What Have The Baby Boomers Done For Us?

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Northwind

Stationary nomad.
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I'm starting this thread after a tangent in the Trudeau thread discussed Boomers and their effect on our political climate and values. In that thread, Boomers are accused of having "dropped the ball", allowing the growth of neoliberalism. The poster who made this accusation asked what good have Boomers done.

So, what do you think? Have Boomers contributed anything good to our society? If so, what?

I'm considering Boomers being people who were born between about 1945 and 1965, approximately.
 
We picked up the ball from where the previous generation left it for us - women's rights - educational equality - pay equity women in board rooms - inclusion for a range of people - women in ministry - child safety - women in the trades - health advances - women in the medical world and more. Boomers have been busy.
 
This is moved over from the other thread.

You have WAY more freedoms and accommodations than what you would have had in the 70's and 80's

I have created a new thread.

I do. But still a lot fewer than you did. And in many ways neoliberalism, which was the trap boomers stepped into - has impeded standard of living for people with disabilities. I think a more socialist system would be far better in terms of opportunity to have a satisfying life (not an excessive and not one where all energy is put toward competing for enough money to live).
 
Well I can see how some would see that....we were at one time totally against "the establishment" and promoting love love love...until I guess we realized we needed to support ourselves in order to eat and have a home and it seemed the only way to do that was to buy back into what the establishment meant.....Job, mortgage.and debt.
 
The fact is, we have more opportunities because people got up and fought for them rather than accepting an unacceptable status quo or sitting in their livingrooms complaining.
 
The fact is, we have more opportunities because people got up and fought for them rather than accepting an unacceptable status quo or sitting in their livingrooms complaining.
You dont think we bought back into the " system"....I think maybe the problem was we were unable to create a new system but yes we have had major acheivements in some ares, I agree.
 
Well I can see how some would see that....we were at one time totally against "the establishment" and promoting love love love...until I guess we realized we needed to support ourselves in order to eat and have a home and it seemed the only way to do that was to buy back into what the establishment meant.....Job, mortgage.and debt.
Well, no. It wasn't as hard for you as it was for people after you. And it certainly wasn't as hard for you as it was for marginalized groups. And you were the largest generation in history, yet, the last generation to be better off than your parents.

That needed emphasis.
 
Well, no. It wasn't as hard for you as it was for people after you. And it certainly wasn't as hard for you as it was for marginalized groups. And you were the last generation to be better off than your parents.
How was it easier?
 
Well, no. It wasn't as hard for you as it was for people after you. And it certainly wasn't as hard for you as it was for marginalized groups. And you were the largest generation in history, yet, the last generation to be better off than your parents.

That needed emphasis.
Gosh I remember 21 per cent interest rates, having to qualify for a mortgage only on one income and women denied mortgages....and $1.35/hr minimum wage.
 
You dont think we bought back into the " system"....I think maybe the problem was we were unable to create a new system but yes we have had major acheivements in some ares, I agree.


Oh I agree many did buy back into the system. Many were accused of selling out. Justifiably so. At the same time, others were still fighting things like the glass ceiling.
 
Gosh I remember 21 per cent interest rates, having to qualify for a mortgage only on one income and women denied mortgages....and $1.35/hr minimum wage.
Now possibly because housing has taken an unprecedented rise the next generation will inherit a boatload of cash.
 
Neoliberalism, brought in by the boomers, created a corporate oligarchy class and greater wealth inequality.

No, it did not. Take a look at the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the era of THE Rockefellers and the like. They created the corporate oligarchy class. It was well-established and entrenched long before the boomers were even born. We still had some of those families around within our lifetime, though the rise of tech moguls like Gates and Jobs kind of kicked them to the curb in the eighties and nineties. And Gates and Jobs (and Musk, and Zuckerberg, and so on) aren't that different from the Carnegies and Rockefellers in the end, and where they are different is largely a product of them being post-boom.
 
The fact is, we have more opportunities because people got up and fought for them rather than accepting an unacceptable status quo or sitting in their livingrooms complaining.
And neoliberalism that they sold out to afterwards was a failure. And young people and marginalized people are fighting for change and you are disparaging their efforts because you take offence at the mistakes bad entitlement of the boomer generation being pointed out.
 
Gosh I remember 21 per cent interest rates, having to qualify for a mortgage only on one income and women denied mortgages....and $1.35/hr minimum wage.


I look at some my young colleagues who are buying houses in their 20's as single women and wonder why I hadn't done that. It wasn't an option for me because of those interest rates. I was able to get a mortgage because the rules had changed. It seemed unreachable though because of the rates.
 
No, it did not. Take a look at the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the era of THE Rockefellers and the like. They created the corporate oligarchy class. It was well-established and entrenched long before the boomers were even born. We still had some of those families around within our lifetime, though the rise of tech moguls like Gates and Jobs kind of kicked them to the curb in the eighties and nineties. And Gates and Jobs (and Musk, and Zuckerberg, and so on) aren't that different from the Carnegies and Rockefellers in the end, and where they are different is largely a product of them being post-boom.
But they paid up to 90% taxes and they didn't own the collective wealth of half the world population.
 
But they paid up to 90% taxes and they didn't own the collective wealth of half the world population.

Doesn't matter. They had fantastic wealth relative to the norm of their time and used it to wield political power. All the issues we have with wealth dominating politics dates back to that era. Neoliberalism may have exacerbated and further entrenched it, but the oligarchy definitely existed before the boomers.
 
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