Boomers can take credit for the 60s if they accept blame for the '70s and '80s.'

washington monthly. ^ | January/February 2006 | Jamie Malanowski

[tbird5]

With the oldest of the Baby Boom generation now starting to turn 60, it seems inevitable that we will soon be inundated with books and TV specials assessing the impact of this huge cohort on American society. The Greater Generation, by American University professor Leonard Steinhorn, can be considered a very sympathetic brief for the defense. No doubt some opportunistic right-wing scribe is energetically pitching Regnery Press on the merits of prosecuting Boomers for their various crimes against humanity, even as some third party is pounding out an even-handed assessment. Hopefully at some point, Friends of the Forests will step in and remind everyone that a generation is an awfully large category to make meaningful generalizations about, and perhaps we should spare the trees. But for now, back to Leonard Steinhorn.

Readers will recall that it was Tom Brokaw's great good luck as a journalist, as a reporter of news, to uncover that back in the 1930s and 1940s, a large mass of young Americans had to suffer, a) the trials and deprivations of the Great Depression, then b) fight a terrible war —a “world war” in the parlance of the time—against countries bent on global domination.

[the OlLine Rebel]

My mother read it at the insistence of others when she had her 1st set of babies, 10 years after it 1st appeared, and it was all the rage. She tossed it aside as "trash" and I trust her judgement even as a 20-year-old.

[tbird5]

So sad. A great book.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

The '80's were great once we dumped Carter.

[the OlLine Rebel]

I still wonder how people did it for 1000s of years on their very own. ;-)

[Redleg Duke]

Exactly right.

[TAdams8591]

"The significance of the 1960s and the 1970s to America is that this was the era when these destructive philosophies penetrated beyond the elite universities, the Old Left, and the Northeastern WASP establishment into the general population."

Good post and exactly right!

[ClaireSolt]

As I see it, there was a group of SHARP-elbowed opportunists who were determined to get ahead. While they convincED my whole class at Stanford to abandon our business roots and become "helpers", they went into corporations and have noW ended up in jail. Serves them right!

[dr_who_2]

None of the leftists and countercultural icons you mentioned were baby boomers.

Um...that was my point.

[RGSpincich]

I am amongst the crowd that had two 50's and moved right into the 70's. Skipping the 60's altogether except for the head shaking.