Blame the Boomers AGAIN
And to point out that we have an election in November so make your money now then sell at a discount else they get Carter II destroying the American economy and causing Oil Embargo II. Also they'll get the political rise of the trial lawyer industry going after their American assets. Bush probably also talked about accelerating military jet purchase delivery and clearing out the account balances to minimize the problems should Carter II happen.
Like every generation Boomers played the cards that were dealt to them. Unfortunately I don’t see the generations coming after the Boomers as any more equipped to deal with the problems Hanson cites than the Boomers themselves. In fact, these follow on generations seemed to have swallowed the Boomer mentality “hook, line and sinker” as the cliche goes. But what would anyone expect? Boomers were their parents, teachers and “spiritual advisers”.
I have to agree with the author. I am a babyboomer and my parents were members of generations who experienced the austerity and sacrifices caused by the Great Depression and WW II. Boomers compose both political parties. And I have come to understand with what I have seen from two Republican terms in the White House and six years of congressional majorities that both parties are essentially the same. The Democrats believe in a form of socialism which is up front and immediate and which destroys the middle class by redistributing wealth with burdensome taxes now. The Republicans are not as up front with their socialism, they will destroy the middle class by not the direct redistribution of wealth through burdensome taxes, but through the redistribution of burdensome debt by continually passing on to future generations. Both forms highlight the essence of being a boomer, never accept any form of individual austerity when you can put on the collecive group. Balanced budgets and living within your means is for past and future generations, boomers live in the present only and that means squandering what was left them as well as putting those who follow in a bind.
"The fault of this age, dear baby boomers, is not in our stars, but in ourselves"
... What are the baby boomers’ collective traits? Like all perpetual adolescents who suffer arrested development, we always want things both ways: Don’t drill or explore for more energy, but nevertheless demand ever more fuel from other suppliers.
There are never bad and worse choices, but only a Never Never Land of good and even-better alternatives. Housing not only has to stay affordable for buyers, but also must appreciate in value to give instant equity to those who have just become owners.
When things don’t go well, we always blame someone else. Why drill off Santa Barbara or Alaska when we can sue those terrible Saudis for not putting more oil platforms in their Persian Gulf?
And why accept that the conduct of all wars is flawed and victory goes usually to those who persevere in making the needed adjustments when we can just keep pointing fingers at the official who disbanded the Iraqi army or sent too few troops after the invasion?
Victor Davis Hanson Ping !
Let me know if you want in or out.
Links: FR Index of his articles: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=victordavishanson
His website: http://victorhanson.com/
NRO archive: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp
Pajamasmedia: http://victordavishanson.pajamasmedia.com/
Sorry Dr. Hanson, we feel your shame as a Boomer, and I know you're trying your turn at self-effacement. Nevertheless, I have to wonder if perhaps this is easier to do this than to face the very trans-generational reality of liberalism, that which you should be able to see fairly clearly in the mirror.
“For the past five years, we fretted over a “housing boom” that had priced an entire generation out of the market. In response, government and lending agencies got “creative” by relaxing standards to allow shaky “first-time” buyers into the red-hot market of high-priced homes. “
Hanson manages to get it backwards. “Creative lending” wasn’t a response to the housing boom, it’s the fuel that drove it.