The Greediest Generation ?

[kentuck]

Nick Kristof thinks so.. Do you agree with him? I do not. I see revolutionary changes during our times. Civil rights. Equal rights for women. Sexual taboos, lifted to a large degree. Many things for our generation to brag about. But, I do not disagree that there were a lot of things that did not turn out as we might have planned, but we mostly idealistic even at those times. I refuse to be painted as simply "greedy".


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/01/opinion/01kristof.html?

As a baby boomer myself, I can be blunt: We boomers won't be remembered as the "Greatest Generation." Rather, we'll be scorned as the "Greediest Generation."

Our influence has been huge. When boomer blood raged with hormones, we staged the sexual revolution and popularized the Pill. Now, with those hormones fading, we've popularized Viagra.

As we've aged, age discrimination has become a basis for lawsuits, and the most litigated right has become the right to die. The hot issue of the moment is Social Security, and the newest entitlement program is a prescription drug benefit for the elderly.

.....more

[Warpy]

1. Actually, the "greatest generation" is the one popularizing Viagra,

but, as usual, the boomers will be scapegoated for it.

As for the label "greediest," how in hell could a generation that saw all the protections of the New Deal stripped from it, unions attacked, labor laws thrown aside, jobs offshored, and wages driven down during its whole working life be called "greedy?" The logic of that escapes me completely.

[idlisambar]

2. "idealistic, naive, self-indulgent" generation makes more sense...

...if one wants to negatively characterize the boomers. Overall I would say the boomers did a good job of rooting out harmful social conventions in the 60's but later on failed to offer a compelling direction to society to replace that of their parents. The culture wars/ "Red-Blue" stateism of today are the product of this lack of a unifying force in American life.

[blogbear]

3. I'm a 'baby boomer' too and I don't agree with Nick Kristof either..

All of us have not been on the receiving end in this generation. I detest broad-sweeping and overly-generic one-liners intended to 'suit all' and that only 'some' commentators seem to have come up with..

[cornermouse]

4. Like every generation, there is a certain percentage who

are greedy. I'm sure the Neo-cons will always believe that we are the greediest generation no matter what. I don't agree.

Its not surprising that someone would base a diagnosis of greed on the desire to keep social security, find a way for elderly to get prescriptions at lower costs, fight back whenever we encounter age discrimination, and preserve the right to not be hooked up to every machine available so long as our money holds out.

Its probably more accurate to label Nick Kristof as a greedy individual since he doesn't seem to have much concern for anyone other than himself.

[Ellen Forradalom]

5. The only reason baby-boomer issues are big

is that they're such a huge population bloc: 75 million! The boomer generation is moving through the decades like a chicken through a python. It can't be otherwise.

[bleedingheart]

6. St. Ronald Reagan - Patron Saint of Greed

In 1980 a terribly greedy man named Ronald Reagan became president when he basically scoffed at Preident Carter's plea with the nation to conserve energy...and thus began the beginning of the Era of Greed...

The mantra's of this era are repeated over and over again today...

"It's my money"...

"People on welfare are lazy and they are using MY money"...

[BiggJawn]

7. Yeah, we're the Greediest.

Automobiles that are large enough for a whole extended third-world family to live in, 6,000 Sq-ft PLUS "McMansions that we tell our friends that we have decorated in a "minimalist" style (while they nod and think "Uh-huh, we ran out of money before we decorated, too...")

And that's not EVEN getting into what makes a man worth 8 figures when he gets on the stand and says "I don't know how my company was run, I'm just the CEO..."

I've heard this since the early 80's "Greed is GOOD!"

Are we all like that? Hell no we're not. But the people we're supposed to look up to are. ALL the cash, ALL the good looks. Why is Paris Hilton a Celebrity? Money, good looks and a video that shows she sure doesn't have any marketable skills. she's famous for being famous. Greedy for attention.

[JDPriestly]

8. Baby Boomers are the Most Generous Generation

Actually, the baby boomers should be called "the most generous generation." No previous generation has showered their parents and children with such gracious lifestyles, independence and nurture. My sisters who have grandchildren not only give their kids money, they babysit, accompany their kids to the doctor, do everything for their kids. Baby boomers are also taking care of their parents and making sure their parents live in great style compared to previous generations of senior citizens.

I'm actually a war baby, but I include myself among the Baby Boomers for purposes of this article. My parents were great, but they did not do for me nearly what I do for my children. I would never have thought of living with my parents as an adult for more than a couple of months, but my children are welcome to live with me whenever and for as long as they wish. My parents helped me a bit with college tuition (which was cheap at the time), but they did not loan me money or help me out financially after that, while I am quite willing to help my children in any way I can.

This is true of all the baby boomers I know.

[PowerToThePeople]

9. tough question

obviously the "boomers" are the generation that are instilling the changes that we see in this country at the moment. The "greatest" have all retired and the "gen-x'ers" are still too young to have advanced in the corporate structure to have pull enough to get big changes done. So, that leaves the boomers. They are the ones lobbying for the changes that are currently being instilled in this country.