An Out for Generation Jihad

What it is that creates a “Man Eater?” We should ask Darryl Hall and John Oats, since the music of the l980’s was almost exclusively romance oriented. That seems like a long time ago, and that particular social norm seems long extinct. During the l990's the "Grunge" movement in American music empowered itself and scoffed at what they considered a politically active, self-expressive, American-dream oriented generation. "Baby Boomers" are the generation of Americans born after World War ll roughly between l946 and l964. At the end of World War ll the United States had an unprecedented surge in economic growth. We became the mass producer of goods for export to war torn countries to rebuild their shattered infrastructures. (Sound familiar, Haliburton?) At that time the U.S. probably wasn’t politically savvy or demonic enough to mastermind a world war to boost the economy. Although the war did arise shortly after the Great Depression of the l930’s, there are few conspiracy theories linked to World War ll. The result of dropping the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki created a bubble of economic growth that did not wane until l968. Likewise the G.I. Bill allowed an unprecedented number of Americans to attend college and earn a degree probably for the first time in their family history. This created higher incomes and thus the possibility of rearing more children. The Baby Boomer generation was the first generation to be highly influenced by television. For the first time in the nation’s history children from disparate parts of the country were watching the same television programs. In essence this created a “mainstream,” and shows like “Leave it to Beaver,” and “Father Knows Best” idolized the family unit a central in American cultural life. The Boomer generation best represented the “American Dream” and later evolved into “The Preppy” generation of the l980’s and the “Soccer Mom” generation of the l990’s. Government and academia failed to draw a line of demarcation for the end of the prospect of the American Dream. The Grunge movement in American cultural history adopted that responsibility and in one fell swoop created their own “Generation X.” Passionately (and probably with the help of drugs like the Jazz Movement) they created a bubble of existence in the Pacific Midwest that represented their own perspective of American life. It had nothing to do with the post World War ll optimism of the Baby Boomer generation. Instead bands like Nirvana, the Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, and Hole vented their anger and frustration at not having the same seeming opportunities as their Boomer parents. Hip/Hop on the East and West Coasts in urban America similarly painted their grim violent picture of American life. Ironically after the extreme violent nature of 9/11, a newly emerging and extreme “Generation Jihad” became represented by a “bubble gum and sugar-coated pop” movement in American music. How could this event and a series of extreme television shows based on stark reality be represented in the “mainstream” by glamorous, adolescent, happy music? This could be considered the first real fracturing of the mainstream in America, because music for the first time failed to represent what was happening in real life America. While the happy optimism of Glenn Miller’s swing-oriented Big Band music may not have epitomized Normandy, it represented a patriotic and purely American sentiment that helped America through the war. “Pop” possesses none of these qualities offering only a shallow, sheltered, and adolescent escapism. Because of the current state of the federal government, it is time Generation Jihad be overthrown by mainstream America and this evil, foreign, empirical power be extradited and replaced with a more worthy and honest cultural American picture. Domestically like the end of World War ll shouldn't our current generation be reaping rewards from the grievous sacrifice of 9/11 and the war in Iraq? Why should Dubai, China, and India be reaping the manufacturing rewards of our retooled "Arsenal of Democracy" in the name of Haliburton? America deserves better. Our life has become defined by President Bush's ill fated "War on Terror." The American people are waiting for the Renaissance resting in the hands of the new President, and "Glam Pop" is not it.