Joe Biden is not a Boomer. Just so you know.

[MineralMan]

He's a member of the silent generation. So is Bernie Sanders. Elizabeth Warren is a Boomer, though.

Of the three leading primary candidates, only one is a Boomer. The other two were born before WWII ended.

Does that matter? Not really, but the "OK Boomer" sayers get it wrong with Biden and Sanders. They're wartime babies. They don't really have a well-known generational profile. That's why they're called the Silent Generation.

Just pointing that out. As it happens, I was born in 1945, about a week before the Hiroshima bomb was dropped. On the day I was born, my father was in North Africa, flying people around in a B-17. For him, the war was already over. I'm not a Boomer, either, by most definitions, although I consider myself part of that generation.

[redqueen]

1. Apparently it's now about more than just age now for young adults.

More about calling out a certain type of mindset, I guess?

[MineralMan]

4. What mindset?

It seems to me that there are three different mindsets among the top three poll-leading candidates. On the other hand, they're all Democrats, so they have much in common, too.

[redqueen]

7. The type to claim young people today don't deserve empathy?

[MineralMan]

10. I doubt that any of those candidates feel that way about young people.

Truly. I think that's a myth.

[thewhollytoast]

30. Nice word myth.

I remember hearing this one myth once. The boomers were going to be better than their parents, the greatest generation.

Instead they pulled the ladder up after them.

Thanks Boomers. Enjoy your retirement.

Toast

[Hekate]

52. How old were you when you "heard this myth"? Also, the "greatest generation" wasn't...

An old journalist wrote a worshipful tribute to his dad and the hard times his dad & mom lived through, and called it The Greatest Generation. Nobody called them that before then, no disrespect intended.

When the young men of my generation were being sent off to war in Southeast Asia we were accustomed to thinking of ourselves (the USA) as the good guys, the guys who won wars, the guys who fought on the right side of history. I was raised to believe that. Ending two World Wars and liberating the concentration camps ought to count for something, one would think.

Instead the politicians in Washington DC (all of them part of the so-called greatest gen) sent our men off to fight an unwinnable war for all the wrong reasons, and because they could not admit it was a god-damned mistake, they kept on drafting and sending soldiers until the revulsion back home tore the country apart.

Excuse me for some of us having had the youthful idealism to believe that we could do better than that. And by gods some of us did -- though power creates its own vortex, and while we rejoiced at unseating Nixon, Newt Gingrich was getting his start.

Also excuse me if we got old. The children we begot are in their 40s and 50s, and those of us who are still alive are trying to eke out a retirement from pensions that vanished while providing at-home elder care for their own parents. Some of those people are DUers.

It wasn't us who "pulled the ladder up" after themselves. Go to the rich and powerful GOPers for that -- only what they did was knock the ladder out from under us and everyone else.

Which brings me to this: STOP DIVIDING US BY GENERATION, AND GET A GRIP ON THE REALITY OF CLASS WARFARE. Class warfare crosses generations and seeks to perpetuate itself at the nexus of money and power.

[Chemisse]

54. Who benefits from intergenerational bickering?

Exactly. So why are you promoting it?

Do you honestly believe that 70-year-olds are out there cackling over how they screwed you over? You don't think they are agonizing over how their kids and grandchildren are struggling just to get by?

Maybe the politicians are, and maybe the rich are, but certainly not the ordinary people who are just like you but with a whole lot of wrinkles.

[napi21]

77. I don't think the Boomers were supposed to be better than their parents. They were

supposed to DO BETTER than their parents, like better education, make more $$, have nicer homes, better jobs, etc. At least that's what I've always heard.

[DBoon]

80. The ones who died in the jungles of Vietnam enjoyed no such retirement

nt

[ritapria]

101. Wow , What a Great Comment on your part

Very Thought Provoking , Whollybeast

[Celerity]

65. Joe Biden trashes Millennials: 'Give me a break'

https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Joe-Biden-Millennials-2020-interview-book-tour-12494099.php

Former Vice President Joe Biden has some pretty strong words for Millennials. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Biden stated that the "younger generation" often tells him how "tough" things are, and that he has "no empathy" for that sentiment.

Here's the full quote:

"The younger generation now tells me how tough things are. Give me a break. No, no, I have no empathy for it. Give me a break. Because here's the deal guys, we decided we were gonna change the world. And we did. We did. We finished the civil rights movement in the first stage. The women's movement came to be.

So my message is, get involved. There's no place to hide. You can go and you can make all the money in the world, but you can't build a wall high enough to keep the pollution out. You can't live where—you can't not be diminished when your sister can't marry the man or woman, or the woman she loves. You can't—when you have a good friend being profiled, you can't escape this stuff.

And so, there's an old expression my philosophy professor would always use from Plato, 'The penalty people face for not being involved in politics is being governed by people worse than themselves.' It's wide open. Go out and change it."

snip

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mbpxx8/biden-trashes-millennials-in-his-quest-to-become-even-less-likable

snip

Let's take this line by line.

The younger generation now tells me how tough things are. Give me a break. I have no empathy for it. Give me a break.

A January 2017 analysis of Federal Reserve data found that millennials, who are better educated than baby boomers, have a median household income of $40,581, meaning they earn 20 percent less than boomers did when they were our age. We're crippled with student debt to the point where home ownership is a pipe dream. So here's the deal, Joe—I'll give you a break if you give me some money.

Here’s the deal guys, we decided we were gonna change the world. And we did.

Who is "we"?

We finished the civil rights movement in the first stage. The women’s movement came to be.

Not sure what this even means. It's good that there are activists fighting the worst sorts of injustices? Sure, that's good.

So my message is, get involved. There’s no place to hide.

Who is hiding? I am not hiding.

You can go and you can make all the money in the world, but you can't build a wall high enough to keep the pollution out.

Considering the stats I just dropped about millennials, I'd actually have a really hard time making all the money in the world.

snip



Joe Biden Defends Past Comments About Millennials

https://www.inquisitr.com/5564622/democratic-president-biden-millennial-generation/

On Saturday, former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, defended his past comments about the millennial generation, HuffPost reports.

Biden irked millennials last year by casting doubt on concerns raised by young Americans. Asked in January 2018 about millennials drowning in student debt and facing financial hardship, Biden said that he has “no empathy” for the younger generation. “I have no empathy for it. Give me a break,” he said.

The former vice president was asked about his past remarks at Saturday’s AFSCME forum. He defended his comments, talking about his own experience, and recalling how he grew up with “very modest means.” The Democratic frontrunner then offered advice to millennials looking to get involved in the political process. “We have an obligation to get engaged. You all have an obligation to get engaged. Don’t tell me how bad it is. Change it. Change it. Change it,” BIden said. “My generation did it,” he added.


As HuffPost notes, although Biden’s 2018 remarks rubbed millennials the wrong way, some public figures have backed the former vice president. For instance, conservative New York Times writer and climate science denier Bret Stephens agreed with the veteran politician, accusing the millennial generation of “self-righteousness.” Later on during the AFSCME discussion, Biden — who has consistently polled high among older and more moderate voters — taunted millennials again.

“I just don’t want people telling me on a college campus, ‘Oh, woe is me, I’ve got it so bad.’ … Come on.”

snip

[brush]

78. And the bogey man you should be fighting is the repug party, not Dem boomers.

[redqueen]

83. I brought up that remark as an example of the type of mindset

that causes a younger person to say 'Ok Boomer' - this isn't about boogeymen - it's about understanding another person's point of view instead of demonizing them for it.

The youth of today know that their future was stolen. People here seem quick to point the finger at republicans for that, and I understand that response, but it's the wrong one.

We want young adults on our side against republicans.

[brush]

87. Blaming an entire generation is the wrong response too. We watched Nixon and...

Reagan commit out-and-out,no-doubt-about-it treason to steal the WhiteHouse and instill repug policies that stole our future as well as that of following generations. Then WBush and trump cheated to win, trump with Russianhelp so please don't tell us about things being stolen. Tell us how you're gonna help fight the repug cheaters.

Learn the real history of how we got here with that orange imposter in the White House. At least the non-repug half of us protested and demonstrated against Nixon, Reagan and W's war.

Where are the protests against the worse president ever? The future isn't stolen until you let it be.

[redqueen]

88. And this is why young people have no patience.

"The future isn't stolen until you let it be."

This is a fairy tale. Climate change is so much worse than you and far too many others seem to think.

Older people need to really accept what has been done, and how bad it is, and stop with the 'not all Boomers'.

[brush]

89. And yet you're still not protesting against trump and for the environment.

Boomers aren't stopping you.

[redqueen]

90. Somehow you're not getting the point of what I'm trying to say.

Have a good Saturday.

[brush]

91. That's for sure. Do something rather than complaint about older generations

We had steet protests and used them. You guys with modern tech could be even more effective with instant communications on the street. Mass demonstrations could swing some repugs against trump and for impeachment.

[redqueen]

106. I'm over 50 - why do ppl keep making this personal?

The planet is dying. Quit being worried about your feelings.

[brush]

107. Weren't you the one talking about...ok boomer? BTW i'm nearly 70 and still attend...

Last edited Sun Dec 1, 2019, 12:24 PM - Edit history (1)

political protests. How is that personal? The bogeyman is repug, anti-environment, pro-business policies not an entire generation.

I expect better from this site for progressives.

[Celerity]

99. What boomers? And who am I fighting? I merely replied to the poster

with a simple example that showed their post to be in error. As for fighting, I did not toss the intergenerational shade, Biden did.

[CreekDog]

97. you spent all that time trashing Joe but you didn't bother to read the question he was answering

he was asked about public service these days and those statements were about public service and making a difference in those old days.

he was NOT talking about financially or economically things being easier today.

he was saying it is NOT an excuse to not try to make the world a better place.

in all your reading and writing, have you ever learned the definition of context?

[Hekate]

48. Ridiculous. Or as we like to say at DU: Links?

[Jewls2]

8. Maybe age and health ought to be considered when electing a president, with no idea what

kind of a VP would be hired, facing such a dire time in our history when in such desperate need. Our young adults ought to think it thru.

[Hortensis]

37. Only the ones who vote count, though. And of the rest who

won't, only a few bother even to make discontented noise outside their own walls. Much of what is ascribed to them is really media stirring the pot. They should be on the march, so many young journalists pretend they are, hoping saying they are will get them out.

It's always the vote. And only the vote. When that age cohort votes their power, both liberal and conservative, then what they vote for will become more determinative.

[redqueen]

41. The youth mobilized to elect Obama

Would be nice if our candidate is able to inspire that demographic again.

[Hortensis]

51. Yes, more DID vote, and they became part of something great.

But Redqueen, while turnout for the younger cohorts did increase in 2008, it was still much lower than the older cohorts.

And in 2016 their turnout was disastrously low. With fascism and trumpism taking over the right and threatening the nation, and with the problems severely negatively impacting their lives that had been growing over the past 40 years of conservative domination, their votes were desperately needed. And with all that not nearly enough showed up.

As a grandmother, I can't help wondering if some of those who haven't started voting still just expect their parents to take care of it for them. God knows lifelong liberal voters have always tried. But over the past 40 years of the conservative era we've failed to get power a lot more than succeeded. You know our elections are not evenly stacked; Republicans win with minorities, but Democrats have to have much more than a majority to win. We're always a majority of voters these years, but we have to be a bigger one.

[redqueen]

60. Plenty of older voters don't vote either.

And yes I agree more people of all ages should do so.

But these kids have grown up watching as so many adults were busy killing off the planet - solely due to greed / selfishness. Its no surprise to me that so many of them react as they do when they're expected to behave as every previous generation has, despite that fact... I have to say I can't really blame those who have a more cynical attitude.

We have literally stolen their future - turning around and lecturing them for not helping us fix it now doesn't seem like the best way to encourage them to participate.

[Hortensis]

62. Those who look more wisely know they're joining a battle

that's been waged for 50 years. All my adult life. They're not starting it. They're joining us.

As for those older duds who never vote, yes. Reality is that some currently young people will also never vote, in this era or any other; no reflection on their generation, just on each of those individually.

As for stealing their future, I understood I needed to support stopping global warming since before I could vote, over 45 years now. I'm sorry if your period of negligence lasted longer than you wish, but hey, you've joined the battle now and need to put that behind you. We're all in it together. Newbies, though, need to be careful who they listen to and watch where they aim their attacks. Helping the anti-climate right by shooting at older voters in the global warming resistance would be, frankly, very stupid --and potentially tragically destructive.

[redqueen]

69. Not sure why you're making this personal.

I'm talking about young voters. I'm over 50.

Many younger adults, however much you agree or don't agree, do not see a future. They see a political system which has failed throughout both republican and democratic administrations to do much at all to stop the increasingly certain extinction of our species.

They aren't idiots. They aren't in denial. We have passed a major tipping point, so advising them to be careful about insulting Boomers (or other older people) by saying 'OK Boomer' is also not likely to encourage them to magically become optimistic and hopeful about the future.

[Hortensis]

70. "We have literally stolen their future"? No, WE have not.

Please understand that, because knowing who to support and who to stop is more important than anything else to defeating those we must stop. I'd bet my household checking account that the confusion and division being pushed here that all older Democrats should be blamed along with all older people is being spun by well-paid agents of the anti-climate interests.

The only "they" and "we" in this are those who deny and oppose action on the enormous global warming crises and those who support action.

[Jewls2]

71. I agree. I am mostly around young adults.

They are making the decision no kids, because they think that will be irresponsible. College and secondary college degree'd young adults. Well educated. I do not think I know one, (O.K. I just thought of one), that consider having kids. We have never had a generation feel so hopeless for a future. The life changes I have seen with the young with eating and living is nothing like how I grew up, all with consideration of not having a future.

Now, I do not know that I agree they need to live so dire, but that is what they are living and maybe if I grew up in this time, I would think differently than what I do at 60.

[redqueen]

82. Exactly.

I'm with you about the hopelessness, but I didn't grow up in this, they did.

We did have the 80's movies about nuclear war, and I remember how scary that was - but that was a possibility. Climate change is a certainty. I wish more older people would stop and take a hard look at where we are, and how younger people have been shaped by this.

When Yang said at the debates that we are 10 years too late, a lot of people were aghast. But he is right, and younger people know it.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. It does not matter a whit if he's a boomer or not. He's honourable and a Democrat, a good person. nt

[MineralMan]

3. Yes. All of our candidates are honorable and Democrats.

Good people. One of them will be the Democratic nominee, and we'll all turn out to vote for that nominee, I have no doubt.

[braddy]

5. The entire list of 1960s figures was almost empty of boomers, (I know Biden isn't one of those).

The people we know from the 1960s were almost all ‘silent generation’ people. People like, Bob Seger, Jane Fonda, John Denver, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Paul & Mary, Grace Slick, Neil Young , Beatles, Van Morrison, Joan Baez, Jerry Garcia, Pete Townsend, Joe Cocker, Judy Collins, Jimmy Page, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Williams Ayers, Bernadette Dohrn, Chicago Seven, Rod Stewart, Abbie Hoffman, Hunter S. Thompson, Malcom X, Charles Manson, Brian Wilson, The Beatles, and the Rolling Stones, the Jefferson Airplane, and the Mamas and the Papas, Jimmy Page, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, just about everyone that people assume are boomers from that time.

[treestar]

28. Quite Interesting

The boomers were the audience.

[braddy]

29. It always amazes me that people attribute 1960s/1970s entertainment, foreign affairs, government,

Supreme Court decisions, military matters, presidential elections and so on to people who were teens, or 5 and 10 year olds, or in their early 20s.

[treestar]

31. Yep.

Only the oldest boomers marched or lived the hippie life.

When it was time for us younger boomers to make music, it was disco and 80s hair bands. Maybe some credit for punk but that would be mainly the British

[George II]

6. I find that "ok boomer" expression extremely obnoxious. I was born in 1948, you in 1945....

....other than our own particular backgrounds, are we really so different that our generations need different catchphrases to describe up?

The truth is, in 1948 the country was still reeling from WWII, except we weren't getting people killed in a war.

[Jewls2]

9. I thought it was funny. No biggie. I thought it funny when Booker said Joe must have been high.

So much garbage in the world, sometimes something can just be funny and not a big deal.

[George II]

11. What bothers me about it is that some younger people use it as a derogatory term.

[Jewls2]

14. Ya, whatever. I know thru many conversation with youth, there are times when I tell them

they need to get off their arrogant stance and listen to experience and wisdom too. That they are not all that. I mean, both older and younger have something to offer and I prefer to embrace that. I like the youth voice, I also value the older experience and wisdom. When used in derogatory term, they are easy to take down in their lack of info, generally.

[JonLP24]

22. I wouldn't worry about it because it depends on the context

Keep in mind there are a lot of right wing out of touch boomers which is why we have Trump.

A queer woman was sent death and rape threats for shutting down a homophobic troll with ‘OK boomer’

A queer woman exposed the exhausting double standard that comes with being a young LGBT+ person after she tried to shut down a homophobic troll with “OK boomer”.

Alyssa, a 21-year-old Toronto resident and the self-styled “high priestess of gay Twitter”, shared a screenshot of an anonymous man calling her an “ugly d*ke” and telling her “you are going to hell”.

When she wrote back: “OK boomer,” the homophobe, whose profile picture was of a church cross, replied: “How can you call me that?”

He went on to abuse a number of her followers, calling them “ugly ass f*ggots” and telling them: “Never use that word [boomer], it’s wrong.” Alyssa said that she was also sent death and rape threats, all for calling the man a boomer.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/11/18/ok-boomer-death-threats-lgbt-twitter-viral-homophobia-troll/amp/

Also read this if you can. I'm paywalled otherwise I would copy & paste.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.azcentral.com/amp/4274676002

[redqueen]

42. Thanks for that. "Boomer" is most definitely not derogatory.

The only way to read it as such is to recognize the reason it could be perceived that way and acknowledge it

[emmaverybo]

18. I thought Booker's quip was rude, immature, and most unpresidential--more in a Trumpian vein than

comedic. Is this how Booker will act on the world stage? If for no other reason than Obama having chosen Biden to be a heartbeat away from the presidency, and his having served the country most impressively in that role, as well as putting his support behind our party in a long record of campaigning and mentoring, younger candidates of lesser accomplishment do well to avoid striving for a cheap high on the debate stage in engaging Biden and to challenge his stances with
logic, effective counter argument that does not rely on treating themselves or Biden like an addled buffoon.

[Jewls2]

24. Mmm, and I thought it funny, good nature and nothing like vindictive, crude, vulgar, vile Trump.

I am a bit bothered that you would equate, "are you high" with Trump.

[emmaverybo]

47. Rude and unpresidential, so yes in that way. Manner is important as are a modicum of manners.

[Jewls2]

50. Nah. I have heard Biden *gasp* joke too. Seems good for some, not for others.

Not a Booker fan per se. Good Democrat, smart. I like him. But not a supporter. I find it silly how any comment to Biden is way out of line. And anything Biden says is valid. Not a Biden supporter either. Good, solid Democrat though and I like him.

So, nah. Not rude or unpresidential. A joke.

[emmaverybo]

53. Never heard Biden make a cheap joke at another's expense, one that jabs at an Achilles heel. Castro

tried to make Joe look cognitively compromised, Booker, to discount his position by implying he was impaired, confused, altered mentally. These kinds of remarks diminish the person, but do not form a cogent rebuttal or forward one’s own argument. Biden is not only a fellow Democrat, but
a former Vice President, whom Booker, by making a respectful and sharp challenge to, could well advance his own position and have garnered respect for it and for him.

No, Biden doesn’t go for audience appeal by belittling fellow democrats.

Booker’s conduct, in this instance, is but one relatively minor example of why, despite his obvious intellect, speaking ability, and moments of eloquence, detractors mention distrust, question his words vs. deeds.

Whataboutism doesn’t change my mind. If ever an occasion presented itself when such flippancy might redound to Booker’s benefit, it was not in a nationally broadcast debate. Perhaps a private dinner party or roast.

I expect those who enjoy seeing Biden publicly disrespected to have seen this moment as a good-hearted gotcha. Didn’t move the needle though did it?

[Jewls2]

56. We disagree. Elitist anyone?

[emmaverybo]

57. Instead of rebutting, you took a shot at me. Exactly what I see Booker as having done, though

I think he probably had a good argument, just wanted to go for the insult.

“Your comment is elitist” would be less snarky, more direct than “Elitist anyone?” No need to try to hedge against making a direct accusation when that is so transparent.

If a call for civility and a hope that Booker would be more consistently presidential in conduct is an elitist one, I stand guilty as charged, but prefer you would have been less veiled in calling me out.

[Jewls2]

59. I did not take a shot at you. You stated Biden doesn't go after the Democratic candidates.

He does. And he did recently calling Warren an elitist, correct?

This is a good example of the overly sensitive with any conversation regarding Biden. I have less and less patients with it.

[emmaverybo]

61. Calling her an elitist is not a cheap joke or a personally demeaning jab, though it is a

challenge made on both sides of the aisle, lobbed against more academic rivals, meant
to undermine their claims to represent the diverse middle and working class.

I call that claim a political critique, not a character insult. Unfair it may be and strain supporters’ patience. Not in the same class of rude as Booker’s sneering riposte and one made in the context of an exchange between rivals, rather than a supercilious gotcha.

I didn’t think Warren’s questioning of Joe’s fidelity to party goals to be in the same style as Booker’s sneak attack launched for laughs. Fair or not, it is a political assessment and she is giving him a chance to come back, not ambushing him in the heat of televised debate. I wouldn’t call her assertion immature either.

And just say “your comment is an example of Biden supporters’ over sensitivity.” I own my comment. Proud to support and defend Biden. If in doing so I am waxing elitist or being thin-skinned, I will own both too. Not all Biden supporters got haunches up about Booker’s remark.

I think it said more about him. Warren does not stoop low to make a point, exposing a rival to jeers. I haven’t seen her do so anyway. She wasn’t playing to unfair perceptions about Biden, was she? She was just doing her playbook. He did his.

Yes. Those playbooks do get old.

[Jewls2]

66. "Calling her an elitist is not a cheap joke or a personally demeaning jab"

Of course not.

[emmaverybo]

75. No more than her saying he was in the wrong party. I expounded at length on

Last edited Sat Nov 30, 2019, 01:13 AM - Edit history (1)

Biden and Warren’s political, and rather cliched exchange, as different in kind to Booker’s sucker
punch. I have gone further to characterize Warren’s claims about Biden as not low, snide, in bad taste.

You have a point to make, not an argument in the context of mine. Your assertion is duly noted.

[GemDigger]

64. It all depends on how much snark is behind it.

Context, situation is all relevant on how the usage was meant.

[Jewls2]

68. It was a joke. Every one laughed but Biden supporters.

[GemDigger]

72. I don't give a shit if it was a joke. I chuckled at first and then I groaned with how terrible it

made him look. What I saw was snark. To grab a little more attention than he was getting. And even more important … it was NOT presidential.

You think it was funny, I think it was insulting and filled with snark. We both have opinions.

Edit: My feelings would be the same no matter WHO he directed it too. The comment was bad taste.

[Jewls2]

73. You chuckled at first cause it was funny. That would be my point.

[GemDigger]

74. Politically speaking he may have been wise to keep his

smart ass comment to himself. Time will tell how many people thought it was "funny".

[tirebiter]

45. As a pothead for Joe, I recommend lighten up

Keeping cool is the main reason I never got busted. Life is funny that way. Really funny.

[emmaverybo]

49. I wouldn't have thought it funny if he asked Joe if he were drunk. Pot is not the point. He got a

cheap laugh, but in the end, what has Booker gained? Nothing for his opinion or his candidacy.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. I suggest boomers come right back at the caller with "Dude! You're so AWESOME!" . . . nt

[George II]

16. HAH! Love that, thanks.

[braddy]

15. In 1948 we were still 2 years away from our next bloody war, the forgotten one.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

39. Thank you, braddy.

Far too many people forget that.

[left-of-center2012]

26. "I find that "ok boomer" expression extremely obnoxious"

I've been told that here on DU by some folks who disagreed with something I posted.

Instead of giving a reason,
I just get the put down "OK boomer".

I find it lazy, and having zero value.

[Kurt V.]

33. my boomer brother and i find the whole thing hilarious. so when we make mistakes on the never

Ending remodel of his 100 year old house, we say ok boomer. 😁

[redqueen]

43. That's the spirit

[Blue_true]

58. I am a Boomer. I think that it is hilarious. I doesn't make me angry.

I am actually disappointed with the older first wave Boomers, they claim that they changed the world, but that is bullshit, people who were born from 1938-1944 were driving the social change. The early Boomers were getting stoned and free sex when they could find it, that pretty much is what I remember about the ones that I met as a child.

[emmaverybo]

79. Movements that drew their widest participation and came into the main stream because of boomers:

Civil and women’s and gay rights, environmental, anti-war. Regardless of growing liberal objection to the Vietnam war, it was fought on boomers’ backs, taking 58,148 young lives, not to mention disabling physical and psychological toll, and the aging vets still dying from the effects of agent orange.
Though the movements mentioned drew sporadic and sometimes
disruptive protestors to them—those free love, turn on and drop out hippie life-stylers your post addresses, they were started by
dedicated hard-working activists and mainly composed of them, while they also gained the support of many older middle and working class people.
These movements, though they had emerged here and in other countries on some scale before, never before so thoroughly changed political and social life, and history,
Sneering at boomers and blaming them for our current situation has become fashionable, but ignores the numbers of the 60’s and 70’s generation we should thank for both service to country and and pioneering the growth of crucial movements still alive and well today.

[Blue_true]

95. The oldest Boomers were 17 when the Civil Rights Act was passed.

They were non participants in that effort. The early Boomers did participate in Vietnam protests since in the 1964-68 timeframe the oldest ones would have been 18-22 years old, but my argument is they did it out of fear more than principle. Their actions at the 68 Democratic Convention helped get Nixon elected, IMO. I am a middle Boomer who was nearing the start of my early teen years in 68, I would not vote until President Carter ran.

Women's rights were more of a function of middle and late Boomer influence because women really didn't start to have their issues taken seriously until the late seventies when those two Boomer groups came of age in significant numbers. There were exceptions, women from welloff families like Jane Fonda had some prominence as sidekicks to men. So, I dispute your claim that early Boomers did anything significant about women's rights, that battle was carried by their younger members and made very prominent by Gen X, that is when men discovered that they could not beat the shit out of their girlfriends and wives and expect that nothing would be done about that.

Early Boomers were predominantly failures at driving real social change, even though they take credit for those changes. Events that burned into the social mindset, like Kent State were borne by middle Boomers and late Boomers, not their older counterparts.

[emmaverybo]

98. Many boomers joined SNCC , Many protested across campuses for black

studies programs, for native Americans, for Latino causes. Yes, the civil rights movement had already started, but boomers participated widely and supported. As to fear of being drafted driving the anti-war movement, many had already been drafted. Many were more concerned about the civilian deaths in Vietnam than US casualties. It is true that the movements I cited were started by people older than baby boomers, but their rise in popularity and reach into mainstream society
Was both supported by and and facilitated by baby boomers, many of whom took the message into the classroom and the various helping professions they entered,

To portray baby boomers as mostly ‘stoners” or these movements as not involving baby boomers is simply wrong. Maybe you need to ask baby boomers at DU about their activism and their service, which began at an early age. If it is more accurate to say baby boomers carried the torch while the previous generation lit it, pioneered it, I concede with all due respect.

[Voltaire2]

13. Ok boomer.

[ismnotwasm]

17. Ok Boomer

[dewsgirl]

19. I have never heard of the silent generation.

[MineralMan]

20. It's interesting. Here's some info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Generation

[Jewls2]

25. Because they are that silent.

Lol. I tease.

[left-of-center2012]

27. "the silent generation"

"Demographers and researchers use mid-to-late 1920s as starting birth years and early-to-mid 1940s as ending birth years,
with 1945 a widely accepted ending birth year.

It is unclear where the term originated. As young adults during the McCarthy Era, many members of the Silent Generation felt it was dangerous to speak out.
Time magazine first used the term "Silent Generation" in a November 5, 1951 article titled "The Younger Generation", although the term appears to precede the publication.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Generation

[Thirties Child]

38. I'm a card-carrying member of the Silent Generation. b 1935

I remember that I first encountered the phrase when I was in college, I know it was in either a Time or Newsweek article, most likely in 1955. It certainly includes those of us born in the 1930s during the depression. If I remember the article, we were called the Silent Generation because we didn't have much to say. Those born in the 1920s, BTW, would be the Greatest Generation. I've always thought of those born 1941-1945 as War Babies. Boomers lasted so long that my first three children -- born 1958, 1960, 1962 -- are considered Boomers. My fourth baby, born 1966, is considered a Gen Xer, I guess because they are ten generations from the Mayflower? the Revolution? Jamestown? St. Augustine? Santa Fe? Clovis Man?

This member of the Silent Generation thinks both Biden and Bernie are too old. Right now I'm dithering, can't make up my mind. I think we need someone who is the antithesis of 45, which means someone both honorable and likable. There was a reason Carter followed Nixon.

[CountAllVotes]

102. The Silent Generation

The Greatest Generation was a much loved name during the time it was used.

Now it is The Silent Generation.

I have always thought that The Greatest Generation or as now called The Silent Generation was better named the "Don't Tell Anyone But ..." generation.

I say that because as I know them to be, they sure had/have a whole lot of secrets so please, "Don't Tell Anyone But ..." they will always be to me.

[LakeArenal]

21. Just another label. Or sound bite.

Don’t care. Boomer. Silent. XYZ.

No one ever adheres to any one label.

[Catamount]

23. Proud to be of that generation, born in 44!

Nt, k&r

[elleng]

36. The GREATEST was our parents,

Dad born in 1913.

[virgogal]

44. Nope, the Silent Generation followed the Greatest Generation.

[treestar]

32. Careful though some would say

That highlights how old he is.

[elleng]

35. Guess I'm a silent/boomer, born '45,

as Yalta began.

[aidbo]

40. oh, you're definitely a boomer

[redqueen]

46. The dynamic here is interesting. 'Your generation is full of snowflakes.'

'DON'T CALL ME BOOMER!'

Not about any post in particular, just a reaction to what I perceive as the overreaction to the term.

[Chemisse]

55. If a person is being belittled and categorized because of their age, it would be offensive.

Nobody likes to be insulted and made to feel insignificant. And older people are particularly sensitive because of new physical limitations, worries about future mental acuity, losing part of their identity and purpose with retirement, etc.

Being called a piece of shit on top of it is bound to rankle.

[redqueen]

67. You think "Boomer" is analogous to "piece of shit"?

I think the majority of the people using 'Boomer' as a response are far less hostile than you think.

[Chemisse]

76. LOL - I'm sure you're right.

I responded to a post earlier that seemed pretty hostile, but it's unlikely that many people are really that resentful.

[Jewls2]

63. I thought it funny then, and ya. Now. Wow. I am with you.

[Codeine]

81. The single most privileged and catered-to

cohort in American history (and thus world history, presumably) cannot cope with a snarky two-word jape without a lecture, an insult, or a long-winded dissertation.

A meme didn’t divide the generational groups, it reflects an existing divide created by the cold economic reality those that followed the Boomers are facing.

[redqueen]

84. So very well said.

[MichMan]

85. I find it rude & condescending at a minimum and depending on the context, offensive.

I thought it was people on the receiving end of slurs that decide if they are offensive, not the person hurling them. I guess I was wrong.

[Codeine]

86. Wait. . . so now just using

the actual name for your generation is a slur?

You do realize that the only POSSIBLE reply to such silliness is of course “Okay, Boomer”? That level of umbrage over the mildest snark ever is pretty much the quintessence of boomer privilege.

[Celerity]

100. Great reply. nt

[Polybius]

92. Trump barely makes the Boomer cut, born at the start in 1946

But who are the real ones? Like Trump, too many people running are either on the cusp of something, or right at the beginning or end of a Generation. Warren is barely a Boomer, Bernie and Biden are barely Silent's (or Greatest Generation, as they used to be called), Tulsi and Buttigieg are either super young Xers or super old Millennial (depending on who you ask), etc.

I want someone born smack in the middle of his or her generation, and I especially want a real Xer. We need somebody to run born in the 70's.

[MineralMan]

93. It's not the generation. It's the individual.

Truly.

[Codeine]

103. #NotAllBoomers nt

[MineralMan]

104. LOL!

[nsd]

94. This generational stuff is nonsense.

Silent generation, Boomer, Generation X, Millennial, Generation Z, and Generation ??? (have we run out of letters? we should have started with A)

I don't really know anyone who thinks in these terms. "I am a member of Generation Blank!" As a way of grouping people, it seems so stupid.

At the risk of starting a flame war, if I had to blame anyone in the current field for this ridiculousness, it would be Pete Buttigieg. "Generational energy", he said. What a load of BS. Given his modest work experience -- Amy Klobuchar was right! -- that's exactly what a McKinsey consultant would have come up with.

[IluvPitties]

105. Exactly. It's all BS.

Either you are an open minded, progressive individual or you are not. Stephen Miller and Tomi Lahren are Millennials (like me) and they are a menace to society. So is Nick Fuentes, who is a Gen Z white nationalist.

[Iggo]

96. Stop messing with people's ability to call someone an out-of-touch old person.

They're running out of nicknames, dammit!