Drunk On Disappointment
Or looking at the world through morose-colored glasses. Monica Hesse, writing at The Washington Post, examines the results of a new Pew study into the outlooks of Americans of various generations. The result?
The baby boomers — that prominent group of middle-agers whose massive numbers invite never-ending dissection and speculation — have once again spoken. What they have said is, " Waaaaaahhh."
This is according to a social and demographic trends survey released recently by the Pew Research Center. The survey measured the pessimism, dissatisfaction and general curmudgeonliness of 2,413 adults in various generations.
The results validate any member of the Greatest Generation who ever looked at his or her offspring and sadly thought, "soft." Simply put, boomers are a bunch of . . . whiners.
More than older or younger generations, boomers — born from 1946 to 1964 — worry that their income won't keep up with rising costs of living. They say it's harder to get ahead today than it was 10 years ago. They are more likely to say that their standard of living is lower than their folks' but that things don't look too good for their kids either (67 percent of younger generations, meanwhile, feel they have it better than their parents).
Everything stinks, except for the things that stink even more, and it's not exactly clear why, considering that this is the population with the highest median income. Boomers also have fewer difficulties affording housing or medical care, the survey says, and they enjoyed greater job security last year than older or younger generations.
There are some very interesting points made in the article. Funny points, in many cases.
Personally, I took my kids through the old neighborhood I grew up in yesterday. It was an eye-opener for them. The streets were a little meaner than when I lived in that area and I'm sure it is more dangerous since there are gang problems these days that didn't really exist back when I was growing up. But the same hopelessness of a poor, crime-ridden neighborhood was there. The same dirty streets, the same rundown houses. My kids were stunned at where I had once lived. And I didn't show them the really bad places.
Maybe coming from that background saved me from the angst of the boomer generation. My mother raised five kids alone on a secretary's salary. We lived hand-to-mouth at best and we lived in very poor neighborhoods. But three of us managed to work our way through college. My youngest brother has a highly-skilled (and highly paid) job repairing boat engines. We worked our way out of poverty.
It's probably best that Pew didn't interview me. I would have been an outlier. I'd rather not spend my whole life drunk on disappointment like too many of my generation.
Personal Thoughts | Gaius Thursday, 10 July , 2008
By Bob, Thursday, 10 July , 2008 @ 5:44 am
The Greatest Generation gave us the worst generation. On the bright side, in 30 years or so, they’ll all be gone. It will take several other generations to clean up their messes.
By martian, Thursday, 10 July , 2008 @ 2:19 pm
As the guy who grew up in a house across the street from that house you showed your kids and a fellow baby boomer, I have to say I resent the implications of the article - that we are a bunch of whiners. I am personally way better off financially than my parents were. I live in a better house in a much better neighborhood and have a much better job. Where my parents couldn’t afford even one car until I was a junior in high school, my wife and I have two. My standard of living is much higher than when I grew up. I have good health insurance. Most of my friends are of my generation and can report the same things. This is not bragging - simply a refutation of what Ms. Hesse wrote. I do worry a little bit about what the future looks like for our kids, but only because I worry about the liberal trend in the country and the possibility of the Obamessiah in the White House (shudder).
Considering that this story appeared in the Washington Post - a publication with a decidely liberal slant - I and is based on a study by the Pew Research Center, another somewhat liberal group, I would bet that all of the people interviewed were liberal Democrats - a very whiney bunch! Heck most of them are still whining about Bush stealing the election eight years ago!
By sam, Thursday, 10 July , 2008 @ 3:41 pm
I don’t know many whiners among the baby boomers I know, myself included. I hardly grew up in the ghetto, but am better off than my parents at a similar point in our lives. This whininess may be more of a function of who the reporter interviewed or where they are located.