Generation Zero

[Smitty]

I haven't seen the documentary yet, but plan to.

From what I've read, it pretty much lays the blame for America's current economic crisis at the feet of the boomer generation.

I can understand the rationale for doing so, but the summation seems to be much too simplistic. The vast majority of the boomer generation are middle and working class individuals who go to work, earn their pay, and live their lives in a reasonably responsible manner.

By the 90's, when the big bubbles were fabricated by the financial institutions, the majority of the boomer generation had already built a sizable measure of equity in houses they bought when they started coming of age in the 70's and 80's. Most of them only were only associated with Wall Street in the 401K's and IRA's that they had accumulated.

Perhaps it's accurate to say that those in positions of power during the decline of America were boomers, but it's heavy handed to place the blame on an entire generation for the monetary indiscretions of a handful of oligarchs who control the big banks and the government.

[FrankRep]

This will explain the origins of our Financial Crisis.


The Federal Reserve has inflicted a century of financial havoc on Americans; looking at how this came to pass reveals who desired this state of affairs (namely the Rockefeller, Morgan, and Rothschild big-banking interests) and how they profit from it. by James Perloff

Our Monetary Mayhem Began With the Fed

http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/history/american/946

[Lovecraftian4Paul]

It does seem too simplistic. The boomers are only to share in a small part of the blame. I only blame them the yuppie culture that sprouted up and gave so many people rose colored glasses. It made so many think that things would stay the same forever, like they were during the relatively stable 1990s. So, they were more inclined to buy into the system and vote up the two parties, while sweeping the little horrors of government under the rug under the phrases "conspiracy theory" or "oh well, that's just politics."

Now that the little horrors have grown into fire belching dragons, there are still some who cannot break out of this mentality. Gruesome torture, bankster bailouts, government decrees to assassinate American citizens, taxation that would make the founders' heads spin, and so on and so forth are allowed to go on. And so, these demons grow bigger and meaner, and now they are at the throats of the boomers and the rest of the American people. Will enough of them snap out of their trance in time? Or will we end up with an overt dictatorship while we keep the cracked rose colored glasses on and say "oh well, that's just politics."

[Smitty]

I don't see the economic collapse as a generational phenomena, but it wasn't the boomer generation who were the primary participants in either the dot com bubble *or* the housing bubble.

Boomers had already begun circling their wagons and preparing for retirement before either of them came along.

By and large, it was generation X who took the easy credit bait which the bankers set their traps with.

[Isaac Bickerstaff]

They should have been trying to end the fed instead of experimenting with drugs and STDs.

That said, what catastrophe are we overlooking that will get the next generation enraged at us?

[awake]

Careful...The government is very interested in painting a scape goat for which they can justify their "solutions". They are already planning the IRA and 401K to annuity proposal under the pretext of a crisis.

Baby boomers are sitting on a sizable pool of wealth that is starting to look ripe for confiscation and forced purchase of government bonds. How "Boomers" got their wealth and for what ever reason is immaterial. If they can be painted as a key cause of this economic collapse, then the government will have little public resistance in confiscating the retirements of many, all cheered on by the mobs who will be shouting, guilty! guilty! all the while looking to fill their empty pockets.

[Smitty]

Careful...The government is very interested in painting a scape goat for which they can justify their "solutions". Baby boomers are sitting on a pool of wealth that is starting to look ripe for confiscation, how they got it, for what ever reason is immaterial. If they can be painted as the cause of this economic collapse, then the government will have little resistance confiscating the retirements of many, all cheered on by the mobs who will be shouting guilty looking to fill their empty pockets.

Exactly right.

That's the point I wanted to make.

The people aren't responsible for the economic collapse, regardless of their generation. However, if the people of the boomer generation can be painted as the boogeyman which caused it, future generations can be made to feel as if the government's actions are justified when they hang the boomer generation out to dry.

[Old Ducker]

I haven't seen the documentary yet, but plan to.

From what I've read, it pretty much lays the blame for America's current economic crisis at the feet of the boomer generation.

I can understand the rationale for doing so, but the summation seems to be much too simplistic. The vast majority of the boomer generation are middle and working class individuals who go to work, earn their pay, and live their lives in a reasonably responsible manner.

By the 90's, when the big bubbles were fabricated by the financial institutions, the majority of the boomer generation had already built a sizable measure of equity in houses they bought when they started coming of age in the 70's and 80's. Most of them only were only associated with Wall Street in the 401K's and IRA's that they had accumulated.

Perhaps it's accurate to say that those in positions of power during the decline of America were boomers, but it's heavy handed to place the blame on an entire generation for the monetary indiscretions of a handful of oligarchs who control the big banks and the government.

I think blaming the death of civilizations on generations is stupid. That said, I blame the WW2 generation. It's their stupid "patriotism" and mental illness as a result of it that screwed up the boomers to the extent that they retreated into self-medication, rebellion and apathy. In other words, the easy way out is the blame your parents.

[Smitty]

screwed up the boomers to the extent that they retreated into self-medication, rebellion and apathy. In other words, the easy way out is the blame your parents.

That's a very broad stereotype to label an entire generation with. Self medication and rebellion was around in one form or another thousands of years before the boomers came along.

As for the rebellion,..most of it was directed towards the same entity that the current rebellion faces.

Boomers are just a group of individuals like any other you care to mention.

[Stary Hickory]

I do agree that the baby boomer generation was extremely wasteful,selfish, and harmful as a whole......however lets not forget that people are individuals and it's not fair to disparage some people because they were merely born at the same time.

There are a lot of good people from that generation as well.

[Lovecraftian4Paul]

I'm pretty much in agreement with the other comments. Although there is a generational vector worth looking at to help understand how our country has gotten into this mess, it's counter-productive to single out specific generations as the cancer.

[andrewh817]

Well there's two groups to blame for the financial crisis.

The people who made it easier to get into and stay in debt. (Government)
The people who went for the goodies they didn't need and couldn't afford. (Boomers)

Pretty simple.