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Sunday, August 31, 2014

Old Age: Boomers suffer most

I am morally opposed to euthanasia, but sometimes, the bloody Baby Boomers really make it a terribly tempting proposition. Now they have discovered that they are the first generation in human history to grow old:
Every generation gets old, but for those who were told we’d be forever young, it just seems more painful. “It’s a huge issue,” says Dr. Anna Fels, a psychiatrist in New York. “I see so many who are trying to adjust their lives to this new phase, which for some reason none of us really pictured ourselves going through.”

Why didn’t we? We knew that eventually more people around us would be younger rather than older. But it still rankles. The image of a room filled with younger people is the perfect symbol.

“It’s an important marker for this generation because it reminds them that they are now the ones closest to obsolescence, the ones the world can do without,” says Dr. Roger Gould, a psychiatrist and the author of “Transformations,” a book about age-related adult problems.
Yes, the world can certainly do without them. In fact, the world would have been a good deal better off without their generational peculiarities. A fair amount of the blood that will be shed by our children and our grandchildren is going to be on their hands. They never pictured themselves going through what EVERY PREVIOUS HUMAN GENERATION HAD for the obvious reason that they are, collectively speaking, idiots.

The pathetic thing is that they are STILL trying to be cool. "When I was asked in a sociology class what music I listened to, I hesitantly named Sam Cooke, thinking I would be stared at with stumped pity. In fact, many voices shouted out, “Love Sam Cooke!”"

Sure they did. I'm sure vast quantities of college students in 2014 listen to an now-obscure soul singer who died 50 years ago. Why, it's amazing, but even the younger generations think you're the epitome of a hep cat with a bad hip, Granddaddy-O! These narcissistic buffoons can't even grow old and die with any grace. They'll be sitting in hospital beds drooling on themselves, hooked up to machines, and if you lean in, put your ear up to their lips, and listen closely, you'll be able to hear them whisper important words of the life-affirming wisdom they have acquired over the course of their long lives: "Eighty is the new twenty! Hospices are totally happening places these days!"

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287 Comments:

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Anonymous Laz August 31, 2014 8:01 PM  

"Since 1973, Boomers aborted 25% of my generation."

Don't forget 70% of all those abortions were by African-Americans.

Anonymous kfg August 31, 2014 8:12 PM  

@ rumpole5:

Even the best of men must have been gripped somewhere by their mothers when she dipped them in the river.

Anonymous VD August 31, 2014 8:15 PM  

Own up, Vox. Your senior citizenhood looms. Expect AARP flyers to begin arriving any day, now.

There are few things more ironic than listening to a Boomer, in denial about his mortality, lecturing a GenX about GENX's supposedly looming senior citizenhood. You're old. I'm not. And unlike you, I will know when I am and I won't be in shock or denial about it.

From 40 on is old to people who are still looking for 25.

So what? I'm not a Boomer. I'm not still trying to pretend I'm 25.

Anonymous Just_Michael August 31, 2014 8:40 PM  

lol,..if you knew my health history, you'd know how ridiculous it is to suggest that I'm in denial about my mortality.

Me and the reaper have been on a first name basis for quite some time, now.

,...and,...you're not a "boomer".

So what?

Was there some magical transformation that took place on the day that the boomer generation ended and Gen X began?

Did humanity undergo a fundamental change?

Hell no,...and you know it.

All of this "boomer this and boomer that" bullshit is just that,....bullshit.

I don't like the way the world has gone either.

But it's not the fault of just one generation.

In fact, it's not the fault of any generation.

You know as well as I do that the people have damn little to do with what has transpired.

The elite has set the stage and the elite has caused the problems,...and the fact that you're trying to pin it on your fellow citizens of *any* generation brings your credibility into question.

In other words,.."you know better"

So what's your agenda?

Anonymous Servant August 31, 2014 8:44 PM  

As someone who was born in 1938 (no I am not yet in an old folks home because running a 100 acre farm, pastoring a church, and traveling as an adjunct instructor of a professional society - automation, won't allow it). I look with somewhat of an amused eye at this topic and the comment therein. As far as I am concerned, my generation took what had been given them and screwed it up as did each succeeding generation whatever their letter assignment.

We have come a long way from the culture and beliefs of our founding fathers and for what? Twitter, Facebook? alphabet news?

It is apparent to me that the real cultural divide is between those who live in rural areas and those who reside in the larger cities. Those in the large cities are dependent upon government for services, most cannot (I didn't say all) survive without government services, and there are more voters in cities than on the farm.

You may talk of your boomers, Gen X or Y or Millennials, but each generation has moved farther from the God of the Bible. I see a great awakening as the only hope, but looking around, too much human flotsam, narcissism, and greed. Apparently historically it has always been that way.

But not to worry, pretty soon me and my observations will be gone; and eventually, you too. Gone to the world thereafter where no tear will fall....

Blogger James Dixon August 31, 2014 8:58 PM  

> And obligingly proving my point, along with most of the other commenters on this thread. When you get to 70, if ever – and are faced finally with the certainty that you too will soon die – perhaps you will see things a little differently, develop a little depth, a little courtesy, perhaps?

I was born in 1958, The boomers have always claimed me as one of their own, even though we have nothing in common. So speaking as a fellow boomer of 56, hoping to someday make 70: The boomer generation is worthy of nothing but contempt.

Again, if what I see here is an example of the "superiority" of later "generations", I must say I'm not impressed. At all.

No one cares whether you're impressed or not. No one cares what you think. You're not the center of the universe, even if you were always told you were.

> You're convinced you'll handle it oh-so-much better than we are.

Everyone else has always handled better than you are, and the gen-xer's and millenials certainly will,

> Really? Nietszsche was a Boomer?

Nietszsche didn't print it on the front page of the NY Times, idiot.

God, there are times I hate "my" generation so much...

Blogger rumpole5 August 31, 2014 9:12 PM  

Neitche was NOT a Boomer. Nor was Pope John XXIII. Don't blame the dilution of received Christianity on us.

Anonymous kfg August 31, 2014 9:20 PM  

"Nietszsche didn't print it on the front page of the NY Times, idiot."

No, it was the editors of the NY Times who did that, although the editor of Liberty beat them to it.

Blogger Matthew August 31, 2014 10:07 PM  

"Again, if what I see here is an example of the "superiority" of later "generations", I must say I'm not impressed."

James, you're a regular here. You are likely familiar with the handles of many regular commenters who are Gen X. Have you seen them commenting on this thread?

We're the can't-be-bothered generation. Can't be bothered to care about your causes. Except that we're quietly, behind the scenes, raising children the way our parents did not, living our lives intentionally, and generally preparing for the storm.

Anonymous Morningjams August 31, 2014 10:36 PM  

I'm Gen X, and I have no problem saying (admitting?) my generation sucks balls. I've yet to meet a Millennial who would bristle at being told Millennials as a group suck balls. Boomers are pathetically defensive. The rabbity, collectivist mindset prevents them from admitting their many, egregious, civilization-destroying faults. The sooner they're on the other side of the grass, the better. Protip: if you're a non-rabbit, non-collectivist Boomer, this comment (obviously) does not apply to you personally. Try to keep it together.

Anonymous Morningjams August 31, 2014 10:47 PM  

Servant, the rural/urban divide is a useful predictor of behavior patterns, but even that isn't as accurate as using generations for predictors. For example, the rural meth epidemic we've been seeing all across flyover country is a Millennial phenomenon. You see it start to taper off as you survey early Millennials and late Gen X'ers. Meth isn't as interesting to people my age; we're more drawn to cocaine (UMC/MC) or pot (spanning all classes).

Anonymous JI August 31, 2014 10:47 PM  

The boomer generation has had a lot of negatives, but also a lot of positives. Think of the technological and scientific advances made by that generation. Now look at Vox's generation; fewer negatives, perhaps, but certainly fewer positives.

Anonymous Obviously Obvious August 31, 2014 10:48 PM  

“The specific claim is that your generation of idiot narcissists grew up thinking that you'd never die and that you'd be forever young, while my generation did not.”

“Generation X has never thought it was going to live forever.”

If you are going to make this self-aggrandizing statement, you better offer specific evidence noting individually and collectively of Generation X’s lack of commitment in this regard.


“But, unlike a Boomer, I don't pretend to be younger than I am.”

You can only speak about yourself in this regard, and your friends who have also made reference to this data point. This anecdotal evidence does NOT automatically equate to an overall characteristic of Gen X.


"So what? I'm not a Boomer. I'm not still trying to pretend I'm 25."

And in modern society, men over the age of 40 have been bombarded with messages and advertisements to reverse that aging process. Stay fit by burning 1000 calories...talk about beating the younger guys on the pitch...flirt with younger women...show how hot my wife is to all the fellas...divorce and live the bachelor life.

Narcissism is not exclusively reserved for the Boomers.

Blogger Unknown August 31, 2014 10:56 PM  

Artist: "This made me laugh. Those activist boomers who "saw through the lies" sure don't have a problem telling lies themselves or believing in other lies."

Context, Artist. We were discussing the election of Obama. When I pointed out that it was X-ers, not boomers, who put Obama office, Xer tried to deflect by blaming it on the lies of the boomer-controlled media.

The thing is, boomers read the same media, and, as evidenced by voting patterns, we didn't buy those lies. Whereas, according to Xer, GenX-ers swallowed them whole.

So boomers believed lies. X-ers believed lies. I guess the only thing left to argue about is which lies were worse.

Blogger Unknown August 31, 2014 11:01 PM  

VD: "unlike a Boomer, I don't pretend to be younger than I am."

So you're comparing your little self to a generalization? And it doesn't occur to you how irrational that argument is?

Blogger Danby August 31, 2014 11:08 PM  

My 3 eldest children are married. Between their three spouses there are 13 parents and step-parents, with God knows how many interim shack-ups and random encounters. One remembers being left home alone to watch his younger brothers in the evenings so Mom could go out and find some guy to buy her booze and get laid.

That was what my generation gave the younger generations. Those of us who didn't do it, didn't stop it, and we didn't call them on it. We excused it, in the name of self-fulfillment, a.k.a. selfishness. We still excuse it. So stop trying to justify our fucking cohort. There's no fucking excuse.

Anonymous Harsh August 31, 2014 11:14 PM  

So you're comparing your little self to a generalization? And it doesn't occur to you how irrational that argument is?

Stefani, do you see why you don't even understand the argument? Is there any wonder we hold your pathetic generation in contempt? You are a generation of children who've never grown up.

Blogger Unknown August 31, 2014 11:26 PM  

ThirdMonkey: "Since 1973, Boomers aborted 25% of my generation."

And what percentage of the next generation have X-ers aborted?

"Though they didn't invent them, boomers made infanticide, no-fault divorce, and recreational drug use mainstream."

And X-ers have done jackshit to UN-mainstream them. Which generation is it, again, that's busily mainstreaming pot?

If you truly want to raise a middle finger to boomers, the best - indeed, the only relevant - way to do that is to do things better than we did. Given how badly we screwed up, that shouldn't be too hard. Unfortunately, there's precious little evidence post-boomers are even trying.

Don't tell us how bad we were. Words mean nothing. SHOW us. Don't whine. Don't make excuses. Do it right.

Anonymous Anonymous August 31, 2014 11:34 PM  

Stefani's repeated rant, boiled down: Yeah, so I took a dump on your porch, so what? Why are you whining about it? That just makes you as bad as me. Stop whining and clean up my mess already.

Of course, the unstated part of that is: "Clean up our mess so there will be something to support us in our old age, because we sure didn't save anything for it when we were living large on credit and calling it bull markets."

Anonymous Morningjams August 31, 2014 11:35 PM  

Stefani, don't you think we've had enough examples of the tu quoque fallacy for one day? Give it a rest already.

Blogger rycamor August 31, 2014 11:35 PM  

Sure, Stefani. If you believe words mean nothing, then you must assume all your verbal flailing is pointless.

Hopefully those who who do assign meaning to words are profiting from this revealing interchange.

Blogger rycamor August 31, 2014 11:39 PM  

Note the tactic: Vox posts something that is not a logical argument--just a portrayal of a mindset, and an opinion thereof. Yet several Boomers raise their ire and cobble together all sorts of "logical" refutations to it when it is not something that is subject to refutation.

It will be funny to watch the contortions when Vox indeed does make a logical case, replete with statistics and an inescapable conclusion.

Anonymous kh123 August 31, 2014 11:44 PM  

Seems that "Get off my lawn"s not only bad form, but a lame response to being told that yes, the show's over, it's time to leave, and could you please relinquish your seat to the next ticket goer. Thank you.

Blogger Matthew September 01, 2014 12:03 AM  

Do we get to inherit your lawn, someday? Or will you just burn it down?

Anonymous Anonymous September 01, 2014 12:05 AM  

fuck you.... just saying.

and yeah, delete this, you sanctimonious pussy

Anonymous Harsh September 01, 2014 12:06 AM  

Don't tell us how bad we were. Words mean nothing. SHOW us. Don't whine. Don't make excuses. Do it right.

Such efforts are wasted on your waste of a generation. Make no mistake, we have no need nor duty to convince you boomers of anything. Your time is quickly growing to a close and the succeeding generations will try to right what you have wronged, but a man speaks his mind, and to let you twats off without a few verbal harangues wouldn't be right. You have a been a cancer on this society. Go quietly or go with your usual hysterical rants, but do go away.

Anonymous Harsh September 01, 2014 12:07 AM  

fuck you.... just saying.

Guy probably sat in his basement for hours thinking up that zinger.

Anonymous GracieLou September 01, 2014 12:12 AM  

I'm Gen-x married to a Boomer (he would be your atypical-type). We have a 13 year age difference but I rarely notice because we share many traditional values and also because Boomer-times loomed large and re-ran continuously. If I'd married a man 13 years younger we might have a problem as there is no Gen-x pop culture repeat. How many times have you heard the Flock of Seagulls on a "Classic Rock" radio station? And yet old "Black Water" just keeps on rolling all of 40 years now.

Anyway there is ONE area where the husband and I clearly generation gap and it very much relates to Jeff's comment, " ...But what I really resent is the Sexual Revolution, the single most destructive thing to happen to America in 50 years. Totally their fault" Remember the show "Swingers" that came out a few years ago? The show was set during the swingin' 70's. My husband found this program fun and titillating. To me it was a tale of horror and dread. BECAUSE, he was an adult during the sexual revolution which he found fun and titillating. I was a child who got to live the destruction. Very few Gen-x or later folks will sympathize with your tough 50's childhood. It's a hard sell. A real hard sell.

Later generations haven't influenced much of anything. We were contracepted, aborted and abandoned out of significance. It kind of makes you cranky.

Also, we never had the luxury of "duck and cover." Thanks to Boomer lie busting we got the uglier nuclear story without even the hope of a fall-out shelter. Maybe now we aren't right in the head, but what can you do?

So I'm in my 40's and am already planning my old lady-hood. There is an elder lady I admire at church with who is quite elegant in her long skirts, sweater sets and long hair pinned up quite nicely. I don't believe she owns a motorcycle or has the Grateful dead tattooed on her ass or anything. She doesn't seem to aspire to "cool" nor does she appear to be "freaked-out" or shocked by her status, so yeah, that's the direction I'm heading for.

Anonymous Brain Death September 01, 2014 12:16 AM  

Don't trust anyone over 60....

Anonymous kh123 September 01, 2014 12:26 AM  

"Do we get to inherit your lawn, someday?"

Well, debt requires money, and money - when not magically appearing out of Bernanke's ass - is green. So there's that.

I think it's more a case of "But see, I didn't save anything; so you don't have to burden yourself with worrying about what to do with those hypothetical finances after I'm gone."

Notice the lack of sarcasm tag on that last one.

Blogger Retrenched September 01, 2014 12:41 AM  

Here's a very good essay from Zed the Zenpriest on how the boomers were used to destroy traditional American culture and values:

The Baby Bomb: How the Boomers Were Used to Demolish a Culture

Blogger Unknown September 01, 2014 12:58 AM  

Cail: "Of course, the unstated part of that is:"

...something you pulled straight out of your ass. Do me a favor -- don't try to paraphrase me.

Anonymous Grandpa Confederate September 01, 2014 1:02 AM  

We of the Greatest Generation, we took D-Day and smited Hiroshima, we gave you Social Security and Medicare and the Vital Center of the New Deal and the TVA...we built Mainline churches for your worship. YOU BOOMERS AND GEN XERS FAIED US.

Anonymous Shibes Meadow September 01, 2014 1:31 AM  

Cederq: "Penis envy"? With respect, your generation pissed away the greatest civilization mankind has ever known. Your characterization of people my age as envious is risible.

In Roger Corman's film Easy Rider ACLU lawyer George represents the Greatest Generation. Successful, ostensibly respectable, he nevertheless sits in jail with the two faces of the Boomer generation -- Wyatt, the long, cool middle-class Captain America, and his partner, the frantic hippie Billy -- wondering What Went Wrong: "You know, this used to be a helluva good country. I can't understand what's gone wrong with it."

Billy, the childlike face of the Boomer psyche, has the answer: "Everybody got chicken, that's what happened, man...They're scared, man."

George knows better: "Oh, they're not scared of you. They're scared of what you represent to 'em... What you represent to them is freedom."

"What the hell's wrong with freedom, man?, asks Billy, bewildered. "That's what it's all about."

And so we sees the basic dynamic of the 1960s. The guilt-ridden, hung-over, duty-bound Greatest Generation looked at their children and said, "They are going to be free. Of everything -- guilt, hangovers, duty. They are going to live without Consequences." And so they enabled the Janus-faced Boomer generation: for the Billy side, the ensuing flood of Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll were enough. But for the Wyatt side. the side with all the Deep Thoughts, pleasure was not enough They had to have More. They had to have God, and Him in His heaven. But they couldn't have Him, because to get God and Heaven you have to give up the fornication, intoxication, and excitation. So they decided to "change the world, maaan," to tikkun that old olam. 'God is dead," said Time magazine. Fine. They would become God. "Imagine there's no Heaven,' said Lennon. Groovy. We'll bust the Man, tear it all down,and create a Heaven on Earth.

We Xers were victimized -- by Boomers. The world prior to the Love Generation was far from perfect -- but, dammit, it was good, and it was getting better. Compare post-Boomer America to pre-Boomer America. By any measure, any measure at all, America 1945-1965 was better than what we have today, and yes, that's with polio, segregation, and black and white TV. Why? Because the future was worth looking forward to then.

It isn't now. The Boomers' poisonous self-centeredness and adolescent demand for complete, unfettered personal liberty intoxicated every social institution from the Vatican to the nuclear family. The blown-out, boozed-up, duty-broken greatest Generation couldn't withstand an entire generation of cowboy-hatted kids screaming "I want my Maypo!"

And thanks to them, the shiny, prosperous future that we GenXers were promised was thrown into the Dumpster, replaced by the nightmare we can all see coming over the hill.

When I try to sum up the Boomer generation, I see Captain America and Billy, sitting by the fireside in the final few moments of Easy Rider. There they sit in New Orleans, stuffed with gourmet creole cooking, their lusts sated by the finest whores, their minds blown on LSD, their pockets stuffed with cash from selling cocaine to Negroes. Triumphant, Billy says it all: "We've done it. We've done it. We're rich!"

And Wyatt replies; "You know, Billy. We blew it."

Billy is dumbfounded: "What? Huh? You go for the big money, man, and then you're free!"

But Captain America knows better. "We blew it," declares Wyatt. "Good night, man."

Yes. You blew it.

For all of us.

Good night, man.

Blogger Unknown September 01, 2014 2:20 AM  

Morningjams: "Stefani, don't you think we've had enough examples of the tu quoque fallacy for one day?"

I wouldn't know. Someone around here making one?

Harsh: "the succeeding generations will try to right what you have wronged"

Why wait? Why not start now? Or better yet, ten years ago? Oh, that's right because those evil boomers -- that cancer of a generation -- are in your way. Sniff.

"Stefani, do you see why you don't even understand the argument?"

Tell you what, why don't you 'splain it in simple words for me, 'cause this is what I'm hearing:

"Waah - those nasty horrible boomers fucked up everything! Why don't they hurry up and die so we can start fixing their mess?"

That's not an argument, it's a whine.

So, I've got a question: what's your point? Assume you manage to convince every boomer in this discussion you're 100 percent right. We're narcissistic nasties, a cancerous blight, the worst generation ever to have passed through American history.

Then what? What, exactly, do you expect? An apology? You want us boomers to wallow and grovel in the shame of our ignomy, to wail out our maxima culpas and slink off into eternity forever embarrassed for having existed?

For all I know, you may be 100 percent right. The world may indeed be going to hell in a hand basket because boomers. We ruined EVERYTHING. It's a possibility.

But it makes no difference. You'll still have our shit to clean up, and you'll still not have lifted a finger to do so, oh ye of the Apathetic Generation. Am I supposed to be impressed?

Rycamor: "It will be funny to watch the contortions when Vox indeed does make a logical case, replete with statistics and an inescapable conclusion."

That's the second time you've tried to call down the cavalry to save your pity party. He still hasn't shown.

You know what? I really wish Vox WOULD make a logical argument with facts and statistics. At least then we'd have something to discuss. Or, better yet, rather than waiting for Vox why don't YOU make an argument?

Blogger Johnny September 01, 2014 2:21 AM  

An observation on the GenX-Boomer war here in the comments:

The theme of Vox's original post is (roughly) why Gen Xers feel so much contempt for the Boomer generation.

Does anybody doubt that Gen Xers, not just Vox, really do have a lot of contempt for Boomers? The attitude of the Gen Xers in the comments toward the Boomers ought to confirm that. This contempt is not the same as the Boomer's rebellion against their own parents. The dislike is real, and Boomers ought to be curious why.

As a Gen Xer, I was exasperated by almost every Boomer post (Philalethes, CederX, kfg, etc.) in this thread, but it took me a few minutes to figure out why. Not one of the Boomers commenting evinced even the slightest curiosity why we hate them. The purpose of their comments was to try to convince us that Boomers aren't so bad after all, or that every other generation is just as bad, or that all generations are basically the same after you account for differences in age and experience (a ridiculous claim). Some of them argue that the Boomers aren't to blame for everything, which is true but irrelevant. Nowhere did I see any recognition that the Gen Xer contempt for Boomers is real, that it's not merely youthful rebellion, and that Boomers ought to investigate why. Are there any Boomers who care to get out of their own heads and see through somebody else's eyes for a moment?

If any of you Boomers can dig deeply enough into your solipsistic souls to find a shard of curiosity about why we despise you, dig around on John Xenakis' site generationaldynamics.com; he has a some excellent in-depth discussions of the topic.

By the way, you'd be surprised how much Millennials look up to Gen Xers. Gen Xers grew up with divorce as the norm and declining economic prospects, and Millennials identify with our pragmatism, humility, and survival skills much more easily than they relate to Boomer idealism and hubris. Millennials and Gen Xers have a warmer relationship than Gen Xers and Boomers.

Blogger Johnny September 01, 2014 2:26 AM  

@Stefani: You know what? I really wish Vox WOULD make a logical argument with facts and statistics. At least then we'd have something to discuss.

Stefani, what do you think the purpose/premise of the original post is? At the risk of misrepresenting him, I think Vox's premise is

"Gen Xers hate Boomers. A lot. This is one of the reasons why."

Do you have an alternative hypothesis for why Gen Xers hate Boomers so much?

Do you think the Gen X contempt for Boomers is no different than the youthful rebellion Boomers felt for their parents? (If you think that, you're very, very wrong.)

Blogger papabear September 01, 2014 3:00 AM  

"As I wrote, it goes back to the elders of my generation at least (i.e. my parents and grandparents), who forfeited that respect by the lies they told us. Of course the lies weren't new, but the one thing I guess my generation could be noted for is that we said they were lies and refused to accept them – some of us, at least, enough to be noticeable. That was new."

Curious as to what these lies are.

Anonymous Jules L. September 01, 2014 3:02 AM  

It's been TOO long since Vox wrote about the Boomers.

This is pure entertainment.

Anonymous VD September 01, 2014 3:36 AM  

Don't tell us how bad we were. Words mean nothing. SHOW us. Don't whine. Don't make excuses. Do it right.

If words mean nothing, then why are you generational scum of history STILL TALKING ABOUT Y-Y-YOUR GENERATION in the freaking New York Times.

We're not whining. We're not making excuses. Because we're not like you. We're just telling you to SHUT. THE FUCK. UP. FOR ONCE. We are sick of you. We despise you. We have absolutely nothing to learn from you that we didn't learn when we were children, and most of that came in the form of negative examples.

We want you to either finally grow up and shut up and accept your mortality with some modicum of belated grace, or barring that, hurry up and die already.

I was exasperated by almost every Boomer post (Philalethes, CederX, kfg, etc.) in this thread, but it took me a few minutes to figure out why. Not one of the Boomers commenting evinced even the slightest curiosity why we hate them. The purpose of their comments was to try to convince us that Boomers aren't so bad after all, or that every other generation is just as bad, or that all generations are basically the same after you account for differences in age and experience (a ridiculous claim).

Because they are collectively the most prodigious narcissists history has ever seen. Avoiding responsibility is their standard response. They still have the emotional maturity of children. They can't admit what we all observe even when their generational cohorts are trumpeting it from the NYT.

Anonymous Shibes Meadow September 01, 2014 3:59 AM  

Stefani Monaghan: So, I've got a question: what's your point? Assume you manage to convince every boomer in this discussion you're 100 percent right. We're narcissistic nasties, a cancerous blight, the worst generation ever to have passed through American history.

Then what? What, exactly, do you expect? An apology? You want us boomers to wallow and grovel in the shame of our ignomy, to wail out our maxima culpas and slink off into eternity forever embarrassed for having existed?


Yes. I dare you. I dare you to simply say, "We were wrong about everything. We burned down the greatest civilization in all of history and pissed on the ashes. We ruined the world. We lived only for our own pleasure and didn't give a damn about anything else, and we still don't. Sorry."

Unfortunately, we know that you wouldn't really mean it. We know that if you all had to do it all over again you'd do the same damned thing. Because what Boomer wants, Boomer gets, and to hell with the consequences. "I want my Maypo!"

But it makes no difference. You'll still have our shit to clean up, and you'll still not have lifted a finger to do so, oh ye of the Apathetic Generation. Am I supposed to be impressed?

I don't care if you are impressed or not. What you are supposed to do is shut up, go away, and beg God's forgiveness for being a generation of locusts.

Please do so.

Blogger Outlaw X September 01, 2014 4:32 AM  



I can't speak for anyone else but I think another reason Gen X'ers hate Boomers is because they got eleventeen credit cards charged to the max and need to blame their debt on someone besides themselves. So the boomers are the only possible alternative to themselves.

Blogger Outlaw X September 01, 2014 4:34 AM  

This comment has been removed by the author.

Blogger Outlaw X September 01, 2014 4:38 AM  

That was all screwed up I was answering question someone asked if there was another reason why Gen X hated boomers.

Anonymous ThirdMonkey September 01, 2014 9:25 AM  

" Stefani Monaghan August 31, 2014 11:26 PM
...Don't tell us how bad we were. Words mean nothing. SHOW us. Don't whine. Don't make excuses. Do it right."


I was making more money than my father ever did before I was 25.
My parents had two children. We have 4. I was public "schooled." We homeschool/private school our kids.

My wife was a latchkey kid, raised by a career mother and a philandering, pot-smoking dad.
My wife is a SAHM, and neither one of us have ever even touched pot or slept around.

We DID do better. Abortion rates peaked in the 1990s (boomer's hitting menopause?), and have steadily gone down, with an 8% drop since 2000. We have lower divorce rates, and higher rates of single income families. Hell, we've swung the other way, as some of our generation turned into "helicopter parents." And, believe it or not, we have a lower percentage of potheads in our generation. We grew up and quit smokin' joints. We had to grow up earlier, because we were left at home by ourselves, and didn't want that for the next generation. Boomers overwhelmingly elect politicians that send their children off to fight "terrorism" and spend their grandchildrens' future through deficit spending. Just hurry up and die, already. Obamacare's hospice chute is way to merciful for your generation.




Blogger Houston September 01, 2014 10:14 AM  

As with everything else, they are the Columbuses of self-discovery. The strangeness of this generation became apparent to me in my freshman year of college, when a Boomer prof wailed to the class, for no particular reason, "I can't believe the Sixties were over 13 years ago!"

Blogger Done with it all September 01, 2014 10:47 AM  

All current generations let our ancestors down.

We have all proven ourselves unworthy thus far.

I for one am looking forward to the day of our redemption. It is fast approaching.

Anonymous John Bigbooté September 01, 2014 12:00 PM  

Ask a boomer about Social Security and they will respond with a litany of complaints about how it's not enough (true enough, but don't depend on Uncle Sammy) the COLA increases are too small (also true, but see above) and a myriad of other complaints about the system.

Ask a genx or later member about SS and they'll most likely respond with a bitter laugh, if anything.

The seed corn's been eaten.

Analogy often fails, but I liken the civilization the greatest generation had as a nice, shiny new truck. They drove it for a while an accomplished a lot, but when the time came to pass it on to the boomers, they put a bunch of rocks in the back and de-tuned the engine for less horsepower (think Great Society legislation, etc.). Not cool, but it still worked. The boomers then proceeded to drive the thing as fast as it would go off road, through barb-wire fences, broke all the glass, smashed the headlights, used up all the gas and ran the tires bald.

The following generations look on this mess and are being excoriated for not only being ungrateful, but for not "fixing" the truck so it works better in addition to being tasked to drive the boomers wherever they want to go and make payments on the wreck. Jeez, what a deal!

I suppose it's an illustration of poor stewardship, but the accusations of not "fixing" the mess that was left are what rankle, since following generations have been smaller and have been outvoted in our "democracy" consistently. Sure, some following gens have bought into the decay (ref. Obama et al.) but who educated/indoctrinated these kids?

I think the following gens are realizing that there's no "fixing" this mess and are choosing, having been lied to about the possibilities thereof, to go their own way and separate themselves from the system as much as possible. For a small example, the burgeoning homeschool movement is sure as hell not being driven by boomers.

Anonymous Eric Ashley September 01, 2014 12:14 PM  

According to Generations (much better than the follow on slapdash revisit focus on a specific angle Fourth Turning) Boomers were going to be widely respected, and lead America into a world shattering convulsion that would give birth to a new order (this sort of thing happens every eighty years according to this theory....last time was FDR who was like our Boomers).

But there are two things standing in the way. 1)The division in the Boomers/Idealist Gen. Last time this happened we had the War of Northern Aggression. 2) Boomers/Idealists are supposed to be ascetic in their elder years. If you as a Boomer want that Eternal Fame you do badly crave, you have to give up almost all your money.

The Greatest, those Stefani despises as liars, died with recognition of brave deeds, but not moral authority, but also a pile of cash. You want Moral Authority, give up the cash, and not just your cash, but the boodles the gov't promised you.

Embrace a Jubilee Year.

Anonymous Stilicho September 01, 2014 12:18 PM  


I can't speak for anyone else but I think another reason Gen X'ers hate Boomers is because they got eleventeen credit cards charged to the max and need to blame their debt on someone besides themselves. So the boomers are the only possible alternative to themselves.


I'm debt free you cantankerous old snowflake. What are the relative debt burdens of gen X vs Boomers in inflation adjusted terms? Adjusted as well for age? Some of Gen X's debt is attributable to foolish Boomer policies: student loans, housing, etc. Some of Gen X's debt (the revolving kind) is just foolish consumerism and living beyond their means. I do, however, despise Boomers for racking the national credit card beyond all reason and beyond the wildest dreams of keynesian interventionists and statist progressives. Stay classy, Boomers!

Anonymous Brother Thomas September 01, 2014 12:51 PM  

Boomers... old, but still immature. Time makes us all older, but few any wiser.

Anonymous GracieLou September 01, 2014 2:41 PM  

And just this one more thing and I'll shut up. As I stated earlier, I'm in my 40's and have been planning my old lady-hood. This happened after the birth of my grandson, who is now 5. I want to do right by him. He's got young parents and grandparents which isn't necessarily the best scenario. He needs wisdom, stability and what used to be known as gentility. The world is gritty now and it's hard when you're young to step back and see the benefits of power under control (or self control). Somebody's got to set the example and so even though my legs are still pretty much smokin' I'm willing to put on something dignified and be the granny and help this child (who I am somewhat responsible for bringing into the world) to be the best he can be.

All was well until Boomers woke from their delusional slumber and decided to "transform old age." Now you see a commercial where grandpa rips the guitar out of granddaughter's hands and shreds Steppenwolf. In this fantasy moment all the young people groove with delight. I work with young people. Let me tell you, if that really happened, the youngsters, suspecting grandpa of being a creeper, would practice elsewhere.

Being an early Gen-xer I never thought I get the privilege of aging, what with all the Coming Ice Age!, Nuclear Winter!, Global Warming! Ozone Holes! Rainforest Destruction! and the like. I'm actually pretty ok with this upcoming stage of my life. I DO NOT want it poisoned by wannabe hippies (all the actual hippies are long dead) like all the other stages of my life.

So if Boomers don't want to grow old, fine, but STOP burning down the house!

Blogger Outlaw X September 01, 2014 2:55 PM  

I'm debt free you cantankerous old snowflake.

This isn't about you. It is about the reasons Gen x'ers hate boomers. You are sounding more like a boomer to me it's not personal.

Anonymous takin' a look September 01, 2014 3:12 PM  

With the exception of Danby, the Boomers on this thread have time after time proven exactly why the gen xers hate them and the millenials have a jaded, cool disregard for them.

Anonymous Stilicho September 01, 2014 3:13 PM  

This isn't about you.

Of course it isn't: it's called an example, an anecdote. Specifically, one counter to the generalization you offered as a possible explanation for the disdain in which Boomers are held by X'ers.

You are sounding more like a boomer to me it's not personal.

Check your hearing aid.

It is about the reasons Gen x'ers hate boomers

Nope. It was your attempt to shift fault for the hate from the Boomers to the X'ers. Boomers A thru F show up on the thread and snowflake. Boomer G shows up and white knights for them.

Anonymous Bird on a Wing September 01, 2014 3:46 PM  

Check your hearing aid.

Er, no. I've had to work to understand your point(s) before. I didn't get your 'snowflake' comment until you clarified. (It's a good observation about Boomer's modus operandi)

I think you're one of those rapid-fire smart guys who gets impatient about explaining your thought processes, and tries to smash all the meaning into as few words as possible.

Also, you jump into your explanation about a third of the way into your thought, so the reader gets 2/3 of the entire thought, minus the all-important beginning.

I like your thoughts, but I wish you had a better editor! (I've edited my husband's stuff and, ahem . . . you're similar.)

[Insert smiley face here, please?]

Blogger Outlaw X September 01, 2014 3:59 PM  

Nope. It was your attempt to shift fault for the hate from the Boomers to the X'ers. Boomers A thru F show up on the thread and snowflake. Boomer G shows up and white knights for them.

You were snow flaking when you invoked "Iam debt free". I was answering someones question if not white knighting, I don't have a dog in the the fight, I am in between. I wasn't talking about you or myself on any individual. You just got angry because you didn't agree with my thesis of which I stand by, because I know many of the evniest little bastards.

Blogger Outlaw X September 01, 2014 4:01 PM  

This comment has been removed by the author.

Anonymous ThirdMonkey September 01, 2014 4:07 PM  

@ Stephani
Abortion rates have steadily declined since the boomers started hitting menopause.
Our drug use as a generation is lower than that of boomers. We kinda grew out of it.
I have twice as many kids as my parents, and make twice as much as my father ever did. My wife was a latchkey kid, but she's a SAHM. We were both public "schooled," but homeschool/private school our young brood. I'd say we are doing better. We're not whining about the cards we've been dealt, we're just telling you to STFU and die already. Obamacare's death panels can't get here soon enough.

Blogger Outlaw X September 01, 2014 4:07 PM  

And Hate is always the haters fault, even though he may have good reason to hate. You would have been better saying it was an attempt to take the external hate of the X'ers and internalize it. Which it was. Live with it.

Anonymous takin' a look September 01, 2014 4:39 PM  

Man, these Boomers are too funny, so are the Greatest Generation idiots telling all of us to "get over it".

No worries, we gen xers and subsequent generations will get over it. Hell, we'll have a blow out party when the last Boomer dies, scared, doddering, alone as Kevorkian robotic angels of mercy direct from Obamacare "end of life" panels surround his bedsore riddled, shit caked and urine soaked body to administer the "life affirming injection of passing". This shall be followed by a gender neutral recycling ceremony as he is dumped into a mulcher, excuse me, a "sterilizing core housing macerating unit compost kiln" or S.C.H.M.U.C.K.

Blogger Done with it all September 01, 2014 5:35 PM  

Funny, the Dread Ilk arguing who's the more worthless...

It doesn't get much better than this.

And the fact is we are all in the stands sitting on our hands doing nothing.

It is my old axiom "the worse you look the better I look." Which I did learn from baby boomers during my stint at a NWO Dow Jones Industrial Conglomerate. Hmmm...

Anonymous DKViking September 01, 2014 5:41 PM  

There is more life in this thread than the average boomer.

Blogger Done with it all September 01, 2014 5:55 PM  

The hydrogenated cottonseed oil, fluoride, corn sugar, wheat and pharmaceuticals have destroyed the boomers and are now taking every one else down with them.

Take responsibility for your health. Swear off doctors unless you are injured. You don't need them.

Boomers, there is no god of medicare. He is a lie and you will surely die.

Anonymous Obviously Obvious September 01, 2014 7:38 PM  

"We are sick of you. We despise you. We have absolutely nothing to learn from you that we didn't learn when we were children, and most of that came in the form of negative examples."

No, VD, it is YOU. You speak for YOU, not WE, regarding Gen X's apparent disdain toward their parents generation.

Anonymous VD September 01, 2014 8:13 PM  

No, VD, it is YOU. You speak for YOU, not WE, regarding Gen X's apparent disdain toward their parents generation.

I suggest you read some of the other 263 comments. I am obviously speaking for more GenXers than myself alone.

Anonymous Stilicho September 01, 2014 9:12 PM  

You just got angry because you didn't agree with my thesis of which I stand by, because I know many of the evniest little bastards.

Lighten up, Francis. I am not the least bit angry, just amused that you want to blame X'ers for being collectively angry at Boomers. I don't agree with your hypothesis for the most part and just gave you an example that mitigates against it. The larger point not being that I am special in any way, rather just the opposite. Moreover, I did it in an affable, joking manner that you somehow interpreted as an attack on YOU.

You don't even realize that you are following the typical Boomer pattern of making excuses/blaming others for generational failures. Which is sad, because you're usually more sensible than that. I KNOW that X'ers have problems and will readily admit them. Boomers just can't seem to do that even when they aren't personally guilty of certain shortcomings, they still see an attack on their generation as an attack on them personally.

Blogger Flyover Pilgrim September 01, 2014 11:51 PM  

Unlike your generation, we've always known we were going to die. We were told we might die in nuclear fire at any time from the time we were in grade school. We never believed ourselves to be immortal.

That statement seems to me to be unworthy of you, Mr Day. I grew up in the 60's and 70's, which makes me, at least on this blog, part of the Most Hated Generation. I remember "duck and cover" and I also remember the nuclear nightmares of my childhood.

I think you all should just grow up. I used to like reading this forum.

Anonymous TheVillageIdiot(Ret.) September 02, 2014 12:47 AM  

Boy...It sure must suck being on the bottom of the pyramid.

Sudden Death:Getting Old Sucks

DannyR

Anonymous Xer September 02, 2014 12:53 AM  

"Whereas, according to Xer, GenX-ers swallowed them whole."

I didn't say that boomertard. So don't project your lies onto me. Our generation collectively, as proven on this thread and every where else has a MUCH higher IQ than you tards can ever hope to obtain, also we are WAY more informed than you idiots ever were and on top of that, we're obviously morally and ethically superior to you selfish,narcissistic,pathological lying, perverted, state worshipping throwbacks ( I could go on). If boomers "didn't buy those lies" they still would not have turned out in the numbers that they did for Obozo but they did despite being so "informed".. The CEO's atop the media conglomerates which generation are they idiot? YOU boomer tards were falling over yourselves to put the first "blackman" in office, in the media and in public. And the reason? Because prejudice. See how stupid you are leftist puke? Your lies are easily exposed.


"For a small example, the burgeoning homeschool movement is sure as hell not being driven by boomers."

Of course not, though knowing how ethically-challenged the idiots are and how much they lie they'll try and take credit for it somehow. Ever boomertard I know has been trying to put Xer children back in publik skrewl because they're a bunch of lying leftist imbeciles like Stefani.

Anonymous Xer September 02, 2014 1:11 AM  

Stefani you imbecile your dad was right. You are worthless. A worthless,gutless,sack of sh*t, not even a man and so is your whole generation.

Anonymous VD September 02, 2014 3:57 AM  

That statement seems to me to be unworthy of you, Mr Day. I grew up in the 60's and 70's, which makes me, at least on this blog, part of the Most Hated Generation. I remember "duck and cover" and I also remember the nuclear nightmares of my childhood.

Then why is your generation still expressing surprise to discover that it is growing old and is not immortal? Your generation may have experienced those things, but here is the point: it doesn't appear to have learned the correct lesson from them.

Anonymous Amir Larijani September 02, 2014 11:11 AM  

A good friend of mine--a "boomer" who is a John Birch libertarian and a veteran of the culture wars--made the observation: "Your generation and the other generations are going to be euthanizing my generation. This is because you won't have the money to take care of us, and--quite frankly--we deserve it."

She's already made plans--with her husband--to go elsewhere as they age, but she's spot-on. The boomers are in trouble and they are barely starting to figure it out.

Anonymous Anonymous September 02, 2014 3:39 PM  

These are not the boomers you are looking for...

Blogger James Dixon September 02, 2014 8:30 PM  

> James, you're a regular here.

That line was a quote from a previous comment, and I messed up and left off the leading >. It wasn't my comment.

Anonymous Obviously Obvious September 02, 2014 10:10 PM  

" I am obviously speaking for more GenXers than myself alone."

Than put it in the proper context. "Those who are my fellow GenXers that I know..." will suffice. Not WE. You don't speak for them as a whole".

Anonymous Anonymous September 02, 2014 11:06 PM  

As a late boomer (1961) I am truly impressed by the level of whining on these posts. That's saying something -- not being much of a whiner myself -- but growing up on the tail end of hippies and the early abortion generation and then living through the self esteem circle jerk movement I recognize the shrill cry of the whiner. The Boomer generation gave us the sexual revolution which has given us a masive rise in the feminization of men, abortion, STD's, divorce, pornography, sexual abuse, the rise of homosexuality,gender mishmash, broken families, broken homes and broken lives. The greatest generation screwed up raising children -- maybe that's what a world war does to you? Alas the generations that follow seem as full of their own ignorance and folly though. Personally I believe that the real root is our rejection of God and the crazed journey into insanity and selfishness that follows that rejection. As Chesterton said, "Beware of no man more than yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us."

Blogger Akulkis September 03, 2014 12:49 PM  

It was interesting talking to the Generational Dynamics guy. He recognizes that the GenX hate for the Baby Boomers is unusually strong.

I don't think the baby-boomers understand it at all.

I was born in 1965. I have literally despised the baby-boomers since I was 4 years old.
I wasn't even in school yet, and I already recognized that generation as a complete and utter pestilence.

Blogger Akulkis September 03, 2014 2:05 PM  


Yawn. Human nature shows no sign of any real change. "Boomers" are not the cause of the problems you face. Nor will their die-off be the solution. You'll have to find that yourselves. Good luck. I mean it.


Oh, bullshit. Since i was three years old, I have watched your generation eagerly destroy everything in this country that actually works, functions, or is beautiful, and replace it all with various sorts of barely disguised ponzi schemes and, especially in monument spaces, absolutely insulting ugliness.

All of this, each and every act, as part of your generation's never ending active campaign of psychological warfare against any sense of true individuality or ability to do ANYTHING without first getting permission from the government in a giant game of "Mother, may I?"

And yes, even as your generation was fighting the government in the late 1960's...it wasn't government that you were fighting against, just those who controlled it -- while secretly craving that power for yourselves. Now you have it...and what do we have? An economy even worse than the mess created by FDR.

Blogger Akulkis September 03, 2014 2:10 PM  

It was the scum of Eastern European ghettos who started coming here in the 1930s and their children that really caused the decline in America.

And who was it who abandoned and eagerly overthrew their own heritage so as to follow the teachings of these foreigners who are perpetually at war with every country they live in?

Blogger Akulkis September 03, 2014 2:48 PM  

Really? I don't recall ever having been told any such thing. First, my father told me quite directly and consistently for 15 years that I was worthless and would never amount to anything. Then my parents' entire generation told me I was full of crap when I began to question all the lies I'd been told and taught. And now kids like you are giving me grief for being alive. I've never thought of myself as "special and wonderful". I've been trying to be a decent human being, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not.

My generation views your generation as one which, over a few minor mistakes, threw out a hell of a lot of wisdom, wholesale ("throwing out the baby with the bathwater" style), and replaced all that wisdom with faddish inannities, and evn now does it's damnedest to keep anyone from discovering the wisdom of your predecessors.

It's like abolishing 3rd-order differential equations for compressible fluid flow with a simple 1st-order algebraic approximation, all because the differential equation doesn't apply under chaotic conditions. Rather than extend mankinds understanding of how to govern ourselves, you've replaced a finely tuned race car (although imperfect), with an ancient chariot.


pulled by a donkey


who likes to bite.

Blogger Akulkis September 03, 2014 3:31 PM  


"The truth about what? Please specify."

The truth that you're idiots.


Like I said, no constructive criticism... just shallow name calling whiners...


You mean like th boomers didn't spend 40-50 years doing NOTHING BUT COMPLAINING and offering not a single suggestion (other than pie-in-the-sky utopian fantasies) ??? The entire cohort's way of doing business is "we don't like it. No, not good enough. Not satisfactory" I've yet to see boomers make any constructive input, other than "EVERYTHING MUST BE REPLACED AT OUR WHIM."

Blogger RobertT September 03, 2014 5:14 PM  

" The pathetic thing is that they are STILL trying to be cool. "

Of all the issues with the boomers, unfortunately my generation, this is the most embarassing. I see them daily riding around on their Harleys or in their Mercedes coupes, dressed like rebels and outlaws in their sleeveless shirts or dandies dressed like casual moguls, or whatever the still yearn to be. Unfortunately they got drunk on themselves and started popping pills when that became fashionable so make-believe is as good as reality any day. This is the bunch who didn't build anything substantial, inherited everything they have and intend to spend every penny before they die.

Blogger Akulkis September 03, 2014 8:15 PM  

Billy Joel: "We didn't start the fire.."

random Xer: Let's try to put it out

Haughty Boomer: No way, man! Let it burn! It's groovy!

Xer: The fire is getting completely out of control

Boomer: Touch that hose, and I'll have this squad of cops bust into your house, kill you & your family, and steal the land and everything on it through asset forfeiture.

--

Later: Xer: Boomer's really suck. They've totally fucked up everything

Boomer: Well, why haven't you done everything to fix it?

Xer: See part 1 above.

Blogger Akulkis September 03, 2014 9:02 PM  

Ask a genx or later member about SS and they'll most likely respond with a bitter laugh, if anything.

Early GenXer her.. born 1965.

I knew in 1975, at the tender age of 10 years old, that I would never see a dime of Social Security... why?

Because after delivering the morning newspaper, and reading a copy as a ate breakfast before school, I saw... on page, oh, about A-7 or A-9 (out of 16 pages in section A), that Congress had "borrowed" a couple $hundred million from the Social Security fund.

Why had they borrowed that money? to pay for the various welfare programs that the boomers LITERALLY marched in the streets for. Basically, the money they were paying into social security was IMMEDIATELY going right back out the door to pay for their beloved welfare pets.

So... now, where is the money coming from to pay for their "social security" benefits? out of Gen X'ers paychecks...Where is the money GenX'ers are paying into social security going? Into Baby Boomer's bank accounts and paying for yet another generation of their oh-so-precious promiscuous, drug-addled, violent 85-IQ welfare pets and said pets' sprog.

Anonymous A[klu]lis September 03, 2014 10:33 PM  

"I knew in 1975, at the tender age of 10 years old, that I would never see a dime of Social Security...why?"

[Laughs] no, you were collecting baseball cards and trying to sneak into your parent's room to look under the mattress for his Penthouse.


"to pay for the various welfare programs that the boomers LITERALLY marched in the streets for."

SOME boomers. Get your facts straight. Boomers does not equal leftists.

Anonymous Anonymous October 24, 2017 8:55 AM  

grok is a boomer word, pal

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