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Dear Janine:We'd always understood that the "baby boom" was the result of soldiers returning from World War II. Grateful that they were no longer being shot at on a regular basis, the GIs gladly embraced their wives and girlfriends with a vigor not seen before or since. The babies were sort of a side effect.
If you figure that WWII ended around 1945, you could say that the baby boom started in 1946 (nine months later). That would make the oldest boomers 53 years old. As for the other end of the equation -- when did the boom end? -- we checked the Web for the answer.
In Yahoo!'s Baby Boomers category (under Society and Culture > Cultures and Groups), we found Baby Boom: A History, which confirmed our knowledge about the beginning of the period (VE Day was May 1945) and gave us some other insights.
It turns out that the boom lasted for 19 years, marked by 76 million total births. There were over three million new babies in the first year, and the annual rate quickly climbed to over four million per year. In 1964, the rate fell below that number and thus the boom was over. So the youngest boomers currently would be 34 years old. For more, check out the American Association of Baby Boomers. There you'll find boomer news as well as historical trivia about each of the years in the period.
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Your math is off a little. Those born in 1946 would be 65 and those born in 1964 would be 47.
An older friend sent the following to me. I thought you might enjoy it.
Checking out at the grocery store recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. I apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."
She was right about one thing -- our generation didn't have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then…? After some reflection and soul-searching on "Our" day here's what I remembered we did have.... Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles repeatedly. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day. We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.
But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day. Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.
But that young lady is right. We didn't have the green thing back in our day. Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she's right. We didn't have the green thing back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
But we didn't have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
Please share this so another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smarty-pants young person can add to this...
It doesn't get much better than this. Oh how some of these youngsters forget that there were/ARE people out there who have ALWAYS been "green". Yes, imagine the inconvenience of only using the clothes dryer in an emergency...like if you needed clothing and it was raining, so that you couldn't hang the clothes out.
I still remember seeing bottled water for the first time and thinking, "Why would someone buy a bottle of water." I also remember seeing someone toss an empty bottle of water and buy a new one, all while thinking, "There's a drinking fountain right over there....and a faucet in the restroom. Why not refill it?"
You mentioned going to the grocery store. These very same "think green" young people will DRIVE to the grocery store 5 times in a week, rather than getting a grocery circular (or looking it up on line), then planning their entire week's meals, so that they only have to make one trip per week. Heaven forbid they actually purchase a month's worth of groceries at a time....that's just MIND boggling, isn't it!?
Yeah..... give us old-timers a few lessons on conservation...please do!
The corner store or grocery store didn't always put your purchases into paper bags. Usually, groceries were packed into boxes from the store. Stores didn't automatically break down and 'recycle' boxes.
"Involved" does not necessarely mean running for office.
Doesn't mean that contributing, volunteering, and preaching about it does not meet the qualifier of 'involved'
Those things you mention doesn't reach government. Being in government is being in a position to create change.
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As for the gov't controlling America... if enough Americans (Of EVERY GENERATION) were to rise up with one voice like the 'pots and pans revolution' of Argintina (Not the exact right phrase, but should be enough to look it up) We could change this country.
Government knows damn well how people from every generation feel about the way it conducts business. But when you have the power, it's easy to pick and chose what issues you want to address.
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As to your bennies, protected shield etc:
I am in a (Somewhat) unique situation for my generation (I am 29) Because I am medically retired from the Marine Corps. As I have said in the retirement section when I was attacked for pointing it out:
My Pension, and your social security is unsustainable. It's NOT that we don't WISH that they could continue... it's that they cannot.
I am willing to 'take the hit' on my pension in return for the stability of the system and all our goods.
You are very unique for your generation. Any 12 year old who can think about retirement and start planning for retirement at that age is quite unique.
You collect a pension due to the injuries you sustained. This, for the most part will be a life time payment, which you will give up? What was your financial contribution to it, as opposed to people who worked, contributed to their pensions, a form of savings for retirement, only for it to be lost by government/company mismanagement.
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Why arn't you?
(It just occurred to me... ya'll talk about 'how much more money' you have to loose... facing 50+YEARS of collecting benefits... I'm willing to give up much more.
I'm assuming that you are the one facing 50+ years of collecting benefits. If I'm wrong and you are referring to boomers, I don't think those who retire at the earliest - 62 would live to collect benefits for that long. If the reference is to yourself your disability pension payout started early and paid out for your lifetime. Is this a pension that you contributed into? or is it a government-funded entitlement funded by taxpayers? If that benefit were to disappear what exactly would you stand to lose? If you contributed into it, you would recover your contribution and the rest would be gravy. I don't begrudge you for receiving a government entitlement, but don't begrudge a boomer for receiving what is a government entitlement.
If the government wrote me a check for what I contributed into SS, I would be more than happy to take it and invest it as I see fit. I would rather gamble with my own money than continue to let government gamble with it or **** it away. But you know what? It isn't there because Government didn't borrow from Peter (SS) to pay Paul (to fund other programs), it TOOK from Peter to GIVE to Paul, so where's the money that I put in? I don't need this generations money if government gives me my share of what I invested in SS.
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Creation of the Social Security Trust Fund
The amendments established a trust fund for any surplus funds. The managing trustee of this fund is the Secretary of the Treasury. The money could be invested in both non-marketable and marketable securities
There had to be a huge excess of contributions by boomers as the previous generation that we were paying for received less and the number of people collecting was less. So where did that excess go?? Boomers could probably being paying themselves back with our own money if government didn't use it as a personal piggy bank.
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That was my point... it exists/has existed for BOTH generation... so don't point to a fraction of our generation and insult us all. (Including those like me who have never smoked ANYTHING) unless you want the reverse stated.
(Which was done after the 'occupy idiots' were brought up.)
So all boomers were hippies, but only a fraction of today's generation, which is a large fraction, are slaves to drugs? No different than how boomers are responsible for creating the mess America is in - it was a fraction of boomers - in government or in bed with government - who held the power. I believe that is referred to as the 1%?
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You want to compare me to a fraction of my so called peers... I can play that game, especially since so many of the hippies 'settled down'
Why are baby boomers collectively responsible and lumped in with the 1% fraction of baby boomers who ruined America? Yet you don't want to be included in the behavior of your so called peers. It was a fraction of baby boomers who were hippies, but the hippies did "settle down" (I was one ) and went on to be productive people. The fraction you speak of would include alcohol abuse (a huge problem) and casual users. Unfortunately a good part of the "fraction" you speak of can't or won't because of the addiction to manufactured drugs which are easily accessible and alcohol addiction. Do you believe that the majority of the "fraction" you speak of will recover and get over their addiction? settle down? and become productive individuals. If it is such a small fraction why is there such a huge demand and supply? I would guess that there is a small fraction of the larger that will become productive people, but then again that would depend on their drug of choice, frequency, duration, and addiction.
There are probably still some boomer hippies who toke on the weekend but have been productive working people.
Can anyone explain why Gen Y is larger that Gen X?
Generation X are considered to be the members of the Baby Bust generation when birth rates dropped to less than replacement numbers. Generally 1965 to about 1980.
Gen Y are members of the Baby Boom Echo when baby Boomers, especially those born from the mid-50's onward, began to have children. The oldest of those are now approaching 30 with the youngest still in high school. I may be wrong, but it is a larger cohort than the Baby Boom.
The corner store or grocery store didn't always put your purchases into paper bags. Usually, groceries were packed into boxes from the store. Stores didn't automatically break down and 'recycle' boxes.
THANK YOU! I had to chuckle when I read this post. After reading the post about "green" youngster know-it-alls, to my 25 yr old daughter, I said, "Please! When we were growing up, and even when you were little, the cashier would ask you, '"Do you want boxes or bags?"' " YES! I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers this. I and my parents before me, always purchased our "store-bought goods" in large quantities, in order to avoid having to make multiple trips to the stores. It blows me away that more stores no longer have boxes. As far as bringing my own bags to the store?..... really? Where exactly would I put the food I'm buying? My 20-30 canvas shopping bags would take up a good 1/2 of the shopping cart!
Ahhh, what's the matter sweetie? Didn't get enough hugs when you were little or did mama like your brother better? Well, if your generation gets their way, your folks will end up having to live with you when they are old and sick because there will be no SS or medicare. Then you can spend your time and money taking care of them since they won't be able to care for themselves.
If the parents are lucky they will find themselves in the basement. But more than likely a government nursing home ----- far, far away.
It doesn't get much better than this. Oh how some of these youngsters forget that there were/ARE people out there who have ALWAYS been "green". Yes, imagine the inconvenience of only using the clothes dryer in an emergency...like if you needed clothing and it was raining, so that you couldn't hang the clothes out.
I still remember seeing bottled water for the first time and thinking, "Why would someone buy a bottle of water." I also remember seeing someone toss an empty bottle of water and buy a new one, all while thinking, "There's a drinking fountain right over there....and a faucet in the restroom. Why not refill it?"
You mentioned going to the grocery store. These very same "think green" young people will DRIVE to the grocery store 5 times in a week, rather than getting a grocery circular (or looking it up on line), then planning their entire week's meals, so that they only have to make one trip per week. Heaven forbid they actually purchase a month's worth of groceries at a time....that's just MIND boggling, isn't it!?
Yeah..... give us old-timers a few lessons on conservation...please do!
A simple, uncomplicated life. I remember for the first few years of my life we never had a lock on a door. I also remember the milkman delivering the milk and who was going to get to lick the cream off the top. My grandparents had a coal heater in the basement and my great-grandfather would sit there and tend to it with a mountain of black coal in the corner. They were probably one of the last families to convert to a hot water heater.
Purchaser groceries for a month?? That would require one to plan beyond tomorrow.
Congratulations on your grandson's accomplishments. Too many of today's youngsters would rather spend every moment of their "free" time sitting on their butts texting and playing video games.
Would that include those in their 20s and early 30s??
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about it does not meet the qualifier of 'involved' 
) and went on to be productive people. The fraction you speak of would include alcohol abuse (a huge problem) and casual users. Unfortunately a good part of the "fraction" you speak of can't or won't because of the addiction to manufactured drugs which are easily accessible and alcohol addiction. Do you believe that the majority of the "fraction" you speak of will recover and get over their addiction? settle down? and become productive individuals. If it is such a small fraction why is there such a huge demand and supply? I would guess that there is a small fraction of the larger that will become productive people, but then again that would depend on their drug of choice, frequency, duration, and addiction.
