“I posted it because I have become weary of the Boomer-bashers here. The way I see it, if people want to blame Boomers for the ills of the world, they should, at least, understand the roots of the 60s.”
I don’t “want to blame Boomers for the ills of the world” — I’ve been led there by empirical evidence and reason.
And nothing you’ve posted here does anything to dissuade.
Sure, the Beats — another name for the leftists of the fifties — birthed the hippies (boomers). (And before them, the Bolsheviks. And way before them?
Robespierre and the Jacobeans. So what? There’s always a leftist subculture in every society bent on sawing off the tree branch their own little hive hangs from.)
The point is, there were a relative handful of beatniks. In San Francisco. And New York. Hollywood. At universities.
But the Boomers, in their never-before-seen numbers, millions and millions and millions, were no subculture. They became the culture. They embraced the left and all things leftist. They didn’t give it up after college; they’re still living it and taking the rest of us down with them.
Boomers have ruined everything in this country — the church, government, medicine, science, movies, books, TV, the news, education — everything that makes America America. You name it, the Boomers have raised their collective leg on it and destroyed it.
Yeah, I’m one of the ones on FR who blame the Boomers.
(sigh) Where to begin? First of all, try to wrap the fact that the hippies were a relatively small minority of the boomers around your hatred. If I had to guess, I'd toss out a number like ~75% of boomers WEREN'T hippies!!
Most of the boomers I knew, hung out with or saw travelling across the country were pretty much like me - relatively clean-cut, straight-laced and trying to figure out what life was about. We didn't have the time or interest for any of that hippie nonsense. And, just because there are a lot of us doesn't make us an intrinsic evil in society. Let me ask you - you like the computer you're typing on? Thank a boomer. We didn't invent computers, but we did develop desktop and laptop computers. And, what about your DVD player? You like that? Thank a Boomer. The same with the VHS players that were the forerunner of DVDs, the Internet, cell phones; all of these are among the contributions to society made by boomers.
Boomers have ruined everything in this country — the church, government, medicine, science, movies, books, TV, the news, education — everything that makes America America. You name it, the Boomers have raised their collective leg on it and destroyed it.
Well, on behalf of all Boomers, allow me to apologize. I don't know which one peed on your cornflakes to make you so hateful and ignorant but here's a little thing you might want to consider while you point your finger at the Boomers: Your generation is responsible for 8 years of Clinton, 8 years of Obama, has the highest bankruptcy rate and is the slowest genweration to launch.
So, while you blame all you problems on the Boomers, remember that in about 30 years, your kids and their kids will be blaming you!
The Living Years lyrics
Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door
I know that I'm a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I'm a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations
I'm afraid that's all we've got
You say you just don't see it
He says it's perfect sense
You just can't get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talking in defense
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It's the bitterness that lasts
So Don't yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different day
And if you don't give up, and don't give in
You may just be O.K.
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
I wasn't there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn't get to tell him
All the things I had to say
I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo
In my baby's new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
You’re an idiot. In every generation, there is a group (beatniks, hippies, who knows what before and since) - that makes the most noise, gets the most attention, and causes the most trouble. They aren’t the whole generation and, as others have pointed out, the majority of their generation are appalled by their antics. Generations, like many other groups, are not monolithic. Boomers, especially, are just people who are here by the accident of their birth. They are not all the same by any means.
Actually the boomers moved the country right, ending the great successes of the left that took place mostly from about 1935 to 1975, or so, as bad as things are today, the left has a harder time, and conservatism has a louder voice.
If the 1965 Immigration Act had not been passed, then America could have been saved, Reagan winning and us taking the congress in 1994 were great victories, but the immigration is killing us.
The 1984 election of Ronald Reagan, was the first presidential election, in which all of the boomers were old enough to vote in.
Boomers didn’t start gaining a place in society until many years later than most people think, a lot of people think that boomers ran the 1960s and 1970s, but they were too young.
the remaining percentage being those who are not boomers.
Well Hi Howdy there Blue Ink!
I am a Boomer—couldn’t help it, as my mother refused to carry me for another 30 plus years, so she birthed me back in the 50s. I was raised with the Cuban Missile Crisis, Political Assassinations, revolution in the streets and some great music over the am radio dial. I was a child in the 60s, The last generation of innocence in my opinion.
I was a cub scout, a boy scout, like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and ALL the great bands out of San Francisco. I was raised in the SF Bay Area, the epicenter so to speak of all the ills. To make matters worse, I was actually born in Berkeley. (Cause dad, a Korean War Vet was majoring business).
I served my country as an armor crewman in Germany, obtained the rank of Sergeant at discharge.
These days I sport a pony tail, make and sell tie dye, listen to the Grateful Dead and am fiercely conservative. I question authority still and believe that the government is lying to me. I want the government and you to leave me alone to live me life as I see fit. And if THAT makes me a “hippie” so be it.
If I am what represents the ill of everything that keeps you from success, then I guess us “boomers” just need to curl up and die, eh?!