[T]hey are eco-conscious; they take their cues from nature so they are willing to accept products that are flawed but authentic rather than slickly produced and inauthentic.... They want to make a difference. They want to live many lives. They don’t want to be told, "You can’t be an architect and a poet. They are sensualists. Because they are both idealistic and cynical at the same time...Ha ha. Are they real? They sound scarily like boomers...
September 28, 2008
"The RenGen is a psychographic more than a demographic..."
It's the "renaissance generation":
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
65 comments:
I was going to say about the fashion in the rain thing that *yes* fashion has to be impractical.
But it goes with this, too.
People like "authentic" hand made and imperfect things for the same reason they once preferred manufactured things. What signifies lower-class? Wal-mart mass production. What signifies upper-class? More and more it's hand-made natural products. Oh, the artist still can't make a living so I wouldn't rush out and decide to make hand-made wood and leather chairs that follow the natural shape of branches (someone was selling those on the roadside on my way home from Albuquerque today) but... *having* furniture like that is a sign of *wealth*. It's expensive, one of a kind stuff.
So is the hand spun, natural colored, alpaca wool scarves with their little lumps and fuzz.
And the goat milk artisan cheeses.
The new Pre-Raphaelites?
Ah, Wilderness
Go ahead,
Tempt fate --
Be a cynical architect and an idealist poet
Or an idealist architect and a cynical poet
You mad impetuous fool,
You far out man,
You pipe dreamer,
You.
Ann wrote:
Ha ha. Are they real? They sound scarily like boomers...
Two reactions:
(A) Good. That means they'll usher in their own Reagan Age later.
(B) Nonsense. From India to Indiana, the Boomers were as monolithic a group as can be imagined. It's not that they shared they all shared the same politics, but they did share the same music, fashion, attitudes.
I guarantee you that if you go to India today, you will see young people who look more like Alex Keatons, than CGI-obsessed, granola-crunching slackers. Same with Brazil. Same with China.
This RenGen is an American phenomenon which is ahead of the curve.
Cheers,
Victoria
I quess that explains the iPod. No, wait it doesn't.
Florida zip Mets zip through 5. I can't take much more of this.
"The new Pre-Raphaelites?"
Dear God no.
Are these people selling products to "Indigo Children"? Dear God I hate the New York Times.
Renaissance?
Not likely.
All their best efforts are going into games and other entertainments that don't have lasting value.
It's the DisGen, the distracted generation.
Brooks' Bobos.
How people see themselves is not the same as how they actually act.
They don't want to be told how to live their lives.
They want to be compassionate, but they don't want to hang around people that bother them.
They want to pattern after nature, but they still believe in homosexuality and invasive abortion.
They want to be spiritual, but they don't believe in anything higher than their own feelings.
They want a better world but they want to only focus on themselves.
They want to exalt the constitution, but they can't be bothered with constitutional outcomes that they don't like and they want to supplement government at their own pleasure.
Sounds to me like this is the boomers redux with a generational amplification.
The NYT, ages behind the curve, every time.
Uncanny! My New Victorian friends and I were just talking about this over cocktails last night!
"They want to pattern after nature, but they still believe in homosexuality..."
Don't you believe in homosexuality? Whether you clap your hands if you believe in fairies or not, homosexuality does exist. If you mean "believe in" in the sense of "condone", then you're running up against the fallacy of appeals to Nature. Homosexual behavior occurs in "Nature": in the animal kingdom and in humanity. Is humanity not part of Nature?
I agree with your other sentiments however. In the Italian and Northern Renaissance (the term itself is a fallacy that suggests that nothing of significance took place in the Middle Ages) there was an explosion of interest and advancement in science, cosmology, mathematics, medicine, physiology, image-making, philosophy and many other fields of endeavour. How is this "new" generation a "Renaissance" in that sense of the word? Is sounds to me like a feckless, sensualist bunch of losers who couldn't pass a physics class. They're underachieving, over-privileged posers being dressed up in "Renaissance" drag.
Ah, you're right. Correction:
....they still believe in innate homosexuality........
"....they still believe in innate homosexuality........"
Can you provide scientific evidence that disputes the idea of "innate" homosexuality?
I'm an old-style Renaissance man. I don't accept "feelings" or "beliefs" as an acceptable answer.
Are they the ones we've been waiting for?
Is The One one of them?
"Is The One one of them?"
I know that Obama's a "Lightworker", but I'm not sure if he's RenGen. He may or may not be an Indigo Child.
"I know that Obama's a "Lightworker", but I'm not sure if he's RenGen. He may or may not be an Indigo Child."
What he's a singing lesbian?
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
That silly quote about the "RenGen" could have come straight from a Mad Men script where the two young hip kids are in to talk about coffee again.
"What he's a singing lesbian?"
If only.
WTF is "take their cues from nature"?
When the tiger comes at them, they lie down and get eaten?
"When the tiger comes at them, they lie down and get eaten?"
Heh. :-)
You know nature... all cuddly and pastoral and all.
"WTF is "take their cues from nature"?"
When someone says something like this, translate it as such:
I'M A FUCKING MORON. DISREGARD ANYTHING ELSE I MAY SAY.
"I believe in Astrology" can be translated in a similar manner.
The summer breeze was blowin' on your face
Within your violet you treasure your summery words
And as the shiver from my neck down to my spine
Ignited me in daylight and nature in the garden
And you went into a trance
Your childlike vision became so fine
And we heard the bells within the church
We loved so much
And felt the presence of the youth of eternal summers
In the garden
Alright
And as it touched your cheeks so lightly
Born again you were and blushed
And we touched each other lightly
And we felt the presence of the Christ within our hearts
In the garden
And I turned to you and I said
No guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature
And the Father in the garden
Listen
No guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature
And the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost
In the garden
Wet with rain
No Guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature and the father and the holy ghost
In that garden, in the garden, wet with rain
Yeah. Alright.
No Guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature and the father In the garden
(No guru, no method, no teacher
Van Morrison)
...you have this large group of boomers who in their youth idealistically wanted to change the world, got frustrated and cashed out.
Actually, those who "cashed out" simply grew up and matured after realizing their dream of changing the world was simply a marijuana-induced delusion of grandeur and significance.
they are willing to accept products that are flawed but authentic
Cue the trail lawyers.
As I sit here in New York, my mind is going to the fact that we are going to reinvent mortgages.
Expect the new mortgages to resemble the old, traditional mortgages that required down payments and the ability to repay the loan.
Gen X, often characterized as Dilbert-style middle managers, will struggle to lead these spirited young workers.
Are you kidding me? Gen Xers are responsible for Dilbert's popularity. Dilbert's escapades remind so many of us of the idiotic decisions made by our Baby Boomer middle-managers.
In fact, in making hiring decisions at Pixar, good hand-drawing skills and sociability are the prized traits in candidates. Employees need to grasp that during creative brainstorming sessions it’s uncool to feel threatened if someone draws on top of your drawing.
This isn't a generational issue, it is an artist issue. My graphic designers hated it when I marked up their proofs. Artists simply don't like it when other people mess with their work.
They are also incredibly savvy about when they are being marketed to, so you cannot lie to them.
Five years ago, everyone was saying this about Gen Xers.
It is possible if we mismanage this period we could fall into a dark age, so who is in charge will be a pivot point.
Melodramatic much?
Oh, and my favorite part toward the end:
"This is not a research-based opinion...
The Mets blew it. There is no God.
Dude I told you God is a Yankee fan. He's watching football now.
President of marketing firm does a more flattering version of Bobos In Paradise and Stuff White People Like. NYT laps it up like mother's milk. Wake me when it's over.
God is visiting Philadelphia. Hope he stays for a few weeks.
He just likes Philly for the Cheese Steaks. God is a Yankee fan.
Look on the bright side. This will just help Doyle get ready for when his man Obama loses.
The renaissance is famous for its flawed products.
Watching the Met’s play is like watching a fat man chase his hat on a windy day.
Since 1945, each American generation seems to believe it has the answer, missed by the prior ones.
And each time they are pitifully wrong. The hubris is striking. And that this book focuses on the consumer first suggests how badly they miss the mark.
They don’t want to be told, “You can’t be an architect and a poet.”
Someone says you can't be both? Horrors.
Actually, you cannot be anything and a poet, because you cannot be a poet.
Or rather, for the love of humanity, please do not be a poet.
"Actually, you cannot be anything and a poet, because you cannot be a poet.
Or rather, for the love of humanity, please do not be a poet."
Oh for the return of poetry. I only read non-fiction and poetry. Sadly, little poetry written since 1945 is worth the paper it was scrawled upon.
Here's a tip for the RenGens out there: read poetry written during the original Renaissance. You might learn a thing or two.
"It is possible if we mismanage this period we could fall into a dark age..."
Wait, this isn't a dark age?!
If Mort were awake he would say that calling the election of Barack Obama a "New Dark Age" is racist.
Yikes. That's a lot of nonsense to cram into a single article.
"The RenGen is a psychographic more than a demographic"
You know, Psychomania is one of the most underrated films of all time.
"in their youth idealistically wanted to change the world, got frustrated and cashed out"
Don't confuse an understandable desire not to get drafted (or any other basic self preservation effort) with idealism, however it may be presented. Somebody who tells you they didn't want to "cash out" from the git-go is either lying or wrong (and lying to themselves).
"As I sit here in New York, my mind is going to the fact that we are going to reinvent mortgages"
No, that was already done, with disastrous results. Now we're returning to the conventional practices of the past.
"flawed but authentic rather than slickly produced and inauthentic. Dove figured this out with the real-women campaign"
Dove doesn't sell women. They sell slick, mass produced soap you can buy at WalMart.
Don't forget, the steak place on Oregon Ave is called Tony Luke's.
Hahahahha, how bout them Mets?
The Badgers looked good yesterday, too.
I'm glad my moral principles finally forced me to abandon the Sunday Times. What shit.
Growing interest in cultural pursuits.... authenticity..... is changing the way companies need to reach consumers, a new book argues.
Dis is da numba one champion sound
Yeah, Estelle we 'bout to get down
We da hottest in the world right now.
Just touched down in London town.
Ain't nothing new now now .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDJwVHB-bEw
There is very, very little in the way of authenticity now now.
These people always existed.
In The Breakfast Club, they were called neomaxizoondweebies.
In the erudite words of Mayor Richard M. Daley- Silly, it's just silly, cuckoo
Hippy redux. How quaint.
Ha ha. Are they real? They sound scarily like boomers...
You mean they sound just like us?
"they take their cues from nature" -geez, in what ways? What an absurd statement, the freakin' greedy little bastards have as much fiscal discipline as a garden slug, there should have been a draft I tell you, a lower cut of cannon fodder for the jihadists, droves of them sent over
Palladian,
"Oh for the return of poetry. I only read non-fiction and poetry. Sadly, little poetry written since 1945 is worth the paper it was scrawled upon."
Have you tried reading this guy?
"they take their cues from nature"
They are born, they die.
They eat, they breathe.
They love, they betray.
They laugh, they hurt.
They sacrifice, they sin.
They create, they destroy.
They strive, they fail.
They exult, they are humbled.
They feel anointed, they leave anonymous.
They believe they are the final fashion, they are but threads in a beautiful tapestry yet unseen.
Again.
Lems dictionary says that psychografy is exhibited most notably among people who's seen the film American Psycho one too many times.
Its a subtle scourge.. harmelss most of the time ;)
Nice poetry there, Pogo.
I'm a complete believer in authentic mayonnaise.
Nice job, Chip!
Here's a psychographic tip straight from my cashed out boomer kitchen to your eco-conscious RenJenaire in all its creatively tensioned glory:
Tip #443
Next time you peel ginger, try using a dinner spoon to scrape the skin off. Most of fresh ginger's flavor and flavonoids are found just beneath the skin.
That's a very good tip. Didn't know about the flavinoids. I used the back of a knife.
Did you know you can plant those rhizomes flat on top of wet soil and they'll grow into exotic red flowered plants?
Most of fresh ginger's flavor and flavonoids are found just beneath the skin.
It's somewhat like the brain. The new stuff we use (or try to use) is pretty much near the surface.
So if someone calls you 'superficial' they might be really complementing you.
Gosh. The things I learn by hanging out here!
"Have you tried reading this guy?"
No, I haven't. Thanks for the recommendation, Kirk!
Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre.
But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page
Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll;
Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul.
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
Some village Hampden that with dauntless breast
The little tyrant of his fields withstood,
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.
No, Chip, I did not know that. Thanks. Can't wait to plant a few rhizomes!
I would tell them they can't be a poet and an architect, first because they have no talent and have not studied English, and second, because they are arrogant and know nothing of building design and engineering. Other than that, carry on. Just don't expect me to read your "poetry" or walk into a building you have "built".
If these people had something of significance to do, they wouldn't worry about this crap.
Affluent, underemployed, flotsam = "authentic" poseurs
The author is in marketing. The RenGen isn't a psychographic. It's a focus group.
Wallace Stevens worked his entire life as an insurance executive. He didn't want to be told "you can't be an insurance executive and a poet." Once he got into a fistfight with Hemingway to prove it.
What's wrong with plain ol' happy middle class obscurity?
I quite like it.
Post a Comment