Chuck Raasch column:
Baby boomers are aging
like fine whine
Social scientists and
demographic experts do
give us credit for
raising a pretty good
generation of
Millennials who have
been entering adulthood
over this past decade.
But as far as civic
engagement and
awareness, Millennials
appear to be modeling
themselves more after
our parents, the
so-called Greatest
Generation that fought
World War II and helped
save the globe from
fascism.
Both the Millennials and
the World War II
generation are what New
Democratic Network
scholars and authors
Michael Hais and Morley
Winograd consider "civic
generations,"
community-minded people
seared by crisis and
brought together by
challenge.
For the World War II
generation, it was the
Depression and Pearl
Harbor. For Millennials,
it was 9/11 and its
aftermath.
Their boomer parents,
according to Hais,
belong to a classic
"ideological
generation," one driven
by "internal beliefs,
which they try to enact
on the rest of the
world."
Boomers "tend to think
that their experiences
are unique," notes Hais,
who's joining Winograd
for a second book on
Millennials that is due
out in September.
No kidding. Memo to
boomers: Vietnam was not
the first unpopular war
in history. Mick Jagger,
the Beatles — they all
were born before the
boom. And age,
child-rearing — life's
inevitabilities that the
boomer media and culture
have often arrogantly
ascribed as a new
discovery when we
experienced them — have
been around since women
gave birth in caves.
In reality, our
uniqueness may be the
messes that we have
created. Not only have
we heaped incredible
amounts of debt on those
that follow us, we enter
retirement expecting
them to not trifle with
our Social Security and
Medicare.
Then we have the
temerity to pass
judgment on other
generations. GenXers as
slackers, remember? Our
politics is loud and
accusatory and often
hopelessly intractable.
Boomers are world-class
finger pointers.
Our parents gave us rock
'n' roll. We ran with it
and reveled in it, but
face it: The boomers'
big music invention,
disco, went out of style
faster than John
Travolta's polyester
slacks. Do you know a
single iPod owner who
has loaded up on disco
golden oldies?
The stories about
boomers retiring and
"giving back" — through
volunteering and other
civic work — infer that
we've mostly been takers
up until now.
Celebrate the boomers
turning 65? Nah, we're
just another generation,
getting old. Sucks,
doesn't it?
