Posted on 03/20/2004 8:26:56 AM PST by qam1
DALLAS -- No one can ever accuse baby boomers of having an inferiority complex. In the 1960s and early '70s, their mantra was: "Don't trust anyone over 30.'' Now it has become: "Don't listen to anyone under 40.''
As a 36-year-old, I got a taste of that this week following an appearance on National Public Radio. Invited to be a guest on "The Diane Rehm Show," I argued that the presidential election should be about the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq -- not the war in Vietnam. I maintained that the personal decisions that John Kerry and George Bush made as young men are not as relevant as the political decisions the two have made since Sept. 11, 2001. And, I said, the fact that so many middle-age Americans -- in both parties -- seem intent on using this election to re-fight the Vietnam War is more evidence that the baby boom generation craves the spotlight and enjoys nothing more than talking about itself and its experiences.
That didn't go over well with another guest on the show -- David Halberstam, Pulitzer Prize-winning Vietnam-era journalist and best-selling author of The Best and the Brightest. Halberstam insists that, when it comes to Vietnam, it matters -- even now -- who went and who didn't. He said that those who went to Vietnam tended to, upon their return and for the rest of their lives, "do more reading." And become more engaged in world affairs.
I don't know about that. President Bush didn't go to Vietnam and he's not known to be much of a reader. But, after 9-11, I would say he's pretty engaged in world affairs.
Halberstam also drew comparisons between what happened in Vietnam and what is happening now in Iraq. He said there's enough "historical resonance'' between the two conflicts to "raise again the question of whether absolute American military superiority can be undermined by the political undertow of a country with a very difficult cultural, historical background'' -- one that includes having lived through a "colonial past.''
As opposed to, say, the United States, which started out as 13 colonies? As long as we're poring over history books, why not start at the beginning? Besides, does anyone out there really think that the administration set out to "colonize'' Iraq?
That's nuts. The fact that polls show a majority of Americans still support the war -- even if they question the way it has been managed -- suggests that most people see the conflict for what it is: an extension of the war on terror and an attempt to neutralize what National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has called "strongholds'' where terrorist outfits like al-Qaida could find support.
And how did my opinions go over with the NPR audience? Well, judging from the 100 or so angry e-mails, I would say, like the proverbial lead balloon.
Some self-identified baby boomers seemed to want to send me to my room with no milk and cookies.
One letter ended this way: "I suggest that Mr. Navarrette and his Gen X buddies miss an episode of 'Friends' and go visit the Vietnam Memorial in [Washington] D.C.''
Another suggested: "Crack a book now and then. Those video games are bad for your eyes.''
And another said of her cohorts: "I'll admit mistakes. Apparently, we raised a generation of self-indulgent people with no sense of history.''
That's the thing with baby boomers -- such a high opinion of themselves, such a low opinion of everyone else.
Self-indulgent people. No sense of history. These are the same things that, 30 years ago, members of the World War II generation said about baby boomers. How they were self-centered, spoiled and soft, and that they knew nothing of sacrifice and making do with less especially compared to those who lived through the war and the Great Depression.
At least one letter writer hinted as much: "Unfortunately for people my age, there's a group of people older than we are who fought World War II . . . and they've never forgiven us for 'losing' in Vietnam. Those older veterans disrespected the veterans of my era from the get-go. I'm hoping that'll end this year [with a Kerry victory].''
And I bet you thought this election was about where the country is headed. Nope. For some, it's about where we've been. It's about redemption and second chances for a generation that feels like it never got the respect it deserved and which now can't bring itself to respect the generations that follow it.
Now, if you will excuse me, I think "Friends'' is about to start.
438 A.D. Flavius Aetius on Attila the Hun "Rome Produces few such men these days"
Only 38 years later in 476 the Roman Empire was no more and Aetius went down in history known as "The Last Roman"
So sometimes they are correct about their assements of the next generation.
The baby boomers are Not done causing damage and it's going to be hard to undo all the damage they done, I hope hundreds of years from now George W. Bush isn't known as the Last American
Good grief, that sounds exactly like the situation I'm in now. I guess its a good thing I started a college fund for any kids I might have -uh- a decade ago when I graduated from college.
What a world we live in; its coming full-circle again.
They state that they are being held down by the "boomers", that they are not going to get what they deserve because of the "boomers", that their childhood was not the way it should of been because of "boomers". How is this playing of the "Generational Card" any different in substance and thought than playing the "Race Card"?
It's not about "Power and Glory", It's about undoing the damage the Boomers have done and stopping further damage the Boomers are doing.
Yet these same people turn around and say that they are more unselfish and care about others more than "boomers". They state that they are being held down by the "boomers", that they are not going to get what they deserve because of the "boomers", that their childhood was not the way it should of been because of "boomers". How is this playing of the "Generational Card" any different in substance and thought than playing the "Race Card"?
The $45 Trillion dollar debt predicted by 2030 and the undermining of the values and institutions that made America great that the boomers will be leaving us
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