Gen X: From Cool Britannia to Conspiracy Land?
So, I'm reading this piece about how Gen X is apparently losing its collective mind online, and honestly, it’s got me thinking. We were supposed to be the cynical ones, right? The generation that didn’t trust anyone over 30? Now we’re the ones ranting about…what was it? Chemtrails at the bus stop?
Seriously?
This whole thing kicks off with some lady in Aldi overhearing a dude casually threatening politicians. Like it's totally normal dinner conversation now. The author, Gaby Hinsliff, calls it a "Facebook conversation come to life.” Which, yeah, that nails it. It's like people forgot there's a difference between screaming into the void of the internet and, you know, saying batshit crazy stuff in public.
The Great Unregulated Experiment Backfires
Hinsliff mentions Health Secretary Wes Streeting being alarmed that racism is becoming "socially acceptable" again. Socially acceptable? Give me a break. It never went away, it just found a new home online. Now these Boomers and Gen Xers are bringing their internet-fueled rage into the real world.
My friend calls it "sauna politics." Conspiracy theories and bad takes just bubbling up in the heat. Which, I gotta say, sounds about right. It's like everyone's mainlining InfoWars and then just vomiting it all over the poor cashier at Aldi. And the article mentions that it's not just disgruntled old dudes, but parents at school gates spouting anti-vax nonsense.
Here's the thing: Gen X thought we were immune to this crap. Too cool for school, too media-savvy to fall for the online BS. We grew up with the internet, we invented a lot of it! But maybe that's the problem. We were there at the beginning, before the algorithms took over and turned everything into a personalized echo chamber of hate.
Midlife Crisis Meets Misinformation
The piece points out that Gen Xers are getting to that age where they're worried about being left behind. Redundancy, divorce, kids leaving home… suddenly the world feels like it's changing too fast. And when you're feeling lost and scared, it's easy to find comfort in a community of like-minded loons online.
I’m not saying it's an excuse, offcourse, but it's an explanation.
The numbers are pretty stark. Only a small percentage of British 50-somethings voted Reform UK last time, but now a third of 50-64 year olds would. That’s a massive jump. And in the US, Gen X is supposedly the "Trumpiest generation." What the hell happened?
But wait a minute...aren't we generalizing a bit here? Is it fair to paint an entire generation with the same brush just because some of them are spouting nonsense online? I mean, I'm Gen X, and I haven't started stockpiling canned goods and ranting about the New World Order...yet.
There's this "Smidge project" studying how conspiracy theories spread among middle-aged folks. Good. Maybe they can figure out how to deprogram these people before they start a revolution at the local bingo hall.
It all boils down to this: we thought we were too smart to be manipulated, but we were wrong. The internet didn't make us smarter, it just gave us a louder voice to be stupid with. And now we're seeing the consequences in the checkout line at Aldi.
