Posted on 09/02/2003 6:17:04 AM PDT by tcostell
They had their childhood in the 50's and remembered it as a time of unambiguous innocence.
They had their adolescence in the 60's when they decided that their parents view of hard work and respect for family were "antiquated" ideas that no longer should apply in this age of social awareness. They preached free love while they spouted hate and burned the symbol of their country and called those who were risking their lives for them "baby killers". "Private property" became dirty words to them. Crime soared, many fathers were replaced by the government.
In the 70's they left college and got jobs, but the adolescence continued. They now had more money to buy stronger drugs, and indulge in more exotic means of gratification. Those that did marry gave up on the idea, and divorce rates climbed. They called it a journey to "find themselves" but they were already utterly devoted to their own egos. They even went so far as to name themselves the "me" generation. They replaced the minister with the psychologist, and the community with cultural awareness groups.
In the 80's the myth of socialism finally died, and with it also, their already threadbare pretense of caring about anyone but themselves. The ideas of family and community had been trampled under the feet of the proletariat. In the 80's it became about obtaining wealth, and the rules be damned. Excess was still the preferred flavor, but with age beginning to take it's toll it became external excesses rather than the sex and drugs of the last 2 decades. Conspicuous consumption was the new trend and exercise became the fashion in an attempt to hold back the tide of time.
In the 90's they elected their king, and filled the corridors of power with their number, but it turned out that the emperor's new robe was a stained blue dress. They told each other lies about the "new business cycle" and picked each others pockets. They put off till tomorrow everything they could so they could have one last moment of ego gratification. The band played as the new millennium rolled in. But then there came a day when everyone knew that the party was over. The markets stopped pretending everything would go on forever, and the World Trade Center came crashing down.
I'm a part of the generation that has followed along behind the baby boomers paying the bill. No one asked me if I wanted to, (in fact they still never ask me) they simply present the bill and await payment. I was bussed to public school as a child, turned down from ivy league colleges while my friends with worse performance were accepted in deference to affirmative action. I was taught to fear aids and other diseases when I was laid off in the 80's, and watched my savings and stock options turn to so much wallpaper in the 90's. Worst of all, I lost lifelong friends in the World Trade Center, and my wife still has nightmares about how close I came to being there myself. I've grown accustomed to the idea that although I've paid vast sums into social security, it won't be there for me. It was never "for me" anyway. And now that age is upon them they would like me to pay for their medical care as well. Even if it costs me everything I have. Even if it's long gone but still being paid for by my 3 year old daughter.
I know it will probably happen. The baby boomers are arguable the most short sighted and self interested generation that America has ever seen but they are in the majority so there is no-one to stop them. I'm even certain they will come up with some grand rationalization about why I should be thrilled to pay the bill for them one more time. But it won't really be for me... it never is.
In the meantime I'll care for my family with whatever is left. The schools have failed so my wife and I will teach our daughter ourselves in our own home if we have to. We'll make room for both my parents and my in-laws when they can't afford the property taxes needed to live alone anymore. We'll make our family the center of our universe because the family works better than all the government run pipe dreams that the die hards keep trying to sell. They can take everything I have but my self reliance.
We were landless peasants once, and may well be again before the "most spoiled generation" is through, but we'll survive it. And when they finally leave, we'll build the country again. Not as a collective "workers utopia", but as a place where no man is saddled with the burden of another, that he does not willingly take upon himself. Family is the best reason to shoulder a burden. Even community can be a good reason sometimes ...if the links are close enough. But it should be asked for not ordered. And the government can only order.
I don't ever need to be on the receiving end of government largess. I would just like to see the generation that precedes me to pay their own way for once. I'll carry my own water... and I think they should do the same.
Clearly, it does not apply to every individual member of that generation, and those who know it doesn't apply to them aren't getting hostile or defensive about it.
Unlike the ones with the classy "bite me" response. That's exactly the attitude the writer has described, and you've just confirmed yourself as someone who has something to be ashamed of. By the way, do you speak to your children that way? No wonder they don't respect you.
You know, when someone over-generalizes, and I don't fit the description, I don't get my britches all tied in a knot over it. Hmm....??
a) Make sure to sets aside enough of her own money for her needs instead of having big daddy govt steal it from others who are trying to raise a family of their own.
b) Have a child/spouse/friend help with the bill instead of looting it from those trying to save enough for their first mortgage.
c) Seek aid from any number of charity organizations that are in her community instead of increasing our already oppressive tax rates.
"Gimme gimme gimme! I'm OLD!"
But I posted here to open the topic to discussion so you were right about that part.
I'm just sorry so many people took it personally when I thought I made it pretty clear that I was only trying to address a general trend.
My Apologies.
I served in the Great Sexual Revolution as a non-combatant...a Conscientious Objecter, if you will.
While I didn't go overseas, I served 32+ years in the National Guard and Reserves, under hostile fire once, over the University of Wisconsin campus in May of 1970...by my own generation.
Somehow, I never lost sight of what values we were bequeathed by "The Greatest Generation", nor failed to value them.
We were not all pond scum and selfish human debris. But those that were got all the publicity.
Many of us "soldiered on" in anonymity.
Many of us kept the faith.
Many of us remember "The Greatest Generation" when they were younger and have watched them grow older and slip away. Now, we worry that what was passed to us may not be passed to the generation spawned by the "Me Generation".
If that happens, then a National Tragedy will have taken place.
You are as much to blame as everyone else, who didn't vote for Clinton, for his taking the White House; regardless of age. Why do you blame boomers, but exempt yourself?
There are a small percentage of cellists/Coke drinkers/freckled/omnivours/allergy sufferers/truck drivers that hail Clinton, and desire to extort your money.
There are idiots in every group.
Yet, you did not link/identify these idiots with truck drivers, or sneezers. You chose boomers. Why? Why boomers, and no one else?
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