So they can keep electing fascists but they can’t have any blame assigned to them because they’ll die shortly… And even though my peers and age cohort shows measurable opposition and we have to live through this coming hell, we’ve got blood on our hands?
A lot of the boomers were hippies and communist wannabes in their youth.
Boomer whitewashing and not true at all. The hippie counterculture was a minority that got outsized publicity. Nixon got the majority of the youth vote; many anti war protesters just didn’t want to be personally affected by drafts. Hell, a lot of those involved in the hippie movement didn’t have any strong moral/political stance, they just wanted to do drugs and listen to music.
Do you think your generation will do better?
To extend the Reagan analogy, my cohort is already opposed to this administration by a significant margin, which couldn’t be said of the boomers. If we go from that starting point to somehow electing Mecha Trump 2.0 in 40 years… They must have brought back the lead paint chips.
For a more material answer: no, my cohort won’t slip into the lure of comfort and security because that was already sold off to the boomers. There’s nothing left for us. Look at the dream they’re selling us now, if we’re good peasants we might inherit scraps from boomers or buy a 4 bedroom house from a multi-million scratch off. Wow what an offer.
Its not that they will die, its that they are dieing now and voting less. Your cohort doesn’t vote very much, and as they get older they’ll fall into the same trap. The poor with little think everyone should share. As they acquire wealth, they start to feel they should keep what they earned. They always think it’s different for them for all the particular hardships they had to endure at youth/poor. Yes people will inherit houses. Jobs will be finally passed to the next generation as people retire. There will still be plenty of poor elders, just as there are now. The following generation will have it worse in some respects - so you’ll have something to lose, so you’ll think you should be have the right the keep your own and not share. And you’ll get frightened as you become physically weaker and less mentally capable - you’ll value your security over the notion of change. You’ll start to see how those protests that sometimes get violent) should be made to go away so you can keep your status quo.
I really wish it wasn’t the case - I had high hopes for my Gen X cohort. We seemed to care about the environment, feeding the starving, being flexible regarding sexual orientation, etc. But now we’re becoming part of the problem. I see it in myself. I want a better society for everyone still, but I like my house, and I want lower property taxes. I don’t want our capitalist system to collapse as I’ve managed to save up money for retirement and can no longer ‘rough it’ as easily if I lost that. I don’t want fascism and I’ve voted left my whole life, but I can still see the shift in myself - and I recognize it in others more. So don’t throw spun stats at me. The fact that as boomers are voting less, we still have right wing governments means the trend is continuing.
Ok, let’s just put aside the stats and look at it from this perspective:
What generation in the last century was born into the high water mark for voter power in America? Put another way, who had the power to steer the country toward progressive policies with the least effort?
What generation of voters approved the corporate capture of their government (by action/inaction)? Who removed guardrails on corporate taxes, monopolies, political spending, political transparency, etc…
What generation is responsible for the narratives around voter apathy and political disengagement of Millennials, Zoomers and Alpha? Who was setting the example, who was responsible for teaching civic engagement? Who should have been pushing back?
Who was supposed to be pushing back on the erosion of voting rights? How did extreme gerrymandering and regressive schemes to disenfranchise voters get in place?
What generation had the most accessible education, the least debt, the strongest community support networks, the best access to healthcare, etc.? Put another way, who had the strongest personal security and least dependance on the system?
What generation was up against the weakest right wing establishment? Who was in the landscape least flooded by disinformation and fox news style propaganda?
I’ll give you a hint, my cohort is 0/6 on those questions.
Are there material reasons boomers made those decisions? Sure. And I’m not saying that anyone else born into that time period would have magically done anything different. But I am saying that there is very scant blame left for anyone who comes after.
No other group of people in history has been born into such incredible political advantages and steered the plane directly into fascism in one lifetime. Hell, the people in Nazi Germany had just experienced the largest war in human history and were burning money for warmth.
So nah, I don’t want want to hear anyone lumping my generation with the people who spent a lifetime actively laying out the red carpet for fascists.
So they can keep electing fascists but they can’t have any blame assigned to them because they’ll die shortly… And even though my peers and age cohort shows measurable opposition and we have to live through this coming hell, we’ve got blood on our hands?
Boomer whitewashing and not true at all. The hippie counterculture was a minority that got outsized publicity. Nixon got the majority of the youth vote; many anti war protesters just didn’t want to be personally affected by drafts. Hell, a lot of those involved in the hippie movement didn’t have any strong moral/political stance, they just wanted to do drugs and listen to music.
To extend the Reagan analogy, my cohort is already opposed to this administration by a significant margin, which couldn’t be said of the boomers. If we go from that starting point to somehow electing Mecha Trump 2.0 in 40 years… They must have brought back the lead paint chips.
For a more material answer: no, my cohort won’t slip into the lure of comfort and security because that was already sold off to the boomers. There’s nothing left for us. Look at the dream they’re selling us now, if we’re good peasants we might inherit scraps from boomers or buy a 4 bedroom house from a multi-million scratch off. Wow what an offer.
Its not that they will die, its that they are dieing now and voting less. Your cohort doesn’t vote very much, and as they get older they’ll fall into the same trap. The poor with little think everyone should share. As they acquire wealth, they start to feel they should keep what they earned. They always think it’s different for them for all the particular hardships they had to endure at youth/poor. Yes people will inherit houses. Jobs will be finally passed to the next generation as people retire. There will still be plenty of poor elders, just as there are now. The following generation will have it worse in some respects - so you’ll have something to lose, so you’ll think you should be have the right the keep your own and not share. And you’ll get frightened as you become physically weaker and less mentally capable - you’ll value your security over the notion of change. You’ll start to see how those protests that sometimes get violent) should be made to go away so you can keep your status quo.
I really wish it wasn’t the case - I had high hopes for my Gen X cohort. We seemed to care about the environment, feeding the starving, being flexible regarding sexual orientation, etc. But now we’re becoming part of the problem. I see it in myself. I want a better society for everyone still, but I like my house, and I want lower property taxes. I don’t want our capitalist system to collapse as I’ve managed to save up money for retirement and can no longer ‘rough it’ as easily if I lost that. I don’t want fascism and I’ve voted left my whole life, but I can still see the shift in myself - and I recognize it in others more. So don’t throw spun stats at me. The fact that as boomers are voting less, we still have right wing governments means the trend is continuing.
Ok, let’s just put aside the stats and look at it from this perspective:
I’ll give you a hint, my cohort is 0/6 on those questions.
Are there material reasons boomers made those decisions? Sure. And I’m not saying that anyone else born into that time period would have magically done anything different. But I am saying that there is very scant blame left for anyone who comes after.
No other group of people in history has been born into such incredible political advantages and steered the plane directly into fascism in one lifetime. Hell, the people in Nazi Germany had just experienced the largest war in human history and were burning money for warmth.
So nah, I don’t want want to hear anyone lumping my generation with the people who spent a lifetime actively laying out the red carpet for fascists.
Honestly I hope you keep that energy and manage to keep your cohort from falling into the same trap as every other one.