Posted on 08/05/2004 10:29:02 PM PDT by Marie
"Trace the life cycle to date of Americans born in 1961. They were among the first babies people took pills not to have. During the 1967 Summer of Love they were the kindergartners who paid the price for America's new divorce epidemic. In 1970 they were fourth-graders trying to learn arithmetic amid the chaos of open classrooms and New Math curricula. In 1973 they were the bell-bottomed sixth-graders who got their first real-life civics lesson watching the Watergate hearings on TV. Through the late 1970s they were the teenage mail-hoppers who spawned the Valley Girls and other flagrantly nonBoomer youth trends. In 1979 they were the graduating seniors of Carter-era malaise who registered record-low SAT scores and record-high crime and drug-abuse rates.
"From Boom to Thirteenth, America's children went from a family culture of My Three Sons to one of My Two Dads. As millions of mothers flocked into the work force, the proportion of preschoolers cared for in their own homes fell by half. For the first time, adults ranked automobiles ahead of children as necessary for "the good life." The cost of raising a child, never very worrisome when Boomers were little, suddenly became a fraught issue. Adults of fertile age doubled their rate of surgical sterilization. The legal-abortion rate grew to the point where one out of every three pregnancies was terminated. Back in 1962 half of all adults agreed that parents in bad marriages should stay together for the sake of the children. By 1980 less than a fifth agreed. America's divorce rate doubled from 1965 to 1975, just as first-born Thirteeners passed through middle childhood."
(Excerpt) Read more at etext.org ...
Enjoy.
Marie
In other words, I'm stuck between the aging boomers and there brats?? I kind of prefer the Reagan Generation myself.
;)
I was born in 1961 and I turned out OK. I scored 1170 on the SAT and graduated college with an engineering degree. I am now married with 1 daughter just graduating high school.
This is the most longwinded article I've ever read...
Yup, The Clintonista generation of swine needs to be held accountable for their decades of self-serving political transgressions. How 'bout: no social security payments unless you served in the armed forces.
LOL! Sounds good. I'd add that any couple who successfully raised their children and where the mother stayed home while the father provided should also be given the "nod".
Born in 1961 bump.
These two also wrote a number of interesting books on generations. "13th Gen" for Gen Reagan (as we FReepers like to call ourselves) and "Generations". Both are pretty interesting.
I think they have a few other books on the subject.
qam1 - probably a good post for a Gen X ping.
It is The Atlantic Monthly.
That's great! Social engineer that generation back to reality... Give'em a taste of their own medicine!
Not that I actually remember these from at the time...
There is one statistic in this article that staggers me, if it's true. It's that 1/3rd of this generation was aborted. If this is accurate, then the Boomers can hang in their old age. How dare they decimate our workforce by 1/3rd, then demand that we support them in their retirement while simultaneously raising our own children?
The way I see it, if you lived a good life then there will be people to love and care for you in your old age. If you were selfish then you don't deserve to have your children and grandchildren sacrifice for your comfort. Honestly, I think that this generation has sacrificed enough for their parents' careers, soul-searching, egos and childishness.
Oh yeah that's it. "The Fourth Turning". I read it and promptly forgot the title.
:-/
What a slacker ...
Yup. The aborted kids would have safely supported SS, which is probably why it is going to fail--they didn't take that into account (and how could they?) when it was designed.
Boomers look to values--the redemptive if painful resurrection of what Michael Lerner, the editor of the progressive magazine Tikkun, calls a "Politics of Meaning."
Which gave us a stained Oval Office, 'Senator Hillary!', 3000 Americans dead on our own soil and a World War.
They killed Kenny.
Those bastards...
Here's another idea. Suppose it was known that SS was going to be going away in fifteen years. Medicare and Medicaid was still going to be available, but everyone had to find their own way to support their basic needs in old age. The Boomers were now dependent on the success and good will of the Thirteeners and the Xers. After the expected tantrum, how do you think they would respond?
My generation has known for a very long time that SS would probably not be available for us. We know that the burden of our old age would fall on our children and our grandchildren. We also know that we have to get these kids independent and successful so that they don't drain us in our middle years, giving us a chance to save for retirement. I think that about half of us have wised up and are parenting our kids and half of us are still stupidly following the old Boomer line.
Part of me feels like pouring a drink and enjoying the show while the whole system falls in on itself. Then the grown-up in me sighs and sees that it's always the most responsible one who is stuck cleaning up the mess. But I honestly don't see how it can be done. We have a generation above us who are sucking the life out of our country as they pass through every age. We have our kids who we're trying to provide the best for so they can stand on their own two feet.
At what point in time will we be cared for? Not as children. Not as elders. I don't know if we have the strength in numbers to pull this one off.
...screw you. I'm going hewm.
"Crasher" Ping
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social aspects that directly effects Gen-Reagan/Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
Great, great point. Like all other things, they will kick and scream until they get their way.
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