Posted on 12/11/2005 10:11:05 AM PST by LouAvul
They partied and protested, then grew up to dominate America with their chutzpah and sheer numbers. Yet now, as the oldest of the baby boomers prepare to turn 60, there are glimmers of doubt within this "have it all" generation about how they will be judged by those who come next.
The ferment of the '60s and '70s -- when boomers changed the world, or thought they did -- faded long ago. Nostalgic pride in the achievements of that era now mixes with skepticism: Have the boomers collectively betrayed their youthful idealism? Have they been self-centered to the point of shortchanging their children? Anthony DeCurtis, one of the boomers' pre-eminent rock 'n' roll journalists, hears the occasional barb from his creative writing students at the University of Pennsylvania and it gives him pause.
"There's a fear that there's going to be nothing left -- that they're going to be picking up the pieces for this six-decade party we had, cleaning up the mess," said DeCurtis, 54. "There's some truth to that, I guess."
The boomers -- 78 million of them born from 1946 to 1964 -- are wealthier and more numerous than any generation before or since.
They have controlled political power long enough to stack the financial deck in their favor.
"It's economic and policy imperialism," said University of Oklahoma historian Steve Gillon, 48, author of "Boomer Nation."
"The boomers have set up institutions that will continue to benefit them, at the expense of other groups, as they grow old and live longer than any other generation," Gillon said.
"It's spend what you want, cut your own taxes -- the ultimate baby boom philosophy of 'We want to have it all.' We're not a generation that's had to deal with the reality of sacrifice."
(Excerpt) Read more at modbee.com ...
Boomers are split between Barbara Striesand and normal people. We have to stay on our game; oppose the left even if it is not in our handout interest. However, I would guess we will suffer dementia. My father-in-law the conservative of all conservatives, wanted free drugs from the governement in his 90's. He totally forgot who he was and went with his most base instincts as he aged. This, even though he had plenty of money saved for his drugs. I feel sorry for the next generation. Boomer will rob them blind.
Fair enough. However, I work with NASA and there were plenty of boomers who accomplished much. Many of the flight controllers during Apollo, Skylab, and Shuttle were boomers.
There are great scientists and engineers from all generations. If many of the boomers had not busted butt to become engineers and scientists, you can bet that not only would we not have completed Apollo, we would not have the tools we use today.
Being born in 1965, I guess I am a post boomer. Don't forget that the "Greatest Generation" also set the stage (unintentionally) for most of the economic problems that are coming home to roost. I think most of the WOT veterans will return home and take more of an interest in their future and be more politically active than they otherwise would have been without 9/11.
There were tens of thousands of engineers, tool and die guys, scientists, you name it, that did work Apollo that fall in the catagory called boomers.
Fair enough. We live in a divided nation. Not only left/right but old/young. Looks like its only going to get worse. Glad I never had kids.
boomer bump
Me too, all three of us.
which boomers were the "movers and shakers" of the 60s and 70s? Seems all the iconic figures (beatles, stones, hendrix, morrison, joplin, leary, etc.) were born before the boomers and the boomers were their followers. Don't mean to offend (too much) but boomers appear to be the most self-absorbed generation with the littlest justification.
That's another one of those shifts in attitudes. Had the Greatest Generation felt this way, there would have been no Baby Boom. The Greatest Generation had children because that's what adults do. Those born after them need a reason to have children.
Not entirely true. Apollo was from early '60s to early '70s, IIRC. My participation began at NASA-MSC (now JSC) in '66. I worked in Mission Planning and Analysis Division, Flight Control Division and Flight Support Division, all housed in the administrative side of Mission Control Center. Some of the folks I worked with were my parents' age (Greatest Generation), and there were some Boomers, of course. But I'd say the largest segment of them were between my parents' age and my age. Of course, as more Boomers entered the work force, their numbers grew at NASA as well.
Thank you. Good to see you again. :-)
Lets put it this way, most had secure jobs, many staying at the same job or company for 30 plus years. Today, many people are forced to change jobs every other year or so due to downsizing, layoffs, and numerous other reasons. They had great benefits and pensions, homes were affordable, they drove cars that weighed 4 times what the cars we drive now, they used material and resources like they were unlimited, they didn't give pollution a thought, most never worried about running out of things, they went to the gas station and didn't give the price of fuel a second thought, no one argued about the cost of gas, water, electricity, homes, on a daily basis, etc etc. It was all very affordable. TV was free, taxes were low, and the laws, regulations, and environmental rules were not even half of what they are today.
The never heard of smoging a car every year. They smoked on sealed airtight airliners and no one gave it a second thought. Dumping oil down storm drains was not a federal crime, and many did just that. They didn't need credit cards just to survive from month to month like some now do. They didn't even need credit cards! There was little need to ever refinance their homes, few ever did or had the need to. As things were more stable financially. If they ever wanted to go shooting or camping they just did it, with few or no restrictions or fees! Even in their wars, they at least knew who the enemy was. In Vietnam and now Iraq it's hard to distinguish who the enemy really is.
30 or so years ago, Mom could stay home and raise the kids. Now Mom is working 40 hours a week in retail as one income families are no longer adequate.
Things are very different today. Admittedly some things are better, but in many ways the generation out of the 40s and 50s had it made with few of the worries that many face today on a daily basis.
This probably isn't an argument worth pursuing, but since you were so uncivil with the other poster, I'll bite. I was born in 1946, the first year of boomerhood by most definitions. That means that at the beginning of the Apollo program I was 14 and at the first moon landing, 22. If I was the oldest of boomers, then the 10's of thousands of scientists, engineers, machinists, etc., you are speaking of were younger than 22 at the first moon shot. So, I assume that you are referring to workers who came in near or after the first moon landing. Is that the idea?
I concur.
That's the idea. The 1985 number was pulled out of his a$$.
Actually they raised a generation whom they then sent to fight thier (bread and butter) war for them. During that war they sold out the young men fighting that war and turned their backs on them. They gave up and lost. It was their media trumpeting the kills and the peaceins.
Funny how the boomers are getting blamed for everything from the 60's to the next 30 years in the future.
Hey, looks like we have a reunion here. Actually, in my school, Goldwater won the mock election with about 65 percent of the vote. Which was really nothing more than an exact reflection of how our parents voted. But it actually made me believe for a few days that the hated LBJ was going to lose. My first political reality check.
And it's only going to get worse. I will stay out of these threads from now on. Bad for my blood pressure.
I'm outta here.
I don't think there is any one label you can apply and say "this is what the boomers stand for" anymore than you can with other generations. The Clintons are boomers; so are the Bushes. Karl Rove is a boomer; so is James Carville. Tom DeLay is a boomer; so is Howard Dean. Ann Coulter is a boomer (although she would deny it); so is Perkie Katy. It's just all over the map.
The New Deal and the Great Society both have to be blamed on the grandparents and parents of the boomers. There's plenty to go around, and plenty of credit, too.
It's almost guaranteed. The liberal Boomer control over political decisions is already diminishing, and with the exposure of and clamp-down on voter fraud in the next few years it will become more painfully obvious to big government proponents of both parties.
The younger working Americans are getting squeezed from every direction due to the policies enacted by people who are either already retired or nearing retirement. Over-taxation from every level of government, over-regulation, bloated bureaucracies, open borders, off-shoring of entire industries, etc., etc., -- this squeezing will force the younger eligible voters to get politically active at earlier ages than if the elders had planned responsibly for the nation's future.
Boomers will see electorial defeats starting in 2008, and by 2012 their grey-voter issues will be completely trampled into the mud. I expect we'll see means testing for social security, wealth taxation on the retired, lower taxation on the productive working citizens, more tightly controlled borders and immigration, dismantling of EPA, ESA, medicare/medicaid, social services at all levels, total dismantling of tax-exempt status for dot.org type outfits of all kinds, including churches. It won't be done for revenge; it will be necessary for the survival of the nation.
For the record, I am also of the Boomer generation, but I am objective enough to see that the political decisions driven by the votes and demands of the Boomers since the early 1970's have created grave threats to the future economy and culture of the United States. Gen-X and Gen-Y voters will have enough numbers in 2008, and moreso in subsequent election cycles, to reverse some of the damage.
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