Generation Vex (The (really) long goodbye of the Baby Boomers

The Weekly Standard ^ | November 5, 2007 | P. J. O'Rourke

[brownsfan]

“There are pros and cons. But the most damaging legacy left by BB will be the values and cultural shift we have been left with. Two income families, low birth rates in to pursuit of wealth, etc.”

It is very subjective to call one generation the greatest. And whenever you classify, you invite debate. I will admit a bias. My parents were part of the greatest generation. I know what they taught, I know the stories of their lives, and hold them in great esteem.
As for boomers, I have lived with the boomers all my life. My 2 older brothers are boomers, and drank the kool-aid. One drank so much that I can no longer relate to him. He’s a Democrat, and a greenie, and an idiot.

This is a very trivial example, but what the heck, I’ll run it out there. I watched The Caine Mutiny the not long ago. Not a bad movie, (I was in the Navy so it interested me). Anyway, they mutiny, and it seems very justified. The officers who put together the mutiny are tried. They win, (don’t mean to spoil it). Anyway, at the post trial party their lawyer shows up, drunk. He chews them out for ruining the career of a man who was a Naval Officer. The lawyer showed his disdain for not working with a man who had dedicated himself to the USN. That maybe they could have helped the captain.

Contrast that with A Few Good Men. Where Col. Jessup is broken down, and the lawyers are just about giddy. They were more than happy to ruin the man’s career.

Difference in societal attitudes I think. Thank you very little boomers.

[brownsfan]

“In 1968 the very oldest boomer would first vote, the youngest boomer would be only 4 years old.”

These types of classification become very dicey. My understanding is the last of the boomers is 1960. The first of the boomers is considered to be 1945, but really, someone born in 1938.. 1939, are they the GG? I would say no. I would say the GG are the people who did what I said, lived the depression, fought the war, built the country. Those born in the late 30s, and early 40s were a mix of childern of the same parents as the GG and children of the GG, (boomers). Someone born in 1939, knows almost nothing of living through the war, and was coming of age, (college educated) in 1963.
America has always had a left, it’s just that now, with the aid of boomers, the left has become very strong, perhaps dominant.
Much of what you point to can be traced to “pre-boomers”. The GG was too busy doing real work.

[brownsfan]

“PS: Please don’t send money, I’m doing OK.”

Speak for yourself. Anyone who wants to send money to me, I’ll accept paypal, money orders and plain old cash. :)

[Tenacious 1]

To be clear, I don’t vilify the entire populace. Unfortunately, all we can do is generalize in this discussion. And when generalizing about the lion share of the subject generations, you have to look at the late 50’s, 60’s and early 70s’. This was when the BB were young and active. It is the biggest push for the “cultural change”.

Later, Late 70’s and 80’s this group started to change as Jimmy Carter was president and started to teach their children. Gen X-ers started to vote in the 80s. The 90s saw BB voting heavily as they got older. And here we are. The voting BB outnumber the rest of the voting population by a very healthy margin. And what is one of the biggest social issues today? How we can pay for old peoples health problems.

Again, many are just victims of circumstance in these generalizations. But it is hard to debate this subject in any other fashion.

I hope that Gen-X gets some credit for fighting terrorism, taxes, socialism, and the attack on Christianity and family values.

Only time will tell.

[brownsfan]

“I hope that Gen-X gets some credit for fighting terrorism, taxes, socialism, and the attack on Christianity and family values.

Only time will tell”

I hope so too, because generally, only winners get credit. No credit means bad things have happened in America.

[Tenacious 1]

BTW...

I have two children. My wife and I decided to go ahead and pay for most of their retirement. We put $2,500 into retirement investment accounts within a year of their birth. I forget what they are projected to be worth in 65 years, however.

We figured it is the least we could do to get them started.

[Bitsy]

Nope, you’re part of the Greatest Generation. The boomers were born between 1946-1964.

Good! I was hoping that was the case. I new there was something special about me, now I know - I’m from the greatest generation! No wonder I am always so ticked off at the the next generation. My son was born in 1965 and he has my convictions and beliefs so he misses the boomer generation too. Yeah! Win-Win.

[Verginius Rufus]

My father was 25 at the time of Pearl Harbor and was several years older than most of the men he served with in the war, but even he was too young to vote in 1936.

A lot of people who thought FDR was wonderful during the '30s woke up later during the early years of the Cold War and became strong conservatives. Compare Truman's percentage of the popular vote in 1948 to FDR's landslide in 1936...no Democrat has gotten as much as 51% of the popular vote since 1936 with the sole exception of LBJ in 1964.

[melsec]

I am a late Boomer (1960). The one problem I have with what you all are saying is that my tax dollars (for the last 30 years) have been paying for the SS for the Greatest Generation. Instead of the Governmnet investing MY money so they would be able to pay for MY SS they have given to someone else knowing full well that they would not be enough Gen Xers to tax to pay for My SS.

So if I whine a little don’t think too bad of me. BTW I was thinking about this the other week and I do not intend to spend my kids inheritance. I intend to leave them a nice big lump of money for the sake of my grandchildren (not born yet) and their children so that my family in the future will have a good base from which to be successful. My parents will leave me a fair bit when they pass on and it is only right that I do the same.

Mel

[ansel12]

“They gave us environmental anarchy. They gave us feminism. They gave us the ACLU, NAACP, Green Peace, etc.”
“
you have to look at the late 50’s, 60’s and early 70s’. This was when the BB were young and active. It is the biggest push for the “cultural change”.”

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You are the most baffling of all. thinking that the infants, children, and yet to be born were controlling America.

You should look up the history of those groups like the ACLU and NAACP, and Feminism, the NEA, etc.

[Bitsy]

new = knew

[ansel12]

“America has always had a left, it’s just that now, with the aid of boomers, the left has become very strong, perhaps dominant.”

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We live in two different versions of history, in my view the left first started stumbling as the boomers became old enough to start having a voice in the eighties, since then the left has been facing ever more losses since their glory days of the 1960s institutional control of everything.

The great powers that the “greatest generation built or fed such as the ACLU, the Feminist movement, the unions etc. all seem more defensive now than in 1969.

The “greatest generation” passed legislation in 1965 to replace the American voter with foreigners, even with the 10s of millions of new liberal voters that introduced, the boomers have still managed to counter the worst of the “greatest generation”.

[brownsfan]

“We live in two different versions of history,”

Apparently so. It really is academic. What really matters is the here and now, and the left is strong as ever in my view.

[Tenacious 1]

You are the most baffling of all. thinking that the infants, children, and yet to be born were controlling America.

Born in 1945-1955 = 20 years old in 1965-1975, right?

Born in 1945-1955 = 30 years old in 1975-1985, right?

born in 1945-1955 = 40 years old in 1985-1995, right?

Born in 1955-1965 = 50 years old in 1996-2005, right?

Born in 1965-1965 - 60 years old in 2005-20010, right?

This is 2007, right? And the first BB are 62 this year, right?

Help me understand how I am "the most baffling of all." I missed something. And I am not trying to offend anyone.

[Blind Eye Jones]

For the idealistic non material generation, they certainly turned out the opposite. It’s quite hard to be non materialistic when you’re older and have medical, family and lifestyle expenses weighing in you, whereas, if you are young it is easy to be a hippie and have irresponsible fun, especially if “all you need is love” is the prime message (coming from a multimillionaire summer of love guru, as John Lennon was). Shakespeare would be dying all over to hear that age is no longer about care and youth is about pleasure. As the boomers age they are still about youth and pleasure and take great care to maintain that. And who can blame them in part? Who can really follow the Christ like strictures and austere codes of the “real” Hippie? Who can turn away from the materialistic world so easily, if not the idealistic young? But as easily as they turned away, so did they turn back to materialism — or maybe some didn’t turn at all, but bought great expensive hippie grabs and dressed up for the part as only a Brad Pitt can dress for it (Brad has very expensive “normal” looking clothes). In the 80s you had the ex-hippies being yuppies and now they want to be reminded of their hippie youth without sacrificing anything. Rich hippies... an oxymoron, like limousine liberal or Chardonnay socialist, that describes hypocrisy at its core value. Great humourists like P.J. O’Rourke can see it for what it is. In his way he reminds me of another great social commentator, Mark Twain.

[Tenacious 1]

Please excuse my typos. Re: 1955-1945

[wtc911]

I’m not sure the guys who were 17 and 18 in 1941 and grizzled veterans by 1945 did any voting in 1932 or 1936.

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No, but they were the majority voting block that elected JFK (Viet Nam) and LBJ (the Great Society). And they were the majority of the Congress for the the sixties through eighties.

[napscoordinator]

Politicians are soon going to change the elgibility age for SS benefits to 106

If they do it will not effect the boomers. You guys are way to strong a voting block to have that happen. Now us X’ers...

[dljordan]

“Yeah, and it looks like you aren’t even painting what you intend to paint.
It seems you want to chaistize me for generalizing, and cast me in the iPOD generation?”

No, not you, the idea in general. I should have made myself more clear. You see, I was born in 1950 and I’m really old and sometimes I do ramble on.

[wtc911]

They gave us activism. They gave us environmental anarchy. They gave us feminism. They gave us the ACLU, NAACP, Green Peace, etc.

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Your ignorance of our recent history is staggering. The Enviro-anarchists are too young to be boomers.

Every single one of the twelve women credited with starting feminism is 'greatest generation'.

The ACLU is nearly 100 years old.

The NAACP is older than the ACLU.

Green Peace was started in Canada in 1970. The youngest founding member was born in 1941, the rest were already in their fifties or older.

btw....Activism is a good thing, what do you think the Protest Warriors are?