Enjoy your vacation and thanks for the post. I could not find more information on “Boomsday”.

I already feel generational backlash. My generation (30 somethings) have gotten the short end of the stick having been to young to benefit from 80′s and 90′s prosperity, and also suffered the housing boom right when we were entering as first time buyers. Those of us working work harder and longer hours than our parents for diminishing rewards. My solution if they raise taxes or things get any more oppressive will simply be to stop working or just to join another community or another nation. I’m thinking of Atlas Shrugged. There is only so much abuse those with talent and energy are willing to take before we withdraw. Really, they can’t force us to subsidize other generations or to fund the endless war machine.

Hey Mike (and all 30-somethings),
We’re ALL going to feel that tax bite to pay for our elders, not just your generation. Know too that many, many people won’t be able to retire at 65, and are likely to be paying into a system that NEVER pays us a penny.
And unless you’re willing to take the steps you mention, THEY can do anything they want, and we (the taxpaying, law abiding, hardworking citizens) can do nothing to change that. Except vote. And stay informed. And vote.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind getting back something in return on the sizable financial investment I’ve made in my kids- all those years of private school, not to mention the property taxes and bonds I’ve paid for 30 years as a homeowner that supported public schools we never used. Doctor’s visits, dental and orthodontics, educational trips and vacations. The list is endless.
Mike, I hear the same kind of whinnying coming from my 30 something, too. What a sense of entitlement this born in the 70′s generation has developed!

One of the reasons I never wanted nor had any children was because I knew I didn’t want the responsibility of paying for everything and then just when I thought they’d be out on their own, back home they’d come, for me to continue supporting, because they didn’t “feel” like contributing to society. Yes, I’m one of the dreaded “Boomers” who will be 65, in 2016. Maybe there won’t be any Social Security left for me, by then, even though I’ve paid into it for my entire working career. So, please, all of you 30-somethings, know that the Generation Gap has always existed; You didn’t invent it. I remember actually saying that I could never trust anyone “Over 30″, back in the 60′s. Then I turned thirty!! You’re going to get older, also, so I hope that we can all just get along, even with the Changes coming along with Pluto in Capricorn until 2023. Things Will be Transformed, like it or not.

I don’t think voting does a damn bit of good, except maybe at the local level. Congressional and presidential elections are clearly rigged and designed to benefit the wealthy and well-connected.
I was lucky enough to buy my house before the boom caused home prices to skyrocket, but my mortgage has grown insanely high, and I doubt I will be able to retire. And 401k’s? Please! What’s to stop them from changing the rules mid-stream and all that money I “paid in” vanishes into to suit’s pocket? My younger cousins can’t afford to buy a home nor can they find work in the fields they studied for, and they have their college loans to pay back. This country called America is so young and foolish that it is eating its young and ignoring its elders’ wisdom. What a sickening spectacle it has become. Indeed, things will have to change sooner or later. I often wonder what the spark will be.

What a sense of entitlement? You mean your entitlement to our earnings? After your generation blew it all on war, SUVs and incredible greed? The boomers are egotists it blows my mind. It’s over for you people. Most of my friends are still unable financially to own a house or start a family and your generation now thinks it’s entitled to what we little we do have. There’s gonna be a revolution probably.

Greed is the reason. Everyone feels that if they suffer they should pass it on and get their pound of flesh. When I was a teen there was a movie where those over thirty were sent to their own island or killed, the makers of the movie felt when one reached thirty it was over. Also people over thirty were like sheep to be disregarded. We loved the movie until we realized that one day it would be over for us. Hopefully the mistakes of one generation are not repeated, but alas everything works in cycles, the good times are always enjoyed while hard times are around the bend. Some of us live on very little and expect very little and didn’t waste, while we grew but the basic American really believed they deserved something from life. My family taught me that if you can learn and invest in education, happiness would have quality.

I’d like to add that if anyone who is young and is angry at people getting Social Security I will gladly trade my 600 dollars a month for their young age, any day of the year.

That movie M.W.F does sound just like the attitude. “We are exceptional, everyone else must be sacrificed.” When the generation was young, it was “kill the old.” Now that they are getting old, it’s leech off the young. How repugnant!

Mike,
We payed into social security our whole working lives, too. We supported and cared for our parents AND our children. What makes you so special you feel no obligation to do the same?
PS I never owned an SUV, unless you want to count my Vanagon.

Edna,
You should get back what you paid in and not a penny more. Why should my generation, who faces vastly diminished economic opportunities foot the bill for yours? Especially given how profligate and wasteful your generation was? The boomers wanted to eat their parents generation and now they want the younger one too. Joe sums it up:
“My younger cousins can’t afford to buy a home nor can they find work in the fields they studied for, and they have their college loans to pay back. This country called America is so young and foolish that it is eating its young”

A sense of entitlement or a way of life? The 30s something are only speaking for what they’ve always had – what the older generation has given them. And the older generation are only speaking for what they think they deserve for having given as they have given. Of course, this is just a general statement and not true for all situations but unfortunately that won’t matter in the end. Everyone will be affected.
Lynn, thanks for the very thought provoking article!

Mike,
As a boomer, I am horrified to hear that my generation wanted to “eat” the older generation or “kill the old!” That must have happened right under my nose without my notice. I always felt my generation was generally tolerant of all ages and persuasions. I cared for people in nursing homes as a young person and never knew any reason to hate those dear folks.
Also, I think you should know that my parents’ generation did much better than mine will in terms of pensions, life-long health insurance benefits through their employer, social security benefits, etc. That has already fallen apart for the boomers. And I don’t begrudge them one penny of it. What for? I’m happy if they have been taken care of. And I don’t begrudge you either. I hope you get a fair shake, and there are ways to make that happen without fostering hatred. You’re right about the student loan debt. It’s terrible, but a couple of generations ago, not that many people went to college because they couldn’t afford it. I wish you the best, Mike.

Each generation gets stuff they don’t like from the previous generation. The people who are go getters, motivated individuals, just go after their dream without looking for someone to blame if it be harder than they thought. It is these people who succeed.