EXAMPLE 1
This week, judge Richard Posner tested a variation of FoxLogic on unsuspecting readers of his blog at the Atlantic. Posner wrote, "The current hostility to government, and the fiscal binds that most of the states are in, make this an auspicious time for the reform of public employment. . . . One reason for the unpopularity of the stimulus is that so much of it went to the states, where it was used in significant part to save public-employment jobs. . . ."
- The A's run Wall Street institutions.
- The B's are public employees.
- In the wake of the financial crisis, both the A's and the B's received bailout money.
- FoxLogic®: the B's are out of control and must be regulated.
ABC News (h/t Cannonfire) reports on a new film called Generation Zero. The filmmaker claims "generational narcissism, as represented by the 1969 Woodstock Festival, is responsible for the excessive spending, mortgage crisis, and recklessness on Wall Street. '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."
- The A's run Wall Street institutions.
- The B's are Baby Boomers.
- Most A's are B's.
- FoxLogic®: the B's lifestyle caused the financial crisis.
Greenwald observed on his blog, "As I documented last week, the media's reluctance to describe IRS attacker Joe Stack as a "terrorist" reveals that this term has little to do with the act itself and everything to do with the demographic attributes of the actor: namely, in the American political lexicon, "Terrorists" are Muslims who dislike the U.S., while Americans -- especially ones who are white and non-Muslim -- cannot, by definition, qualify."
- The B's practice violent jihad.
- The A's are Muslims.
- All B's are A's.
- FoxLogic®: all terrorists are A's.
Interesting blog you’ve got here, Jotman. Your work in Burma is particularly interesting to me. In reference to the “Generation Zero” documentary which you refer to, I think it is crucial to distinguish between the actual Baby Boom Generation (born 1942-1954) vs. Generation Jones (1954-1965). GenJones was originally lumped in with the Boomers, but is now generally seen by experts as a separate generation. Understanding the differences between these two generations is central to comprehending this documentary.
ReplyDeleteThe post-WWII demographic boom in births is one thing, the cultural generations born during that era is another. Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. And most analysts now see generations as getting shorter (usually 10-15 years now), partly because of the acceleration of culture. Many experts now believe it breaks down more or less this way:
DEMOGRAPHIC boom in babies: 1946-1964
Baby Boom GENERATION: 1942-1953
Generation Jones: 1954-1965
Generation X: 1966-1978
Generation Y/Millennials: 1979-1993
Google Generation Jones, and you’ll see it’s gotten lots of media attention, and many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Washington Post, Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) now specifically use this term. In fact, the Associated Press' annual Trend Report chose the Rise of Generation Jones as the #1 trend of 2009. Here's a page with a good overview of recent media interest in GenJones: http://generationjones.com/2009latest.html
I agree the Jones Generation concept is useful.
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