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Forgive me if this sounds like a rant, though it may be one. Politics aside, though I may agree, I share the same sentiments as Honan. As an X'er, I've grown q

Forgive me if this sounds like a rant, though it may be one. Politics aside, though I may agree, I share the same sentiments as Honan. As an X'er, I've grown quite annoyed with the baby-boomer generation and their unending selfishness and gluttony. If the WWII generation was the greatest generation, as Brokaw put it, then the baby-boomers are the worst since the Dark Ages. For all their high-minded idealism they've created a society, at least in US, that is more divisive than it's ever been. I'm not saying that good things were not accomplished and I'm not saying that they didn't push the world forward in some ways. They have. They've also managed to destroy the world's economy and leave it in debt for at least another two generations. Regarding Millenials, I'm starting to get the same feelings. I'm reminded of the hilarious segment of Louis C.K. on Conan regarding technology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LkusicUL2s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LkusicUL2s

ddw 15y ago
> If the WWII generation was the greatest generation, as Brokaw put it, then the baby-boomers are the worst since the Dark Ages. For all their high-minded idealism they've created a society, at least in US, that is more divisive than it's ever been. I've been waiting for a substantial book to come out on this subject. Browsing through Amazon.com I don't see much that really nails it. It's a cultural thing too- for instance I see the whole Leno/Conan debacle as a generational conflict that the Baby Boomers won because of sheer numbers and technological dispositions. Instead there are a lot of books about how the Baby Boomers "are changing everything...again" in retirement. EDIT TO ADD: Obviously the Occupy Wall Street protests are another manifestation of this with BBs' refrain of "what are they protesting?"
jleyank 15y ago
If the WWII generation was the greatest generation, as Brokaw put it, then the baby-boomers are the worst since the Dark Ages. For all their high-minded idealism they've created a society, at least in US, that is more divisive than it's ever been. Note: remember your history. There was this little jungle war thingie in Vietnam (started by the Boomer parents) that sorta pissed people off and divided the country. The 2006 election showed that in full glory, leading many to comment that post-Nam people should run. And, for the most part, they did. Boomers were the hippies, but their time spawned Quebec nationalism here in Canada, and probably had a little to do with the Prague Spring, ...
- hugh3 15y ago
  Boomers were the hippies But y'see, this is the problem with these sorts of generalizations. The vast majority of boomers weren't hippies. The vast majority of them were sensible people who finished their education, got jobs, got married, raised families, and lived like people have always lived. Similarly, the so-called Generations X and Y and the millenials and however you want to divide us up. Most of us have been doing the same thing. We all grow up, we all get jobs, we all have children. Half of us wind up voting one way, half of us wind up voting the other way. That's not to deny that there are certainly cultural changes over the years, these are obvious to everybody. But a few thousand people making a lot of noise in the direct sight of some TV cameras isn't a cultural movement, it's just Al Capone dancing the Charleston on top of a flagpole.
hugh3 15y ago
I'm not saying that good things were not accomplished and I'm not saying that they didn't push the world forward in some ways. They have. They've also managed to destroy the world's economy and leave it in debt for at least another two generations. Ehh, the current unsustainable debt binge goes back a lot further than the Baby Boomers. Remember, the first baby boomer president was Clinton. I'd blame it largely on FDR (born 1882) and Lyndon Johnson (born 1908) and their contemporaries. They created the unsustainable welfare state in the US.

ddw 15y ago

> If the WWII generation was the greatest generation, as Brokaw put it, then the baby-boomers are the worst since the Dark Ages. For all their high-minded idealism they've created a society, at least in US, that is more divisive than it's ever been. I've been waiting for a substantial book to come out on this subject. Browsing through Amazon.com I don't see much that really nails it. It's a cultural thing too- for instance I see the whole Leno/Conan debacle as a generational conflict that the Baby Boomers won because of sheer numbers and technological dispositions. Instead there are a lot of books about how the Baby Boomers "are changing everything...again" in retirement. EDIT TO ADD: Obviously the Occupy Wall Street protests are another manifestation of this with BBs' refrain of "what are they protesting?"

jleyank 15y ago

If the WWII generation was the greatest generation, as Brokaw put it, then the baby-boomers are the worst since the Dark Ages. For all their high-minded idealism they've created a society, at least in US, that is more divisive than it's ever been. Note: remember your history. There was this little jungle war thingie in Vietnam (started by the Boomer parents) that sorta pissed people off and divided the country. The 2006 election showed that in full glory, leading many to comment that post-Nam people should run. And, for the most part, they did. Boomers were the hippies, but their time spawned Quebec nationalism here in Canada, and probably had a little to do with the Prague Spring, ...

hugh3 15y ago
Boomers were the hippies But y'see, this is the problem with these sorts of generalizations. The vast majority of boomers weren't hippies. The vast majority of them were sensible people who finished their education, got jobs, got married, raised families, and lived like people have always lived. Similarly, the so-called Generations X and Y and the millenials and however you want to divide us up. Most of us have been doing the same thing. We all grow up, we all get jobs, we all have children. Half of us wind up voting one way, half of us wind up voting the other way. That's not to deny that there are certainly cultural changes over the years, these are obvious to everybody. But a few thousand people making a lot of noise in the direct sight of some TV cameras isn't a cultural movement, it's just Al Capone dancing the Charleston on top of a flagpole.

hugh3 15y ago

I'm not saying that good things were not accomplished and I'm not saying that they didn't push the world forward in some ways. They have. They've also managed to destroy the world's economy and leave it in debt for at least another two generations. Ehh, the current unsustainable debt binge goes back a lot further than the Baby Boomers. Remember, the first baby boomer president was Clinton. I'd blame it largely on FDR (born 1882) and Lyndon Johnson (born 1908) and their contemporaries. They created the unsustainable welfare state in the US.