It is starting to sink in how badly the Boomers have boned my generation for me...

[don954]

I watched Inconvenient Truth a few weeks ago and since im currently looking to buy a home, I'm starting to think about things long term.. I live in south Florida, and i want a house on the canal so i can get rid of my 350$ a month dockage bill for my sailboat. If i buy property down here, im almost guaranteed to loose it if i keep it till my loan is paid off, a 96% chance according to recent UN reports. even a 2-3' rise in sea levels over the next 20 years will screw me, and if Katrina is a dress rehearsal for what is to come, i cant expect flood or privet insurance to cover me. Now, i cant live in fear, i have to live for today. I will be buying the home i want, but, i have to be ready to write it all off if one of the ice shelves start to slip.

The real time to fix the environmental problems was 20-30 years ago, when we first found out about the eventual results of converting all that ground held carbon that it took the planet millions of years to sequester into CO2, but due to the Boomers greed, denial, and lack of caring, I have to look forward to a chaotic and unstable climent for my future. Add to this, in the last decades of the Boomers power, they have managed to rack up a massive national debt for us to pay off, the gift that keeps on giving you could say...

Now, many ageing people are upset how my generation has little respect for our elders. Well, respect is earned, not given, and as far as im concerned, the boomers have demonstrated little for us to give them respect for. If that that upsets them, maybe they should work to make some major changes before the transfer of power to us GenX-ers is complete.

ok, rant over..... :evilgrin:


Ok so you guys try to argue the WW-II generation did it to you, but your generation was the one to realize WHAT the result would be, and yet nothing changed. And you want to deflect the issue due to the fact that i have a sailboat, well, if you want to critique me for having one of the most environmentally friendly methods of recreation around, for rebuilding a 35 year old boat to putz around with, well, that's a typical republican tactic of changing the issue and attacking the messenger, with as much substance as the threads on John Edwards house. Id have to say you've been watching faux news too much... The fact is, no matter where I buy in south Florida im screwed, on a canal or off, as were all in the area to be flooded. Rich, poor, and middle class alike. THANKS BOOMERS!

Ok, i do have to apologize for lumping all boomers together, some worked hard to change things, but its hard to not be ticked at the situation we've been handed...
******

Well, ive gotten some interesting responses, im glad. Yes i was trolling a bit, but i hope it also made a few people thing a bit more about their impact. Im a firm believer that you don't cause much impact being nice, you have to slap people in the face a bit to get them to stand up and take notice... :grouphug:

[hlthe2b]

1. Let the flames begin...

and we're off.....~!

:eyes:

[don954]

144. and boy did they! I normally don't stir the pot like this post did

but it was interesting!

[rustydad]

165. Born in 1942

Most of my generation faced the Vietnam War Draft and the 60's counter culture life style, especially here in California. Many of us became tacit environmentalists to some degree. Yet we aged into just another generation of consumers. But I will say that many of my friends drive small cars and care about pollution. And many of my kids friends (25 to 35 age) drive big pickups and SUVs. Some stick a bit of cooking grease in with diesel and feel good. But read the following before you bemoan the effects of seal level rise on you boat property. Bob

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2007-02-14T030658Z_01_N13404405_RTRUKOC_0_US-GLOBALWARMING-SEARISE.xml&src=rss>
Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:07 PM ET
By Deborah Zabarenko,
Environment Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even a small rise in the world's sea levels,
predicted as a result of global warming, could make environmental
refugees of some 56 million people in developing countries, a World
Bank economist said on Tuesday.

If seas rise as little as 39 inches (1 meter) this century, as
forecast in some scientific models, one-fourth of the heavily
populated Nile Delta in Egypt would be underwater, said Susmita
Dasgupta, author of a report on the impact of sea level rise on
developing countries.

Coastal Vietnam would also be severely affected, Dasgupta said at a
briefing, as would Mauritania, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana,
Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, the Bahamas and Benin.

A sea level rise of 39 inches (1 meter) would turn about 56 million
people in 84 developing countries into refugees, Dasgupta said.

"Knowing which countries will be most affected could allow better
targeting of scarce available resources and could spur vulnerable
nations to develop national adaptation plans now and avoid big losses
later," Dasgupta said.

Adaptation plans include heading for higher ground and building dams
to keep the water out.

She cited a February 2 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, a consensus document crafted by hundreds of
scientists and policy makers, which said sea levels will keep rising
for centuries even if greenhouse gas concentrations -- blamed for
spurring global warming -- were stabilized now.

She also noted that global average sea levels rose more rapidly from
1993 to 2003 than they did from 1961 through 2003, which was faster
than climate models projected. By 2100, Dasgupta said, sea levels are
projected to rise 1.6 feet to 4.6 feet (0.5 meter to 1.4 meter) above
1990 levels.

With every additional 39 inch (1 meter) rise in sea level,
consequences for specific areas can be calculated, she said:

-- A 6.6 foot (2 meter) rise would inundate 22 percent of Mexico's wetlands.

-- A 9.8 foot (3 meter) rise would hit 17 percent of Mauritania's
gross domestic product.

-- A 13 foot (4 meter) rise would submerge 35 percent of Vietnam's urban areas.

-- a 16.4 foot (5 meter) rise would force 16.7 million people in
Bangladesh to become refugees.

Even the most extreme scenarios should be considered, she said,
because of the possibility that the thick ice sheets covering
Greenland and Antarctica could disintegrate as the world warms.

The loss of the Greenland ice sheet alone would raise sea level by
nearly 23 feet, Dasgupta's report said.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

230. "The Buck Stops Here" mantra has been replaced with...

"The Children are the Future." As far as I'm concerned, the latter reeks of doublespeak for ducking accountability.

[SharonAnn]

158. Keep in mind that Reagan, GHWB, Rumsfeld, et al. aren't "Boomers"

While there are some of us who participated, remember that the WWII generation of Republicans has had its grip on power for many, many years. And they're the ones who've led most of this "anti-environmentalism" policy.

Some of us have gone along with these mentors but let's be sure that we identify the right-wing, capitalist, neo-con Republicans as the malefactors.

We boomers of the other perspectives have had a hard time knocking these guys out of power. I recently said to my 80+ year old uncle, ultra right-wing West Point graduate, "You've screwed everything up! Will you please just get out of the way! It's time for you to go." And I waas serious. I'm 60 years old and these a**holes have been running things (and ruining things) all my life.

[hlthe2b]

181. NO argument here... I'm a boomer!

tail end of the baby boomer trend, but still a boomer...

I really hate these blame the generations posts, so I elected just to take my prozac-filled popcorn and watch from a distance! LOL

[Eurobabe]

2. Try not to lump all the boomers in this category, Al Gore is a boomer

do you blame him too? Just curious.

[don954]

18. He is one of the few i dont blame, as he tried to change things

the vast majority of his generation had a bad case of cognitive dissidence on the issue. I know of almost no one in generation who isn't worried about what we have in store for us, and almost every Boomer i know has an attitude of not giving a dam as they will be dead by then. How can i not be a bit pissed about that?! :mad:

[Bluebear]

77. "cognitive dissidence"

:eyes:

[Blue_In_AK]

83. Dissonance, dude. Cognitive DISSONANCE.

So what are YOU doing about it -- besides sailing, that is?

[don954]

98. well lets see...

Ive switched to a 45mpg diesel bug car. When Bio-D is at my station, i buy it, but, they dont keep that pump stocked all the time.
Ive installed a solar electric system in my current house (sun shine state!)
Ive volunteered and spent about 2000 hours working for progressive political candidates in the last few years.
Ive steered the company i currently work for to use more environmentally friendly materials in the product it makes.
I have switched to having 90% of my diet with local foods to further reduce my carbon impact.
Ive cut every phantom load in my home.
Ive switched my boat to a electric drive for its aux, which is recharged by the wind generator on the back of the boat. BTW, thats a 35 year old salvage rebuilt boat that i rescued from going to a land fill.
Ive done more, but thats enough i think...

[Raskolnik]

115. Man, you make Jesus look like a chump!

And yet a swell guy like yourself still has to deal with a house *without* direct water access for your sailboat? Scandalous!

How can a person believe in a god that would allow such a tragedy to happen to someone as wonderful as you?

[don954]

122. No, i have to deal with my home and every basically every

bit of land in my area being under water in 20 years or so. If i bought a house without access to the canals i would have the same problem, its looking at the water every day that makes me more aware of the eventual fate of every home & the Everglades south of lake Okeechobee, or as it will be called, the Bay of Okeechobee....

[Raskolnik]

131. Who is forcing you to live there?

Clearly you only care about climate change because of its potential affect on you personally, so why don't you live somewhere that won't be flooded? Unless, of course, you just feel that you should be entitled to do whatever you want at any time, and feel the need to place blame on others when that isn't possible.

If you can afford a 375K house and have enough disposable time and income to have a sailboat, you can move to higher ground. Voila, problem solved! Perhaps if you didn't live in a place that needed to be radically altered to accommodate your lifestyle, you wouldn't be contributing to the problem to the current degree.

Oh, wait, I forgot--climate change is everyone fault but yours.

(edit for clarity)

[Eurobabe]

95. I have a 25 & 23 y/o daughters, it's a shame that you haven't

met some of my progressive Boomer friends. Like the ones that live in Vermont, and are macrobiotics, and extremely environmentally conscious. And there are others, my friends that drive hybrid cars. etc.

Do I fear for the future lives of my daughter and my to-be-grandchildren? You be I do. (But then I was born in 1960, so I guess technically I am not a boomer.) I only know that blanket statements of blame are non-productive.

[uppityperson]

149. Sounds like you hung around with the wrong kind of boomers.

[TahitiNut]

123. "Boomers" fall into TWO very divergent groups.

Those who were born before 1955 were subject to the draft - they LIVED it knowing, as teen-agers, that they had to include the draft in any 'plans' they had upon graduation from high school. Most of those born before 1955 had "duck and cover" and bomb shelters ... the everyday knowledge that they could be wiped out in an instant. Many of them knew a 'world' without "The Pill" and color TV.

Not so for the post-1955 kids. Different world. The War in Viet Nam (and the draft) wer over before they got out of high school. They went to their high school proms when "The Pill" was available and abortion was legal.

As a "war baby" (pre-boomer), I was very keenly aware of how differently those two age groups tended to see their immediate worlds. The differences are HUGH.

I personally think it's really deluded to lump those born between 1946 and 1964 into one 'generation' for socio-political purposes.

[AirmensMom]

140. Yeah, right.

I was born in 1956 and my dad went to Vietnam. It was the worst year of my life. And it was no picnic when he came home with PTSD. You think I cared if I had to go when I had a father and two brothers in the Army? Many of my dad's friends were killed and I knew them personally. I lived through air raid drills. No TV until I was in 5th grade -- and it was B&W with rabbit ears. And I didn't go to any high school proms, with or without "The Pill".

The difference isn't in what year we were born. The difference is whether we cared about the environment. We recycled before it was fashionable.

It's deluded to lump anyone into a group solely based upon their year of birth.

[iverglas]

170. not to mention the whole post-boomer generation itself

Ah, the young are ever self-righteous. We were too.

But I have not in my lifetime consumed as much of anything as quite a lot of people considerably younger than me (pre-1955 boomer) have already done. I didn't even start buying clothes new until I was over 30. I didn't have a car until later than that, and then only because I needed it in my job (a car-less lawyer is kind of a useless lawyer, at a certain point). I've had a total of three in over 20 years, and I drive the current 1994 minivan about once every two weeks, to stock up on groceries, which I bring home in my own permanent bags and then cook myself as energy-saving-ly as possible, wasting nary a morsel, and buying no plastic or aluminum crap to wrap or store it in. Laundry is washed in cold and air-dried, any batteries we use for household objects are rechargeable, anything that can be recycled is recycled, either in household pickup or, with some effort, at depots. The house is chilly in winter and nicely warm in summer, spot-heated during our bitter cold months and spot-cooled on the few dog days when it's just too hot to work in the home office otherwise. We buy clothes occasionally when we need them, like when the shoes wear out, and the furniture is all a decade old and doing fine. I admit to a weakness for changing the blinds and curtains more than is necessary, and upgrading the video equipment on whims ...

Now compare that to how yer average 30-to-40-year-old has lived for the last couple of decades. They've put more plastic bags and batteries and cellphones in landfill, and polluted the air with more vehicle exhaust, than I could if I lived three lifetimes, at this rate.

Yup, a lot of my generation has lived the same way. Consumption is a strange and wonderful phenomenon. The stuff is there, we suck it up. It's what we're for, in the big modern scheme of things, and it's a little much to blame the consumers entirely for doing their job.

It's a paltry thing for me to abstain from what I do abstain from, and to have spent 30 years busting my ass for progressive politics (including three stints as a candidate), when I'm still burning the heating oil and buying and throwing out anything at all, and everybody else is burning and buying and throwing out three times as much and not voting for my candidates. It helps with the cognitive dissonance a little, but it's collective effort that's needed.

I'm just not going to accept generational blame for the problem when I'm just not seeing anybody else's generation behaving any better, and in fact I've observed them behaving a damn sight worse than *me* for quite some time now.

[Breeze54]

171. What about all the disposable diapers

in landfills from the after 1955 generation!?!
Did or do they use cloth diapers??
I'll bet they never even thought about it for a second!
To afraid to get their hands dirty. Ugh! wimps!

[iverglas]

173. yup, them too!

And maybe even especially. What are they, 3% of landfill in North America? Mind you, I think the boomers kind of started that one. Maybe that's what wrong with the present young generation. Reared in plastic diapers.

My sister is a last-of-the-boomers -- born 1966, the year it is said to have ended. Interestingly, I know a lot of families like ours: 3 kids born in the early-mid fifties, one or two afterthoughts born much later. Having too-big families was pretty common among our parents, as prosperity overcame them. But speaking of which, how many post-boomers in the obscenely consuming USofA bothered to limit themselves to one or two kids, knowing full well that every kid they had was going to be part of the problem?

Anyhow, my sister had two kids in the late 1990s, making her socially more a part of the post-boomer cohort, and used a diaper service operated by a woman in their downtown Toronto neighbourhood who picked up and delivered by bicycle.

Not all post-boomers are rats! ;)

Now how about all those vacations by airplane?? I wonder how many of the kiddies are planning to stay home this spring break ...

[Breeze54]

176. This boomer ('54) used cloth diapers and a clothes line!

And that's the truth! ;)
I know that 'some' probably do conserve consumption. ;)
"Not all post-boomers are rats! ;)" I know...just being snarky...lol
But I'll bet the majority haven't given it a second thought.
They're the "Me First!" generation, don't ya know?!

[TahitiNut]

184. Amen. I sometimes think there's my generation and then there's the ...

... "Toys'R'Us generation." Just most of the kids I've seen have consumed more in 'stuff' by the time they're 10 than I have in my lifetime. I sometimes wonder if it's the "Mall Rat culture."

[sandnsea]

196. YOUR generation's kids

My god, what generation do you think was making all the money in the 80's that gave rise to the ToysRUs kids?? I was only 25 in 1982, it wasn't me. It was YOUR generation what did that my friend.

[TahitiNut]

200. Well, I did my part for the planet.

I didn't spawn. :shrug: No progeny. No chips off the ol' block head. No acorns fallen from this oak. End of the line. Broke the mold. Rugs are rat-free. Curtains are unclimbed.

All it took was a look at other people's kids. :puke: Especially the ones born in the late 50s.


:evilgrin:

[KitSileya]

221. That's for sure!

My sister is all miffed because I bought small presents for my nephew and niece at Christmas (my nephew got a durable wooden jigsaw puzzle bought at a specialty toy shop whose toys are meant to last generations.) In truth, I don't like buying presents for kids. They already have everything, and at Christmas and birthdays, they have mountains of presents but lose interest after the first 5 they open. Their rooms are practically uninhabitable because they have so many toys.

I've started reading a book recently, where the author points out that when giving a toy to a kid you don't just give the toy. You also give a certain amount of carbon emissions, pollution from the dyes and materials, and if the gift is big enough, an oil spill or "oil-dead seal". All our things have that hidden cost, and nary a one of us (at least ordinary people) thinks about it. Most are just 'oooh, a blouse/powertool/curtain/thingamabob on sale! I must buy it, the price is sooo good.'

[TahitiNut]

223. "Happiness For Sale!"

It's a buyer's market, it seems. Shame.

[KitSileya]

225. Yeah. The book I referred to is good on that.

It's written by Ferenc Maté, and while I've only read a couple of chapters, he sure has some good points. He points out how, with a mcmansion, you have to work a month just for the driveway, and is a driveway really worth a month at your current job? How about the garage? A year of working 9-5 simply for your garage?

My ambition is to live a lot more frugally than I do now. I don't have a car, so that helps, but I really would like to start a balcony garden this summer (I rent an apartment on the first floor.) My one big environmental sin will be a trip to Washington DC this summer - from Scandinavia, that is a lot of jet fuel and pollution.

[susanna]

201. TahitiNut, I completely agree with that assessment...

...and I'm an Xer. My husband is a Class of '60 Boomer, but couldn't be less like my parents, the Class of '43 Boomers.

The Boomers really are a monolithic generation that was made more of Marketing hype than true reality, IMHO.

I find that Xers are just as divided, in my mind, into the Atari Gen (me) and the Nintendo Gen (everyone else). I still find reasons to find the Nintendo Gen annoying, because heaven help me, I inherited some Boomer sensibilities!

I used to dislike Boomers reflexively - it was hard not to. They were so monolithic that the rest of us just didn't exist. That said, I've grown and put it behind me. Plus I married a Boomer, and he just plain rocks. :-)

One last thing: my husband and I have (together) created an urban oasis, if you will - some solar, some geothermal, and backup generative capacity (him). I square foot garden and freeze/can a lot of our non-pesticided, heirloom vegetables. He's also a Ham guy, so we do have the ugly antenna. I guess what this post means to say is that it takes all kinds. :-)

Oh yeah: and we use canvas bags for shopping and recycle just about everything.

On edit: a little more info

[Art_from_Ark]

203. Many of us born after 1955 were well aware of the draft

I knew at least two classmates who had brothers in Viet Nam-- one brother lived, the other died. Other classmates had brothers who were approaching draft age. And I remember watching some people turn a barrel on TV and drawing out birthdays to see who would be the first in line for the birthday-based draft, and sweating bullets because I thought my birthday would be one of the early ones (and I was still in elementary school).

The Pill was introduced in 1960, so all boomers would have been aware of it by high school. And we never had color TV until the 1980s, after color TVs had become mainstream.

[TahitiNut]

214. "Fish will be the last to discover water." (Einstein)

One of the more frequent dissonances I read on DU is the blurring of a distinction between having a direct, personal, first-hand experience of Viet Nam (or the draft, or abortion, or civil rights, or ___) and "knowing" that experience becuase of one's parent (or spouse, or older brother, or neighbor, or ___). Virtually every "check in" thread on DU includes posts by those claiming standing due to some close relationship with someone with that direct experience.

It's interesting. I would never presume to claim an understanding of what it's like to (and be a spokesperson for) giving birth ... on the basis of having either been born or holding the hand of a spouse while she gave birth. I could never claim an understanding of what it's like to be a black in the south in the 60s, despite the fact that I was there at the time and had classmates and friends who were black. Yet I frequently see people appear to claim a comprehension of being a Viet Nam veteran becuase of their parent, their spouse, their sibling, or even because they were in the military (perhaps not even at the same time).

One of the clearest memories I have of being in high school and college and having to manage my life with the reality of the draft facing me is the claim/sympathy/support/commiseration from females of that era. I was very keenly aware of the fact that THEY really had little comprehension of what it was like, no matter what their attitudes were regarding the draft. It was like there was this unbridgeable chasm between us, no matter how close we were - a chasm that, in most cases, I'd be 'impolite' to point out.

What's even more perplexing is the fact that two people with such direct experience can have been affected in apparently very divergent ways ... yet have an indefinable and ephemeral common direct comprehension that cannot be approximated from a second-hand perspective.

I suppose I'm merely echoing the more general and age-old truth that we just don't know what it's like unless we've "walked miles in their shoes" - the frustrating gulf between all human beings. Humankind has always, I guess, confronted the feeling of "being alone" and separated from every other huamn by some chasm ... some division that we cannot apparently bridge. Then, at times, some of us meet the Hot Dog Vendor ... and discover (experience!) an underlying, hidden, contrary Truth.

[Art_from_Ark]

233. I really don't understand what you're trying to say

But in your previous post, you said that we who were born after 1955 would not have agonized over Viet Nam, and I am saying that many of us did agonize over it, to one degree or another. That was certainly the case where I was, and I don't think that my little town was an exception to the rule. I remember the nightly news reports on Viet Nam just as surely as you do, I remember my friends telling me about their brothers in Viet Nam, about how one was shot down but was able to get rescued, while the other wasn't so lucky. And I remember people saying there was no end in sight for the war, and when they turned that big drum on TV and pulled birth dates out of it, I was sweating bullets because I was afraid that by the time I was 18, they'd be calling me up, too, especially if I had a low number. And then there was my mother talking about sending me to Canada, if it ever came to that.

So sure, you might have had the draft staring you right in the face in high school, but it was also staring all of us who were born slightly after 1955 in the face for a while.

[saltpoint]

3. Jesus.

[dweller]

192. another boomer ...

he was pre-A.D. i do believe.

dp

[saltpoint]

206. The dates notwithstanding, he RUINED it for the next generation.

So did Chester A. Arthur.

Ruined everything.

[ThomWV]

4. Yeah, sucks to be you dude. It was the "Greatest Generation" that did it to us.

We all get it, you'll do it to your kids too, just wait.

[NoPasaran]

5. Hey!

If we hadn't stopped the damn war, you'd be up to your waist in some swamp in Vietnam, getting your ass shot off, you ungrateful crybaby!

[Adelante]

107. You tell that whippersnapper

Our generation were no slouches.

[magellan]

6. Generalize much?

[itsmesgd]

7. I've had it. I'm running for Congress in 2008

Against Jack Kingston. Two years is a good headstart. I'll get my research done soon and get started.

[Red Zelda]

8. "greatest generation" my ass

had it all ... lost it all ... bought a teevee!

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. Baby Boomer here and me thinks you need to add a sarcasm tag or at least

be specific with "REPUKE baby boomers" when you talk about Global Warming. LIBERAL baby boomers have always taken care of our ONE and ONLY Earth...myself included.:grr:

:popcorn:

[villager]

14. Word.

n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

19. I Would Hope It's Sarcasm

Because if this guy wants me to feel sympathy because he can't find a place to dock his sailboat, he's fishing in barren waters.
The Professor

[don954]

23. My sailboat is a 35 year old project boat that i rebuilt myself

and is about the most environmentally friendly method of recreation & method of travel around.

[ProfessorGAC]

51. And...?

Other people screwed up your enjoyment and holier than thou transportation and you want sympathy? Self righteous claptrap.
GAC

[don954]

60. No, I want a people to be a little more respectfull of what they do to the

next generation, that is all.

[ProfessorGAC]

68. And, I Want People Of The Next Generation. . .

. . .to not piss on my shoes and tell me it's raining. I'm a boomer. You think this is my fault? Get a quarter and buy a clue.
The Professor

[Morgana LaFey]

169. You GO, Professor

It's been a while since I've encountered quite this level of assholeness at DU. And I hope it'll be another good long while. THIS one deserves whatever Nature can reap upon him, AFAIC, because of an unwarranted (unearned) sense of entitlement 6 miles long. Narcissistic claptrap.

He wouldn't know HOW to respect someone or some group. The people I think he needs to blame are his parents, for raising a narcissist like him. Can't imagine why he's a Dem anyway, he'd be MUCH more at home among the Repukes.

[uppityperson]

154. But we gave you life!

:nopity:

[in_cog_ni_to]

25. Sadly, I think he's serious.

:(

Happy Valentine's Day Professor! Here's another heart!:hi:

[TahitiNut]

44. I'm still trying to figure out where someone buys insurance for an evergreen shrub ...

... and why I should care. I had a privet hedge once and didn't see a need to have insurance for it. :shrug: I also wonder about property in Florida that's loose. Is it because it's sandy?

[LisaM]

76. Maybe the Boomers were the last generation that knows how to spell "lose"

It certainly seems that way, doesn't it?

[TahitiNut]

111. Yep. And only those of us who were subject to the draft know how to spell 'private,' too.

It's so bad and so sad that Gen-Xers had to suffer growing up without "duck and cover" and the military draft.

Here's part of the 'legacy' the Boomers left for the Gen-Xers ...

Deteriorata
Go placidly amid the noise and waste and remember what a comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof. Avoid quiet and passive persons unless you are in need of sleep. Rotate your tires. -- Speak glowingly of those greater than yourself and heed well their advice even though they be turkeys; know what to kiss and when. -- Consider that two wrongs never make a right but that three do. Wherever possible, put people on hold. Be comforted that in the face of all aridity and disillusionment and despite the changing fortunes of time, there is always a big fortune in computer maintenance. -- Remember the Pueblo. Strive at all times to bend, fold, spindle, and mutilate. Know yourself; if you need help, call the FBI. Exercise caution in your daily affairs, especially with those persons closest to you. That lemon on your left, for instance. Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most souls would scarcely get your feet wet. Fall not in love therefore; it will stick to your face. -- Gracefully surrender the things of youth, birds, clean air, tuna, Taiwan; and let not the sands of time get in your lunch. -- Hire people with hooks. -- For a good time, call 606-4311; ask for Ken. Take heart amid the deepening gloom that your dog is finally getting enough cheese; and reflect that whatever misfortune may be your lot, it could only be worse in Milwaukee. -- You are a fluke of the universe; you have no right to be here, and whether you can hear it or not, the universe is laughing behind your back. -- Therefore make peace with your God whatever you conceive Him to be: Hairy Thunderer or Cosmic Muffin -- With all its hopes, dreams, promises, & urban renewal, the world continues to deteriorate. -- Give up.

Found in an old National Lampoon, dated 1972

I repeat ...
Gracefully surrender the things of youth, birds, clean air, tuna, Taiwan; and let not the sands of time get in your lunch.

:evilgrin:

[don954]

114. I bow to your flawless spelling and grammar.

:evilgrin:

[TahitiNut]

137. Just blame it on your "boomer" teachers. That's easier.

:eyes: ... particularly the ones who fell so short in teaching a 4th and 5th grade vocabulary.

I commend your strength in bearing up under the terrible burden of buying property in Florida ... instead of, say, Bangladesh or India or Darfur or North Korea where you wouldn't have to suffer the indignities heaped upon you by the "baby boom" generation. Bravo.

[don954]

141. no, i blame it on the fact that I've become lazy in my spelling.

and let spellcheck take care of too much....

[robinlynne]

47. right you are. There certainly were more of us out on the street trying to stop

funding for the war this week than younguns...

[Manifestor_of_Light]

136. Yea, and a lot of us don't have pensions or jobs or security.

I wonder why anyone goes to college when my 12 years of college hasn't gotten me anywhere.
You have to know somebody.

I was aware of Earth Day and all that stuff and I took Environmental biology way back in 1974. We read Aldo Leopold and knew about Ansel Adams, too. I dug into rotten logs and got slime mold specimens for my labs!! I took a course in slime molds and grew them in petri dishes in my dorm room. People thought I was weird. I have no idea why. (sarcasm)

Got my B.A. in Biology for that matter.

So don't generalize about ALL baby boomers being uncaring wasteful shits, OK??

[Cerridwen]

10. I would suggest "The Peoples History of the United States"

by Howard Zinn.

A little splash of history might illuminate for you that what has occurred in this country has a long history. Unless, of course, you think 'boomers' are a couple of hundred years old.

Oh, and see my sig - another 'boomer' who had an interesting take.

[EFerrari]

112. I second that. And, this '55 baby only feels 200 years old reading these posts.

:rofl:

[Cerridwen]

132. Ain't it the truth?

:rofl:

[EFerrari]

133. Seriously, Zinn should be required reading in liberal households.

He does such a great job of showing what US policy has been about and in a mostly neutral way.

That would be hard to do, imho. :)

[Cerridwen]

135. I wholeheartedly agree (pun intended for Valentine's Day)

:D

And though he's not completely neutral, neither is what we learn in the first place. It makes a good balance for the 'truths' we're taught in school.

[Warren Stupidity]

174. Fair enough but the op also has a point.

Considering the lofty goals and ambitions we boomers had in the 60's, and where we have taken all those dreams, and who we have coughed up as leaders, we are all in all a despicable shitty generation of self centered bozos and idiots, naval gazers, toy collectors, and generally in massive self denial about who we are and where we came from.

For example, go to a school board meeting or a pta meeting where the issue of sticking a cop (er 'resource officer') in the school to bust the pot smokers comes up. What a load of hypocritical bullshit will gush forth from a bunch of boomer and near-boomer fucktards who it seems have forgotten that they all got stoned and fucked like bonobo apes in the 60s 70s and 80s till aids scared their pants back on and smacked the joint out of their gaping pie holes.

We are in the catbird seat right now and this is the world as we have made it and yes of course we inheritied a godawful mess from our parents but we did not exactly make it better did we? No, we made it a whole lot worse.

Peace & Love. Feh.

[sandnsea]

11. We started 30 years ago

WE didn't cause all this pollution. That would be the 'greatest generation' whose high point was the Cuyahoga River on fire. The Boomer generation has worked to clean up that mess for 30 years and has been fought every step of the way by Bob Dole Republicans - remember him, from the WWII generation. You have no idea how bad it would be if boomers hadn't started this fight.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

191. Randy Newman wrote a song about the Cuyahoga River on fire.

:rofl: Unfortunately, most of the country is irony-impaired.

"Cleveland, City of magic, city of light" :rofl:

[LisaM]

12. Actually, it was Reagan's generation that ignored the problem

and it Henry Ford's generation (and later, WWII) that began the auto boom and the dependence on oil.

I'm a late end boomer. Can I blame you for all the toxic landfill waste generated by YOUR generation's dependence on computers?

[JAYJDF]

13. boo hoo. wait, wait, nope, no tears.

Concerned about a place to park your sail boat.
I can see just how bad you have it.
Still playing that give me give me card I see.

[in_cog_ni_to]

56. That's SO 1980, isn't it?

:eyes: sheesh. These young whipper snappers never cease to amaze me.

[Critters2]

15. I work with boomers and the generation before them, and I can tell you

it's not the boomers who are the worst. It's their parents, who believe they have some right to be wasteful and uncaring because they lived through the depression and WW2. It's boomers (like Al Gore) who are raising the issue.

Yes, boomers could do better. All the suburban sprawl around here (and we're up to our eyeballs in it) is caused by boomers moving out of the city. But their parents are worse on these issues, atttiude-wise.

[SoCalDem]

16. Ronald Reagan was NOT a boomer

Boomers do not "control" much..The "parents-of-boomers" are still very much in "control"..either because they are still alive, or their policies are still in effect.

[JVS]

17. Let me get this straight. You want land with access to water so that you can save money on your...

boat docking fees, and you consider yourself to have been screwed over?

Interesting.

[Critters2]

20. My thoughts exactly. Someone make me suffer like this.

Please.

[JVS]

22. No, I cannot allow you to suffer so. I accept this bitter cup, oh lord!

[Critters2]

37. You would take on the suffering of the world, and a sailboat

with no access to water?

I feel a new religion coming on.

[JVS]

53. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man deal with sailboat docking problems for his friends

[Critters2]

57. The Gospel of don 9:54

LOL!! Okay, now I'm going to write a sermon. Really. I am. :rofl:

[Cameron27]

71. Oh man

I coughed up my coffee.:rofl:

[in_cog_ni_to]

21. I wonder if that sailboat has an engine too? Most do. Nothing like polluting our waterways

with engine pollutants.

[don954]

106. I have an electric drive system charged on a wind generator

replacing the old greasy diesel engine.



You can still see the remnants of the old engines pollution in the bilge, i hate oil....

[GirlinContempt]

32. I don't think you fully comprehend the seriousness of this issue

[JVS]

93. I have a confession to make! My family owns a sailboat

When I was growing up we had (I think it is still in the garage) a boat called a sailfish. It was basically a big surfboard with a sail on it. It's the one on the top in this picture


Anyway my proto-boomer parents (born during, not after war) also inheirited a pontiac bonneville and we would put the boat on the roof and go sail it around in lakes. I feel so guilty for having destroyed the world.

[Flying Dream Blues]

116. but now that you're a martyr, all is forgiven. go in peace, my son. :)

[Porcupine]

24. Just one more dead city and I'll stop.....

driving my pickup with the 350 lbs. of tools everywhere. Maybe 2 more cities. That's my deal with the world. What's yours.

The whole society is on a binge of energy consumption like a bunch of cokaine addicts. If you can afford the sailboat and the canal-side house maybe you could do something about climate change yourself..

Just saying.

[AlCzervik]

26. i don't understand-"Guaranteed to loose it"

[in_cog_ni_to]

29. : ) Spell check is one's FRIEND.

:rofl:

[AlCzervik]

36. i thought maybe he just needed a wrench.

[Bluebear]

79. He has "cognitive dissidence". nt

[AlCzervik]

86. a wrench probably wouldn't help much with that.

:-)

[Critters2]

40. Wouldn't help. The difference between "lose" and "loose" calls for a human brain.

Just sayin'.

[in_cog_ni_to]

42. OOPS! My mistake!

:rofl:

[uppityperson]

155. Not the part of the body I was thinking of.

[mike_c]

27. lol-- a rant about the shallow lifestyle of baby-boomers from a guy...

...who laments his own troubles securing the suburban American dream. :rofl:

[Flying Dream Blues]

119. Exactly, dead on. Typical youngster rant. Complete with misspellings.

[lukasahero]

28. 20 or 30 years ago we DID try to fix the environment

Rachel Carson rings a bell (1960's). The EPA (1970's). The Endangered Species Act (1970's). The Clean Water Act (1970's). Greenpeace (1970's). WWF (1961). Environmental Defense Fund (1960's). DDT ban (1960's).

I'm sure I can think of more if you need me to.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

49. Remember phosphates?

Hm, how'd we get rid of all that perpetually sudsy water?

[lukasahero]

61. I belonged to "Save the Bay" in RI in the 70's

Sudsy water indeed.

And I just thought of another one: Earth Day. I am one of those boomers (albeit on the edge of boomer/genXer) who was actually out there in the rivers pulling out tires, stoves, shopping carts... I take serious offense to anyone suggesting we didn't do anything to clean things up.

[MamaBear]

97. What happened to the solar panels on the White House?

Oh yeah, Saint Ronnie took them down, while proclaiming that greed is good. And that miserable old coot was not a "boomer."

Please. :eyes:

[salin]

156. established the SuperFund - (though reCONs have all but defunded it)

[BlackVelvet04]

226. Bravo!

Great post.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

30. Thank god the GenX-ers have it so together.

Good LORD you are uninformed.

[Virginia Dare]

31. No it was the people who gave birth to the boomers who

boned you...:spank:

[DURHAM D]

33. You seemed to forget that the Boomers have always

gotten the royal shaft from the WWII generation. 20-30 years ago all important decision making was still in the hands of that generation and just for the record that generation always understood what they were doing but did not care - they needed their reward for winning the big one.

Meanwhile, the Boomers have paid for their (The so called greatest generation.) middle class entitlement programs from day one and millions of them are still sucking at the public teat and have succeeded in almost sucking it dry.

So what is the reward for the Boomer generation - disrespect from the post Boomers and anger from the pre Boomers. We are getting squeezed from both sides. If the Boomers figure out that Obama articulates the views that you have expressed in your post he will lose big.

[BlackVelvet04]

227. My biggest gripe with Obama.....

"If the Boomers figure out that Obama articulates the views that you have expressed in your post he will lose big."

[Breeze54]

34. What a crock of sh*t!!!

[yy4me]

35. I don't even know where to begin with this one except to say that

you lost my sympathy when you complained about your $350.00 dockage bill. Lots of us born prior to the baby boomer generation are suffering from "the way things are". The same for those born during and after. We all try to make our place on this earth a little better. Sometimes it takes a few years to see where things lead. I really doubt you will see your land float away. I do feel sorry for those, including you, with flood insurance problems. It is your manner of expressing yourself that is a little abrasive. The last paragraph says it all. You have blamed everything that is not of your liking on a generation as a whole. Do me a favor and rethink your hasty generalization.

[Jacobin]

38. As a member of the Boomer generation

I would like to tell you how profoundly horrified I am of my generation, their greed, their selfishness, their view that the entire world should bow down to this country, their willingness to blow up shit first and think later, their bloviating whininess, their willingness to trade the Bill of Rights for 'security', their intellectual laziness, and last, but not at all least, producing George Fucking Bush and (possibly) electing him to be president.

I am dead serious. I apologize. All I can do is give you a heart.

[Fresh_Start]

39. take some responsibility. If you're buying a house

your consuming more than the average person too. Tell me, did you walk to high school/college or did you drive your own car?

[Webster Green]

41. I was a tree hugger when you were in diapers..

Maybe you weren't even around yet.

Very broad brush you have there.:hippie:

[don954]

146. being older doesnt mean your smarter, it just means you smell more...

:silly:

Just kidding, i am thankful for the minority of the previous generations who did give a dam, so at least we done have rivers that catch fire now... :)

[Raskolnik]

162. You're magnanimous too! There appears to be no end to your wonderful qualities.

I'm sure the people that lived through the Depression, fought WWII, created the largest middle class in the history of the world, made it through Vietnam, and built the society that allows you enough leisure time and disposable income to play with a boat in your spare time appreciate you being "thankful for the minority of the previous generations who did give a dam.

You are a special person.

[lukasahero]

183. I'm beginning to think the only way we really failed you

is in not providing you a decent education. Not only is your initial assertion wrong (as has been amply proven), but your spelling and grammar is terrible. I'm not going to make fun of you for it like some here have but seriously, take your time, think about what you're typing and use the darn spell check.

The fact that our young people can't add without a calculator and can't spell without spell check, is a real sign of the older generation's failure.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

43. "There is no safety in the cosmos" - Alan Watts

"..I have to look forward to a chaotic and unstable climent for my future."

We've all had to look forward to a chaotic and unstable world. Welcome to life.

[Flying Dream Blues]

120. "climent?" I missed that one. :)

[don954]

127. yep, and we got both to deal with

unless Bush nukes us all, then its all a mute point!

Thanks!

[bigmonkey]

189. Moot point.

Not mute point. I apologize for correcting, but this one really gets me.

My American Heritage dictionary says of "moot":
"Without legal significance, through having been previously decided or settled; of only academic importance."

[sinkingfeeling]

45. Oh grow up! First most boomers would have been about 25 years old in 1970, many still in

grade school. Second, if all you have to worry about is how your $million home on a Florida canal may be drowned, you aren't paying attention. You will probably be paying out so much f**king money to live and pay down the national debt, you won't be able to afford a meal. Or are you one of those 75% of the GenXers who are convinced that they deserve fame and fortune? The first group of boomers to take over government and run things was Bill Clinton in 1992, the first of the post-WWII presidents. I'm supposed to cry because you're going to be so stupid as to live in Florida on a canal? If the hurricanes don't get you, then the rising water will.

[don954]

75. how much do you think a boat and dock costs? You evidently think im rich

nice... ya, Im rich in compairison to 90% of the world, but we all are in this nation...

[mtnester]

152. I am a boomer based on year of birth, and I was 10 YEARS OLD in 1970

what was I supposed to do for the unborn when I was ten? Give up my pony? The is SO off base on this...he better look to his great grandparents instead of his parent or grandparents (WHOM, by date of birth, would probably BOTH be classified as boomers) It was those who were in their late 50's and 60's when Raygun came into office that started to fuck over this country for profit, and they were NOT boomers dammit.

I usually do not react to stupid rants like the one posted by the OP, but this one pissed me off!

Oh, and all I WISH I could do was worry about unloading the dock fees on my sailboat. Think this young one would loan me about $3700.00 to pay the IRS THIS Year? Or maybe the OP would like to buy me a new roof? Or come and take care of my Grandfather for me?

I have a 27 year old son who, if something this stupid ever came out of his mouth, I would smack him across it.


Bleh.

[Breeze54]

46. The real time to fix the environmental problems was 20-30 years ago? Try 1965!!!!

Recycling Timeline

Here you will find a list of important dates and events in the history of recycling and garbage management.

Click on any of the links in blue for more information.

http://members.aol.com/Ramola15/timeline.html

1965 The Federal government realizes that garbage has become a major problem and enacts the Solid Waste Disposal Act.
This calls for the nation to find better ways of dealing with trash.
1968 The US aluminum industry begins recycling discarded aluminum products,
from beverage cans to window blinds.
1970 On April 22, the first Earth Day introducing the concept of recycling to the general public.
1970 The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is established.
1971 Oregon is the first state to use bottle deposits--5¢ per beverage container.
*THIS INFORMATION IS UNDER DEBATE--SEE BELOW
1972 The first buy-back centers for recyclables are opened in Washington State.
They accept beer bottles, aluminum cans, and newspapers.
1974 The first city-wide use of curbside recycling bins occurs in University City, Missouri,
for collecting newspapers.
1976 Three people from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, get a patent on a method for purefying and reusing lubricating oils.
1976 The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act is passed, which requires all dumps to be replaced with "sanitary landfills."
The enforcement of this act will increase the cost of landfill disposal, and that will make resource-conserving options like recycling more appealing.
1986 The city of San Francisco meets its goal of recycling 25% of its commercial and residential waste.
1986 Rhode Island becomes the first state to pass mandatory recycling laws for aluminum and steel cans, glass, newspapers, and #1 and #2 plastic.
1988 The Plastic Bottle Institute develops a material-identification code system for plastic bottle manufacturers. (This is our current #1-6 system.)
1990 McDonald's announces plans to stop the use of styrofoam packaging of its food due to consumer protests.
1990 On December 4, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi announced that they will begin using a recycled PET (#1 plastic) bottle made of about 25% recycled plastic resin.

[lukasahero]

52. Yup

I posted upthread - Rachel Carson, WWA, EPA, ESA, EDF, Clean Water Act... All started in the 60's and 70's. Wonder if this "kid" has even heard of "Silent Spring"?

[Breeze54]

63. I remember my WWII era Dad

being upset at the "new" recycling regs and having to recycle bottles!!!
He had choice words for those "environmental types"!!
ME!!!! :grr:

He couldn't burn trash in an open street fire anymore!!! Wah!!!

I saw what you posted, lukasahero! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Obama has really succeeded, with his attack on baby boomers,
to divide the babies like the OP, from the current boomers!
:mad:

[lukasahero]

73. Is that was this is about?

I must have missed the Obama attack. I'll have to go check it out. I like Obama and hope he was taken out of context. Regardless, I'm not sure it's Obama who is responsible for the "poor me" lament of the OP. Seems like he/she was quite eager to make that leap anyway.

I was lucky in that my folks were very supportive of their environmentally inclined daughter. Hey, dad paid for my membership and accompanied me to "Save the Bay" clean-ups. And mom provided "refreshments" for all my Earth Day events. :)

[Breeze54]

78. Obama says, for the baby boomers to get over themselves.

Shushing the Baby Boomers
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/weekinreview/21broder.html?ex=1327035600&en=b1368edf6827a3a9&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

THE time has come, Senator Barack Obama says, for the baby boomers to get over themselves.

In taking the first steps toward a presidential candidacy last week, Mr. Obama, who was born in 1961 and considers himself a member of the post-boomer generation, said Americans hungered for “a different kind of politics,” one that moved beyond the tired ideological battles of the 1960s.

To make his point, Mr. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois in his first term in the Senate, announced the formation of his presidential exploratory committee in a video streamed on his Web site. He is tieless and relaxed and oh so cool.

==================

Will Obama Turn Off Baby Boomers?
http://www.campusprogress.org/page/community/post/Mentoni/C3kQ

An article in the NYTimes today reports that Obama is using his status on a non-baby boomer
to set himself apart from other possible presidential candidates.

He wrote that,

"I sometimes felt as if I were watching the psychodrama of the baby boom generation
-- a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago
-- played out on the national stage."

While he is obviously trying to find a way to turn his his limited experience and relatively
young age into a positive message of change that could inspire many, espcially young voters,
could he be stepping a bit too far with the message in this case (assuming he contintues to
point that out as a distinction).

As the article states,

Mr. Obama would be foolish to run solely as the anti-boomer, <...>, if for no other reason
than that the baby boomers are the largest generation in American history, and they vote.

--------

I've seen more and more of these baseless attacks on BB's by the "ME FIRST!" generation lately!
:grr:

[Alamom]

91. Baby boomers are the largest generation in American history and they(we)vote

Opps, another foot-in-mouth moment....
Kids! Whatcha gonna do? :crazy:




edit...I dropped my glasses & made a boo-boo.

[marions ghost]

96. WTF???

that remark seems pretty stupid coming from Obama. He's gonna need Democratic support where ever he can get it. Don't think he'll get far running on being a divider rather than a uniter. I thought he had high intelligence...somebody needs to tell him to STFU on that anti-boomer rhetoric.

Also being born in 1961 is grazing the back edge of the boomers--he has no leg to stand on there. He knows and interacts with boomers all the time. Too easy to offend.

[lukasahero]

102. "popularly identified as starting in 1946 and ending in 1964"

"If the gross number of births were the indicator, births began to decline from the peak in 1957 (4,300,000) but fluctuated or did not decline by much more than 40,000 (1959-1960) to 60,000 (1962-1963) until a sharp decline from 1964 (4,027,490) to 1965 (3,760,358). Thus 1964 is a good year to mark the end of the baby boom."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomer

So he's just choosing what generation he wants to be identified with? That's convenient. I'm 43, born in 1963. I have always been grouped in with the boomers.

These anti-boomers might ask themselves what they've done for the environment lately? Barrack is not half the environmentalist (boomer) Al Gore is. As for those "tired idealogical battles", that sounds very much to me like "move to the middle". Maybe the GenXers should think about what that means for the environment?

Ultimately, I agree with the summation of the Times article: "Mr. Obama would be foolish to run solely as the anti-boomer, <...>, if for no other reason than that the baby boomers are the largest generation in American history, and they vote." I think (hope) he's smart enough to realize this too.

Thanks for the info! :hi:

[Breeze54]

109. ....a divider rather than a uniter.

You're welcome! It's been steaming me since I read his words! :grr:

"So he's just choosing what generation he wants to be identified with?"
Seems that way! How convenient is the truth!

"These anti-boomers might ask themselves what they've done for the environment lately?"

Agreed!!

[Cameron27]

151. What in the hell is he thinking...

I guess I should get over myself and drop him as my #2 fav candidate. Pffft, born 1961 he's still a boomer, who's he kidding.

[Breeze54]

159. I think I already have....

dropped him.....

I can't stand or take anymore B* type rhetoric and this wreaks of it, IMHO! :grr:

[Art_from_Ark]

202. The 1971 date for bottle deposits is wrong

As a kid in Arkansas in the late '60s, I remember going around with friends looking in the ditches in the neighborhood for soft drink bottles, because in those days we could return them all (if they were in good condition) for 2 cents each. Adults would throw them away because 2 cents was nothing to them, but to us kids, 5 bottles would buy a full bottle of pop, a cinnamon bun, an ice cream bar or a candy bar.

[Breeze54]

213. I didn't create the timeline but....

1971 Oregon is the first state to use bottle deposits--5¢ per beverage container.
*THIS INFORMATION IS UNDER DEBATE--SEE BELOW

I remember turning in bottles for candy money when I was around 8 yrs old.
That would've been in 1962 or thereabouts.

I think what they're getting at, is it became 'mandatory';
as in stores HAD to accept the returns and recycle them.

I'm not sure though. Maybe you can find more info. ;)

[Art_from_Ark]

231. It seems like every store I took my bottles to accepted them

even Humphrey's General Store, which wasn't even as big as my bedroom. That would have been 1967-68 in small town Arkansas.

[Mojambo]

48. LOL. Your sailboat. Well, as long as you care for the right reasons.

:eyes:

[OutNow]

50. sailors are environmentalists

I'm a boomer, and a sailor. Can't tell by the original post if that makes me evil or good. I can say that sailors, generally, are more aware of the environment than most people, especially the stinkpot yachters who burn $100.00 or more of gas or diesel a day when out on the water. I have a clean burning 10hp Honda 4-cycle on my boat and bought it as soon as it was available back in the 90s even though it wasn't mandatory until 2008 just to get rid of my 2-cycle Johnson. I use about 5 gallons of gas A YEAR to sail.

I've lived in Florida and having a canal in the backyard near the inter coastal was a dream for me, just never had enough money to get it.

Also a long time Windjammer customer. Sailing on a tall ship around the Caribbean. That is as close to the perfect vacation I've ever seen.

Bring the Troops Home Now

[Skidmore]

54. Sell your boat and pay your loan, then you won't have

to worry about a gd docking fee, pipsqueak.

[don954]

64. Sell a 10k boat that also serves as my backup house in case the caca hits the fan

to pay off a 375k morgage? Nice math...

[Skidmore]

101. I believe the only thing you whined about was the $350 docking fee

and a "loan" of unspecified amount.

Let me tell you something before you get carried away with how tough you have it. I'm a boomer. I grew up dirt poor, and worked hard for the what I have now. I paid my way by working my tush off getting an education to better myself and make a life for my 2 kids (see, I practiced zero population growth). We do our best to take care of the land and the planet in our daily habits, and have actively practiced energy conservation and recycling over the years. We taught it to our kids. When I talk about recycling, you need to look around our house. We even recycle other people's stuff. My husband rehabs appliances and electronic stuff to keep them out of the landfills and then donates them so they can get a second life.

If you want to whine, go to the captains of industry and talk to them about how much crap ends up as garbage because they make it too hard to find parts for or too expensive to repair or tie up repair as a licensed service so people end up buying new rather than repair something. Go to the captains of industry who bought an entire government so they wouldn't have to follow regulations on clean air and water or manufacture products that were energy efficient or met standards for emissions. Some of those captains of industry, particulary in the electronics business, are by no stretch of mathematics, boomers. You can find plent of filthy rich GenXers among them as well. You can find plenty of GenXers as well who are also very much into conspicuous consumption and toss clothing and new non biodegradable electronic doodads whenever the next style or model come out. Cripe what is the load of chemicals from residue in toiletry and makeup bottles and containers to be found in landfills. How about all the mountains of plastic that never gets recycled? How about all the freaking stickpens tossed out because no one wants to take the time deal with ink refills? How about all those gd-disposable diapers neatly compacted in DiaperGenie tubes preserved for all eternity because no one wants to deal with a baby's diry mess or wash a diaper any more?

Believe me, in this very materialist society, there is plenty of blame to be handed around. We all need to take responsibility rather than trying to dump it onto one group.

Rant off.

[China_cat]

55. Poor baby

One day you're going to listen to your kids and grandkids blaming you for the condition of the world. Every generation does it. You don't believe it now but remember this when you get to be 60 to 65.

[Ishoutandscream2]

58. Don, you may want to thank a Baby Boomer

And yes, I think they were truly the "greatest generation." They protested an illegal war, and through their efforts helped get rid of the peacetime draft. If it wasn't for them, you may be in Iraq at this point.

So, if you were born between 1946 and 1952, I salute you for your work in ending an illegal war and the conscription of young men.

[blues90]

59. I'm a boomer and I protest this

We tried to make people aware of the land and the issues of human rights . We did not invent the auto nore did we promote it .

Now certainly many boomers sold out and went the corporate way , we did not have studies on global warming but we tried to save the environment and bring awareness to it .

Who would have guessed back then 30 years ago this is what our country would turn into . Blame progress and greed .

[sutz12]

62. And one more...it was the boomers who balanced the budget in the '90's

Damn near the only time in the 20th century that was done. :)

[The Straight Story]

65. Well, that helps in fixing the issues now....and if you really want to blame someone - scientists

If they had not invented the stuff to do this, or been more careful in testing it all and seeing what it would do, we would not be in this mess.

They made the A-Bomb, bio weapons, the technology to run all these plants and cars, etc and so on.

Until they came along we just all chilled out on farms like the amish and wandering around the mountains like grizzly Adams, or rode about the west on horses chasing cows and women.

We can always blame somebody for things, but blame ain't gonna fix the here and now. It will though create factions where we need to build bridges.

[pinto]

66. I live on $1,000/mo. If I had a sail boat and a $350 dockage, I'd have to live *on it*, not move it.

Just the way it is for this boomer.

Oh, and fwiw, don't buy property in a flood zone, unless you live on a sail boat..

ok, rant over :evilgrin:

Thanks.

[don954]

82. I know exactly that situation.

I would have been homeless 3 years ago if not for my boat, after a lay-off and couldn't find a living wage job (ie, not flipping burgers) for a year. Ive clawed my way back up the ladder since.. I lived for a year and a half on my boat getting chased out of anchorages by the Florida PD who equate liveaboards with bums.. I hold on to my boat principally due to fear of becoming homeless from another bad job market.

[pinto]

105. Congrats. Thanks for the follow up, it fleshes out your OP.

[AngryAmish]

67. As bad as the Boomers are, global warming cannot be laid at their feet

30 years ago there was real concern about a coming Ice Age - yes, global cooling. Science was not there yet.

[GliderGuider]

69. It's handy to have someone to blame, isn't it?

While it may look to you like this is all the boomers' fault, that is a peculiarly America-centric point of view. The problem is global, and involves the other 95% of the world's population consuming the other 75% of the world's resources too. They're not all boomers by any stretch of the imagination. Your horizons could do with a bit of widening.

As others have pointed out, some of us did try to fix this shit 30 years ago, but nobody was listening back then either.

But hey, everybody needs a scapegoat.

[Name removed]

70. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Double T]

72. Speaking in general, YOU are absolutely CORRECT............

Boomers are the generation that had to have it all, except THEY left the 'cost' of having it all to their children and their children's children. Unfortunately, 'WE' have NOT left future generations in very good shape economically and environmentally. Not all boomers participated in the 'remains of the future' that 'WE' have left YOU and your generation; there is still time to change our current course yet the embedded self serving greed will be difficult for most to overcome.

[raccoon]

217. This boomer didn't have it all. And a great many other didn't. nt

[yurbud]

74. this is why the draft will never work. Kids aren't necessarily rebellious, but have no reason to

blindly obey either.

The American Dream was supposed to be doing a little better than the generation before did. For someone like me, just barely in the next generation, we hit a ceiling that's the floor baby boomers are dancing on. I have a master's degree, teach college, still live in a one bedroom apartment, and have had health insurance one year out of the last ten even though I've worked full time continuously the whole time. If I was 20 years younger, I wouldn't even be able to get a bachelor's degree today because of the way they have restructured financial aid.

Things are worse for kids today. The good thing is, it might be so bad, they'll do something about it.

[Edweird]

80. If we're passing the buck to other generations

I vote for the one who brought us the 2nd industrial revolution around 1850. That's where (IMHO) this really started. Unless you want to go back to the guys who discovered fire.:eyes:
I live in South Florida too. But I'm mainly worried about keeping my house and my trucks.

[Done]

81. Pay it forward n/t

[all.of.me]

84. sell the boat.

buy a bicycle that you can use inland when the coasts are under water. save docking fees. better yet, donate that money to a charitable cause.

problem solved.

:eyes:

(boomer here, who has tread lightly on the planet since becoming an adult.)

[don954]

90. cant live on a bike if the caca hits the fan...

[all.of.me]

94. sure you can!

you just have to live very simply. i know people who do it. they are considered 'homeless,' but it is a lifestyle of choice.

[MamaBear]

103. Can't have your cake and eat it too?

Poor baby. 375K mortgage? Jeez. I've never been able to own any real estate.

Try conserving. Try some self-discipline.

Try growing up before you cast aspersions.

[don954]

110. thats cheap down here

not getto cheap, but its only 7.5 times a living wage of 50K, which is cheap down here...

[LisaM]

139. You and me both, MamaBear.

I graduated from college in the Reagan years - no jobs for liberal arts majors, student grants slashed. The people ahead of me - early boomers, mid boomers - were able to get decent jobs, save some money, buy houses. I think there is a category - late or just post boomer - known as "tweeners" who didn't get the benefits of the baby boom generation, yet didn't also fit into the new workplace designed for the Gen Xers. Most of the people I know who are ten years older or ten years younger were able to get into the housing market; I never have been. It's pretty grating for someone with a 375K house and a $350 month moorage fee tell me that I've messed up the world for him. I've been a modest consumer my whole life, worked for progressive candidates my whole life, have ALWAYS worked since I was 20 years old, and don't have a whole lot to show for it.

[leftyclimber]

163. GenX has a similar demographic problem to the Boomers

I went to college during the Reagan-Bush years, myself. We are, technically, GenXers.

While I don't entirely agree with the OP, I think one of the issues many GenXers have isn't that It's All The (whoevers') Fault (I vote for the blind followers of The Richard Nixon Playbook who are running the joint right now, m'self), but that because we feel ignored.

Before you start playing your tiny violins and making fun of me, give me a chance. Hear me out.

If you turn on the TV, open a newspaper, read a magazine, or go to any Web site that is designed to sell people things, talk about what's socially important, and so forth, you hear about three generations: what Tom Brokaw calls The Greatest Generation, the Baby Boomers, and the Echo Boomers (or Generation Y). Generation X rarely receives a mention. You'd think we didn't work, buy things, have families, and so forth. GenY is being lauded for being the first generation to revolutionize this, that, and the other thing, and they're being described with the same labels (and as going to revolutionize the exact same things)as GenX did in the late '80s and early '90s. It's like we didn't work out, so the marketing people passed the mantle on to the next lot in hopes they'd do all the things they wanted to sell (I'm lumping politics and news into marketing for the sake of brevity, just to clarify.)

I think some days we feel like we don't exist in greater society.

You can't place blame on a single generation, though: history is cumulative. I'm pissed at boomers like my parents, who continued to vote for things and people that THEY CONSCIOUSLY KNEW would be hurtful to their children because "we needed to learn what the real world is like instead of being coddled little brats who will never learn how to do anything themselves." (Not a great testimonial to their own perception of their parenting, I know.) There's a herd of those people out there. But there's also the herd of people in the same age group that has tried to make the better place, and some demographer somewhere came up with a catchy name and tried to put those very different people into one big pile for the purpose of selling things.

Although it does upset me greatly to see Dennis Hopper doing retirement investment commercials. I really hope one of you Boomer types (and more fervently, I hope someone my age) didn't come up with that.:evilgrin:

[susanna]

204. OMG - you hit one BIG nail on the head for me, there...

I work for a multi-national corporation, and the word from the top has basically been "we don't market to Xers. We don't GET them." (For the record, the company is in big-time trouble.)

It seems most companies do, continually, day in and out, market to 1) Greatest Gen; 2) Boomers, and 3) Gen Y, based on Advertising Age and similar publicatitions.

Sincerely, and as an olive branch of sorts - I ask everyone reading this thread to look into their company's marketing plan: are Xers even acknowledged? It might be eye-opening if you have not thought about it before. Just saying.

[AngryOldDem]

85. Every generation since the beginning of time has said this...

...about the previous generation. Soon it will be your turn to fuck things up, so your kids can then turn around and bitch about how bad you've made it for them.

And so it goes.

:boring:

[not_a_robot]

87. That's the answer.

as you can see from the responses here, the boomers do not create pollution, they in fact have saved the world from their parent generation, and their potty smells like freshly baked sweet cakes.

[The Straight Story]

99. You're creating pollution on this thread :)

And in fact we did not create it - crack open some history books and look up industrial revolution.

[Pithlet]

172. ....

:rofl:

[Hubert Flottz]

88. Vidiot...

Get your ass to IRAQ!

[don954]

100. oh hell no

Why would i fight in a war i don't support? Besides, when i tried to join the Navy in '99 I was rejected due to the tumor i had to have removed a year before.

[Hubert Flottz]

117. They'll take you now...they're very hard up for bodies.

Call us when you get back...I'll sleep well as you are defending my old baby boomer ass from evil, like I once defended your tired little kkkandy ass from the "Commie Hordes"...

I had 49 tumors, 234345676789890 crabs, the hong kong dong and and three gimp legs and they took me in 1970...if Iran cranks up you're GONE! They'll teach you to sail an M-1 tank!

[don954]

129. its funny, im the 1st in 5 generations of my family not to join the military

and none of my living family trust Bush & Co enough to still encourage me to join, which im thankful for. My job is on the desired skills list so i know they would prob take me in a heartbeat now, but I will not willingly put my life in the hands of a CIC who wouldn't think twice about wasting it to get a few more bucks...

[Hubert Flottz]

134. "wouldn't think twice about wasting it to get a few more bucks..."

Or a few votes. Never forget that Karl needed a "War President" to get close enough to steal the election from John Kerry in 2004. The GOP plays POLITICS with people's lives!

[in_cog_ni_to]

130. That's right! They're even taking people on anti-depressants now!!

They'll gladly take someone who had a tumor removed. That's not an issue these days. If you can walk and hold a gun...you're in like Flint!

[blue neen]

89. Let me tell you what it's like to be a "Boomer" right now.

This is no goddamn boom. We're caught in a vise between taking care of our aging parents and raising our children. My 72 year old mother is in a nursing home, and my 23 year old son is living at home while he pays off his college loans. Do you think a nursing home is free? Do you think that college isn't priced out of the middle class market? Maybe you don't respect us, but I sure can respect myself because I know that I have taken care of all of my responsibilities.

I am 51 years old. I have paid into Social Security for ALL OF MY LIFE, but it's pretty doubtful that I'll get much of a return on that. How do you think it feels to watch the current retirees reap the benefits of what OUR generation has paid for.

By the way, the "Boomers" are paying for the majority of homeowner's Insurance in this country, which is subsidizing people like you who choose to live in hurricane-prone areas. YOUR premiums alone aren't covering the costs of insuring your home and your boat. Those costs are spread out among all of the policy holders of any given insurance company.

[marions ghost]

118. you won't get a response on that scenario

from the OP. The post-boom generation has been sold a bunch of lies about "boomers" causing their problems. Why? Because to keep the generations divided is key to people buying a bunch of products to differentiate themselves. You want people to constantly focus on what they lack so they will be always seeking to fill the gaps.

At the same time I am sympathetic to ANYONE who is squeezed by the current economic picture--and that includes a LOT of boomers.

[yy4me]

124. OOps, I know you meant well but we retirees paid for Social Security too.

And a whole lot of us are still in the workforce trying to keep from loosing everything we ever worked for. That EVERYTHING means all the worldly goods we leave to you when we are finally off what you seem to consider as a public bankroll. Kindly do not think that a retiree is some kind of leech on society. This thread has made some people make some ill-conceived statements. Please reconsider when you say we reap the benefits that your generation paid for. We paid into the system all our lives. What do you think we are getting? Believe me, it is a pittance.

[blue neen]

138. My apologies.

I didn't mean to show disrespect to you. I shouldn't have generalized and was reacting emotionally to the OP.

Here's the thing that really steams me about the SS system: My dad was born in 1928, so he paid into SS all of his working life. He died at age 62, and didn't get to collect anything that he paid in. He and my mom were divorced, so she didn't get to collect on it. His children didn't get to collect anything from it. Isn't that sad? Dad paid for it all of his life and no one got a cent.

I am concerned that at 51 my chances of collecting when I get to retirement age are not looking good. It's frightening.

[yy4me]

153. Accepted with a little addition. My situation, and I am 65, mirrors

yours in terms of the history of my parents. My mother died at 61, paid in, never collected. Dad retired for a few months before his time came. Two paid into the system for a lifetime, only several months of payments collected. I think this type of math is something the government is counting on. Some of us will make it, some will not. They keep the $$$$. It is frightening for all of us.

As to the odds of you collecting, I'm sure they are slim. I understand your concern and resentment of this situation. I have 2 children in their 40's. Both of them expect no benefit either. The only consolation you younger folks have is the fact that you have a little more time to prepare for the mess this government has made for us. No-one of my generation would ever have expected the state of things as they are. Through the years, we were drilled that we were paying into our retirement funds. Our savings and Social Security were the means with which we would live. Sure! What a load of baloney. The whole premise of Social Security changed. Now it is "just a little something extra". We had no opportunity to have pensions, most companies did not offer the option. No 401K's either.

Payment into Social Security is now just a payment into the government coffers. Hopefully everyone will get some benefit from their contribution. It pains me to think that some will not. It will never be much but somehow, getting something back seems our due. In my case, it is all of $557.00 a month.

[ProudDad]

92. I'm an early boomer -- pre-boomer

and I'll take some of the heat.

We had a pretty good thing happening through the 60's into the early 70's. Unfortunately, we were pretty short sighted and had the advantage of living in a solidly "liberal" time -- even Nixon didn't seriously block a liberal pro-environment agenda. Even Nixon embraced ideas like a guaranteed minimum salary, etc.

But, once we'd driven him from office (and don't ANYONE FORGET it was public opinion that FORCED the House to impeach and would have forced the Senate to remove him -- just as could happen today) and ended the war, which ended our exposure, thanks to the draft, to death and maiming in the killing fields of Vietnam -- we pretty much went home (most of us, not all).

Then we got ronny ray-guns...

Now is the time to all get together. Many of us older folk have learned our lesson. This isn't a battle for a month or a year or even a decade. Couple our hard earned wisdom with your energy and we can't be beat!

The war for a decent society is a lifetime battle.

I ain't gonna quit again...

[TahitiNut]

143. We're "war babies," abu-Trish ... we don't get no respect.

:evilgrin:

Our greatest failing, imho, is shutting up after we got out of Viet Nam. Liberalism reached a nadir in the mid-70s and it's been downhill since then. I personally believe the "all-volunteer" military was also a huge mistake. I STILL rememeber JFK's inaugural - it coincided with my (and your) senior year in high school - "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

We forgot what that really meant: participation in our own governance. We've been treating it like a spectator sport. BIG mistake. Big.

[Raskolnik]

104. Gasp! You mean you might not be able to park your little boat where you want to?

I hope you're still able to struggle on bravely in the face of this terrible inconvenience to your lifestyle. And to think--people in Bangladesh think *they* are going to have it rough when the sea levels rise.

Did you ever think that maybe people like *you* (people who expect to be able to do whatever they want, whenever they want to do it, without regard to any of the long-term consequences) are responsible for all your calamitous woes?

What precisely do you think the environmental effect is/was of draining and paving over the wetlands of Southern Florida to make it compatible with your lifestyle?

(and yes, I'm just as guilty of modifying my surroundings -- that's probably why I don't piss and moan about how climate change is everyone fault but mine)

[Redstone]

180. What you said.

Redston

[leftofthedial]

108. well, as one aging boomer, I'm doing my part,

hitting on all the 20-something babes in the bars

[don954]

113. lol.. :)

[texanwitch]

121. Everything is the boomers fault, the blame game is just starting.

Instead of blaming the Republicans and the Bush crowd just blame the boomers.

Maybe if the post boomer crowd got their lazy butts out to vote Democrat we would run Congress and have had a Democrat in the White House all these years.

The youth vote has been very low all these years, put the blame on your own generation.

[stillcool]

125. Ignorant Arrogance has an equal...

generational appeal...apparently.

[jpak]

126. It started with Disco and went downhill from there

:evilgrin:

[Wiley50]

212. Man, You Said A Mouthfull And No one Noticed

Disco Sucked more than we ever understood at the time

[marions ghost]

128. Your rant rests on a really uninformed assumption...

--that the majority of the boomers are not JUST as f/ing unhappy with things as YOU are--and know that the environmental problems are going to affect everybody, no matter how much stuff they have.

So get the picture, the boomers I know (a lot are in the sciences, academia, health) --the boomers I know are FAR from happy with things.

This kind of anti-boomer rhetoric makes me want to :puke: or :nuke:

Mainly because I know that this meme, just like so many others has been sold by the corporate sector. It's good for bidness to keep the generations at odds, and the corporate sector has NEVER forgiven the boomers for being such poor consumers, (until Superhero Ronnie came in to turn back the clock).

Blame the Reagan era for your troubles. It would be more to the point.

[Shoelace]

142. we humans have been affecting climate for thousands of years

according to William Ruddiman, a much respected climate scientist. In his book, "Plows, Plagues and Petroleum; How Humans Took Control of Climate," he goes way back to when we first deforested giant Oak forests to build ships, plant crops and how that affected weather way back then. A darn good read.

Now in realtime, what does it matter what generation caused what? We all did our fair share of polluting the earth. Some by design, some by mistake or ignorance. Point is; now we know better thanks to the many voices hidden from us all for so long, who are speaking out about climate change. That would be Al Gore, scientists galore who warn us all now of what can happen if we don't curb our appetite for fuel and the "good life."

My generation way back in the '60s rebelled against the rabid materialism, military/industrial complex and became Hippies, flower children and trust me, we tried hard to find a way to live a non polluting lifestyle.

We ALL bought the program one way or another and now we pay the price, all of us.
BTW, we are spending 2 nights in my hubby's bosses home on the ocean this weekend because it's the last time to do that. He's selling it for fear of rising seas!!!

Let's attain a higher state of consciousness about this matter and come together to solve what we can, work together (all generations) to get the right people elected in '08, let our reps know we want action NOW.

Every generation has it's winners and losers. Ultimately, it's the earth and all other life forms that pay the price with us now.

Plain living and high thinking as Yogananda once said!

:grouphug:

[Breeze54]

148. Forwarding to Obama!

:sarcasm:

Welcome to DU! Well said! :hi:

[cali]

145. Oh go fuck

well, use your imagination about what I think you should fuck. Poor wittle whiny baby who wants to wive on a canal so he has direct access for his sailboat. What a piece of crap generalization your OP is. I'm a boomer who's always been environmentally conscious- as are many boomers. We essentially started the environmental movement. And in case you didn't know it- and it's clear you don't know much- global warming wasn't really on the radar until the eighties. And little concensus within the scientific community was reached until quite recently. As my dear departed mother-in-law oft said about one or the other of her 5 sons: "That jackass."

[RedStateShame]

147. Whatever, buddy, the Boomers are gonna help us live forever!! Here's my plan:

What with all the medical breakthroughs advancing for the well to-do Boomers, I predict that some pharmaceutical or biogenetics company will develop what will be called, for lack of a better term, a fountain of youth. Now, of course, how does that benefit the poor and the Gen-X? One simple threat to the Boomers:

If enough Baby Boomers die, we will erase the Beatles from history.

Now sure, we probably won't, but we'll tell them that we can do through the Internet (though we never taught them how to do it, as we always knew how, according to my bluff). And, on top of that, we'll teach future generations that the performer that ignited the Baby Boom generation and received infinite acclaim was...Tiny Tim.


Trust me, you'll thank me when we're hanging out in 3347.

[soup]

150. In the words of Billy Joel

"We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning..."

soup <----- off to "thing" a bit more about my impact

:eyeroll:

[Breeze54]

160. Right on!! .... "We Didn't Start the Fire!"

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Marie26]

157. Have you considered how

much we're messing it up for the next generation? Everyone's guilty here.

[The Backlash Cometh]

161. Don't flame me, but, I can't believe how much you kids take.

The boomers were part of a youth revolution. They were the first to fight against the military-industrial complex and they wouldn't take shit from anyone.

Unfortunately, their revolution came to an end when they found themselves fighting it from the garages of their parent's homes. Money is an important factor and the upcoming Generation X was eating them alive as the X generation did follow traditional ways of earning money. So, the boomers jumped on the train they so desperately despised and became "the Man."

I just hope you all take it to the next level. Do it with sophistication and intelligence. You have hindsight in your favor. And, I suspect that the boomers will at least listen to you, unlike what their parents did to them.

[WI_DEM]

164. I don't argue that any generation did it to me. I'm actually proud of boomers though for

standing up for civil rights in the 60's and making a real stand against the Vietnam war, not the half assed stands we see today on campus.

[redacted]

166. There is plenty of blame to go around, but I don't think the dividing line is

generational.

Gen X-ers are technically speaking, mostly in their 30's and early 40s now. They've voted for a number of years (or didn't). They own plenty of SUV's.

Baby boomers didn't invent the gas combustion engine. They didn't weren't responsible for the industrial revolution. I would say most voices and scientists leading the global warming battle are baby boomers.

Not exactly sure if our author is a gen-xer or gen (whine)-er, but we are all responsible.

[Charleyski]

167. Here We Go Again - Anti War Video-Our children are not to be wasted!

I have a young son. I started out late. Most think I am his Grandpa. He is the world to me.
Our children are not to be wasted. Just the thought of what families are going thru rips my guts out.
To have our children die from a war based on lies told to us by our leaders and then to see this slime squirm around trying not to answer to their deception is beyond debate!
We have no more true leaders just a bunch of second rate politician con men. You know it and I sure know it. Even with the last election same old same old.
Is there something inherently wrong with our system of government?
Or is it that we have mutated that which our fore-fathers designed?
Has our civility allowed the vultures to reign?
I am an Atheist but "These are the times that try mens Souls"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl7BWc3c4bE

Bring our Brave children home. Enough is enough.

Charley Ski

[Breeze54]

168. Well stated.

Welcome to DU, Charley Ski! :hi:

And I appreciate your sentiments. They are mine also...

"Our children are not to be wasted. Just the thought of what families are going thru rips my guts out."

[earth mom]

175. What a TOTAL Crock! Try PLACING THE BLAME ON THE RETHUGS-of ALL AGES.

:puke:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

193. yep, go back to McCarthy, Nixon and before. Nasty bastards, always have been.

"We will stop telling the truth about the Republicans if they will stop lying about us."

---Adlai Stevenson, Democratic Presidential Candidate in 1952 and 1956, Governor of Illinois.

A little before my time, but a genius. Too smart to get elected. Was called derogatory name of "egghead", which was basically the 1950s version of "Would you want to have a beer with this guy? i.e. is he dumb enough for you?

[femrap]

177. what a pooh widdle boy....boo f*cking hoo

for pooh widdle you.

It wouldn't enter your widdle mind to do something for yourself, would it? It's just so much fun to blame others....remember to blame THE CORPORATIONS...like Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, Cargill? Ever think of that...widdle boo hoo?

Are you going to blame the boomers for your lack of writing skills too? Boo hoo, my teachers were inept....no one taught me grammar, or punctuation, or how to spell. boo hoo boo hoo boo hoo. It's all the boomers fault...I should have been aborted. boo hoo boo hoo boo hoo.

[Redstone]

178. Aw, poor you. Stop fucking whining, OK? Thank you.

Redstone

[arikara]

179. Hey sonny

I was brought up to treat the Earth with respect. In our household, we conserve water, hydro, gas. We don't treat our possessions as disposable. We buy good quality then wear it out. If something is fixable, we repair it instead of rushing to the mall and buying something new. If we can get something used, we do that instead of buying new. We don't use chemicals for anything... from house cleaning to laundry to killing weeds. We recycle. We buy our food from local organic sources as much as possible. We don't pollute our bodies or the environment with fast food crap.

There's lots of boomers like us. Unfortunately some things have yet been beyond our control. Such as warmongering, crooked politicians and polluting corporations.

None of us is perfect, but IMHO its your generation with your ipod cell phone fried brains that seems to think you have to be shopping and buying all the time. You think all your happy meals and cheap disposable crap shipped over from China doesn't cause pollution?

So instead of wasting your energy on blame, how about you working on solutions.

Bloody whippersnapper. You should be ashamed of yourself.

[Pithlet]

186. Because baby boomers never use cell phones.

Or Ipods. Maybe my boomer mother is an anomaly because she uses both frequently, as do many other boomers I know. In fact, they hold their own when it comes to general consumerism. The OP is pretty ridiculous, but I think your broad generalization of our generation is pretty ridiculous as well. Who do you think bought my happy meals when I was a kid? My boomer parents.

[arikara]

209. You're right

there are many young people who aren't involved with the rampant consumerism, and many boomers who live to shop and love all the latest toys. I did come across sounding more judgmental than I would have liked.

But somehow I still can't work up any sorrow for the OP's boat docking problem.

[KoKo]

182. Boomers are why you have to sell your house so as not to pay to dock your boat...

Wow! That's really interesting....sheesh. :eyes:

[NNN0LHI]

185. I am a Boomer and wish I could afford a sailboat for Lake Michigan

This is one of them </sarcasm> posts isn't it?

Don

[BlackVelvet04]

187. My heart just breaks for you and your

tough situation with your sailboat.

We worked our butts off to get the 18 year old vote but most 18 year olds can't be bothered to vote. We worked to stop the Vietnam war. We worked hard for women's rights and civil liberties. And many of us have been screaming for alternative fuels for years. Hell, we even tried our best to get marijuana legalized.

Now we're having to fight just to get decent health care and retirement benefits.

As the caveman would say "sorry we didn't get that to you sooner."

Which generation are you? The W(hiny) Generation?

[bigmonkey]

188. Born in 56, I'm angry too.

Or the "mid-1900's,' as I heard it called recently. You think I'm not pissed too? And you're right about the niceness stuff - by definition challenging the conventional wisdom is confrontational. In their defense, you have to remember also that this boomer generation was highly propagandized, at the same time lots of money was used to deny that any propagandizing was going on. Still, why didn't they stay awake? Why did so many of my contemporaries lock onto Reagan, who always seemed like a ghoul to me. I'm trying to convince my siblings to sell a piece of oceanfront property simply because I think also that it'll be under water, possibly in my lifetime. I love it there, I hate the idea of selling. Grrr.

What a mess. I'm freaking 50 now, and my ability to cope will, to be overly generous, never get much better. I've done the right stuff, e.g. owned a car only when necessary, travel long distance by train whenever possible, no kids, chided my friends about extending the urban area when they decide to "move to the country," ad infinitum, but all I've gotten out of it personally is ribbing, and in the end it seems to have made little difference. Right now I feel betrayed by most of my contemporaries - you have one advantage, that at least you can imagine that it's not your fault, and commiserate with your peers.

On YouTube I recently watched a four episode BBC special called the Century of the Self, which was all about the development (from Freudianism) of the public relations/focus group/marketing approach to governance that's throw us into this morass. Managing and selling to the masses' unconscious desires. I thought it was quite eye-opening, but also enraging.

About 20 years ago I remember a friend of mine said that we couldn't get any real progress in this country until the WWII generation passed from power. At the time, I had a gut feeling that he was right, but I couldn't really give a cogent argument as to why. I suppose I cling to that hope now, now that the point has really been reached when that generation is going. I sympathize with the posters above who tried to share how frustrating this has been, with that generation unwilling to relinquish anything. Gore referred to this, I think, when he gave a speech that suggested that fighting global warming could give the generations alive now a new kind of moral authority that would allow major changes.

Clever technological fixes might, possibly, buy enough time to re-tool the major underpinnings of human industries to fit a sustainable pattern. Still more people have to wake up, and the propaganda has to grind to a halt.

[OnionPatch]

190. Well, I don't like stereotypes but.......

since you mentioned it, I remember the generation after my own and how they all started wearing suits and driving BMWs and talking about the stock market and making fun of us "tree-huggers" and "hippies" and how they decided that unions weren't really needed and that capitalism was really pretty cool after all, but, uh, ok, it was all OUR fault. :eyes:

[Connie_Corleone]

194. Didn't that happen in the 80's? Greed is good? Me Generation?

Those were baby boomers. They may have been born in the late 50's early 60's, but they were still boomers.

[OnionPatch]

197. I was born in '59 and I remember....it wasn't us

it was the generation just behind us. About 5-10 years younger. And we were on the tail end of being boomers so they weren't boomers.

Oh, and I meant to add....they were the disco bunch. :puke:

[kineneb]

195. begging your pardon!? I was born in 1958

twenty years ago I was 27. Thirty years ago I was 17 and was in my first year of college. Don't blame me. By the time I finished college, Ronnie Raygun was in office and it was already too late.

[dweller]

198. 'the transfer of power to ... GenX-ers' will never be completed

as long as they have their heads stuck up their asses as far as you have.

The gist of your thread: 'i want'. And an acquiesence upon the end to 'slap us in the face a bit' so we'll take notice?

perhaps, you can't handle the TRUTH. Life is what you make it. (ie. you are boning yourself)

float that in your tub.

peace
dp

[troubleinwinter]

199. Winner of "This Month's Most Asinine Post". And that takes a lot.

[raccoon]

219. You sure got that right! nt

[Bryn]

205. Did you wear Pamper diapers that are filling up Earth?

This boomer never did.

[orleans]

207. i understand what you mean. i was born in the late 1950s

i barely caught the tail end of the hippie movement
waded through the disco daze
was glad for the punk era
& bored when it melted into new wave

and as we leaned more about the environment i know that a lot of us took it to heart, cared, and tried our best to do the right things. i know that a lot of us didn't give a shit.

and now, i see it with my daughter's generation--her friends. some of them are concerned, some of them do care, some of them could care less.

i wonder if it is not necessarily a generational thang as it is an individual/moral/ethical thing.

i like to look at it as having a "social conscience"
("an attitude of sensitivity toward and sense of responsibility regarding injustice and problems in society" dictionary.com)

and i tend to be terribly intolerant of people who lack one.

[BlueIris]

208. Yep.

Been on my mind a lot the last two years or so. And everytime someone from the Boomers generation makes a snotty insinuation that I should be able to make more money, achieve more, be happier and more successful IN THE ECONOMY AND THE SOCIETY THEIR PEOPLE RUINED, I just want to rip that person's lungs out.

[raccoon]

220. and everytime someone says something like you just did,

I just want to smack them.

Quit your generalizing! Not all BOomers are like that. Just as not all Gen-x are slackers.

[PhilipShore]

210. It was the politicians that knew -- the sheep knew nothing

Ok so you guys try to argue the WW-II generation did it to you, but your generation was the one to realize WHAT the result would be, and yet nothing changed.

I have researched this topic over and over again -- the general sheep knew nothing -- about the manner in which Global Warming was started. The politicians knew from World War II -- but they were bribed with money, excuse me given money by lobbyist (Jack Abramoff?) to influence public policy and politics.

Jack Abramoff is just the tip of the iceberg.

The average sheep -- just wants to drive his car and watch TV, and live in a secure world. But -- it was the security of the modern world -- the technology of the scientists, that was used for destructive purposes by the decisions of politicians.

[Wiley50]

211. I Live On a Sailboat. Just Buy A Bigger Sailboat Instead Of A House

If You Can Afford it ( and I guess you can if you can afford a canal lot in Lauderdale or wherever

And quit Yer Bitchin

We got strongarmed by the CorporoNazis like everyone else

[BurtWorm]

215. We're just paying forward what the Greatest Generation did to us.

:patriot:

[Name removed]

216. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Strelnikov_]

218. "want a house on the canal so i can get rid of my 350$ a month dockage bill for my sailboat"

Oh my.

I'm sure some of the boomers who post here that they cannot afford the gas to heat their house feel your pain.

[mnhtnbb]

222. Is this an Obama-fueled rant from his comment that it was time for Boomers to move aside?

Are progressives/liberals going to buy into the Repub blame-game style?
If you're a liberal blame boomers the way if you're a fundamentalist blame gays?

[wtmusic]

224. I, for one, am genuinely sorry

that you feel the need to cast blame on an entire generation because you can't sail your freaking sailboat. What have you done for the environment lately? Show us how it's done. Waiting...z-z-z...

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

228. I'm on the tail end of the boomer generation...

...and I'm not proud to admit that only in recent years has it started to sink in with me how horribly irresponsible we, as a collective, have been. We've gone way beyond borrowing from future generations -- we've blatantly ripped them off. We owe way more than we can possibly repay, but should spend the rest of our lives trying to repay as much as we can. Sorry I can't offer anything better than this admittedly lame acknowledgment.

[davekriss]

229. You want to buy property on the water in South Florida?

It's quite clear where your class interests lie. Your class has devastated this planet, raped the well being of countless millions around the globe. Your class runs the self-serving profit-making machine that may bring an end to the human race. Good job, don954. Expect no mercy in the revolution.

[treestar]

232. I am a boomer but I would say we seem to be very selfish

Raised in good times, the 50s and 60s, most of us seem to claim the right to our own self-fulfillment at the expense of other. Don't feel sorry for the older generation, but I do for the younger.

Many boomers did make a difference by their protests in the 60s and 70s, but apparently they were a minority, or they would not have reached middle aged to find the right wing in power. The average person of that age is sheep-like (the public schools churned out obedient sheep) and apparently it was only a minority that set the world on fire. Thus you see the Repuke Congress recently and the Chimpadministration. Most of them think "I've got mine" and that's it - they're happy.

In fact, my father who is a generation older than the boomers, sees how things are screwed up and says "Thank God I'm in the twilight." Like OK, it's OK for me, and I couldn't give a shit about my children and grandchildren. The generation above the boomers is even more selfish - that's where we learned it.

[ima_sinnic]

234. wow--a know-it-all severely deprived GenX punk dissing the boomers

how original

[pitohui]

235. boo hoo world's tiniest violin

rich guy with a boat has a pity party, forgive me if i don't give even one teeny tiny crap