CA: The Greatest Generation?

CaliforniaRepublic.org ^ | 10/24/06 | Ray Haynes

[NormsRevenge]

A lot of comments have been directed at this country’s “greatest generation,” those who suffered the Great Depression, fought World War II, and then rebuilt this country from the ruins of those catastrophic events.

I remember, as my generation attended college and entered the workforce, a lot of debate among my peers as to what we would do when we take over. We all thought we would “do it right,” make this country a better place to work, live and raise a family. I think I can say, having inherited a sizable legacy from the “Greatest Generation,” the baby boomers have pretty much screwed things up.

My peers really thought they were smarter than anybody else. Just ask them. They will tell you how much smarter they are than you. You are greedy. If you keep your money, you will just spend it on selfish things, like food, clothing and shelter for you and your family. You have to give your money to them, so they can spend it on food, clothing and shelter for your family. Medical care? Education? If you choose your doctor or your children’s school and pay for it, you will refuse to make sure your kids are healthy or can read and write. If they choose your kid’s doctor or school and pay for it, your children will get quality health care or education.

Of course, you have to hire them to do the work, and because they are so much smarter than you about what is good for you, they are going to require you, by use of government rules and regulations, to pay them a lot of money. They then use that power and money to enhance their power and money, not because they are greedy. Of course not, you are the greedy one, not them, because you don’t want to give them more of your money.

As a result of the arrogance of my generation, our health care system is falling apart, and our education system has collapsed. Government is bloated, incompetent, and inert. My generation is so smart, however, that these problems cannot possibly be our fault, so we keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting to make things better.

Most of the initiatives on this November’s ballot prove this point. With the notable exceptions of Propositions 83, 85, and 90, the rest of the initiatives grow government, increase taxes, and/or expand government spending beyond all comprehension.

When I joined the state legislature in 1992, total state general fund spending was $42 billion. Our bonded indebtedness was about $15 billion. The Legislature talked about floating a $3 billion school bond. Today, total general fund spending is $102 billion; our bonded indebtedness exceeds $50 billion, and we have floated $35 billion in school bonds in the last six years. My colleagues in the state legislature still think we are not spending enough money, that we don’t have enough money to build schools, and that the people of the state of California are still too cheap because they don’t want to pay more in taxes.

When the “greatest generation” took over state government, they built an entire freeway system, a water system, a higher education system, and our entire K-12 structure on a state budget of less than $15 billion general fund per year. We can’t build a dam, a freeway, a levee, a school or a university on $102 billion. We can hire 50,000 new bureaucrats who will sit around and collect $100,000 a year to think about how they can build a freeway, school, dam, or university better, but they will never actually build anything.

I wonder what our kids will say about us when we hand this mess over to them.

[NormsRevenge]

Mr. Haynes is an Assembly member representing Riverside and Temecula. He serves on the Appropriations and Budget Committees.

[NormsRevenge]

When I joined the state legislature in 1992, total state general fund spending was $42 billion. Our bonded indebtedness was about $15 billion. The Legislature talked about floating a $3 billion school bond. Today, total general fund spending is $102 billion; our bonded indebtedness exceeds $50 billion, and we have floated $35 billion in school bonds in the last six years. My colleagues in the state legislature still think we are not spending enough money, that we don’t have enough money to build schools, and that the people of the state of California are still too cheap because they don’t want to pay more in taxes.

[Pacothecat]

Ok I'm just speaking in general terms but I complete agree. I am a gen Xer and I am conservative since Reagan in my teenage years because the hippy baby boomers have trashed everything. Public schools, Marriage,American values, we can't win wars because they bitch and moan until we retreat etc.

[GoLightly]

These generational things generally miss more of the marks than they hit. The ideology of those in power during times of boom or bust would be a lot more telling than giving credit or fault to any age group.

[billhilly]

Congratulations. It took the United States until the mid sixties, during the presidency of LBJ, to have an annual budget of $100 billion. California took 40 years to catch up.

[WorkingClassFilth]

True, but the generational transition is similar to a relay race where a key runner is given the baton at the close of the race to insure victory. In this case, leftists inculcated the entire boomer g-g-generation with mass culture, socialist education and apostate religion. My g-g-generation took that and went all the way to the hilt. When you think of 50% divorce rates, epidemic STD's, 45 million dead babies and counting, drug use pandemic, collapse of the moral authority of the Protestant church, normalization of deviant sexuality, unpatriotic cultural sentiments, corrupt media, blatantly leftist academics and treasonous Presidential administrations, well, you've got to give the credit where the greatest credit is due...my g-g-generation: the boomers.

[newzjunkey]

This is a great piece and echoes many of my views on the quality of our "Baby Boom" leaders.

[GoLightly]

In this case, leftists inculcated the entire boomer g-g-generation with mass culture, socialist education and apostate religion.

All those things were in place & happened before any of the boomers could vote!

When you think of 50% divorce rates, epidemic STD's, 45 million dead babies and counting, drug use pandemic, collapse of the moral authority of the Protestant church, normalization of deviant sexuality, unpatriotic cultural sentiments, corrupt media, blatantly leftist academics and treasonous Presidential administrations,

Proof only about how well leftist indoctrination & policies promoted by some in the "Greatest Generation" worked. The oldest boomer group couldn't vote until 1966 & trust me, politicians were selling to older people, not the twenty-somethings. Abortion became legal while I was still in high school, as was no fault divorce. The media was corrupt before the first boomers were out of diapers. Same with "academics".

[qam1]

Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation 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.  

[WorkingClassFilth]

If read my post closely, you'd notice that I acknowledged what you say. Our parents generation had its rotten elements but, for the most part, they were covert and cautious. Our g-g-generation, on the other hand, let it all hang out (as our saying goes).

Sorry, friend, if the true guilt of our present condition is weighed, the honest juror will convict boomers. Their parents generation (or more accurately, those subversive elements in the WWII generation) were merely accessories.

[GoLightly]

If the true guilt of our present condition is weighed, the honest juror will convict boomers

"Real" history always begins the day we were born. When the generation that follows yours has had its way, you'll find your own generation was to blame.

The practice of slicing & dicing people into "classes" is the way leftists have been getting away with creating much that has gone wrong with our society. You can either continue to buy into it or you can open your eyes.

[ErnBatavia]

the hippy baby boomers have trashed everything. Public schools, Marriage,American values, we can't win wars because they bitch and moan until we retreat

Ahem...we "boomers" are still the largest voting bloc ( I think! ) yet we still have had two straight cycles of pure Republican control.

On the flipside, I'm disgusted that "leadership" didn't have the balls that even Nancy Pelosi sports - Repubs, apparently, fight better when they're out than when they're in (Dole and Gingrich are two examples).

[luckystarmom]

I'm tail end of the baby boomer generation. I was born in 1962. Most of the real damage has been done by those about 10 years older than me. I hope future generations can fix the mess that has been happening to our country.

[WorkingClassFilth]

"Real" history always begins the day we were born. When the generation that follows yours has had its way, you'll find your own generation was to blame.

Well, now you're back in my camp. The boomers are the guilty g-g-generation. Everything I have listed (and you've ignored) are the legacy of boomers - we're the g-g-generation that flushed our nation's values, heritage, ideals, traditions and institutions en mass. Easy to forget our rhetoric and actions when the chickens come home to roost, eh?

Now, on the issue of trans-generational blame (which you attempted first), I would only say that when Xer's, Yer's and Zer's come into power, the resultant events will come from two quarters:

1. The truly lost generation (sorry Mr. Kerouac, that moniker belongs to the boomer progeny) has no moral compass, no institutional support and no rooting in accurate history. They are the firstborn of the American apostasy. If they go off the cliff, it will be no surprise seeing that their historical and moral senses were obliterated by the boomers.

2. If the boomer's children and grandchildren recognize their lost heritage, reassert traditional values and fortify our national values in law and culture, then they stand a good chance of striking a blow for civilization as great (possibly greater) than the WWII generation. In this case, historically, the boomers will be forced to kneel in homage to a wiser and more courageous generation.

In either case, boomers are to blame. The core reason, and one you can't address, is the failure of our g-g-generation to communicate in word and deed the sacred trust of one generation to another to pass on the meaning of Americanism and it's duties. Clearly, the boomers are the link in the succession chain that has failed.

If you're smarting and want to vindicate your personal virtue, feel free. I do not condemn all boomers - not by a long shot. Many of us were (are) true to our given moral traditions and Americanism. It is, however, the zeitgeist (another boomer relic) of our g-g-generational cohort to veer into treason, apostasy and degeneracy. Real nice legacy and entirely defining for our first representative President, X42.

[Gaffer]

You don't know what you are talking about. I was born in 1950 and have been a solid Republican since I started working at 14. I have worked all my life, paid taxes, served 8 years in the military, married, children/grandchildren, never been without a job, finished college while working with a wife and child, and have been paying the maximum social security payments for the last 25 years. I planned for my future so I wouldn't be a burden on anyone. I don't believe it drug use, homosexual marriage. I believe in a strong defense and I believe in conservative fiscal responsibility. So please don't make generalizations about people who may be 10 years older than you. The real damage has been done by LIBERALS of all ages races, creeds, and colors......Thank you....

[snoringbear]

Well, perhaps the WWII generation is the greatest. It suffered through a depression that wasn't their fault and then fought and won WWII. The depression was suffered through because no one had another choice. Then, the depression was ended, not by anything done in the U.S. but by the onset of WWII. After the end of WWII, America, being virtually the only major power in the world untouched by the war, became the industrial engine and breadbasket for the world - had a captive market so to speak. Then the "Greatest Generation" ran for various offices, including congress, and passed laws to ensure that their sons would not be drafted and serve in Vietnam; such as college deferments, national defense deferments, deferments for congressional aides, etc. The one deferment that was available to "everyone" was eliminated in 1965. This was the "marriage deferment". One didn't need in political pull, power, or privilege for this. So, being available to everyone, it was done away with. bottom line; you can label these people the "greatest generation" if you want, but frankly, I don't buy it.

[dljordan]

"I was born in 1950 and have been a solid Republican since I started working at 14. I have worked all my life, paid taxes, served 8 years in the military, married, children/grandchildren, never been without a job, finished college while working with a wife and child, and have been paying the maximum social security payments for the last 25 years."

Sounds exactly like me except I only spent 4 years in the Navy. Every time I see one of these posts I scratch my head and think "I did all that?". Sounds like a bad case of transference to me. I don't see a grand movement of X, Y, Zer's trying to turn thing around though.

[WorkingClassFilth]

I wouldn't label them as the greatest generation (that was Tom Brokaw), but they did their generational duty. I would fault them on several points:

1. Most WWII'ers were children in the Great Depression. To their parents goes the just mantle of weathering those days. No doubt many WWII'ers suffered as children (my father, for one, went without food on many occasions) but their experience was largely that of children. Even so, that era tempered them and taught some dire lessons. Later on in life, when times were good, that early privation lulled many into a trusting state that allowed true corruption to take root and flourish. Vigilance is the eternal price of liberty.

2. That generation had been raised with earnest trust in our nation's leadership. The legacy of the Democratic Party as the party of the 'little guy' was deeply ingrained via FDR's liberal policies and the show-stopping initiative of putting bread (welfare bread, but bread nontheless) on plate and beer in their cups. So, for a mess of pottage, the birthright of Americanism was secured by the RAT party. The RAT party was a shell party without a clear cause. As the pro-slavery party of the 19th century, they had been ineffectual at recovering power. Socialist reformers of the inter-war period seized on the social goody-bag strategy to regain influence. The simple historic ploy of opening the national storehouse to buy votes was understandable to a hard-pressed and hungry time, but allegiance to that master through life put principles and Americanism on the wane. To brainlessly pull the lever for treasonous scum because your of a free meal in a CCC camp 70 years ago is completely wrong.

3. The hubris (and in some ways it was just that) of being the big winner in WWII bred some bad things. Some examples, in my mind, would be the adoption of European tactics in national foreign policies. Like Britain, we embraced pragmatism and emulated our allies in cloak and dagger compromise. This led directly to much of our excesses in the Cold War and fueled the resentment of boomers when called up for Vietnam. Another failing was the arrogance of many veterans from this generation that ostracized VN veterans when coming home. If you'll recall, there was an attitude in some quarters that VN veterans hadn't won "their" war and were drug addicted weaklings. Recent times (Reagan onward) seems to have healed this gap, but it was there during the VN war.

These are a few things that I feel this generation failed in. I think it is also true that they directly contributed to conditions favorable for the destructive forces unleashed by my g-g-generation, the boomers. Nonetheless, the WWII'ers stood foursquare and shoulder to shoulder in their faith and allegiance to America - however delusional that misplaced faith may have been at times. There in NO question that these people actually suffered privation, loss and death in defense of their homeland. Their mistakes, while grievous, are the stuff of humanity. Their idealism and sacrifice is what made them great.

Boomers, as a whole, did no such thing. Aside from those that followed their parental lead and served their country, obeyed the laws and followed the American code of personal initiative and responsibility, this generation was a wash. Following their impulses and gratifying themselves was/is a g-g-generational trademark. If it feels good - do it sums this pathetic g-g-generation perfectly.

[Gaffer]

I get really tired of the generational bickering between the Boomers, Xers, Z-Z toppers, whatever.....The problem with what's been going on is a result of FDR's grand plan starting with Social Security and continuing with LBJs "Great Society" and the lingering Liberal hanger-on ideas.

It's true the "Greatest Generation" suffered immensely and accomplished Herculean tasks; they have also profited the most. What's left after that is the table scraps of their feast and the bickering between the successive generations......

[GoLightly]

Well, now you're back in my camp.

You seem to have missed my dripping sarcasm.

The boomers are the guilty g-g-generation.

I disagree.

If you're smarting and want to vindicate your personal virtue, feel free.

My position isn't about my personal virtue. I'm trying to get you to understand that the boomer generation is no more, nor less virtuous than the generations before or since. The rise of a media with a louder voice came at a time that allowed the voices of the worst of the boomer generation to become telegraphed. Before the first baby boomer was born, this nation had already begun the slide.