<p>“So, what good are old boomers, anyway? What can we, as a nation, do with 77 million ageless Botoxed Parrotheads whose continued existence ensures that the oldies stations play Zeppelin for decades to come? In generations past, the elderly remained useful even in their final, feeble years, baby-sitting their grandchildren, dispensing sundry wisdom, and keeping their extended family supplied with poundcakes. But boomer geezers will serve no useful purpose to the young; theyll be too busy playing Wii Fit in their home gyms and downloading Younger Next Year on their Kindles.”</p>
<p>Light: We Boomers just can’t get a break; the Older Generation hated us when we were young, and the Younger Generation hates us now that we’re old.</p>
<p>Medium: We Boomers wouldn’t be here in such great numbers if our parents hadn’t been social-engineered to over-reproduce during a period of post-war economic prosperity. So, don’t blame us Boomers for being here; blame our gullible baby-factory parents (many of whom are also still alive).</p>
<p>Heavy: If Swine Flu hits as expected (disproportionately killing young, healthy adults) this fall, then we surviving Boomers will again become valuable as economic producers and consumers. If Swine Flu doesn’t pan out, then Universal Health Care, with its rationed treatment and heavy-handed end-of-life “services” (euthanasia) counseling, will dispatch many of us quickly enough.</p>
<p>Well I, for one expect a truly nasty economics-based collision to occur between the generations in the near future, when the numbers of boomers in dire need of ever more expensive medical treatment reaches critical mass. Its consequences will be dire, regardless as to whether we radically alter our system of delivering health care in America or not. Look for more heated cost/benefit discussions to arise as society tries to figure out if our lives are truly worth the money necessary to maintain them. Look for the idea of assisted suicide to not seem so, well—“wrong” in the not so distant future. </p>
<p>As for the oldies on the radio - my DD who just graduated from college and her friends LOVE them! That’s all we listen to when in the car together. She knows the songs, artists and lyrics better than I do!</p>
<p>We “Boomers” inherited a country rich in opportunity and with the potential for all to raise themselves economically. And we had a great time!</p>
<p>Yet, look today at the country we are leaving our children. My generation, the “Boomers” have squandered our children’s chance at a similar future.</p>
<p>We do live in pretty challenging times. I do not envy our kids & grandkids the job of sorting things out and making them work as well as possible. We have many elderly in our state–folks in their 70s, 80s & beyond as well as the younger folks. Our state of HI is aging all the time, as people like to come here to retire because of the milder weather and beautiful views.</p>
<p>Unfortunately our state is not doing much for its seniors and has no plans in place as to how to address the increasing needs for long term care and other issues facing our state. The official line is “personal responsibility and private business” are supposed to step up. It’s definitely much better to be sure you have sufficient assets to age comfortably but many don’t PLAN to have multiple severe chronic health conditions that are expensive & debilitating.</p>
<p>I was born in 1961 and could never relate to the Boomers. I think the official cutoff is 1965. I recently read an op-ed piece about people born in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s as being a kind of “lost” generation.</p>
<p>Hah, the “youngsters” listen to our music, emulate the clothes of our youth, wistfully view the younger drinking age we had, continue to read the authors of our generation with the exception of the Harry Potter obsessed and still adore the Grateful Dead or what is left of them…hah, they are simply jealous because they have to find their own babysitters 'cause we got things to do!</p>
<p>I was at the Elton John & Billy Joel concert last week, with 53,000 other fans, and my friend and I were laughing that in 15 or 20 years the nursing homes will be piping in the Rolling Stones instead of Glen Miller.</p>
<p>ghostfire13 said: “I was born in 1961 and could never relate to the Boomers. I think the official cutoff is 1965. I recently read an op-ed piece about people born in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s as being a kind of “lost” generation.”</p>
<p>Yep, there’s the cultural Baby Boom, then there’s the demographic Baby Boom; different things . . . you seem a little late to be a cultural Baby Boomer . . . no offense intended :-)</p>
<p>Cultural Baby Boomers: born 1946 - 1960; about 75 million US births</p>
<p>Demographic Baby Boom: 1946 -1964; post-war births steadily increased, then fell after 1964</p>
<h1>of births of the Baby Boom: 1954-64: only years with more than 4 milion US births . . . until 1989</h1>
<p>1989 - 1993 - years with more than 4 million births: noticed a lot of college apps these days?</p>
<p>1994 - 1999 - # of births stayed just below 4 million; college competition stays fairly high</p>
<p>2000 - now - back over 4 million again; </p>
<p>Message from the Year 2020:
College applications at all time high; Ivy League expands again to 16 schools to accomodate parental demand for “name brand” schools.</p>
<p>HImom; I wish I could elaborate, but I don’t remember the details of the piece. I think it was in the LATimes.</p>
<p>I think it was about how us “later” boomers don’t relate culturally to the earlier boomers because our experiences growing up were so different. For example, we would only have been at Woodstock or experienced the “Summer of Love” if our parents had taken us because we were so young at the time.</p>