The Greediest Generation

[illbill]

http://www.realopinion.com/realboards/showthread.php?t=2429

As a baby boomer myself, I can be blunt: We boomers won't be remembered as the "Greatest Generation." Rather, we'll be scorned as the "Greediest Generation."

http://www.realopinion.com/realboards/showthread.php?t=2429

[bluestateguy]

1. Baby Boomers are self-righteous and zealoted

They talk a good game, but it takes a Generation Xer* to get the job done.

* I embrace the label

[ThoughtCriminal]

2. Frankly I think they get a raw deal

Baby boomers grew up with really tough competition in overcrowded schools. The late boomers entered the job market during the worst economic times since the Great Depression and again, with massive competition. The early boomers were sent in large numbers to fight a idiotic war in Southeast Asia. They face very uncertain employment as they approach a very uncertain retirement. Their entire lives, they lived with the nightmare of nuclear annihilation looming over their heads.

Ask, me I'd say the generation that really won the lottery, were people who were born just before or during WW-2. But, I wouldn't assume life was just peachy for everyone in that generation either.

[ovidsen]

6. I agree

To assume that baby boomers are making out like bandits is simplistic and even warped. It's not just that (as you point out) boomers had to deal with double digit inflation and interest rates, Vietnam and the threat of nuclear assisted Mutual Assured Destruction when they were young. NO baby boomer has even hit retirement age yet! Almost none are collecting retirement benefits. They aren't old enough yet. They're still working, trying to save, hoping their pension plans (if they have them, a BIG if) don't go bust, praying that Social Security doesn't disappear, and dreading the possibility that a serious illness or accident might wipe them out. They are definitely not sitting back, living off the sweat of younger workers.

It's always been the dream of parents to see their children better off than they were. But the baby boomers may be the first generation in US history that WON'T have it better than their Moms and Dads, and its likely the children of boomers will see their quality of life sink even further. You could list lots of reasons for this (corporate greed and government incompetence come to mind; and don't forget the US's nagging habit of expensive foreign military entanglements), but please don't hang this on the alleged "selfishness" of boomers.

That said, I also believe that the parents of boomers ended up with the best deal, and I don't hold this against them. They survived the Depression and WWII, and reaped the benefits of a robust postwar economy that, thanks to Democratic lawmakers and strong labor unions, distributed wealth far more equitably. May they grow old in peace and comfort.

We should be so lucky. We can be. Vote Democratic. Support unions. It's not over yet. :patriot:

[Eloriel]

8. Very nicely put

Thanks.

[3161 worker]

10. Boomers hanging on....

A big indicator is the run up on classic car prices over the past 4 or 5 years. $350 K for a 1970 Cuda?? Give me a break. talk about trying to buy your youth back...

www.barrett-jackson.com

[KoKo]

3. Disgusting....who the hell do you think is out there in the Protests and

Organizing. It's us and the 20 and early 30 Somethings. The Generation that deserves the blame is the "Tweenies." FGS!

This gets me so angry blaming anything on a "generation." Puleeeeze.

there's always a good excuse for "Slackers and those who are just plain Lazy." There's lots of opportunity to be active today and blaming it on "Boomers" is really a "cop out." :puke:

[NMDemDist2]

4. i see lots of "boomers" at the rallys on TV

and at the local ones too. They are the backbone of the local parties in my area

[Technowitch]

5. A generalization--

--that generalizing like this is almost never wise nor warranted.

It strikes me as unfair to call me 'selfish' and 'greedy' simply because I happened to be born in the year I was.

I'm doing what I can. Just sayin'.

[KoKo]

7. I was being sarcastic.... sorry, .should have used an emoticom..

If you are a "Tweenie" it could have sounded like I was trashing "Tweenies" but I was using it as an example of how folks trash Boomers.
My sarcasm wasn't evident...when I followed it with this:

This gets me so angry blaming anything on a "generation." Puleeeeze.

Sorry if you thought I was dissing the "Tweens."

[Skittles]

9. it is so f***ing stupid

I get sick of being stereotyped as a g.d. BOOMER