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Old 02-05-2010, 10:07 AM
 
Location: Sinking in the Great Salt Lake
13,139 posts, read 22,705,438 times
Reputation: 14115

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Quote:
Originally Posted by nicet4 View Post
How laughable.

Is this what they teach in school these days?

Things started to be destroyed in 1964, well before a single baby boomer ever voted, when Lyndon Johnson started the great society and the Vietnam war. It was the great society and Vietnam that got out away from balanced budgets and down the road to spending like drunk sailors.

I was drafted and sent to Vietnam before I was old enough to vote and you think you got it tough, little boy?

The first baby boomer didn't get to vote until 1966 or 67 and most didn't get to vote for the first time until the 1970's. Learn some math and history before you start making pronouncements that make you look like an idiot.

Generation blah blah seems to want to place the blame on Reagan but during the Reagan years most baby boomers were still to young to write policy or serve in congress.

The road we are on today has been a long one.... we've been traveling on it for near 50 years now.

The internet truly is making the younger generation dumb.

You should read Is the Internet Making Us Stupid? because it fits a lot of 20 somethings today. Incapable of reasoning or thought they get all their information in little 30 second video clips.

This is exactly why we got that idiot Obama in office.


Wow, you just as full of stupid assumptions and irrational hate of a generation as the person you are attacking.

Did you not know that many of us Xer have also fought wars, got advanced degrees, made lives for themselves and have their own families? The vast majority of us are a long ways past the "boy" stage.
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Old 02-05-2010, 10:11 AM
 
Location: Sinking in the Great Salt Lake
13,139 posts, read 22,705,438 times
Reputation: 14115
Quote:
Originally Posted by John23 View Post
As a 31 one year old, I'm still trying to figure out how the BB's managed to destroy everything in *one generation*.

Saw this video


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs4hbhj2i-E

One of the comments, "they managed to destroy in one generation, what took 6 generations to build". How is that possible. Sure, they are self centered, self important, alot of things. But how do you destroy things so quickly?

I hope you don't actually believe that crap. Boomers had (and have) no more control over their collective destinies than we do. These problems were set in motion long before boomers even got out of diapers.
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Old 02-05-2010, 02:16 PM
 
Location: Portland, OR
1,082 posts, read 2,391,706 times
Reputation: 1271
Quote:
Originally Posted by No attitude View Post
Are "Baby boomers" responsible for the sad state of affairs and priorities in this country today?

If not, who do you think is? Is it just human nature to be all screwed up and not "evolve" gracefully if that is what you call it?
I reject the very premise of this thread, let alone the 8 pages of finger pointing and blame that follow. "The sad state of affairs and priorities in this country today" is a generalized, subjective, meaningless statement. It's human nature to have a frame of reference that extends only to one's own lifetime, to think that there was some previous golden age in which people's morals were pure and conditions were wonderful, to blame others for whatever difficulties one faces in life, and to think the younger generation is going to hell in a handbasket. If you've studied American history in any depth, you'll know that there's never been a golden age in this country. At any given time, some things are good for some segments of the population, and others aren't so good. Some things improve, while others get worse. If you ask most Black people, for instance, whether life in the US was better in the 1950s than it is now, I doubt you'd get an affirmative response. There's never been a period in history that I'm aware of when a large part of the population wasn't complaining about the sad state of affairs and priorities.

A couple years ago, I wrote my master's thesis on the differences between the generations that are currently alive. For anyone who is seriously interested, the best book I read during my research was Generations, by Neil Howe and William Strauss. They studied the characteristics of each American generation from the first settlers in the 1600s to the present generations. What they found was that there are four generational "types" that repeat in a cycle. Each type has certain characteristics in common, and each type is a reaction to the previous type. They present plenty of evidence and make a good case.

Another good book (I think it's called And Various Are Their Ways, but I can't find it on line) chronicles different aspects of life for ordinary Americans during the Colonial period. One statistic I recall is that, per capita, there were more lawyers and lawsuits in Colonial New England than there are now. The great American tradition of litigation was brought over from England. The per-capita daily adult consumption of beer (because drinking water was unreliable) would brand most people as serious alcoholics by today's standards. And anyone who thinks that mudslinging in politics is bad now should read some of the things politicians said about one another during the 1700s and 1800s. They'd be sued for libel today. As a last example, the out-of-wedlock pregnancy rate among the early Puritans was quite high, and it wasn't a big deal to them. They weren't the stodgy types we think they were.

For the record, I'm a Baby Boomer. I think my generation has done some good things and some bad things. I'd say the same about any other generation. When we've faded from the scene, I have no doubt that whatever generation is currently at the peak of influence will be taking heat for the sad state of affairs and priorities in the country.
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Old 02-05-2010, 02:48 PM
 
Location: Wherabouts Unknown!
7,841 posts, read 18,925,448 times
Reputation: 9579
HonuMan wrote:
For the record, I'm a Baby Boomer. I think my generation has done some good things and some bad things. I'd say the same about any other generation. When we've faded from the scene, I have no doubt that whatever generation is currently at the peak of influence will be taking heat for the sad state of affairs and priorities in the country.
Some things never change, or perhaps it's more accurrate to say....the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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Old 02-05-2010, 09:23 PM
 
Location: Somewhere below Mason/Dixon
9,429 posts, read 10,700,516 times
Reputation: 15897
Quote:
Originally Posted by texdav View Post
Bascailly its the X generation who are use to parents and loig for government tonow take care of them. They whine about no job then think that showing upo on time is wroking. hey can't figure out teh income difference between them and others of their generation. its what htose other did while the X whiners were asocailisng in school.Its the difference between those that have something a company wants and those that come with nothing. Its only going to get wide with the dropout rate.Those that can do;those that can't whine.I6ts funny to complain that boomers did it and then say they have all the good jobs when they are the ones that changed to a society of small business owners from large companies. I say if X generation is so smart then they should do the same as boomers did.Afterall boomers are in their late 50's to 60's and the next generation has been in middle age for some time. Some are doing great others have been hanging out too long in life.It seems many in thier 20's have dropped out at a very high rate. Those that didn't have little competition really if they get the right degreee. Theywil make boomers incoem levels look samllbecause of the deamnd for them,. Afterall tehy have to import talent now days with this generation.

This post was very difficult to understand but I think your trying to say my generation (gen X) is a bunch of whiners. First I want to remind all you boomers that the x generation is all grown up, and we have not been in our 20s for YEARS now. Most of us are late 30s or early 40s. If your going to slam us get it right. Now to your point about whinning, yea there are a few whinners amoung us. However I think you boomers take the cake for whinning, look at your generational tempertantrum you call the hippie era. You whinned about tradional values, about patriotism, about the wars we fight, about the MAN, and anything else that came up. Now which generation did more whinning??? yea you boomers out whinned us big time. The one thing people my age complain about is the economy we have had to deal with. Most boomers dont understand and never will understand how much harder it has been for our generation to earn a living. The boomers benifited from the post war boom, they went to work in all of our top industrys. In my homestate of Mi, any boomer could work for the big three with no college, no experience just show up. The average boomer in michigan has lived the golden life, earning 80k or more a year for unskilled labor. No one can deny that my generation was cut off from that, as we came into the workforce in the late 80s long after the decline began. No one my age I know has ever worked for GM, or a union utility job or any of the other cush boomer jobs that are out there. Most of us have had to live with alot less, and work much harder to get it. Boomers cut us down because we have not acheived what they did, and call us whinners when we complain about our lot. Maybe it is whinning, but if any of you boomers lived with what we have lived with you would complain too. We are sick of the condecending attitude your generation has toward ours. Generational conflict is not new, but the genx boomer divide is deeper than most. There is resentment and blame on both sides. Im sure the two generations will complain about one another untlill the last boomer passes on, and genx is headed for the old folks homes.
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Old 02-05-2010, 09:44 PM
 
871 posts, read 1,624,080 times
Reputation: 451
gen x complains about gen y, so what's new? nothing.
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Old 02-05-2010, 10:23 PM
 
Location: Somewhere below Mason/Dixon
9,429 posts, read 10,700,516 times
Reputation: 15897
Quote:
Originally Posted by rory00 View Post
gen x complains about gen y, so what's new? nothing.
I disagree, most gen xers dont run down gen Y. I think our battle is mainly with the boomers.
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Old 02-06-2010, 06:15 PM
 
Location: Wyoming
9,724 posts, read 21,130,734 times
Reputation: 14823
Baby boomers screwed up a few things, but the biggest screw-up was in how we raised our kids. Too many were served up life on a silver platter, and when that ended they expected government to take over.
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Old 02-06-2010, 09:33 PM
 
30,852 posts, read 36,738,377 times
Reputation: 34379
Quote:
Originally Posted by texdav View Post
Nope they seem to have dojne alright . Its the welfare society that can't take care of themselves yet want to live well that has ruined this country. It doesn't work well when 50% pay nothing to run the country.Its like the healthcare debate now;many want others to pay for their healthcare plus their own. In the meantime they pay for internet access;cellphones and want to save their money to party. Those that are elible for medicaid get heathcare already plus hosuing assistance;food stamps and even heathcare for theirchildren. Its sucking the system dry to keep adding more and more[eople that should be helping pay but many either dropped out fo school;didn't bother to learn a trade that can earn a living( which means a skill someone will apy for) or are just lazy.Some thought that they could so into teh 21st cnetury using a screwdriver to assmble things that their grandfther and father did in times past even though they were told constantly they couldn't.They endup competing with a chinese peasant at that skill level is the truth.
TexDav, I agree with your post. But I do wish you'd take your own advice and learn to spell, punctuate, and capitalize.
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Old 02-06-2010, 09:39 PM
 
30,852 posts, read 36,738,377 times
Reputation: 34379
Quote:
Originally Posted by tallrick View Post
The Federal Reserve, and it's owners. The iron rule of oligarchy assured that large corporations would arise to destroy the American economy. Baby Boomers were raised by parents who had increasing living standards due to technology. However, the fiat money system eventually strangled the economic growth and coerced their Government to create regulations to stop innovation. The last innovative run was the computer revolution. There is nothing left because every industry regulated by Government becomes an oligarchy of crony capitalism. This assures failure of the industry. You can see this in the auto industry which has been all but killed by Government regulation. I don't blame the selfish baby boomers as this collapse was put into motion in 1914.
You're mostly right on here, tallrick. It's cool to see that someone else is up on the "iron law of oligarchy". But to say the Baby Boomers had no role is simply not true. They popularized the entitlement mentality to the Nth degree. It's been known for a long time that Social Security and Medicare have been on the wrong track. But did the Baby Boomers save for retirement? H*ll no. Many of them abandoned the values of the generation that grew up during the Great Depression and spent like drunken sailors.
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