ON THE MOST SELF-ABSORBED AMERICANS: THE LIFESTYLE LIFT GENERATION

I am buzzing along through life thinking progressively...you know, drugs should be legal, women should be equal, skin color does not matter, religion is the opiate of the masses, war solves no problems, the poorest of us deserve a hand...when all of a sudden my generation completely changes philosophy as we move into the 1980's. No memo sent or received. It is as if all the rhetoric from the 1960's and 1970's was just that, rhetoric.

One day my generation seemed to care about our fellow human beings, the next day we appear to hold nothing save disdain for them. Worse, it appears my fellow boomers began believing the darker an American's skin, or the poorer their circumstance, the less they deserved kindness, compassion, love, and support.

I first took notice of this phenomenon with the election of Ronald Reagan as President of the United States. This man told us that, "Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem."  Granted we were in the middle of one of the worst inflationary periods in our history, but simple solutions, to me, are only for the simple-minded. Sound bites fit easily into a newscast, but rarely solve complicated social and economic problems. Glibness is not smart, it is simply glib.

Reagan used terms like "welfare queens." Then, he described them driving to the welfare office in gold-colored Cadillacs to pick up their checks.  We knew he meant "black women" when he spoke those words, but we convinced ourselves we lacked racist thought because we were the same generation that walked side-by-side with Black Panthers and our other "brothers and sisters."

This smooth-talking former B-movie actor looked like a President. He swaggered, unlike the peanut farmer he followed. Who could trust a President who elected to carry his own bags onto Air Force One? Every boomer now "knows" that style beats intelligence any day.  For me this was the beginning of our march down the path of selfishness and hate.

The 1990's came and the boy from Hope, Arkansas, ran for President. Finally, we could vote for one of our own. Despite being a Democrat William Jefferson Clinton was a southerner who bent to the right, not the left. He brought welfare reform that forced poor people to work for their supper vs. offering programs to help them grow out of poverty.

He let the banking industry break free from regulation to make more money. Banks were no longer banks, but insurance and stock brokers. Yes, the economy spurted into overdrive. However, speculation ran the economy. Building things was passe. Trading futures and derivatives was where the money was generated now.  

Who won?  The money changers won, not the citizenry. Oh a few people saw their 401 (k) plan values rise, but the rising tide raised only the yachts not the row boats. And, lord help you if you did not even have a boat to row. The Federal budget had a surplus.  Evidently, that was very important to Baby Boomers.

Worse was foreign policy where lack of action allowed more than 100,000 people to be slaughtered during the Bosnian War.  Atrocities and murder not seen in Europe since World War II occurred, while we and the UN stood on the sidelines and watched. Was it because Muslim men and boys were the ones led to slaughter in Szebrenica?

Maybe we were too focused on making money to think about others? Like cats our attention is easily grabbed by the next shiny issue. Monica Lewinsky got on her knees and riveted our attention. Our President needed to be impeached! Massacres in Europe interested us no more.

In the next election cycle we got to vote for another of our cohorts. George W. Bush and his compassionate conservatism, along with a boat load of oil money, won the day. He took every dollar Bill Clinton added to the Federal coffers and proceeded to flush it down the toilet. Tax cuts were the order of the day, especially for the wealthy.  Then, tragedy struck.

What happened on September 11, 2001, was godawful. However, attacking Afghanistan and Iraq because 15 Saudi Arabians attacked the United States was just plain dumb. To have cabinet members tell Congress the war would take 6 months and would be paid for with oil money taken from Iraq moved it to a fairy tale.

The generation whose parents witnessed the Pearl Harbor sneak attack was angry. It wanted revenge. But, we get oil from Saudi Arabia and Daddy Bush is good friends with the King. The Bush administration understood Americans would not care who was bombed, as long as we bombed someone. After all, an Arab is an Arab is an Arab.  But, do not tax us to pay for it. We are baby boomers; we can have our cake and eat it too!

Then, however, the banking de-regulation given to us by the first boomer President proved the "free market" was anything but free.  The economy tanked during these two wars.  That money we had saved was now gone. The money we gave to our richest citizens was tucked away nicely in the Cayman Islands or in Swiss bank accounts. The rest of the 99% saw our savings wash away like sand from a beach in Florida.

And, term limits being what they are, and without even a "sorry about that," Bush and Cheney walked away from two wars and economic catastrophe. We now needed a new President with big shoulders.

To make us feel like we ended racism, we did the "right thing." We elected Barack Obama our first African-American, and third boomer, President of the United States. After we did this, and with no apparent shame, we then blame him for everything wrong with the world.

We make it so hard for him to govern we "prove" to ourselves he's a Socialist, not a true American.  We set land mines for the man, then shout when they go off.  We cut the funds for embassy security, for example, then scream when an Ambassador is killed by an unruly mob. "He is weak on terrorism," we shout.

For those who think Barack Obama is "too liberal," you are dead wrong. He is not even close to being a liberal. This man is as conservative a President as Ronald Reagan or George H. W. Bush. When people like Ted Cruz call Mr. Obama too liberal, consider the source. Cruz is not a Conservative. He is at best a Libertarian and at worst an Anarchist. He wants government to fail so we can rid ourselves of government.

Now the "peace and love" generation, using code words like "thugs" and "illegals," has found a way to use words it knows should be banned from use in our society.  I dare anyone of my generation to defend these new code words and convince me they do not replace the awful words "niggers" and "wetbacks." If you do you are being disingenuous.

The "power to the people" generation now chants "balance the budget." Take money away from the poor to force them to learn how to work hard. Do not raise taxes, however, or take one penny away from our Social Security and Medicare programs!

With fewer than 4 million members, the NRA tells the other 313 million Americans we cannot have sensible gun legislation. We need our guns they say. Now they are telling the President who he cannot nominate as Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Vivek Murthy. He is labeled "an anti-gun fanatic" by the lobbying group Gun Owners of America. Dr. Murthy is one of many citizens who thinks guns are an un-healthy addition to a household.

Baby Boomers say they "are in fear for their life" and must stand their ground. More "good guys with guns" are needed to hold off those "thugs" and "illegals."

Instead of marching for equality of gender rights, boomers are telling Congress that women deserve no family planning assistance and it is okay to pay them less than men.  It took two years to pass legislation supporting the Violence Against Women Act and more than 130 members of the House of Representatives voted against it when it did finally pass.

I belonged to a generation that assured basic benefits flowed to care for the poor, sick, and elderly. Now my generation has become niggardly with its generosity toward those with less. Unemployment compensation is cut in the middle of a recession. About $8 Billion is cut from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for poor children. All the while adding a new code word, "entitlements."

The same people who marched with Cesar Chavez over farm wages now scream, "Send them back to where they belong." Immigration reform sits, while families are torn apart. The children of immigrants now want no immigrants. Could it be boomers do not want these families because many of these immigrants have darker skin?

We are shameless.  We are hypocrites. We, the children of the "greatest generation," may go down in the history of the United States as the "worst generation."  Maybe we should call ourselves the "Lifestyle Lift Generation" after the Debby Boone TV ads.

We reinvented ourselves to protect our fortunes, as easy as a Lifestyle Lift can make us look 20 years younger. We need to pay less taxes to assure we can spend $60 Billion on our pets, not provide assistance to our poorest neighbors. After all, Fifi needs her no antibiotics, free-range chicken bits; her Gucci carrying bag; and her diamond collar.

In 1965 Peter Townshend, of The Who, wrote a song entitled, "My Generation." Among the words, "I hope I die before I get old."

I wish we had too! My generation has grown disgustingly old.