Performers: Born 1938–1957

If Performers sometimes seem unduly self-absorbed and self-indulgent, one must first consider the conditions of their value-formation period before passing too blithe a judgment. Born during and just after global war, and heirs to the advent of “we will bury you” Communism and its consistent threat of nuclear annihilation, offspring of the Patriot Value Population—most notably characterized by caution and an obsessive allegiance to the prevailing practices of the clan—the Performer generation might well have emerged as a tribe of crushed gray spirits quivering in the darkest corners of their own repressive nightmares. But be it a matter of fate, fortune, or their own sheer numbers, the Performers take the exact opposite generational tack … that of lighting their own inner flames rather than cursing the darkness.

There are always exceptions to these broad generalities, but no other Value Population quite compares with Performers for their lust after life’s sheer drama—for the belongings, feelings, and events that make an individual feel unique and very much alive.