Reply #162: That is true and not true. Actually, rather than divide by generation, it

[tsuki]

is better to divide by experience.

My aunts grew to adulthood during the years of the Great Depression. Such an oral history I have from them. Better than anything that I have ever seen in a documentary. This was the Great Depression generation.

My Mother was born in 1927 and grew to adulthood during WWII, the Big One. While Mother "remembered" the depression, her accounts seem to echo my aunts', if you get what I mean. She remembers the lanterns, but also the radio (rural electrification.) She remembers being poor, but everyone was poor. If you wanted to get her talking about her personal experiences, you talked about WWII, the Big One, the rationing, shortages, women in the workforce, not seeing or sometimes hearing from husbands and brothers for years. The shared sacrifice. And then, Korea.

The generation born in the late 1930's, we once called the Tyktovs. Too young Korea, to old Vietnam. This is the generation that benefited from the two previous groups, altho you would not believe it to hear them talk. They are the original bootstrap gen, the genesis of the Me meme. They received all the benes from the previous groups, GI Bill, company pensions, company health care, social security and medicare, etc. without thinking about it.

They entered a depleted workforce as the smallest population generation. All the work that the unions and the Democrats did to help Americans was forgotten, discounted. They got where they were because they had bootstraps. Think Tom Brokaw, calling every night on his tv program for his tax cuts, then after he got them complaining that this generation has not "sacrificed" for the war effort. Always trying to rebrand himself as the part of the "greatest generation".

The Boomers entered the workforce at a time of social turmoil, few jobs, an unpopular war and civil unrest. The drop out gen was not so much dropped out, as could not find a job. The hippy punching began in force in the 1980s. It was necessary to turn on of the most outspoken, turbulent generations, and make it The Silenced Generation. To paraphrase Emperor Showa, they needed to put the giant to sleep.

There are several problems with the Boomers that are flying under the radar. The 401Ks, which were depleted using secretly skimmed fees and investments in bubbles, should be investigates, but won't be at this point. It is one of the largest political/financial scandals being ignored.

Then the Boomers started investing in the stock market. This gen is the most heavily invested since the 1920's. This is the year that the Boomers start pulling from the stock market to restructure to income producing. Imagine interest rates being so low. Other than a few articles written about ten years ago, I have not seen any more about this other than Wall Street trying to grab one trillion dollars to make up for the short fall when Boomers pull out. Another problem is that the political/financial establishment has embezzled the entire Social Security Trust Fund. That is why it is a problem NOW, not in 2040.

I think that the Progressive/Libertarian Alliance that is being spoken of will bridge the Boomers to the Under 30's is scaring the political/financial cabal.

Sorry for the long post. These are just some things that have been rattling around in my mind for the past couple of years. Except for Brokaw, I have always considered him the poster boy of the Tyktovs.