Slackers Were Right

In what feels like the not-so distant past, I was once a slacker. Life has thrown me some curve balls — all for the better — and now I am part of the suburban hoard that is the anti-thesis of slackerdom. Though I am more than happy with my life as it is today, I was also happy being a slacker, a bit poorer, but happy.

The economy has crashed twice same decade, though this time its a bit too Hooverish for my liking , and we are all scrambling. Some of us are being forced to scale back whether its because as layoffs or other personal calamities and it seems the rest of us pulling back because we’re scared as shit.

It turns out those glorious days of slackerdom may have been the right modus operandi after all. David Scharfenberg in the Boston Globe writes:

“Slacker,” like most labels, has always been a crude and misleading shorthand. We were a bit aimless, us urban, liberal-arts types. We were a little too enamored of irony, perhaps. A little too frivolous.

But there was something to be said for a life in the moment; for a dalliance in California, for concerts and failed screenplays, for a little fun before the fall. And the truth is, we were always more purposeful – more responsible – than our fathers and uncles and grandmothers realized.

While Wall St. and Washington were building a disastrous economy, slackers were doing something else.

You see, while Alan Greenspan and Countrywide Financial were creating a capitalism of disastrous excess, we were busy working on a more workable model. Not without its indulgences, of course. The exuberance of the dot-com bubble was undoubtedly irrational. But we did pretty well, this little slice of Generation X.

We brought you the Internet, worked on green technology, and filled the ranks of Teach for America. We crossed the color line, ate local produce, and bought secondhand clothing. We lived in smaller spaces, drove smaller cars, and took the subway to work.

So as we all cut back and reevaluate where we are in life, maybe a job that’s a little less stressful, maybe a house that is not that big, or maybe going back to our slacker roots (feet up, take a break) is not such a bad thing after all.

We created something worthwhile – a sustainable neighborhood, a tech future, a life we can manage. And we won’t let it go too easily.

At least I hope not. As the nation rebuilds a crumbling capitalism, it could use a little perspective, a little wisdom. Bet you didn’t think you’d get it from us.