ArcaMax

SAN DIEGO -- Let's do some talkin' 'bout our generations.

The Wall Street Journal started a conversation recently with an article that compared Baby Boomers and Millennials. The Journal asked: "Who's Had It Harder?"

The inspiration likely came from recent government data showing that Millennials have a net worth that exceeds what their Baby Boomer parents had amassed at their age.

So much for the political talking point that says younger generations are no longer doing better than previous ones.

That said, who had it harder -- Boomers or Millennials?

The answer is: "Who cares?" The question is absurd. The generation that had it hardest is the one squeezed between these two.

Long before Elon Musk developed a fascination with the 24th letter in the alphabet, roughly 65 million Americans born between 1965 and 1980 had already figured out that "X" marks the spot.

Now, between the ages of 46 and 61, Generation X will not be surprised that the Wall Street Journal forgot it existed. No worries. If X'ers have a motto, it's something like: "Whatever." Raised on Archie Bunker and "Animal House," we don't offend easily.

Other generations require more coddling.

The first line of this column was cribbed from the 1965 song "My Generation" by The Who is an obligatory nod to the Baby Boomers. The "Look at Us, We're Special" cohort always has to make everything about them, their lives and their experiences.

The baby boom began in 1946. That's when millions of American GI's returned from World War II, married their girlfriends, started families and bought homes with low-interest loans provided by Uncle Sam under the GI Bill. For the next 18 years, until 1964, roughly 4.2 million babies were born per year in the United States.

At its peak, the baby boom comprised about 79 million people. Today, there are about 70 million left, and they fall between the ages of 62 and 80.

They weathered the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. They endured the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement and the turbulence of the year 1968.

For what it's worth, they went through all that within the protection of a nuclear family. After school, June Cleaver was waiting at home with a snack for "The Beaver."

Later, the Hippies became "Yuppies" and showed Madison Avenue that they would buy any car if the commercial featured a Beatles song.

Meanwhile, the Millennial Generation was born between 1981 and 1996. There are about 74 million of them, and they are now between the ages of 30 and 45. They have no idea what it is like to live in a world without the Internet or cell phones, and their best friend growing up was Harry Potter.

Millennials spent much of their childhood encased in bubble wrap. They were fawned over, given participation trophies, and driven around in minivans with a "Caution: Baby on Board" sticker on the rear window. As teenagers, they listened to the music of Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and the Backstreet Boys. As young adults, they watched TV shows like "Friends" and "American Idol."

I was born in 1967, and so the X'ers are my tribe. Mom and dad both worked, and so we let ourselves into our house after school, made a snack while trying not to torch the kitchen, and plopped down in front of the TV to watch reruns of the "Brady Bunch" until our parents came home.

We pave our own way, and we don't need praise.

Gen X never expected the world to hold our hand, accommodate us, or make excuses for our failures. We're used to being insulted, neglected, overlooked, underestimated and shortchanged.

We were sent outside to play with friends until dark, fed sugary cereals and red M&M's, allowed to ride bikes without helmets, transported in cars with seatbelts, and unleashed on schoolyard equipment that looks like something out of "Game of Thrones."

X'ers learned our first civic lessons from the Watergate hearings, the perils of a weak presidency from the Iranian hostage crisis, the cost of exploration from the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster and the fallibility of leaders from former President Bill Clinton's intern scandal.

To quote my people, "Whatever." All that trauma was a blessing. Fending for ourselves made Gen X'ers resilient, unafraid and self-reliant. Eventually, you learn that not every generation was lucky enough to grow up without guardrails, and you're grateful that you were.

That's a good story. Too bad The Wall Street Journal missed it.

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To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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