Free Republic

The old issues of class, race and geography may still dominate coverage of our changing political landscape, but perhaps a more compelling divide relates to generations. American politics are being shaped by two gigantic generations – the baby boomers and their offspring, the millennials – as well as smaller cohorts of Generation X, who preceded the millennials, and what has been known as the Silent Generation, who preceded the boomers. Both the boomers and the Silents gradually have moved to the right as they have aged. Other factors underpin this trend, such as the fact that boomers are overwhelmingly white...

Writers commenting on the Supreme Court's recent discovery of a constitutional right to gay marriage have (quite logically) cast this as the latest chapter in the sexual revolution begun by the Baby Boomers. But it must also be seen in the context of the larger "gift" left for us by that same generation. I am speaking specifically of the Boomers' rejection of their parents and the corresponding cultural abandonment of wisdom. If you were around during the late 1960s and early 1970s, you'll remember that this was everywhere . UC Berkeley student Jack Weinberg coined the mantra of the era:...

Yesterday, we began our high-minded graduation speech to the Class of 2015. We explained how the young graduates were not only the most heavily indebted in history, but also the least likely to be able to pay their debts. Median wages have been going down since these graduates were about five years old… So have economic growth rates. Today, we continue the speech no one wants us to give… You are heirs to claptrap, nonsense, bogus theories, and trillions of dollars in debt. The systems, programs, and institutions your parents set up are mostly worthless scams. Worse, they produce outcomes...

At 67, Hillary Clinton is now a “woman of a certain age.” So much emphasis and worry are put on physical aging in women that the emotional maturity and freedom that can come at this time are given short shrift. That robs everyone of a great natural resource. As women of a certain age, it is our time to lead. The new standard for aging women should be about vitality, strength, and assertiveness. One of the largest demographics in America is women in their forties to sixties, and by 2020 there will be nearly 60 million peri- and post-menopausal women...

A tectonic shift is occurring in American politics. The old guard of the Democratic Party will soon be far too ancient to contest an election. This creates serious problems for the party once 2016 passes. It’s obvious that Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden will soon announce their candidacy, but who will fill the ranks when they’re gone? It’s important to know that there was once a socially conservative generation deemed "The Greatest Generation." These, the heroes of Anzio and Guadalcanal, gave birth to a litter of selfish creatures called "baby boomers." The baby boomers soon colonized communal settlements known as...

Based on historical patterns, the next president is likely to be a GenXer. This is not good news for the many baby boomers running, or thinking about running, in 2016. When voters decide it is time to move the presidency on to the next generation, they keep electing presidents in that next generation, or they go on to the one that follows. They do not go back. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were from the baby boomer generation. Barack Obama is from the Gen X generation (those born 1961 to 1981). If the pattern holds, the next president will...

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930s, '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s!!

HICAGO — Denee Mallon marveled at the view of Lake Michigan from her hospital bed in the Windy City, where she had just made history: the then 74-year-old transgender woman underwent a milestone sex reassignment surgery she'd sought for decades. "Here I am, finally, after all these years," she said. "It happened." Her operation will be one of the first paid for by Medicare after she won a challenge in May to end the government insurance program's ban on covering such procedures for transgender individuals. Mallon's victory opened the door for other seniors to access this care and may influence...

Last month — gulp — I turned a quarter-century old. To the boomers rolling your eyes right now and thinking, Twenty-five? You’re just a kid! I say this: Yes, by some standards, I am. By Beyoncé’s standards, I should have at least six albums and a fashion line under my belt. Regardless, 25 feels significant to me, so when I came across the headline “25 is the New 21” on The Atlantic’s website, I was intrigued — and soon, discouraged. Meet Emma, recent college graduate, daughter of the article’s author, Randye Hoder, and, apparently, exemplar of my generation’s extended childhood....

Volkswagen hopes to put more robots to work as it says goodbye to its retiring baby boomer employees, the company’s chief of human resources wrote in the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Monday. […] “In the German auto industry, labor costs are more than €40 per hour; eastern European labor costs €11; in China, it’s still than less than €10,” (Horst) Neumann wrote. “A current robotic replacement for assembly work currently costs around €5 an hour. Predictably, next-generation robotics will be even cheaper. We have to take make the most of this price advantage.” …

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, one of the chief architects of the Affordable Care Act, says people should want to die at age 75. “Let’s face it, the vast majority of those over age 75 have nothing positive to contribute to society,” Emanuel wrote in an essay for Atlantic. “In both physical and mental terms they’re pretty accurately described as ‘decepit.’ Their bodies and minds are just rotting in their shells.” “It would be best if they could be persuaded to exit peacefully at their own hand—perhaps with the aid of a physician-prescribed suicide drug,” Emanuel suggested. “Heaven knows this would be...

Many problems with kids can be traced to their parents. So why have millennials been singled out as a uniquely depraved generation? Weren’t they raised by somebody? For those who may have missed the latest skirmish in America’s generational warfare, a new survey by marketing firm DDB finds millennials — those between 19 and 34 years old, more or less — may be more venal and self-aggrandizing than older folks. They’re more likely to consider themselves workaholics — even with a work ethic their elders find lacking — and a scandalous 27% of millennials say they’d take credit for a...

At the time, it must have all seemed unforgettable: the endless revelations of wrongdoing, the painful congressional investigation and, finally, the soft black-and-white image of Richard Nixon resigning the presidency.But ask today’s students about the events of Watergate 40 years ago and odds are that many have never heard of the scandal, or, at best, are vaguely aware that something happened once that lives on in a suffix attached to the occasional controversy. major reason is that in U.S. classrooms and textbooks, the discussion of Watergate is going the way of the Teapot Dome Scandal and the Petticoat Affair: increasingly...

"Tea party members don't think there's a federal role in transportation!" complained Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, last week, near the site of a $5.8 million highway project. If only most tea party members were that radical. While Brown and other big-government folks worry that Republicans will cut spending, Republicans debate adding another $10.5 billion to the Highway Trust Fund to keep it going another year -- without deciding how to reform it. Now, there's no doubt some roads and bridges need work. But too little transportation money spent by government goes to building and repairing roads. As Cato Institute transportation...

The median age declined in seven states between 2012 and 2013, including five in the Great Plains, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today. In contrast, the median age for the U.S. as a whole ticked up from 37.5 years to 37.6 years. These estimates examine population changes among groups by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin nationally, as well as all states and counties, between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2013. "We're seeing the demographic impact of two booms," Census Bureau Director John Thompson said. "The population in the Great Plains energy boom states is becoming younger...

Even as millions of baby boomers approach retirement, the Social Security Administration has been closing dozens of field offices, forcing more and more seniors to seek help online instead of in person, according to a congressional report being released Wednesday. The agency blames budget constraints. As a result, seniors seeking information and help from the agency are facing increasingly long waits, in person and on the phone, the report said. Social Security has closed 64 field offices since 2010, the largest number of closures in a five-year period in the agency’s history, according to a report by the bipartisan staff...

"When officers pulled Short over it was for a routine traffic stop. Since he's on supervised release for previous meth sales they searched his car. "When the officers searched the car they located four ounces of methamphetamine in the car, which is a lot of methamphetamine, so that's consistent with somebody who's selling," said Fresno police Lt. Joe Gomez. After searching his apartment, they found a half pound of meth, heroin and materials for a meth lab. "Just shocking someone that age would do that, but actually a perfect place to do it, right? Retirement village, who would suspect it...

Every month when the employment data is released there is an almost immediate debate that erupts over the Labor Force Participation Rate. Like any good boxing match, both sides take to their corners. Defenders argue the decline is primarily due to retiring "baby boomers" and demographic trends while opponents suggest that it is a sign that employment remains far weaker than headlines suggest.As I discussed previously, recent employment increases, while encouraging have been little more than a function of population growth. As the population grows, incremental demand increases caused by that increase in population will create employment needs in areas...

When Robin McLane’s generation hit public schools in the 1950s, there were never enough classrooms or teachers to accommodate the bulge, she said. So she’s not surprised about the latest shock that boomers are delivering to the U.S. economy. “People all around me, relatives and friends, are either retiring, or they’re finding it’s very difficult to find work anywhere from 55 on,” said the 65-year-old, who lives in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and retired from her job as a high school literacy specialist in June. “For me, I was ready to move on.” The share of Americans in the labor force,...

<p>CHICAGO (AP) -- It's an assertion that has been accepted as fact by droves of the unemployed: Older people remaining on the job later in life are stealing jobs from young people.</p> <p>One problem, many economists say: It isn't supported by a wisp of fact.</p>