Kristol:The boomers will be best remembered for their self-glorification.
He calls them the Not-So-Great Generation He cites this quote from Tom Brokow:
Q: If the World War II generation was the “greatest generation,” what is the Vietnam War generation?
A: I don’t think the full judgment of history is in yet. There is certainly greatness in the ’60s generation. They changed our attitudes about race in America, which was long overdue.
From there, Mr. Kristol hands the boomers their hats:
Whoa! The ’60s generation changed our attitudes about race in America? Rosa Parks, Bayard Rustin, and Martin Luther King Jr.–were they from the Vietnam war generation? Earl Warren, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and Hubert Humphrey? For that matter, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman, murdered on June 21, 1964, in Mississippi? None of these was a member of the “ ’60s generation.” None was a boomer.
They were the parents and grandparents of the boomers. They were the very people that the boomers didn’t want to be.
There really was greatness in the “greatest generation.” It fought and won World War II, then came home to achieve widespread prosperity and overcome segregation while seeing the Cold War through to a successful conclusion. But the greatest generation had one flaw, its greatest flaw, you might say: It begat the baby boomers.
The most prominent of the boomers spent their youth scorning those of their compatriots who fought communism, while moralizing and posturing at no cost to themselves. They went on to enjoy the benefits of their parents’ labors, sacrificed little, and produced nothing particularly notable. But the boomers were unparalleled when it came to self-glorification, a talent they began developing as teenagers and have continued to improve
up to this day. They were also good at bamboozling their parents, and members of the “silent generation” like Tom Brokaw, to be overly deferential to them–even to the point of giving them credit for things they didn’t do.
The article continues, but you get the point. My parents and grand parents lived in a time we can only dream about.
Half of the youth of America was not on some prescription pill to cure them of A.D.D., A.D.H.A.D or depression.
STD’s really were at a record low. Boys married the good girls but had a good time with the bad girls.
Public schools were a place where children learned even though there were 40 kids in the class. Teachers were allowed to discipline their students.
Families were expected to take care of their own. Society was not responsible for them.
Children could be outside all day playing..there was some adult watching at all times and when an adult told you to do something, you did it. It was called respect.
Children played cops and robbers with toy guns. Today, they are killing each other over a “look”…
People bought homes they could afford. If things were tight, a boarder helped pay the bills. Foreclosure? They paid their bills. Banks gave credit to people that could pay a loan back. They didn’t loan to people that might be able to….
I am thankful for the civil rights movement, I only wish that the youth of today was smart enough to understand the struggle of what their ancestors went through. Watching our youth self destruct makes me wonder what struggle they have overcome…
Life back then may not have been perfect, but their spawns that reproduced have left much to be desired…
H/T to memeorandum
November 18, 2007 - 10:39 AM on November 18th, 2007
Winning: News from Iraq gets better by the day, but the media have done their best to downplay the turnaround and congressional Democrats have basically pulled the covers over their heads and pretended it doesn’t exist.
Progress, Progress And More Progress
• In Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city, British Major Gen. Graham Binns said that attacks against British and American forces have plunged 90% since the start of September.
• Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-M…
November 18, 2007 - 10:39 AM on November 18th, 2007
Winning: News from Iraq gets better by the day, but the media have done their best to downplay the turnaround and congressional Democrats have basically pulled the covers over their heads and pretended it doesn’t exist.
Progress, Progress And More Progress
• In Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city, British Major Gen. Graham Binns said that attacks against British and American forces have plunged 90% since the start of September.
• Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-M…
November 18, 2007 - 06:10 PM on November 18th, 2007
The baby boomers are arguably the worst generation in American history. Overindulged, raised on idiocy like Dr. Spock, inculcated with Liberalism starting in the 60s, narcissistic, self-centered, far more concerned for their own self instant gratification than anything else, including their Country.
(The above of course does not includes the good people). Just the Leftists.
November 18, 2007 - 06:30 PM on November 18th, 2007
There is alot of truth in that statement Robert but I like to think there are still plenty of us who actually appreciate the freedoms we have and who understand how we keep it. Of course sometimes when I see Americans act with ignorance I have to wonder…oh well.
November 19, 2007 - 06:17 AM on November 19th, 2007
People always tend to nag about todays morale decay and simultaneously adoring the good old times.
Today you read every day about military conflicts, child abuse, corruption, sexual diseases and whatever happens which sounds horrible in some way, but are also these things phenomena which have increased during the last 25-50 years? The clear answer is NO!
Today we are either just more aware of things or there is a more efficient media that picks up any bit of smut that people might be interested in and communicates it with the speed of light to the rest of the world!
In the sixties nobody gave a shit about violent fathers beating their children or their wife- it was leagl. Nobody cared about tsunamis or the starving of people in Bangladesh. Environmental pollution was no topic as long as you had a high chimney that could blow away the crap out of the town. And for all that “real smutty stuff” like the gonorrhea or that some neighbor in the street fucked his daugther (and everybody was aware of it!) there was this nice hypocritical morale that politely prohibited to talk about it.
Each generation has its own challenges and ways (and attitudes) to handle them. And no former generation knew then what their children and grandchildren know now. So it is impossible to compare them with eachother and stick a label to them that says “better” or “worse”…
November 19, 2007 - 07:11 AM on November 19th, 2007
5, you are a perfect example of what is wrong with the current generation. You are stone waste of humanity.
November 19, 2007 - 07:17 AM on November 19th, 2007
Wife beating was legal? Where? Peophilia, child abuse have not risen in the leat 50 years? Where did you get that info?
The boomer generation thought they should write the book on how to raise a family, what a family consists of, how to educate kids etc..Today’s kids can’t test at the levels of 30 years years ago..they are deficient in math and sciences, but proficient in excuses. We retest them until they pass. Our society consists of kids that are dependant on their parents to run their lives.
November 19, 2007 - 07:58 AM on November 19th, 2007
The remarklable irony to me is that the baby boomers were the offspring of The Greatest Generation, those who fought and won WWII.
November 19, 2007 - 08:02 AM on November 19th, 2007
Those kids sure showed their parents, didn’t they?
November 19, 2007 - 08:15 AM on November 19th, 2007
9.
Indeed- the only thing more pathtic than a hippie is an old hippie. My Dad wasn’t a boomer, thank god. He fought in Korea (thus at the very end of the WWII generation) and while I was at the very beginning of generation X, I never felt I was part of that generation (the Boomer’s kids).
November 19, 2007 - 08:47 AM on November 19th, 2007
Eric Catman is right about hippies
Ted, my parents were born in 1932 and 1933…they had kids from 1956 until 1971 so they have boomers and Generation X offspring….
November 19, 2007 - 09:23 AM on November 19th, 2007
7- “Wife beating was legal? Where?”
Until 30 years ago “wife raping” was legal, so I hardly doubt that “wife beating” was not… ( http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html )
“Peophilia, child abuse have not risen in the leat 50 years? Where did you get that info?”
I don’t know, because there were no accurate statistics on child abuse 50 years ago. So neither you nor me can make a correct statement on that!
“Today’s kids can’t test at the levels of 30 years years ago..”
Actually only a part of them, while the others are able to use computers and technical gadgets which appear as “miracle machines” to their ignorant parents.
“Our society consists of kids that are dependant on their parents to run their lives.”
Because of a commerce image that is trained to them by the media and the society. Thirty years ago it was okay to live at your parents until you get married. It was not required to have an appartment as a single or a car. But times change… Modern economies are based upon growth and if you want to have a moderate lifestyle you are outdated today.
Besides, my granny always used to say “underbred children come from underbred parents”.
November 19, 2007 - 10:05 AM on November 19th, 2007
12- Assumptions..
I’m not sure about Germany, but this country has kept accurate records on Child abuse for more than 50 years..This article is about America btw..
Matthias, kids are not testing to the levels of 30 years ago..when looking at these figures, we look at the group and the group is failing…when my siblings and I were in school, we had grade schools with anywhere from 30-40 kids in a classroom. Kids tested above average..Being able to use a computer is no great feat.
20 years ago, kids lived with their parents until they got married? Maybe 50 years ago..And that isn’t what i am referring to..I am referring to the kids that have their parents run their lives and make their decisions while in college, because they have not been taught self reliance..