Conflicts in the Generation of Baby Boomers - Essay Example

?Insert Insert Grade Insert Insert Baby Boomers’ Generational Conflicts During the 1960’s and 1970s, there were great social conflicts in America. This was mainly a generational conflict between those in leadership and the youths mainly in educational institutions. It is a main belief that children normally follow the values bequeathed to them by their parents but in this case a generational gap was widening between the parents and their children. What caused this gap? They are the events that each generation experienced around them that brought about this generational gap. During the 1960s and 1970s, those in leadership were mainly the GI and silent generation. These generations derive their ideologies and values from the events of 1930s and 1940s, which are the Second World War and the great depression (Chapman 212). These were hard times and they are the events that shaped the ideologies of the GI and the silent generation. During these times, people normally obeyed commands and were not supposed to question. The young had no say in the society. They learned how to compromise, work hard, persevere, and sacrifice for the country. However, they were slow in bringing in changes in the society as they were conservative. The baby boomers are those born during the post war period this is a group that was influenced by the era of grand visions. This was a time when people were fighting for freedom, there was concerted effort to take man to the moon, and politicians were trying to put forward their ideologies. This generation was associated with sex, drugs, and rock and roll music. Since they were born in relatively calm period, they also attained good education. What then brought about great generational gap or ideological crisis in the 1960s and 1970s? As it can be seen, this is the period when the baby boomers were in higher education institutions while the GI and the Silent generation were in leadership. My interviewee Mr. Tayung Wong came from Taiwan to come and pursue his undergraduate degree in America. This is a clear indication of how education was being valued in America. When Mr. Wong arrived in America there were several civil rights activities taking place as he says that he watched several civil rights activities on the television. This civil rights were mainly being influenced and led by scholars in America who wanted social transformation. They were mainly the baby boomers. When Mr. Wong arrived from Asia to America he found that there were a lot of racial discrimination towards African Americans and other races by the whites. In fact he says that some form of discrimination was perpetuated against him. The GI and the silent generation had passed through the great depression and the Second World War. These were hard times. During this time there was great racial discrimination. One such example was the discrimination of the Jews by Germans leading to their extermination by Adolf Hitler. They had witnessed the worst form of discrimination in the world. The discrimination that was being witnessed in America, to them, was not something of great concern. They did not address this issue as a priority. On the other hand, the baby boomers that were born in an era of grand vision saw this as a matter of urgency that needed to be addressed by the leadership. They had the education and they could advocate their visions freely. Mr. Wong confesses that he found the American teenagers bolder in expressing their views. Mr. Wong says that he supported the movements of Dr. Martin Luther King junior that advocated for the rights of black Americans and citizens of color and he also says that he supported other African American activists. This shows that there were a lot movements advocating for equality of all residents of America. The rallies of these activists were mainly attended by the young as we see Mr. Wong, by then a university student. These are the baby boomers that were born in the era of freedom and they felt agitated when their rights were infringed. The GI and the silent generation having passed through hard times would rather persevere. The leadership tardiness in taking action towards the demands of the activists could have been influenced by the generational gap also. Since the leaders were born in a generation where the young had no say, they did not take the grievances of these young activists seriously. The baby boomers were opposed to the leadership in most political decisions. Mr. Wong talked about the 1962 Cuba Missile crisis. In this crisis, America was opposed the Soviet Unions’ move to launch missiles in Cuba and sought to lock out Soviet Union from Cuba. The Soviet Union responded by threatening to wage a nuclear war against the United States because it felt the US was invading Cuba. The crisis was solved by a negotiation between US President John F Kennedy and the Soviet Union President Khrushchev where it was agreed that the Soviet Union will remove its missiles in Cuba in exchange for America’s removal of missiles in Turkey. John F. Kennedy having passed through the world war he knew the effects of war. As Mr. Wong states the infrastructure would be destroyed and the economy would also collapse. The baby boomers had not experienced any war and that is why they were opposed to this move by President John F. Kennedy. Quite ironically, we find the same boomers opposed to the Vietnam War and organize anti-Vietnam War rallies. The generational crisis evidenced between baby boomers and the leadership was evidenced in 1960s and 1970s reaching its peak in the 1970s. This was the period when the baby boomers were at the peak of their education and wanted their voices to be heard. Some of their protests were genuine as Mr. Wong says about anti-racism protests that he himself supported. However, some protests were just merely in opposition of the decisions of those in leadership like protesting against the compromise on Cuban missile crisis. This crisis faded in the 80s as the baby boomers turned into young professionals. The current generation is not in any way different from the baby boomers as we have witnessed the tea party and occupy protests where the youths especially in the university are always on the fore front trying to put forward their visions. Works Cited Chapman, Rodger. Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices. New York: M.E Sharpe. 2010. Print Read More