BABY BOOMERS: TAIL END OF THE SNAKE

One of the many artifacts of the Baby Boom generation is the practice of defining social trends in terms of birth dates. 1946 to 1964 the Baby Boom generation came into being. An incredible burst of procreation after the apostasy of the Second World War. Our generation constituted a huge bump in the belly of the snake. We are aging out. Early boomers are well past retirement age, and late boomers have hit the age of sixty.  The temptation to proselytize boomers as they leave the age of relevance seems like a blood sport of the intelligentsia. So, God Help me. Here are my two bits. Full disclosure. 1949. Right in the belly.

We were the first generation in the twentieth century that came of age in a time of a secured peace and economic security. No World Wars, No Depressions. In the midst of this benign era of prosperous tranquility we ducked and covered under our desk for fear of nuclear annihilation. We developed a live for today attitude.

We were raised on the ideals of a nation that spoke of freedom and liberty. We were spoon fed those ideals. We believed that the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave was not just a hymn to be sung at ball games. It was a promise. We came of age. Freedom… Liberty… sounds good. Let’s take them out for a spin and see how they drive.

We learned very quickly that we lived in a brutally conformist society. You defied cultural norms at your peril. I grew up in Montgomery County not exactly a southern backwater town. When I grew my hair long, I was assaulted, had urine thrown on me, was refused service in restaurants, and ridiculed publicly by teachers and principals. I was not alone. Our response was to create a counter culture. Not a subculture but an alternative that emphasized individuality, personal development, acceptance of alternative lifestyles and rejection of institutional mandates that tried to govern our behavior. Many lost their way in the options that were endorsed. Most of us thrived.

Lets Get to the Numbers

Boomers entered the work force around 1973. That year the GDP was 1.425 trillion dollars. Fifty years later as we exit the work force the GDP is 27.3 trillion. Per Capita GDP was $6,726 it is now $81,623.  Bottom line we bought more, and we produced more.  

In the first three quarters of the 20^th century America endured the loss of over 600,000 military personnel in armed conflict.  Since 1975 that number is less that 20,000.

From a data perspective there are a lot of good things we can hang our hat on. From a lifestyle perspective we created incredible cultural richness in music, art, film. Created a digital revolution that transformed the world.

So, what has soured. An overwrought confidence in the sanctity of our values we held in disdain the pragmatic steps you take to secure political power. In short, we won the cultural war but lost the political war. It appears we are about to pay a price for that negligence. As the determined efforts of those who despise our values and accomplishments are about to be handed the keys to the kingdom. So as boomers continue to age out, we leave the stage in a fair amount of disarray. We are at the tail end of the snake. Soon others who come of age in our wake will write the reviews of our accomplishments.

I wish I had a better feeling about their future. And we bear some responsibility for that failure. But looking back I make no apologies for our past.