But not so much for the Greats, the Silents, and Generation X. My theory is that the Greats, the Silents, and Gen X were all wartime generations. The Silents and Gen X were also relatively small generations, there really aren't that many of them. Add to that the fact that all of those generations had some level of dispossession coupled with an even more impressive level of productive wealth creation, and you can kind of see why no one really picked on them as much as what we see today. The Greats were, well, the Greatest Generation. 'Nuff said there. The Silents were a wartime generation, born in the depths of the depression, who never really whined about their lot and because there really weren't many of them, they were, person for person, likely the most productive generation in our history. Generation X was given the name because they were the black spot. They were the first generation that would grow up to have less than their parents. They kind of just ran with it, and despite having war after war to deal with, ushered in one of the most transformative eras of wealth creation in mankind's history.
All that said, actual leadership of the country seems to skip over those kinds of generations. (With the exception of the Greats.) Not many leaders from the Silents or Gen X, but a large number of well known leaders from the Baby Boomers and even the Millennials. From Mayor Pete to AOC, the Millennials seem to outshine Gen X as far as leaders are concerned, for better or worse. In the same way, the Baby Boomers outshone the Silents to the point where the Silents are almost forgotten to history. Generation X might have been forgotten were it not for their technological innovations and achievements.
Anyway, that's my theory. So Millennials shouldn't take all the ribbing too hard, because if history is any indication, in the end, you'll likely be the ones in charge. Again, for better or worse.
Also, not entirely sure why there's a generation called "the Greatest Generation". We can say they were all war heroes and suffered etc., but there were also jerks in that generation who started those wars. We are all products of our time. It kind of sucks to just lump everyone based on their birth date and stereotype them.
Prior to boomers it was just "kids these days"...
I have no doubt that that pattern repeats into history. What one group uses as a slur, another uses as identity.
