And a world-class education it was. Thank you for contributing to the highest illiteracy rates in the history of our nation. Appreciate that. Yup. Your generation really helped us out there.
You get out of it what you put into it. If you ended up illiterate, blame the person in the mirror tomorrow morning. My 22 year old had crappy teachers, so he took the bull by the horns and conducted review sessions for his fellow students so they could score well on the AP exams. If you just let life happen to you, you will be a miserable failure. My formal education is in molecular biology and pathogenic microbiology. I make my living as a computer scientist and electrical engineer. The skills that pay the bills were acquired by purchasing books and studying ravenously. That beats pushing a broom at Walmart and crabbing about insufficient opportunities in the field of genetics engineering.
You can lay the blame for crappy schools on the leftists who dumbed down the schools to make the underachieving minorities "feel good". The schools teach leftist claptrap today and expect little or no level of academic achievement. It wasn't boomers who set those policies in motion. It was the "greatest generation" who were the politicians and the teachers and administrators at the schools attended by the boomers. Gen X is getting the second wave of the dumbed down process.
I see its bash a veteran/baby boomer day.
So just what did I do that wronged you so badly? Was it because I happened to be born in the 50s? Not much choice there. Maybe I should have waited.
Let’s look back into the past a bit shall we? When I was in Europe in the 70s, I remember almost daily briefings on our status and how we would fight should the Soviets cross thru the Fulda Gap. Remember this was an all voluntary force. We were told we would more than likely only last the very first few minutes of the conflict before we were all blown to hell. However, what we did would be crucial to the long term outcome. I am very glad to have had the opportunity to stand watch and alerts day and night protecting this country from the USSR. BTW, I sat in the back seat of an F4 for many many hours doing my job.
After spending years in Tactical Air Command, in 1979 I PCSd back to the states into Strategic Air Command; went from “in theater” to “strategic”. On 1 Sept 1982 I was able to transfer from SAC to USAF Space Command on the very first day in was in existence. I ended up as one of the charter members of Space Command. Let’s see. That was during a time when there was not all the flag waving we have today, support the troops etc. Not saying that bad, just we never got such ourselves. Still that was not important. Defending the nation was.
In 1987 I left Space Command to work for NASA. First at the Cape and then onto JPL “flying” interplanetary spacecraft. After years of working on interplanetaries, Space Station, Space Shuttle, Launch operations, etc, I am now back working with the DOD.
Also, thanks to Jimmy Carter, the Vietnam era GI bill was scrapped. For those who came in after 1978, they could jump onto the new version. For those of us that were Vietnam era, it just went away. No compensation – zip, nada, nothing. So I could not use my earned GI bill to pay for my grad school. Such is life.
Also all this time, I paid my taxes, social security, and other sundry withholdings the government deemed I should pay. And after I scrimped and saved enough to finally buy a house, even though I never had children, I paid the school taxes anyway. Still I did not complain. I even went so far as to take three years out of my life to teach space science to 5th and 6th graders sans any pay at all. More selfish baby boomer stuff huh.
So here I am, 50ish, never took a dime in welfare, save as much money as I can, give computers to needy folks, teach kids without pay, pay all my taxes and social security, and am still helping to defend the nation.
And yet you begrudge me a little return on my SS when I am no longer able to work?
Guess I did not do enough for you it seems.
Bad RadioAstronomer for thinking you might be able to retire after working you’re a$$ off for 40 years.
I guess I really screwed you over by being born, didn’t I.