Courage, moxie, chutzpah, brass balls, call it what you will but an impressive amount of truth to power was spoken, and written, recently and although I might be a bit premature in writing this it seems that my generation is, at last, finding its voice. If this is a taste of the future then I am definitely looking forward to it as well as doing my best to be a part of it.

It is difficult for me to resist the temptation to use gross generalizations when it comes to lumping all of the different people of an entire generation together. I'd surely love to paint with a wide brush and describe the Baby Boomer generation as a legion of self- absorbed, unethical, pleasure seeking, stubborn ideologues who have long since forgotten how to listen. I'd love to do that because of the ugly labels that have been placed on my generation. I am part of Generation X, otherwise known as a bunch of spoiled, apathetic, underachieving, slackers who care so little about their world and their future that they don't even bother to vote. And unlike politics, I don't have the luxury of sitting on the sidelines. I'm Generation X whether I like it or not and so I sometimes feel the need to refute my generation's bad reputation. (Honestly, slackers? Are you serious? Would the internet even exist without Generation X? We didn't just talk about a revolution, we built one.)

Perhaps what I liked the most about both of the examples of speaking truth to power that I quoted above is their apolitical nature. Stephen Colbert delivered his pointed criticisms using his "Colbert Report" character, an ideal vehicle for lampooning the self-righteous elitism so common among our nation's pundits and leaders. And although many of his comments were directed at Bush, there is no doubt that he was down-dressing just about everyone in attendance, left, right, and center. As a number of pro-republican critics have charged, Stephen's jokes were mean spirited, and I agree completely. That was the point. Stephen showed no fear of the president as he metaphorically stuck his fist in his face. And because he spread the sharp criticisms around in all directions, eliciting mainly nervous laughs from an apparently stunned audience I viewed it as being not about a political conflict, that is, left versus right, but about a generational conflict, that is, Generation X versus the Baby Boomers. Baby Boomers are well represented among the leaders of our nations, both political and corporate, and some of the people in my generation are wondering what happened to all that "change the world" idealism of the sixties? Did the Boomers sell out or was it all just about their own self interest from the beginning?

A lot has been written about how young people are turning off the network and cable news and tuning into comedy/news programs like "The Colbert Report", "The Daily Show", and the internet phenomenon "The Onion" to get their news, or at least to enjoy a good laugh at our leaders' expenses. I think that this is the epicenter of the generational conflict, if there indeed is one. Baby Boomers tend to fondly remember their involvement in political issues when they were young and disparage my generation for not getting involved in today's important issues. Perhaps many Boomers out there look at how much we younger people enjoy news parodies and want to retort, "So is that what you think? That politics is just all a big joke?" Now I can't speak for all Generation Xers, but I think that I speak for more than just myself when I state that the answer is an emphatic "YES!".

To understand why I think that you need to understand a little more about Generation X. Sure, Pauly Shore is Gen X, but so is Lance Armstrong, and I think the defining characteristics of Gen X lean more towards the cyclist: we tend to have a highly competitive nature and a fierce independent streak. We are driven to succeed, but what's more is that we want to succeed in our own unique way and tend to shun any assistance. Because of these traits, we don't share a lot in common with each other, especially ideology, which is a good reason why we don't do mass protests. A true Generation X protest would involve millions of people holding up contradictory signs and chanting different slogans. But I think that one thing my generation shares is that we strongly desire the world to be a true meritocracy. If we work hard we want our rewards and if we slack we don't expect to get a handout. We want to reap exactly what we sow and we expect the system to treat everyone the same way. Perhaps this is the influence of video games, where everyone starts out equal, the computer passes down pure and impartial judgments, and your successes and failures all depend on your skills, motivation, and work ethic. I think that Generation X has little or no problem with equality for anyone for any reason. In our world, everyone is allowed up to the starting line, but after that you're on your own. May the best player win, and no excuses if you don't.

I think that in this way my generation has followed much of the idealism of the Baby Boomers, embracing concepts of individuality and equality and discarding the moral absolutes of past generations. But in stark contrast to the fair and impartial computers which arbitrate video game heroics, the real world, now dominated by Baby Boomers, is far from even handed, and I think that the idealism that Generation Xers had when they got out of school was dealt a serious blow when they graduated and saw how things really worked. Cronyism, nepotism, corruption, idealism trumping the rule of law, and bald-face lies were our introduction to politics. I grew up under Reagan, who ushered in what could be called the "Age of Unaccountability" with the Iran- Contra scandal, the borrowing of trillions to pay for tax cuts for the rich (which would be passed down to their children - my generation), and the declaration that ketchup was a vegetable. Yet nothing seemed to stick to the Teflon president who appeared able to get away with anything. For those who came after Reagan, Nixon's mantra was repeated over and over: "wage war, borrow money, and never admit to any wrongdoing" and congress, far from snapping the country out of the trance, joined in the chorus instead. It didn't matter who was in charge, the policies stayed the same and things only got worse as the idealistic Baby Boomers took charge. Today every issue is as fiercely fought as the abortion issue was when my generation was growing up. In other words there is no debate, there are just two sides talking at each other and sounding like they are on different planets. As it stands today Washington D.C. has descended into an all or nothing turf war where the tyranny of the majority is the operating principle rather that a scourge to be avoided. Our leaders have become almost completely incapable of passing any meaningful legislation that doesn't involve giving tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars to select special interest groups that finance political campaigns. And we've seen how they respond to serious crises.

And here stands Generation X, seemingly indifferent to it all. We act like it isn't important. We are, for the most part, uninvolved. But why? Why now when everything matters so much!? I think the reason is that this is the defining condition for many Generation Xers, that of life under dysfunctional leadership, especially those of us with divorced, separated or feuding parents, which constitutes a great many of those in my age group. Even those of my generation who grew up in stable families were exposed to the many massive cultural rifts during their childhood and knew that their elders were at war with each other. I recall watching the battle of the sexes, the battle for civil rights, and the continuous culture wars surrounding sex, religion, and morality on television every night. We grew up in a world where the powers that be were constantly at each others throats, where those powers cared more about themselves than the people whom they were supposed to serve, and where those powers often treated us like political footballs and implored us to settle their stalemates. To our disappointment, that world is still with us today with many of the conflicts still raging on and growing worse, so many of us respond in the way that we learned when we were young, we become disengaged. But we didn't drop out of the world, we struck a deal with it, in essence saying: we'll leave you alone if you leave us alone; we'll take responsibility for our actions and you can take responsibility for yours; and we'll do our jobs and work hard if you do your jobs and work hard too. Our philosophy lies somewhere between libertarianism and anarchism.

Now, I'm not saying that my generation is superior to any others. I think that there are a lot of problems with the "Generation X" philosophy with a major one being that our choice of a standard by which to judge success or failure is often too materialistic. Certainly how rich you are is an objective measure of value and frees you from the baggage of moralistic systems that define worth, but it puts too much faith in free market dynamics and undermines any notion of things being both superior and lacking mass appeal. However, my point is to try to describe current events from a generational perspective so that they may be better understood.

If I haven't made too many assumptions, I think that it is clear to see why Generation X wants to stay uninvolved. We want to be free to be who we are and do our thing, not be who our elders want us to be, and definitely not have to solve their problems for them. I also think that it is clear that the frustration, sarcasm, and rebukes recently coming from Generation Xers directed at those in power is because the Baby Boomers are not living up to their part of the Gen X bargain. The two examples that I quoted at the top are stinging rebuttals that reveal the stubborn, self serving, and hypocritical nature of those in charge. I'd like to see more such criticisms, many more, as many as it takes to get our leaders to realize that their duty is to We The People.

Where Colbert is like the court jester, Ahmadinejad is like a disappointed mentor, chastising George W. Bush for acting in so many un-Christ-like ways (Who Would Jesus Torture?). Here is a man who stands at risk of having his country destroyed by war and having a nuclear "bunker buster" weapon dropped on his head and yet he calmly states his case, pointing out a number of things he sees as contradictions in Bush's beliefs and his practices, and asking for explanations. Now, I personally think that Ahmadinejad is misguided on a number of issues and I have no desire to live under his rule, but yeah, I'd like to hear Bush answer his questions. I'd love to see my president pick up a pen and write a twelve page letter back. I mean, whatever happened to granting a condemned man his last request?

Many Christians scoff at the advice of their savior. Honestly, all that talk about turning the other cheek, not resisting one who is evil, and loving your enemy, those are just good intentions, right? They're just Sunday School lessons that have no place in the real world. In the real world you have to respond to evil with deadly force and an iron fist. Just read the Old Testament, it's all about smiting the wicked. A real Christian understands that sometimes evil must be done for the greater good, right? I think that Christians who think that way should read up on how the early Christians conquered Rome, perhaps the greatest empire in history. I'll give them a hint, it wasn't with swords. Even in secular terms great power and influence flow from the ideas of practicing restraint and committing one's self completely to lofty ideals. Take the ideals that the U.S. was founded upon, notions of liberty, human rights, and self determination. These things are well worth fighting and sacrificing for and they are envied by those who lack them. And the idea that we would stick to those ideals, even when fighting enemies who don't follow our rules, even when it may make it easier to achieve our goals, and even when it means that more of us will suffer and die, makes those ideals even more powerful, more envied, and more worth fighting for. By sticking to our ideals we show the entire world our strength of character, our courage to defend everyone's rights, including those who wish to do us harm, and that we are willing to risk our lives for our freedoms. It says simply, "Give me liberty or give me death!", and those who would sacrifice that liberty in exchange for a little security are, and there is no better word to describe them, cowards.

I don't see the future as being very bright. I see economic collapse, a large scale war, and a lot of misery in the near future. But I do think that Generation X will not only rise to meet these challenges but that we are well suited to deal with them. Although our tendencies to remain detached and to do our own thing make us seem selfish, I've seen a strong selfless streak in those of my generation. We're very goal oriented and we are used to making sacrifices to achieve our ends even if that goal has nothing to do with money, power, or prestige. After all, a lot of the software, content, and power built in to the internet was added with little or no expectations of an immediate reward. It is a pyramid that we've all added a brick to and so what if the shape doesn't follow any blueprint. It's better the way that it is. So fear not the future fellow Xers, we can rebuild our nations when they fall. We may not be the greatest generation, or the most exciting generation, or the most talked about or anticipated generation, but I have little doubt that when it comes to be our turn to show the world who we are, that we will leave behind a legacy for the ages.

I urge you to view Colbert's full performance

And read the full text of Ahmadinejad's letter

Speaking of a legacy for the ages, the new Fireaxe CD… okay, that segue is a little too self-aggrandizing, let me try again…

Speaking of showing the world who I am, the new Fireaxe CD, "Eternal Devotion to the Dark Goddess" is moving steadily towards completion with nearly fifty minutes of rough tracks now recorded. Additionally, my health continues its steady improvement thanks to assistance from many sources to each of which I am very grateful. I've surpassed the level of health that, during the darkest days of my suffering with cancer and chronic fatigue, I didn't think that I'd ever achieve again. Now I've set my sights a little higher. I expect to be back to full health, or at least as healthy as someone can be with one kidney.

A big ‘Hello’ to anyone receiving the Burning Blade for the first time. This is the Fireaxe newsletter.