It's been about a year since I posted last... I would like to say that it's because I haven't had much new material to write about, but that's not true. The truth is quite the opposite, in the modern world there is so much stupidity and horribleness that the sheer multiplicity of targets makes it hard for me to pick one. That said, today I came across an article a friend of mine had posted on social media, and it made me mad enough that I posted a response. In reviewing my response, I decided that I should also share it here, as it falls into this blog's rubric of political, economic and philosophical discussions.
First, let me post a link to the article so that you all can read it and think about it: http://time.com/5280446/baby-boomer-generation-america-steve-brill/ .
Have you read it? Ok, here's my response:
"It's an interesting essay, but it reeks of self congratulation and
"white" guilt (better read as the guilt of a successful person looking
back on a life of selfishness, not a feeling exclusive to white people). The author is a baby boomer attorney
with an ivy coated CV and a long resume. His claim is that the brilliant
and successful boomers have destroyed America because they were too
smart and too successful (amazing he can type while patting himself on
the back that thoroughly) and now they should be concerned with looking
out for the little guy, because otherwise America is doomed. He ignores the fact that the actual gilded age
saw many of the same problems we are having today, and that lead to the
rise of Socialism and Marxism (especially Marxism, his call that the
workers should seize the means of production ran opposed to the
Rockefeller et al. industrial monopoly barons of that era). What we are
going through is another similar era, but instead of the industrial
revolution, it is a digital and global revolution. But the same problems
remain, we are killing jobs in certain areas while creating new ones in
other areas with little means of retraining workers to take advantage
of these new jobs (especially in the modern era where training takes many
years and tens of thousands of dollars in educational expenses). And for
all his talk about new achievers lobbying government for change, he
seems to ignore that people were lobbying for change in the previous fifty
years as well, and that there is little indication that the current generation will be any more successful than the last, or that one political
spectrum is winning the battle for the hearts and minds of America over another. In
the end, the author needs to get over himself and his pointless and
insignificant achievements and realize that there is nothing special
about the baby boomer generation, even its profound selfishness and
search for redemption is nothing new. America will continue and isn't
anymore broken now than it was when the stock market crashed us into a
great depression at the end of the gilded age. It just needs to adjust
to the growing pains associated with a revolution in how the general
public provides for itself."
There is good reason for the current generation of young adults to be angry at the previous ones. The current world is one crippled by debt, ravaged by turmoil, and not friendly to the young lacking in wealth. That said, these problems are nothing new, and even if they were, that doesn't change the fact that they will have to be dealt with one way or another. And in the end, that's what the world is looking for, solutions to the problems of the modern age. This is also where the above article fails completely, it doesn't give us any solutions except to look to the new achievers. But this is a cop-out. It also belies the true point of the essay, which is not to help, but to go on a self absorbed lament about being a successful boomer wracked with guilt (or perhaps burdened by gilt) and hoping someone else solves the world's problems. Well guess what, you who bragged about your wealth and brilliance, why not try using your money and talents to make the world better yourself? Money, power and influence make this world you built go around, so how about doing something tangible to improve things? Oh, that's right, that would require effort on your part, and you're just super tuckered out after being so super smart and successful. Better let another generation deal with it. Guess what? Doing nothing and lamenting about it is no way to assuage your guilty conscience, and it runs counter to your initial assertion that you're a brilliant and successful over-achiever.
