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:
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.
Well, you were a smug asshole before it was cool. It still isn’t, but that’s hardly your fault.
Testify Brother John!
Of course, if there’s no picture…
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.
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”?
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?
That’s it! We need a Greatest Generation President!!
Lessee, which candidate for 2012 meets that criterion*? Hmmm…hey, this guy’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.
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”.
So, when precisely did the government stop being The Man, that evil, sinister entity that you hated so vociferously?
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.
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?
Wow! How totally different this description is from all other generations!
Best wishes,
hh
How many '60s protesters were marching against Social Security and Medicare?
None. They were high, but they weren’t that high.
You make some good points.
When hippies started being The Man, and realizing that power was actually a lot of fun?
Yeah, I was feeling kind of feisty when I wrote that. 
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. 
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.