When you talk about former generations of young people you have entirely forgotten 1968 (indeed 1967-1973) when millions of young people demanded an end to colonial wars (Ireland, Vietnam, Cambodia) and much better financial support for the poor. We (indeed I was one) blocked the centres of cities, occupied universities, made our demands en masse. To understand the challenges and opportunities of the present it is crucial to remember what was done then, to consider what was achieved and how that momentum was ultimately thwarted.
Thank you! As a 69 year old Boomer, I’m really tired of being blamed for everything that’s gone wrong, especially since I was one of those protesters. Boomers were out there protesting wars and agitating for civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, better pay (I worked for $1 an hour in college), child care, health care (for many years I had no health insurance because I couldn’t afford it), and now I go to the rallies and marches to try to get this country to return to sanity concerning the proliferation of guns and resulting gun violence.
I feel like this whole "boomer" thing and similar divisive stuff are manufactured red herrings created to divide us and hijack eyeballs. There are legitimate generational opportunities for self-improvement, but the way these divisive labels seem to just appear en masse in all the media over the years just smells fishy. Also the pronunciation of "impor-ent"... like boom, everywhere impor-ent became the way to say important. Who decided that, how did it become widespread so quickly and why? (If anyone knows, I'd love to hear your thoughts.)
After the Baby Boomer generation, which really WAS based in demographic phenomena, the rest is truly capitalists trying to market to people of certain ages. And it’s absolutely been used to divide us, no one is a monolith! I’m “gen x”—which was only created due to Douglas Coupland’s novel, but I’ve always been more of a hippie! And 20 year spans are a joke, I don’t have squat in common with someone born in 1980, I grew up in the 70’s!
sad belief system. I am 71 and I have more in common with progressives and guess what, they come in all ages, sizes, colors, and sexual orientations. Don’t you think some of these posts are pretty insulting to Dr. Reich and George Takei? Or to many people who are younger like the youths who are suing the state of Montana for environmental health? Treating any group as if they have meetings and speak with one voice is pretty discriminatory and hurtful. Maybe sleep on it and have a second thought.
Oh please—yes I have friends of all generations, it was just an example of how they try to lump us in to market products and pigeon hole us to make us fit a narrative. My mother is 75 and I have more in common with her than a lot of my peers. Lighten up, and maybe sleep on it before you make assumptions and read too much into a comment on the internet.
I argue frequently on Medium with the definitions of the post Baby Boom generations. Most of the post-Boom generations are as short as 13 years, but no one wants to clarify the criteria. I'm much more Gen X than a boomer, despite being born at the dawn of the Space Age (1957).
There can be no “self-improvement “ in a structure that limits equal access to opportunity, goods and services! Our governance in America has done that since it’s inception!
You are living in the richest, most affluent nation the planet earth has ever known! Yet, it has more dispossessed and disenfranchised people than the world has ever known!
Shouldn’t we be asking what mechanisms allow such a dysfunction in a society that claims equality and equity?
This isn’t a personal problem! This is a hidden design of the intended structures that lattices this nation!
While we’re about it, let me add: I haven’t heard “impor-ent” here, but some people have always said it that way, and others never will. There are other recent changes that bug me, and I think journalism school is the cause: when I was growing up, something that was big (or “impor-ent”) was called “substantial.” That word has essentially vanished, replaced by “substantive,” which I was taught meant “a noun.” Who decreed that change? And now I never hear, “He pled not guilty,” it’s always “He pleaded not guilty.” To me, pleaded means begged, as for a scrap of bread. But someone decided irregular past verbs should be banished, and so it was. What next, will “went” become “goed”? (A huge number of people have abandoned the past participle, so they say “have went” instead of “have gone.” Would “have goed” be any better?)
I'll bet the various labels applied to people of different ages is merely intellectual laziness. But I'm not sure how to characterize the real differences in experience that the generations have. For example, if you were sentient during World War 2, you'll never forget it; but I was born after that war and have not been directly conditioned by it.
Ouch. Important is so close to impotent. Is that what you mean? We can say this and that is important, but it belies that we are impotent unless we act....no that’s not it exactly, unless (until) we get many others to join us and act with us in unison.
There's a lot of things like that, & they seem to start all of a sudden. Until 30 years ago or so, there was little talk about various generations with special names attached to each. Now we hear about them all the time.
I couldn’t agree more. I’m aware that advertisers used separation for more focused ads but had the government also done the same but for obviously different reasons? I truly don’t remember when this nefarious slotting into age groups began. I’m a Boomer but I just can’t know when that tag got hung on me.
I do know though that dividing us has hurt us greatly. We have much more in common with each other than not but who would ever know that with all the verbal and social media interference that we encounter daily?
Thanks for asking. I thought the reply remained with the "comment" but I see now how it gets unwoven. I disagreed with Brent James' comment. I am not sure generational labels are divisive, but amusingly descriptive, albeit not always applicable. I am not sure why he is fussing about the pronunciation of the word, "important."
The point I was trying to make is that it seems like "common sense" or "the way things are" that's portrayed to us for mass consumption by the media, including Hollywood, etc. seems to kind of happen suddenly, like "boomers"... never heard that and then all of a sudden it seemed to be a thing. I'm not talking about real people, I'm talking about media. I do see "boomer" used derisively in the media. Your experience may be different. "Impor-ent" was just another example thing my wife and feel like suddenly came on all at once in the media. I noticed it first a long time ago in New York.
Zac, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and my Representative , Emmanuel Cleaver, are older but they’re the kind of people I want in Congress. Stop making this about age and vote for the people who share your ideals, regardless of age.
There was no guarantee that Republicans would have allowed Obama to appoint someone, as we saw with McConnell’s dirty tricks. Plus, most people thought that Hillary Clinton had the election sewed up. We can debate the what-ifs all day long.
Zac ; We are trying to "do it again", but the corruption has gotten worse than ever! 'Supreme Court' , Citizens United, and gobs of foreign money and just plain dirty money. A faux Congressman who cannot be unseated among some others who can't be named in the media, which is totally owned by billionaires. "Play it again Sam"? That jukebox is broken!
Agreed. Boomers (I'm one) were VERY progressive in their heyday. People definitely change as they age. I have friends that were very progressive, intelligent, kindhearted sensitive people just like today's progressive Z'ers that over the years became hard angry MAGAs that seemed to have lost critical listening and thinking skills - not all but many.
As a Boomer, yes we fought for many things, integration of schools and society, equal voting rights, ERA (yet to be adopted), birth control pills, women wearing pants and working outside of the home, making being gay or in an interracial marriage legal, gay marriage with equal spousal benefits at work and in hospitals, acceptance of HIV status, Fighting to bring our soldiers back from Vietnam, revealing the crook and liar that Richard Nixon was, and supporting all the legal accomplishments Dr. Reich mentioned, and much more. But Boomers are no more a monolithic block than are Gen Zers. In every generation there will always be those who believe in equality and equity, and those that believe a few rich, cis, mainly white men should rule and using the evangelical televangelists leaders in cahoots with billionaires and big business pulled the wool over our eyes for too long luring people in with false promises, lies. Our species is not good at critical thinking (reviewing all the possible consequences of an action). We got complacent and many were busy living and when things are good we trust it will continue that way. The grifters see it as an opportunity to strike and they have been since the late 70’s. The majority of Americans want progressive laws and protections. We just have to be willing to get out and vote .
I think we did the best we could, including helping to raise Gen-Z. Some of the progressive ideas that have gone main stream were our ideas. The more subtle lesson I would draw is that as we pushed for change we frightened wealthy interests which created a backlash in the Reagan revolution. How we push for change is important. We want to change minds through non-violent compassionate action. Ends must never justify means because the means become the ends.
Jody, it’s not about you personally! The fact that you’ve responded so viscerally is a testament to the insidious quality of capitalist structures designed to have you feel responsibility for negative structures and policies not of your making!
Matthew, it IS about me personally. I’m a so-called Boomer and I see this crap on the internet all the time, how we Boomers did all these bad things, got rich, and have shut the door on all the younger generations, that they can’t buy houses because of us (I’m not a banker), that they have huge student loans because of us (I had student loans that I struggled to pay off, too), and that they can’t find good-paying jobs because we won’t retire (I’d LOVE to retire, but I can’t afford to).
We are all victims of the powers that be. And the ones who got us to this miserable place were previous generations: Nixon, Reagan, Bush Sr., Koch, Murdoch... I don't know if Trump is considered a boomer, but I would disown him.
This Jody served in the Army. And I’m a woman…but gay, so I guess those “Jody Calls” lyrics could still apply. 😄. Yes, I marched to those between ‘74 and ‘85.
I figured that other vets would add a few verses. Vietnam veterans against the war had better standing than Jody. I still can't watch the movie Deer Hunter. How about Born in the USA?
LOL. I say my piece, and then read other's comments. I spoke about how we accomplished things in the late 60s. (We protested, we marched, we sat in.) Then the first two comments I read are Robert Clark's and yours. Nope, we are not dead yet. Fires still burn inside us. I wish we could do it all over again.!
At 76, I have not been pleased with the current notion that the "Boomer Generation" was, on the whole, recognizable as a sociological unit. The only data point that created the concept was post-WWII birthrate. There is a distinctive difference in the collective mentality of those who were born early enough to be drafted for foreign wars, especially the Vietnam War, (and their sisters), and those who came later. The majority of those who came earlier marched in protests or were at least sympathetic to them. The majority who came later were recognized as the "Me Generation" as they become more interested in their own personal success than the general success of the nation. Of course, they were trained that way by the rise of monetary and supply side economics and the conservative turn of the nation's politics. I know. I taught in law school in the late 70s and 80s.
Well, it depends upon where you’re at. I go out and protest and it’s mostly older people like myself and I’m wondering where are all the young people? So it really depends.
Actually Zac don't write us off. Many of us worked hard on the environment, human rights and equity...for our life times. Now I am well beyond having kids but working with a group of older women to support the Child Care movement to get universal child care in Canada. I worry we will waste time in a generational war and fighting ageism. Imagine how hard it is to see our hard fought victories being reversed.
Zac???? WTF???? have a little discernment. When you talk to a black, asian or latino person who is all MAGA, do you group a whole race together and treat them as a race that effed it up? no group works as a monolith, and if you will look at the history it has been a few powerful men (mostly) who believe in authoritarianism , power,,money, deceit,:and betrayal. Look,at all the youth being fooled today. Proud Boys, Oath keepers, check out God Forbid on prime and Shiny Happy People on Hulu to see how easy it is to indoctrinate people especially it it is from birth. These are the enemies, not Boomers
Robert Clark ; There were gains, which have recently been erased by a corrupt Court, and new laws that increase inequality. Remember ; "Two steps forward, one step back." Sometimes 50 years is lost! I am grateful for Gen Z and everybody, no matter their age, who make it their business to stay informed and push for what is fair and just and decent in our world. And vote!
Daniel, EXACTLY! The first two monsters to set us up for the road to fascism! They both committed treason! Reagan took away everything that kept Capitalism in check. And here we are today!
at that time, who were the democratic senators that went along with it all? who were the ones who stood by silently? i know i should know this, but adjusted for "cultural norms" of the time, who went along for the ride at our expense? LBJ said the dems lost the south when civil rights applied to african-americans. i've always wondered if the outrage over nixon was that he was caught, not what he did. why wasn't that outrage applied to raygun? and raygun was a traitor also, doing exactly what nixon did in fixing an election by negotiating with foreign gov'ts. Iran and VietNam
If you talk of the Iran hostage release negotiations done by the Reagan campaign you get accused of spreading conspiracy theories. If Carter had been a two term president the political landscape would be much better today. The same goes for Al Gore’s loss to Bush jr. Climate change would be in recovery by my measure. We have been robbed of our future by traitors and criminals. It is time for us to do the work necessary to turn this around. My contact with younger citizens has given me both hope and motivation in that they see what must be done and are willing to shoulder the load necessary to make change happen.
Nixon created THE most successful government body in history: The Environmental Protection Agency. Was he a corrupt SOB? Sure, but only a FRACTION as corrupt as that dementia-addled "fucking moron" Regean. Honestly, I cannot decide if he or Bunkerboy was our worst president!
In my view (since the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam), the worst U.S. President (besides Trump) is George W. Bush as regards the invasion of Iraq and it's aftermath, his shameful response to Hurricane Katrina victims, Guantanamo detainees, violations of the Geneva convention on torture.
Nixon personally obstructed a completed peace deal in 1968 with Vietnam. IMHO everyone killed, maimed after that was his responsibility.
I bought HBO just to watch the plumbers. https://www.hbo.com/white-house-plumbers Paranoid Nixon had an enemies list just like Trump. IMHO the Nixon southern strategy effectively split the FDR Democratic coalition and in so doing elected Reagan and Trump.
You said it Uncle George. What hasn’t been mentioned here is who raised Gen X and Z….boomers, thank you very much. My daughters are forced to be reckoned with!
As you well know, Robert, the reason we were in the streets in the 60's/70's was because we were in danger of being drafted and sent to SE Asia to be killed fighting in politicians' pointless wars over Nothing. The "Domino Theory"? WTF?? We protested for the preservation of our individual selves.
We're now in a self-created Climate Disaster that has the potential (probability?) of killing off our entire species (and a bunch of other really cool ones). If we do not commit communal suicide through our endless greed and over-consumption, we are surely dooming ourselves and our Precious Progeny to lives of Climate Misery. And what do we do?
In 2022, we burned more Fossil Fuels and created more GHGs than ever before. Americans now buy more Yooooge, 4wd, urban, commuter Gashog SUVs and pickup trucks than any other vehicle type and happily pay $50k+ for them. We could instead invest in solar power but there we ask "what's the payback?" What? What's the payback on that Gashog?? We build ever-larger, under-insulated, overheated/cooled McMansions even as our family size shrinks. The Pleasure (Ego?) Travel industry is predicting that we'll all load up the family Gashog and/or jump on Pollutin' Planes for our "well-deserved, badly-needed" vacation to (resort-du-jour). We allow the bulk of the limited water in our arid, drought-ridden western states to be used to grow water-hungry alfalfa to feed cattle - the most resource-consumptive food source on the planet - so we can buy steaks on the cheapo. We WASTE 2/3 of the energy we produce, 2/3 of our electricity, half our food and 79% (!!) of our transportation energy (see: Gashogs).
How many commenters here have made substantive lifestyle changes that will slash their uber-consumption? How many know their Carbon Footprint (and yes, CF is a valid measurement) and how it compares to those of citizens in the EU, or Mexico, or Bangladesh? How many have invested in energy upgrades for their homes or decided to stay close to (or at) home for their vacation or stopped eating beef…?
Surely, some have made those commitments, but I've been an enviro activist for many decades.,I mostly know other self-proclaimed enviros, yet not one (1) of them has chosen to walk the walk and slash their consumption and focus on Using Less - (FWIW, our family now has a CF that's equal to the avg Mexican family and we'll continue to chip away at it, so I'm not just pointing fingers).
Yeah, I'm on a rant, but Good Goddess folks, it is past time to step up and act like responsible, adults!
I have made “substantive lifestyle changes,” in answer to your question. Boomer, 69, vegan, no kids, live in a 900 square foot house, grow vegetables in the summer, have driven a 1993 Mazda Protégé that gets 35 mpg in town and 40 on the highway for the past 30 years, have no central air but large trees that shade the house and small window units that only cool the room I’m in, can’t really afford to take vacations very often, can’t afford to retire until my house is paid off, which I’m hoping will be in about six years (I’ll be 75).
My SS is only $1,200 a month because I’ve mostly worked minimum wage jobs. My retirement account is small, because trying to pay off my house early seemed like a better retirement plan than putting more money in it. My future is uncertain, but I’m still out here trying to make the world a better place for everyone, including the generations following mine, like so many Boomers I know. To that end , I’m also an avid recycler, shop sparingly with cloth bags, avoid buying plastic. After my house is paid off I plan to install solar and grow more vegetables.
We need to work together to fix what’s broken, not tear each other down because of what year we were born.
Good luck on your goals ! I'm a naturalist my self when I possibly can ! Drive transport since 1972 and busted my ass many years ! Many of my friends died on ice and snow trips up I forty and highway 54 ; friend hit a bull going to Dallas out of Amarillo ; killed instantly! One friend had 25 years no accidents and got killed driving for transcon when we were dropping palmer hill in NM! It was tricky with a set of doubles on ice ! I notice the tax system eats my ass up ! I hated when I read trump only payed pennies and I pay 45000 a year ! Tax system must be more balanced for the people! Republicans always have been for the rich and Screw the worker types! The idiot GOP Believe in plastic Jesus and Phony Christianity! Stop the crooks is the only answer ! I'm not against capitalism; just unregulated Capitalism!
Make the corporate democrats go away. Joe let the interests in and that just keeps robbing us blind. He help Thomas be come a Supreme evil-doer and he is the moderate guy who is supposed to be for the workers! Both parties are part of the same club. We have almost no viable choices. Yeah I have held my nose and voted for the best of what is offer to we the people by these clowns. The whole system is rigged, the deck is stacked and even if a candidate gets through their safety net in order to get anything at all that benefits we the working slobs --thats really how they think of us and it shows in our safety so-called net--that individual will be compromised and corrupted. No Mr. Smith Goes to Washington moments. We have to have overwhelming blue and independents in to get a minuscule reform that we need like universal healthcare and affordable housing
Excellent! It's pretty similar for me, except I still live in an apartment. I really want to buy a house, but prices have gone way up, & I'm very concerned about our political situation & am not sure it would be wise to invest in a house at this time
Sorry, but you won't guilt trip me into voluntary discomfort. One scientist in my engineering journal pointed out that there is not enough land left to plant enough forests to recycle the CO2 of more people on the planet or even sustain a modern lifestyle for those here. All of the progress in emission made in America has been more than negated by population growth. We have been unwilling to match control of birth with our postponement of death. All of the climate technology on the drawing boards cannot be implemented in time to save us while the human race breeds like rats -- not here but in those poor nations where every family has eight kids.
The actuarial tables gives this selfish boomer another 10 years or so. You'll have to put up with me for a few more years. I do have all Energy Starr appliances and a hybrid (no EV because my house is fed from a coal plant). The payback for solar (with storage since they pay so little for energy returned to the grid) is longer than my life expectancy, but I have to many trees anyway. I don't waste, but I won't sacrifice so that others can have more kids they can't feed.
Until we talk of population control, we are not being serious about climate. As an engineer, I love technology, but the reality is that few of us can afford green energy. Most of those CF calculation fail to include the CF of the manufacture of the green energy equipment. An EV over its life cycle, manufacture to disposal, doesn't break even before 80,000 miles if charged from a coal plant. That doesn't include expanding the grid when too many neighbors go along. Then you change the battery and go back to GO. It's just Yuppy NIMBY. If we could build them fast enough, few could afford an EV, especially with no trade for their ICE car. It can't be done in time to prevent the permafrost from thawing and releasing extinction amounts of methane. My contribution to saving the planet is having no kids.
Well, hey there, Dennis. You make many assertions that can be debunked but that'd take too much time so let me just hit the biggies. I agree that we're toast as a species and your comment pretty well exemplifies why that's so.
A huge prob w/ our global Climate Disaster is that it doesn't make one whit of a difference what any one of our 8 Billion peeps does (which makes it EZ for Rich uber-consumers to rationalize their over-consumption). What we ALL do communally, however, makes ALL the difference, and communally, 20% of the Richest global citizens consume 80% of global resources and create the vast amount of atmospheric pollution.
According to a NYT analysis, 23 Rich nations are responsible for 50% of cumulative global atmospheric pollution while 150 Poor nations created the other half. The US alone, at 4.2% of global population, created more than 25% of total historic GHGs. China, one of the "150", has created about 14% of total GHGs. Their GHG contribution grew dramatically around the turn of this century when we began out-sourcing much of our production AND our related GHGs to them. That, conveniently, also contributed to our apparent reduction in GHGs. We did "make progress in emissions" but not as much as it appears. We just shifted some of our pollution to China who makes our cheap plastic crap for us.
The global Climate Disaster is far more the result of those Rich folks' who burn mass quantities of Fossil Fuels and create mass quantities of GHGs than it is the result of population growth in poor nations where most people consume virtually nothing and create virtually no GHGs by US standards.
Africa, for example, has explosive population growth ("breed like rats" as you xenophobically describe it). However, the impacts of Africa's growth, while locally disastrous, has little global climate impact (for now, anyway). Consider that Africa, with it's 1.5 Billion citizens creates 1.5 Billion metric tonnes of GHGs/yr, or 1 GHG/capita. The US, w/ 332 Million (less than 1/4 of Africa) creates 5.1 Billion tonnes/yr or 15.2/capita. Which nation is the bigger problem?
Blaming Africa and other poor nations for global pollution problems that are inordinately the result of our own actions is a classic case of denial and deflection.
Anyhoo, consume away and feel smugly entitled to do so - it won't make any quantifiable global difference. However, please allow me to amend your statement to, "Until we talk of (our own over-consumption and WASTE of resources by the Rich), we are not being serious about climate."
Using the term NIMBY is a conversation stopper. If the conversation were allowed to continue people in single family homes would tell you that it very hard to find smaller homes or to afford a condo. There is no place to go.
The 15 minute neighbourhood push won't work because it only cuts down trees, squeezes non affordable housing into neighbourhoods and builds high rises along main streets. The developers remove our beloved small stores, and amenities we can walk too. Cities cannot afford to create parks, clinics more libraries etc to make the neighbourhood walkable. We need wholistic planning for people.
Who makes housing unaffordable and non sustainable? The Financial Sector, Crime though money laundering and the rest of us who invest in REITs.
The thing that really gets me is these huge SUVs that are driven by people who, for the most part have absolutely no plausible argument for it like a large family. But complaining about other people is no solution. There are things I should be doing personally.
Speaking of the draft....It's about time the USA adopts the Service Corps like I think Israel has, where young people at age 18 have to serve at governments requests to help fellow citizens at many different levels. I think it's a two-year commitment. Our educational system has changed so much since my school days (1946 on) that our young people have NO IDEA what's going on in their own country today, nor is history adequately taught.
It is disturbing to me that we have a shortage of doctors and nurses, and the doctors we do train are opting for specialties instead of being General Practitioners and helping in rural or inner city areas where they are desperately needed. How about trying to find a good dentist? Or a veterinarian who doesn't charge an arm and a leg for simple pet care?
The period after high school graduation is the perfect time to engage young people in the idea of SERVICE and there are many paths within this one word! It would have to be MANDATORY, and yes, we'd need all sorts of new supportive services (i.e., transportation, housing, and the expertise of officials to decide where the greatest need lies.)
Young people today seem to be totally unaware of what's going on in the world today. Young folks use Instagram and "social media" for their corrupted views on current events! They need a dose of unmitigated REALITY!
A better solution might be to tighten up (public) high school graduation requirements, but that's a long way off and a seemingly insurmountable task.
I say, grab 'em by the horns, and plunk these kids down in areas that need their help and let them learn how rewarding is can be to be of Service in America.
The problem was that the draft was in effect, only directed to lower income selectees. I was the exception, in school but drafted -- after I flunked the physical for Air Force ROTC. After a year in Vietnam I was assigned to a "transfer point" - eventually working in medical discharges. The military has a test - the Armed Forces Qualifications Test -- which is impossible for about 15% pf the general population. In the military there are many educational opportunities that do not necessarily involve combat arms. Attached is a list for enlisted personnel. https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/army-enlisted-mos-military-occupational-specialties-list
When I lived in Maryland, I lived near the military owned and run medical school.
The military also sends students to colleges and professional school. My former colleague was the commandant of the Judge Advocate General School at the University of Virginia.
I don't think everyone should stand for the draft, but if we do, it should not preclude anybody. In Israel the fromm (ultra orthodox) are exempt. Those are the first people I would send to the front lines.
Once a person has a good conduct discharge the government has VA and other programs that provide education and in some cases placement.
But for my VA disability status, I would not have gotten a leg up on jobs in the government. Some disabled vets can get vocational rehabilitation that pays everything through graduate school plus living expenses. Vets are supposed to be given preferential preference is some jobs where there is federal jurisdiction.
Over time, we tried the WPA, Works Progress Administration, CCC. Civilian Conservation Corps, Job Corps and many other programs directed to the population you are describing. Our AmeriCorps is a network of local, state, and national service programs that connects over 70,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet community needs in education, the environment, public safety, health, and homeland security. Applicants must be 17 years or older (no upper age limit) be a U.S. citizen, U.S. National, or permanent resident alien. AmeriCorps is a network of local, state, and national service programs that connects over 70,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet community needs in education, the environment, public safety, health, and homeland security.
At DOL I heard appeals for some of these programs. I know people who entered these programs and eventually went to medical school or nursing school Some of my colleagues who paid nothing for their kids who were in a National Health Service Corps (NHSC) program through medical school. They provide scholarships and loan repayment to healthcare professionals practicing at approved sites located in/or serving Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) throughout the US.
If I were king, I'd reinstate the WPA -- that I think would stimulate the entire economy and I'd reinstate the Voting Rights Act, but that has nothing to do with education. I had law clerks from some of the elite schools who "totally unaware of what's going on in the world today." I was in the ABA and in ACUS with lawyers who know nothing of the history of the US. Many educated lawyers and judges have a twisted view -- like "natural law" expressed and proselytized by Scalia, Thomas and Alito on our Supreme Court.
Very well said! From personal experience, I can truly say life is more enjoyable when you consume less, walk, run or ride a bike everywhere you go, use little to no heat or air conditioning, etc.
Boomers are blamed collectively, not individually, and when a large bloc of voters acts in a certain way, we can certainly blame them. I blame older voters who vote self-interestedly against the greater needs of the young. Look at Brexit—it makes me so angry that mostly older, conservative voters pulled the UK out of Europe and sank the futures of so many who now live with greatly reduced prospects of working or trading with their neighbours. It’s just so sad. A huge scare campaign in my country, Australia, about a policy to recoup revenue paid out to older voters that they had erroneously been receiving sank it—and denied that revenue to fund schools, housing, health care. Only a tiny fraction of voters would have been affected, and they could afford it, and should have never have got it in the first place, but guess who voted it down? Yes. Retirees (aka boomers).
I hear the drumbeats getting louder re: boomers and it started when I was in my 40's. I am 76. Trying to live on what seems to be huge benefits is not always true. Try after retirement to live on $2000 a month for all expenses. Wait.. I am no expert. MY understanding about payroll deductions and hopes for the program was and is that we would own our own homes, have savings of our own, etc and at least the poor would be able to have food/shelter. For a lot of folks that was true. We were the largest middle class ever and it was due to democratic (not party) economy. Yet the reality is most laborers, especially with the eroding of unions (for me, visibly began with Regan) I watched folks who worked hard all their lives begin to lose what was to be lifetime jobs to overseas moves. (well before Reagan)
I am not going to belabor the point because what was pointed out today in these answers was that we do NOT look to the past and see what worked and what didn't. The overall greed is mind boggling to say the least. At the risk of sounding defensive, I voted for overrides for schools and nursing facilities in my communities where I lived because education is huge and those in that school would one day be our doctors, lawyers, businesses, etc of the future. I felt that because of the education I received an education in a system which was available to all of us, poor or not, which was afforded us all as a result of the policies of democratic economy. (Yes there were private/parochial schools)
I am so worried about our world today. VERY.
Your points are well taken. My experience was based on policies for people not corporations.
And I’m sorry it’s so hard. No question, the immense wealth concentrations are hurting so many. I like your stance that educating our future doctors etc is in your interests and I wish others could see that. Here, we have a divide between private and public schools and when people say they pay tax so they’re paying twice over, paying for us who get it ‘free’ I want to scream! Education is a public good! They benefit as much as the next person. Do they care to think what kind of society we would have if we didn’t educate kids?
I am amazed that someone chooses a private education and then feels they are paying "twice" rather than seeing the problems of the public system and could afford the choice to go private. Yet the taxes paid still benefits the public system which all who pay taxes contribute to. I won't go into a lengthy commentary re: the public system and the multifaceted problems facing those who do teach. Education is necessary. I may not be right on this but I have felt that if you do not educate, you can rule. Misinformation and the renewal of a type of McCarthyism is dangerous. One of the saddest things to see is a young mind at an early age with no curiosity or understanding of how to ask questions.
the people who are saying that are the rich who want to fool voters and profit from privatizing schools. You know public schools are not free. Don’t let their lies get to you. If someone wants to send their child to a private school, that is a choice they make, not a get out of paying taxes for public schools card.
Lots of stats. Here in Baghdad By the Sea, renters are 70% more likely to vote Democrat than landlords. Younger people, especially women trend Democratic. People who rely on mutual funds trend the other way. You'd think that any person who is from a minority would trend Democratic, but that is definitely not true.
But just because those are trends, that doesn't mean individuals can't be otherwise persuaded.
The basis for many of those Brexit votes was racism, nationalism. It’s across the board but you are correct that those who are young now will take the brunt of problems it created. Another big factor was the same as the US…foreign influence to create divisiveness. Then again, this was perfected by the US across the globe.
Thank you Robert Clark! I immediately thought of that. I hate when anyone says…it’s the baby boomers fault, it’s the millennial’s fault. Baby boomers paved the way for LGBTQIA, protests against the Vietnam war, (college students were killed for those protests! They broke through the prevention of inter- racial marriage! Women’s rights! Abortion rights.
Shame on George & Robert R for putting that out there.
Millennials , Gen Z and all other generations have fought boldly against gun violence etc. Every generation has MAGAs and every generation has Progressives who demand fairness to everyone. People need to stop this non-sense of painting entire generations as lazy, being at fault for all of society ills.
The so called “Greatest Generation” also had its share of racists, keeping women & blacks in their places etc. Keeping segregation alive.
Good call. It’s also good to remember that similar movements went on in the 1930’s as well. It’s useful to study these movements and learn from them. We don’t necessarily have to recreate the wheel, but we do need to adapt strategies to the present. Look at the young people’s lawsuit in Montana. Lots of very interesting stuff going on right now so it’s a great time for everyone to get involved.
The young people were also very vocal after the book Silent Spring was published. That got the environmental movement moving. The facts presented (especially DDT)opened the eyes of many who had no idea what damage we were doing.
Robert, you are right about remembering the "boomer" generation that helped to get some serious changes made. The generation right before ours (I don't know the name for them but my mom was one), started things moving with the civil rights actions that caused so many Americans to actually look at the inequalities in our society. We, their children tried to pick up the ball and carry it forward. We helped bring about changed in our schools, trying to get students of color, particularly Black students recognized and schools integrated. We stood against a blatantly wrong war. We started thinking about the rights of people who didn't see the world as the "majority" did at that time, gays and lesbians. We worked for the right to have control over our reproduction and demanded higher wages, and so much more. What we didn't see was the ways the "establishment" would carefully bit by bit undermine what we had tried to do, blaming us for all kinds of things, every problem our society faced, and orchestrated 50 years of corporate greed, monopolizing industries, unjusticeizing our courts, and forcing candidates to have to collect millions, even hundreds of millions of dollars to run campaigns for office. Oh yes, and our media was sabotaged too and that process is continuing. Prof. Reich is right that we need to fix this and move in a more positive direction quickly if our democracy is to survive, let alone our planet. We truly do need to learn from where we were then, what worked and what didn't, and to apply the good lessons to today's issues. We could do this if we had the will.
Jaime, I always wonder who it is that names the generations. I am sure that generation was not silent. They started the sit-ins, freedom-rode buses (OK, not very loud vocally, but . . .), integrated colleges, and gave birth to a lot of "boomers." That's pretty amazing. It's too bad so many of them just as so many boomers forgot what they stood for and caved to the forces of discrimination, revering and coddling the rich, and allowing the rich and powerful to get us into useless conflicts, and the rest. I wonder why it is so easy to be lured from one's youthful belief in the value and rights of all people, to be morphed into "Wall Street" and the greed it portrayed, the political support of would-be dictators (the kind our ancestors sacrificed their lives to stop). Maybe if we could figure that out, we could cut into the popularity if people like Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and the rest of the current Republican tribe.
I am 81 supposedly of the silent generation. My friends would disagree. We were all active and fighting for a better world but the back lash was brutal and we are still fighting it
If Gen Z expects to succeed it is going to have to stop alienating elders with die boomer and get with the reforms WE started. They stand on our shoulders. We will be gone and they better be willing to listen up so they don’t waste time reinventing the wheel when they need rocket power to stop the thoroughly corrupted GOP and MAGA billionaire Christofascists who have. Made our lives miserable by normalizing the lost cause
Confederacy mainly white mentally criminal terrorists supported by the NRA and the red states. Voters there have a screw loose or their voting power has been compromised by Gerrymandering and bought and paid for by political puppets and corrupt neo-fascist judges
Not only do we need to learn from Teddy Roosevelt in how he took on monopoly capitalism run amok, but we need to reclaim some messaging from the ‘60s.
Back then the hippies rightfully pointed the blame at huge corporations and billionaires, saying that they didn’t want to work for “The Man.”
They could see the damage that unrestrained capitalism could wreak on society and our ecosystems.
It’s time to again point the finger in that same direction, and somehow encourage both Democrats and conservatives to join against the true oppressors.
Today’s GOP is not conservative, they are #CORPservative: in servitude to those huge corporations and billionaires.
And that alliance has pushed us towards #RepubloFascism where all the guardrails of democracy have been breached through bravado, hateful division, and a complete abandonment of anything close to integrity.
And they’ve sold that as MAGA. The truth is that they succeed through sucking the wealth out of the middle class and diminishing democracy. For power and wealth, they are willing to squander Americas greatness.
We have a lot of good spokesmen, especially in the Senate. We had some good House bills that did not pass because we didn't control two Democratic Senators who would have voted affirmatively, but who would not take on the parimentarian.
We couldn't even pass bills that would have authorized the FTC and DOJ and other agencies to take on price fixing and price gouging, which I feel is a predicate to making big business accountable..
" Too many Democratic politicians have been drinking at the same corporate and Wall Street troughs as have Republican politicians. This has to stop. It’s time for a new political coalition to wrest power away from a new generation of robber barons and oligarchs and create a capitalism that works for all. "
This is the Citizens United problem. Unless and until the CU holding is changed the political change and power transfer you mention is a long shot.
We already had a problem with too much money in politics before Citizens United. Remember McCain-Feingold? They tried to reduce the influence that big money had on our elections. CU just made it much worse.
The fear of liberal socialism is what is the problem.
Americans see this word and run a mile.
I live in France and have good medical care/kids have good public schools/older people are looked after/6 weeks leave for parents who have just had a child. Good long holidays.
Somehow the word Socialism has come to mean evil and Communism in America. Americans are fascinated with their entrepreneurial roots and how it has made us a powerful nation. We are proud that anyone with the smarts and will can become rich. TV and now the Internet promote this to the world. But I think what the world admires most is when America gives and leaves behind something great. America's role in freeing Europe from the Nazis and then the Marshall Plan. The space program. Great universities like MIT, Harvard, Princeton. Great books like To Kill a Mockingbird. The NY Yankees. Bob Dylan. Martin Luther King. Great leaders like FDR and JFK. I think that these are the things MAGA should have reached back to, instead of the unbridled powerful and wealthy that so dominate American culture today.
Bernie Sander’s has a good book, It’s OK to Angry about Capitalism. I have long said I would be happy to pay more taxes and n have the safety of education, healthcare, family leave, paid vacations, etc. The money for taxes ends up less than if I have to pay for all those things out of pocket, and it means many with lesser means are denied these fundamental human rights. We all love the library system which is a socialistic system. I would like to see our politicians and our press to explain over and over again the meaning of how they are using socialism, because you are right , many hear that word and are frightened,
Thank you for agreeing to this interview, Bob. It’s been illuminating! Your voice is sorely needed in these times. If your readers would like to check out my new publication, they can visit thinkbigpicture.substack.com. Hope to see some of you there!
Thanks! I enjoy reading your opinions because you distill common sense and direction as efficiently and eloquently as possible. There are few people with whom I agree one hundred percent, and your views coincide exactly with mine. Your background as an academic and practitioner of government makes you my most reliable source of information. Thanks again.
As an Australian may I quote one of our newspaper journalists (Sydney Morning Herald) who wrote in an article about the current USA political situation: "America needs to invade itself to restore Democracy." It is difficult for most Australians to understand how the USA can have so much inequality and a political and election system that is so undemocratic. Of course we have our problems (it's not paradise!!) but fortunately elections are peaceful affairs and have tight gun control.
Professor Thank you for this. I am younger than you but much poorer and in worse health. I don't have as much hope as you have. I do not see things getting better, in part because they have in ways that are important to me, gotten worse most of my adult life. many poor people, not the bottom 90% or bottom 50% or even the bottom 10% are finding life harsh. I am finding life harsh. I cannot see, how my life could improve so much that it will not be harsh. I wonder how much of your optimism is based on your experience that life is pretty good and has given you and most of the people you know, a cushion that the the very poor people do not have.
Again thanks for your work on behalf of some of chosen family.
I'm with you. I don't feel so hopeful. And where is this idea coming from that boomers were, and still are to blame? George asked, "Do you think young people will save us from ourselves, or will we older folks simply ruin it for them?" That kind of thinking must stop. Most of us boomers have been victimized by the greedy few, as well. We didn't do it and we're not doing it. Now the Congress is coming up with for-profit hospice plans to ensure premature death for our generation. Matt Gaetz is from a family that made their fortune in that business. "Stealth euthanasia" may be a new holocaust. The culture vilifies a section of the population before they get agreement to end it. We struggled and were exploited, but the media causes young people to believe it was easy for us. Look at how much shorter the average length of life is for us in the US compared with other wealthy countries. We need to be aware of the results of homelessness and the daily fear of it on our bodies. Mental illness, obesity, and type II diabetes are in large part caused by unrelenting stress.
Professor Reich echoes your concerns and explains the symptoms of corporate rule, but fails to explain the root cause of the problems and how to solve them.
Citizens United, and related, SCOTUS decisions are at the root of every problem that you asked Professor Reich to address. They shifted the balance of power away from the people and towards the Oligarchy, as they were designed to do.
None of the problems that you addressed can be solved, and none of the “SHOULD BE’s” that Professor Reich mentions, can be, within this rigged and corrupted system that SCOTUS created with Citizens United.
However, every problem that you addressed can be easily solved, and every “SHOULD BE” that Professor Reich addressed CAN BE, if we all demand HJR54, the We the People Amendment.
It will restore the rightful power of the People and kick corporations and their nonprofit organizations out of our politics and government. It will strip them of their money in our politics and elections.
Now you have the answers. Now it’s time to do the work that Professor Reich says we must do to win an equitable economy, and I would add, a habitable planet. Demand HJR54. The We the People Amendment has been gaining more support in each new Congress, and with your help, we can pass it that much quicker to save democracy in time to save our planet.
You make a good point. Systemic problems exist that entrench corporate interests into our democracy in a poisonous way. We can’t be well until that poison is removed.
movetoamend.org was created to organize and develop the movement to pass HJR54, the We the People Amendment, but one organization cannot do it by themselves. They are organizing a coalition of organizations to get the job done at movetoamend.org/organizations
Please consider becoming a spokesperson or helping to grow the movement of the people in any way that you can.
And thank you for your life’s work fighting for justice with words and actions. Now we need power. The We the People Amendment is our rightful power ♥️
Mr Abbott could not be more correct in his observations and suggestions for action to begin this long but necessary project to restore America’s future.
And I will also recommend, as I did before in one of my comments, that folks read VIKING ECONOMICS by George Lakey, a very accessible and fairly short book on how we can learn from the Scandinavian countries. For those interested in learning the history of inequitable wealth distribution dig into Thomas Piketty's CAPITALISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY, a best seller when it came out in 2014.. Keep the faith everyone!
Robert Reich, I believe that capitalism doesn’t work, and bandages and fixups won’t work. Socialism, without the profit motive, is what we need. You also write about affordable health insurance and college. Both should be free. Medicare for All, College for All.
How about good balance in a joint Scroogism & Socialism? Look toward optimal inequality, as in adequate incentives while tempering the excessess? Good balance in Capital & Labor? Market & Government? Humane Capitalism & Inclusive Democracy? It is all about the balance.
Bravo! Great questions from George! I liked the responses. Yeah, you're only in your 70's, you whipper snapper. Go ask Dolly to go honky tonkin', and put the BOOM back in Boomers.
Given the 60 wildfires raging in Canada due to a record heatwave and temps reaching 126, Gen Z has a lot to do to save humans from extinction.
After 30 years of grassroots activism, I do not think Gen Z can fathom the work cut out for them. Let's assume they are up to the challenge and can defeat fascism and address climate change and inequality.
Can they really make change when Congress is against Biden's attempt to ease the debt burden from higher education loans? Will the Robert's Supreme Court allow the progress? After all, they are so archaic that they have issues with women controlling their reproductive choices. One thing for sure, we must start learning from the past.
I recently watched a program about the building of Oak Ridge, TN, for the Manhatten project. Enormous resources were appropriated and used. The lab project was the 7th largest energy consuming in the country. Then they built a bigger factory using more energy to create Uranium 235. All this was done in a few years. What if we had the same urgency for creating alternative energy, like solar power plants, R&D, and other green projects?
FDR's projects to get us out of the Great Depression (New Deal, etc.), mobilization for WWII, the Marshall Plan, National Highways, Space Program, Civil Rights Medicare/Medicaid... There was a time from FDR-LBJ that we as a nation could meet any challenge we faced. We had our most progressive tax system, strong unions, & our standard of living was improving at its fastest rate ever at all income levels, & we became the #1 country in the world in most measures of prosperity and well-being. Now we can't do much of anything.
Japan developed the bullet train back in 1966, & Europe & China have developed comprehensive rapid transit throughout their territory, but we can't move beyond a very primitive stage of limited & disconnected systems here & there. Every other advanced nation has had universal healthcare since last century, while we still don't although we pay twice as much on healthcare as they do. They also have shorter work weeks, 2-3 times as many holidays as we do, much more vacation time, generous paid leave, free education & a significantly longer, happier life than we do.
The French will protest & strike at any attempts to reduce their amenities, while Americans lay back & passively watch like a frog in water slowly heating up to a boil, as our government keeps taking away our rights & making life harder for us.
Nice Robert... Real nice. And you've given me a new street canvassing question. To wit: "Do you think that Capitalism is controlling Democracy, or is Democracy controlling Capitalism?" This question is the starter for good conversations - regardless of the political affiliation of the interviewee.
When you talk about former generations of young people you have entirely forgotten 1968 (indeed 1967-1973) when millions of young people demanded an end to colonial wars (Ireland, Vietnam, Cambodia) and much better financial support for the poor. We (indeed I was one) blocked the centres of cities, occupied universities, made our demands en masse. To understand the challenges and opportunities of the present it is crucial to remember what was done then, to consider what was achieved and how that momentum was ultimately thwarted.
Thank you! As a 69 year old Boomer, I’m really tired of being blamed for everything that’s gone wrong, especially since I was one of those protesters. Boomers were out there protesting wars and agitating for civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, better pay (I worked for $1 an hour in college), child care, health care (for many years I had no health insurance because I couldn’t afford it), and now I go to the rallies and marches to try to get this country to return to sanity concerning the proliferation of guns and resulting gun violence.
I feel like this whole "boomer" thing and similar divisive stuff are manufactured red herrings created to divide us and hijack eyeballs. There are legitimate generational opportunities for self-improvement, but the way these divisive labels seem to just appear en masse in all the media over the years just smells fishy. Also the pronunciation of "impor-ent"... like boom, everywhere impor-ent became the way to say important. Who decided that, how did it become widespread so quickly and why? (If anyone knows, I'd love to hear your thoughts.)
After the Baby Boomer generation, which really WAS based in demographic phenomena, the rest is truly capitalists trying to market to people of certain ages. And it’s absolutely been used to divide us, no one is a monolith! I’m “gen x”—which was only created due to Douglas Coupland’s novel, but I’ve always been more of a hippie! And 20 year spans are a joke, I don’t have squat in common with someone born in 1980, I grew up in the 70’s!
sad belief system. I am 71 and I have more in common with progressives and guess what, they come in all ages, sizes, colors, and sexual orientations. Don’t you think some of these posts are pretty insulting to Dr. Reich and George Takei? Or to many people who are younger like the youths who are suing the state of Montana for environmental health? Treating any group as if they have meetings and speak with one voice is pretty discriminatory and hurtful. Maybe sleep on it and have a second thought.
Oh please—yes I have friends of all generations, it was just an example of how they try to lump us in to market products and pigeon hole us to make us fit a narrative. My mother is 75 and I have more in common with her than a lot of my peers. Lighten up, and maybe sleep on it before you make assumptions and read too much into a comment on the internet.
I argue frequently on Medium with the definitions of the post Baby Boom generations. Most of the post-Boom generations are as short as 13 years, but no one wants to clarify the criteria. I'm much more Gen X than a boomer, despite being born at the dawn of the Space Age (1957).
There can be no “self-improvement “ in a structure that limits equal access to opportunity, goods and services! Our governance in America has done that since it’s inception!
You are living in the richest, most affluent nation the planet earth has ever known! Yet, it has more dispossessed and disenfranchised people than the world has ever known!
Shouldn’t we be asking what mechanisms allow such a dysfunction in a society that claims equality and equity?
This isn’t a personal problem! This is a hidden design of the intended structures that lattices this nation!
Mainly education?
GREED!!
While we’re about it, let me add: I haven’t heard “impor-ent” here, but some people have always said it that way, and others never will. There are other recent changes that bug me, and I think journalism school is the cause: when I was growing up, something that was big (or “impor-ent”) was called “substantial.” That word has essentially vanished, replaced by “substantive,” which I was taught meant “a noun.” Who decreed that change? And now I never hear, “He pled not guilty,” it’s always “He pleaded not guilty.” To me, pleaded means begged, as for a scrap of bread. But someone decided irregular past verbs should be banished, and so it was. What next, will “went” become “goed”? (A huge number of people have abandoned the past participle, so they say “have went” instead of “have gone.” Would “have goed” be any better?)
I'll bet the various labels applied to people of different ages is merely intellectual laziness. But I'm not sure how to characterize the real differences in experience that the generations have. For example, if you were sentient during World War 2, you'll never forget it; but I was born after that war and have not been directly conditioned by it.
Ouch. Important is so close to impotent. Is that what you mean? We can say this and that is important, but it belies that we are impotent unless we act....no that’s not it exactly, unless (until) we get many others to join us and act with us in unison.
I have not heard important said that way here, in New England.
Or in Minnesota
I haven't noticed regular people doing it as much as movies, etc.
There's a lot of things like that, & they seem to start all of a sudden. Until 30 years ago or so, there was little talk about various generations with special names attached to each. Now we hear about them all the time.
I couldn’t agree more. I’m aware that advertisers used separation for more focused ads but had the government also done the same but for obviously different reasons? I truly don’t remember when this nefarious slotting into age groups began. I’m a Boomer but I just can’t know when that tag got hung on me.
I do know though that dividing us has hurt us greatly. We have much more in common with each other than not but who would ever know that with all the verbal and social media interference that we encounter daily?
I need a timeline 🤔.
Brent, I’ve also noticed it pronounced impor-Dant, with a D. Have you heard that too?
Haven't noticed, but I'll listen for it!
Brent-I fully agree. Divisive sh*t that everyone eats up without thinking!
Disagree.
With whom. Martha D.?
Thanks for asking. I thought the reply remained with the "comment" but I see now how it gets unwoven. I disagreed with Brent James' comment. I am not sure generational labels are divisive, but amusingly descriptive, albeit not always applicable. I am not sure why he is fussing about the pronunciation of the word, "important."
The point I was trying to make is that it seems like "common sense" or "the way things are" that's portrayed to us for mass consumption by the media, including Hollywood, etc. seems to kind of happen suddenly, like "boomers"... never heard that and then all of a sudden it seemed to be a thing. I'm not talking about real people, I'm talking about media. I do see "boomer" used derisively in the media. Your experience may be different. "Impor-ent" was just another example thing my wife and feel like suddenly came on all at once in the media. I noticed it first a long time ago in New York.
Zac, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and my Representative , Emmanuel Cleaver, are older but they’re the kind of people I want in Congress. Stop making this about age and vote for the people who share your ideals, regardless of age.
Sad but true. Feinstein should examine her motives.
Agree with you again.
There was no guarantee that Republicans would have allowed Obama to appoint someone, as we saw with McConnell’s dirty tricks. Plus, most people thought that Hillary Clinton had the election sewed up. We can debate the what-ifs all day long.
Zac ; We are trying to "do it again", but the corruption has gotten worse than ever! 'Supreme Court' , Citizens United, and gobs of foreign money and just plain dirty money. A faux Congressman who cannot be unseated among some others who can't be named in the media, which is totally owned by billionaires. "Play it again Sam"? That jukebox is broken!
Agreed. Boomers (I'm one) were VERY progressive in their heyday. People definitely change as they age. I have friends that were very progressive, intelligent, kindhearted sensitive people just like today's progressive Z'ers that over the years became hard angry MAGAs that seemed to have lost critical listening and thinking skills - not all but many.
At 74 I remain at heart a liberal socialist.
As a Boomer, yes we fought for many things, integration of schools and society, equal voting rights, ERA (yet to be adopted), birth control pills, women wearing pants and working outside of the home, making being gay or in an interracial marriage legal, gay marriage with equal spousal benefits at work and in hospitals, acceptance of HIV status, Fighting to bring our soldiers back from Vietnam, revealing the crook and liar that Richard Nixon was, and supporting all the legal accomplishments Dr. Reich mentioned, and much more. But Boomers are no more a monolithic block than are Gen Zers. In every generation there will always be those who believe in equality and equity, and those that believe a few rich, cis, mainly white men should rule and using the evangelical televangelists leaders in cahoots with billionaires and big business pulled the wool over our eyes for too long luring people in with false promises, lies. Our species is not good at critical thinking (reviewing all the possible consequences of an action). We got complacent and many were busy living and when things are good we trust it will continue that way. The grifters see it as an opportunity to strike and they have been since the late 70’s. The majority of Americans want progressive laws and protections. We just have to be willing to get out and vote .
Yes living/not voting when things were good.
I agree with you Zac! And no, you are not expressing "ageism", IMHO.
I think we did the best we could, including helping to raise Gen-Z. Some of the progressive ideas that have gone main stream were our ideas. The more subtle lesson I would draw is that as we pushed for change we frightened wealthy interests which created a backlash in the Reagan revolution. How we push for change is important. We want to change minds through non-violent compassionate action. Ends must never justify means because the means become the ends.
Jody, it’s not about you personally! The fact that you’ve responded so viscerally is a testament to the insidious quality of capitalist structures designed to have you feel responsibility for negative structures and policies not of your making!
Matthew, it IS about me personally. I’m a so-called Boomer and I see this crap on the internet all the time, how we Boomers did all these bad things, got rich, and have shut the door on all the younger generations, that they can’t buy houses because of us (I’m not a banker), that they have huge student loans because of us (I had student loans that I struggled to pay off, too), and that they can’t find good-paying jobs because we won’t retire (I’d LOVE to retire, but I can’t afford to).
We are all victims of the powers that be. And the ones who got us to this miserable place were previous generations: Nixon, Reagan, Bush Sr., Koch, Murdoch... I don't know if Trump is considered a boomer, but I would disown him.
When I got to Vietnam, Jody got my girl and gone.
Ain't no use in feelin; blue, Jody got my mama too.
Ain'r no use in goin' back, Jody got my Cadillac.
This Jody served in the Army. And I’m a woman…but gay, so I guess those “Jody Calls” lyrics could still apply. 😄. Yes, I marched to those between ‘74 and ‘85.
Daniel Solomon ; Did you really need that Cadillac? LOL.
I figured that other vets would add a few verses. Vietnam veterans against the war had better standing than Jody. I still can't watch the movie Deer Hunter. How about Born in the USA?
So long baby. Goodbye friends.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edoqCg5izr8
And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven
Open up the pearly gates
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die
Some didn't And some remember.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W7-ngmO_p8
Country Joe & the Fish. Best song for the times, they were achangin!
Thanks for your service. When I hear my Vet friends , rarely, repeat cadences - I just crack up!
LOL. I say my piece, and then read other's comments. I spoke about how we accomplished things in the late 60s. (We protested, we marched, we sat in.) Then the first two comments I read are Robert Clark's and yours. Nope, we are not dead yet. Fires still burn inside us. I wish we could do it all over again.!
At 76, I have not been pleased with the current notion that the "Boomer Generation" was, on the whole, recognizable as a sociological unit. The only data point that created the concept was post-WWII birthrate. There is a distinctive difference in the collective mentality of those who were born early enough to be drafted for foreign wars, especially the Vietnam War, (and their sisters), and those who came later. The majority of those who came earlier marched in protests or were at least sympathetic to them. The majority who came later were recognized as the "Me Generation" as they become more interested in their own personal success than the general success of the nation. Of course, they were trained that way by the rise of monetary and supply side economics and the conservative turn of the nation's politics. I know. I taught in law school in the late 70s and 80s.
Greed is the problem! Their also has to be a progressive property tax or A flat tax straight across the board !?
Progressive taxes all the way
I can digg it 🤙
Well, it depends upon where you’re at. I go out and protest and it’s mostly older people like myself and I’m wondering where are all the young people? So it really depends.
That's the way it is where I live, too, & we're a college town.
I don’t protest, but I write my representatives and advocate like a bad ass MFer….don’t mess with Nana!
If you don’t see the protests, you’re not paying attention, Zac.
Actually Zac don't write us off. Many of us worked hard on the environment, human rights and equity...for our life times. Now I am well beyond having kids but working with a group of older women to support the Child Care movement to get universal child care in Canada. I worry we will waste time in a generational war and fighting ageism. Imagine how hard it is to see our hard fought victories being reversed.
We didn’t eff anything up, we didn’t drop the ball, and many of us are still out here agitating for better conditions for all of us. Where are you?
Thank you
Zac???? WTF???? have a little discernment. When you talk to a black, asian or latino person who is all MAGA, do you group a whole race together and treat them as a race that effed it up? no group works as a monolith, and if you will look at the history it has been a few powerful men (mostly) who believe in authoritarianism , power,,money, deceit,:and betrayal. Look,at all the youth being fooled today. Proud Boys, Oath keepers, check out God Forbid on prime and Shiny Happy People on Hulu to see how easy it is to indoctrinate people especially it it is from birth. These are the enemies, not Boomers
Robert Clark ; There were gains, which have recently been erased by a corrupt Court, and new laws that increase inequality. Remember ; "Two steps forward, one step back." Sometimes 50 years is lost! I am grateful for Gen Z and everybody, no matter their age, who make it their business to stay informed and push for what is fair and just and decent in our world. And vote!
Actually, what we got was the traitor Richard M Nixon and eventually the dip shit Ronald Reagan.
Daniel, EXACTLY! The first two monsters to set us up for the road to fascism! They both committed treason! Reagan took away everything that kept Capitalism in check. And here we are today!
at that time, who were the democratic senators that went along with it all? who were the ones who stood by silently? i know i should know this, but adjusted for "cultural norms" of the time, who went along for the ride at our expense? LBJ said the dems lost the south when civil rights applied to african-americans. i've always wondered if the outrage over nixon was that he was caught, not what he did. why wasn't that outrage applied to raygun? and raygun was a traitor also, doing exactly what nixon did in fixing an election by negotiating with foreign gov'ts. Iran and VietNam
Cremat
If you talk of the Iran hostage release negotiations done by the Reagan campaign you get accused of spreading conspiracy theories. If Carter had been a two term president the political landscape would be much better today. The same goes for Al Gore’s loss to Bush jr. Climate change would be in recovery by my measure. We have been robbed of our future by traitors and criminals. It is time for us to do the work necessary to turn this around. My contact with younger citizens has given me both hope and motivation in that they see what must be done and are willing to shoulder the load necessary to make change happen.
Nixon created THE most successful government body in history: The Environmental Protection Agency. Was he a corrupt SOB? Sure, but only a FRACTION as corrupt as that dementia-addled "fucking moron" Regean. Honestly, I cannot decide if he or Bunkerboy was our worst president!
In my view (since the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam), the worst U.S. President (besides Trump) is George W. Bush as regards the invasion of Iraq and it's aftermath, his shameful response to Hurricane Katrina victims, Guantanamo detainees, violations of the Geneva convention on torture.
In my opinion, the worst Presidents since the beginning of the 20th century are in this order:
1. Trump
2. Reagan
3. Bush Jr.
4. Nixon
5. Harding
6. Bush Sr.
7. Coolidge
8. Hoover
9. Ford
The Top 5 (Bottom 5?) were all really bad, & it's quite close from #2-4.
Nixon personally obstructed a completed peace deal in 1968 with Vietnam. IMHO everyone killed, maimed after that was his responsibility.
I bought HBO just to watch the plumbers. https://www.hbo.com/white-house-plumbers Paranoid Nixon had an enemies list just like Trump. IMHO the Nixon southern strategy effectively split the FDR Democratic coalition and in so doing elected Reagan and Trump.
Yes and I just read his pathetic cohorts now want to change the name!
Excellent observation Ms. Blair! Good stuff here!!! Thank you!!
Yes, we must channel that energy from the 1960s today in the fight for our Republic and our democracy!
You said it Uncle George. What hasn’t been mentioned here is who raised Gen X and Z….boomers, thank you very much. My daughters are forced to be reckoned with!
As you well know, Robert, the reason we were in the streets in the 60's/70's was because we were in danger of being drafted and sent to SE Asia to be killed fighting in politicians' pointless wars over Nothing. The "Domino Theory"? WTF?? We protested for the preservation of our individual selves.
We're now in a self-created Climate Disaster that has the potential (probability?) of killing off our entire species (and a bunch of other really cool ones). If we do not commit communal suicide through our endless greed and over-consumption, we are surely dooming ourselves and our Precious Progeny to lives of Climate Misery. And what do we do?
In 2022, we burned more Fossil Fuels and created more GHGs than ever before. Americans now buy more Yooooge, 4wd, urban, commuter Gashog SUVs and pickup trucks than any other vehicle type and happily pay $50k+ for them. We could instead invest in solar power but there we ask "what's the payback?" What? What's the payback on that Gashog?? We build ever-larger, under-insulated, overheated/cooled McMansions even as our family size shrinks. The Pleasure (Ego?) Travel industry is predicting that we'll all load up the family Gashog and/or jump on Pollutin' Planes for our "well-deserved, badly-needed" vacation to (resort-du-jour). We allow the bulk of the limited water in our arid, drought-ridden western states to be used to grow water-hungry alfalfa to feed cattle - the most resource-consumptive food source on the planet - so we can buy steaks on the cheapo. We WASTE 2/3 of the energy we produce, 2/3 of our electricity, half our food and 79% (!!) of our transportation energy (see: Gashogs).
How many commenters here have made substantive lifestyle changes that will slash their uber-consumption? How many know their Carbon Footprint (and yes, CF is a valid measurement) and how it compares to those of citizens in the EU, or Mexico, or Bangladesh? How many have invested in energy upgrades for their homes or decided to stay close to (or at) home for their vacation or stopped eating beef…?
Surely, some have made those commitments, but I've been an enviro activist for many decades.,I mostly know other self-proclaimed enviros, yet not one (1) of them has chosen to walk the walk and slash their consumption and focus on Using Less - (FWIW, our family now has a CF that's equal to the avg Mexican family and we'll continue to chip away at it, so I'm not just pointing fingers).
Yeah, I'm on a rant, but Good Goddess folks, it is past time to step up and act like responsible, adults!
I have made “substantive lifestyle changes,” in answer to your question. Boomer, 69, vegan, no kids, live in a 900 square foot house, grow vegetables in the summer, have driven a 1993 Mazda Protégé that gets 35 mpg in town and 40 on the highway for the past 30 years, have no central air but large trees that shade the house and small window units that only cool the room I’m in, can’t really afford to take vacations very often, can’t afford to retire until my house is paid off, which I’m hoping will be in about six years (I’ll be 75).
My SS is only $1,200 a month because I’ve mostly worked minimum wage jobs. My retirement account is small, because trying to pay off my house early seemed like a better retirement plan than putting more money in it. My future is uncertain, but I’m still out here trying to make the world a better place for everyone, including the generations following mine, like so many Boomers I know. To that end , I’m also an avid recycler, shop sparingly with cloth bags, avoid buying plastic. After my house is paid off I plan to install solar and grow more vegetables.
We need to work together to fix what’s broken, not tear each other down because of what year we were born.
Good luck on your goals ! I'm a naturalist my self when I possibly can ! Drive transport since 1972 and busted my ass many years ! Many of my friends died on ice and snow trips up I forty and highway 54 ; friend hit a bull going to Dallas out of Amarillo ; killed instantly! One friend had 25 years no accidents and got killed driving for transcon when we were dropping palmer hill in NM! It was tricky with a set of doubles on ice ! I notice the tax system eats my ass up ! I hated when I read trump only payed pennies and I pay 45000 a year ! Tax system must be more balanced for the people! Republicans always have been for the rich and Screw the worker types! The idiot GOP Believe in plastic Jesus and Phony Christianity! Stop the crooks is the only answer ! I'm not against capitalism; just unregulated Capitalism!
Make the corporate democrats go away. Joe let the interests in and that just keeps robbing us blind. He help Thomas be come a Supreme evil-doer and he is the moderate guy who is supposed to be for the workers! Both parties are part of the same club. We have almost no viable choices. Yeah I have held my nose and voted for the best of what is offer to we the people by these clowns. The whole system is rigged, the deck is stacked and even if a candidate gets through their safety net in order to get anything at all that benefits we the working slobs --thats really how they think of us and it shows in our safety so-called net--that individual will be compromised and corrupted. No Mr. Smith Goes to Washington moments. We have to have overwhelming blue and independents in to get a minuscule reform that we need like universal healthcare and affordable housing
Excellent! It's pretty similar for me, except I still live in an apartment. I really want to buy a house, but prices have gone way up, & I'm very concerned about our political situation & am not sure it would be wise to invest in a house at this time
"Hippies" became "yuppies."
Sorry, but you won't guilt trip me into voluntary discomfort. One scientist in my engineering journal pointed out that there is not enough land left to plant enough forests to recycle the CO2 of more people on the planet or even sustain a modern lifestyle for those here. All of the progress in emission made in America has been more than negated by population growth. We have been unwilling to match control of birth with our postponement of death. All of the climate technology on the drawing boards cannot be implemented in time to save us while the human race breeds like rats -- not here but in those poor nations where every family has eight kids.
The actuarial tables gives this selfish boomer another 10 years or so. You'll have to put up with me for a few more years. I do have all Energy Starr appliances and a hybrid (no EV because my house is fed from a coal plant). The payback for solar (with storage since they pay so little for energy returned to the grid) is longer than my life expectancy, but I have to many trees anyway. I don't waste, but I won't sacrifice so that others can have more kids they can't feed.
Until we talk of population control, we are not being serious about climate. As an engineer, I love technology, but the reality is that few of us can afford green energy. Most of those CF calculation fail to include the CF of the manufacture of the green energy equipment. An EV over its life cycle, manufacture to disposal, doesn't break even before 80,000 miles if charged from a coal plant. That doesn't include expanding the grid when too many neighbors go along. Then you change the battery and go back to GO. It's just Yuppy NIMBY. If we could build them fast enough, few could afford an EV, especially with no trade for their ICE car. It can't be done in time to prevent the permafrost from thawing and releasing extinction amounts of methane. My contribution to saving the planet is having no kids.
Well, hey there, Dennis. You make many assertions that can be debunked but that'd take too much time so let me just hit the biggies. I agree that we're toast as a species and your comment pretty well exemplifies why that's so.
A huge prob w/ our global Climate Disaster is that it doesn't make one whit of a difference what any one of our 8 Billion peeps does (which makes it EZ for Rich uber-consumers to rationalize their over-consumption). What we ALL do communally, however, makes ALL the difference, and communally, 20% of the Richest global citizens consume 80% of global resources and create the vast amount of atmospheric pollution.
According to a NYT analysis, 23 Rich nations are responsible for 50% of cumulative global atmospheric pollution while 150 Poor nations created the other half. The US alone, at 4.2% of global population, created more than 25% of total historic GHGs. China, one of the "150", has created about 14% of total GHGs. Their GHG contribution grew dramatically around the turn of this century when we began out-sourcing much of our production AND our related GHGs to them. That, conveniently, also contributed to our apparent reduction in GHGs. We did "make progress in emissions" but not as much as it appears. We just shifted some of our pollution to China who makes our cheap plastic crap for us.
The global Climate Disaster is far more the result of those Rich folks' who burn mass quantities of Fossil Fuels and create mass quantities of GHGs than it is the result of population growth in poor nations where most people consume virtually nothing and create virtually no GHGs by US standards.
Africa, for example, has explosive population growth ("breed like rats" as you xenophobically describe it). However, the impacts of Africa's growth, while locally disastrous, has little global climate impact (for now, anyway). Consider that Africa, with it's 1.5 Billion citizens creates 1.5 Billion metric tonnes of GHGs/yr, or 1 GHG/capita. The US, w/ 332 Million (less than 1/4 of Africa) creates 5.1 Billion tonnes/yr or 15.2/capita. Which nation is the bigger problem?
Blaming Africa and other poor nations for global pollution problems that are inordinately the result of our own actions is a classic case of denial and deflection.
Anyhoo, consume away and feel smugly entitled to do so - it won't make any quantifiable global difference. However, please allow me to amend your statement to, "Until we talk of (our own over-consumption and WASTE of resources by the Rich), we are not being serious about climate."
Using the term NIMBY is a conversation stopper. If the conversation were allowed to continue people in single family homes would tell you that it very hard to find smaller homes or to afford a condo. There is no place to go.
The 15 minute neighbourhood push won't work because it only cuts down trees, squeezes non affordable housing into neighbourhoods and builds high rises along main streets. The developers remove our beloved small stores, and amenities we can walk too. Cities cannot afford to create parks, clinics more libraries etc to make the neighbourhood walkable. We need wholistic planning for people.
Who makes housing unaffordable and non sustainable? The Financial Sector, Crime though money laundering and the rest of us who invest in REITs.
Watch the UN Rapporteur make this discovery . Hope you can open the https://www.tvo.org/video/documentaries/push-feature-version.
I remember China allows only two kids right ? Over population is a problem; but trickle down is also
The thing that really gets me is these huge SUVs that are driven by people who, for the most part have absolutely no plausible argument for it like a large family. But complaining about other people is no solution. There are things I should be doing personally.
The reason was the draft. Once ended, so did protests. Nixon also co-opted environment activists.
Speaking of the draft....It's about time the USA adopts the Service Corps like I think Israel has, where young people at age 18 have to serve at governments requests to help fellow citizens at many different levels. I think it's a two-year commitment. Our educational system has changed so much since my school days (1946 on) that our young people have NO IDEA what's going on in their own country today, nor is history adequately taught.
It is disturbing to me that we have a shortage of doctors and nurses, and the doctors we do train are opting for specialties instead of being General Practitioners and helping in rural or inner city areas where they are desperately needed. How about trying to find a good dentist? Or a veterinarian who doesn't charge an arm and a leg for simple pet care?
The period after high school graduation is the perfect time to engage young people in the idea of SERVICE and there are many paths within this one word! It would have to be MANDATORY, and yes, we'd need all sorts of new supportive services (i.e., transportation, housing, and the expertise of officials to decide where the greatest need lies.)
Young people today seem to be totally unaware of what's going on in the world today. Young folks use Instagram and "social media" for their corrupted views on current events! They need a dose of unmitigated REALITY!
A better solution might be to tighten up (public) high school graduation requirements, but that's a long way off and a seemingly insurmountable task.
I say, grab 'em by the horns, and plunk these kids down in areas that need their help and let them learn how rewarding is can be to be of Service in America.
The problem was that the draft was in effect, only directed to lower income selectees. I was the exception, in school but drafted -- after I flunked the physical for Air Force ROTC. After a year in Vietnam I was assigned to a "transfer point" - eventually working in medical discharges. The military has a test - the Armed Forces Qualifications Test -- which is impossible for about 15% pf the general population. In the military there are many educational opportunities that do not necessarily involve combat arms. Attached is a list for enlisted personnel. https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/army-enlisted-mos-military-occupational-specialties-list
The military has hundreds of specialty schools. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:United_States_Army_schools
When I lived in Maryland, I lived near the military owned and run medical school.
The military also sends students to colleges and professional school. My former colleague was the commandant of the Judge Advocate General School at the University of Virginia.
I don't think everyone should stand for the draft, but if we do, it should not preclude anybody. In Israel the fromm (ultra orthodox) are exempt. Those are the first people I would send to the front lines.
Once a person has a good conduct discharge the government has VA and other programs that provide education and in some cases placement.
But for my VA disability status, I would not have gotten a leg up on jobs in the government. Some disabled vets can get vocational rehabilitation that pays everything through graduate school plus living expenses. Vets are supposed to be given preferential preference is some jobs where there is federal jurisdiction.
There are government programs and tax incentives to address "kids down in areas that need their help" starting with the Education Act, the Handicap Act of 1973, now IDEA, that provide education services for people who need a hand. Actually we now have national educational standards. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/25/36.32 Attached find info for each state. https://www.ecs.org/50-state-comparison-high-school-graduation-requirements-2023/
Over time, we tried the WPA, Works Progress Administration, CCC. Civilian Conservation Corps, Job Corps and many other programs directed to the population you are describing. Our AmeriCorps is a network of local, state, and national service programs that connects over 70,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet community needs in education, the environment, public safety, health, and homeland security. Applicants must be 17 years or older (no upper age limit) be a U.S. citizen, U.S. National, or permanent resident alien. AmeriCorps is a network of local, state, and national service programs that connects over 70,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet community needs in education, the environment, public safety, health, and homeland security.
At DOL I heard appeals for some of these programs. I know people who entered these programs and eventually went to medical school or nursing school Some of my colleagues who paid nothing for their kids who were in a National Health Service Corps (NHSC) program through medical school. They provide scholarships and loan repayment to healthcare professionals practicing at approved sites located in/or serving Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) throughout the US.
If I were king, I'd reinstate the WPA -- that I think would stimulate the entire economy and I'd reinstate the Voting Rights Act, but that has nothing to do with education. I had law clerks from some of the elite schools who "totally unaware of what's going on in the world today." I was in the ABA and in ACUS with lawyers who know nothing of the history of the US. Many educated lawyers and judges have a twisted view -- like "natural law" expressed and proselytized by Scalia, Thomas and Alito on our Supreme Court.
Very well said! From personal experience, I can truly say life is more enjoyable when you consume less, walk, run or ride a bike everywhere you go, use little to no heat or air conditioning, etc.
Boomers are blamed collectively, not individually, and when a large bloc of voters acts in a certain way, we can certainly blame them. I blame older voters who vote self-interestedly against the greater needs of the young. Look at Brexit—it makes me so angry that mostly older, conservative voters pulled the UK out of Europe and sank the futures of so many who now live with greatly reduced prospects of working or trading with their neighbours. It’s just so sad. A huge scare campaign in my country, Australia, about a policy to recoup revenue paid out to older voters that they had erroneously been receiving sank it—and denied that revenue to fund schools, housing, health care. Only a tiny fraction of voters would have been affected, and they could afford it, and should have never have got it in the first place, but guess who voted it down? Yes. Retirees (aka boomers).
jessica,
I hear the drumbeats getting louder re: boomers and it started when I was in my 40's. I am 76. Trying to live on what seems to be huge benefits is not always true. Try after retirement to live on $2000 a month for all expenses. Wait.. I am no expert. MY understanding about payroll deductions and hopes for the program was and is that we would own our own homes, have savings of our own, etc and at least the poor would be able to have food/shelter. For a lot of folks that was true. We were the largest middle class ever and it was due to democratic (not party) economy. Yet the reality is most laborers, especially with the eroding of unions (for me, visibly began with Regan) I watched folks who worked hard all their lives begin to lose what was to be lifetime jobs to overseas moves. (well before Reagan)
I am not going to belabor the point because what was pointed out today in these answers was that we do NOT look to the past and see what worked and what didn't. The overall greed is mind boggling to say the least. At the risk of sounding defensive, I voted for overrides for schools and nursing facilities in my communities where I lived because education is huge and those in that school would one day be our doctors, lawyers, businesses, etc of the future. I felt that because of the education I received an education in a system which was available to all of us, poor or not, which was afforded us all as a result of the policies of democratic economy. (Yes there were private/parochial schools)
I am so worried about our world today. VERY.
Your points are well taken. My experience was based on policies for people not corporations.
And I’m sorry it’s so hard. No question, the immense wealth concentrations are hurting so many. I like your stance that educating our future doctors etc is in your interests and I wish others could see that. Here, we have a divide between private and public schools and when people say they pay tax so they’re paying twice over, paying for us who get it ‘free’ I want to scream! Education is a public good! They benefit as much as the next person. Do they care to think what kind of society we would have if we didn’t educate kids?
I am amazed that someone chooses a private education and then feels they are paying "twice" rather than seeing the problems of the public system and could afford the choice to go private. Yet the taxes paid still benefits the public system which all who pay taxes contribute to. I won't go into a lengthy commentary re: the public system and the multifaceted problems facing those who do teach. Education is necessary. I may not be right on this but I have felt that if you do not educate, you can rule. Misinformation and the renewal of a type of McCarthyism is dangerous. One of the saddest things to see is a young mind at an early age with no curiosity or understanding of how to ask questions.
the people who are saying that are the rich who want to fool voters and profit from privatizing schools. You know public schools are not free. Don’t let their lies get to you. If someone wants to send their child to a private school, that is a choice they make, not a get out of paying taxes for public schools card.
Well said
Lots of stats. Here in Baghdad By the Sea, renters are 70% more likely to vote Democrat than landlords. Younger people, especially women trend Democratic. People who rely on mutual funds trend the other way. You'd think that any person who is from a minority would trend Democratic, but that is definitely not true.
But just because those are trends, that doesn't mean individuals can't be otherwise persuaded.
Not enough attention paid to shareholders and their influence.
The basis for many of those Brexit votes was racism, nationalism. It’s across the board but you are correct that those who are young now will take the brunt of problems it created. Another big factor was the same as the US…foreign influence to create divisiveness. Then again, this was perfected by the US across the globe.
The UK Brexit makes me angry at Putin and an unconstrained social media
Thank you Robert Clark! I immediately thought of that. I hate when anyone says…it’s the baby boomers fault, it’s the millennial’s fault. Baby boomers paved the way for LGBTQIA, protests against the Vietnam war, (college students were killed for those protests! They broke through the prevention of inter- racial marriage! Women’s rights! Abortion rights.
Shame on George & Robert R for putting that out there.
Millennials , Gen Z and all other generations have fought boldly against gun violence etc. Every generation has MAGAs and every generation has Progressives who demand fairness to everyone. People need to stop this non-sense of painting entire generations as lazy, being at fault for all of society ills.
The so called “Greatest Generation” also had its share of racists, keeping women & blacks in their places etc. Keeping segregation alive.
Good call. It’s also good to remember that similar movements went on in the 1930’s as well. It’s useful to study these movements and learn from them. We don’t necessarily have to recreate the wheel, but we do need to adapt strategies to the present. Look at the young people’s lawsuit in Montana. Lots of very interesting stuff going on right now so it’s a great time for everyone to get involved.
The young people were also very vocal after the book Silent Spring was published. That got the environmental movement moving. The facts presented (especially DDT)opened the eyes of many who had no idea what damage we were doing.
I am proud to say I was one of them!
Robert, you are right about remembering the "boomer" generation that helped to get some serious changes made. The generation right before ours (I don't know the name for them but my mom was one), started things moving with the civil rights actions that caused so many Americans to actually look at the inequalities in our society. We, their children tried to pick up the ball and carry it forward. We helped bring about changed in our schools, trying to get students of color, particularly Black students recognized and schools integrated. We stood against a blatantly wrong war. We started thinking about the rights of people who didn't see the world as the "majority" did at that time, gays and lesbians. We worked for the right to have control over our reproduction and demanded higher wages, and so much more. What we didn't see was the ways the "establishment" would carefully bit by bit undermine what we had tried to do, blaming us for all kinds of things, every problem our society faced, and orchestrated 50 years of corporate greed, monopolizing industries, unjusticeizing our courts, and forcing candidates to have to collect millions, even hundreds of millions of dollars to run campaigns for office. Oh yes, and our media was sabotaged too and that process is continuing. Prof. Reich is right that we need to fix this and move in a more positive direction quickly if our democracy is to survive, let alone our planet. We truly do need to learn from where we were then, what worked and what didn't, and to apply the good lessons to today's issues. We could do this if we had the will.
Was the generation before the boomers called the "silent generation"? Hard to remember because they're so quiet about it.
Jaime, I always wonder who it is that names the generations. I am sure that generation was not silent. They started the sit-ins, freedom-rode buses (OK, not very loud vocally, but . . .), integrated colleges, and gave birth to a lot of "boomers." That's pretty amazing. It's too bad so many of them just as so many boomers forgot what they stood for and caved to the forces of discrimination, revering and coddling the rich, and allowing the rich and powerful to get us into useless conflicts, and the rest. I wonder why it is so easy to be lured from one's youthful belief in the value and rights of all people, to be morphed into "Wall Street" and the greed it portrayed, the political support of would-be dictators (the kind our ancestors sacrificed their lives to stop). Maybe if we could figure that out, we could cut into the popularity if people like Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and the rest of the current Republican tribe.
I am 81 supposedly of the silent generation. My friends would disagree. We were all active and fighting for a better world but the back lash was brutal and we are still fighting it
If Gen Z expects to succeed it is going to have to stop alienating elders with die boomer and get with the reforms WE started. They stand on our shoulders. We will be gone and they better be willing to listen up so they don’t waste time reinventing the wheel when they need rocket power to stop the thoroughly corrupted GOP and MAGA billionaire Christofascists who have. Made our lives miserable by normalizing the lost cause
Confederacy mainly white mentally criminal terrorists supported by the NRA and the red states. Voters there have a screw loose or their voting power has been compromised by Gerrymandering and bought and paid for by political puppets and corrupt neo-fascist judges
Not only do we need to learn from Teddy Roosevelt in how he took on monopoly capitalism run amok, but we need to reclaim some messaging from the ‘60s.
Back then the hippies rightfully pointed the blame at huge corporations and billionaires, saying that they didn’t want to work for “The Man.”
They could see the damage that unrestrained capitalism could wreak on society and our ecosystems.
It’s time to again point the finger in that same direction, and somehow encourage both Democrats and conservatives to join against the true oppressors.
Today’s GOP is not conservative, they are #CORPservative: in servitude to those huge corporations and billionaires.
And that alliance has pushed us towards #RepubloFascism where all the guardrails of democracy have been breached through bravado, hateful division, and a complete abandonment of anything close to integrity.
And they’ve sold that as MAGA. The truth is that they succeed through sucking the wealth out of the middle class and diminishing democracy. For power and wealth, they are willing to squander Americas greatness.
Democrats are diminished because they won't move further 'left.'
I get the exact same feeling.
Thanks, I am a fan of both George and Robert, and wish more people could hear them.
I’ve just joined Robert but I’ve followed him for a long time. His discussions are brilliant.
I totally agree 💯👍🏽
Young people need to take over the democratic party. No use complaining about it.
rather than take over, how about join or do you really want to tell all of us old progressives that we are now just fungible articles??
"...to learn from Teddy Roosevelt...". What we need IS a Teddy Roosevelt! Where is he in the Washington DC clown show?
We have a lot of good spokesmen, especially in the Senate. We had some good House bills that did not pass because we didn't control two Democratic Senators who would have voted affirmatively, but who would not take on the parimentarian.
We couldn't even pass bills that would have authorized the FTC and DOJ and other agencies to take on price fixing and price gouging, which I feel is a predicate to making big business accountable..
" Too many Democratic politicians have been drinking at the same corporate and Wall Street troughs as have Republican politicians. This has to stop. It’s time for a new political coalition to wrest power away from a new generation of robber barons and oligarchs and create a capitalism that works for all. "
This is the Citizens United problem. Unless and until the CU holding is changed the political change and power transfer you mention is a long shot.
Support Move to Amend.
We already had a problem with too much money in politics before Citizens United. Remember McCain-Feingold? They tried to reduce the influence that big money had on our elections. CU just made it much worse.
Agree.
The fear of liberal socialism is what is the problem.
Americans see this word and run a mile.
I live in France and have good medical care/kids have good public schools/older people are looked after/6 weeks leave for parents who have just had a child. Good long holidays.
Somehow the word Socialism has come to mean evil and Communism in America. Americans are fascinated with their entrepreneurial roots and how it has made us a powerful nation. We are proud that anyone with the smarts and will can become rich. TV and now the Internet promote this to the world. But I think what the world admires most is when America gives and leaves behind something great. America's role in freeing Europe from the Nazis and then the Marshall Plan. The space program. Great universities like MIT, Harvard, Princeton. Great books like To Kill a Mockingbird. The NY Yankees. Bob Dylan. Martin Luther King. Great leaders like FDR and JFK. I think that these are the things MAGA should have reached back to, instead of the unbridled powerful and wealthy that so dominate American culture today.
Yeah, but the Yankees? ( Sorry, I'm from Cleveland, and I couldn't resist! )
Bernie Sander’s has a good book, It’s OK to Angry about Capitalism. I have long said I would be happy to pay more taxes and n have the safety of education, healthcare, family leave, paid vacations, etc. The money for taxes ends up less than if I have to pay for all those things out of pocket, and it means many with lesser means are denied these fundamental human rights. We all love the library system which is a socialistic system. I would like to see our politicians and our press to explain over and over again the meaning of how they are using socialism, because you are right , many hear that word and are frightened,
Thank you for agreeing to this interview, Bob. It’s been illuminating! Your voice is sorely needed in these times. If your readers would like to check out my new publication, they can visit thinkbigpicture.substack.com. Hope to see some of you there!
Thanks! I enjoy reading your opinions because you distill common sense and direction as efficiently and eloquently as possible. There are few people with whom I agree one hundred percent, and your views coincide exactly with mine. Your background as an academic and practitioner of government makes you my most reliable source of information. Thanks again.
As an Australian may I quote one of our newspaper journalists (Sydney Morning Herald) who wrote in an article about the current USA political situation: "America needs to invade itself to restore Democracy." It is difficult for most Australians to understand how the USA can have so much inequality and a political and election system that is so undemocratic. Of course we have our problems (it's not paradise!!) but fortunately elections are peaceful affairs and have tight gun control.
Professor Thank you for this. I am younger than you but much poorer and in worse health. I don't have as much hope as you have. I do not see things getting better, in part because they have in ways that are important to me, gotten worse most of my adult life. many poor people, not the bottom 90% or bottom 50% or even the bottom 10% are finding life harsh. I am finding life harsh. I cannot see, how my life could improve so much that it will not be harsh. I wonder how much of your optimism is based on your experience that life is pretty good and has given you and most of the people you know, a cushion that the the very poor people do not have.
Again thanks for your work on behalf of some of chosen family.
I'm with you. I don't feel so hopeful. And where is this idea coming from that boomers were, and still are to blame? George asked, "Do you think young people will save us from ourselves, or will we older folks simply ruin it for them?" That kind of thinking must stop. Most of us boomers have been victimized by the greedy few, as well. We didn't do it and we're not doing it. Now the Congress is coming up with for-profit hospice plans to ensure premature death for our generation. Matt Gaetz is from a family that made their fortune in that business. "Stealth euthanasia" may be a new holocaust. The culture vilifies a section of the population before they get agreement to end it. We struggled and were exploited, but the media causes young people to believe it was easy for us. Look at how much shorter the average length of life is for us in the US compared with other wealthy countries. We need to be aware of the results of homelessness and the daily fear of it on our bodies. Mental illness, obesity, and type II diabetes are in large part caused by unrelenting stress.
You are so right, Mr. M Fred Friedman. Deeply sad but absolutely true.
Dear Mr. Takei
Professor Reich echoes your concerns and explains the symptoms of corporate rule, but fails to explain the root cause of the problems and how to solve them.
Citizens United, and related, SCOTUS decisions are at the root of every problem that you asked Professor Reich to address. They shifted the balance of power away from the people and towards the Oligarchy, as they were designed to do.
None of the problems that you addressed can be solved, and none of the “SHOULD BE’s” that Professor Reich mentions, can be, within this rigged and corrupted system that SCOTUS created with Citizens United.
However, every problem that you addressed can be easily solved, and every “SHOULD BE” that Professor Reich addressed CAN BE, if we all demand HJR54, the We the People Amendment.
It will restore the rightful power of the People and kick corporations and their nonprofit organizations out of our politics and government. It will strip them of their money in our politics and elections.
Now you have the answers. Now it’s time to do the work that Professor Reich says we must do to win an equitable economy, and I would add, a habitable planet. Demand HJR54. The We the People Amendment has been gaining more support in each new Congress, and with your help, we can pass it that much quicker to save democracy in time to save our planet.
You make a good point. Systemic problems exist that entrench corporate interests into our democracy in a poisonous way. We can’t be well until that poison is removed.
movetoamend.org was created to organize and develop the movement to pass HJR54, the We the People Amendment, but one organization cannot do it by themselves. They are organizing a coalition of organizations to get the job done at movetoamend.org/organizations
Please consider becoming a spokesperson or helping to grow the movement of the people in any way that you can.
And thank you for your life’s work fighting for justice with words and actions. Now we need power. The We the People Amendment is our rightful power ♥️
Mr Abbott could not be more correct in his observations and suggestions for action to begin this long but necessary project to restore America’s future.
So very glad you and George Takei had this excellent exchange of questions and answers. I completely agree with all of the remedies proposed. I am very pleased that you addressed and approved of the Universal Basic Income and Universal Healthcare and all the other things that will make us truly civilized. I recommend to all of your readers a TED talk by Nick Hanauer in 2014: https://www.google.com/search?q=nick+hanauer+the+pitchforks+are+coming&oq=Nick+Hanauer&aqs=chrome.4.0i355i512j46i512j69i57j0i512l3j69i65l2.11764j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:ca23eb4d,vid:q2gO4DKVpa8
And I will also recommend, as I did before in one of my comments, that folks read VIKING ECONOMICS by George Lakey, a very accessible and fairly short book on how we can learn from the Scandinavian countries. For those interested in learning the history of inequitable wealth distribution dig into Thomas Piketty's CAPITALISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY, a best seller when it came out in 2014.. Keep the faith everyone!
Very useful information. Thanks for sharing.
Regards
Uma
What a joy to have you both in the same place. Wonderful questions and illuminating answers. Thank you both.
Robert Reich, I believe that capitalism doesn’t work, and bandages and fixups won’t work. Socialism, without the profit motive, is what we need. You also write about affordable health insurance and college. Both should be free. Medicare for All, College for All.
How about good balance in a joint Scroogism & Socialism? Look toward optimal inequality, as in adequate incentives while tempering the excessess? Good balance in Capital & Labor? Market & Government? Humane Capitalism & Inclusive Democracy? It is all about the balance.
Bravo! Great questions from George! I liked the responses. Yeah, you're only in your 70's, you whipper snapper. Go ask Dolly to go honky tonkin', and put the BOOM back in Boomers.
Given the 60 wildfires raging in Canada due to a record heatwave and temps reaching 126, Gen Z has a lot to do to save humans from extinction.
After 30 years of grassroots activism, I do not think Gen Z can fathom the work cut out for them. Let's assume they are up to the challenge and can defeat fascism and address climate change and inequality.
Can they really make change when Congress is against Biden's attempt to ease the debt burden from higher education loans? Will the Robert's Supreme Court allow the progress? After all, they are so archaic that they have issues with women controlling their reproductive choices. One thing for sure, we must start learning from the past.
I recently watched a program about the building of Oak Ridge, TN, for the Manhatten project. Enormous resources were appropriated and used. The lab project was the 7th largest energy consuming in the country. Then they built a bigger factory using more energy to create Uranium 235. All this was done in a few years. What if we had the same urgency for creating alternative energy, like solar power plants, R&D, and other green projects?
FDR's projects to get us out of the Great Depression (New Deal, etc.), mobilization for WWII, the Marshall Plan, National Highways, Space Program, Civil Rights Medicare/Medicaid... There was a time from FDR-LBJ that we as a nation could meet any challenge we faced. We had our most progressive tax system, strong unions, & our standard of living was improving at its fastest rate ever at all income levels, & we became the #1 country in the world in most measures of prosperity and well-being. Now we can't do much of anything.
Japan developed the bullet train back in 1966, & Europe & China have developed comprehensive rapid transit throughout their territory, but we can't move beyond a very primitive stage of limited & disconnected systems here & there. Every other advanced nation has had universal healthcare since last century, while we still don't although we pay twice as much on healthcare as they do. They also have shorter work weeks, 2-3 times as many holidays as we do, much more vacation time, generous paid leave, free education & a significantly longer, happier life than we do.
The French will protest & strike at any attempts to reduce their amenities, while Americans lay back & passively watch like a frog in water slowly heating up to a boil, as our government keeps taking away our rights & making life harder for us.
Nice Robert... Real nice. And you've given me a new street canvassing question. To wit: "Do you think that Capitalism is controlling Democracy, or is Democracy controlling Capitalism?" This question is the starter for good conversations - regardless of the political affiliation of the interviewee.
Too broad a topic ; I’m more will wake u tomorrow?
Will I have to engage in a street fight with crazed neo-Nazis.
Will the folk know enough to vote for the non crazies.
Are the persons causing the ruckus in Congress Worth knowing about.?
Does being a good person matter or is it time to turn myself into a vigilante like the crazies just to survive political life.
Will they cure Prostrate Cancer.
Will FOX ever be called into account for promoting crazie Theory?
Often bewildered !
J