Boomers in peril
Which is a good place for them to be, says Colby Cosh:
For the children of the Baby Boomers, there is a special delight in watching the world economy shake itself to pieces like a two-dollar pram at this particular moment. Our elders, who bought prosperity and nice pensions at our expense and pulled the ripcords on their “Freedom 55″ parachutes without leaving any behind in the passenger cabin, are getting it in the neck just when they thought a secure old age, with money for travel and expensive pastimes, was a safe bet. I’m willing to watch my meagre savings suffer from market turmoil in exchange for contemplating the dilemma of those who are now between 55 and 65.
These are people who started their working lives at a time when labour unions were strong, taxpayers outnumbered retirees nearly 10 to one, housing was as cheap as borscht and the basic personal exemption covered most of a living wage. They congratulated themselves on building an elaborate “social safety net” at the expense of their children. Their great numbers have allowed their preferences and superstitions to dominate culture and media. They’re the ones who burned through tonnes of pot and then launched a War on Drugs when they grew bored with it; they drove mighty-bowelled Mustangs and Thunderbirds in their youth, and only started worrying about the environment when they no longer needed a capacious backseat to fornicate in; they espoused and took full advantage of sexual liberation, but were safely hors de combat by the time AIDS reared its head. The first time I see one shopping for dog food, I doubt I’ll be able to suppress a laugh.
Disclosure: I am fifty-five, and all I ever got in the back seat was carsick.
fillyjonk »
26 February 2009 · 7:22 am
Wow. Schadenfreude, much?
While I admit my share of annoyance at the “We were the GREATEST GENERATION, EVER, maaaaan!” ads that seem to be aiming at the baby boomers (but likely written by cynical gen-xers), I really can’t feel anything but sadness to think of a group of people who are NOT getting the retirement they hoped for. Not just because they’re, you know, fellow human beings, but also because if it’s bad for the ‘Boomers, it will probably be even worse for my cohort.
CGHill »
26 February 2009 · 7:28 am
The Greatest Generation, of course, was the one just before the Boomers: just ask Tom Brokaw.
I fault the Boomers mostly for what seems to be a pervasive sense of entitlement, something I seem to lack myself.
McGehee »
26 February 2009 · 9:34 am
Many Boomers grew up thinking a challenge was what college professors and Madison Avenue told them they had to live up to, a presumption of worth that was always potential, and which they were supposed to develop merely by an act of will, without having to experience any setbacks.
Now in their near-dotage they’re finding out what “challenge” really means, with limited time and limited resources character-wise to meet it.
To “the soft bigotry of low expectations” I think we can add “the unintended cruelty of overinflated expectations.”
fillyjonk »
26 February 2009 · 10:27 am
McGehee:
Your first paragraph sounds oddly like complaints leveled at the “Millennials” (the generation after mine). (And I’d actually be more tending to stereotype the Millennials that way than the Boomers – after all, they’re the “Everyone gets a trophy for participating!” generation).
Of course, I’m Gen X, which makes me a cynical slacker who never moved out of my parents’ basement. Or so some would say.
I suspect there’s no shortage of “me me me” and “I DESERVE it” attitude in every generation…
McGehee »
26 February 2009 · 12:08 pm
Whereas I’m a late Boomer, who grew up watching the elder members of “my generation” (an entirely media-created notion) throw tantrums every night on the news because they didn’t want their idyllic lives interrupted by things like war or responsibility.
I suppose it was easier to see the early Boomers acting that way from closer up. GenX and “Millennial” kids wouldn’t have had the front-row seat at the show that people my age had.
As for the “Millennials” being spoiled rotten, every bad show has to have an equally bad sequel.
Jeff Brokaw »
26 February 2009 · 3:53 pm
Huh. I hadn’t really thought about it quite like this before.
But if this means Bill Ayers and his crowd lose big chunks of cash, mark me down as a “hell yeah!”
sya »
26 February 2009 · 7:50 pm
I’ve heard Tom Brokaw ramble on and on about the Greatest Generation at a commencement ceremony–one big advertisement for his book. Fortunately, this wasn’t at my commencement, but still.
Anyways, I think the notion of “Boomers” etc. really don’t pertain to entire generations per se–more like certain people at a particular socioeconomic class. Kind of like Goths or Punks or Geeks, but more age specific. My parents are in the Boomer age-range, but other than that, they definitely are not the whiners that commentators making generalizations make them out to be.
McGehee »
26 February 2009 · 8:39 pm
My generalizations are meant to apply only to those specific individuals who fit the description. ;-)