Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think the biggest issue is that baby boomers have (I'm speaking in generalities here; I don't mean all) demanded instant gratification and have taught their kids to demand instant gratification to an even greater extent.
Yes. He pitted groups against each other to get re-elected.
"He pitted groups against each other"? If memory serves me correctly the American people have been pitted against each other for a long time. Remember the "silent majority, Spiro's heroes," and the truckloads of people who were horribly polarized long before Obama was in the white house?
This is the problem for those with poor memories or, just selective memory. I've lived under a lot of presidents, and for the most part their tenure in the white house was a contentious time for the opposing party. This seems to be a norm in America, at least it has been for the last sixty five years or so. Keep on deluding yourself, keep on thinking that things have really "gone down hill", then look back, read some US history and you'll see that most of what the whiners today are suffering from isn't the state of politics as much as it is the state of their minds.......
I think the biggest issue is that baby boomers have (I'm speaking in generalities here; I don't mean all) demanded instant gratification and have taught their kids to demand instant gratification to an even greater extent.
Where do you get this from? I'm a tail end baby boomer and I was raised to work hard and to save for what I want in life. None of my friends were/are into instant gratification either. Now our kids are another story. They've never had to work for what they have and it shows.
As we are doing the big stereotype topic Lets suppose for a moment that the baby boomers did ruin America what is todays generation doing to solve the ruination of America?All i'm seeing is a lot of whining and crying and blaming everyone else particularly Obama,yes its all the fault of Obama and those darn liberals and all those lazy entitlement folks. ,In other words they are basically doing nothing. Some one better wake up as the nations problems aint gonna get fixed by themselves, its going to take action and a lot of working together for a long time before this nation regains its former glory.
As we are doing the big stereotype topic Lets suppose for a moment that the baby boomers did ruin America what is todays generation doing to solve the ruination of America?All i'm seeing is a lot of whining and crying and blaming everyone else particularly Obama,yes its all the fault of Obama and those darn liberals and all those lazy entitlement folks. ,In other words they are basically doing nothing. Some one better wake up as the nations problems aint gonna get fixed by themselves, its going to take action and a lot of working together for a long time before this nation regains its former glory.
You are kidding yourself if you think America will ever regain it's former glory. Those days are gone. It's time to regroup and deal with the new reality. The fact that we must accept is that we are past our heyday and we're now competing in a worldwide economy. It's a different ballgame. However, you are correct that this is today's generations ball game to figure out. The boomers came up in a different world. What worked then won't work now. Whatever the cause of where we are, let's just hope our kids are smart enough to figure out how to navigate the new reality.
This is the way it has always been. Countries rise, flourish and wither. We're withering. It's time for someone else to rise. We had our time. Perhaps in a hundred years, we'll do it again after whoever takes over now is in the wither stage. As long as we think others owe us and we have an entire younger generation that thinks they are owed something, we cannot be an influence to the rest of the world. It was our innovation and willingness to work that got us where we were. We've lost both and with those losses goes our seat of power.
Shoulder to shoulder in three generations. The parents of the baby boomers built it, the baby boomers maintained it their children are spending it and when there is nothing left, the next generation will begin to rebuild but they will rebuild in a different world. I wish I had a crystal ball to see how it will turn out but I don't and I'll be dead by then.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 12-22-2013 at 12:23 PM..
Where do you get this from? I'm a tail end baby boomer and I was raised to work hard and to save for what I want in life. None of my friends were/are into instant gratification either. Now our kids are another story. They've never had to work for what they have and it shows.
Various data/links have been posted showing how little boomers have saved and how much debt they've accumulated. I also said that the younger generations are even worse.
Various data/links have been posted showing how little boomers have saved and how much debt they've accumulated. I also said that the younger generations are even worse.
And they even broke the boomers into 2 groups since that group covers such a wide span of time.
Silent Generation had it the best..pensions, savings and no debt.
Those age 50 and over have an average of $146K in their 401K accounts..hardly enough to retire on and an average of $80-100K in debt.
Gen X and Gen Y are even worse off..they are starting off with about $30K in debt (student loan) and slim prospects at high paying jobs.
Various data/links have been posted showing how little boomers have saved and how much debt they've accumulated. I also said that the younger generations are even worse.
I must live in a bubble then because the boomers I know did save. Maybe not a lot by the standards of some but a lot considering what they earned. The bigger problem I see is that too many never earned enough to really save not that they didn't save. Who is defining arbitrary terms like a lot and a little anyway. A lot for one person may be a little for another. The rep from the company that handles my 403B keeps telling me I need a million dollars to retire but this is how he makes his living so I take what he says with a grain of salt.
Before you can decide if the boomers have saved enough, you have to decide what enough is. Do I have enough by my broker's standard? Definitely not but I watched my dad retire on $25K in a profit sharing account, the $40K he got from the sale of the house and social security. He couldn't travel farther than the golf course but he took care of his needs. Having grown up poor I know something that those who didn't don't know. I know that being poor doesn't kill you. There's no way that I'll have enough for a lavish retirement filled with exotic travels but I'll do ok...in spite of my broker's hand wringing. He says I need at least a million dollars to retire on. I'm thinking he's just working on commission.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
