I too, am one of >the 1980 kids. People like us turn to Salinger because we are lost. We >are drowning quietly in an ocean with no surface because we have no >reference points. I think that is one of the most brilliant descriptions of our generation that I've ever heard. We all burn to 'die nobly' or something, to *believe* >in something. But it has all been done before, and consequently, we are >unable to create anything - we revert back to the people of the past and >chant their words and become 'wannabes' because we have no values of our >own. But Ginsberg, Kerouac, Cassidy, and Burroughs went through the same thing--Ginsberg in particular, who was told by his professors that all the poetry that matters has already been written. Luckily for us, William Carlos Williams asked him to prove that it wasn't true. I realize that none of the Beat writers represented a generation (Ginsberg, when asked about the "Beat Generation", replied with something like, "There was no 'Beat Generation'. It was just a few friends hanging around together."), but they did offer an example of escape from their own seemingly inexorable cycle of ennui. I don't think we haven't got values...I think the traditional values of society failed, for some reason or another, to pass entirely onto us, so we've created our own set of values--values that don't necessarily agree with the established values of our predecessors, hence our dissident reputation. This all sounds very punk rock and romantic, rebellious and everything, but I believe that it happens to nearly every generation. Women wearing short skirts and boys' hair? The Twenties are the End of the World! Boys wearing flowers and jewelry and girls' hair? The Sixties are the End of the World! I think that most of us will assimilate to some degree; those who don't will be remembered nostalgically by our children as the Rebellion That Failed...a la the Progressives, the Beatniks, the Hippies. This is what I call 'Generation Zero', which is the next step to >Generation X. It doubts the media and everything else, it rejects >conventional society. It is, as Antolini said 'The whole arrangment's >designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking >for something their own environment couldn't supply them with. So they >gave up looking'. Mr. Godot, could this be a reference to your sister Endgame? In a post nuclear war world, all environmental measurements--thermometer, barometer, et c.--read zero. There was nothing out there, so all that was left was to die. Or perhaps a reference to Edgar Rice's "Adding Machine", where the main character was Zero...his job was replaced by a machine, so with no reason not to, he kills his boss and is executed. I can't say I'm exactly sure what you were getting at with this bit of your post, regarding Generation Zero, but I think the nihilist way of thinking is vastly overrated. When thinking about things too much begins to show you that things aren't worth it, then perhaps it's time to stop thinking so much. I agree with your very broad observations about the fashion victims and the intellectuals, but I'm also scared of generalizations that seem to sum up my entire generation. It seems to me that Tim's reply to this post was a bit more on the money--a spectrum of students, participating in life in different ways, with different motivations. I can't seem to formulate an appropriate response to your post...so if anything I've just written reflects on me badly, feel free to disregard it; likewise, if it reflects on me well--why thank you, I knew there was a bit of brilliance in there somewhere. Basically, your post was a cornucopia for thought and it'll require a bit more digestion on my part before I can do you or myself any justice. I did my best. Brendan ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com