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The Faustian Generation (did boomers sell their souls to the devil?)
MSNBC ^ | July 24, 2006 | Alan Ehrenhalt

Posted on 07/26/2006 8:48:06 AM PDT by NYer

My cohort of early baby boomers has been called a lot of names in its nearly six decades of existence—we were the insolent teenagers of the 1950s; the self-centered Yuppies of the 1980s; now we are the aging spendthrifts who will bust the federal budget and bankrupt our children with unreasonable demands for creature comfort in old age.

But maybe it would be more appropriate to think of us as the Faustian generation. We didn't exactly sell our souls to the devil—not collectively, anyway—but as we jog toward senior status, it's hard to escape the sense that we were complicit in our own unique kind of unholy bargain.

Most of us born in the early years after World War II grew up in a world of stability and order: lasting marriages, moms at home, fathers with permanent employment, local merchants who knew us and watched us, neighborhoods where the people next door were ever-present and predictable. The three television networks ran essentially the same programs; the bread and soup and cereal all tasted alike. It was snug; it was also, as we all know, widely perceived as monotonous and a little claustrophobic, as well as unfair to many members of society

"The dull ache will not depart," Faust says in the first part of Goethe's epic, as he laments the cozy tedium of his cloistered life. "I crave excitement, agonizing bliss." That does pretty well as a mantra for the best and brightest of the early baby boomers as they reached mid-adolescence in the early 1960s

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; Miscellaneous; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: babyboomers; faust; genx
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To: Catholic Canadian
Oh yeah, and I'm Gen X, just so you know. Boomers are mostly hippy druggie leftists. I'm the new generation of young pro America conservatives.

Go back to DU, troll. I don't know of any Catholics that use the witticisms and perjoratives that you've put on display in your posts. They abound on democraticunderground.com, though.

The US winning the Cold War was a foregone conclusion with or without the boomers help.

You must take your history lessons from the Alan Colmes Analysis of Modern History.

121 posted on 07/26/2006 1:14:39 PM PDT by Night Hides Not (Closing in on 3000 posts, of which maybe 50 were worthwhile!)
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To: CDHart

Another way the "greatest generation" made sure those that immediately followed them were silenced was the contrived Korean War (UN) as well as the Viet Nam War (US). 90,000 voices were silenced,they were cannon fodder for those who wanted to hang in there and used as a "cause celebre" for those who then siezed the reins.


122 posted on 07/26/2006 1:17:13 PM PDT by saradippity
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To: Vaquero
Where the heck was the so called "Greatest Generation"????

Supposedly it wasn't the veterans of the area who screwed things up, but those born in the 1930s and even the war years who paved the way for the worst of Boomerdom.

The term "greatest generation" can be interpreted as an indirect way of still more Boomer self-flattery: Man, our parents were the greatest--they spawned us, after all! They were so god-like, they went through so much character-building hardship. it's no wonder we boomers can't live up to their standards!

In fact it's probable the WWII generation was like most everyone before it, but their importance has to be blown out of proportion to justify boomer laxity.

123 posted on 07/26/2006 1:26:07 PM PDT by Dumb_Ox (http://kevinjjones.blogspot.com)
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To: DTA
You are more likely GENERATION JONES than boomer.

Thanks for the link.

I am very much a Joneser. Guess it's lonely in the middle. Culturally & aesthetically I share many things with the Boomers, yet my values are far more conservative.

Example: my best friend is a Boomer. Lord love her, but she is raving liberal & neurotic. Likes Hillary, has gay relatives, into activist causes. Not hippie, though, but VERY Kerry-like.

My stepmother, too -- very Californian, into Esalen -- peace, man -- touchy-feely, got-to-respect-everyone-in-the-world.

My roommates, though, are in their 30s, and they love talking to me. Somehow I'm a citadel of wisdom, maybe because they're so badly educated. However, their lifestyles are very conservative. Makes me sort of wish I had been born 10 years later. Yet their tastes in art & music -- euuhhh!

The 80s & 90s? Yuk! Give me the 70s movies & music. The decade sucked in other areas, but the culture was great.

124 posted on 07/26/2006 1:31:42 PM PDT by MoochPooch (I'm a compassionate cynic.)
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To: sinkspur
You live in the most benevolent country in the entire history of the universe.

Surely, this is the most humble and self-effacing country as well.

125 posted on 07/26/2006 1:33:54 PM PDT by Dumb_Ox (http://kevinjjones.blogspot.com)
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To: Red Badger
The best description of the Baby Boomers is the destructive generation.
126 posted on 07/26/2006 1:35:20 PM PDT by quadrant
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To: RinaseaofDs

I understood your point and I agree. I was making a joke. Check fun knob for adjustment.


127 posted on 07/26/2006 1:48:00 PM PDT by telebob
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To: Kermit the Frog Does theWatusi; redgolum; NYer; narses
Yes, but they were more of a Pee Wee Herman type of Faust. Before he turned to the Black Arts, Dr. Faustus actually had a real classical education which, of course, thanks to John Dewey, Columbia Teachers College, and the NEA, the boomers did not.


128 posted on 07/26/2006 3:05:53 PM PDT by HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
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To: MoochPooch
Give me the 70s movies & music. The decade sucked in other areas, but the culture was great.

Surely you jest. The decade of disco and leisure suits. I couldn't wait for the 70's to end. I liked some of the music of the 70's, but definitely not the disco stuff. Yuck.

129 posted on 07/26/2006 3:06:53 PM PDT by ELS (Vivat Benedictus XVI!)
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To: NYer

The angst-ridden Gen-Xers amuse me. They're all hopping mad at the thought of having to support themselves for the rest of their lives . . .


130 posted on 07/26/2006 4:04:43 PM PDT by BraveMan
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To: Spktyr

Well, the ones I saw at The Moving Wall were totally bored and completely unappreciative of the sacrifice represented by those 58,000 names. No time or appreciation of what freedom costs.

It was the boomers who were touched by that memorial of the war that touched our generation. Both those who went and those who did not.


131 posted on 07/26/2006 6:42:07 PM PDT by GourmetDan
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To: quadrant

The best description of the Baby Boomers is the SELF-destructive generation........


132 posted on 07/27/2006 5:02:15 AM PDT by Red Badger (Is Castro dead yet?........)
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To: Red Badger
I agree Baby Boomers have engaged in self-destructive behavior on a grand scale, and their habits, actions, and attitudes have wrecked habits on this country's institutions, and millions of Americans, including their own offspring.
133 posted on 07/27/2006 6:56:52 AM PDT by quadrant
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To: NYer
"Faust was offered a simple form of relief for his confinement: He contracted with Mephistopheles for 24 years of unending novelty, physical gratification and encyclopedic knowledge. The baby boomers didn't sign any such contract, but as they became adults the most fortunate soon found themselves tasting similar treats: the erosion of sexual restraint, the ability to travel virtually anywhere, magic electronic devices that brought instant knowledge and entertainment even Faust never imagined, and most of all, ever-expanding choice—the freedom to make important life decisions and then unmake them at will: new locations, new spouses, new careers, all subject to endless re-evaluation out of a concern that something more exciting might lie around the corner."

Really seems to sum it up.

134 posted on 07/27/2006 9:36:40 AM PDT by fortunecookie
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To: yellowdoghunter
Exactly, though not all, I know many baby-boomers on FR that did not participate in the selling of souls.

I don't think they're talking about all boomers, but surely many of those in power and places of authority. It's hard not to think of places untainted. Educators, authors, those in government, and Hollywood, have all worked hard, promoting each other over other's who disagreed. Bea Arthur alone and her 70's soapboxing tried to influence a whole generation. I was just a kid but I recall her rants, recall even being swayed by some of them at first. But the 'women's movement' has really failed women and become the feminazi swill it is today. But I digress. Luckily we have FR, and we now know that there are boomers not like that and the left hates that now conservatives have a voice.

After all it IS all about me!

LOL, that is still the mantra. It doesn't seem to be stopping, just changing the ways it's expressed.

135 posted on 07/27/2006 9:44:36 AM PDT by fortunecookie
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To: NYer

They were certainly a lot like the Lost Generation of the UK, 1919 - 1939. And look at what happened after their drugged out, oversexed, appeasing era. Now, our own Lost Generation are in charge. Chamberlainism runs rampant. God help us.


136 posted on 08/02/2006 6:51:28 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: Rocky

The vocal ones rallied many in older generations. That is something that always gets missed in these debates. It was symbiotic - the nutso Beatnick / Communist minority from amongst the Greatest Generation and Silent Generation riled up all the kiddies on campus, who then influenced Main Street to oppose the war and to be way too tolerant of way too many things.


137 posted on 08/02/2006 7:14:44 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: Howlin

But the "edumacated" and "sophistercated" ones among them sure loved "The Big Chill!"


138 posted on 08/02/2006 7:18:57 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: saradippity

Wilderness and Xers have much in common. I am in my early 40s and am just now experiencing the sorts of opportunities to gain power that Boomers had when they were in their late 20s.


139 posted on 08/02/2006 7:22:57 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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