A little Rant about the "Most Selfish Generation" (Vanity)

FreeRepublic ^ | 09/02/2003 | ME

[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.

[joey'smom]

So what you're saying is that you want it to be all about you. You've learned your lesson well!

[tcostell]

I can't stop what the federal government is doing as much as I would like to. It's not my fault. Bite me!

I apologize if you feel personally slighted. As a member of FR, I'm sure the generalizations I put forth don't actually apply to you.

[Wolfie]

I think that would be the FDR "New Dealers" who are sucking us dry. The Baby Boomers haven't started (yet), but they'll have their parents "gimme, gimme, gimme" AARP attitude to guide them.

[RockyMtnMan]

Actually he's just expressing a view shared by a vast majority of his generation, right or wrong that's how boomers are perceived by Gen X.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

I guess you will have to when the BOOMERS aren't around for you to blame all your ills.

The tax relief from SS and Medicare will be a great help. Stay healthy.

....That's LIFE -damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Yep.

[chris1]

I agree with much of the RANT. I am about to turn thirty, work my f'ing ass off to make a living, and see that these Baby Boomers keep passing these "open skies" laws and "school budgets" that keep the cost of buying a home up and up and up. By in large, they are selfish. I'm sorry if some of you don't like it. Nimbyism is rampant among this bunch. Logic and rationality is often absent to the same degree.

[ErnBatavia]

I'd like to see some stats regarding percentages of Gen-Xers who have yet to be weaned from their Boomer parents' nest.

Just a guess on my part, but I seem to see a helluva a lot more 20/30-somethings still suckling at the teat than I remember of the previous generation.

[tcostell]

I appreciate your sentiment. In fact many of my generation have done everything they can to join the party and skip out on the bill. It's not exclusively a generational issue, but I think the generational aspect of it is somewhat exaggerated at the moment because of demographics. It's what I thought on the train this morning anyway.

Thanks for your comments.

And again to those of you who belong to that age group but are more a part of the solution than the problem, I apologize. I know these are generalizations and therefore don't apply very well to specific people. I hope you'll have some patience with me and take this perspective for what it's worth.

Thanks.

[conservativeinbflo.]

Step off, granny!
What the author wrote is TOO TRUE. What GOOD have the boomers actually brought to the fore? Their parenting skills leave much to be desired, that's for sure. Drugs, "Great Society," affirmative action... GAG.

Many of them are all about immediate gratification. It's all about what feels good to them, and screw the rest of us. Sorry, but as a Gen-Xer, I am NOT looking forward to the aftermath that we will be left with.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

I think that would be the FDR "New Dealers" who are sucking us dry. The Baby Boomers haven't started (yet), but they'll have their parents "gimme, gimme, gimme" AARP attitude to guide them.

FDR "New Dealers", the LBJ "Great Society", "HillaryCare"; its all the same.

[conservativeinbflo.]

Boomers are, by and large, not the parents of Gen-X'ers. I'd say most of our parents were born prior to 1945.

[ikka]

A great post! Will respond in depth a little later.

[Ferret Fawcet]

Very interesting. I'm a Gen X-er and at times share your feelings of frustration. However- we must not let the mistakes of the past hold us prisoner, but rather focus on what we can do to create a better futurte. Like Howard Jones says, "things can only get better"

[BureaucratusMaximus]

However- we must not let the mistakes of the past hold us prisoner, but rather focus on what we can do to create a better futurte. Like Howard Jones says, "things can only get better"

Hear Hear...I believe most of us believe that word for word my friend.

[Final Authority]

The later boomers thought this way about the WWII generation in the late 70's and early 80's until Reagan straightened out the economy so a house could be afforded with the interest rates reduced. We saw our parents buy houses for peanuts and then inflation essentially made them free for the mortgage holder. We saw our parents retire on really decent company pensions while our pensions were being liquidated and converted to retirement accounts (stock market bubble and burst) because of federal laws and mergers. We saw the cost of payroll taxes often exceed income taxes to pay for the social security checks that many seniors use for international travel and dining out, exclusively.

It is not the previous generation, it is insane government (and Federal Reserve Bank) policy that will lead us down the path to ruin.

[toomuchcoffee]

Anyone consider how my grandma must have felt? She of the white linen summer dresses that came to her well covered ankles? Her daughter, with her hair cut short, sox rolled to the knees, skirts well above same, out drinking and smoking and all of *that*. How about the following generation that had to clean up after that party, with the depression? How about the generation that followed *that* one, with WW2? C'mon folks, we've all had it tough, some more than others but we all manage to survive it, generation after generation.

[ErnBatavia]

Boomers are, by and large, not the parents of Gen-X'ers.

Well, this boomer is 56 (born in 1947) and my son is about to turn 35....I thought he was a "Gen-Xer"; could be wrong, tho...

[tcostell]

Well said. Thanks.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Socialistic insecurity is a pyramid scheme and like all pyramid schemes, they require an ever increasing number of participants until they exhaust the pool. Hell, let them bring on free drugs for the Most Selfish Generation. It will be that much quicker when the whole Ponzi scheme fails and I will be free at last.

[conservativeinbflo.]

Oh-- Well your word MUST be gospel. I mean-- you must represent the entire generation. Thank you for clearing that up for me.