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I'm a younger Boomer and after reading all the garbage written by people about us being greedy and ruining it for the younger generation(s), I feel like calling Child Protective Services on myself.
I'm an "original" boomer (born in '46). I let them know and they say they'll be right over as soon as they're finished with us.
Are we? We've certainly been living the "American Dream" better than our children will be likely to. All too many of them are heavily burdened with educational debt that most of us didn't face. Many of them can't afford to purchase homes which most of us were able to. Grown children are returning to their parents' homes because they can't find adequate employment and prices of good are out of reach for them.
The "middle class" has shrunk rapidly leading to the 1% vs. 99% conflict. People rail against corporate greed yet many are willing to capitalize on the misfortune of others by acquiring homes lost in foreclosure and bankruptcies and flipping them for speculation and profit or turning them into rentals without a second thought of what that does to formerly stable neighborhoods. More and more have "hidden" funds in off-shore accounts while manufacturing has been outsourced to other countries with no regard to the impact on employment figures here, workplace conditions there or the flooding of our markets with shoddy goods.
Huge warehouse stores have taken over more and more of the market shares leading to the closure of many Mom & Pops and family stores leaving small town American main streets barren. And tax dodges, hiding assets and over-reliance on others taxes to receive "entitlements" originally meant for those in real need seems to be becoming mainstream. Worse, many seem to support such practices if, for no other reason, because they're "legal."
I could go on and on. But the key issue is what I increasingly see as a major change in ethics from community interest to a "Me! Me! Me! attitude that I find singularly unattractive. Is this really the legacy we wish to leave behind as a generation and are these the life lessons we really wish to pass on to our children and succeeding generations?
Counting down now for the onslought....3....2....1
Let the generation that is without fault, cast the first stone.
1.Lust
2.Greed
3.Envy
4.Sloth
5.Pride
6.Wrath
7.Gluttony
I'm a younger Boomer and after reading all the garbage written by people about us being greedy and ruining it for the younger generation(s), I feel like calling Child Protective Services on myself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Curmudgeon
I'm an "original" boomer (born in '46). I let them know and they say they'll be right over as soon as they're finished with us.
When our kids were little, we told them not to joke about CPS. We had friends whose daughter was overheard talking about naked pictures at school. The father was taken in and the whole family was upset, especially when the pictures in question were baby pics. He had to go to court to get the incident removed from his record.
Our adult kids still occasionally joked about calling CPS. We tell them please do as we'd get a lot of relief with their financial burden gone.
Our adult kids still occasionally joked about calling CPS. We tell them please do as we'd get a lot of relief with their financial burden gone.
Ain't that the truth. Actually, I'm not a boomer, born in 1942. I never expected a dime from my parents when I left home in 1959. No one had any money to spare. I paid for my own wedding. Parents' wedding gift was $300. When we bought our first home in 1968, stepmother gave me $500 towards downpayment of $5,000. We had saved the rest. Much later in life - like 1995 - I got a gift of $2,500 from my stepmother and $5,000 from my aunt (my biological mother's sister) shortly before she died in 2005. Everything we did we did on our own. We KNEW our parents couldn't help financially - we wouldn't dream of asking.
My half-sister, on the other hand, born in 1949, never hesitated to take whatever she could from her mother - my stepmother. She was and is pretty materialistic - spends money she doesn't have, and doesn't worry about racking up debt.
Kids today grew up with EVERYTHING in comparison to my childhood and early adulthood. I don't feel one bit guilty. My son and wife have everything they want - big screen TVs, smart phones. They are living much better today than I did at their ages with far fewer worries - because, of course, I'm still here and they do ask for my help. I'm lending them money all the time - but they also pay it back on time and with interest. I do insist on that.
I think they expect when I go, they inherit. If all goes well, they'll get something - but life has a funny way of surprising you. I don't think they should plan on it, but they came from a prosperous era when only good things happened and lacked for very little. They aren't planning for their retirements at all, as far as I can see. Very worrisome.
Last edited by Ariadne22; 02-21-2013 at 04:33 PM..
Speaking as one of those wretched and revolting gen-Y kids (I'm 23), I have this to say about you boomers.*
Wait for it.
As a group, I have found your generation generally to be rather self-indulgent, but NOT greedy. There is a difference. You lived well. As I have grown older along with you, I've noticed that you lived in relative comfort. Finances allowing, you went out to eat, developed a taste for wine, went shopping, travelled, bought decent cars etc etc. However, you weren't greedy. You did share, to an extent. We travelled with you and went out to eat with you. You paid what you could for college educations. For a number of us, this meant we graduated debt-free. We got our first cars from you. And we'll never forget those little indulgences such as a treat from the candy shop after church (there was a quid pro quo there).
That was basically a tribute to my late mother (1958-2011). Many other parents were basically similar. My father is another issue, but one ex-alcoholic loser that I can't seem to be rid of can't be the model of a generation.
If there was an issue I had with the boomers, it would be their contribution to the political process. An opportunity for change presented itself in the late 60s, but that fizzled out in favour of Nixon, Ford, Carter (weak, but ahead of his time), and Reagan. To an extent, I can't blame you guys, as the social and material benefits for abandoning/toning down the progressive movement were immense. However, I do think the boomers failed to take a leadership role in favour of the greatest (Reagan), silent (Bush, Clinton), and X (Obama) generations. Now, I am grateful for what you did accomplish. My mother was able to separate from my father and earn her own living. She did have a master's degree, but the early boomers and the late silents really did bring a radical change in the fortunes of women. Also, as a bisexual, your tolerance of alternative sexualities has offered me the opportunity to live relatively normally versus the repression & violence I would have experienced 50 years ago. I guess I can sum this up as: thanks for killing the Cleavers! I wonder though if more could have been done.
Now if only those of your generation inclined to the Tea Party ideals wouldn't try and drag us back there. I can understand the appeal though, as financially I can see Boomers feeling besieged. Their kids need financial assistance well into their early adulthood. In the near future, retirement and medical bills are looming, in addition to the costs involved with whatever recreation they had in mind. The stock market woes of 08/09/10 sheared $$$ from the portfolio, and the government is always looking to extract what it can.
Gen Y is a two-sided coin. Yes, there are indolent, entitled, and apathetic members. On the flip side, there is an empowered group that are the best educated, most motived, mobile, and aware generation in American history. The ability of the latter to overcome the hurdles we have faced will determine our legacy.
We have faced
~The disintegration of the American family (my sister and I really got whacked with this one)
~Rapidly increasing costs for food, medical care, transport, and education (I've estimated the cost of car ownership at $10,000 per year). Unfortunately, alternatives are neither easy nor available. Food and medicine are irreplaceable. Outside of major cities, Americans are slaves to their cars. And as the NYT recently wrote (see the Colleges & Universities subforum), degrees/qualifications are required for virtually any job/career path which offers any hope of financial independence.
~the degradation of employment opportunities. My undergrad years were 2008-12. Internships dried up, patronage hiring was rampant for what was left, and compensation withered to nothing. Graduating, we faced further unpaid or "stipend" internships, contract/temp work, and underemployment. There were/are jobs of course, but not enough for the capable, motivated talent out there, let alone those clocking in at average/mediocre. Further, the willingness to train employees has disappeared. We want to work. Really. However, it's difficult when many demand experience when opportunities to earn that experience just didn't exist.
~Stagnant salaries. This has been a problem for years, but now it's creating an issue for us, so we add our voices to those who came before us. There are those of us who don't drink/party half of our paychecks away on Friday/Sat (or go out much at all), shop the sales/outlets, drink water, prefer to cook fresh etc, but we would like to have our own place. We're not asking/striving for a penthouse in Manhattan, but a modest apartment in a safe neighbourhood that we can call our own. During our last couple of years at college, many of us did the shared apartment thing. We'd like to put the sex noises, arguing over washing up, unwanted parties/get-togethers etc behind us as fast as financially possible. Of course, these stagnant salaries come with the ever increasing productivity and working hours of the typical American worker. 9-5? In our dreams. Hello 8-9, plus a blackberry to permanently shackle us to work. We accept this as the alternative to poverty, but we are questioning our lot and the truth of the rhetoric that "it always gets better."
Speaking as one of those wretched and revolting gen-Y kids (I'm 23), I have this to say about you boomers. As a group, I have found your generation generally to be rather self-indulgent, but NOT greedy. There is a difference.
Thoughtful interesting post, thanks.
I'd still categorize boomers (I'm 58) on the whole as greedy, mostly based on what we leave behind in terms of deficits/debts, especially given the horrible outlook for government spending. It's a plain as day, nothing mysterious about it, one need only look at revenue and spending as a % of GDP, and the projections. As much as we like to ignore the $ realities and talk in broad terms and lay the blame on the politicians we elect - we, boomers, have been all to willing to take more from government than we want to pay for, and we don't seem to be getting any closer to stepping up to face the music. What we've done/are doing to our children and grandchildren is unconscionable IMO. Others clearly feel otherwise...
I'd still categorize boomers (I'm 58) on the whole as greedy, mostly based on what we leave behind in terms of deficits/debts, especially given the horrible outlook for government spending. It's a plain as day, nothing mysterious about it, one need only look at revenue and spending as a % of GDP, and the projections. As much as we like to ignore the $ realities and talk in broad terms and lay the blame on the politicians we elect - we, boomers, have been all to willing to take more from government than we want to pay for, and we don't seem to be getting any closer to stepping up to face the music. What we've done/are doing to our children and grandchildren is unconscionable IMO. Others clearly feel otherwise...
Perhaps it isn't what we are doing but what elected officials are doing for our vote.
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