How the baby boomers not millennials screwed America

[FarCenter]

Everyone likes to bash millennials. We’re spoiled, entitled, and hopelessly glued to our smartphones. We demand participation trophies, can’t find jobs, and live with our parents until we’re 30. You know the punchlines by now.

But is the millennial hate justified? Have we dropped the generational baton, or was it a previous generation, the so-called baby boomers, who actually ruined everything?

That’s the argument Bruce Gibney makes in his book A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America. The boomers, according to Gibney, have committed “generational plunder,” pillaging the nation’s economy, repeatedly cutting their own taxes, financing two wars with deficits, ignoring climate change, presiding over the death of America’s manufacturing core, and leaving future generations to clean up the mess they created.

I spoke to Gibney about these claims, and why he thinks the baby boomers have wrecked America.

A lightly edited transcript of our conversation follows.

https://www.vox.com/2017/12/20/16772670/baby-boomers-millennials-congress-debt

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Being a certified Boomer-- I agree. Our parents told us of sacrifice during...

the Depression and WWII.

But what they ended up teaching uswas that all that shit was over and now we could waste to our hearts' content-- and we learned that lesson well.

[SharonAnn]

31. They invested $ and serious community involvement to build

the country we grew up in. Schools, roads and highways, bridges, libraries, etc. They are the ones who led the demand for environmental protection. Yes, we boomers were deeply involved, by their generation actually voted to put the EPA into place.

They made many mistakes, sure, but they invested in building a democracy and improving the lives of citizens. And they finally addressed Civil Rights issues and women's equality.

They left much to be done, but they rebuilt the country and the world so that we could continue toe work. Instead, it seems that we've squandered it.

I'm ashamed.

[marybourg]

2. Unneeded divisiveness.

Discuss issues. Attacks serve only the right wing and Russia.

[billh58]

8. But that is the point of

these attacks isn't it? More than one DUer has pointed out the obvious goal of these posts today, and it isn't to promote Democrats.

[NurseJackie]

3. Aw.

[NCTraveler]

14. lol - Solid.

Not even sure how to respond to this op. Yours covers if for me.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

24. Winner!

[MineralMan]

4. Ageism Sucks!

I'm a boomer. I've been fighting for progress all of my adult life.

Ageism Sucks!

[honest.abe]

5. Correction "Republican" baby boomers.

If we had consistent Democratic control of the Government during the past several decades the situation would not be so dire.

Of course not all issues are easily solved. The problems with the economy and manufacturing are more to do with globalization and automation which are not simply good or bad issues.

[brush]

18. Exactly right. Boomers have been and still are split down the middle ideologically. The...

Last edited Thu Mar 15, 2018, 01:15 PM - Edit history (1)

socially conscious ones of us who seek a safety net and responsive-to-peoples-needs government v

the selfish, greedy, bigoted, mostly old, white male-run other half who cheat to win elections.

It's always been this with the boomer generation, and frankly, probably so with all generations.

This OP and the others like it recently are posted by shit stirrers with a divisive agenda.

[Awsi Dooger]

22. Yes, the Silent Generation is right wing

Born between 1928 and 1945, immediately preceding baby boomers.

That generation turned 18 with either an unpopular Democrat in office or popular Republican in office, so the predisposition was Republican and it held up that way.

[brush]

33. I was referring to the right wing half of the baby boomer generation...boomers were born 1946-'64.

The two halves have been butting heads since the tumultuous '60s—the socially conscious liberal/progressive half vs the selfish, greedy, bigoted, cheating and election stealing half.

[Demsrule86]

41. So every baby boomer born in those years is right wing...no that is not true.

[brush]

47. Read both of my posts again, but drink your coffee first. You're missing stuff.

[Demsrule86]

48. I read your posts...and what a nasty crack...

I think we all have a role to play in stopping Trump. I am sure the Righties and Russian trolls want to pit us against each other...just not a good idea. Not saying you are either.

[brush]

62. Sorry, but I think you missed the point of my posts, which was that the baby boomer generation...

was and still is split down the middle ideologically—socially conscious folks, some activists/protestors, who became our present-day Democrats/progressives have been butting heads versus the young repugs from back in the day who have become the greedy, selfish alt-right, neo-nazi right wing deplorables of today who can only win elections by committing treason and/or cheating.

I don't see how you get out of that that I'm trying to pit us against anybody but the aforementioned greedy, selfish alt-right, neo-nazi right wing conservatives who elected trump.

We are on the same side, just a misunderstanding.

[DrDan]

59. your posts were very clear - I understood (and agreed) first time through

not many boomers ride the fence - pretty split ideologically

[brush]

63. Thank you. I think they're pretty clear also.

[marybourg]

53. There are many members of the "silent" generation

right here on DU, being anything but silent and anything but right wing. On the east coast, where I grew up, most members of my generation were fairly progressive.

This is just another over-broad divisive generalization, like the OP. And not in our best interests to continue to push.

[SammyWinstonJack]

6. Again with this shit?

[ProfessorGAC]

9. You Beat Me To It

Sophomoric analysis posted as credible opinion. Total rubbish.

[NRaleighLiberal]

7. boxes, and generalizations....YUCK. Not helpful.

[hack89]

10. Another young rich venture capitalist heard from.

I love how some people develop a conscience only after they enter the 1%.

[DURHAM D]

11. My father, who was a member of "The Greatest Generation",

would argue that it was his generation that was on the gravy train.

jftr - he hated the title "Greatest Generation" because it implied they were better than everyone else. He thought that they were willfully unaware that their children were paying for their ticket to ride. He referred to public policy post WWII as the world's longest most enduring "thank you" note.

[FarCenter]

27. I would tend to agree about "The Greatest Generation"

Last edited Thu Mar 15, 2018, 01:30 PM - Edit history (1)

A lot of the damage was done under presidents from Kennedy through GHW Bush.

Kennedy was 26 years younger than Eisenhower, and he was the first WW II combat vet president. GHW Bush was 33 years younger than Eisenhower, and he was the last WW II combat vet president. All the presidents in between were born from 1908 (Johnson) to 1924 (Carter).

So the boomers were growing up and coming of age during a period from Camelot through Its Morning Again in America - A period when the Greatest Generations triumphal spirit of national hubris was at its peak.

----

PS - Clinton, W, and Trump were all born in 1946. See Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers, for the advantages of being older in a cohort.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

35. Yes, that generation did ride the gravy train.

Yes, the had the Great Depression and WWII, but after that they rode the tsunami of the most amazing economic growth and prosperity ever. Wages rose sufficiently so that many wives and mothers stayed home with the kids, they bought homes, sent their kids to college. Not long after the first Boomers got out of college things started declining. Wages stagnated. Two incomes were needed to afford the now very pricey homes. Sending their own kids off to college became a lot harder unless serious loans were taken out.

And so on.

[MineralMan]

12. From the DU Terms of Service:

No bigotry/insensitivity
Members are expected to respect diversity and demonstrate an appropriate level of sensitivity when discussing related topics. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, or other forms of bigoted intolerance are not permitted.
Why we have this rule: Democratic Underground is a diverse community which includes people of every race, sex, religious belief (or lack thereof), sexual orientation, gender identity, body type, disability, age, etc. We want to promote a welcoming atmosphere for all of our members, and do not want to provide a platform for bigotry.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=termsofservice

Ageism is Bigotry.

[CountAllVotes]

23. +1,000 !!

I grow weary of these various ageism bashes on the DU.

I rarely read them as they are offensive to me.

[nolabear]

44. Amen. Boomers were civil rights activists, music prophets,

War protesters, EPA founders, space pioneers, alternative energy inventors, SPCA creators, education reformers, union members, etc. etc. etc.

Every generation has its pendulum and its divisions. This kind of black and white condemnatory thinking does tremendous harm in families, societies and countries.

[DinahMoeHum]

13. Blah blah fucking blah. . .

EVERY next generation rags on the previous one. Nothing new here.

[Eyeball_Kid]

20. Yep. Never trust anyone over 30. Remember?

[JI7]

15. Stupid ass article . The split is race, not generation

Younger generations are more liberal because they are more diverse.

[Amishman]

40. The split is class far more than race or age

The top of the heap plundering everything; ripping off the middle class, poor,and future generations.

The correlation is that currently the boomers hold most of the wealth and compromise a disproportionate amount of the rich robber barons.

[Iggo]

16. How The People Pitting Millennials Against Baby Boomers Are Screwing America.

That's the article I want to see.

(Trash thread.)

[Wwcd]

57. "How The People Pitting Millennials Against Baby Boomers Are Screwing America"

K & R for the most sensible post of the week.

I think DU needs to do some troll hunting.
We keep seeing this same extreme & intentionally divisive subject showing up.

Pitting one group against another with broadbrushing & lack of intellectual substance.

Divide & conquer is why Putin buried our media in bots.

Can MIRT be notified please?

[MustLoveBeagles]

17. This isn't helpful

When I was younger I scapegoated the boomers for all this countries problems. And then I grew up. There are good and bad people in every generation. Scapegoating and stereotyping is wrong no matter who does it to whom.

[global1]

19. The Baby Boomers Or The Repugs?.....

Repeatedly cutting their taxes, financing two wars with deficits, ignoring climate change, presiding over the death of America’s manufacturing core, and leaving future generations to clean up the mess they created.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

21. generational bashing is divisive and serves no purpose

except to sell books and make one group feel superior over the other. If we really want to understand how things work, why not just examine who has all the money in this country and what they do with it?

[MustLoveBeagles]

30. This

[BannonsLiver]

46. One could also ask

Exactly when did the seeds for the current economic inequality we have get sewn and who put that person (Reagan) in power.

It certainly wasn’t Gen Xers and Millenials. It was Boomers and their parents.

That said, I don’t believe generations are monolithic so the demonization of Boomers is pointless.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

49. I am forced to ask the question;

do you have data that show the majority of those born between 1946 and 1958 or 59 voted for Reagan?

[BannonsLiver]

56. He won by landslides both times he ran

The proof is sort of in the pudding. For that to happen, a helluva lot of boomers had to vote for him. Pretty obvious.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

64. Here is a breakdown by age bracket of who voted for whom

in the 1980 election:
https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/polls/us-elections/how-groups-voted/how-groups-voted-1980/

I'm not sure it proves baby boomers elected him but certainly more voted for him than I would have suspected......s
*edited for spelling*

[Texasgal]

25. *sigh*

Useless drivel.

[Tipperary]

26. Lol.

Nonsense.

[Fresh_Start]

28. Being a late-ish boomer, female, 1st generation American

I have never had power nor have others who were similarly situation.
Don't blame us.

Like guns this can be blamed primarily on white males.

[vi5]

29. The older generation always bears the blame...

...as they should. Millenials have zero power, other than their buying power and even that is not much. Anyone who blames them for anything is a fool. Same for those who blamed Generation X when they were in their teens and twenties.

I remember when I was in my 20's (I'm Gen X), we kept saying "Oh when our grandparents generation dies and the boomers take over that's when we'll get real progress!!"

Then the boomers took over and didn't really improve things by much. So now my kids generation is saying "Oh when those selfish boomers die off then there may be some hope!"

Unfortunately I think it's just a tendency of people to get old and more solipsistic as they get older and that lends itself to selfishness and conservative thinking and policies.

I wish I could say that I expect Gen Xers to be any better once we are the majority in charge but I can't even say that I think that is likely.

[kentuck]

32. Everything would be better if we simply went back to the 1940's and '50s...

Not!

I don't buy this argument. It wasn't the boomers that repeatedly cut their own taxes, or financed wars with deficits, etc... The Congress was not full of 30-35 yr olds when Reagan was President. Dick Cheney was not a "baby boomer". George HW Bush was not a "baby boomer". GWB was a boomer but his Cabinet and advisers were of a previous generation mostly. Even the leadership in Congress now is made up of a previous generation before the "boomers".

I don't think his argument matches the facts.

Where would women be without the "Baby Boom" generation? Where would minorities be without the "Boom" generation? There is a lot to criticize but we should not overlook historic accomplishments.

[aikoaiko]

34. The millenials still have time to screw things up worse.

[Iggo]

45. And that's the reality of it.

They're just getting started.

They've got a lot of catching up to do!

[PatrickforO]

36. Blaming generations isn't the way to go here.

I see what you mean, but many of us boomers have fought the good fight for decades. Yes in some substantial ways the world is worse than it was 50 years ago. No doubt.

But to say a whole generation fucked it up? That's no more fair than bashing the whole generation of millennials.

Right now, we need to focus on flipping the US House and Senate, and getting as many Dems in local and state government as possible, so I must ask how such a post helps us focus on that imperative?

[denverbill]

37. Probably one of the dumbest things I've read on DU. Talk about generalization.

Pretty clearly it was Republicans/conservatives/libertarians that did all the tax cutting and people of those beliefs come in all age groups.

"Bruce Cannon Gibney is a venture capitalist and writer."

Clearly, Bruce is getting low on venture capital and decided to write a shitty book that will stir people up. I don't know why any DUer would help him advertise it.

[HeartachesNhangovers]

38. Which ones are the millennials, again?

I can never remember if the millennials are the ones just out of college, or their parents. Or maybe their kids. I have a hard time remembering trivial non-facts.

[peggysue2]

42. We Didn't Start the Fire

To quote Billy Joel. And the one thing we don't need is a generational war game to flare up before November.

Regardless of age, we're all on the same page when it comes to defeating the odious Trumpsters. Regardless of age, the Trumpster crew are the wreckers, the racists, the arsonists. No single generation can be blamed for everything wrong in the world or the country. Not even the boomers.

Please stop.

As for millennials? They'll make their own mistakes, and then their children will howl about them. Because that's what human beings do.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

43. Don't ever change, FarCenter.

[crazycatlady]

50. Actually I think the generation that has the most promise is not Boomers or Millennials

But Gen Z (or iGeneration as I've heard them called). They're taking on the NRA while still in high school.

[marybourg]

51. "Everyone"? I never bashed millennials.

As a member of the so-called "silent" generation, I occasionally had something to say about the boomers getting concessions that WE never got, but commercially-driven divisiveness takes it to a whole new level and does not serve any of us well.

[Binkie The Clown]

52. REPOST: No generation since the great depression knows what real economic suffering is.

Yes, there are many individuals who suffer economically, but as an aggregate, neither the boomers (or pre-boomers like myself) nor the children and grandchildren of the boomers, has experienced any kind of mass deprivation.

Born and raised in a technological wonderland and surrounded by the energy equivalent of a couple hundred slaves working around the clock for each and every one of us, we have never tilled the land like our lives depend on it, or hewn logs to build shelter. Not one of us has to walk three miles for a jug of clean water, or empty our chamber pots into the gutter.

Throughout all of human history we of the late 20th and early 21st century are the most privileged, pampered, and coddled people that have ever existed. And for one group of privileged, pampered, coddled, spoiled rotten people to throw blame at a very slightly older group of privileged, pampered, coddled, spoiled rotten people is to expose a woefully lacking understanding of history, and a shameful lack of perspective on the global human condition in general.

[braddy]

61. Generations don't know what real economic suffering is, but many families and individuals

within generations do.

[MineralMan]

54. The Millennials have not had time to screw up much of anything.

Their time will come, and they'll probably screw up just like every other generation has. But, so far, they haven't made much of an impact. They're still young. Many haven't even started realizing they should vote. Give them time. They'll get around to making their own mistakes.

[cilla4progress]

55. As a Baby Boomer, and mother of a milennial

I entirely agree with you about the mis-placed blame on millennials. My daughter and her peers are more likely to be contributing, concerned, aware, activist citizens, than the stereotypes describe and generations preceding them.

As far as Baby Boomers...who my age (63) recalls the period of the 70s dubbed the "me generation" and YUPPIES? (Young Urban Professionals). I attended college in the early/mid-70s and came of age as a hippie love child. I still subscribe to these values. However, many of my cohort and just after became very self-absorbed and materialistic. Some I attended college alongside.

Generational swings, I suppose.

I for one, anyway, do not find millennial to be self-absorbed whiners; in fact, just the opposite.

[DFW]

58. This article blows its credibility from the first sentence. EVERYONE likes to bash millennials?

My wife and I are baby boomers, and our daughters are millennials. Our fathers were both drafted into their respective armies in World War II, and fought on opposite sides. My father came back in one piece. My father-in-law did not. Neither of them would have thought for a second to call themselves "Great" let alone "Greatest."

My wife and I have protested in every conflict our respective countries were in since we were teenagers, although her country was not involved in any armed conflict from mid-1945 til Afghanistan. I did not "lower my taxes" or vote for it or ask for it. I have paid the maximum rate since before I was 30, all out of my W-2. We try to enjoy undisturbed nature somewhere every year, and leave it in the same state in which we found it. We ignore nothing and plunder nothing. We are not great exceptions to some newly-made-up rule, either.

Our children were deliberately NOT spoiled, kept on a tight allowance through their teenage years, encouraging them to try to find ways to earn pocket money creatively--finding babysitting jobs, offering to translate for people needing German-English translations while they were in the States, etc.--and they did. They demanded nothing, found their own jobs (one even refused my offer of help, saying, "I want to do this on my own" ). They were both out of the house before age 20, and only return to visit. One lives 250 KM from us, the other 5000 KM from us. Yes, they use their smart phones more than we do, but then I don't even use one, so that's not difficult to accomplish, and their best friends are scattered across North America, Asia and Europe, so I don't begrudge them that, either.

The easy way to counter my comments, of course, is to say what exceptions we are, but I call BS on that as well. Our boomer friends tell similar stories, both about themselves and their kids. Not all of them, but most of them. Right-wing boomers have caused damage, and right wing millennials will cause more damage. I refuse to take the rap for any of them, and I don't expect my children would do so either.

We bash no one (except radical Republicans), and would appreciate the same courtesy from people who purport to be our political allies.

[Blue_true]

60. I am a baby boomer. I agree with the premise of the OP.

I think rights for minorities and women's rights scared a lot of boomers, suddenly they had to truly compete for jobs and titles against people who society had long made non factors.

[marlakay]

65. Republican boomers who brought in Reagan

Screwed things up. It has just gone down hill from there starting with union busting, for profit healthcare, etc.

Doesn’t do a bit of good though to look at the past, lets fight to get power back now and help the younger ones!