Posted on 08/22/2010 1:07:34 PM PDT by Publius804
The baby boomers. Born between 1945 and 1955, they are busy ignoring the biblical calculus that a man's span is three score years and 10. Having enjoyed a life of free love, free school meals, free universities, defined benefit pensions, mainly full employment and a 40-year-long housing boom, they are bequeathing their children sky-high house prices, debts and shrivelled pensions. A 60-year-old in 2010 is a very privileged and lucky human being – an object of resentment as much as admiration.
I'm at the heart of all of it – guilty as charged. Born 21 May 1950, I'm the quintessential baby boomer. And for the last three months, while most of the rest of the world has been getting on with their lives, I've been wrestling with the implications of my new seniority. Sixty may or may not be the new 50, but it is a significant milestone; I've been on the planet for an awfully long time. What sense can I make of the decades I have lived through? To what extent am I and my generation unfairly lucky? What is the best way to live my life from now on?
To a degree I have some sympathy with the resentment, marshalled in a cluster of recent anti-boomer books. Individually, we may not have been the authors of today's flux, uncertainty and lack of social and cultural anchors, but we were at the scene of the crime. The cultural, economic and institutional cornerstones of British life have been shattered – and the way our love of fun was channelled is undoubtedly part of the story. The upside is that some of the old stifling prohibitions and prejudices have gone, hopefully for ever.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
“Yep. Typical boomer, down to attributing significance to boomer pop music.”
I’m sorry, due to attending too many rock concerts in the 60’s and 70’s I don’t quite follow what you’re saying.
Well that's a relief (y.o.b. 1963)
Having enjoyed a life of free love,
Hmmm, it was my "Greatest Generation" (as definied by an avowed socialist) parents who bought into Kinsey and got divorced by 1960...
free school meals, free universities,
Seems to me I had to borrow and pay. Did they? Not a dime. Hell, they even got to deduct their credit card interest!
defined benefit pensions,
Wanna bet? My "Greatest Generation" parents got those. Not me. But my wife and I sure as hell paid $20K a year in Social Security and MediCare benefits to my "Greatest Generation" parents.
mainly full employment
Not hardly. Remember the Carter bust right after they graduated? How about Bush I's wondrous recession?
and a 40-year-long housing boom,
Of which the "Greatest Generation" were more beneficiaries than we. Oh, and who was it who was screaming about killing Social Security when Bush II tried to privatize it? It sure as hell wasn't boomers.
they are bequeathing their children sky-high house prices,
Seems to me those prices crashed fairly recently and are pretty low right now, just when we were ready to pay it off and after paying at historically high interest rates for decades until recently. I remember paying 13% for my construction loan, plus six points. Did the "Greatest Generation" have to do that?
debts and shrivelled pensions.
Yeah, look whose pension is shriveled now. We probably have a better chance of having our 401-k confiscated than realizing a benefit.
The "Greatest Generation" had their chance to fix this mess during the Eisenhower administration and jail those Roosevelt commies for good. They didn't do it. Instead they allowed the Cultural Marxists to educate their children and we've all paid the price.
It was our parents who started all the free stuff. We weren’t even old enough to vote for most of it. And what generation backed Social Security? Wasn’t ours.
I know you are joking about the over 50 thing.
But seriously, anyone coming at my Koren War Vet father better have a tactical nuke. Even cancer ridden, I’ll place money on his survival over theirs.
Well said.
We seasoned citizens may have done more prep in case TSHTF. Good luck on acquiring your target first.
No fooling.
All we ever got was to PAY for it.
Hey, I was born in 1945 and I missed all that. Went to war during the "free love" phase, don't believe in free lunches, missed out on the free universities, worked all my life (mostly self-employed) and got no pension to show for it. Will work until I die.
I spent 6 years in the US Submarine fleet and never even got the GI bill for cripes sake.
Amen!
And (I might add) I wouldn't want it any other way.
A major problem with article is that it neglect to take into acount that much of the damage was done by Hoover, FDR, and Carter. Not many of the Baby Boomers were old enough to have done anything about that.
Most of todays problems with economy stem from Carter years when the home financing problem actually began. And don’t forget that Obama himself was involved in pressing the banks to make risky loans to low income people.
Yeah. Besides, it’s gonna be the libs who are unarmed anyway.
But, it seems my post did hit a nerve of a few thin skinned Boomers around here.
No sense of humor.
HAHAHAHA
I was born in 1961. What do I have in common with someone born in 1946? Vietnam was over before I was a teenager.
Post 14: I dont understand why everyone hates my generation.
Generational warfare so that the children will cheer when Obamacare kills us. Hate the rich. Hate the old. And the kids buy it.
I have an uncle who was Air Force during WWII. He was a lifer. He got scratch too. They lied to everyone.
Whew! I feel better. :)
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