I shared a piece titled “GOAT” on August 5, 2021. I wrote about the generation known as the “Greatest Generation.” The generation that sacrificed and fought heroically in World War II. In my article, I discussed what made this generation so special, but I also highlighted aspects of this generation and our society at the time that were problematic. It was crucial for me to write an article that avoided the temptation to engage in generational trash talking.
I bring up this article because I recently watched a New York Times video article featuring younger Americans expressing disdain and disrespect for all members of the Boomer Generation https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000010436284/thanks-a-lot-boomers.html?smid=url-share. The participants in this video proceeded to lay everything wrong with the world today at the feet of the Boomer Generation, with a self-confidence, dare I say arrogance, that is incongruous with the lack of in-depth knowledge and critical thinking skills to understand how we arrived here societally.
The arguments these people use to make their case against the Boomer Generation reveal a disturbing lack of historical knowledge and perspective. Some of the statements exhibit toxic levels of narcissism and privilege that are very concerning. Notice how most of their complaints are based on their personal material grievances.
One commentator complains that after World War II, Americans born from 1946 to 1964 should protest themselves, “Americans born after World War II were handed the world on a silver platter.” Cheap college, cheap housing. Abundant opportunity America was an escalator. “You just had to stand on it.”
If we were able to take a time machine back and get on this escalator that they cited many Americans would find themselves trying to go up on the down escalator. American-style apartheid kept Black people off the escalator, and unemployment was high. From 1946 to 1964, the unemployment rate was under 4 percent three times, and it ranged between 4 and 6.6 percent for the remaining years. The highest poverty rate on record was 22 percent in the 1950s, and the lowest was 10.5 percent in 2019. This escalator, as described, never existed.
What did exist was a governing principle that those Americans who benefited the most economically from America’s economy had an obligation to contribute to the American system of governance at a level requisite to the financial benefits they received. The top federal tax levels never dipped below 70 percent. It was during the Reagan administration that the top federal rate dropped to 28 percent. During Reagan’s first election, Baby Boomers, aged 18 to 34, were eligible to vote. Thirty-nine percent of the eligible Boomers voted in 1980, while the national average was 59.3 percent. The 1980 Boomer vote was virtually even between Carter and Reagan. A more telling statistic is that 81 percent of white voters supported Ronald Reagan, suggesting that this was not necessarily a generational issue. This overwhelming support for a President who cut the top federal tax rate from 70 to 28 percent contributed significantly to the destructive income inequality that exists today.
One commentator stated that, “the vast majority of you ended up wealthier than your parents. The Lord knows it wasn’t because you were smarter and worked harder.”
Imagine a world without iPhones, high-definition TV, GPS, and the pill, amongst other advances. As I stated earlier, poverty rates were higher during the 1960s and 1970s. “Just saying”
“The Bush years were peak Boomer. In 2001, when the government’s coffers were overflowing, you did what you always did. You passed a giant tax cut, dividing the money amongst yourselves. In 2003, you did it again. And in 2006, you were all in for a big increase in government, for the first boomer retirees.”
“Can you believe there are more benefits for Boomers? More tax cuts for boomers. And borrowed money to make up the difference. Over the past quarter-century, you’ve put almost $30 trillion on the national credit card on behalf of future generations stuck with the bill. What’s your problem? What’s your problem? “You’ve been an electoral powerhouse since the 80s, when presented with a choice between protecting your interest or investing in a better future for your children, you usually chose yourselves more benefits for boomers, more tax cuts for Boomers, and borrowed money to make up the difference.”
Contrary to the contentions in these quotes that the federal budget surplus achieved by the Clinton administration was used as a giant tax cut for Boomers, this is false on its face. The legislation was not actually in line with public priorities, such as securing Social Security and Medicare benefits for future generations of recipients. All these tax cuts cited were disproportionately received by the wealthiest Americans. Thirty-six percent of the tax cuts were distributed to the richest 1 percent, a share almost identical to that of the bottom 80 percent. The Bush tax cuts did not directly benefit Social Security or Medicare. It contributed to the national debt, which are widely considered by economists to have
negatively impacted the overall fiscal health of the federal government, which indirectly affected the long-term solvency outlook for both programs.
“You tree-hugging hippies championed environmentalism. But what is your legacy? A world that keeps burning more carbon and a planet that keeps getting hotter. Instead of confronting the problem, you embrace recycling, a con game that allows people to pretend they care about the planet without doing anything even a little difficult. Like using fewer plastic bottles.”
Many of the comments made by the people interviewed in this video can be attributed to the digestion and regurgitation of misinformation and a lack of information; however, the comments about environmentalism are insulting and ignorant. Most major environmental legislation was passed between 1963 through 1980.
The Clean Air Act
The National Environmental Policy Act
Clean Water Act
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Endangered Species Act
The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
The Comprehensive Environmental Response Ability Compensation, and Liability Act
The first Earth Day was commemorated on April 22, 1970. Previous generations, such as the Baby Boomers, were responsible for more than just promoting the use of fewer plastic bottles, and to this day, they continue to represent a significant number of volunteers and contributors to resolving environmental issues.
Progress is a cross-generational phenomenon. A society will always have issues that need to be addressed, problems that require resolution, and injustices that need to be rectified. It is the charge of each generation to carry the ball forward. Certainly, there are things that the generation that spanned 1946–1964 got wrong and made mistakes, but the true test of a generation’s worth is its ability to identify issues and problems and address them. That is the obligation of every generation. It is time to stop whining and engaging in a generational pissing contest.
Thank goodness that the people interviewed in this video are not reflective of most younger people I come in contact with.
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