Did the baby boomer generation ruin the world?

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The boom of economy and population that was associated with the baby boomer generation created an unprecedented period of affluency but also led to mass consumerist propaganda that in my mind has almost completely undermined any genuine cultural achievements. Art and culture like everything else has become a consumable, serving onlly to argrandise whoever "controls" the "merchandise" at that time. The effects of culture span centuries of time and when I try to imagine the long term consequences of commercialising it to a point of ruin, it is a very scary concept.

Imagine, a world where the only worthwhile pursuit that people are engaged in, is the pursuit of wealth and consumerism. This is a legacy of social currents that is beqeathed to the world by that egocentric muddlings of that generation and it is something I feel is completely hopeless in avoiding.

I think the generation has done a lot of good but there's also a lot of bad and way too much hubris and an inability to change and accept their failings.

Speaking on what I see from the generation as a whole.

yes but they were helped by their parents

Their parents were great in their accomplishments but spoiled their children in many ways and taught them too much immigrant pride.

Guilty as charged ... and now I hope I still get SSDI anyway.

their parents accomplishments are over-rated (the bomb, the holocaust, the cold war and the end of american neutrality)

I just hope there's something left for the video game generation after the baby boomers finally hand over the reins. An interesting little piece on video game generation and problem solving:

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colber ... -mcgonigal

Ruin-Nation topic

I am a Boomer. I am a member of the largest demographic the world has ever seen. We used to blame the generation before us back in the 60's and 70s.

Now that I am older and I hope wiser, I see that blaming one group for all the ills that befall us is not only unfair, but inaccurate.

I agree with you that blatant and rampant consumerism, outmoded styles of governance and ignorance of environmental pollution are evils that could have been avoided, knowing what we know now. But to turn back the clock is impossible. Youth are important in change, and this is what is happening in many North African and mideast states. Fresh ideas that precipitate and initiate beneficial differences are important first steps.

It is hoped that people from my generation are listening better than the ones that came before.

Computers, the interstate system, pulling out of the great depression, atomic energy, and much of what would come to be the modern world.

To build on that, here's a much better presentation from Jane speaking at TED.


http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal ... world.html

It's okay, no one will notice how bad things are, the video game generation have got video games.

lets split the difference and give them a c-.
-jake

Generation Y as in 'Why would I give a #*^#..?'

In general I agree with the basic premise of the opening statement.

However...

Each generation responds to many stimuli, some obvious ones with regard this issue are their contemporary interpretation of history, their current situation and what is the accepted 'vision' of their peer group, another important factor is the attitudes of their mentor generation which are also similarly shaped back to the last visible dog.

To blame the current cultural void as entirely the fault of the 'boomers' is to deny these facts.

The journey that we the human race has taken to reach this point has multiple important factors in it's navigation.

In the late nineteenth century as the United States gained in confidence and wealth the old powers of Europe encountered several hurdles including a military impasse and a minor economic recession which led to a crisis in confidence and an attendant rise in nationalism and a clutching at straws in terms of new economic and social political theories. this led for the most part to the trauma of another recession around the turn of the century and then world war I which traumatised an entire generation throughout the 'European' world and it's colonies and ex colonies. This in turn led to the rise of even more extreme social, economic and political theories, a period of over the top hedonism followed by a global economic crisis and another world war which further traumatised all of the most influential societies globally.

Now, imagine being born into a world where dad is emotionally unavailable and basically pretty messed up having been through the grinder of modern warfare, mum is adjusting to getting back into the home after tasting the relative 'freedom' of working out of the home, being valued economically and missing it. all this after both of them were raised and come of age amidst the hardship of a 'depression'. Your grandparents are similarly traumatised by a similar sequence of experiences. Add the adjustment to the new global political situation that reinforces the new mantras of 'live for today kid 'cause there may not be a tomorrow' in an environment of increased affluence and there you have the formula for the 'boomers'.
[This is not all there is to consider just some of my more immediate thoughts on the issue]

None of this lets anybody off the hook with regard personal responsibility however! So where do we go from here?

peace j

Possibly, but who else has ever left such an insurmountable debt for their own children and grandchildren to pay?

"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous."
(Proverbs 13:22)

Surely to understand is not to necessarily to excuse.

Please check my closing comments regard personal responsibility - they apply to all concerned parties.

I don't think the world is ruined. I'd sure rather live now than in the 1930s. But it is kind of scary how few specialists there are in Generation Y. i do wonder if my generation is capable of running the modern world...