I hear a lot about how Baby Boomers sold out, or how lazy and apathetic millennials are. Both have some basis in truth, but both are simplistic. I could say a bit about Gen X and how significant they are in the mix, or my predictions for Gen Z (the zoomers), but for now I want to provide some context on Boomers.
With that in mind, here is a story:
I was speaking to a good friend from Peru a few years ago. He is about 10 years older than me, but we had a great friendship. He was a successful, wealthy, charming, handsome man with a successful marriage and family (at that time). We got on the topic of children. He had moved here from Peru a few years earlier, and he was worried that the wealth and privilege they were used to over there would not translate. And he was right.
He had raised them to value education, self-sufficiency, and family. His wife was a warm and friendly woman - but she was overly protective and nurturing. Add to this a lot of money and this mix led to his three children being lazy and aimless in life. They all have jobs now, but they are struggling and will never be nearly as successful as he is.
This story has been told many times by immigrants who came here, only to see their children inherit rights, privileges, and prosperity without any sense of where it came from. This is problem is often referred to as the Three Generation Rule
Similarly, Baby Boomers were born into a world that was immensely prosperous. The often maligned 1950's was their childhood (for most, but obviously not all - but don't let anyone tel you that there were no powerful women or prosperous black families. That is a lie). They came of age in the 1960's - sex, drugs, and rock and roll. What a hell of a time to grow up! The most privileged of them never went to Vietnam, and those who did came back jaded and broken. But they all knew the good and bad of what was possible.
All of their idealism turned to corruption, avarice, and greed. Not just that, but it was self-righteous insufferable unearned arrogance on top of it. They were handed a beautiful world full of hope and possibility. That world was built on traditions, habits or mind, and values that were tried and tested over eons. Somehow this wisdom was framed as "outdated", politically conservative, or worse - oppressive. They took the bait and started making "changes" Look up who voted for the war in Iraq in response to 911. Go ahead. That is the Baby Boomer legacy.
A quote about the tree of liberty being refreshed comes to mind. The other saying about strong men creating good times.... also comes to mind. Another quote about those who fail to learn the lessons of history is yet another.
Boomers sold out in ways that give privilege and honor to their own ideological heroes. At the same time they have permanently screwed future generations into a dystopia that they would not wish on themselves.
The bottom line is this - The Boomers can only be held partially responsible for this. They are experiencing the Third Generation Rule, but only one generation removed. It is a virtually unavoidable phenomenon without very strong family (generational) leadership and powerful structures and incentives to maintain the best of their systems.
The boomers have no such leaders. They had nothing but charismatic ideologues, preachers, and SJW advocates of all flavors. That is how they see the world and there is no changing it at this point. They control everything at this point, so there is not much hope for change. Look at every mainstreaam and social media platform and tell me how much diversity of opinion you find. Their masters will not give up their power willingly. Would you?
All we can do is to embrace this ugly reality and tap the rudder a bit. If enough of us can tap in the same direction, the children of the zoomers (what the hell will they call that generation) may be able to do a bit better.
1xBitten2xEven 4y ago
Read “The Fourth Turning” by William Strauss and Neil Howe. Published 20 years ago, the thesis is that American history runs in 80 year cycles, giving rise to 20 year phases as well as four distinct generational archetypes. It explains boomer behavior, shines a light on their facilitation by the elder Silent Generation, and even predicts traits in Millennials that emerged long after the book was published. I highly recommend it.
DeeplyDisturbed1 4y ago
Thanks. I just read a bit of a synopsis. Very interesting.
[deleted] 5y ago
Yes the boomers are to blame, but no less than their parents and their parents parents and their parents parents parents. But it probably stops there. Before that was the bankruptcy remedy of the civil war and I can't really blame to turmoil on those people that defended either their Comercial voice, or United voice.
The reason why the [foreign agent] is so successful at convincing people to recognizing their power and agency is because they sell a better product. The studious man would know they do not intend to keep selling that product and at some point to require those recipients to start slaving away for other people, but alas that time had not yet come and the current sheep have no idea what they give up and what could be outside their muddy fenced in farm.
You want to help people retain their power and help the country prosper again? Start making a better [legal] product for yourself than people get with the State. There is more to the success of tyrants than simply instilling fear. They know they must legally bind people to the welfare of society in order to capitalize on mob rule. If you (and most likely noone you know) has ejected their legal personage from the jurisdiction of these tyrants you despise do much, then quit pointing fingers at everyone but yourself for your own failures and shortcomings instructing the new batch of servants and people to your free will and good testament. If you don't like the [system] and are not "boycotting" them then you and everyone else knows exactly why society is crumbling. Continue to vote for them by doing nothing or vote against then by doing everything to ensure they are not your masters and therefore their property to do as they please.
DeeplyDisturbed1 5y ago
Like anything else there is a lot of complexity here, and I appreciate you trying to break it down. Looking at it from another angle, there are systems and those systems are run by people. If you do not do what it takes to succeed in a system, you will not be allowed in - politics, religions, Wall Street, MMA, the local PTA, and even families.
These competing groups are fighting for power at many levels.
You are right, if I am reading you correctly:
If you remain outside the system(s) (i.e. no college, no corporate job, no elected position) you have no power. More importantly, you do not understand those systems so you cannot do anything to fix things.
If you do join, then you are a tool. You will never reach the top, but this is required if you wanted to change anything. And if you did get far enough up the ladder, you would be so beholden to the system that you are very unlikely to change anything.
If you fight it from the sidelines (somewhat in the system like most people), then you are an idiot and wasting your time. But hey, it feels good to get it off your chest - besides, 20 people agreed with you on the internet, so you have that, which is nice.
Our current system depends on there being little to no serious resistance.
On a side note, I think this is why our Masters hate Trump so much. He and his followers represent a serious threat like few others before. JFK, and MLK were two in the past and you know what happened to them.
[deleted] 5y ago
Yeah, it doesn't work well for people that want to live their own lives, but within the realm of society without feeling attacked. Basically, it's designed so that those who choose to live "off the grid" are aggressively deterred and sometimes physically threatened for "prospering without a license". The endorsement protection package guarantee of a republic form of free government is adversarial and rooted in commercial viability. If you stand as a loss to those [delegated foreigners] then they don't want to deal with you and make your life and earning power difficult.
The level of corruption is inversely related to the level of liberty you can expect. Where it is low and mostly accounted for, one can expect to live comfortably while retaining his sovereign power. But due to the nature of having an uncontested title and legal ownership of the self, you are automatically a target by black robed salesmen and other [conditional jurisdictions]. It has to be that way, to exist without the privileges of government, one has to create his own. Because if you accept any privileges, rights, or non-judicial government benefits, then you are ensnared and liable for the entire debt of your masterful corporation, about 20 trillion dollars.
DeeplyDisturbed1 5y ago
Well said. I have spent some time talking with friends about what to do about all of this. Not to change anything, or vote or anything like that - nor to become a prepper and hide in my basement in fear with a gun in my hand - but to have a plan. Those conversations have been great.
[deleted] 5y ago
Good on you and your friends. Not being dismissive is a good first step. Recognizing and admitting there is a big, life altering problem lingering is surprisingly difficult among the masses. They are too comfortable with their fingers in their ears and you know what?? are getting their money's worth. And that's just fine, enjoy it while you can, but I'm not sticking around on the ship when clearly water is rushing in.
DeeplyDisturbed1 5y ago
This was a good message to start my day. The more I poke around and carefully present these ideas, the more men I meet. There are a lot more of us than most people might realize. I have no data, but I would venture a guess and say about 20% of the adult male population in the US is thinking about these things in a serious way.
[deleted] 5y ago
There are a lot of men that are fed up. But most of them aren't going to do anything about their complaints. There are very few who have extradited themselves from the collective stronghold which are the ones that maintain freedom and keep its enemies at bay. It isn't an easy life and sometimes goes unrewarded, but it makes a big difference in ways that are not possible working on the inside.
DeeplyDisturbed1 5y ago
I agree 100%. Stay strong Where_muh.