Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

[Chomsky]

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1032..._editors_picks

The Great American Empire has begun its long slow decline. It may take a few generations to reach its nadir, but the poor decisions already made and crucial decisions postponed in the last 25 years by our Boomer dominated leadership has put our country on a path to a declining standard of living. The U.S. is like a punch drunk ex-champion boxer who still thinks he has what it takes, but is living off his old press clippings. He lived the good life, got fat and didn’t do the hard work required of a champion. A slew of young brash fighters are itching to take him down. It is just a matter of time.

[FRED]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1032..._editors_picks

The Great American Empire has begun its long slow decline. It may take a few generations to reach its nadir, but the poor decisions already made and crucial decisions postponed in the last 25 years by our Boomer dominated leadership has put our country on a path to a declining standard of living. The U.S. is like a punch drunk ex-champion boxer who still thinks he has what it takes, but is living off his old press clippings. He lived the good life, got fat and didn’t do the hard work required of a champion. A slew of young brash fighters are itching to take him down. It is just a matter of time.

That's a strong piece. Thanks for posting it.

[Mega]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

He is NOT the 1ST person to conment on this:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF05oDvHPq8
Mike

[derelict54]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

Great Article. My senitments as well. Just wait until elected officials and their coherts privatize soc security.

I am so not looking forward to recieving the knock on the door that my in-laws are moving in because our healthcare system is too expensive, they can't afford their mortgage and they can't retire because the dow is at 4k, the dollar is falling, and 20% of their 401k goes to pay our nations debt.

All the more reason to limit voting to age 70 and under. Or at least have anyone over the age of 65 be forced to retire from public office. Here is an article showing that mental capacities deteriorate nearly 15 years before we die.

http://www.enews20.com/news_Mental_A...ing_11078.html

And for the boomers that think we have a good health care system,
fficeffice" />
The United States is alone among developed nations with the absence of a universal healthcare system.

The United States spends the most (1^st) to health care with 15% of GDP paid toward health care, yet ranks 22^nd in life expectancy.


http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/ful...fe_values.html


I encourage them to watch this Frontline piece as well

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...roundtheworld/


Sick of it ALL

[metalman]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

good article. i bet the author is a 30 something. the whole 18 - 40 group will be torches and pitchforks heading for the polls in 2012 if obama doesn't toss them part of the boomers' $$$ that the boomer stole from them with 30 years of bullshit economic policy.

[we_are_toast]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

Excuse me; blaming an age group which consists of 28% of the population for the problems we now face is just plain goofy. To imply that people who grew up in the late 40's and early 50's somehow had the same life forming experiences as people who grew up in the 60's is weird.

If the article had just left out any mention of age labels, it would have been fine.

[politicalfootballfan]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

----nm----

[hayekvindicated]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

As a non-American, I've always been bemused with the generational labels Americans give themselves. Why does anyone born between 1945 and 1963 qualify as a "Boomer"? I thought the idea of the "boomer" was that a "boomer" was the result of a unique population explosion due to the return of troops after WWII - but surely, this was over by, say, 1947? So why 1963?

Other Western countries do not seem to have the same fascination for generations the way Americans do. I can't find a parallel among the French or the Italians for example. The Japanese and the Germans are probably the only other two nations with some generational distinction but that has to do with the culling effect of WWII and its destruction of a whole generation of young men. The post WWII generation, therefore, becomes very distinct due to that fact.

It is also interesting that in India where I grew up, I never heard the generational label (except in limited urban environs heavily influenced by American culture) - there is almost no distinction between the generation born before or after Indian independence (which one would think is a pretty seminal event in the history of a country).

So what's with the American fascination for generational labels?

On the article, I think there's some truth to it and a lot of rant as well. Until Clinton came to power, none of the American presidents up to that point were boomers. Despite the author's remarkable willingness to excuse Johnson, he was probably one of the most destructive presidents in American history - Vietnam and the Great Society programs for a start. It was also the commencement of delusional politics of promising the public all kinds of goodies without telling them of the cost of those things. If one were to be truly accurate, one could say it all started with Kennedy. In cultural terms, Kennedy marked a serious break (at least in tone) from Eisenhower (for better or worse). It is a bit rich to lay all the blame for the current problems squarely on a generation that couldn't even vote when Johnson got elected and expanded the size of the state at a phenomenal pace.

[grapejelly]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

I think it's a stoopid article.

The premise is that the some of the Boomers are selfish and unable to delay gratification and therefore to blame for the rise in indebtedness.

The evidence suggests otherwise. Boomers are simply responding to the corrosive effects of longterm inflation.

When money is created out of thin air, borrowing becomes more rational than saving.

Isn't it obvious?

Why would you delay buying something if 1) the price is going up, and 2) you can buy it now with printed money, and 3) you pay it back in depreciated money, or 4) never pay it back?

Actually, the underlying central bank fiat structure, which we've had since 1971, encourages borrowing instead of saving.

Aren't Boomers responding rationally?

And today, we are at a point where the chickens have come home to roost (whatever that means).

The big story for the entire 20th century is the growth of Government. Boomers or no, you have Wilson's power grab of 90% of the economy during the completely bogus (for the US) first World War, followed by FDR's power grab, and it hasn't stopped.

The US Empire peaked after World War 2 and the US has been getting into greater and greater debt since then...until about now when it all seems to be changing.

Rational actors, the Boomers, doing what they should be doing in the face of a world such as we are in today.

[hayekvindicated]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

The Japanese kept saving money even when the interest rate went to zero. Fiat money does have a destructive effect on savings but culture plays a part too.

[lurker]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

good article. i bet the author is a 30 something. the whole 18 - 40 group will be torches and pitchforks heading for the polls in 2012 if obama doesn't toss them part of the boomers' $$$ that the boomer stole from them with 30 years of bullshit economic policy.

I think it was written by a boomer. The second paragraph starts

"Our claim to fame ...... "

Plenty of fiscally conservative boomers who must be tearing their hair out just as much as those in later generations.

As a fiscal conservative, social liberal I have felt completely unrepresented in US politics for as long as I've taken any interest in politics.

DC is full of spendthrifts and moralisers, backstabbers, and people on the take. We need a tidal wave to wash the whole lot away.

[don]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

As a non-American, I've always been bemused with the generational labels Americans give themselves. Why does anyone born between 1945 and 1963 qualify as a "Boomer"? I thought the idea of the "boomer" was that a "boomer" was the result of a unique population explosion due to the return of troops after WWII - but surely, this was over by, say, 1947? So why 1963?

Other Western countries do not seem to have the same fascination for generations the way Americans do. I can't find a parallel among the French or the Italians for example. The Japanese and the Germans are probably the only other two nations with some generational distinction but that has to do with the culling effect of WWII and its destruction of a whole generation of young men. The post WWII generation, therefore, becomes very distinct due to that fact.

It is also interesting that in India where I grew up, I never heard the generational label (except in limited urban environs heavily influenced by American culture) - there is almost no distinction between the generation born before or after Indian independence (which one would think is a pretty seminal event in the history of a country).

So what's with the American fascination for generational labels?

On the article, I think there's some truth to it and a lot of rant as well. Until Clinton came to power, none of the American presidents up to that point were boomers. Despite the author's remarkable willingness to excuse Johnson, he was probably one of the most destructive presidents in American history - Vietnam and the Great Society programs for a start. It was also the commencement of delusional politics of promising the public all kinds of goodies without telling them of the cost of those things. If one were to be truly accurate, one could say it all started with Kennedy. In cultural terms, Kennedy marked a serious break (at least in tone) from Eisenhower (for better or worse). It is a bit rich to lay all the blame for the current problems squarely on a generation that couldn't even vote when Johnson got elected and expanded the size of the state at a phenomenal pace.

Here in America we have The Rich (who sometimes misbehave and whom we hope to join- and probably will ;)), The Poor (who have only themselves to blame :cool and a Vast Middle Class :rolleyes:. The latter is the only time the universal term class is generally used in America. Class distinctions, class interests and most importantly, class conflicts are covered over with generational differences. During the Vietnam war the term Generation Gap was introduced by the media. It proved wildly successful.

[bpr]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

As a non-American, I've always been bemused with the generational labels Americans give themselves. Why does anyone born between 1945 and 1963 qualify as a "Boomer"? I thought the idea of the "boomer" was that a "boomer" was the result of a unique population explosion due to the return of troops after WWII - but surely, this was over by, say, 1947? So why 1963?

Other Western countries do not seem to have the same fascination for generations the way Americans do. I can't find a parallel among the French or the Italians for example. The Japanese and the Germans are probably the only other two nations with some generational distinction but that has to do with the culling effect of WWII and its destruction of a whole generation of young men. The post WWII generation, therefore, becomes very distinct due to that fact.

It is also interesting that in India where I grew up, I never heard the generational label (except in limited urban environs heavily influenced by American culture) - there is almost no distinction between the generation born before or after Indian independence (which one would think is a pretty seminal event in the history of a country).

So what's with the American fascination for generational labels?

Interesting perspective, thank you.

As an American that does not fit into any of the well-defined generation labels (and whose parents also do not , interestingly), I have puzzled over this many times myself.

I am inclined to attribute the whole thing to marketing. The boomers were effectively marketed to in the '80s and '90s as a generation that shared common experiences and thus had some sort of cohesion. Perhaps the greatest example of this was Tom Brokaw's book, The Greatest Generation, which was a homage to the parents of the Boomers. While the book's target audience was ostensibly the parents, the market was the Boomers.

The generation label also provides a convenient point of divisiveness in the culture at large, which those in power are always looking to exploit. The old adage "Divide and Conquer" really should be: "divide and let them tear each other apart." I have for too long seen many people, both older and younger than the Boomers, blame that entire generation for our ills.

"Generation" as a point of division is particularly convenient in America because it's politically safe: it does not clash with the national lie that we are all "created equal."

Race or socioeconomic status or religion are certainly divisive points in the U.S., but they must fly under the radar of mainstream culture, since they belie the myth of America: we are all born with equal chances and you just have to pull yourself up and succeed.

Your comments on other countries are interesting, as I have little experience outside of the States. I always thought that racism in Europe (anti-African, anti-Muslim), seems to be a bit more overt, or at least an accepted part of life in Europe (while in the U.S. the mainstream culture avoids the racial divide at all costs). I have seen it in Italy, and I recall Muslim protests in France a few years ago, as well as the high-profile murder of a Danish radio host that had what, in the States, would be considered offensively racist views. India has an overt class system, complete with untouchables. Such divisions are unthinkable in the U.S.

So, the ruling classes must divide us in some way that we find socially acceptable.

Interesting article, too. I'm not so sure generation has as much to do with it as class, but it's quite interesting.

[tombat1913]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

I think it's a stoopid article.

The premise is that the some of the Boomers are selfish and unable to delay gratification and therefore to blame for the rise in indebtedness.

The evidence suggests otherwise. Boomers are simply responding to the corrosive effects of longterm inflation.

When money is created out of thin air, borrowing becomes more rational than saving.

Isn't it obvious?

Why would you delay buying something if 1) the price is going up, and 2) you can buy it now with printed money, and 3) you pay it back in depreciated money, or 4) never pay it back?

Actually, the underlying central bank fiat structure, which we've had since 1971, encourages borrowing instead of saving.

Aren't Boomers responding rationally?

And today, we are at a point where the chickens have come home to roost (whatever that means).

The big story for the entire 20th century is the growth of Government. Boomers or no, you have Wilson's power grab of 90% of the economy during the completely bogus (for the US) first World War, followed by FDR's power grab, and it hasn't stopped.

The US Empire peaked after World War 2 and the US has been getting into greater and greater debt since then...until about now when it all seems to be changing.

Rational actors, the Boomers, doing what they should be doing in the face of a world such as we are in today.

I agree that these people were responding to monetary policies, my beef here is that the policies were allowed to continue, The government has been allowed to get so out of control, and the constitution has been undermined at every turn. They haven't held their representatives responsible, some of these bastard politicians should really be in prison. On the other hand I think the next generation is going to have much more to be bitter about after a democratic monopoly gets through thrashing this country. Then I'll get to be the one having fingers pointed at me for the socialistic mess we'll be in. I'm not a Republican by the way, so nobody bother me with left vs. right nonsense.

[grapejelly]

Re: Blame the Boomers, the shallowest generation

I agree that these people were responding to monetary policies, my beef here is that the policies were allowed to continue, The government has been allowed to get so out of control, and the constitution has been undermined at every turn. They haven't held their representatives responsible, some of these bastard politicians should really be in prison. On the other hand I think the next generation is going to have much more to be bitter about after a democratic monopoly gets through thrashing this country. Then I'll get to be the one having fingers pointed at me for the socialistic mess we'll be in. I'm not a Republican by the way, so nobody bother me with left vs. right nonsense.

the next generation will be even more authoritarian than the last.

They already are. I observe those who are 18 or 20 now and they have been more indoctrinated to conformity and respecting authority and convention than we can imagine. It is almost a throwback to an earlier time.

They will be more socialistic, not less.