Baby Boomers are screwing us again

Taiden wrote: The war on drugs is a huge money sink that only increases profit margins for criminals, lets rethink our approach. Control and taxation wont solve problems, but it COULD be the lesser of two evils perhaps the legal system needs a little revising. (I like how in some other countries, the loser of the legal battle is required to pay the winners legal fees. This might help) I am mostly against censorship, but I do not understand why it's okay to advertise prescription drugs on television. Obviously they are running the ads because they increase sales. The only way the sale can be made is if the patient goes to the doctor and asks for the 'purple pill.' So in a way, patients are prescribing their own medication because of these ads. Can you say, "really freaking dangerous?" And instead of focusing on curing illness, the pharmaceutical companies are focused on making the 'new miracle drug' that they can sell during the 6 o clock news. I know everyone's trying to make a buck, but seriously. This is so wrong.

I completely agree, we need tort reform and only doctors should be recommending to people what drugs they should take, not the TV.

The only boomers to blame for our country's problems are politicians and lawers.

and y'all thought you had problems....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2p5svFJ9cQ&feature=player_embedded

this is why im getting into the military/law enforcement side of things!

The Boomers did a lot, mostly due to being in the right place at the right time, but you've got some of your facts wrong, SVreX:

It wasn't Boomers who were stepping up to start the Civil Liberties Movement, that started in 1955, when the oldest boomers were nine. That would be like somebody born in 1980 taking credit for tearing down the Berlin wall.

It wasn't Boomers who led the Equal Rights movement. Everything after 1923 was building on what was already done.

I'm not wrong on my facts. I am distinguishing between the beginning of a movement (like woman's suffrage) and it's implementation.

The fact is that, even though the groundwork had been previously laid, the US was not culturally prepared for those kind of changes until the Boomers came along.

These significant changes became normative while the Boomers were challenging the cultural norms of rejection of such principles of liberty. It was the Boomers who changed authoritarianism in a radical way and paved the way for freedoms that exist today.

Women had the right to work since 1920. They weren't holding CEO positions and functioning fluidly in the marketplace until the Boomers. Blacks have been "free" since 1870 when the 5th amendment was passed, but I remember police sicking dogs on crowds of dark skinned non-violent protesters. They didn't effectively have freedom until the generation of the Boomers. Blockbusting existed until the 1980's (my family spent a good chunk of the '60's and '70's fighting the racism of this practice- in the North).

I am well aware of the facts. I also have lived through the changes.

SVreX wrote: Who's "everyone"? I've never heard that. Ever. Don't forget... they laid the groundwork for whatever those following them may accomplish.

everything that ever happens is based on the groundwork that was laid before. the only thing that makes the boomers special is that they were raised believing that they were special by the generation that lived thru the great depression and WW2.

Brett_Murphy wrote: That would be like somebody born in 1980 taking credit for tearing down the Berlin wall.

I was born then, and I'll gladly take the credit.

Seriously though, this is a great time for me to be buying stocks and investing somewhat aggressively.

BAMF wrote:

Brett_Murphy wrote: That would be like somebody born in 1980 taking credit for tearing down the Berlin wall.

I was born then, and I'll gladly take the credit. Seriously though, this is a great time for me to be buying stocks and investing somewhat aggressively.

er I beat ya by being born a year earlier... but i'll take credit also... heck I even got to see the wall before it was torn down... along with Mr. Communist guy while waiting at checkpoint charlie to get into east germany...

funny how 20 years later the culture between east and west germany is still different...

er on a side note... we can blame the boomers for gen-X... it was all of their free love hippy shinanagins and yuppines that turned gen X into what it was...

novaderrik wrote: .....what makes the boomers special is that they that lived thru the great depression then fought and won WW2.

FTFY

After the war those same people returned to work knowing that with effort and committment, wonderful things can be accomplished.

One should also consider much of the social turmoil that occurred in the late sixties was at the hands of their spawn .

I'm confused, I thought the boomers were born to the people who fought in WWII. So that means boomers didn't live through the Depression or WWII.

Or am I missing something? I'll gladly admit being wrong.

z31maniac wrote: I'm confused, I thought the boomers were born to the people who fought in WWII. So that means boomers didn't live through the Depression or WWII. Or am I missing something? I'll gladly admit being wrong.

No, you're correct.

The "Baby Boom" was the result of the GI's returning home and starting a life.

Shawn

Wikipedia said: A baby boomer is a person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom and who grew up during the 1960s and 1970s. The term "baby boomer" is sometimes used in a cultural context. Therefore, it is impossible to achieve broad consensus of a precise definition, even within a given territory. Different groups, organizations, individuals, and scholars may have widely varying opinions on what constitutes a baby boomer, both technically and culturally. Ascribing universal attributes to a broad generation is difficult, and some observers believe that it is inherently impossible. Nonetheless, many people have attempted to determine the broad cultural similarities and historical impact of the generation, and thus the term has gained widespread popular usage. United States birth rate (births per 1000 population). The blue segment from 1946 to 1964 is the postwar baby boom.[1] In general, baby boomers are associated with a rejection or redefinition of traditional values; however, many commentators have disputed the extent of that rejection, noting the widespread continuity of values with older and younger generations. In Europe and North America boomers are widely associated with privilege, as many grew up in a time of affluence.[2] As a group, they were the healthiest, and wealthiest generation to that time, and amongst the first to grow up genuinely expecting the world to improve with time.

Trans_Maro wrote:

z31maniac wrote: I'm confused, I thought the boomers were born to the people who fought in WWII. So that means boomers didn't live through the Depression or WWII. Or am I missing something? I'll gladly admit being wrong.

No, you're correct. The "Baby Boom" was the result of the GI's returning home and starting a life. Shawn

Both of you are right; novaderrick is wrong and I failed to correct that.

The accomplishments that SVrex alluded to were the legislative products of WWII vets. Boomers are those who either reveled in or riviled the "system" and went on their separate paths to use and/or change it.

It's fair to say that mistakes were made by all and everyone is paying for them now.

oldsaw wrote:

Trans_Maro wrote:

z31maniac wrote: I'm confused, I thought the boomers were born to the people who fought in WWII. So that means boomers didn't live through the Depression or WWII. Or am I missing something? I'll gladly admit being wrong.

No, you're correct. The "Baby Boom" was the result of the GI's returning home and starting a life. Shawn

Both of you are right; novaderrick is wrong and I failed to correct that. The accomplishments that SVrex alluded to were the legislative products of WWII vets. Boomers are those who either reveled in or riviled the "system" and went on their separate paths to use and/or change it. It's fair to say that mistakes were made by all and everyone is paying for them now.

what was i wrong about? the "Greatest Generation" (the children of the roaring 20's) lived thru the great depression and a world war, then they bred like rabbits and gave the world the Baby Boomers..

In reply to donalson:

Gen-X: That's not fair. Gen-X were busy raising ourselves, letting ourselves in after school, making dinner for ourself and whatever one of the divorced partents we were staying with at the time because they were out working to become the wealthiest generation the nation ever had at the expense of their own families.

ahh good point Brett... and in turn Gen-x begat gen-Y... the generation with peter pan syndrome... 26 is the new 18 (not sure where I read that but it was in an interview with several big wigs at major universities)

glad I didn't get the same experience as many gen-xers though... but it's fun to look at generational changes and swings from one generation to the next (even amongst families)

:)

oldsaw wrote: The accomplishments that SVrex alluded to were the legislative products of WWII vets. Boomers are those who either reveled in or riviled the "system" and went on their separate paths to use and/or change it.

You are right, it was the legislative efforts of the post war generation, but those legislative efforts were only initiated because of the Boomers stand against the things like racism and misogyny.

So, here's how it goes... WWII vets accomplish great things in foreign theatres, but come home to complacency and resistance to changing their own issues from within. They fail to recognize their society is one rift with prejudice and injustice.

Their children, the Boomers, are the first generation to really take a huge stand against the authority structures of the previous generation. They protest, they push, they stick their neck on the line, and they take stands for everything they believe is right, like environmentalism, diversity, gender opportunities, and freedom of speech. They do it in sometimes weird ways which include things like Woodstock. But their stand forces the post war generation (who are in the legislative driver's seat) to re-evaluate their own perspectives and make changes (if they want votes to remain in power).

Later, the Boomers get tired and become (to some extent) the very thing they opposed when they were younger, just like their parents.

Unfortunately, the Gen Xer's and the Millennials (BOTH of whom are the children of the Boomers) generally don't understand the significance and impact of the Boomers, and take the freedoms they have completely for granted. They just see the Boomers as old farts. But the truth is that things are pretty good- the injustices are not extreme enough to motivate them to action (like the Boomers).

So, they spend a lot of time complaining on the internet.

Sure is a lot of stereotyping going on here...trying to blame (or give credit to) everyone in a particular generation for something is just silly.

SVreX wrote: Millienials (aged 19-37) outnumber boomers by 10%. In the last election, they gave the Democrats a 22 percentage point advantage. Considering government spending is at an all time high and a significant contributor to the current economic woes, I think it could be debated who's screwing who. But perhaps we would accomplish a lot more if we didn't try to point the finger and started accepting responsibility and working together for the betterment of our country. Frankly, blaming the Boomers is a load of crap.

QFT

Its time to stop playing Democrat and start doing something about the problems in our system.

I say we should get a good start by not allowing lawyers to become politicians.

SVreX wrote:

oldsaw wrote: The accomplishments that SVrex alluded to were the legislative products of WWII vets. Boomers are those who either reveled in or riviled the "system" and went on their separate paths to use and/or change it.

You are right, it was the legislative efforts of the post war generation, but those legislative efforts were only initiated because of the Boomers stand against the things like racism and misogyny. So, here's how it goes... WWII vets accomplish great things in foreign theatres, but come home to complacency and resistance to changing their own issues from within. They fail to recognize their society is one rift with prejudice and injustice. Their children, the Boomers, are the first generation to really take a huge stand against the authority structures of the previous generation. They protest, they push, they stick their neck on the line, and they take stands for everything they believe is right, like environmentalism, diversity, gender opportunities, and freedom of speech. They do it in sometimes weird ways which include things like Woodstock. But their stand forces the post war generation (who are in the legislative driver's seat) to re-evaluate their own perspectives and make changes (if they want votes to remain in power). Later, the Boomers get tired and become (to some extent) the very thing they opposed when they were younger, just like their parents. Unfortunately, the Gen Xer's and the Millennials (BOTH of whom are the children of the Boomers) generally don't understand the significance and impact of the Boomers, and take the freedoms they have completely for granted. They just see the Boomers as old farts. But the truth is that things are pretty good- the injustices are not extreme enough to motivate them to action (like the Boomers). So, they spend a lot of time complaining on the internet.

Point of contention, SVrex: the youngest Boomers weren't even eligible to vote until 1967, several years after socially-based legislation like the Civil Rights Act and LBJ's Great Society. Even as those acts were deserved and long overdue, the unfortunate part is that they have been hijacked and used as vote-buying tools.

As for the rest of your post, I'll pretty much agree. Especially the last two paragraphs.

donalson wrote: funny how 20 years later the culture between east and west germany is still different...

I wouldn't consider it any funnier than the cultural differences between the various regions of the US.

It's easy to second guess the decisions of the past with 20:20 hindsight.

My parents were born in the early thirties, I was born in 79. The values and perspective they instilled in me put me at odds with how the rest of my peers veiwed the world. I have always viewed the boomer's as selfish. And I don't like hippies either.

The selfish part may be part explained as the Boomers have been told for all their working life that the retirement and social security they have paid into for 40 years will no be able to sustain them when they retire.

With that said maybe they are just trying to get ahead and not trust the government to support them.

aussiesmg wrote: The selfish part may be part explained as the Boomers have been told for all their working life that the retirement and social security they have paid into for 40 years will no be able to sustain them when they retire. With that said maybe they are just trying to get ahead and not trust the government to support them.

Eggzactly: Boomers bought in to what was sold to them and Gen-Xr's/Millellium's should pay attention. It's difficult not to be selfish when one realizes one has been lied to and cheated.

Government isn't the only culprit, but it IS the biggest - imho.