Are we the children of a failed generation?

Have you ever wondered why the people between 36 and 26 years old, are said to belong to the X generation? as in the mathematical equation, we are a variable, and cannot be classified. Given the fact that generational gategorizations refer to uniting trends, or similar characteristics, the fact that our generation does not have them implies that there's no overarching generational goal, no one true theory.

Could this be due to the fact that our parents belonged to the generation that advocated for peace and love, unity among mankind, but then went on to become the same people who brought along the gulf war, now Iraq, and above all the terrorist movements that have plagued us since the 1960's? Thre are also those whose ideals died in the haze of pot smoke or in an Acid overdose, or even worse fates, such as that of John Lennon, who advocated for peace among mankind and was brutally murdered...

Is it safe to assume then, that the ideals of our parents generation, that fostered so many changes in the world, some good and others bad, came short of what they most desperately wanted? were they finally overcome by the system they so loathed and fought against? and has their failure become a warning for our generation not to have a unique uniying ideal? Sometimes I think that we can't unite because we're afraid of suffering the same fate of our parents, better to have individual dreams, selfish in nature, that can be achieved on our own, than to commit yourself to something that involves your entire being, for which some might even give their lives, and one goal that in the end might come short...