Boomers Destroyed America
“Boomers Destroyed America.”
Catchy title, right? A raw, visceral condemnation of an entire generation that delivers a swift punch to the gut. I imagine the furious keystrokes in the comment section over the headline alone. Now that I have your attention constant reader, let me distill the hyperbole for the name of this essay into something more reasonable.
Here is the Note that kicked off an uproar for remarking that a subset of the Baby Boomer generation (1946-1964) declares, not only vocally, but by their actions that they have little interest in the conditions of younger generations coming up after them. It was in response to the constant trite remarks telling Zoomers and Millennials to “Just work harder” and “Pull yourself up by the bootstraps,” forgetting that this is not 1975, or even 2005. Socioeconomic conditions are quite dismal and it isn’t coddling to acknowledge that.
Lost in Translation
As one in the Millennial generation, the critiques are well known about us. We are depicted as entitled and lazy, with an edge of disrespect towards other generations, especially the Boomers. Yet these characterizations never bothered me because I knew they weren’t personal traits of mine. Which is why the defensive reaction to the Boomer Substack Note remarking that a subset of folks displaying an indifference to the well-being of the nation’s young took me by surprise. Even including the phrase “Not All Boomers” was not enough to assuage many in the comments to take this observation personally. Comments describing stories of working hard, raising families, and generally doing their best with life circumstances were common. I related to these stories personally, as the best examples of how to live one’s life have come from the Boomer generation within my own family. Hard work, patience, patriotism, and sacrifice were the values displayed to me growing up.
There are a multitude of those in the Boomer generation doing all they can for their children and communities. Those who see the decline and decay of the nation and understand where we are at.
Hence, “Not All Boomers.”
Generalities of an entire generation are, of course, not a fair characterization of a group. But it also isn’t fair not to examine the repeated self-absolution of those who cannot see where we are as a nation. To dismiss the concerns and start playing Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” is not constructive. An examination is warranted for the mentality of those who display a laissez faire attitude of the future for this great nation.
Times Have Changed
The Baby Boomers grew up in a world that no longer exists, yet many pretend or ignore the immense changes that have taken place. Their America was one that enjoyed unparalleled levels of cultural and societal homogeneity for most of the 20th century. A nation that showed her pride through celebrations of its history and purpose. Look back at television series at the time, for example. Instead of deconstructing history or utilizing academic critical theories, most programs showcased the pioneer spirit of America through numerous westerns and honoring figures from history.
And yes, of course there were challenges for the Baby Boomer generation. Even with the post-WWII economic boom, things were not simply handed out. People still had to work for a living, fight their nation’s wars and deal with life’s uncertainty. Just as the 21st century’s Global War on Terror became a defining marker for Millennials, the Vietnam war left its mark on the Boomers. Contrary to Hollywood and 1960s documentaries, not everyone was a hippie relaxing in the park in San Francisco. Most of this generation were too busy working, raising families, and trying to get ahead.
America’s population in 1980 was 226 million, a year where most Boomers would then fall into the age bracket of today’s Zoomer and Millennials. DEI, Wokeness, and the multitude of immigration programs H1-Bs (1990) hadn’t fully reached their apex moment. Wholesale offshoring of industry and NAFTA were not yet a factor. It was an entirely different landscape. It isn’t sympathy but understanding to see where America finds herself now. A nation of 340 million officially, but probably much higher when undercounting the population of illegal aliens residing in the country. This puts immense pressures on housing and social services that were not a factor for Boomers.
A tragedy of the oft-repeated Boomerism’s stories of climbing the socioeconomic ladder in their younger days is the lack of awareness on how that world is gone; opportunities and conditions that were afforded to them simply a mirage now in the current age.
The Reality of the Present
Today in Washington, the political leadership is firmly in control by the Boomer generation. 65% of the U.S. Senate, 48% of the U.S. House of Representatives, and 68% of Governor seats are held by them. To not acknowledge how this skews policy and legislation towards one group would be folly.
Politicians justify increasing mass immigration on the grounds of keeping Social Security and Medicaid programs solvent while negating entirely the dire effects of swamping the country with millions of low-skilled labor. These scare tactics keep many cheering on their own replacement in the very nation built by our ancestors.
Take the Covid response. A virus heralded as the next coming of the Black Plague for senior citizens resulted in a complete shutdown of a nation—to the utter detriment of her youth. School closures, remote (not) learning, and the breakdown of society. While scores of small businesses were shuttered, corporations were left unscathed. For what? A survivable respiratory virus that endangered people over 60 with lingering health issues? Don’t misunderstand what I’m pointing out here. Yes, precautions put in place and other actions were perfectly reasonable. This is not an argument that nothing should have been done. Yet anyone voicing concerns on the detrimental effects to the younger generations were responded to by flippantly that, “They want to kill Grandma!”
Trillions in resources were poured into ensuring the survivability of one age cohort with barely a thought to how this would play out for the future generations. These lockdown effects that are still felt in the areas of education and mental development of our youth.
Just Not Said
Why shouldn’t younger generations feel “entitled” to grow up and be in a nation not swamped by mass immigration, skyrocketing costs of living, and reckless monetary decisions? A nation where older generations shepherded national policies and decisions to give those coming after them just as good of a shot at the life they had if not better.
How could they not want the same things their parents and grandparents had? A nation who knew herself and what it stood for. A nation that cultivated opportunities for the generations coming up. “For Ourselves and our Posterity,” with true meaning behind those words.
It isn’t all Boomers that hold an attitude of indifference for generations that have come after them. But it’s prevalent enough that these discussions need to continue.
America, and her future depend on it.
Thank you for reading this essay. Please share or leave a (constructive) comment if you found it interesting.
-Arthur
As a person who works in the trades mainly doing remodels mostly for the boomer generation (because most other folks can’t afford to remodel the house they live in), I’ve come across some clients that will remark “wow, I don’t know how you kids can raise a family these days, things are so expensive”. These of course are the empathetic boomers, willing to look beyond their own circumstances and have a reasonable assessment of reality. However there are many more of this generation that want to complain to me personally about the high cost of materials and whether or not my rates of labor are justified. They tell me tall tales of their glorious past wherein an extensive bathroom remodel in the eighties was completed before lunch break. I’ve even had to take some to small claims in order to receive payment for the work completed. Their reasons for non-payment never convinced the judge. It’s just that simply some people have the wisdom and humility of empathy and others have a narcissism that places their short term experience on this earth as all that matters to them. They’ll spend their children’s inheritance on frivolity without regard to their own bloodline’s well being. It’s soft people that make hard times for their own children.
As a GenXer I have grown tired of this debate. There seems to be a complete lack of awareness that the economic boom that the boomers took advantage of was the result of unique post-war, economic conditions.
There was a surplus of industrial production capacity that was migrated from a war machine to a consumer machine from making tanks and bombers to making washing machines and cars.
It’s not as if there was a mountain of opportunity that got mined into oblivion by a single generation. Leaving nothing behind for younger generations, it’s not how the world works.
Most of Europe had been destroyed. The United States was one of the few places that could produce things the world needed, which is why everyone wanted an American cars, American appliances, and American culture.
And let’s not forget those economic advantages were not given to all people equally. Some were able to benefit from those advantages of the postwar era. Others were not. Some were able to buy suburban homes others were kept out of the suburbs. While some passed those suburban homes onto their GenX children other GenXers to this day have no home and have no inherited generational wealth.
That post-war economic condition cannot be replicated, via policy or will. Yes, economic, conditions have indeed changed, but along with that change has come new technologies, new tools, new capability, and new opportunities which generations before could not have even dreamed of.
I don’t need to rehash a list. You already know what those technologies are. Every generation is put through a cultural and economic meat grinder, and social contracts are broken for every generation.
Baby boomers grew up believing that you graduate from high school, go to college if you’re lucky then work for a company for 25 years and retire. For some, this was reality. For most, it was not.
Then came the 1970s, a focus on the bottom line on competitiveness. That’s when everything changed for the boomers. Some were able to recover, some were able to inherit generational wealth from their parents, but the vast majority were not able to do that. Layoffs and economic downturn had taken them out long ago.
You see those people living in tent cities in almost every major metro across the United States? Most of them are the dreaded boomers. What got them there? Well, the stories vary many times its medical bankruptcies these are followed closely behind by GenXers.
Let’s talk about Gen X for a second since no one ever fucking does. Our generation is now taking care of our boomer parents, our kids, and our kids children. GenXers are the ones that are holding this whole shit show together right now. It’s why we don’t expect our kids to move out. We know that rents are ridiculous. We know that the dating scene is screwed. We’re not blind to it. We see it every day we hear about it every day.
Let’s get back to those broken social contracts. Gen Xers were told to go to college get a good job. Enter into the middle class. You want to know what we got instead; we went to college we watched our degrees become worthless, and we wondered how the hell we were going to pay off our student loans while taking care of our children and our grandchildren and our boomer parents. That’s the reality that the vast majority of us now live with multiple generations, under one rented roof. It’s why we carry excessive amounts of life insurance. We know we are a generation that will either die on the job or be replaced by AI. Right now; it seems like both are happening.
Millennials and Gen Z were sold the same promises, despite the fact that the world of getting a degree and entering into the middle class simply does not exist anymore.
Again, we’re not blind to that, trust me we are all painfully aware of it. You know why because we are the ones that witnessed the destruction of the middle class. By the time my generation got here, things were already in the process of falling apart, and we learned from early on you better take care of yourself because no one else will.
I’ve said enough, my point is no generation has it easy, not one.