As a proud member of Generation X I can take a joke. I get the memes. I can find the Crying Jordan very funny.
But the new meme for Gen X isn't very funny. And it's just plain wrong.
Buzzfeed broke the news that Gen Zers are calling Gen X the 'Karen Generation.' The idea is that we complain too much, we nag and we're not woke about the right issues. As the article puts it, Gen Xers are "racist, homophobic, and transphobic, don’t believe in vaccines or climate change." Well, no.
It's cool for young people to bash older generations. It has happened before and will happen again. That's not what is bothersome about this 'Karen' stuff.
Gen Zers are obsessed with themselves. They believe that they are the first people to 'feel' about the planet, or men and women, or politics. Social media is to blame. Younger people are focused on themselves, about how many 'likes' they get on a photo, or how many people follow them. The issues they are arguing about don't matter. That they are arguing is all that matters.
Gen X say gays and lesbians come-out in huge numbers. We didn't think it was a big deal. We listened to Earth Day speeches and were more than willing to recycle. And we dealt with all of the same issues about politics and impeaching a president. The difference is that Gen X never became obsessed with it all. The spirit of Gen X is 'whatever.'
There is one thing that the Buzzfeed piece gets right. Gen Xers are the parents of Gen Zers. So I guess we have to take the blame for the snot-nosed snowflakes who demand ultra-political correctness, but can't stand to have a debate less they learn they are wrong. If Gen X is the 'Karen Generation' it's because we raised an entitled generation.