Baby boomers ruined America

[Anonymous]

its more like the resources are running out.

[Anonymous]

I go back and forth on this topic, to be honest.

I think there are things the Boomers (collectively) have done wrong. They turned housing, for example, into an investment bubble.

On the other hand, I know plenty of Boomers who had their pensions taken away due to companies declaring bankruptcy.

But I think a lot of this anger/resentment toward the Boomers comes from the sense that the American Dream has turned out to be a Pyramid Scheme, and they seem to be (in general) the generation cashing out.

[Anonymous]

The baby boom hater is back! Where ya been, dude?! Been a while!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I go back and forth on this topic, to be honest.

I think there are things the Boomers (collectively) have done wrong. They turned housing, for example, into an investment bubble.

On the other hand, I know plenty of Boomers who had their pensions taken away due to companies declaring bankruptcy.

But I think a lot of this anger/resentment toward the Boomers comes from the sense that the American Dream has turned out to be a Pyramid Scheme, and they seem to be (in general) the generation cashing out.

They did this how, exactly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I go back and forth on this topic, to be honest.

I think there are things the Boomers (collectively) have done wrong. They turned housing, for example, into an investment bubble.

On the other hand, I know plenty of Boomers who had their pensions taken away due to companies declaring bankruptcy.

But I think a lot of this anger/resentment toward the Boomers comes from the sense that the American Dream has turned out to be a Pyramid Scheme, and they seem to be (in general) the generation cashing out.

Uh, that's where you're wrong. It's our parents who cashed out and who had the great retirements. A lot of the baby boomers are headed into retirement without much or any savings and they are going to find retirement really hard but their parents had the advantage of company pensions and a more stable economy and manufacturing jobs that paid working class folks well and had good benefits compared to the poorly paid service jobs that abound now.

I see it happening in my own family. MIL just passed away. She had a decent pension through her late husband and really good health insurance. Meanwhile I have a sibling who is struggling due to a debilitating health problem with no pension waiting, no 401k, and no retiree health insurance. It's not gonna be pretty but our economy has structurally changed over the last few decades and this is the way it's going to be for more and more of us - not just the baby boomers.

No, it was the previous generation who made out like bandits in their retirement. But then the baby boomers are so more convenient to hate, so I don't expect most people to get that. Too bad, because while you're hating on us, you're ignoring structural changes in the economy that are going to hurt you. You maybe could do something to prevent that if you refocused your anger to the proper source but - as I said, that wouldn't be convenient.

And, btw, how was it the boomers who turned the housing market into a bubble? There were lots of Gen Xs and younger out there in the credit default swap business and pushing subprime loans off on people who shouldn't have gotten them. I noticed a wide age-range among the various players in that debacle.

[Anonymous]

Boomers have had zero hardship in their extended lives compared to any generation of the human race. Therefore they have no character , wisdom or value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I go back and forth on this topic, to be honest.

I think there are things the Boomers (collectively) have done wrong. They turned housing, for example, into an investment bubble.

On the other hand, I know plenty of Boomers who had their pensions taken away due to companies declaring bankruptcy.

But I think a lot of this anger/resentment toward the Boomers comes from the sense that the American Dream has turned out to be a Pyramid Scheme, and they seem to be (in general) the generation cashing out.

Hate to break it to you, but the boomers bought their houses decades before the bubble. They were 50-60 when the bubble started. They were not the ones taking out iffy mortgages. How on earth did it become their fault?

[Anonymous]

11:38 poster here.

Let me clarify, I don't hate Boomers. My parents are Boomers, and they have had their share of hardship.

That said, my parents are the first to say that a lot has gone wrong on their generation's watch. For example, the whole McMansion thing was primarily *started* under the Boomers.

I would also say that many Boomers have suffered from the elimination of pensions, but it's also primarily Boomers who did the eliminating (i.e. Boomers started the move toward 401(k)s and eliminating defined-benefit pensions as well as breaking unions).

I know I'm not explaining this well, but my point is that resentment is directed at Boomers because a lot of these big changes happened under their watch. That's not to say that those changes didn't and don't also hurt Boomers.

And yes, even the housing bubble. Boomers were in the leadership positions and in charge of the big banks when all of this started in the early 2000s. That's not to solely responsible. My point was a lot happened under their watch. No GenXer or younger was in charge of a lending institution in 2003. No GenXer or younger was in a position of power to determine housing policy in 2003. But of course, as real estate agents, loan officers, et cetera, GenXers and younger were still involved. But they weren't at the top.

In fact, most GenXers and younger were buying when housing prices were already inflated. They weren't/aren't the ones who came out on top of that pyramid. That's my point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go back and forth on this topic, to be honest.

I think there are things the Boomers (collectively) have done wrong. They turned housing, for example, into an investment bubble.

On the other hand, I know plenty of Boomers who had their pensions taken away due to companies declaring bankruptcy.

But I think a lot of this anger/resentment toward the Boomers comes from the sense that the American Dream has turned out to be a Pyramid Scheme, and they seem to be (in general) the generation cashing out.

Hate to break it to you, but the boomers bought their houses decades before the bubble. They were 50-60 when the bubble started. They were not the ones taking out iffy mortgages. How on earth did it become their fault?

Yes, but they were the ones cashing out. And they were in charge of the banks pushing the iffy mortgages. Most younger generations buying at that time were facing housing costs that had risen many times more than salaries. When Boomers were buying their first homes, housing costs relative to salaries made housing far more attainable, made saving for a down payment far more possible.

Again, this isn't entirely the fault of Boomers, but it happened while they were in the positions of power.

That's not to say a lot of Boomers haven't been hurt by this.

I think there are some statistics that show that right now what is going on is a huge transfer of wealth -- not from rich to poor but from young to old. This kind of transfer of wealth did not happen when the Boomers were young. They usually fared better than their parents and had some upward mobility. But that has shifted. That is why people have such disdain for the Boomers, even though I don't think one generation or set of people can be blamed (there are many factors that come into play).

But a lot of young people are seeing the cost of housing, college education, et cetera, rise disproportionately do salaries in a way that was not the case when the Boomers were young and starting out. That is where the disdain comes from.

But of course, I do also know Boomers who have also been hurt by changes (primarily the move away from pensions).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:11:38 poster here.

Let me clarify, I don't hate Boomers. My parents are Boomers, and they have had their share of hardship.

That said, my parents are the first to say that a lot has gone wrong on their generation's watch. For example, the whole McMansion thing was primarily *started* under the Boomers.

I would also say that many Boomers have suffered from the elimination of pensions, but it's also primarily Boomers who did the eliminating (i.e. Boomers started the move toward 401(k)s and eliminating defined-benefit pensions as well as breaking unions).

I know I'm not explaining this well, but my point is that resentment is directed at Boomers because a lot of these big changes happened under their watch. That's not to say that those changes didn't and don't also hurt Boomers.

And yes, even the housing bubble. Boomers were in the leadership positions and in charge of the big banks when all of this started in the early 2000s. That's not to solely responsible. My point was a lot happened under their watch. No GenXer or younger was in charge of a lending institution in 2003. No GenXer or younger was in a position of power to determine housing policy in 2003. But of course, as real estate agents, loan officers, et cetera, GenXers and younger were still involved. But they weren't at the top.

In fact, most GenXers and younger were buying when housing prices were already inflated. They weren't/aren't the ones who came out on top of that pyramid. That's my point.

The problems aren't the fault of the people who took out the shaky loans, it's the bankers who gave them out.

But when I looked up the founder and CEO of Countrywide Financial, the prime example of mortgage excess, it turns out he was born in 1938. So he was part of the "Greatest Generation". So Countrywide itself was not "under their watch". And when I look at the mortgage brokers approving these loans, I saw tons of Gen X'ers making fast money.

I'm a Gen X'er and frankly this "blame mommy and daddy" attitude is appalling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"First off, they inherited a world where US had around 50% of the global GDP. We are half that today. "

Very curious how it is the Baby Boomers' fault that the rest of the world is developing faster, or how that's a bad thing?

Clearly what we need to do is repeat the success of the second world war where the manufacturing apparatus of almost every other industrialized world is destroyed in a five year period WHILE AT THE SAME TIME a vast share of the U.S. government budget is spent constructing our manufacturing base AND training millions of former rural residents to work in those factories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"First off, they inherited a world where US had around 50% of the global GDP. We are half that today. "

Very curious how it is the Baby Boomers' fault that the rest of the world is developing faster, or how that's a bad thing?

Clearly what we need to do is repeat the success of the second world war where the manufacturing apparatus of almost every other industrialized world is destroyed in a five year period WHILE AT THE SAME TIME a vast share of the U.S. government budget is spent constructing our manufacturing base AND training millions of former rural residents to work in those factories.

You realize that the people who made the success of the second world war produced the baby boom, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:11:38 poster here.

Let me clarify, I don't hate Boomers. My parents are Boomers, and they have had their share of hardship.

That said, my parents are the first to say that a lot has gone wrong on their generation's watch. For example, the whole McMansion thing was primarily *started* under the Boomers.

I would also say that many Boomers have suffered from the elimination of pensions, but it's also primarily Boomers who did the eliminating (i.e. Boomers started the move toward 401(k)s and eliminating defined-benefit pensions as well as breaking unions).

I know I'm not explaining this well, but my point is that resentment is directed at Boomers because a lot of these big changes happened under their watch. That's not to say that those changes didn't and don't also hurt Boomers.

And yes, even the housing bubble. Boomers were in the leadership positions and in charge of the big banks when all of this started in the early 2000s. That's not to solely responsible. My point was a lot happened under their watch. No GenXer or younger was in charge of a lending institution in 2003. No GenXer or younger was in a position of power to determine housing policy in 2003. But of course, as real estate agents, loan officers, et cetera, GenXers and younger were still involved. But they weren't at the top.

In fact, most GenXers and younger were buying when housing prices were already inflated. They weren't/aren't the ones who came out on top of that pyramid. That's my point.

Wow. You really need a good course in research methods. You argue that the variable that explains all these problems is the generation to which various people belonged?!!!?? That's like me saying that Gen Xers and Millenials are responsible for all the mass school shootings because it is younger men who have committed them.

Seriously, pp, I usually try to avoid harsh judgments of people who seem to be trying to sort things out but you really have a problem understanding the difference between causation and correlation. And as I mentioned earlier, while you're trying to pin the blame on a whole generation, the financial industry will go on trying to avoid regulation so they can rake in the profits during the next bubble and laugh all the way to the bank. And by that time your generation will be in charge! And you know who I'll blame? Greedy people in the financial industry because they will be the ones to blame. Maybe lots of them will happen to be from your generation but I am smart enough to know that that is not the thing that explains their behavior.

BTW, I never had a McMansion, never wanted one, and I know lots of boomers who feel the same way. But go on, just assign blame to a whole generation. You'll make the financial industry very happy.

[Anonymous]

the only thing that bothers me about boomers is boomer nostalgia. sorry, half of what you like sucked.

[Anonymous]

Agreed!