think something like Family Guy reflects the current mindset of GenX, or Stephen Colbert. Our only form of 'activisim' is to mock.


Wouldn't it be nice to know for sure that you're right?
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby wisconsin_cur » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 08:58:55

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ayoob', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Loki', '
')Star Wars as the Gen X movie is not without its ironies, though. Star Wars is very black and white, good vs. evil. But Gen Xers, or at least this Gen Xer, are cynical to the bone.


Star Wars appeals to the escapist part of GenX. Same deal with things like games (think World of Warcraft). I think something like Family Guy reflects the current mindset of GenX, or Stephen Colbert. Our only form of 'activisim' is to mock.


Wouldn't it be nice to know for sure that you're right?


There are also the "slackerists" those who will read about an issue, maybe show up at a rally but will not change their lives. This is the most common form of activism that I have seen among those Gen X that are even a little bit socially conscious.
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby RedStateGreen » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 09:30:32

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrairieMule', '
')Wouldn't it just blow Gen Xer's minds to know that Star Wars was ripped off almost verbatum from a old Kurosawa film called The Hidden Fortress.

The princess, the old samurai general, the rebellion, the farmer leaving home to go on a great adventure, the two bumbling servants, and above all else quest to "deliver the package".

Just look at the movie posters..
Image

Image


That scenario is the basis for most epic fantasy (the farm boy who is really the heir to the throne, the old mentor who dies in the middle and forces him to grow up, one or more comic relief characters, a quest to bring something important to a place of power to save the rebellion). There are no new ideas under the sun.

But this movie sounds interesting. Are there any dubbed copies available?
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('efarmer', '&')quot;Taste the sizzling fury of fajita skillet death you marauding zombie goon!"

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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby RedStateGreen » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 09:35:08

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('galacticsurfer', 'S')trauss and Howe give Gen-X as 1961-1981 birth dates.

Well I was born in 1962, and I sure feel like an X'er. But then I had a shitty childhood and pretty much raised myself and my sisters.

I guess technically I'm in Generation Jones but I hate that term.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('efarmer', '&')quot;Taste the sizzling fury of fajita skillet death you marauding zombie goon!"

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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby RedStateGreen » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 09:40:29

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Loki', '
')Star Wars as the Gen X movie is not without its ironies, though. Star Wars is very black and white, good vs. evil. But Gen Xers, or at least this Gen Xer, are cynical to the bone. The world is gray, not black and white. No hero blowing up the death star and defeating evil with his blond-haired goodness, just grungy gray grinding reality that requires one to make the lesser of evil choices on a regular basis.


Ah, but then there's good ol' Han Solo, the epitome of X'er dude. :lol:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('efarmer', '&')quot;Taste the sizzling fury of fajita skillet death you marauding zombie goon!"

First thing to ask: Cui bono?
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby wisconsin_cur » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 09:42:01

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RedStateGreen', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Loki', '
')Star Wars as the Gen X movie is not without its ironies, though. Star Wars is very black and white, good vs. evil. But Gen Xers, or at least this Gen Xer, are cynical to the bone. The world is gray, not black and white. No hero blowing up the death star and defeating evil with his blond-haired goodness, just grungy gray grinding reality that requires one to make the lesser of evil choices on a regular basis.


Ah, but then there's good ol' Han Solo, the epitome of X'er dude. :lol:


And redemption through the love of a father for a son: a la Darth Vader in "Return..."
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby mos6507 » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 13:19:21

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ayoob', '
')Wouldn't it be nice to know for sure that you're right?


That's why I qualified it by saying "I think".

I think the reason GenX went into a mocking direction is out of an inherent sense of impotence to influence the course of history. We still have this sense of impotence even though we've shifted into the prime age demographic. The best we can do is whine that things still aren't going our way. But what is "our way"? GenX has always had an identity crisis. GenX never had a Woodstock moment to declare to the world what we stood for. That's why I can't really point to anything in particular we stand for other than escapism, narcissism, and technophilia. It's like, "I mock, therefore I am".

Maybe I'm really just talking about the prime internet poster demographic than GenX because that's what I come into contact with the most. I'm just assuming most of the posters are GenX or GenY.

Let me give you an example. Go onto Digg at any moment in time and you'll surely find dozens of articles about how the earth's biosphere is dying. Sure enough, the way people react to these things is not to change their lifestyle. They aren't writing to their congressmen. They aren't marching in the streets. They aren't building earthships. No, they are throwing out zingers (or quoting George Carlin).

Earth Can't Cope - New Planets Needed

Here are some more nuggests:

CO2 Levels already in the danger zone

"Cue Kenny Loggin's theme frame Top Gun..."

7 Environmental Problems That Are Worse Than We Thought

"8. President bush"

Study Accounts for Man's Impact: Both Poles- Global Warming

"Sounds like a DP porn"

One Last Chance to Scorch the Earth

"and here I thought this was going to be about my favorite dos game"

Mass Relocations Planned as Sea Levels Rise

"I live on a hill, so long suckers!"


---

At some point people have to realize that joking about problems is really just a form of denial. It's an opiate that helps the frog not realize the pot is boiling, or that scene in Hannibal where the guy was so drugged out he didn't realize he's eating his own brains. I'd like to think that the internet has a kind of collective consciousness that will ultimately yield some good, but sometimes it's really hard to see that.
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby Ludi » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 13:56:59

I disagree. Joking about problems is not (necessarily) "denial," it is a coping strategy. I joke about my health problems all the time, but I'm not in denial about them in the slightest.

Just sayin,' in my own opinion. :)
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby vision-master » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 14:34:13

Generation X takes a stand on nothing but themselves.
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby mos6507 » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 15:08:03

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '
')Joking about problems is not (necessarily) "denial," it is a coping strategy.


I'll be more specific.

I seriously doubt these people who are posting the zingers are doing so from their solar-powered doomsteads as they catch a breather from mulching their lawns.

I don't find posting jokes about a mass extinction event on Digg while sucking down a Mocha at Starbucks before hopping back into the Hummer is going to do anything but hasten our demise.

Obviously I can't read these people's minds, but I really don't see them doing anything but continuing to perpetuate the status quo and expecting these problems to be taken care of for them, or if not, then shrugging their shoulders like Wile E Coyote after running off a cliff.

Image

Nothing's Gonna Change Their World
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby PrairieMule » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 16:57:47

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RedStateGreen', '
')
But this movie sounds interesting. Are there any dubbed copies available?


Netflix has it. Fair warning, it is in subtitles.
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby VMarcHart » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 17:41:01

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'G')eneration X takes a stand on nothing but themselves.
From a 52-year old retired man on a state pension who teases the world for not have to worry another day in his life. Nice stand, Vision!
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby vision-master » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 17:48:17

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('VMarcHart', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'G')eneration X takes a stand on nothing but themselves.
From a 52-year old retired man on a state pension who teases the world for not have to worry another day in his life. Nice stand, Vision!


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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby Arsenal » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 18:01:50

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('VMarcHart', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'G')eneration X takes a stand on nothing but themselves.
From a 52-year old retired man on a state pension who teases the world for not have to worry another day in his life. Nice stand, Vision!


Yeah. It must be nice to have your prime working years in a time when the stock market on average went through the roof. A retarded monkey with a nickel could make enough money to retire on. Try it now or back in 1929, then I would be impressed and you might have the right to be smug.
If the American people ever allow the banks to control issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers occupied. T Jefferson
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby Pops » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 18:20:44

I think when we question a younger generations' capabilities we are simply admitting our shortcomings as teachers and models.

Personally I think Susan and I have been good teachers.

Anyone else teach their kids what they should know for today and tomorrow?
The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves -- in their separate, and individual capacities.
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Re: Gen X: Capable of dealing with scarcity?

Unread postby Tyler_JC » Sun 09 Nov 2008, 18:39:23

I think we're disastrously over-generalizing here.

The vast majority of the world's people were, are, and will always be selfish.

The problems of the world have always been about short-sightedness.

Take the latest housing boom. What did we get with our multi-trillion dollar investment?

Half-finished condo complexes in Miami that will either collapse or be looted for copper wire within the next decade.

Great job America. :roll:

We need to change our focus from the day-to-day to the future. Anyone that can do that will always be more successful in the long term.
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