One of the subthemes of reportage on Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan is the extent to which he embodies what he is supposed to embody as the first "Generation X" candidate.
Some commentators have seen in Ryan's politics a reflection of the pragmatic, post-utopian, do-it-yourself, suspicion-of-institutions spirit of the generation. Others have wondered what happened to the live-and-let-live, anti-workaholic (pro-slack), spiritual-but-not-religious, pop-culture-connected spirit that seemed to animate so many of us born in the mid-1960s to late-1970s, and who came of age in Reagan's America. Still others ask whether there was ever anything to these purported generational characteristics. This weekend, the New York Times ran an article by Alex Williams, "For GenXers, a Wake-Up Call," that summarized some of the discussion so far.
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