The Baby Boom Generation is Under the Microscope Because...

[Mike 03]

Poll question: The Baby Boom Generation is Under the Microscope Because...

[Birthmark]

1. Because they suck beyond belief

The narcissism alone has nearly killed the planet. As a generation they make me puke, although there are many examples of fine individuals within that generation.

(Full disclosure: I was born in the late 50s.)

[Roselma]

5. Hey...

Be nice! (this from a fellow boomer. Full disclosure, I was born in the early 50's and my husband was born in the mid 40's. )

[Birthmark]

19. That WAS nice... for me, anyway. :) nt

[boston bean]

24. because the other me me me generations, that like to think of the boomers as so selfish, don't want

to take care of the aging population.

They feel afraid and instead of holding our gov't responsible for the ineptness with management of funds, they decide it's their moms and dads and grammies and grampies fault.

People who have paid into the system their entire life.

suck it up young puppies X and Y, your day will come.

And this is from a gen-xr.

if you don't you will be screwn come your retirement, more than you ever dreamt of being screwed over by the boomers.

You will have wall street as tight as a bug up your ass, you won't know which way to turn.

They will own you!

[laughingliberal]

50. +1 nt

[Happy Hippy]

67. Oh how edgy....you must be an artiste.

Everything you have ever put in your ungrateful mouth was probably handed to you by a boomer. Go save the whales and get off of my lawn junior.

[leftstreet]

2. Because they're moving from for-profit medical insurance to Medicare

And the poor widdle corporate ownership class EVEN has to give them senior discounts on pancakes

:cry:

[dflprincess]

37. Explaining why the only 'health care reform" we can get

is an insurance scam that requires us to continue to buy a shoddy product from the crooks who broke the system.

[virgogal]

3. It's great to see the generation that said never trust anyone

over thirty grow really old.

Does my heart good.

(I came ahead of them and was one of the untrusted ones)

[CanSocDem]

35. I have changed.

Now I tell my friends not to trust anyone under thirty. And for what its worth, I would trust you a lot more now.

.

[virgogal]

64. Tempus fugit !

[Juche]

4. Economics

As a millennial, I feel that we have to not only deal with our own problems, but deal with the problems left over by the boomers. Climate change, public/private debt, growing plutocracy, a world running out of natural resources.

Basically some of us in the millennial generation feel our standard of living will be low for a long time, in part due to the excesses of the Boomer generation. We have to deal with climate change, pay down the debt while also paying for ever unsustainable health care.

Not that I blame all boomers (tons are decent). But that is how I feel, most of the resentment is economic.

The fact that boomers opposed Vietnam & were pro-civil rights was great.

[murielm99]

6. Because every generation blames the one preceding it

for all the ills of the world.

Your turn will come, Gen-Xers.

[Orrex]

9. I heard that it was "our turn" as early as 1982, when I was 11

In my science class, we had an extensive review of "environmental crises" ranging from vanishing wildlife to overpopulation to the greenhouse effect. At every turn, we were told (by teachers and films and books) that "it will be up to your generation to solve these problems."

In essence, the generation preceding ours was doing a little bit of preemptive blaming of the generation that would follow it.


For that reason, I suppose that the Boomers can be credited for some truly innovative thinking!

[Champion Jack]

22. Bingo!

"I hope I die before I get old"
Indeed

[WonderGrunion]

28. When our generation produces a "W", I will accept the blame

Until then...

You (Boomers) broke it, you fix it.

[pipi_k]

30. Trust me... our generation didn't "produce" a W...

His parents produced him.

[WonderGrunion]

33. LOL, you can pull a "Dixie Chick" and say you're ashamed he's a boomer

But you can't deny that "W" is a Boomer.

[dflprincess]

38. He is a Boomer - produced by members of the "greatest generation"

you can't blame Boomers for George-boy

[laughingliberal]

51. He is a boomer. He is also part of the ruling elite into which he was born.nt

[Champion Jack]

34. The boomers "produced" W?

http://www.amishrakefight.org/gfy/

[WonderGrunion]

36. While I believe that link violates TOS...

I won't alert because it's really quite funny. Well met.

"W" was born in '46. That makes him a Baby Boomer. :hide:

[Hannah Bell]

46. +10000. course, the media does their part to amplify the scapegoating.

cause setting the generations against each other is always preferrable to having the generations turn on the owners of the world.

[laughingliberal]

52. Just SOP. Give the masses another group to hate

Billionaire's will thank you for your cooperations.

[WheelWalker]

7. We have been right so often. n/t

[Mari333]

8. kids always blame their parents. I blamed mine

they will someday be the parents, and their kids will blame them.

I find it all highly amusing.

[HereSince1628]

10. Because we still spend most of the money!

Ya jes wan us ta die so you can take it!

Get off the lawn, Kid!

[Urban Prairie]

11. The "turn on, tune in, drop out" generation

Should "get lost, fuck off, drop dead" as soon as they are no longer an asset to society, eh?

I have read as much by younger RWers on the internet.

[Mari333]

12. hahaha I intend to get really old and suck the teat of social security

and carry a 357 under my laprobe in my wheelchair and shoot people in the knees if they fuck with me.

[Lifelong Protester]

20. Danged! You stole my MO!!!

n/t

[Mari333]

25. hahahahahahaha

[BuelahWitch]

29. Train your doggies to go for the gonads Mari333!

:rofl: Show those young fucks who's boss! :hi:

[Mari333]

59. hahahaha 2 rottweilers can pull me around in my wheelchair

good idea!! hahahaha

[TexasObserver]

13. It's about the money.

Younger people are being played by the old GOPers who have long wanted to undercut Social Security, Medicare and SSI. This is a typical GOP sucker punch, and suckers are lining up to step into the punch.

Boomers have paid in for 40 years. They're not expecting money they didn't provide. They're expecting a small return of money they did pay in. Many will never see the money they paid in. Will a person who paid in the max for 35 years ever see all their money back? Of course not. They'll get back fewer dollars that buy much less than the dollars they contributed 30 years earlier.

[DURHAM D]

23. Exactly times ten.

They are buying into the rightwing bullshit.

All the monies I contributed to Medicare since 1966 was a very bad investment. I would like a refund for the amount I paid in - don't even want interest. Then I would buy private coverage - it would be cheaper for the remainder of my years.

[havocmom]

26. Yep. It's a divide and stay on the throats of them all technique by the top 1%

We keep falling for all the different versions of the tactic.

Every generation has it's saints and sinners, and regardless of the generation, the top tier will ALWAYS pit groups against each other. If we all got our shit together and cooperated, the top tier would be a tad uncomfortable. We have them surrounded, but they keep us too busy fighting each other to notice.

It wasn't the boomers who spent all the money the boomers paid into Social Security. Now the feeble rich are worried about the theft being notices. That's a big why.

[Juche]

31. I agree, that happens

Social security is solvent and will be for a long time. Even with minor changes it can be run until 2075 or later and still provide 100% of benefits.

Medicare is a different story. The tax rate may need to be raised from 2.9% to 9.0% or so just to keep it solvent. With SS, something minor like a 10% tax hike (12.4% up to 14%), or lifting the cap a bit would fix it for 50-100 years. With medicare, there is no cap (luckily Clinton got rid of it in 1993) and we may need to triple the tax rate to keep it solvent.

I do hope people don't fall for the divide/conquer BS designed to destroy entitlement programs. But medicare (and health care in general) is a huge problem that needs to be addressed.

We need to rebuild health care to make it as cheap, accessible and reliable as possible.

[laughingliberal]

53. I see far too many on this alleged Democratic website falling for it, lately. nt

[johnaries]

41. Absolutely. You nailed it. nt

[DJ13]

14. The wealthy are afraid of increased taxes to pay for the older generation

They have the means to getting their message out due to their ownership of the MSM to influence the attitudes of the general populace against the increasing costs.

Remember that these are the same people who are only taxed at an aggregate rate of 16% (per Fortune mag), and yet they still cry like babies they pay too much.

[Orrex]

15. Good point!

In addition, when you hear Repubs say some variation of "we're passing on a massive debt to our grandchildren," what they're actually saying is "we don't ever want our families to have to pay taxes."

[DCKit]

16. Purely economic, plus they still have some $$$ left in those retirement accounts.

Not nearly as much as they did but, still.

It ain't over until the banks and Wall St. have EVERY penny.

[Warren Stupidity]

17. We have turned the planet into a plastic shit pile.

peace and love?

[madrchsod]

18. we did`t die before we got old.......

[DefenseLawyer]

21. Because "The Big Chill" was such an awful movie.

Boomers must pay for a long time for that one.

[taught_me_patience]

27. They got theirs

and don't seem to care they're leaving the next generation with crippling debt and a shitty environment.

[dflprincess]

39. Al Gore is a Boomer

a lot of Boomers have worked for the environment. And a lot of us have tried to fight against the wars that have caused the deficit.

[Mike 03]

32. Thank you all for participating in this poll, from the bottom of my heart. NT

[craigmatic]

40. because they're a self obsessed generation that only care about the now instead of the future as a

whole. They were pro-peace and love because it kept them safe during Vietnam and they turned around and voted for reagan when it was the next generation's chance to come up and experiment.

[johnaries]

42. May I remind you that Boomers began the environmental

movement?
Your statement may be true of a small percentage of boomers, but that's also true of every generation.

[craigmatic]

43. What else did they do? They also voted for a series of administraions that worked against it.

[Writer]

45. Actually, that's not quite true...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_movement

[Odin2005]

68. Rachel Carson was part of the Greatest Generation.

[laughingliberal]

55. Statistically inaccurate

Baby boomers were the only demographic that did not vote overwhelmingly for Reagan. He did not get a majority of the boomer vote.

[earth mom]

44. Other-Boomers are being unfairly scapegoated by a bunch of whiny ass spoiled punks. nt.

[Odin2005]

65. Oh look, the pot calling the kettle black.

:rofl:

[saltpoint]

47. ...because they had Billy Jack.

[demigoddess]

48. because we were stood up to the establishment and said the

emperor has no clothes. Time to do it again people.

[DonCoquixote]

49. Other

Three parter
A) because while there are a lot of Boomers who really DID do all the wonderful "hippie" stuff, there were many who frankly got very selfish. Granted, there are Boomers who stuck to their flowers/guns, and who still do, but many a Hippie became a yuppie. Also, while you can say "but the greatest generation elected Ray Gun", they cannot deny that, with their numbers, they could have squashed W. like a bug. Many, like their parents before them, see the younger generations as punks, unworthy of them.

B) Because the later generations, my own Gen X included, tend to be negative and cynical, thus they will fall for the crap about social security needing to be cut. They do not think they will see a penny of it, and sadly, they tend to bring about a self-fulfilling prophecy. They are too cynical for their own good, which makes them get paved over and prone to manipulation.

But neither a) nor B) really mean anything because of C)

C) the spinmeisters who run the country know this is exactly the button that needs to get pushed to make sure the boomers and younger generations keep fighting, especially because they know that NO generation is willing to look at itself as anything but sacred. Meanwhile, the right wing unites both young and old with that vile Religous crap! They play the fiddle while we burn.

[laughingliberal]

56. +1000 nt

[slipslidingaway]

54. Quite simply their numbers, the effect they have on private insurance,

Medicare, housing, consumption (was 70% of GDP) jobs, Social Security ...

They play a big role in any policy that is introduced.

[laughingliberal]

57. I'm going with it's part of the planned theft of the SS funds

so the wealthy will not have to pay their share. The payroll taxes were raised to levels far above what was needed under Reagan and the surplus has been used to fund those things which were once funded by a progressive tax system. Now, it's time to pay us back and the propaganda is all about making it acceptable to steal our money. Never mind this will, also, screw everyone after us, too, as they are also stealing theirs. As long as they have a group to blame and hate it will not occur to them until they reach that age. And it will be too late.

[PatSeg]

58. I can't believe the comments here

that put everyone of a generation into one category. I've never done that with my parents generation or my children's generation. I don't expect anyone to do that about my generation, many of whom championed civil rights, conservation, and women's rights. Many worked to end the draft and promoted peace. Some of the younger folks here might want to brush up on their history before they cast stones on everyone born at a certain period. Many things you take for granted were brought to you by Baby Boomers and pre-boomers.

[pecwae]

60. Other.

Replies # 6 and #10.

[BlueIris]

61. Other: they must perpetually be the center of the universe.

Can't give up the spotlight to save their lives (or that of their children.)

[Odin2005]

69. Yep, they think of themselves as the "Crown of Creation".

[GoCubsGo]

62. Other: They are the latest scapegoat for all that is wrong with this country

If people actually recognized the causes of our country's ills, they would be coming after the real instigators of our problems with torches, pitchforks, tar, and feathers. But, since the instigators control our mainstream media and our government, they get to choose the scapegoats. Today it is the Baby Boomers.

[DonCoquixote]

63. It's not just the Boomers

Or have you not heard the term "slackers" i.e. the term used to slander gen X. The meme behind that was that we are the reason their trickle down theories do not work, despite the fact that we cranked out Google, Yahoo and other companies.

Let me be blunt, we are all in the same damn stew pot. On the right side of the isle, they do not bicker about generations as much, because all, from those too young to think, to those conservative types that should have died years ago, will all salute the Cross. Sadly, Religion makes a great mortar, which protects the castles of the rich.

[Odin2005]

66. They refuse to grow up and act like adults

Their heads are stuck in 1970 and pretend they are still young when they need to start acting like wise elders.

[KoKo]

70. Disgusting Post...Another TRASH of a Generation that Spans almost 20 Years...

And folks keep after it as if it's some MONOLITHIC GENERATION. DISGUSTING!