The torch may have been passed

[kentuck]

No one in America epitomizes Baby Boomers moreso than Bill and Hillary Clinton. Baby Boomers have ruled the electoral process for some time. We were inspired by JFK many years ago. We hoped. We believed. We had our turn.

Now, it is time for a new generation to take over. For many years, we complained of their apathy and non-participation in the process. Now they seem to have their own JFK. They are inspired. They are hopeful. They believe. Is it now their turn?

They said that JFK did not have enough experience. They said he did not have enough accomplishments. But he inspired people with his words. Unfortunately his dream was shortened by a bullet in Dallas, Texas. Now we find ourselves in a similar moment of history. People will interpret it in many different ways. However, it should be stated that there are many Baby Boomers that are supporting the New Movement also. They understand the changing of the guard.

[Bluebear]

1. Baby boomers are still their 40's, let's not kill us off quite yet.

[k8conant]

5. Boomers are turning 60 now...

but I'm just 58 and for Obama now.

[Bluebear]

7. No, the very first Boomers are turning 60. The last boomers are in their 40's, LIke Obama

[Touchdown]

11. Only as young as 45, to be exact.

The Kennedy assasination in 1963 is the cutoff point. That's when the birth rate started on a decline and the new gen "Baby Busters", later called Gen Xers, were being born. Obama could be an Xer or a Boomer, cuz he's right there at that age (at least I think he's 45 :shrug: ).

[Bluebear]

15. Well, actually 1964 is the cutoff point

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/006105.html

In any case, 45 is hardly an age where I would think someone's "time" is through and ready to pass on to some "New Movement".

[Touchdown]

28. Nov 1963=Dallas. What's 2 months between friends?

:D

[HughMoran]

29. I will admit

...being on the tail end of the boomers, that I do feel that Obama is inspiring a "youth movement" in politics that I am willing cede to as I believe the youth are our future and I am happy that they are motivated and participating. I am kind of on board with the O/P's point.

[Window]

45. Damn. I was born in 1944, had twins in 1963, who were 6 mos. old

when Kennedy was assasinated. Does that make me just an old fart? LOL!

I like this one better:

http://ask.yahoo.com/19981207.html

We'd always understood that the "baby boom" was the result of soldiers returning from World War II. Grateful that they were no longer being shot at on a regular basis, the GIs gladly embraced their wives and girlfriends with a vigor not seen before or since. The babies were sort of a side effect.
If you figure that WWII ended around 1945, you could say that the baby boom started in 1946 (nine months later). That would make the oldest boomers 53 years old. As for the other end of the equation -- when did the boom end? -- we checked the Web for the answer.

In Yahoo!'s Baby Boomers category (under Society and Culture > Cultures and Groups), we found Baby Boom: A History, which confirmed our knowledge about the beginning of the period (VE Day was May 1945) and gave us some other insights.

It turns out that the boom lasted for 19 years, marked by 76 million total births. There were over three million new babies in the first year, and the annual rate quickly climbed to over four million per year. In 1964, the rate fell below that number and thus the boom was over. So the youngest boomers currently would be 34 years old.


Peace:thumbsup:

[HughMoran]

16. Obama was born in August, 1961

He's 46. Oh, and 44 can still fit within your criteria if you look at the months of the year involved!

[beezlebum]

26. boomers are 44+

'64 is the cutoff. barack was born in 1961 (8 months younger than my mama).

a boomer is a boomer is a boomer

[Touchdown]

33. Assasination was Nov. 1963. Two months. Big deal!

No need to get so anal, Mr. >1964=35+ years old.;)

[beezlebum]

43. hey now

i didn't post that! someone else did...i don't think i did...did i? ...is 28 too young to start showing signs of senility? :P

[Touchdown]

47. Oops! I guess 42 is old enough to be blind though.

:rofl: ... Ouch! Hurt myself rolling.

[Window]

52. Jeeze. My twins just turned 45 this month.

I must be getting old... all these numbers are confusing me. LOL!




Peace:thumbsup:

[HughMoran]

10. I'm in my 40's

Speak with broad-brush often?

[Hepburn]

25. Turning 60 real soon....

...too soon...cuz in my heart I am only 16...and I support Obama.

[Window]

27. I'm a Boomer, a great-grandmother and an Obama supporter.

I'm happy for my children to see the torch passed.



Peace:thumbsup:

[kentuck]

31. Thanks for understanding the meaning of the post...

rather than getting lost in numbers and years. :-) It is not bad to hand over responsibility to a new generation. That does not mean we no longer participate or determine political races. It means we now have a partner. It means we are much stronger.

[Window]

36. You are welcome, and your post is very well written.

Peace:thumbsup:

[KitchenWitch]

56. No doubt!

:hi:

[Marrah_G]

2. Ummmm... boomers are not that old...

:eyes:

[kentuck]

3. To a 21-year old...

Baby Boomers are old. :-) But, even though many are still in their 40's, generations do not wait for the other to die off before they demand their own voice.

[Bluebear]

6. 'many Baby Boomers that are supporting the New Movement also'

I dunno, it's offputting. I am not ready to hand the keys to the car over to a 21 year old to drive quite yet :)

[Mags]

44. Especially one with little experience.

[ooga booga]

13. I was just thinking about youngsters view of JFK....

I think younger voters see JFK somewhat the same way we boomers view FDR. A good president who was in the White House before we were born.

If anyone is inclined to mention that the ascent of Barak and Michelle Obama is the return of Camelot, I think the whole Camelot thing would be utterly meaningless to those younger voters. Besides, "Camelot" was a Kennedy thing. Obama deserves something new. Maybe the younger generation can coin it.

[Recursion]

38. I've never known anyone to think himself old, asleep, or drunk

To this Xer, boomers have always been "old". It's just that I now realize 31 isn't nearly as "old" as I used to think it was :)

[Marrah_G]

53. Funny how that happens huh?

[Exilednight]

50. You're right, they're not. I'm 38 years old and part of Gen-X...

There are just as many of us, yet the chronological time used to measure our generation is much smaller than that of Baby-boomers. Anyone born in a 20 year window is considered a boomer, yet Gen-X is given a ten year window and then Generation Why takes over.

A lot of this is due to technology. Sending a written letter use to take days, now you can do it in a blink of an eye.

When boomers were kids they had to borrow their parents car.
I was a kid, I got a job and saved to buy a beater.
Parents today buy cars for their kids.

Being 38, I see a huge generation gap between myself and those that are only 5-10 years younger than me, just like many boomers saw with my generation.

Just my two cents.

[supernova]

4. Not. Dead. Yet.

I was teething with JKF was shot, so no I don't consider that my "turn" is over. Not by a long shot.

[ginnyinWI]

8. Boomers can still claim Obama as one of their own.

The cut-off birth year is 1964. So technically he's still a Boomer--although a younger one.

But I get your drift. He's not from the main group, the ones who came of age in the 60s. He must have graduated from high school in what--1979? I was born in 1952 and graduated from high school in 1970. By 1979, I was married and was having my second child--and I was on the younger end of the main group of Boomers.

[kentuck]

12. JFK served in WWII..

So he was not of the same generation as Baby Boomers either. But he inspired a new generation. Do not misinterpret the meaning simply because of a birth year or your age. Youth will not be denied. It never has. And why aren't the "boomers" going for Hillary?

[LiveLiberally]

9. It might be a better tack to say that boomers are forever young and hopeful.....

The baby boom generation was born between 1946-1964, so the bulk of them are now 44-54 years old -- an age group that Obama has been winning handily.

edit: corrected "old math"

[HughMoran]

14. ? 44-62 you mean

Is this the "new math"? :rofl:

[LiveLiberally]

23. Math corrected but the point stands.

"new math"??? Now that brings us back decades (and I'm looking forward....)

[kentuck]

17. Like I said...

People will interpret in many different ways. What I am suggesting may be happening is that a new generation is coming forth. They are the difference in this election, whether we admit it or not. Baby Boomers have never voted in bloc anyway. We do not all have the same interests.

[LiveLiberally]

35. Seriously.... I think this is less about passing a torch than...

bridging the generations. As one boomer quoted in the NY Times yesterday said, "it's about the kids." Most boomers are parents & grandparents now and yet they have more in common with their children and grandchildren than with their parents' WW II/depression generation. Think about it: the 60s generation ("don't trust anyone over 30") was a rejection of the culture of the 1930s and 40s. Rock and Roll and Swing had nothing in common, and if you were young in the 60s, Frank Sinatra didn't exist. But my children have Bob Dylan and the Beatles on their Ipods, as well as Green Day etc...

[Touchdown]

19. Check your math.

I was born in 1965 and I'm 42. I'm definitely an Xer (an older one, but you gotta start some place). :hi:

Boomers let their hair grow long. Xers used Kool Aid to color theirs and do mohawks/Billy Idol(the lead singer of Generation X) spikes with bleach/peroxide.

[shenmue]

18. Age discrimination is hope?

Where did you get that idea?

You go on to say that not only is Clinton's age bad, but that of Obama and his supporters is good.

Might have missed the contradiction there, pal. If you make a policy out of your personal prejudices, you're going to be in trouble in a hurry.

Also, there's a huge gap between the two age groups that you're not even talking about. Not everyone in this country is either over 40 or under 25. I do hope this isn't the attitude you take when it's all said and done.

[kentuck]

20. Oh, I said that?

"You go on to say that not only is Clinton's age bad, but that of Obama and his supporters is good."

Different interpretation, I suppose?

[bookman]

21. Don't stereotype us

I'm a boomer, an older one at that.

I don't consider myself the sterotypical boomer. I doubt anyone of any generation likes to be sterotyped by a generality.

I've been active in labor and local politics. I've contributed to democratic candidates. I have no problem with electing the right "youthful" candidate. I'd be proud to have Sen. Obama as my president. I'd vote for Sen. Clinton over Sen. McCain.

I guess what I'm trying to say is how about "join with us" instead of "move out of our way".

It's still my turn, and (to those much younger) it's your turn too.

[snooper2]

22. What are you if you were born in 75'?

[Touchdown]

30. You're an Xer.

Mellinnials, or Gen Y were born 1981+. So pull out your Duran Duran and Def Leppard CDs, and play them.:D

[beezlebum]

40. done!

born in 79, lifelong music obsessor. my kid brother, born in 92, was asking me what the 80s sounded like, so i was just flipping through my duran duran and U2 and blondie and tears for fears and the church and SOM records (not cds, those big black {somet8imes other colors} vinyl Frisbee things that i no longer have an apparatus for which to listen to), and others i forgot i had (no def lep though)...

[Touchdown]

51. Same here No Def Lep, but all you mentioned.

Forgot who SOM is, but I'm sure I got 'em.;)

My big stacks...
U2, Simple Minds, Cure, Big Country, Stranglers, Talking Heads.:hi:

[beezlebum]

54. all of those too!

SOM= sisters of mercy :D

[Touchdown]

55. Yep, got 'em, but only as Mission UK

They went through so many names... Sisterhood, The Mission, couldn't make up their minds.:eyes:

I thought you meant OMD. Total crap! Like Bananarama with more valium.:puke:

[helderheid]

32. You too? We're Xers

[snooper2]

39. :)

:toast:

[robbedvoter]

24. Oh, goody! I am irrelevant now! How...hopeful? "Old and in the way" is taken or else

I would have changed my handle. Thanks for new reasons to vote in November.

[dionysus]

34. nice bitterness

[robbedvoter]

42. Glad you like it. Us, old people tend to be that way...I hope you'll remember me

as I will you in November.

[dionysus]

49. can you please explain...

how finally getting young voters involved excludes YOU?

[robbedvoter]

58. That's not what the OP said.

[dionysus]

60. come on...

the metaphorical "passing" of a "torch" doesn't mean that you guys don't count any more.

[bigmonkey]

37. We needed time to pass to get this done.

When the boomers were raising their kids the focus was on personal elements - finding a career, fiscal stability of the family, costs in time and money of raising the kids, buying a house. By now that's well on it's way to working out or not, and boomers can refocus on the long term. But, unlike 30 years ago, the pre-boomer generation isn't in charge.

My own strong impression at the time (30 years ago) was that for some cultural changes to happen, a whole new generation had to be raised with a progressive way of looking at problems. The project of progressive change needed two generations working together, the boomers and the next generation. Direct confrontation in the 60's and 70's didn't work - "the establishment" had all the police, military, etc.

Clearly conservative values haven't evaporated, and there are conservatives in their 20s of course, but I'm still encouraged that the progressive project as a whole is still viable, maybe even still on track.

[kentuck]

41. Thoughtful post.

Thanks.

[cooolandrew]

46. Let's compare him to Carter for better mojo.

[kentuck]

48. It is true that he is interpreting a Republican mess like Carter did...

But probably a lot worse? Four years and out? It's possible.

[readmoreoften]

57. Uh... the Non-Boomers are not lock-step on Obama.

If there's anything you should know about Generation X: we're not lock step on anything and tend towards skepticism and depression. If there's anything you should know about Generation Y: they're cheerful, obedient, and respond well to advertising. You'll get no fidelity from either group.

[marions ghost]

59. Simplistic ...

Too divisive a viewpoint IMO. Yawn--I see your romantic reference to "torches" and all that, but it's not really a good analogy. It's time for the generations to come together, not for one to slink away in the face of a new and improved "movement."

George W. Bush is the baby boomer who ALL generations with any sense are reacting against. We owe the current progressive wave to the spectacular failures of this clown and the Neocons. None of us on this side of the fence need to take any blame for the installation of the Bushes and their criminal associates. But their crashing depravity is what is driving this urge to sweep away the old.

No need to be starry-eyed about what this means. This is an indictment, a purging, a Stripping of the Old Guard, rather than a Changing of the Guard.