Boomers have paid their dues to society

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | 5/18/05 | Jan Murray

[qam1]

Jan Murray believes boomers are right to demand your money.

I am having trouble empathising with the bleating about whose taxes will fund the ageing baby-boomer bunch in the near future. Such mean-hearted tripe. Such chutzpah - the high-chair set having a hissy fit just thinking about the load it's going to have to bear.

So, who started it and how do we stop it is what I want to know. I feel like digging out my pewter jewellery and hurling it at the next Generation-X pet who complains that his or her taxes will be supporting the likes of me because I haven't been clever enough to save for my Zimmer frame.

OK, so a decent slice of your taxes are going to have to keep us in the style we invented and will insist upon while there's breath in our used, abused (and increasingly refused) bodies. Pardon us for making up 39.76 per cent of the population.

Let's just hold that thought while I run through a few home truths.

Imagine a world without teenagers. Who invented the phenomenon? We did. The adolescent baby boomers were the social malcontents of the 50s who cut loose from the oppressive ruck and insisted on being recognised as individuals with a right to be listened to, marketed to and feared by a conservative Yesterday because we were Tomorrow - our own tomorrow, and yours.

Imagine if we had not rebelled. Elvis would have been sent back to his mum to have his mouth washed out. He would still be singing gospel in some clapboard church in Memphis, telling his grandkids how a rush of blood to his head a long time ago made him do some foolish things with his hips.

Look at it this way: the money you've been saving on dentistry - because we gave you flouride in your drinking water - is the equivalent of the tax rise you'll need to come up with on our behalf.

Between sorting my vinyls and renovating my sea-change home, I pause to wonder: why all the ingratitude and grumbling resentment? Should we have left off trying to make this a better world? Should we have just climbed the corporate ladders and left the multinationals to rip down the trees and put in their car parks?

I haven't even touched the 'f' word. This fight alone would be reason enough to drop a donation in as we pass the hat around. I'm not talking flares and fondue, either. Of course the boomers gave the world them. Just as we gave it fast-food, rock'n'roll, heart transplants, aerobics, tantric sex and the F-111. OK, so the Concorde proved to be a dud and the AK-47 was nasty, the multi-function polis never eventuated and body shirts were neither here nor there. But imagine a world without tampons, child care and equal wages.

Yes, I'm talking about feminism. Boomers went in hard on that one, and the Gen -ers who hold up half the sky today need to be reminded with each pay cheque. But that's an argument for another day. Why not just pay up and do it with a smile? Life's too short for hassles, man. Dig?

[Goodgirlinred]

Hey! I am a Boomer, born June 18, 1949. I married at 18, had 3 daughters each 2 1/2 years apart. I was married for 33 years until my husband died of complications caused by cancer 4 years ago. We both worked hard. My girls are all happily married and are self-sufficent. I have 9 grandchildren. I went to community college at 32 and graduated with and Associates Degree and my R.N. Worked in a hospital for a while and climbed the corporate ladder. I don't work now. I am self-sufficient and independent. I am not asking anyone for anything. I did not ruin anything for anyone, either. My husband and I educated our daughters and brought them up to be good Christians and good citizens. So don't blame me for your problems. I have always voted Republican, too.

[Hi Heels]

Here's a thought, let's just figure out a way to fix the problem so one generation of Americans aren't eating dog food simply because there was a lot of sex going on in the 40's and 50's. Hello? Sniping and insulting one another is juvenile. "WAAAAHHH I have to pay for my dad's health care!! WAAAHHHH, they invented LSD!!! WHHINNNNEE!!! Their generation is selfish!!! BOOO HOOO we did more as a generation than anyone else!! Sob! They were hippies! Shriek!!! The X'ers are lazy snobs!! WWAAAAAHHHHHH!!!".

Gawd. Grow up. This is Baby stuff. Stoopid. Unproductive. And after it's all said and done, the problem will still exist.

sheesh. Work to find a solution, don't add to the problem.

[Hi Heels]

Yeah. It was all previously planned malicious strategy. In fact, it was invitro-planned. We discussed it in the 30's.....

psstt... hey Sally.... Let's all get together and totally ruin the world just so we can piss off gen X. .......

Gawd. What a load, pal. Got a broad enough brush? Here, use this:

In the meantime, while I, who never participated in any of the crap you've accused all of us of, worked every GOP candidate since Nixon, have my own 401K, have been working since I was 16, helped raise my 4 younger siblings, get to eat dog food, you can rest assured that your response was certainly productive. Thank YOU so much.

[Night Hides Not]

I suppose your generation just had better press.

Sorry, Marie...we had Walter Cronkite. Of course, David Brinkley got it right about Clinton (before he "revised and extended" his remarks).

[TruthConquers]

Look, lots of late boomers aren't boomers at all.

In fact, if you read this thread, you will see plenty who recognize the problem, have voted republican, and can only do so much.

Social (in)security was in place before we were born!

In fact I think that part of the harm done with social security is this generational feuding. It divides families and generations. It is on this thread!

The "greatest generation" didn't have to think too hard about their future, they were the generation that counted on it. The're the most powerful voting block for the last 40 years. And they voted dumbocrat. Late Boomers didn't vote for this stuff. The "greatest generation" did.

[AdamSelene235]

In fact I think that part of the harm done with social security is this generational feuding. It divides families and generations. It is on this thread!

Yes, that was Otto Von Bismarck's goal in creating Social Security. Divide and conquer.

[Wombat101]

Yes, and we see how it's revolutionized our lives by merely replacing the telephone and the post office. The computer, for most, has replaced the typewriter and supplimented the television. Trust me, I've been in the data processing field for 20 years and the internet, while useful, is certainly not all it's cracked up to be.

[litehaus]

Clever by far! Great old movie.......

[clyde asbury]

I got the impression this was written somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

If so, the truth still comes out in jest.

[Maelstrom]

The boomers are going to start paying for their irresponsibility...or we'll kill them.

[mabelkitty]

I think I may be pro-euthenasia/murder.
I'm still trying to decide.

[mabelkitty]

Feminism: Another way to tell your children you don't love them enough to stop working.

Bitches.

It's because of feminism that the FREEDOM OF CHOICE was ripped from women - we used to have A CHOICE of working or staying home. Thanks to feminism, there is no choice .

(For all trolls - please, I don't have the energy to explain it - cheap labor flooding market, depressing wages, two-incomes required to match one, blah, blah - get a book if you don't understand).

[mabelkitty]

You forgot one:
Blowjobs are not considered sex nor are they considered infidelity.

Boomer women must feel special.

[LibWhacker]

Amen! More money for boomers!

(Oh, wait . . . Hope I didn't misinterpret the headline . . . )

[clyde asbury]

Don't forget kiddies, your employer has to match everything you pay to the government.

One guess where your employer gets those funds...

Time's up - from your salary.

[clyde asbury]

..you can rest assured that your response was certainly productive. [/sarcasm]

Since you have your own retirement plan, it would be very productive if you forego cashing your social security checks.

Thank you.

[angry elephant]

I've bought real estate, too. Even if it's just some raw land in addition to your home, it works out well.

[poobear]

Just a friendly reminder when someone wonders why they are not making two more dollars an hour. They already are.

[poobear]

You again? So, just eliminate SS now and Medicaid, Medicare and only have the REAL down and poor (not illegal aliens) receive any benefits and save us all billions. Hmmm? I've paid taxes for over 30 years and will receive nothing either pal. Welcome to the real world!

[clyde asbury]

Just a friendly reminder when someone wonders why they are not making two more dollars an hour. They already are.

Yes. Having the employee and employer "share" SS payments equally is a sleight of hand.

All the employer does is write the check.