Going through some old emails and completing and sending drafts I had. > I voted for Obama more because he was young than because he was > not-white. > He is young compared to most presidents, but JFK and Teddy Roosevelt outflanked him, and nobody can go younger than 35 (I don't believe the 30s-40s barrier has been breached yet). Not that it matters - I think two 42-year-olds can relate to each other as much or as little as a 25- and a 55-year-old; what depends more is interests, and their living situation. However, the *perception* of age still seems to matter to people for whatever reason. You may notice that when Obama wants to look like the fresh new face (whenever I think of that expression, I think of how acne is predominantly a teenage affliction) of America, hope and change and all that (as seen in election campaign events), he dyes his hair black...when he wants to look put-upon, as when dealing with Republican leadership, he dyes it greyer. Probably it is naturally somewhere in between.
> I want my children's generation > I recognize that it is a colloquialism, but is there really any good reason to use the concept of 'generations'? I may have said this before on this list, and have definitely said it elsewhere, and will doubtless say in in the future. After all, humans are not born in batches, and most societal changes either happen gradually or affect people of all ages. And there is the question of how generations are defined: for example, my parents born circa 1950 are solidly in the Baby Boomer generation, so as their child I might fall in Generation X - but many Generation Xers have children or even in some cases grandchildren my age. And what generation they are called is uncertain also...are they Generation Y? Generation Next, as the New Mexican seems to call them? The Internet generation (Vince Cerf, Doug Engelbart, Tim Berners Lee et al. should feel a bit ignored for that)? What was the 'Me' generation again? Some people are calling the youngest members of society right now 'Generation Z' - once we run out of Latin characters do we switch to Greek, like hurricanes? Basically I think it is a silly arbitrary system, but would welcome any and all arguments to the contrary. -Arlo James Barnes
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