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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 2-Mar-2010
The politics of the 'Generation Zero' documentary movie

Web Log - March, 2010

The politics of the 'Generation Zero' documentary movie

The movie reflects a continuing political realignment.

An article entitled "Preparing for the Inevitable Bursting Bubble" appeared in the NY Times over the weekend. It begins, "Financial bubbles are a way of life now. They can upend your industry, send your portfolio into spasms and leave you with whiplash. And then, once you’ve recovered, the next one will hit."

My eyes popped out when I saw that article. The NY Times and the mainstream media didn't even BELIEVE in bubbles a few years ago. People used to call me crazy for talking about a housing bubble. Mainstream financial analysts, economists and journalists would say, "Housing prices can't go down -- people have to live somewhere," and "Banks won't foreclose -- it's not in their interest to do so" and "These housing construction firms know what they're doing, and they wouldn't be building houses if it were just a bubble."

What's astonishing is the complete public turnaround in attitudes towards bubbles and the budget deficit. And this is one of the major issues capturing the attention of the Tea Party movement. This movement is moving rapidly to provide a new definition for the "right" side of the political spectrum. No one can be sure what the new "right" will encompass, but we can be sure that personal and financial security will be a big part of it.

How is the left adapting to this emerging new definition of the right?

The left is on the defensive these days. This isn't surprising from a historical point of view. I first wrote about this during the 2004 election, in "Does history favor George Bush or John Kerry?" Very briefly, the argument is that the Republicans "won" the Civil War crisis era, the Democrats "won" the Great Depression / WW II crisis era, and so now the pendulum is swinging back to the Republican side in the current crisis era -- and by this, I really mean the new "right."

The left has adapted by adopting the message that everything will be all right, that there shouldn't be too much concern about personal and financial security, and that people who talk about personal and financial security are using scare tactics.

Is it all the fault of the Boomer hippies?

Steve Bannon, the writer/director of "Generation Zero," told me that when the movie was shown at a Republican convention a couple of weeks ago, the audience loved the last 2/3 of the movie, but hated the first 1/3, because even Republicans don't like the idea that "hippies" and "flower children" and the "Woodstock generation" are being blamed for the financial crisis. This goes against the narrative that in the 1960s the Boomers wanted to change the world -- and that they succeeded.

And yet, that's becoming a dominant theme of those who criticize the movie.

An article entitled "Did Woodstock hippies lead to US financial collapse?" in CS Monitor quotes film producer David Bossie as saying that generational narcissism, as represented by the 1969 Woodstock Festival, is responsible for the excessive spending, mortgage crisis, and recklessness on Wall Street. The article quotes him as follows: "The people who were at Woodstock turned into the yuppies of the '80s and the junk bond traders of the '90s and the Wall Street executives of the 2000s. They went from Woodstock to driving a Jaguar."

The other side of the argument is taken up as follows:

"Quantifying baby boomers as yuppies is a familiar position taken by conservative groups, says Leonard Steinhorn, author of "The Greater Generation: In Defense of the Baby Boom Legacy."

Mr. Steinhorn says it is common for boomers to become a target, because their generation helped "reverse the social order of the '50s" by creating civil rights for blacks, women, and gays, and by helping address issues such as environmental pollution.

"Not every boomer was a hippie, but the normative structure of the baby-boom generation has been for a more inclusive, equal, and free society, and so if you have problem with that, you’re going to have problem with boomers," he says."

That the arguments about the movie "Generation Zero" are centering on these points about the hippies is a consequence of a decision made by Steve Bannon. I've been writing on this web site for years that the financial crisis was possibly ONLY through the cooperation and greed of both the Boomers and the Gen-Xers -- the nihilistic Gen-Xers to perpetrate the frauds, and the full support of their Boomer bosses.

Bannon chose to leave this material out of the movie, so that the conclusion of the movie is that the Boomers are SOLELY responsible for the financial crisis (which is impossible, of course, since everybody knows that Boomers are too dumb to have done it alone).

Bush administration vs Obama administration

I've been writing the same kinds of things about generational theory on this web site since 2002, but only in 2010 is the subject getting wider public attention. What's changed?

I've been warning about a financial crisis since 2002. During the Bush administration, this message would not have been of interest to Republicans because it appeared to be criticizing Bush, and it would not have been of interest to Democrats because it appeared to be scaring people.

During the Obama administration, things changed. The message is not of interest to Democrats, because it's still scaring people, but now it's of interest to Republicans because it appears to be criticizing Obama.

The omission of any criticism of Gen-Xers adds to the film's controversy, by allowing the political arguments to be framed as either a criticism or a defense of Boomers.

From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, the "personal and financial security" message will win, and will force a political realignment of some kind. How big the realignment will be, and how far to the right the country will move, will depend on how deep the crisis becomes.

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the Generation Zero - The Inconceivable Truth thread of the Generational Dynamics forum.) (2-Mar-2010) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 2-Mar-2010 The politics of the 'Generation Zero' documentary movie

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 2-Mar-2010
The politics of the 'Generation Zero' documentary movie