I'm a boomer too. I started out liberal in the early 70's & considered myself a feminist, at one time I wanted to join a commune. I've been a vegetarian, a pothead & pretty much a hippie in my youth.
Now I'm older & wiser, I've come full circle & in many ways, am even more conservative than my parents. I'm embarassed to say that I think in great numbers - baby boomers are the worst parents I've ever seen.
I hate those commercials on TV that hearken back to our pasts, with vintage rock music from the days, telling us to get our retirement in good shape. It reminds me of how selfish & self-centered we still continue to be.
It will take a few generations to correct some of the damage we've done. I just hope the younger generations "revolt" & go back to the right way.
Having said that, I still think the 50's & 60's were the golden years for childhood - THEY WERE GREAT! We've been the luckiest generation ever.
It's that carefree childhood that never demanded that children take responsibility for anything, never hold a job, and never grow up that made the Baby Boomers the self-absorbed and immature people they were and sometimes still are. A golden childhood of carefree fun does not prepare one for the responsiblities and hardships of adulthood.
They were more than just great, but such freedom was earned by the Boomers' parents. Boomers rightly exploited the peace dividend, but they committed their sin in demanding their childhoods last forever. "Don't trust anyone under 30"? Since when is 20, 25, 29 not an adult? (Answer: since the mid-1960s.)
In offering this analysis, one must NEVER discount the contribution and sacrifice of the greater half of the Baby Boomers:
They were raising families, playing with the kids, out on vacation, earning degrees in medicine, teaching, engineering, and - of course - not just fighting the Cold War... but WINNING IT.