Are baby boomers to blame for broken government?

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The 'Me' Gerenation may not have the capacity for 'We'

By Rightwingconspirator

Culture • September 2011 • Views: 1,658

cnn.com

(CNN) — Could it be that the reason our government is broken is because of which generation is running things?

Authors Morley Winograd and Michael Hais think so, insisting that the problem is that power is now firmly in the hands of self-righteous baby boomers who have spent their entire lives convinced that anyone who disagrees with them is morally inferior. Boomers won’t negotiate anything, Winograd and Hais say, because they think every position they hold is rooted in something no less sacred than their values, and they’re understandably reluctant to negotiate their values.

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11 comments

Obdicut Thu, Sep 29, 2011 6:24:50am

I'd agree. And I have no solution.

Gretchen G.Tiger Thu, Sep 29, 2011 6:26:31am

I am someone who is "technically" (IIRC) a baby boomer, born in 1964. I find my peers who are older do seem very convicted. They created a lot of the change that I and those a younger than me take for granted.

Sometimes I want to just scream at them to look around and see what is the "new" normal.

Yes, there is more to be done. But old tactics aren't necessarily the way.

Brave New World and all . . .

lizardofid Thu, Sep 29, 2011 6:35:32am

I'm afraid that we, (the boomers) will just have to fade away so the next group can take the helm.

Daniel Ballard Thu, Sep 29, 2011 6:41:10am

re: #3 lizardofid

Pass the torch. As the last generation did for us.

R.M, Ramallo Thu, Sep 29, 2011 6:51:56am

Yep. My parents and in-laws are boomers, and having a conversation with them is something akin to ramming one's head into a steel door.
The door remains unfazed, and you walk away bleeding with a nasty concussion.

Charleston Chew Thu, Sep 29, 2011 6:56:50am

Boomers have had marketing people relentlessly delude them from cradle to grave into thinking they can do no wrong. And they will die never having faced the truth of their own incompetence.

From this:

Youtube Video

To this:

Youtube Video

It's not their fault. They have the misfortune of being part of a generation boom, and those numbers act like an echo chamber.

jc717 Thu, Sep 29, 2011 8:32:12am

It's just a condition of being human. As we get older, we tend to get more set in our ways. Our brains just aren't as flexible as they were in our youth.

The boomers aren't special in this regard, they just represent a numerically higher percentage of people than the elderly did in the past.

Bob Dillon Thu, Sep 29, 2011 8:36:12am

That's a nasty leak. Thank God it's not in our end of the boat.

Charleston Chew Thu, Sep 29, 2011 12:44:46pm

re: #7 jc717

An individual with power soon realizes that everyone's kissing their ass because they want something from them.

But since most members of a demographic boom have no personal power, they're just average folks, they don't learn to be wary of sycophants. They remain unaware of living in an echo chamber of both the large generation they belong to and all the people wanting to make money by telling them what they want to hear.

I had the good fortune of being born in the trough of the subsequent bust. It's easier to stay humble in a world that's anyone's but yours.

Charleston Chew Thu, Sep 29, 2011 12:50:19pm

Just as a technical clarification, here's the United States birth rate (births per 1000 population). The United States Census Bureau defines the demographic birth boom as between 1946 and 1964 (blue):

Image: 800px-U.S.BirthRate.1909.2003.png

wrenchwench Thu, Sep 29, 2011 3:15:40pm

From the article:

Authors Morley Winograd and Michael Hais think so, insisting that the problem is that power is now firmly in the hands of self-righteous baby boomers who have spent their entire lives convinced that anyone who disagrees with them is morally inferior. Boomers won't negotiate anything, Winograd and Hais say, because they think every position they hold is rooted in something no less sacred than their values, and they're understandably reluctant to negotiate their values.

Is there any scientifically researched basis for this? Until I see some, I will dismiss this as somebody trying to sell a book.

In their new book, "Millennial Momentum," they explain how the millennial generation (born from 1982 to 2003) will remake America in education, politics, entertainment and every other conceivable endeavor. There will be more compromise, they predict, and more tolerance for different points of view. There will also be more of a desire to rule by consensus and not decree.

The Koch brothers, I would argue, have something to do with our "broken government", and they aren't boomers. I could go on....

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