Baby Boomer's in a funk....

[WCGreen]

Eighty percent of baby boomer's are pessimistic about the current direction of the United States, according to the Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends study released Monday.

Who can blame them, with retirement and pension funds shrinking and with the unemployment rate near 10%?


It goes on to say this...

In contrast, the study found only 60% of millennials -- individuals between the ages of 18 and 29 -- had a bleak view of the way things are going today.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/12/17/pew.baby.boomer.gloomy.outlook/index.html?hpt=C2


And yet, who is most at fault for this malaise, this deepening funk that permeates the country.

Is it that uncanny can do nature of my generation that was nothing more than a myth...

Is it that my generation wanted it all now and forget about the future...

We were the most doted on generation, the most promising generation, and ultimately the most selfish generation in living memory.

I have come to the conclusion that the anti-war fervor that swept through the country in the late 60's was more about not wanting to get killed than doing what is right.

Look at how the self has replaced the collective. It's all about me and what's in it for me.

Political consultants tell you that you have to make your message personal, that you must reach in and tell a person how what ever it is you are promoting effects them.

There is no collective good, or if there is it is buried deep under the selfish concerns of a pampered nation.

I take heart that the so-called "millennials" are more about seeing what is right instead of what is right for me.

Perhaps the boomer's don't get president Obama because he is not really one of us. He is, I guess, a boomer by definition but there is something about him that is different from the two boomer president Clinton and Bush.

Idealism without promise is far more damaging than pragmatism with results.

That's the way I look at it...

[DURHAM D]

1. drivel

[hlthe2b]

2. double drivel.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Well said.

Recommended.

[hlthe2b]

9. Hate to disagree, but I could not disagree more. Unrec.

I'm surprised and dismayed at you, California Peggy. Should DUer Boomers leave DU, since it appears we are not welcome, but rather are the cause of all that is wrong with the US?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. You are more than entitled to your point of view.

I generally respect WC's writing, and this piece is no exception.

There is no way the Boomers should leave DU.

Their voice needs to be heard...

[hlthe2b]

18. I generally respect WC's writing as well, which is why this divisive,

derisive and stereotypical tome is so discouraging to read (and to see you lauding)....

[IDemo]

4. -->

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=44975&mesg_id=44975

[sinkingfeeling]

5. You do not speak for me. I was not 'doted' on by anyone. I do not think I'm a part of the

'most selfish' generation nor do I hold to the 'what's in it for me' meme.

[hlthe2b]

6. +1000..... Such stereotyping is derisive, devisive, and self-defeating.

[CountAllVotes]

8. neither was I

I was too damn busy ironing my father's shirts for work while my mother worked full-time and my father worked three jobs. This was necessary in order to PAY FOR CARE for my now late sibling!

I am sick of these threads! :puke:

[WCGreen]

10. I never claimed to speak for you....

And since you personalized it I guess you proved my point...

[sinkingfeeling]

12. Really? I was born in 1948 and to quote from your OP...

"...my generation that was nothing more than a myth...

Is it that my generation wanted it all now and forget about the future...

We were the most doted on generation, the most promising generation, and ultimately the most selfish generation in living memory."


Why didn't you say "I wanted it all .."? You attributed those things to an entire generation, of which I am a part.

[WCGreen]

13. I was referring to trends...

Our generation was the first generation that was targeted from the cradle as far as advertising was concerned. We were the first generation that has access to easy credit, shopping was designed around our needs.

We were also the first generation that had tons of disposable income at our, well, disposal...

[WCGreen]

11. Good, they you are the exception...

But then again, you personalized a generalization and had to tell your story so I guess that proves my point...

[FSogol]

7. "How will you know when the Baby Boomers are finished?"

"You'll see an article on the hot new funeral parlors." - Gary Trudeau

[flamingdem]

17. There are plenty of Millenial and Gen X assholes to fill their shoes nt

[damntexdem]

14. Funk it all!

And I don't mean your Funk & Wagnels.

[flamingdem]

16. Hey take responsibility for yourself and don't work the generation gap for strife

.. haven't you heard of DIVIDE AND CONQUER?

[shanti]

22. exactly

i can see more of that coming too :(

[eShirl]

19. must... supress... grammar police... urge....

("baby boomer's")

[eShirl]

20. I failed

kick

[flamingdem]

23. how about bommerz, kind of new, hot like funeral parlours

he he parlor parlour

[whistler162]

21. Dang.. thanks for letting me know how I am

supposed to feel!

[Obamanaut]

24. More discussion here ->

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=44975&mesg_id=44975

[hlthe2b]

25. Actually no...

While they both post the same article, this thread is all about how horrible the Baby Boomers are and how (we) are to blame for all the world's ills. The other thread is all about how screwed the Boomers know that they are. Great day for Baby Boomers, isn't it. :eyes:


When I see photos of those Baby Boomer Vietnam Vets out there demonstrating in the snow in front of the WH against the Afghan and Iraqi Wars, to promote the repeal of DADT, or the Baby Boomer Civil Rights veterans doing likewise, it is good to know how little some on DU think of all of us.

[Obamanaut]

27. Actually yes...

Looks like the link to the same article, the first line of the message block appears to be the same, and there are numerous responses.

Some of the responses don't hold the same point of view, but the varied responses suggest, well, more discussion.

[hlthe2b]

31. ...

wow... way to totally miss the point. :shrug:

[socialist_n_TN]

26. Jeez, I'm a boomer and sometimes I think this way too..............

Then I remember a few things. Then I forget them again! :)

Basically, the REALLY forward thinking boomers were a minority of the entire generation and in some places a SMALL minority. As a senior in HS, there were only 6 of us out of a 1000 or so students. And that was all classes. We had a larger effect, FOR A WHILE, on the greater whole than our numbers would suggest, but then we got into adulthood and MOST of the boomers became Yuppies and bought into the capitalist rat race. So yes, we're responsible for Reagan either because most boomers voted for him or dropped out and didn't vote period.

But guess what? I believe the forward thinkers that are still alive, will STILL have a greater effect than our numbers will suggest. Our kids are grown now and we're becoming more like what we were when we were younger. Everything from beginning to smoke pot again to becoming more and more radicalized politically. I see it every day with people my age. We shouldn't have to, but I'll bet you'll see a LARGE proportion of boomers on the front lines of the coming class war.

[DailyGrind51]

28. Young women alos protested the Vietnam War, and they did not have to fear the draft!

White college students became "Freedom Riders" in the deep south only to get beaten and, in at least two cases, murdered. What was "in it" for any of them?

[BlueIris]

29. I have no pity for the baby boomers. That generation

has spent the past three decade eating all the resources, keeping their children marginalized the in the job market, and failing to make any plans for how to survive in retirement and now expecting their children to foot the bill to support them in their old age.

:nopity:

[CBHagman]

30. Just a quick note.

Time today is short and I'd just like to say this:

The notion of baby boomers being spoiled and coddled is nothing but a myth that's bandied about in the media by those who have spun postwar prosperity, rising numbers receiving post-secondary education, and a plethora of societal shifts (the rise of TV, the advent of reliable contraception, the quest for equal rights for all citizens regardless of race, gender, and sexual orientation) into a fantasy that those born over nearly two decades (George W. Bush on the one end, Obama on the other) are a monolithic group of the greedy and the indulged.

Nothing could be sillier or more untruthful. The generation that brought up the baby boom came out of the Great Depression and the Second World War, and was duly confronted by the Cold War. Their own parents and grandparents were born in the 19th century, and Victorian attitudes cast a surprisingly long shadow over the 20th century.