There is a reason GenX'ers rejected collective responsibility. The boomers' greed (during the Reagan era) created a situation where GenX'ers knew that things like Social Security would very likely not be there for them, when they got old. As a GenX'er myself, that was a big topic of discussion among my peers when I was in my 20's. This fear prodded them into feeling that their only hope for the future was to take care of themselves--because nobody else would.
Given our present discussions in Congress, I still fear that Social Security and Medicare won't be around by the time I'm old. Or if it is, it might be privatized, cut to the bone, or the age raised to the point where I'll be in poverty because I'm too old to work (I have major health issues) but too young to get benefits.
So it's no surprise that many GenX'ers developed an "every man for himself" attitude--there's nothing quite like fear and anger to kill compassion.
Yet we were the first truly diverse generation, in terms of minorities, backgrounds, etc. We can't all be lumped into a category as conveniently as other generations, as a result.
It's not fair to say that GenX'ers don't care about community. We do, but when we do charitable acts, we just don't trumpet them the way that Boomers or Millennials do. There are only 2 traits that GenX'ers have in common: Diversity and a contempt of making a big deal about what we do. We're the "just do it" generation. The media tried to make a big deal about GenX coming of age, but when they saw how boring we were, they gave up, LOL.
As for GenY...yes, there may be conservatives among them, but young people are one of the groups that support Obama most. So what if angry white boys didn't vote for Obama? Angry white boys are racist--what do you expect?
Judging young people by those idiots is like judging America by the posts at Freak Republic. 
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