Anonymous
Post 10/08/2012 17:50     Subject: Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:this was a terrific article and I'm surprised by the various replies consistent mostly in their denials. I study economic data and if anything the author understates the crisis ahead of us. If my grandparents could fight wars for us, I would hope we could take a bit less social security and stop looking to the govt (a recent phenomenon) to solve our problems for us. I wish we'd lower the voting age to 12 and let our kids, who will have to pay for our spending, vote in a new crowd of pols.


The issue is not whether the country faces economic crisis. The problem the posters have is with blaming mommy and daddy for it. Really, it comes down to this: we are jealous that they grew up in a boom time, bitter that life is harder for us. And we blame them for a demographic trend created by their parents, not them.
Yes, I'm a boomer and I'm prepared to sacrifice some to fix social security if asked to do so for a plan that will work. I'm not doing it for Romney because his plan is smoke and mirrors but I'd be glad to put off social security for a few years longer, take less when I retire, or pay more through the payroll tax now. But don't expect me to roll over for Romney/Ryan's master plan to give everyone (especially the very rich) enormous tax cuts while giving us vague promises that they'll replace the revenue somehow. Such bullshit! Something a 12-year-old would fall for!

And let's go back to this allegation that we grew up in boom times. We middle of the pack boomers graduated from high school and college into stagflation in the 70s and then endured Reagan's recession in the early 80s - which got a hold of the rust belt where I lived then and never really left. The only boom times I remember were for a few years during the 90s and another few years during the aughts. And, ahem, I do believe there were other generations who also got the benefits of those boom times. I don't recall there being an age limitation during the tech boom which stipulated that only boomers could be hired - if anything it was the younger adults who benefited from the tech boom.


OK now you are going to force me to take the other side. If you graduated say 1975:

The dow was 632. It has gone up 21x since your graduation and the average unemployment rate that you experienced is 6.5%. Inflation averaged 4% but really 3% during your lifetime because the extra point was due to inflation of the late 70's when you didn't have much in assets to be affected.

I appreciate that the late 70's and early 80's were tough - I was there, too. But overall we have benefitted from a big economic expansion. We were in our prime earning years when the market went on a tear, and that tear was from around 1982 until 2000. Look at the DJIA graph and you will see what I mean.

So in short, I believe it is bad logic to blame the boomers for a demographic trend and a retirement system created by their parents. But over our working years, we have had many more ups than downs.
Anonymous
Post 10/08/2012 17:02     Subject: Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:this was a terrific article and I'm surprised by the various replies consistent mostly in their denials. I study economic data and if anything the author understates the crisis ahead of us. If my grandparents could fight wars for us, I would hope we could take a bit less social security and stop looking to the govt (a recent phenomenon) to solve our problems for us. I wish we'd lower the voting age to 12 and let our kids, who will have to pay for our spending, vote in a new crowd of pols.


The issue is not whether the country faces economic crisis. The problem the posters have is with blaming mommy and daddy for it. Really, it comes down to this: we are jealous that they grew up in a boom time, bitter that life is harder for us. And we blame them for a demographic trend created by their parents, not them.
Yes, I'm a boomer and I'm prepared to sacrifice some to fix social security if asked to do so for a plan that will work. I'm not doing it for Romney because his plan is smoke and mirrors but I'd be glad to put off social security for a few years longer, take less when I retire, or pay more through the payroll tax now. But don't expect me to roll over for Romney/Ryan's master plan to give everyone (especially the very rich) enormous tax cuts while giving us vague promises that they'll replace the revenue somehow. Such bullshit! Something a 12-year-old would fall for!

And let's go back to this allegation that we grew up in boom times. We middle of the pack boomers graduated from high school and college into stagflation in the 70s and then endured Reagan's recession in the early 80s - which got a hold of the rust belt where I lived then and never really left. The only boom times I remember were for a few years during the 90s and another few years during the aughts. And, ahem, I do believe there were other generations who also got the benefits of those boom times. I don't recall there being an age limitation during the tech boom which stipulated that only boomers could be hired - if anything it was the younger adults who benefited from the tech boom.
Anonymous
Post 10/08/2012 16:13     Subject: Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
Anonymous wrote:this was a terrific article and I'm surprised by the various replies consistent mostly in their denials. I study economic data and if anything the author understates the crisis ahead of us. If my grandparents could fight wars for us, I would hope we could take a bit less social security and stop looking to the govt (a recent phenomenon) to solve our problems for us. I wish we'd lower the voting age to 12 and let our kids, who will have to pay for our spending, vote in a new crowd of pols.


The issue is not whether the country faces economic crisis. The problem the posters have is with blaming mommy and daddy for it. Really, it comes down to this: we are jealous that they grew up in a boom time, bitter that life is harder for us. And we blame them for a demographic trend created by their parents, not them.
Anonymous
Post 10/08/2012 07:47     Subject: Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
For a very, very entertaining take on this, may I suggest Boomsday by the incomparable Christopher Buckley.
Anonymous
Post 10/07/2012 23:22     Subject: Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
this was a terrific article and I'm surprised by the various replies consistent mostly in their denials. I study economic data and if anything the author understates the crisis ahead of us. If my grandparents could fight wars for us, I would hope we could take a bit less social security and stop looking to the govt (a recent phenomenon) to solve our problems for us. I wish we'd lower the voting age to 12 and let our kids, who will have to pay for our spending, vote in a new crowd of pols.
Anonymous
Post 10/07/2012 22:12     Subject: Re:Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
Anonymous wrote:A fact of life that the children bear the burden of their fathers sins. No free rides and in the end someone will pay. Maybe if they are religious they will worry their time will come after they leave this earth. Eh, who am I kidding? Greedy, selfish people have no conscience.


How old are you, and how much have you saved for your retirement?
Anonymous
Post 10/07/2012 21:52     Subject: Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
So tired of this massive generalizations about millions of people. According to this article I'm responsible for George Bush's tax cuts because we're in the same generation even though I voted against that asshole. Then that means my parents are at fault because they didn't secure equal rights for women so I could have had a childhood full of opportunity rather than restriction. It was horrible to be an athletic, adventurous girl in the 50s. Let me now feel sorry for myself and blame it all on my parents.
Anonymous
Post 10/07/2012 19:08     Subject: Re:Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A fact of life that the children bear the burden of their fathers sins. No free rides and in the end someone will pay. Maybe if they are religious they will worry their time will come after they leave this earth. Eh, who am I kidding? Greedy, selfish people have no conscience.
Then the people at fault are the baby boomers' parents because they're the generation that was SO spoiled as to want large families following World War II. Those people were TOTALLY self-involved!


Exactly. Are the boomers to be faulted for not wanting 3 or 4 kids? How many of us want to volunteer for that?
Anonymous
Post 10/07/2012 19:07     Subject: Re:Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
Anonymous wrote:A fact of life that the children bear the burden of their fathers sins. No free rides and in the end someone will pay. Maybe if they are religious they will worry their time will come after they leave this earth. Eh, who am I kidding? Greedy, selfish people have no conscience.


You are aware that in entirety of history, the elderly always depended on their children in later years, right? right?
Anonymous
Post 10/07/2012 17:01     Subject: Re:Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
Anonymous wrote:A fact of life that the children bear the burden of their fathers sins. No free rides and in the end someone will pay. Maybe if they are religious they will worry their time will come after they leave this earth. Eh, who am I kidding? Greedy, selfish people have no conscience.
Then the people at fault are the baby boomers' parents because they're the generation that was SO spoiled as to want large families following World War II. Those people were TOTALLY self-involved!
Anonymous
Post 10/07/2012 16:34     Subject: Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
I will say I have thought about the parasitic aspect with my own parents. They ar4e 65; I am 40. My dad is wealthy. But by god, he is going to get EVERY CENT of his social security, even if that means crippling taxes for his young children (my half siblings) who are around 20 years old. I can take some of the blame for the current situation since I've been voting since age 18. But for a person who doesn't really need their entitlements to be willing to cripple the younger generation out of "principle" - or spite (towards the govt) makes me sad.
Anonymous
Post 10/06/2012 11:38     Subject: Re:Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
A fact of life that the children bear the burden of their fathers sins. No free rides and in the end someone will pay. Maybe if they are religious they will worry their time will come after they leave this earth. Eh, who am I kidding? Greedy, selfish people have no conscience.
Anonymous
Post 10/06/2012 08:46     Subject: Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
At points in the article I thought the author was intentionally setting himself up as a straw man in order to advance opinions he attributed to his father.
Anonymous
Post 10/05/2012 20:36     Subject: Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
That article is nuts. It points out that boomers were born into a period of economic expansion, but does not credit them with any of that expansion. Then it points out that the next generation lives in tough economic times and decides it is the boomers fault with the most tenuous logic.
Anonymous
Post 10/05/2012 12:05     Subject: Generational Warfare: The Case Against Parasitic Baby Boomers
This is an interesting piece, albiet a bit controversial. Have to say, it's a fairly accurate, especially in this town where an MA is the new BA.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/features/restoration-calls/my-father-the-parasite-20121004?page=1