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"Then somebody somewhere fucked it all up" This somebody was the Baby Boomers, which sounds like your generation. Not only will BBs be one of the very few gene

"Then somebody somewhere fucked it all up" This somebody was the Baby Boomers, which sounds like your generation. Not only will BBs be one of the very few generations to leave this place worse off than they found it, but BBs have also screwed up parenting to the point where we now have to have a "radical" parenting movement ("Free Range Kids") that desperately tries to restore some some sanity. I grew up in Eastern Europe during communist times, which was very old-school and worlds apart from today's parenting, but still managed to provide me with a great childhood. If I want to bring up my kids in the same way (lots of independent, unsupervised play from very early on, real responsibilities), then I'd be viewed as some kind of pariah and my neighbours will probably call child services.

Tichy 15y ago
"Not only will BBs be one of the very few generations to leave this place worse off than they found it" You mean as opposed to fighting world wars and stuff like that?
- alan_cx 15y ago
  Er, BBs are after WW2. Vietnam and Iraq were not WWs. And yeah, those people, my parent's generation sure did screw it all up.
  - Tichy 15y ago
    That's what I meant, the previous poster claimed that BBs screwed stuff up as opposed to previous generations - but previous generations did stuff like fight world wars and drop atomic bombs around. What exactly did the BBs screw up. Do you want the good old values of early 20th century back? Women belong into the kitchen? No sex before marriage? And what not...
    - martythemaniak 15y ago
      I was specifically referring to the massive economic fuckover they've been responsible for over the last 30 years. Not to mention the coming 20 years of kids having to support unsustainable retirement lifestyles with huge debt burdens.
      - Tichy 15y ago
        Well now we have the "Great Recession" (according to Wikipedia, though technically apparently it ended in 2009), before WW2 there was the "Great Depression". Since the baby boomers are born shortly after WW2, I suppose the Great Depression was brought about by their parents or grandparents. I think people were far worse off back then. Also, will the kids support the unsustainable retirement lifestyles if they can't afford them? It seems unlikely. And we still don't know how things will play out. Maybe it was a genius move to take up all that credit.
        michaelll 15y ago
        The boomers do have the advantage of being a large political force, and have all their life, so have had the possibility to shape the political landscape around them as they have passed through the various phases of life. This assumption is of course based on them being a fairly homogeneous group of people, which may or may not be true.
    - alan_cx 15y ago
      Well, one county's previous generations started those wars, the rest of the planet had no choice but to respond. However, these more recent wars, are wars of choice. So, that's several screw ups to start with. As for the atomic bombs, yes it was terrible, but some one was going to. And for once, "we" saw and learned that particular lesson. (I pick that out because I think not dropping a nuke since is actually one of humanity's greatest achievements) Good old values of ..... OK. If I shoot it back in your direction, I could accuse you of wanting SOPA and Islamic terror. That's the other extreme, and I assume you would deny both. Of course some things we have today are way better. But you have to admit, that if we cant get our kids right, if we cant have proper freedom in the West, if we cant have the free flow of uncensored information, if people in general dont care about each other much and only see life form their own position, can I really not say that the previous generations got it wrong? I mean, these are fundamental things, and what we get in return for their loss is iPads..... IMHO, we now live in a "I see pretty, must have pretty" society. Dunno if you noticed, but it just went bust. And it went bust because "we" borrowed to get "pretty". First ever recession that was caused by pure greed. And no one is about to change that. Its all about how we get back to it, so we can have our pretty stuff again. And this was created by the baby boomer lot. And they wont let go. I dunno. To me all sense of balance has gone, and people are generally just selfish and horribly judgemental. We live in an extreme. And I don't like it that much.
      - Tichy 15y ago
        I'm not historian enough to argue about WW2, but I think there was some context to those wars, even if technically one country can be blamed. It didn't come out of nowhere. In any case I seriously doubt there was more free speech in earlier times than now (off the top of my head, what about those commie hunting days?). SOPA has not yet been passed, either. People don't care for each other yadda yadda yadda. Sorry, that is just ideological bullshit. I don't think people are less emotional today than they used to be. And people will never change, complaining about that is just a waste of time. As for the economic problems, wake me when Apple (a company that has 60% markup on their products) is no longer the most valuable company in the world. Poor people don't buy iPhones.
        15y ago
    - omonra 15y ago
      To be fair, the previous generations (of Americans) did not start those wars, but actually fought to prevent murderous dictators from taking over the world. I just think you should differentiate between 'fighting' in a war and 'starting one'.
      - intenex 15y ago
        Germany didn't start WWII without reason. We didn't try to take over the world, but we did give cause for others to want to take over the world (e.g. overly harsh response to WWI). Can't exonerate blame based on one event and not the timeline.
        jessedhillon 15y ago
        Indeed. The excessively punitive clauses of the Versailles Treaty created the conditions for Germany's ruin post WWI.
  - gnosis 15y ago
    "And yeah, those people, my parent's generation sure did screw it all up." Don't feel bad. There's plenty left for your generation to screw up. You'll get your turn.
yummyfajitas 15y ago
Not only will BBs be one of the very few generations to leave this place worse off than they found it... For some strange reason, people have an overly romantic view of the past. A friend of mine, after watching mad men, was waxing nostalgic about how nice things seemed back then. Life was simpler, world is now so screwed up, etc. I just pointed out to him: "You realize that in 1950, you and your girlfriend wouldn't be allowed to live in the same neighborhood, right?" (The girlfriend was Turkish, and dark brown. Not a chance of her passing.) The 50's might have been better in some ways, but the boomers also got a few things right.
- bluekeybox 15y ago
  Just because one thing was wrong in the 1950s doesn't imply that everything else was.
  - Tichy 15y ago
    I know - I mean they had an Atomic Energy Lab for kids, how cool is that? http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/atomictoys/GilbertU238Lab.htm http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/atomictoys/GilbertU238Lab...
  - StavrosK 15y ago
    On the other hand, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection
- Tichy 15y ago
  Also, nostalgic about mad men? Like when you were still allowed to treat women as things and get drunk at work? Quite the sob story.
  - yummyfajitas 15y ago
    I think it was less based on the actual Mad Men tv show, and more based on vague cultural ideas about what the 50's and 60's were like.
  - 15y ago
arguesalot 15y ago
Ours must be the only generation ever willing to blame the previous one for just about everything. Also, by what measure is the world a worse place today?
- bluedanieru 15y ago
  Nope, the boomers did that too.

Tichy 15y ago

"Not only will BBs be one of the very few generations to leave this place worse off than they found it" You mean as opposed to fighting world wars and stuff like that?

alan_cx 15y ago
Er, BBs are after WW2. Vietnam and Iraq were not WWs. And yeah, those people, my parent's generation sure did screw it all up.
- Tichy 15y ago
  That's what I meant, the previous poster claimed that BBs screwed stuff up as opposed to previous generations - but previous generations did stuff like fight world wars and drop atomic bombs around. What exactly did the BBs screw up. Do you want the good old values of early 20th century back? Women belong into the kitchen? No sex before marriage? And what not...
  - martythemaniak 15y ago
    I was specifically referring to the massive economic fuckover they've been responsible for over the last 30 years. Not to mention the coming 20 years of kids having to support unsustainable retirement lifestyles with huge debt burdens.
    - Tichy 15y ago
      Well now we have the "Great Recession" (according to Wikipedia, though technically apparently it ended in 2009), before WW2 there was the "Great Depression". Since the baby boomers are born shortly after WW2, I suppose the Great Depression was brought about by their parents or grandparents. I think people were far worse off back then. Also, will the kids support the unsustainable retirement lifestyles if they can't afford them? It seems unlikely. And we still don't know how things will play out. Maybe it was a genius move to take up all that credit.
      - michaelll 15y ago
        The boomers do have the advantage of being a large political force, and have all their life, so have had the possibility to shape the political landscape around them as they have passed through the various phases of life. This assumption is of course based on them being a fairly homogeneous group of people, which may or may not be true.
  - alan_cx 15y ago
    Well, one county's previous generations started those wars, the rest of the planet had no choice but to respond. However, these more recent wars, are wars of choice. So, that's several screw ups to start with. As for the atomic bombs, yes it was terrible, but some one was going to. And for once, "we" saw and learned that particular lesson. (I pick that out because I think not dropping a nuke since is actually one of humanity's greatest achievements) Good old values of ..... OK. If I shoot it back in your direction, I could accuse you of wanting SOPA and Islamic terror. That's the other extreme, and I assume you would deny both. Of course some things we have today are way better. But you have to admit, that if we cant get our kids right, if we cant have proper freedom in the West, if we cant have the free flow of uncensored information, if people in general dont care about each other much and only see life form their own position, can I really not say that the previous generations got it wrong? I mean, these are fundamental things, and what we get in return for their loss is iPads..... IMHO, we now live in a "I see pretty, must have pretty" society. Dunno if you noticed, but it just went bust. And it went bust because "we" borrowed to get "pretty". First ever recession that was caused by pure greed. And no one is about to change that. Its all about how we get back to it, so we can have our pretty stuff again. And this was created by the baby boomer lot. And they wont let go. I dunno. To me all sense of balance has gone, and people are generally just selfish and horribly judgemental. We live in an extreme. And I don't like it that much.
    - Tichy 15y ago
      I'm not historian enough to argue about WW2, but I think there was some context to those wars, even if technically one country can be blamed. It didn't come out of nowhere. In any case I seriously doubt there was more free speech in earlier times than now (off the top of my head, what about those commie hunting days?). SOPA has not yet been passed, either. People don't care for each other yadda yadda yadda. Sorry, that is just ideological bullshit. I don't think people are less emotional today than they used to be. And people will never change, complaining about that is just a waste of time. As for the economic problems, wake me when Apple (a company that has 60% markup on their products) is no longer the most valuable company in the world. Poor people don't buy iPhones.
      - 15y ago
  - omonra 15y ago
    To be fair, the previous generations (of Americans) did not start those wars, but actually fought to prevent murderous dictators from taking over the world. I just think you should differentiate between 'fighting' in a war and 'starting one'.
    - intenex 15y ago
      Germany didn't start WWII without reason. We didn't try to take over the world, but we did give cause for others to want to take over the world (e.g. overly harsh response to WWI). Can't exonerate blame based on one event and not the timeline.
      - jessedhillon 15y ago
        Indeed. The excessively punitive clauses of the Versailles Treaty created the conditions for Germany's ruin post WWI.
- gnosis 15y ago
  "And yeah, those people, my parent's generation sure did screw it all up." Don't feel bad. There's plenty left for your generation to screw up. You'll get your turn.

yummyfajitas 15y ago

Not only will BBs be one of the very few generations to leave this place worse off than they found it... For some strange reason, people have an overly romantic view of the past. A friend of mine, after watching mad men, was waxing nostalgic about how nice things seemed back then. Life was simpler, world is now so screwed up, etc. I just pointed out to him: "You realize that in 1950, you and your girlfriend wouldn't be allowed to live in the same neighborhood, right?" (The girlfriend was Turkish, and dark brown. Not a chance of her passing.) The 50's might have been better in some ways, but the boomers also got a few things right.

bluekeybox 15y ago
Just because one thing was wrong in the 1950s doesn't imply that everything else was.
- Tichy 15y ago
  I know - I mean they had an Atomic Energy Lab for kids, how cool is that? http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/atomictoys/GilbertU238Lab.htm http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/atomictoys/GilbertU238Lab...
- StavrosK 15y ago
  On the other hand, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection
Tichy 15y ago
Also, nostalgic about mad men? Like when you were still allowed to treat women as things and get drunk at work? Quite the sob story.
- yummyfajitas 15y ago
  I think it was less based on the actual Mad Men tv show, and more based on vague cultural ideas about what the 50's and 60's were like.
- 15y ago

arguesalot 15y ago

Ours must be the only generation ever willing to blame the previous one for just about everything. Also, by what measure is the world a worse place today?

bluedanieru 15y ago
Nope, the boomers did that too.