Fourth in a series of essays
I’m 27 years old. The more I read the headlines every day, the angrier I become. The more I see my peers discussing the headlines of the day on popular Internet forums like Fark.com, the angrier I see them become.
At first I thought that this is the typical, over-dramatic angst that so many young people feel, but then I realized that we naturally outgrew those feelings after we had left our hormone-driven teenage years behind us. Instead, I think we all know that we have been screwed over. We see what the Baby Boomers have done to the United States, and we know that we will be the ones who pay the price. And the price will be huge.
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We grew up seeing President Bill Clinton impeached after a political witch-hunt had forced him to lie under oath about a blowjob, but then we saw that no one had the courage to impeach George W. Bush after he misled the American people — or perhaps even outright lied to us — about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and then caused the deaths of thousands of people our age in a mistaken war.
We saw Saudi Arabian terrorists kill thousands of our countrymen from a base in Afghanistan, but then the United States decided to invade — Iraq.
We hate that Osama bin Laden is still alive.
We were told that everyone needed to go to college to have a good life, so we gladly took out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to get a bachelor’s degree. When we saw that we had no competitive advantage because everyone else had a bachelor’s degree as well, we took out tens of thousands of dollars in additional loans for a master’s degree. Now, we have tens upon tens of thousands of dollars in debt by the time we are thirty, but we see that plumbers and mechanics are earning more money than we do.
We are dismayed that people who stupidly took out mortgages that they could not afford are getting assistance from the government, but no one will ever help us with our student loan payments. In fact, the governement even amended bankruptcy laws so that student loans are now prevented from being erased in bankruptcy proceedings.
We have jobs for which we probably didn’t even need the college degrees in the first place.
We were gullible children at the age of eighteen when our universities allowed predatory credit card companies to give us numerous credit cards, which we then proceeded to use stupidly. Now most of us have thousands of dollars of credit card debt in addition to our student loan debt.
We are harassed by our parents and grandparents, who ask when we are going to get married, buy a house, and have children – but we are saddened because we know that we won’t be able to afford them for years, if not decades.
We work for companies that are cutting our health insurance, no longer offering pensions or retirement plans, and constantly thinking about shipping our jobs to India or China, and we will probably never have Social Security because the program will be bankrupt.
We see the Baby Boomers — our collective parents and grandparents — selfishly screwing over their collective children and grandchildren through lobbyist organizations like the AARP that are not allowing entitlement programs to be saved by being reformed.
We see that Baby Boomers are refusing to retire and allow us to obtain higher-level positions in companies so we can now afford homes, families, and student-loan payments.
We see the United States going bankrupt in our lifetime because of its ever-growing national debt, the skyrocketing cost of the war in Iraq, and the $40 trillion in future debt owned to entitlement programs.
We hate that our idealistic country must suck up to despotic regimes just because we are addicted to their oil. We hate that our government has done nothing significant to wean the United States completely away from oil, even though it will likely run out or be significantly rarer in our lifetime.
We want our politicians to have serious debates on the important issues that the United States is facing, but instead they focus only on trivial bullshit like lapel pins and whether a candidate had his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance.
We are saddened that we fake news programs like “The Daily Show” are more insightful than the evening news, cable television, and many newspapers — the media outlets that are supposed to search for the truth and stand up to those in power.
We hate that foreigners always equate us with an idiot like George W. Bush whenever we travel abroad. We hate that 23% of Americans still think he is doing a good job. Who are these people?
We are sickened by the fact that the media is obsessed with reality television, entraping pedophiles, and celebrity hijinks rather than addressing the dire issues that are facing the United States.
We are the most diverse generation that has ever existed in the United States, but we are dismayed that older Americans are still suspicious of other races, genders and religions — and we have seen this discrimination in areas ranging from the current presidential election to the pervasive discrimination against non-Christians in the United States.
We are disheartened that government officials are always criticizing violence and sex in movies, television and video games when the most immoral actions are always occurring in the White House and the halls of Congress.
We wonder how much the climate will change in our lifetimes — and those of our children – as a result of global warming and the lack of radical, substantive action to prevent it.
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I write this essay not to whine about my generation’s plight. Every generation — from the Great Depression in the 1930s to World War II in the 1940s to the Cold War in the 1950s to Vietnam in the 1960s to stagflation in the 1970s to the recession of the early 1990s — has faced its share problems. But we seem to be facing so many problems in so many different areas that it can feel overwhelming — and, moreover, it seems that our parents’ and grandparents’ generations are doing little to help us by solving these pressing issues.
This is why young people are overwhelmingly supportive of Barack Obama for U.S. president. All of the politicians in living memory have done little to help my generation, so we are looking for someone as completely new and different as possible. More than any other candidate, he symbolizes drastic change on all levels. Plus, Obama exudes hope and optimism — and my generation needs that more than anything.
Prior essay: In Defense of Free Trade and Globalization. Related: The Upcoming Generational War
Related posts:
I’m a 38 year old who is wholeheartedly in favor of Obama for President for many of the same reasons you’ve mentioned in this post. Most politicians in recent memory haven’t done much to help us out, either. We tried to say something about Social Security going broke fifteen years ago, but nobody would listen to us. We were those moody kids in the flannel who liked to pierce extraneous body parts, drink a lot of coffee, and listen to that grunge music. (Kurt Cobain being my generation’s John Lennon was something the Boomer’s coined so they could relate to us. I heard this a lot when Cobain died. He was not. Some of the emo kids listened to him and looked at him as if he were some sort of prophet, but he was not the second coming. It still makes me roll my eyes.) Therefore, what we had to say couldn’t be all that important.
I’m from the so-called “Generation X” or the “Baby Bust” generation. We are fewer in numbers than both your generation and the boomers. My generation knows your anger. Your reasons are same reasons that made us angry as twentysomethings, and sadly, now just resigned to accept it as thirtysomethings.
When you’re young, you still haven’t lost your idealism, but as you get older, it goes away. Some people call it realism. Other’s call it cynicism. Whatever name you call it, that hope and idealism tends to diminish as you get older. I think for my generation, we’re resigned to a lot of these things because for our entire lives, we’ve also been left with the messes that the Boomer’s created and the consequences of their actions. It was when I was a kid that the term “latch key kid” was coined, because we were 9 or 10 years old with housekeys and we came home to empty houses after school while our parents were at work and we were largely left to our own devices. There were no after school programs unless you played sports in high school. We were kids caught in the middle when divorce became more acceptable in the 1970’s, and the child support laws were not enforced and the courts did not have programs and mediation like they do now. Our boomer parents were so caught up in their issues, but we suffered for it. It was always about them and not about the family as a whole. I personally think that the reason why families are so kid-centeric these days is that it’s a reaction that my generation is having to how we grew up and not wanting to do that to our kids. But I also think that we take it too far, too.
I think we just grew resigned to the fact that the boomers were never going to listen to us and grew tired of trying to be heard. The issues you bring up are the same issues we cared passionately about. We still care about them because it affects our children, too. But we’re resigned to the way things are. In that regard, I think we failed you guys. In our defense, it was very difficult to be heard and they wouldn’t listen to us. But I think that my generation and your generation need to speak up and work together with each other. Maybe then, we’ll be heard and something will get done. An entire generation of people have been doing what they wanted for far too long and it’s time that they be held accountable for their actions and for the messes they left us. This probably won’t happen unless there is a generational shift in who is running the show. I don’t trust the Boomer generation to fix this mess. Living for today is their motto and the future is not in their interest. Me, me, me is their credo, and thinking about someone other than themselves seems to go against that.
I hope Obama wins this and I plan on voting for him because for the first time in my 38 years, I actually feel hopeful that we will get someone in the White House who will act like a leader should act and who will act in the best interest of the country and the future.
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The politicians have done their share, yet I believe it best to look ourselves as a culture in the West. Consumeristic, individualistic, apathetic. I’ve lost complete faith in the political system. Even if a well intended person seeking change runs for office, along the way they are subject to the corruption of the political machine. This has also occurred to Obama showing lukewarm support to a bill granting immunity to telecom spying: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/19/obama/
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I didn’t read all of msannomalley’s response, but I just want to say that I don’t think there’s any reason to become cynical or lose one’s idealism. I am almost as old as that poster and I have not lost my idealism. Becoming cynical only plays into defeat.
My answer to your post? Become active! But judging by the number of posts on this blog (I haven’t read them yet) I would guess maybe you already are… The only solution to these problems is to keep on going at it, and to try to get others to join in.
And don’t forget, there are always good things… the moon, the stars, friendship… we have to take joy in these simple things no matter how difficult things get.
And when you think its really difficult for you, have a look around the world to see how people in many other countries are living…
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Just wanted to add that I share many of these sentiments and wanted to add a couple points that annoys me about the boomers. I’ve just turned 40 (gen X) and when I went into the job market, there was no place to go or if you did get in, all the management positions were filled by guess who?
Aggressive boomers at the height of their professional power trying to push their standards onto us. We could not get ahead at all. The silver lining for you is that the boomers are either gone or soon to leave the job market, that there are not that many of us Gen X so your prospects of the remaining jobs are probably better.
Also, these people were coming into their own during the gas crunch of the 1970s so what did that do with that lesson? That’s right went out and bought SUVs.
You’re right to be pissed as are we. We can only hope that the boomers listened hard to their parents talk about the depression and saved well for their retirement. Because the rest of us have to support the load.
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You make some wonderful points, and I am supportive of many of your arguments. I am 28 and have faced similar economic pressures. I have a Master’s degree, but I, like yourself, have incurred a lot of debt in order to obtain it. This, in turn, has pushed back my ability to afford a family, a decent home, good insurance, etc. With your words there is power, however I do disagree with you on one point. I think that the statement that Obama, or any man, offering us the hope of anything is illusionary. A man cannot satisfy the overwhelming travesties that past generations have heaped upon our generation. I truly have faith that through Jesus Christ we can see a turnaround in our world. It is not too little, too late. I don’t know that I will receive financial rewards because of my faith, nor do I hope to obtain them. I do believe that the problems of this life will continue to persist. America, left to itself will continue to self-destruct. We shouldn’t sit idly by and allow this to happen, but on the same hand we must procure that believing God has a great plan is the most radical, and yet sane thing we can hope for.
I am not a religious zealot. I have trusted Christ to forgive me of my past sins, and I believe by faith that He alone did that. I am ashamed of our lack of stewardship in this country, and this world. We aren’t owed anything, but we shouldn’t have to pay for past mistakes of former generations as well. Intellectually, it would seem easy to believe the most significantly different thing is the best, such as forsaking past presidential cabinets. However, a person, any person, sitting in an elected position on Capitol Hill will never cure all the problems we face. God alone can do that. Psalm 118:8, “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.”
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The True Meaning of the 2008 Election « Samuel J. Scott // Nov 26, 2008 at 22:07
The Selfish Generation « Samuel J. Scott // Feb 15, 2009 at 21:02
Just Say Know » so many things to do… // Feb 23, 2009 at 21:41
It seems as though these feelings are growing everywhere, as I find myself talking to people more and more about the need for a renaissance in our world. The U.S. has grown into a nation with the wrong set of priorities. We do not live in touch with the natural world anymore. The world right now is obsessed with money, and I believe this is the inherent problem. Greed has taken over, and the world does not change in the next few years, it might be no more (see 12.21.2012). But I feel that our generation will one day bring about a new era of humanity.
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Talking ‘Bout My… « Samuel J. Scott // Mar 3, 2009 at 15:32
“we’re resigned to the way things are. In that regard, I think we failed you guys. In our defense, it was very difficult to be heard and they wouldn’t listen to us. But I think that my generation and your generation need to speak up and work together with each other.”
As a ‘boomer’, I can say exactly the same thing. *We* tried to change a lot of the BS and ‘they wouldn’t listen to us.’ I guess I hafta conclude, as James Baldwin did: Freedom isn’t something that’s given. Freedom has to be taken.
I’ve heard boomers called the ‘selfish generation.’ Funny: I thought the WW2 generation was the selfish one — they were all buying up second homes and lake homes and rental homes, raising the prices and making it impossible for many of us to own a home.
I don’t think there’s much value in a generation-bashing approach. Those of us who envision a different America need to pull together and work for it. Because ‘The Managers’ have manifestly FAILed.
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“We are harassed by our parents and grandparents, who ask when we are going to get married, buy a house, and have children – but we are saddened because we know that we won’t be able to afford them for years, if not decades.”
You hit the nail on the head. I am 25 and I would give anything to leave the “perpetual adolescence” that the boomers accuse us Gen Y-ers of and assume these responsibilities. Buying a house is out of the question because salaries aren’t commensurate with housing prices. And unfortunately, I’ll never have the time or money to become a parent because I’ll be stuck subsidizing my aging in-laws, who are blowing through their retirement fund before retirement even begins. And yet they continually ask when I am going to give them grandchildren. Perhaps someday I will answer, “I don’t have the time, because I already have two big children.”
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The Upcoming Generational War « Samuel J. Scott // Sep 12, 2009 at 19:53
Bad Bosses « Samuel J. Scott // Oct 4, 2009 at 18:58
Angry Young Men « Samuel J. Scott // Oct 7, 2009 at 12:42
Banks, Baby Boomers & Generational War » AstroDispatch.com » Astrology Around The Web // Nov 8, 2009 at 01:24
The Economic Future « Samuel J. Scott // Nov 10, 2009 at 22:40
It is time for America’s Jubilee.
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I am searching for the answer as to WHY are the baby boomers so selfish? HOW did they get this way?
It’s 2 am and I am sitting in my apartment thousands of miles away from my parents having returned from a 2-week vacation visiting them. After years I am still utterly and totally confused by their actions and can’t wrap my mind around it.
I just can not for the life of me figure out how my grandparents of the depression era helped my father through years of university, they retired early to take care of his 4 children when his wife divorced and left him abruptly, they constantly bring gifts when they visit my father (and us grandchildren too if we are home). While my father and his sibling who are 2 doctors, a lawyer and an executive, sit idly by and watch their aging parents take red-eye flights and discount motels because they can’t afford anything more when they come to visit.
How is it that a parent can show up to their child’s wedding and pitch in $25 for the wedding cake and call it good?
How does a parent buy overly priced cosmetics and actually wrap up the free perfume sample as a Christmas gift for her daughter?
How does a grandparent not show up to their grandson’s football game because they had “things to do?”
How can a parent continually crisis their child for not paying off their school debt, or better yet offer a loan higher than bank interest rates, whilst their parents helped them pay theirs off in the 70s.
The best part is, is that when they do something a normal parent would do, like by their child a new pair of shoes, they act like it is the gift of the holy grail.
Furthermore I have a whole bag of friends who say exactly the same things.
I am 36 years old and I am my siblings have been continuously disappointed by the selfishness of my parents. Perplexed by this I decided to search for an answer. I stumbled onto your blog and I feel the same why as you do. I love the comments that you have made. Especially about taking out more and more student loans to get ahead, when really we can’t get ahead because they’ve sucked us dry. My parents can not figure out why at our age, their children are in so much debt, don’t own a home, have crappy used cars, no retirement, pay-you-go cell phones, our clothes are patched and socks darned, and basically just barley getting by and we all have corporate jobs. It’s like a giant smoke and mirrors game for my siblings and me. On one side they give you the, we love you and support you game, and when it comes time for the little support we finally do ask for, they can’t afford it right now because they just bought a new BMW Mini in cash.
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The Lost Generation « Samuel J. Scott // Dec 9, 2009 at 18:21
The Upcoming Generational War | Considerations by Samuel J. Scott // Dec 28, 2009 at 04:30
The True Meaning of the 2008 Election | Considerations by Samuel J. Scott // Dec 28, 2009 at 04:31
Moving to Israel | Considerations by Samuel J. Scott // Dec 28, 2009 at 04:42
In Defense of Free Trade and Globalization | Considerations by Samuel J. Scott // Dec 28, 2009 at 04:48
World in 2025 | Considerations by Samuel J. Scott // Dec 28, 2009 at 05:04
The Lost Generation | Considerations by Samuel J. Scott // Jan 4, 2010 at 01:40
Bad Bosses | Considerations // Jan 18, 2010 at 19:58