Meet the Greedy Grandparents

Slate ^ | Dec. 10, 2003 | Steve Chapman

[bc2]

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[qam1]

So you are painting the Baby Boom with Liberalism?

That's what this forum is about. Lots of us grew up, lots of them didn't. The previous generation before the BB was responsible for the creation of Communism and Socialism. Are you saying they are all Communists and Socialists?

Yes and no. The Baby Boomers are Communist, Socialist, Fascist and Capitalist depending on whatever serves your selfish needs. When it comes to entitlements, Lawsuits and health/safety regulations you are very Socialist, Communist and Fascist, However when it comes to things that effected you directly like abortion and divorce laws then all of a sudden you became very Libertarian.

You can't win that particular argument since all you have to do is grab the bad examples. The Baby Boom also was responsible for an end to racial barriers

No you didn't. Racial Barriers started to break down right after WWII and would have continued with or without the Baby Boomers. Plus all the big civil rights leaders like MLK were not baby boomers. With baby boomers you replaced leaders like MLK with Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons. In fact with your Affirmative action, Welfare state and dumbing down of the schools (especially those of the inner city) it can be argued that the baby boomers if anything are the cause of the racial barriers/problems remaining today.   

and inroducing concepts of justice for all, not just a select few.

Give me a break, You have to be kidding, No Generation has and continues to piss on the Constitution as much as yours.

By justice for all baby boomer style you mean criminals have more rights than their victim. Murders and pedophiles instead of being held responsible for their crimes instead have their actions excused away by blaming society and evil America or whatever other Psycobabble that baby boomer lawyers can think of.  

The problem is after the battle was won too many of soldiers liked the power it gave them. We are fighting that monster now.

Another words they became self-serving baby boomers like the rest of you.

And there are more Boomers involved in the WOT than Gen-Xers. The WOT is not seen as "belonging" to Gen X (in fact most soldiers are Gen-Y).

No from http://www.defenselink.mil/prhome/poprep2001/chapter4/chapter4_4.htm

The mean age of all active officers was 34 years, while that of enlisted members was 27 years clearly puts them in the Xer category. Also it should be pointed out that the people running WOT and the previous Gulf war Donald Rumsfeld, Tommy Franks, Paul Wolfowitz and Norman Schwarzkopf are not baby boomers

I will tell you this, There are more baby boomers out there on the current Anti-American protest marches than Generation X-ers.

And Gen-X did NOT invent the Information Age. I have been part of that my entire adult life. Gen-x just hopped on to the train the baby Boom created.

Oh yeah, How silly of me it was that great shinning example of the baby boomer generation Al Gore who invented the internet.

Computers were around before the baby boomers. Compare a computer of the 1960s to the computer of the early 1980's. Now compare a computer of today to a computer just 3 years ago. There were bigger breakthroughs and more applications derived in the later time period. The X-ers may have not invented computers but we were the ones who found all the new applications for them and brought them into the mainstream while when you were our age you were doing Blow in the bathroom of Studio 54. 

Your assertion that the great artists from the Boom were from the precious generation is patently false. As much as I like the music from the 40's it has not passed the test of time like the music of the 60s and 70s (except disco).

Re-Read what I've said. Most of the musicians like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, etc were not themselves baby boomers.

Just give up. You can't win this argument. Accept the fact that yours is a lost, shallow and slacker generation and try to do what you can to make things better so if and when you all grow up you don't have to apologize for it.

I sense extreme jealously on your part and I understand your hostility it must be hard being in a generation that has accomplished nothing and has fully or partially destroyed many great American institutions and values. You have failed your parents and you have failed your kids and you have failed your country. The Baby Boomers will go down as being the worst generation in American history, No generation comes close to all the negative effects the baby boomers have wrought. It must be especially hard since your generation is a bunch of parasites that is sandwiched between two Generations that has and will accomplish much and has had such a positive effect on the world.  

[qam1]

Q, since so many of your friends are so messed up because their parents were messed up, upon whom do you place the blame for those parents being that way?

That's a good question

I have always wondered how a generation like the WWII could produce such a monster as the baby boomers. My personal hypothesis is the WWII generation isn't very adaptable to change and new things (Just look how they can't phathom how to work a VCR while a even 4 year old can) which at the time they were raising the baby boomers the world was under going great change which they were simply unable to cope with and change their parental skills to match the time so the baby boomers just ran wild on them.

Either that or all the Atomic testing that happened during the 40's & 50's screw them up in the womb

[Axenolith]

Dude, arm-chair psychotherapy is for losers, it sounds like my sister-in-law, and she plans on voting for Hillary...

[wtc911]

You know, you and the other cry babies on this thread have done me a real favor. It's good to know well in advance what many of you children have in mind for us when we, as one of you so bravely put, get too weak. (of course you will have to wait a long long time before you can face us on even ground) I've never joined anything in my life, most of my friends haven't either. We've never hated another group before either, except the islamist killers. We certainly don't fear any group of ranting whiners who feel they have to wait for our eventual infirmity to act against us.

What you and some of the other kids have shown here tonight is a truly pathetic bout of poor me, the big bad people over there are responsible for everything wrong, everything bad, every reason why I can't grow up and stop this embarassing self pity. You people are supposed to be adults by now. Your behaviour is remarkably adolescent.

Even though you say that your sense of victimhood is common for your age group I don't believe it. I know too many in their 20s and 30s who are real adults and are focused on living like adults and moving forward. Maybe it's just you and your circle who are effed up and looking for someone to blame.

If I knew your parents I would feel as embarassed for them as I do sorry for you. Or, maybe I'd feel they got exactly the kind of kids they deserved. Either way, good luck working things out.

[wtc911]

Dude, living your life hating and waiting to get revenge on strangers for sh** your parents did to you is dysfunctional. Ranting about euthanizing a whole generation because you can't compete is twisted...doesn't take a PHD to know that.

And, Dude, I'll stack my CV against yours any way you want and see who's the loser.

[Hank Rearden]

We need to keep the 'promise' to them.

I didn't promise a damn thing. Corrupt vote-buying politicians who died before I was born did that.

Screw it. Shut down this crap NOW! Or the underground economy will continue to grow and thrive as most people tell the government to cram it.

[stevio]

Some of our friends, who are in that generation, gave a slight sneer everytime we mentioned that we're having baby. We have 3 and most of them have 1 or even none. I do mention that our kids will be paying their SS. Plus I mention that if America can allow 1,000,000+ immigrants a year into this country, our few aren't going to matter. It's going to be real hard to be sympathetic to their needs in their old age.

[Joe Brower]

Well, gee, Glenn, since you're such a top-notch activist, succeed where all the rest of us fail, and know all the answers to how to resolve this dilemma, why don't you forgo the baiting attempts at insults and share with all of us your brilliant solution.

If you have one, genius. I'm not holding my breath.

[NeoCaveman]

I agree. I have enough faith in this country's pragmatic, nihilistic outlook and moral relativism to realize that Junior is never going to be burdened by the Me Generation -- if they start to cost him too much, he'll simply have them euthanized.

Well they aborted or contracepted out half of our generation so I do suspect the culture of death, of which they've benefited (less kids more vacation money) will ultimately pull the plug on them, so to speak.

[Axenolith]

But the over-dramatization is a bit much. Sure, the guy may be emotional about the subject, but you know HE himself does not want to euthanize anyone. Why not just address the point?

Granted, the generational issue is pretty stupid because any given generation, given the opportunity to help others and themselves with other peoples money are going to do it. It's been the demise of every society that has headed down that road and I don't see us being particularly special and an exception to that rule...

And, Dude, I'll stack my CV against yours any way you want and see who's the loser.

You have an aircraft carrier!? COOL!

[Phaedrus]

It bothers me, a lot, when I see our politicians borrowing money that my kids and grandkids will have to repay and spending it to buy votes. The across-the-board greed is appalling. The money won't be repaid. And the Republicans are no better than the Democrats. Democracy is failing because the Takers are outnumbering the Producers and Givers -- and include in the Takers every recipient of any government dollar beginning with millions of government employees. We may be talking Civil War II. We most certainly are talking Hard Times.

[Glenn]

why don't you forgo the baiting attempts at insults and share with all of us your brilliant solution

You're hysteric. Take a deep breath. You're missing the big picture here. What's done is done. They'll tinker and toy with "the third rail" until it eventually dies.

Your desire to blame someone is a reaction and that is about all you'll ever be able to do about it -- react. Anger at those who do or will receive something from the system is not helpful at all.

[freedumb2003]

You Xers are really angry.

There is so much mis- and dis-information in your post that it is pointless to even try to set you straight. I haven't seen such a load since Hitlery's book.

Several GX posters here have accused the BB of one thing of which we are clearly guilty. Based on your posts, we clearly have many Boomers who are TERRIBLE parents.

[Joe Brower]

If that's 'hysteric' to you, Glenn, then you don't know the meaning of the word.

As for anger at what's been done, there's nothing wrong with that. I simply am recognizing what has been done before I was born, and use my displeasure to fuel my actions to counter it. You make an awful lot of assumptions about me, most of them wrong. You need to take a deep breath yourself and change that bad habit.

One wonders what you have done, other than berate others who are indeed in the fight. And I'm still wondering what answers you have. Got any?

[Phaedrus]

This is how and why democracy breaks down. People who vote are allowed to vote their self-interest and make it pay. "Interest groups" are glorified. Politicians are encouraged to buy the votes of those who don't contribute. It doesn't add up. There will always be more seemingly justifiable ways to spend money than to earn it or save it. It IS a ponzi scheme. And a Self-Fulfilling Lie. It ain't gonna be pretty. Unless we wake up and grow up. Fast.

Nasty article BTW.

[Phaedrus]

Answers? We are going to have to rethink universal suffrage. And act accordingly. Do we have the will? And the foresight? And the courage? And the selflessness?

Doubtful, in my humble opinion.

[Phaedrus]

The future is now.

[Axenolith]

I'll stack my CV against yours any way you want and see who's the loser.

If you mean that to be Curriculum Vitae then...
California Registered Geologist
Hazardous Materials First Responder
Remedial systems operator
QA/QC manager on Superfund site
Member:
American Association For Advancement of Science
Americal Chemical Society
American Geophysical Union

For the record too, my boomer parents ROCK. Pops is a retired Lt. Col with 2 tours in Vietnam flying (and being shot down in) helicopters. Their parents (all still alive) recall FRD's confiscation of peoples gold as the crime it was. There aren't any slackers in this geneology, all the way back to ~1700...

[The Green Goblin]

I wonder if all of the little whinie-hinies who are cursing "old geezers" can even remember how hard their folks worked to get them those cars they thought they HAD TO HAVE the day they turned 16; or the $100 pair of shoes or jeans they couldn't live without; or the $500+ spent on graduation night for a limo, corsage, dress or suit; or all of the video tapes and CD's and computers and TV's...all of which you had to have in your VERY OWN room; or all of the stuff (amounting to thousands of dollars) that you demanded you 'needed' BECAUSE EVERYBODY ELSE HAS IT!

I don't remember any of those things, most likely because my parents didn't do them...