Inflection Points: Some History, Some Speculation

[peristaltor]

I have to admit, I was a bit shocked when a simple observation of mine, that the GOP has a plank in its platform stating its aim to "explore a greater role for private enterprise in appropriate aspects of the mail-processing system", blew up into such a kerfuffle. The GOP, after all, has long been the party supported by anti-union forces in

Comments

[paft]

P: Yep. This man actually made the claim that younger generations should be thankful that seniors today, despite isolating themselves from the rest of society to the point where they refuse to pay taxes to fund schooling, are willing to give up their body parts to research . . . after, of course, they no longer have a use for them.

Interesting post, but after my recent experience with BB-bashing here I do feel compelled to point out that most of the baby-boomers I know could not afford to live in that kind of retirement community -- even if they wanted to. Like any other generation, we're a diverse bunch.

Taking into account the post-war population boom is probably necessary in any discussion of economics, but I'm afraid it's getting dumbed down into "It's all the baby boomers' fault!" -- our crimes being, apparently, being born and getting old. Some of the rhetoric I'm hearing on this board towards BBers is akin to that stock character in old disaster movies, the craven hysteric who, in a crowded lifeboat, points at a group of people and yells, "We're being swamped! It's all THEIR FAULT! Toss 'em over!"

[peristaltor]

One can note that it's the Baby Boomers' "fault" without holding a grudge against them for being born, just as one can hold the BBs' parents at fault for bearing them in one 20 year pulse. Still, the economic consequences of the pulse might prove significant to the point of being historically unprecedented. That is reason to be concerned without the finger pointing.

I do agree, though, that most media coverage of the economic effects of the pulse has been, like most media coverage of, well, anything, has been dumbed down to hysteria backed by quickie google searches.