Generation Envy
| By kevco0509 - Nov 8th, 2006 at 7:07 pm EST |
| Also listed in: Campus Progress Blog |
Marx considered class stuggle to be the prime mechanism of social change, and opponents of the left accuse progressives of "class envy". But lately, in exploring the student debt crisis, I have encountered something new to human history, something that I have dubbed "Generation Envy".
If the generation that fought and won World War II is considered "The Greatest Generation," then I would argue that our parents, the Baby Boomers, deserve the title of "Worst Generation".
The Boomers were born into the greatest industrial power on Earth, but have systematically attacked any hope of prosperity for today's youth. Now granted, every generation has its struggles, and the spectre of Vietnam that haunted 1960s youth should not be minimized, but it is no excuse for the ageist policies they have enacted over the last 25 years.
Since our patents came of voting age (1970s and beyond), the American Dream has been slowly unraveling. First came industrial decline, then the national debt, then the 1980s-era cutbacks in social services. Inner-city poverty. Gulf War I. Gulf War II. Stagnant wages. Skyrocketing tuition. Deunionization. Environmental decline.
How did the generation of free love, anti-consumerism, and pacifism turn out this way? Why have the hippies of the 1960s sent their children to war? How did anti-materialism turn into fiscal insanity? Why did the generation who saw first-hand the social benefits of the GI Bill and Pell Grants watch as college was priced out of reach? Why didn't the anti-nuclear sentiment of the 1960s translate into addressing global warming? What happened?
I don't know the answer to that question and at this point I don't care. It is time for America's youth to band with our Gen-X siblings and take control of our own destiny. The future of this country should not be decided by those who have the least stake in it, but rather by its future workers, soldiers, and parents. The Boomers have mortgaged our future to secure their own. They have placed a millstone of national and student debt around our necks that will take years to address. The adult majority of this country has failed us; it's time to respond. Accuse me of Generation Envy if you want, but the Boomers have been waging Generational Warfare on us for the last two decades.
Link
Link
Link
If the generation that fought and won World War II is considered "The Greatest Generation," then I would argue that our parents, the Baby Boomers, deserve the title of "Worst Generation".
The Boomers were born into the greatest industrial power on Earth, but have systematically attacked any hope of prosperity for today's youth. Now granted, every generation has its struggles, and the spectre of Vietnam that haunted 1960s youth should not be minimized, but it is no excuse for the ageist policies they have enacted over the last 25 years.
Since our patents came of voting age (1970s and beyond), the American Dream has been slowly unraveling. First came industrial decline, then the national debt, then the 1980s-era cutbacks in social services. Inner-city poverty. Gulf War I. Gulf War II. Stagnant wages. Skyrocketing tuition. Deunionization. Environmental decline.
How did the generation of free love, anti-consumerism, and pacifism turn out this way? Why have the hippies of the 1960s sent their children to war? How did anti-materialism turn into fiscal insanity? Why did the generation who saw first-hand the social benefits of the GI Bill and Pell Grants watch as college was priced out of reach? Why didn't the anti-nuclear sentiment of the 1960s translate into addressing global warming? What happened?
I don't know the answer to that question and at this point I don't care. It is time for America's youth to band with our Gen-X siblings and take control of our own destiny. The future of this country should not be decided by those who have the least stake in it, but rather by its future workers, soldiers, and parents. The Boomers have mortgaged our future to secure their own. They have placed a millstone of national and student debt around our necks that will take years to address. The adult majority of this country has failed us; it's time to respond. Accuse me of Generation Envy if you want, but the Boomers have been waging Generational Warfare on us for the last two decades.
Link
Link
Link
!
Comments are closed for this post.
On Tuesay we took a huge step in that direction. We chose to change course and picked Democrats by almost a 2-1 margin.
Check out this graph and diary I posted at Kos:
Link
(you can use it yourself by pulling it off my Flickr Page).
Link