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I don't hate any generation, each has its good and bad characteristics. I do think the "Greatest Generation" is overrated; after all, nobody could live up to that arrogant name. A rarely-discussed legacy of theirs was that they seriously fouled our physical environment for decades.
What bothers me about the boomers is one thing --
Kicking the can down the road. Buy now, let the next generation pay for it.
A perfect example is all the unfunded medical liabilities they set themselves up for under Medicare.
I wonder if the "greatest generation" raised the Boomers a little too harshly, so the Boomers countered and raised their kids too soft. I know it was true in my own family anyway.
And yea, I'm also mad that I'm gonna pay into Social Security and Medicaid for my whole life but probably not get anything in the end. Mom and Dad are gonna get the cheap brand of diapers that chafe and leak for that one.
Greed and selfishness - loss of religion/God in the US is responsible.
Greed & selfishness certainly contributed, but greed and selfishness are learned behaviours. The BBs must have learned it from a previous generation. Who did the teaching and how did they install greed and selfishness in such a large percentage of the BB generation?
Last edited by CosmicWizard; 09-24-2009 at 01:47 PM..
Well, they were the generation that pioneered Americas favorite pastime today : Sexual Hedonism. (Has that been a good contribution ? Depends on ones sexual mores I reckon. When you look at the true fallout from it, it is anything but praise-worthy ) .
Although a good deal of what you say makes sense, the problem is that people have been saying it ever since men originally wrote on cave walls in France--alhough maybe at first in far simpler terms! The truth is, it is plain ol' human nature for each generation to sing the praises of "the good old days" while also lamenting over the declining values and integrity of the present generation.
Listen to this!
"I have no hope for today's youth; they are morally bankrupt, and care not a fig for tradtition or value. Their ethos is as unstable as the wind, and will surely be the ruin of our culture."
Hmmm..sounds like that guy was pretty hip and in-tune with the times, right?
LOL--it was written by Aristotle about 2000 years ago.
My take on this: I have too much confidence in our country and its people to think our recent troubles will be our demise. So...to end this with another quote, I shall use an old favorite of mine from Nietszche: 'That which does not kill us makes us stronger."
Peace.
Last edited by DrummerBoy; 09-24-2009 at 01:30 PM..
Kicking the can down the road. Buy now, let the next generation pay for it.
A perfect example is all the unfunded medical liabilities they set themselves up for under Medicare.
Its not BB's fault ; its our Governments fault. Dont put blame on ALL BB's for ANYTHING ... that isnt fair. Its like putting blame on ALL Doctors because some rip Medicare off.
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.
This is, in a way, an empirical question. If the generations which comes after the Baby Boomers turn out to have worse outcomes in terms of income and other indicators, then the legacy of the Boomers will probably be remembered as a foul one. For all the complaints of the Boombers against their own parents, the Boomers enjoyed an unprecedented level of wealth and standard of living.
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?
You can't blame just one generation for today's failures. It's really the ever spiraling downward genetic degeneration of a Memetics screwup from the very beginning. Mankind is not, contrary to popular belief, the ever improving evolving animal. Proof of this is flicking on any world, national news 24/7 in any country. Take your pick. One failure after another in all areas of life with everyone to blame.
But as far as Babyboomers go, there was that one glimmer of hope decade or era of counter culture protests of the mid 1960s to early 1970s, that many thought would give us a more enlightened age, tho most of that most likely was the contributing to that delusion. Still, all those protests against traditional worldview never brought about any kind of secularist utopia any more or less than any philosophy that preceeded it.
Again, it's a Memetics thing!!!
Here's a song for all those misguided folks who thought we'd find any kind uptopia.http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/bobbovisme/Funny%202/bong-hits.gif (broken link)
This is, in a way, an empirical question. If the generations which comes after the Baby Boomers turn out to have worse outcomes in terms of income and other indicators, then the legacy of the Boomers will probably be remembered as a foul one. For all the complaints of the Boombers against their own parents, the Boomers enjoyed an unprecedented level of wealth and standard of living.
Let's see now, that would be where Memetics caused all the Flower Child Hippies morph/evolve themselves into "Yuppies" thing ???
To an extent. The problem, though, is that the Boomer generation also began to see a level of "income stratification" which hadn't been seen during the previous generation. So, there are Boombers who can rightfully claim to having been "screwed by the system" alongside Boomers who reaped the rewards of a changing economy to an extent that future generations probably will not.
To an extent. The problem, though, is that the Boomer generation also began to see a level of "income stratification" which hadn't been seen during the previous generation. So, there are Boombers who can rightfully claim to having been "screwed by the system" alongside Boomers who reaped the rewards of a changing economy to an extent that future generations probably will not.
On a serious note:
In the late 70s I moved up into the San Jacinto Mtns in Riverside CA above Palm Springs and noticed there were alot of former counter culture protestors who never took the Memetic road the 'Yuppies' did, but rather were so into the drug scene that too many brain cells got fried and they quite literally could never improve to the level of the 'Yuppies'. The sad thing is that for the 24 years I lived in those mountains, I watched as most of those physically/mentally self disabled people who could'nt function responsibly in a real working society ran to the mountains to escape responsibility and live off welfare and subsidize the government handouts with burglary, theft, pot farms meth labs, etc. Sadly, they were also very prolithic at propagating kids and and not necesarily in any type of marriage arrangement. This created more degeneration of people who never had a real honest shot at life by learning any decent traditional family values. With each successive generation it has gotten worse and the science of 'Memetics' becomes more and more real and extreme in their case.
What made the 'Memetics' worse or compounded in these cases were all the touchy feely rights groups that champion these people's right to be that way, giving more handouts than hand ups. In the end we've got an even worse world than before. Again, no improvement to this very present.
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contributing to that delusion. Still, all those protests against traditional worldview never brought about any kind of secularist utopia any more or less than any philosophy that preceeded it. 
