Like every generation Boomers played the cards that were dealt to them. Unfortunately I don’t see the generations coming after the Boomers as any more equipped to deal with the problems Hanson cites than the Boomers themselves. In fact, these follow on generations seemed to have swallowed the Boomer mentality “hook, line and sinker” as the cliche goes. But what would anyone expect? Boomers were their parents, teachers and “spiritual advisers”.
“Like every generation Boomers played the cards that were dealt to them. Unfortunately I don’t see the generations coming after the Boomers as any more equipped to deal with the problems Hanson cites than the Boomers themselves. In fact, these follow on generations seemed to have swallowed the Boomer mentality “hook, line and sinker” as the cliche goes. But what would anyone expect? Boomers were their parents, teachers and “spiritual advisers”.”
The Boomers are no better and no worse on the whole than any other generation.
The issue that has magnified all of the bad stuff (and some of the good) is the sheer size of the Boomer generation. Their numbers have been so large that they have been able to swamp the concerns of anyone but their own demographic. Everyone else has been ignored while the Boomers tried to fashion the world they wanted. If the Boomer gen had been a normal size group then they would have had their moment as self-absorbed teens and then grown up but they have been able to stretch that moment into a lifetime.
If we take a look back to the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, we will see that the main issues which gov’t has legislated have always been what is important to the main demographic of the Boomers. The most recent example is prescription drug bennies for aging Boomers. Boomers didn’t care about that 20-30 years ago because they were too young to care about it but once they started getting older they wanted someone else to pay for it. If the majority of the Boomers was in their 30’s instead of their 60’s does anyone seriously think that universal health care would be a hot topic?
The most interesting thing to watch will be the next couple of elections. Right now the Boomers are still driving the bus because they vote in such large numbers. But they will only be able to do that for a couple of more elections. Then what will take shape? Hopefully we will return to a more sane political existence where there is not one major demographic outweighing all the others.