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We somehow lived through a serious recession in the mid 1970s and if we weren't frugal enough already, we learned then.
Really? That would explain the explosion of debt starting in the 1980's....
A lot of boomers are starting to struggle though, that is because they spent themselves and the country into poverty.
Regardless, the dynamic between younger generations and the boomers, and boomers and their parents is rather different. The boomers were rebelling against traditional culture which they later replaced with McCulture. Generation Y/X aren't rebelling against the boomers, they just want them to stop stealing from them. Its not about rebellion, its about being disgusted with what the boomers did with the country and to them....
I remember coming home from college and proclaiming at the dinner table how I was going to do this, and I was never going to do that, and this was how my generation was going to do things, etc. etc. etc. and all you old folks better watch out.
My parents would just look at me with one eyebrow cocked, nodding their heads and smiling at each other.
And the beat goes on ... La dee da dee dee, la dee da dee da.
Disclaimer: Technically I am not a Boomer, being slightly too old (born in 1944). But I think of myself as one anyway because the two years do not seem that significant to me. Socio-economically I feel like part of the older Boomers.
According to some, you do belong in the Boomer generation.
Strauss & Howe, who wrote the book Generations say that the Boomer generation from a cultural standpoint, started with the birth year 1943 and ended with the birth year 1960. So, it didn't perfectly coincide with the demographic Baby Boom birth years of 1946-1964.
Really? That would explain the explosion of debt starting in the 1980's....
A lot of boomers are starting to struggle though, that is because they spent themselves and the country into poverty.
Exactly. Obviously, not everyone but a large number of Boomers were and are like this. And as Newenglandgirl mentioned, A lot of the Boomers got divorced, which has left our country a terrible financial and social legacy. 41% of our children are now born out of wedlock, which is a prescription for intractable long term poverty.
Exactly. Obviously, not everyone but a large number of Boomers were and are like this. And as Newenglandgirl mentioned, A lot of the Boomers got divorced, which has left our country a terrible financial and social legacy. 41% of our children are now born out of wedlock, which is a prescription for intractable long term poverty.
Were most of these women divorced or never married?
The boomers have been a wrecking crew to Gen Y and millennials.
-First, they gobbled up everything 30-40 years ago. Cheap degrees? Check. Earning power from those limited supply degrees? Check. Real estate? Yes.
Then the political power starting in the 80's. You get things like mortgage interest rate deductions for home owners. A capital gains tax of 15%? Various tax credits.
-Gen Y has been given a slosh of junk since the 90's. The explosion of for profit colleges? Its up by thousands of percent in the last 10-15 years. Watered down 4 year degrees?
Where are the cheap and easy trade school certificates? We should have more plumbers, electricians, tradesmen. Shock....they may even be better than boomer plumbers or electricians. You can't say the desire isn't there or the potential.
Boomers seemed to have been obsessed over their own gains. Look at the Chicago teachers strike. Maybe they don't really deserve what they think they can get. They want increases, increases, increases.....but maybe what they're giving students means they don't really deserve it. Students across the country should be striking, they're the ones getting the worst deal.
-Gen y gets so little real choice. Look at the number of remedial classes needed in college now. A lot of squandered potential and people held back.
It's all been kind of a game for the last 10 or 12 years. The boomers are older, they have the political power, they get gains first (whether they deserve it or not). Everyone else gets whats left over.
A lot of us boomers came of age during the Reagan recession of the early 80s. That was no walk in the park either. Jobs were scarce then too for people coming out of college. That was followed by a huge escalation in real estate prices in the late 80s. I didn't buy a house until I was in my mid 30s during a slow real estate market in the 90s. These things run in cycles. I'm sure 5 years from now during Hillary's first term the kids will be doing fine.
41% of our children are now born out of wedlock, which is a prescription for intractable long term poverty.
Sorry, but baby boomers are past childbearing age now. You'll have to blame someone else for that.
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Originally Posted by John23
First, they gobbled up everything 30-40 years ago. Cheap degrees? Check. Earning power from those limited supply degrees? Check. Real estate? Yes.
This makes no sense. Are a percentage of college degrees supposed to be left behind? What's a limited supply degree?
As for real estate, I didn't buy a house until I was well into my 30s. And last I checked, there are plenty of houses out there for sale.
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Then the political power starting in the 80's. You get things like mortgage interest rate deductions for home owners
Interest deductions were put into place in 1913 with the enactment of the federal income tax. A little historical perspective, if you please.
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We should have more plumbers, electricians, tradesmen. Shock....they may even be better than boomer plumbers or electricians. You can't say the desire isn't there or the potential.
Then why aren't more kids enrolling in vocational programs?
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Boomers seemed to have been obsessed over their own gains. Look at the Chicago teachers strike.
No, you look at it. What percentage of the public school teachers these days are baby boomers?
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-Gen y gets so little real choice. Look at the number of remedial classes needed in college now.
Put down your smartphone and open up a book.
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The boomers are older, they have the political power, they get gains first
A lot of us boomers came of age during the Reagan recession of the early 80s. That was no walk in the park either. Jobs were scarce then too for people coming out of college. That was followed by a huge escalation in real estate prices in the late 80s.
Yep. And inflation, gas lines and high interest rates didn't help.
they look down on us Y'ers. my worst customers at work are the boomers
they automatically think i am a loser because i work in a supermarket. many people pass judgement and think they are more important than me. what they don't know is that i am putting myself through college, have minimal debt, and have another job. there is not much other choice when there are hardly any jobs out there, and the ones that are out there pay significantly less than my current jobs. everyone can say that times were tough in their own generation, but when you lump someone else in with the potsmoking, basement dwelling underachievers of this generation, it makes you out to be a narcissist. yes, i probably make more money than most people my age, but that doesn't make me better than anyone else. i also have more bills than most people my age. some of the boomers i've met have been some of the nicest people on earth. others, just awful.
as for the judgemental boomers, my life is just starting out....give me a break. i resent the notion that we are a bunch of "wusses". i have done what i had to do to gain necessary work experience while in school. this society is passive aggressive. voicemail, internet, and social networking has killed traditional social mediums and has made it much harder to find a job.
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