In Obama, Many See an End to the Baby Boomer Era

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT/AP: In Obama, Many See an End to the Baby Boomer Era
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 11, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) -- When George W. Bush lifts off in his helicopter on Inauguration Day, leaving Washington to make way for Barack Obama, he may not be the only thing disappearing into the horizon. To a number of social analysts, historians, bloggers and ordinary Americans, Jan. 20 will symbolize the passing of an entire generation: the baby boomer years.

Generational change. A passing of the torch. The terms have been thrown around with frequency as the moment nears for Obama to take the oath of office. And yet the reference is not to Obama's relatively young age -- at 47, he's only tied for fifth place on the youngest presidents list with Grover Cleveland. Rather, it's a sense that a cultural era is ending, one dominated by the boomers, many of whom came of age in the '60s and experienced the bitter divisions caused by the Vietnam War and the protests against it, the civil rights struggle, social change, sexual freedoms, and more.

Those experiences, the theory goes, led boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, to become deeply motivated by ideology and mired in decades-old conflicts. And Obama? He's an example of a new pragmatism: idealistic but realistic, post-partisan, unthreatened by dissent, eager and able to come up with new ways to solve problems.

''Obama is one of those people who was raised post-Vietnam and really came of age in the '80s,'' says Steven Cohen, professor of public administration at Columbia University. ''It's a huge generational change, and a new kind of politics. He's trying to be a problem-solver by not getting wrapped up in the right-left ideology underlying them.''

Obama, it must be said, is technically a boomer; he was born in 1961. But he long has sought to draw a generational contrast between himself and the politicians who came before him. ''I sometimes felt as if I were watching the psychodrama of the baby boom generation -- a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago -- played out on the national stage,'' he wrote of the 2000 and 2004 elections in his book, ''The Audacity of Hope.''...

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/01/11/us/AP-Obama-Bye-Bye-Boomers.html

[Warpy]

1. This country has been terrified of boomers

who got off their butts and worked to end racism, sexism and the Vietnam war. We rocked the boat and we've been punished for it ever since.

It's why the only 2 boomers allowed to attain the presidency have been conservatives.

Of course they're all thrilled to find the boomers too old to be relevant.

[Faygo Kid]

3. I agree. And while you're at it, tell those kids to get off my lawn.

Seriously, proud to be a Boomer, and glad for the opportunity to be born when I was. Looking forward to my curmudgeon years, although not there yet.

[Fire1]

25. faygo, I'm right with ya. But, the way I see it, we passed the

torch and 'they' (X), dropped it.

[marmar]

29. As an Xer, I take umbrage to your assertion.....

Exactly what "ball" did we drop? ...... Values like diversity and acceptance of differences are a lot more prevalent among Xers and Yers than Baby Boomers. All of that '60s idealism about equality seemed to disappear into the leafy lawns of segregated suburbia.

[Fire1]

30. Not exactly. The suburb where I reside is the most diverse

in Michigan and we have EARNED the right to 'pass the TORCH,' and enjoy the comforts of our labor. Not retreat, not disappear but expect your generation to 'step up' and continue what appears to be the never ending battle of corporate capitalism and fascism. Diversity is all well and good but doesn't mean a damn when fighting greed, corruption and poverty.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. We did all that and then basically we gave up on it around 1975.

Since then we have been an abysmal lot of self absorbed, self-deluded, ignorant gits. Clinton and BushJr. fairly represent the depths to which we have sunk.

[Warpy]

11. Speak for yourself, chum

The people I know kept their ideals intact and passed them on to their kids. They raised a kids a lot healthier than the 50s produced, and for that they're to be commended. I don't know a single movement person who became a self absorbed, self deluded, ignorant git. They all went into professions that dealt with people, from food to medicine to public law.

The self absorbed, self deluded, ignorant gits are the ones who were born too late to have experienced the idea that we could change the world. They got bought off with money that we were never offered.

Clinton and Stupid represent the worst of the boomers, the types who were afraid of their own shadows and populated the YAF meetings in the colleges, Clinton retreating into academics and Stupid into alcohol rather than confront the reality of the world and what the rest of us were doing to try to change it.

[Warren Stupidity]

13. The topic is 'the boomer generation'

and while there are indeed wonderful boomers who kept their ideals and have done great things, as a generation we basically suck. Take a look at the world around us. This is our work. This is what we are passing on.

[Warpy]

21. Understand there were two cohorts within that 18 year period

And, generally speaking, it was the older cohort that was motivated to change the world for the better and the younger to cash in.

There are, of course, plenty of exceptions within the general rule of each cohort.

Unfortunately for the country, there is still a war against the hippies going on, along with everything the hippies stood for. It's one of the main reason there's such organized resistance to all social programs and to doing something about the unfolding environmental catastrophe.

We old boomers were right, and that is the main thing they can't bring themselves to forgive us for.

[Warren Stupidity]

24. I'll sort of buy into that. However, in total, Generation Suck.

I just keep considering the absolute mess we are leaving behind as we begin to fade away, and I accept generational responsibility: we fucked up. Yes those of us who tried to change the world when we were young and who never turned our backs on that vision are not as culpable as those who never got it to begin with, or even worse those who did get it and then in bad faith turned away from the truth. However, considering the entire generation, you really cannot come to any other honest conclusion: we f*d up.

[create.peace]

16. the kids are okay

my kids, and the kids of my movement friends (thanks for the right phrase) are so great. they learned to make things, create longlasting friendships, live simply, vote, enjoy life. they are empathetic, more than i am even.

"The self absorbed, self deluded, ignorant gits are the ones who were born too late to have experienced the idea that we could change the world. They got bought off with money that we were never offered." - so true!!

good post

[Fire1]

31. PREACH WARPY! Tell it like it is!!!!

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. The article fails to address the economic and political pressure boomers will still have

[hlthe2b]

4. At least they acknowledge that Obama IS a baby boomer...

Like PE Obama, I am on the cusp and in many ways feel as though I have less in common and feel very different about things than the oldest of our cohort, Nonetheless, I am a product of that age and the entire cohort, which as other posters here have eloquently posited, were responsible for a damned lot of good. It was the reactionary "anti-communist" RWers among the cohort who sent everything to hell in a handbasked. THEY were a product of their parent's FDR demonizing philosophies and the antithesis to progressive baby boomers.

[Cha]

18. Obama is Generation Jones according to this analysis..

<snip>

"Generation Jones is a term used to describe the generation of people born between 1954 and 1965. The term is used primarily in English-speaking countries and Western Europe, although it is used to some degree globally.<1><2><3> The birth years typically used in the U.S. are 1954-1965, but these tend to vary slightly in other countries, usually starting no earlier than 1953, and ending no later than 1968."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Jones

[hlthe2b]

19. No way I'm gonna be just another "Jones" LOL

but, whatever....;)

[Cha]

20. I know..I'm personally glad

they differenciate but not too fond of the Jones thing.

Some were born during the Eisenhower years and some during the '60's and The Summer of Love.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. It couldn't come soon enough.

Talkin' 'bout my generation: Worst Generation Ever.

As the article notes, Obama actually is a boomer. Not that the facts matter much anymore.

[Writer]

7. Someone needs to ask Obama how HE thinks he fits into American culture.

I think his answer would be: Fuck that. What a stupid question.

[liberalmuse]

8. The majority of good done in the '60's...

was done by a small subset of boomers. Most boomers were not hippies, beatniks or peaceniks, nor did they march against the Viet Nam war, or attend Monterey and Woodstock. The members of the '60's counterculture are the only boomers I like. Unfortunately, too many from the counterculture caved later on, though there are still some great people from the '60's still around, marching and fighting for truth and justice.

Most boomers voted for Nixon and Reagan, and helped push through a culture of greed and excess during the '80's. Though I am technically a boomer, I was born a couple years after Obama and have never felt a part of the boomer generation.

[Warren Stupidity]

9. Uh no - 52% of us voted for McGovern.

We are Generation Fucked, but not quite that fucked.

http://books.google.com/books?id=qKhS6b27FPMC&pg=PA67&lpg=PA67&dq=nixon+boomer+vote&source=web&ots=ovTs98Ziab&sig=_FmiBSgzU63GSE5ox68h6PYU3TE&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result

[Writer]

10. I personally think that Obama has an X'er attitude.

He's just too unpretentious. He doesn't care about decorum and his life experiences are too reminiscent of X'ers...

but in the end, so what?


About Boomers: Actually many Boomers would have been too young to have participated in the 60's civil rights/ counter-cultural movements. Many of the civil rights leaders were a part of the GI or the Silent Generation. College-aged Boomers, later on however, were the great force behind anti-Vietnam War protests.

[Warpy]

12. Most eldest boomers sat out 1968 and voted for McGovern in 1972

because Humphrey was seen as an extension of bad LBJ Vietnam policy. We knew what Nixon was and couldn't vote for him.

Many boomers voted third party in 1980. Reagan was swept in by their parents and by the younger cohort of boomers born after 1955 and too young to have participated in what people associated with us. If John Anderson hadn't run, Carter might have had a chance.

The peacenik phenomenon was mostly a college phenomenon. Working class kids were working long hours and couldn't participate, although many sympathized with us since they were the ones to bear the brunt of the draft.

What most non boomers see as a sellout around 1975 is actually the reality of parenthood and the necessity of feeding one's children on wages that were decreasing every year.

[Warren Stupidity]

14. Boomers were like around 10% of the voting population in 68.

The voting age was 21. It wasn't until '72 that we were a large enough voting block to matter.

[Warpy]

22. I was one of those old boomers

and people my age looked at Nixon and Humphrey and just sat on their hands.

We'd all worn our Clean Gene and Bobby Kennedy buttons and felt devastated by Kennedy's murder and sold out by the party.

In retrospect, it was tragic that Humphrey didn't get elected, a solid, pro labor liberal even if he had inherited a bad foreign policy. After all, who knew Nixon's secret plan to end the war involved stretching it out as long as possible and doubling the number of dead?

[create.peace]

15. talkin' about my generation

to vote in 68 you had to be 21, don't forget, and that leaves only a small fraction of boomers enfranchised. i was born in early 49, and wasn't able to do more than support clean gene. i was in the bay area during 67-71, and don't understand how anyone born later than mid fifties is considered a boomer. some numbers person made up the year span, not a sociologist. if you didn't experience the fifties as a schoolage person, living at home, the 60's didn't have the same effect. i look at my generation as those coming of age in the sixties. we were the last generation to be able to just take off to a national park and start hiking, without reservations or a hiking plan. we could drink the water, too. and don't forget birth control. we could get it and stds were not rampant, so, you figure it out. read HST 'wave speech' (google it) for a fairly 'right on' view of the era, you didn't even have to do drugs to feel it (i didn't till the 70s). my first presidential vote was for mcgovern, i had crossed over in the primary in montana to vote against nixon. that persists as the weirdest thing i have done. read mark morford 'hippie crap saves the world'- end rant

ps what you say about the sellout @75 was exactly true. i had children and a garden all late 70s, keeping the hippie ethis alive, but off the grid.

[stillcool]

17. I know much has changed..

but so much remains the same. I was pretty freaked when I discovered there were so many who had not ventured out of the confines of the 50's mind-set. Many of those who are the faces of the 60's are ridiculed. I think the 'boomers', more than any generation that preceded them were active in trying to change our government. I am grateful for what they managed to achieve.

[Taverner]

23. Boomers are great people

They are our (GenX) teachers - they taught us the lesson that defines our generation - be on the lookout for bullshit.

[Peacetrain]

26. As an older boomer.. let me fill you in on something.. our men aka

high school seniors, got this little piece of paper saying Uncle Sam wants you. We lost 50,000 in that war, and we had to fight our own country to turn it around.

At the same time, we fought for civil right for all people, tried to get some movement in ecology movement, and generally made a number of mistakes trying to turn the world around.

But dammit we tried.

So as an older boomer, I will happily stand and applaud anyone of any generation whose values are ones that I can respect.

But I have had it up to my proverbial eyebrows with being hammered constantly. We in that older boom part, were the ones sitting under the desk, waiting for oblivion.. were thrilled to death to get a nice small classroom with 40 in it.

Things improved as the generation went along.

But before you dump us in the dung heap of history, you might want to have walked a mile in our shoes. We really did try to make things better

Let me edit: I am so proud of Obama, whatever he wants to call his generation. Jones, that is whole new one for me

[Skittles]

27. OBAMA IS A BOOMER

WTF is with this boomer-bashing shit?

[bemildred]

28. "Some say" strikes again.

A pantload of unattributed bullshit.