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That sounds about right. But then, they weren't being drafted into an unjust war, either.
What was the point of the Vietnam War, anyway? What was that all about? Some kind of "domino" theory? Is that all? Someone told me once that President Eisenhower stated upfront that there was oil there, and that's why he sent the first military "advisers" there, or whoever they were.
Does anyone know? It doesn't make sense, in hindsight.
True, the beats were for equality and acceptance of others as well as were anti-materialistic and looked to a more Eastern Asia spirituality. The latter two were much more cornerstones of the hippies (not saying they didn't want equality but it was less overt.)
I think the fear of communism ("the domino" theory) was the original "war on terror." I knew one of the military advisers sent before the war started (he was a paratrooper that I knew through Boy Scouts) similar to the current advisers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yep, boomers are just terrible. The cause of all that's wrong with America. All except for the part where they are taking care of their elderly parents at the same time their under-employed children are still living at home taking handouts from them. Often Boomer Grandparents are providing free childcare for their grandchildren, too.
Exactly! A lot of boomers are RAISING their grandchildren too.
All I've seen Boomers do is give, give, give to their children. A lot of our parents grew up in poverty. We were born in a time of relative prosperity, but we had no frame of reference for how BAD things could be because we never lived it. Our parents (or at least mine) could never enjoy their money because they were always afraid it would be gone, which I guess is from growing up in the depression. I'm sure there were Baby Boomers who were spoiled, but I wasn't and the kids I grew up with weren't. So what did we do? We grew up and wanted to spoil our kids with all the things we never had.
So if we are guilty of anything, it's of spoiling our kids and now having adult children who still depend on us, in part because we spoiled them but also in part because things have changed and the economy is something we couldn't have imagined growing up and during our young adulthood. My adult kids are doing okay, but when I think how we were doing at their age compared to how they are doing now - we were better off than they are now. But that's not the Baby Boomers' fault.
We couldn't have predicted that so many jobs would be eliminated by technology and being outsourced. It's not just affecting younger people. There are a lot of Baby Boomers in their 50s suddenly without jobs, too young to retire, and not able to find another job because they are being pushed out of the workforce to make room for younger workers.
I had been in the same career since 1981 and had my own very profitable business for 22 until earlier this year, when because of technology, in the space of six months, the demand for my line of work completely disappeared. I landed on my feet, but many others didn't.
OP, someday your kids/grandkids will be blaming YOU.
True, the beats were for equality and acceptance of others as well as were anti-materialistic and looked to a more Eastern Asia spirituality. The latter two were much more cornerstones of the hippies (not saying they didn't want equality but it was less overt.)
I think the fear of communism ("the domino" theory) was the original "war on terror." I knew one of the military advisers sent before the war started (he was a paratrooper that I knew through Boy Scouts) similar to the current advisers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Wow. Interesting.
This Beats-morphing-into-the-hippie-movement sounds like a good topic to put up on the History forum. I guess I knew about the Asian spirituality aspect of it, since some of it was centered in San Francisco. City Lights Bookstore is still there, I think. Poetry was another focus. But I didn't know they were into equality.
This Beats-morphing-into-the-hippie-movement sounds like a good topic to put up on the History forum. I guess I knew about the Asian spirituality aspect of it, since some of it was centered in San Francisco. City Lights Bookstore is still there, I think. Poetry was another focus. But I didn't know they were into equality.
Well the hippies were heavily beat influenced. I mean Ginsberg and Kerouac were very influential beats that were also influential to the hippies. They (the beats) used a lot of terminology the hippies made far more famous (on my first viewing of X-Men First Class, I actually thought it was weird that Charles Xavier talked about mutantions being "groovy" when it was in 1962, several years before the hippies became pop culture) and experimented with drugs before the hippies. In fact the beats helped the hippies with the movement (mainly due to the similarities) except Kerouac (as beats were non-political in nature rather than the more politicized hippies and Kerouac didn't want.) I've seen the link on old VH1/Sundance RockDocs, namely Sex: The Revolution and The Drug Years as well as CNN's recent The Sixties.
So if we are guilty of anything, it's of spoiling our kids and now having adult children who still depend on us, in part because we spoiled them but also in part because things have changed and the economy is something we couldn't have imagined growing up and during our young adulthood. My adult kids are doing okay, but when I think how we were doing at their age compared to how they are doing now - we were better off than they are now. But that's not the Baby Boomers' fault.
It's nice to note the recognition that there is more than one factor in play in the generational relationships to the economy and the culture. I appreciate your post, which stands in contrast to some of the simplistic generalizations in this thread.
Sorry to disappoint, I was mobile and removed myself from the implied collective suggested by the OP.
If you read corectly, I traveled across the country to find work. Was it fun or easy? Hell no, working construction is hard work.
Then again, no one knows of that these days as illegals have the majority of those jobs.
Which job would most unemployed people prefer...Builder or "barista"?
One is skilled. Any numbskull can make a cup of coffee, can you build a house?
the numbers still show you were in a small minority in the country that found jobs easy in the 1970's
heck i can say the same thing right through today , when i needed a job in 2008 i not only found one right away but ended up having to get another one in 2010 . didn't miss a beat./ boy it is so easy to get a good paying job today.
but that does not mean that loads of people other than myself couldn't find work in 2008.
Basically the generation today with low paying jobs and exodus high paying to foreign by the investors is a post- modern time , and a fall and decline of the industrial revolution ..See if people get broke the jobs going over seas will eventually be lost as the money going to foreign will dry up ......Like hand over China jobs that are not worth anything in the economic down fall in a last ditch attempt to salvage the business , with a margin that will eventually fold over to nothing and the money is lost ....Welcome to the millennium
I feel that the "Boomers" need to be divided into two catagories. Those born from 1946 to 1956, and those of us born from 1957 to 1964. These are really two different "generations" with different life experiences and challenges to be faced. The early boomers are already retired, those of us in the second "wave" still have 15 or more years looming out here in the work world (most of us).
you can not assume those before 1957 are retired. i was 1952 and just hit 62 and most of my peers are still working .
in fact according to social security only 40% or so of applicants the last decade have been filing for early benefits before full retirement age. while some are delaying ss by strategy and did retire , most can't afford to retire at 62.
Last edited by mathjak107; 11-08-2014 at 05:14 AM..
This last election you millennials voted to continue to *********rselves. Congratulations. You won.
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