Let's face it, the Baby Boomers have been a target of easy opportunity for all manner of nattering nabobs of negativity,
who insist we Boomers are about to usher in the fall of civilization as we know it.
From Arch-Boomer nemesis, Robert Samuelson who blames “entitlements” for an approaching fiscal train wreck, to
a spate of authors – including P.J. O'Rourke, Joe Klein and David Willets (in his book, ‘How the Baby
Boomers Took Their Children’s Future and Why They Should Give It Back’)
Now
enter a whiny Millennial, Alexander S. Balkin, who in a recent Salon piece (‘Boomers Ruined America
The perfect example of this was
the 2008 collapse of the toxic housing debt market. In government, baby
boomers ballooned the defense budget beyond the point of reason. They then
raided government programs to pay for their mistakes. Regarding the
environment, baby boomers left the United States America
All
of which is over-generalized mush – can you say “fallacy of composition”
i.e. when one claims that what is true of a part is true of a whole? In this case, the “Boomers” he is referring
to make up about 5 percent of the total generation. These are the entitled,
'silver spoon in the mouth' twerps like Gee Dumbya Bush – who got his Harvard education
via a legacy entitlement, and who – once elected- set the nation on a course of
perpetual fear (following 9/11) , perpetual war (with defense budgets to match) and massive oil & coal dependency (well, BOTH Bush
and Cheney were oilmen, after all, duh!)
But
this twerp Balkin makes no distinction between that enclave of miscreants and
the vast mass of Boomers – like me – who gave blood, sweat and tears either
fighting in Vietnam for a war those like Bush instigated (in that case, LBJ –
fawning fool for the Texas oilmen and military industrial complex) or serving in Peace Corps (as I did for 4 years) or some other volunteer mode. Yet
this guy blames us and essentially dumps us all into the same mix as the Bushite- Neocon- Maul Street shyster subset
of Boomers! This lack of rational discrimination alone calls into question his credibility in writing the piece.
As
for the 2008 financial meltdown, don’t even get me started. But if this guy Balkin had
a clue he could have researched and excavated the actual background – which can
be boiled down to those of the elite Bushie-mold ilk creating credit default
swaps and mixing them up with valid bonds and labeling the whole AAA. Those who
want more information (and that especially includes Mr. Balkin) can go here:
Also,
the historical causes of multi-nation financial meltdown are a lot less obvious than
picking on one highly visible demographic.
If you want the supreme distillation it can basically be summed up in
two parts: 1) trashing the Bretton Woods Global Finance Agreement (1973), and
2) Launching numerous wars of choice which have not only cost blood but
enormous treasure.
In
the case of Bretton Woods, while it wasn’t perfect it did provide a more
equitable global basis for competition and trade than what’s in place now –
based on such travesties as G.A.T.T., NAFTA and World Trade Organization fiats (which sent millions of American jobs overseas).
Worse, with the collapse of Bretton Woods, global currencies went from a fixed
exchange rate system to a floating system. Only years after did many of the
creators of the latter realize what an error they had made, and how much they
facilitated currency speculation –especially in the carry trade. Since the
Asian crisis in 1997, currency raiders have splattered the reserves of a number
of nations as governments have watched helplessly. Only most recently, this
piracy has reached new heights via the used of “naked credit default swaps” for
speculators to bet on national collapse (as in Greece
If
one now factors in how things have changed since 1973, one begins to see why
the “younger generation” has been placed in economic peril – and it isn’t from
the Boomers! For one thing, floating exchange rates and currency raids have
allowed the dollar’s strength to deteriorate. This is called “currency
debasement” and it’s been used over and over in recent decades for not very
salutary purposes. For example, the Bush government used it to make the cost of
domestic goods cheaper (via a cheaper dollar) to try to reduce the U.S.
Then
again, the global market tyranny that has replaced Bretton Woods, has enabled
millions and millions of high paying, relatively secure jobs (especially in
manufacturing, but more recently in computer software specialties) to be
shipped offshore to places like Bangalore and Beijing. Minus those higher
benefits, higher paying jobs, Americans have barely been able to make ends meet
– and this partly explains their stupendous reliance on credit card – to make
up for their lost income. Young people, caught in this vortex, will obviously
not see the same economic security as their parents who held steady good paying
jobs with top benefits, to the extent that one could even afford to stay home.
The now (nearly extinct) single income family!
Now,
to this, add in all the wars (Bushie instigated- without higher taxes to pay for them) which have bled down the national treasury (as I
noted by an estimated $6 trillion – not even counting whacked out “defense”
spending such as the $2.1 trillion under Reagan) and you have the basis for an
economic Armageddon. Because make no mistake, SOMEONE had to pay or will have
to pay, for those wars. Who is holding most of the bonds right now? Chinese and
Japanese bankers – to the tune of nearly $2 trillion. Who will get the bill in
the future? Our kids and grand kids, because their cowardly government didn’t
have the brains or insight not to try to act like the world’s cop – and especially
(in the Bush years) launching a full scale war against robed lunatics when a
localized police or intel action could have been effective.
They
preferred to bankrupt us, as Osama bin Laden always wanted – playing into his
hands. Nor did they have the inner fortitude, given they got their war vote (by
reconciliation no less) , to at least mandate the taxes to pay for it. They preferred instead to use future taxes
(and higher interest rates) to pay for it, but on the backs of future
generations.
Yet
now the smarmy asses in congress that voted for these war travesties and their
humongous costs, want to say we haven’t the money for decent health care
reform.
No,
the Boomers are not the ghouls they’re made out to be by the likes of David
Willet or Alexander
S. Balkin. One of whom (Willet) blames us for having too few children to increase our wealth relative to theirs and the other blames us for everything from the credit crisis to exploding defense budgets and overt dependence on fossil fuels. Neither displays any grasp of reality and therein lies the problem. Because minus test in reality and hard evidence you don't know what you're talking about.
People
need to wake up, stop their blame game, and examine who the real culprits are
in this forlorn multinational debt and war miasma. One thing for sure: Boomers do not
need to “give back” anything to the next generation. What we do have to offer
is our insight, and best advice. It’s up to the young ‘uns to take it or leave
it, but if they leave it – don’t blame us for their predicament and lack of
political smarts.
If I had one piece of advice for the likes of Balkin and his compatriots, it would be to put down the Ipods, smart phones and Twitter access and head to the library to do some serious reading: on history, politics and economics especially. To see first hand how you got to where you are without having to rely on simplistic scapegoats....like a whole generation. Knowledge is the key to your liberation, not picking on a large group that in many ways has been victimized as much or worse than you and for a longer time.
And btw, despite Balkin's claims we were somehow all privileged and got it all handed to us, I will have him know that most of us weren't favored sons like George W. Bush. We either had to get scholarships to attend university or student loans. And after graduating we educated ourselves on the basics of the political system and economics - our parents didn't have the time to dote because they were too busy working.
Before
Mr. Balkin or others of his generation go after the Boomers again, they may
wish to pick up a copy of my book, The Elements of the Corporatocracy – to see
how Millennials really ended up where they are:
No comments:
Post a Comment