# Fuck the Baby Boomers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 16, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212 "2011-07-16T03:00:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/221 "2011-07-18T18:13:57Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > You (the collective Boomer you) are pretty much running the show right now and things are pretty much fucked, as far as I can see. Wow, I wish I could say that I’m running the show, but I have my hands full earning those secret bonus checks from Big Pharma and promoting the Worldwide Jewish Conspiracy. :)🆒:dubious::eek::smack: ---
**Author:** ![Plumbkrazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Plumbkrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumbkrazy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/222 "2011-07-18T18:15:42Z")
i just wanna beat the hell out of whoever is responsible for hipsters. The smug assholes, not the underwear. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/223 "2011-07-18T18:21:42Z")
> [@Plumbkrazy](#): > > i just wanna beat the hell out of whoever is responsible for hipsters. The smug assholes, not the underwear. That was me. Sorry about that. It seemed like a good idea at the time. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/224 "2011-07-18T18:24:13Z")
Well, you were a smug asshole before it was cool. It still isn’t, but that’s hardly your fault. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/225 "2011-07-18T18:26:53Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Boomers have bigger penises. Even the white ones! Testify Brother John! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/226 "2011-07-18T18:30:16Z")
Of course, if there’s no picture… ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/227 "2011-07-18T18:30:26Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > “They”? As in all of us? Or just some? Please be more specific. Whether you like it or not, you’re a part of it. > [@](#): > > The zeal to lower taxes and reduce services is not specific to baby boomers by any means. I think you meant “increase”, not reduce. And no, that is surely not specific to Baby Boomers. But Baby Boomers lost sight of the fact that the country simply can’t afford to do everything that they want while simultaneously easing financial obligations, there are simply too many of them. That fact still remains, and yet nothing is being done about it. Once the Boomers are gone and/or out of power, one can only hope that the following generations will manage to do the right thing, only with less of a base to generate government revenue it will be much harder and cost much more per capita to fix the problems and undo the damage of the generation that free-rode on the economic dominance that no longer exists. Those policies will be opposed kicking and screaming by every single retired Baby Boomer because it will mean that they might have to finally put a thin dime on the collection plate for the remainder of their lives. > [@](#): > > And to those who think we’re condescending–every generation goes through that with their elders. We thought ours were condescending, too, and some of them certainly were. But that has gone on since before we descended from the trees Your parents didn’t leave you holding the bag while simultaneously telling you how you did great things for the nation and humanity. They just went out and did it. They manned up and made their way through the Great Depression, they fought off the Nazis and Japanese in World War II, and largely did make the world a better place (with a few pretty egregious errors along the way, admittedly). What did the Boomers do? They did everything in their own self-interest, from protesting the government (Vietnam) to embracing it when it suited them (“Obamacare”, Medicare, Social Security). They screamed from the rooftops when gas prices went up yet prospered greatly during the 1980s when the real price of gasoline was lower than ever before. They cried foul when industry was gutted over the last 30 years yet now embrace globalization. You can be sure that anything that the Boomers do will be based upon how it affects them, the future be damned. Just so they can drive their luxury SUVs and drink their lowfat lattes from Starbucks. As long as that’s still possible, everything’s copacetic. ---
**Author:** ![Plumbkrazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Plumbkrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumbkrazy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/228 "2011-07-18T18:46:31Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Whether you like it or not, you’re a part of it. > > I think you meant “increase”, not reduce. And no, that is surely not specific to Baby Boomers. But Baby Boomers lost sight of the fact that the country simply can’t afford to do everything that they want while simultaneously easing financial obligations, there are simply too many of them. That fact still remains, and yet nothing is being done about it. Once the Boomers are gone and/or out of power, one can only hope that the following generations will manage to do the right thing, only with less of a base to generate government revenue it will be much harder and cost much more per capita to fix the problems and undo the damage of the generation that free-rode on the economic dominance that no longer exists. Those policies will be opposed kicking and screaming by every single retired Baby Boomer because it will mean that they might have to finally put a thin dime on the collection plate for the remainder of their lives. > > Your parents didn’t leave you holding the bag while simultaneously telling you how you did great things for the nation and humanity. They just went out and did it. They manned up and made their way through the Great Depression, they fought off the Nazis and Japanese in World War II, and largely did make the world a better place (with a few pretty egregious errors along the way, admittedly). > > What did the Boomers do? They did everything in their own self-interest, from protesting the government (Vietnam) to embracing it when it suited them (“Obamacare”, Medicare, Social Security). They screamed from the rooftops when gas prices went up yet prospered greatly during the 1980s when the real price of gasoline was lower than ever before. They cried foul when industry was gutted over the last 30 years yet now embrace globalization. You can be sure that anything that the Boomers do will be based upon how it affects them, the future be damned. Just so they can drive their luxury SUVs and drink their lowfat lattes from Starbucks. As long as that’s still possible, everything’s copacetic. I don’t think the problem is any particular generation; The problem is, and always has been, the wealthiest people/corporations in this country. The fact that they happen to be mostly Baby Boomers NOW is incidental. The fat cats have been a hideous bunch of bastards since the days of slavery and Native American genocide. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else now, but let’s face it: This country was built on a foundation of greed, hypocracy and narcissism (I’m looking at YOU Founding Fathers). The Baby Boomers didn’t invent those qualities…they merely took them to new heights. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/229 "2011-07-18T19:03:15Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > …They did everything in their own self-interest, from protesting the government (Vietnam) to embracing it when it suited them (“Obamacare”, Medicare, Social Security). .. On the hand, you’ve got a senseless and murderous war, for no good reason, sacrificing thousands of our best and brightest. On the other, efforts to help our own people. And these are precisely identical because both are “the government”? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/230 "2011-07-18T19:17:53Z")
What has gone unmentioned is that our current Boomer troubles are related to having another Boomer President, Barack Obama (born in 1961). And so many Dopers voted for him. Will we never learn? > [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Your parents didn’t leave you holding the bag while simultaneously telling you how you did great things for the nation and humanity. They just went out and did it. They manned up and made their way through the Great Depression, they fought off the Nazis and Japanese in World War II, and largely did make the world a better place (with a few pretty egregious errors along the way, admittedly). That’s it! We need a Greatest Generation President!! Lessee, which candidate for 2012 meets that criterion\*? Hmmm…hey, [this guy](http://www.kevinwebb22.com/politics/2012-presidential-candidates-2012-president-who-will-run-for-president-in-2012#Ron.Paul)’s gung-ho for the job. Tough, gnarly old generational fiber, that’s what the national appetite demands! Either go for Old Folks With Character, or you’ll have to draft Bobby Jindal or another of his Republican contemporaries. We can’t afford four more Oboomer years, that’s for sure. \*sorry kids, Sarah Palin (b. 1964) just misses. ---
**Author:** ![Plumbkrazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Plumbkrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumbkrazy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/231 "2011-07-18T19:20:28Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > On the hand, you’ve got a senseless and murderous war, for no good reason, sacrificing thousands of our best and brightest. On the other, efforts to help our own people. And these are precisely identical because both are “the government”? I seen a few conservatives stumble when asked if we are sure to get our asses kicked in Iraq and Afghanistan because we sent a bunch of government employees to do the job. They always answer with something like, “No, but that’s _different_”. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/232 "2011-07-18T19:21:46Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > On the hand, you’ve got a senseless and murderous war, for no good reason, sacrificing thousands of our best and brightest. On the other, efforts to help our own people. And these are precisely identical because both are “the government”? So, when precisely did the government stop being The Man, that evil, sinister entity that you hated so vociferously? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/233 "2011-07-18T20:04:34Z")
You could search all my posts, from day one, and never find an instance where I used the phrase “The Man”. My quote, however, is a direct and immediate quote, something you actually said rather than something I made up. I humbly submit there is a clear and obvious difference. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/234 "2011-07-18T20:07:49Z")
Or you could just answer the question. When did the government, in your view, become the means to your ends rather than an entity perpetrating a “senseless and murderous war”? It’s amazing how mean old daddy who used to beat you becomes the guy you love so dearly when you have access to his wallet, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/235 "2011-07-18T20:17:59Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I had the misfortune to read a good chunk of [Zoomer magazine](http://www.zoomermag.com/) while waiting to have blood tests taken the other day. Holeee shit, are Boomers ever self-involved, self-congratulatory, self-obsessed, self-consumed, in danger of disappearing up their own gold-plated, lilac-scented assholes. I guess when you run the world, you can be comfortable in your attitude that everything you do and have ever done is great. Wow! How totally different this description is from all other generations! Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/236 "2011-07-18T20:23:15Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Or you could just answer the question. When did the government, in your view, become the means to your ends rather than an entity perpetrating a “senseless and murderous war”? How many '60s protesters were marching against Social Security and Medicare? ---
**Author:** ![Plumbkrazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Plumbkrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumbkrazy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/237 "2011-07-18T20:27:24Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > How many '60s protesters were marching against Social Security and Medicare? None. They were high, but they weren’t _that_ high. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/238 "2011-07-18T20:33:29Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > The major problem here is one of scale. It really does not matter, at the end of the day, if the Boomer motive is essentially no different than that of their parents or of their offspring. The sheer bulk of their numbers means that they are going to have a much more dramatic impact. > > I don’t believe that it is the Boomers fault that they are narcissistic. This is a function of environment. The sheer number of them has meant that as they have moved through their lives they have been pandered to. There is no way that this would not have happened in a capitalist culture. There is just too much money to be made. It was inevitable that, as a group, they would come to believe that everything that they said, did or thought had value for out of proportion to reality. > > What would be nice would be if that generation would realize that, due to their vast numbers, they wield an incredible amount of power and, having had this realization, returned to the purported values of their youth and took steps to leave a much smaller footprint. You make some good points. > [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > So, when precisely did the government stop being The Man, that evil, sinister entity that you hated so vociferously? When hippies started _being_ The Man, and realizing that power was actually a lot of fun? > [@handsomeharry](#): > > Wow! How totally different this description is from all other generations! > > Best wishes, > hh Yeah, I was feeling kind of feisty when I wrote that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/239 "2011-07-18T20:40:28Z")
The whole idea of the “Baby Boomer” generation is itself self-centered nonsense. People born at other times don’t need to form an us-vs-them mentality to make themselves seem special. It’s better to just drop the whole categorization of people by when they’re born. Me-first assholes can be called simply that; no need to legitimize it by calling it a “generation”. And note that neither my parents nor their children are Baby Boomers. My family was smart enough to skip the whole thing. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212/240 "2011-07-18T20:43:46Z")
You can’t overlook the unparalleled opportunities for greatness afforded today’s Younger Generations by Boomers. After all, the Greatest Generation couldn’t possibly have been Greatest without being handed a Great Depression and World War to overcome. The Boomers maybe haven’t contributed quite as much, but there’s still economic stagnation, spiraling debt and slow-moving environmental disaster. What a great chance for the young’uns! Conquer these problems and you’ll go down in history as the Even Greater Generation!!! Tom Brokaw will be proud of you, assuming he isn’t dead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-baby-boomers/589212.md?page=13)