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Are We Headed Toward a Generational War?

Generational War?

  • Yes! Literal war with grandma! She's going down!

    Votes: 2 9.1%
  • Yes, a serious generational political battle is on the horizon

    Votes: 9 40.9%
  • No

    Votes: 11 50.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    22

Cameron

Politically Correct
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2008 demonstrated a pretty significant political chasm between those under 25 and those over 50. The baby boomers are about to retire after spending themselves and the country into massive debt. They will ask the government (and, by extension, the young) to essentially bail them out after they completely ignored the consequences of their irresponsibility for the 25+ years they were in power. And the young will have little ability to do so without bankrupting themselves, considering the state of our nation's finances.

We haven't hit a breaking point yet. Politicians are still extremely careful about how they refer to the baby boomers and the elderly when they campaign (case and point, the medicare debate). But as more and more retire and begin to get angry that they are not receiving what "they were promised," and as the young begin to get angry that they are being forced to pay for it, what do you think will happen?

My question is, given the circumstances, are we headed toward a serious generational conflict in this country? A situation where the country becomes split more by age than by political parties?
 
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I don't know. I think a lot of the younger generation (those just getting into or coming out of high school) are amongst those with an entitlement mentality. They're the ones who have been raised by the parents who insist that we can't have "winners" and "losers", parents who will march up to school with their precious snowflake and demand that a bad grade be changed, or that their child wouldn't ever misbehave, parents who have not instilled any sense of discipline because children shouldn't be "limited" by societal expectations....I actually think we're in trouble for a completely different reason.
 
I think there will be some strife, prehaps resentment towards the elderly by a youthful population. The thing about the baby boomers is that they are the sandwhich generation. They not only were raising kids of their own, but have also had to be primary caretakers for their parents as they got older and needed care. And their kids are likely going to have to do the same, the difference being that the baby boomers were still raised with the concept of the importance of family and duty. The generations after that don't find it nearly as important, and that is where the problems will come from.
 
I think there will be some strife, prehaps resentment towards the elderly by a youthful population. The thing about the baby boomers is that they are the sandwhich generation. They not only were raising kids of their own, but have also had to be primary caretakers for their parents as they got older and needed care. And their kids are likely going to have to do the same, the difference being that the baby boomers were still raised with the concept of the importance of family and duty. The generations after that don't find it nearly as important, and that is where the problems will come from.
The baby boomers may have been raised with the concept of the importance of family and duty, but I'm not sure how well they have taken it to heart. Divorce boomed with the baby boomers, the draft ended with the boomers, and they certainly don't seem very concerned about the debt (and its consequences for their children and grandchildren) . . . except to the extent it may prevent them from getting SS and medicare benefits.

From Paul Begala: The Worst Generation

I don't completely share his views, but I think this gives somewhat of a taste of how easy it would be to demonize this class of people in the future. It's something that both speaks to me and worries me a little bit.
 
All I know is, if there is one, and politicians have to choose between youth issues, and elderly issues, unless we start voting in greater numbers, we are going to lose, and it's not going to be close.
 
No, because we are heading the war between Islam and the Western World.
 
The best way to minimize conflict between grandparents and the grandkids is "generation skipping" inheritance.
We got our kids started, paying their college education, and more. They don't stand to inherit much when the time comes.

The bulk of the estate goes to the grandkids, and they know it.
But, they can be kicked out of the will at any time, and they know it.:)
 
It's not a matter of conflict. The system will fail long before it is ever reformed. It's a simple matter of demographics; the number of people in my generation and the generation after mine isn't sufficient to support their children and a number of retirees equal to the number of people in the Boomer generation at the same time.

The system would have worked fine if the retirement age had kept pace with the life expectancy.
 
The best way to minimize conflict between grandparents and the grandkids is "generation skipping" inheritance.
We got our kids started, paying their college education, and more. They don't stand to inherit much when the time comes.

Well, quite honestly, we need to go back to the ideal of the elderly living with their adult children and helping to raise their grandchildren. Let the twenty-somethings and the thirty-somethings go out and work two jobs to support their families while their parents are ensuring that their children will enjoy some continuity of cultural values.
 
The only thing that will put us on the path I believe we should be in is a huge national crisis. I am talking far greater 9/11 and close to if not much worse than the great depression. Such a change will make the New Deal look like a speck on our history, as what I have in mind would be a total reversal of what we are about and I think we would see a fundamental shift similar to the one we had over 50 years ago of what each party stands for. I personally think if something like this were to happen it will happen in the next 20 years.
 
No, but this will certainly make it more interesting to see if younger people (those under their late 50s) become a significant voting bloc.

If I ever see a dramatic movement of "don't trust anyone over 30", I will be siding with those above 30.
 
2008 demonstrated a pretty significant political chasm between those under 25 and those over 50. The baby boomers are about to retire after spending themselves and the country into massive debt. They will ask the government (and, by extension, the young) to essentially bail them out after they completely ignored the consequences of their irresponsibility for the 25+ years they were in power. And the young will have little ability to do so without bankrupting themselves, considering the state of our nation's finances.

We haven't hit a breaking point yet. Politicians are still extremely careful about how they refer to the baby boomers and the elderly when they campaign (case and point, the medicare debate). But as more and more retire and begin to get angry that they are not receiving what "they were promised," and as the young begin to get angry that they are being forced to pay for it, what do you think will happen?

My question is, given the circumstances, are we headed toward a serious generational conflict in this country? A situation where the country becomes split more by age than by political parties?

First off, you are wrong. The Baby Boomers have not been in power for that long. Secondly, it's the WWII generation that voted themselves massive social security benefits (after putting the program into place). It is entitlement programs that are bankrupting this country, and EVERY SINGLE ONE WAS PUT IN PLACE BY THE WWII GENERATION. This is a gross exaggeration and simplification of the situation.

Now then, there might be a chance of stresses between generations...however remember that one generation is the parent of the other. Children don't typically hurt their parents, which is part of the ongoing problem with entitlements.
 
I don't see my generation (under 25) making a huge deal about social security until it is near time for us to start collecting our social security checks. Much of my generation is dealing with massive education debts, a sluggish economy, the prospect of meeting a significant other/starting a family in the near future, etc. Not receiving a social security check down the road isn't high on the list of problems at the moment. Not to mention, half my generation probably doesn't even know the issues facing social security, medicare, national debt, etc....
 
I don't do well with generalizations, so me being a tail-end baby boomer who is as cheap as the day is long can't really go with your take on the boomers.
 
While we are headed on a path to a generational conflict, the problems are not insurmountable. Raising the retirement age by 5 years and instituting some means based testing would raise a ton of cash for SS. Medicare has a variety of solutions. The simplest but harshest is to stop shelling out tens or hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on terminal treatments. Such costs represent a enormous fraction of medical costs, only buy a little more life at best and tend to be miserable for the patient. Paying for treatment that simply makes the patient comfortable in their last days would be far cheaper and arguably more humane. The more complex option would be to reform the entire healthcare system. The primary advantage is that our system is by far the most bloated and expensive in the world, so there there are ton of potential savings.
 
The baby boomers may have been raised with the concept of the importance of family and duty, but I'm not sure how well they have taken it to heart. Divorce boomed with the baby boomers, the draft ended with the boomers, and they certainly don't seem very concerned about the debt (and its consequences for their children and grandchildren) . . . except to the extent it may prevent them from getting SS and medicare benefits.

From Paul Begala: The Worst Generation

I don't completely share his views, but I think this gives somewhat of a taste of how easy it would be to demonize this class of people in the future. It's something that both speaks to me and worries me a little bit.

"Let's start with the 60's"? Okay, but I was born in '58 so frankly, I don't think anybody beyond 1950 should be considered a boomer. I was 11 when the 60's ended.
 
No, but this will certainly make it more interesting to see if younger people (those under their late 50s) become a significant voting bloc.

If I ever see a dramatic movement of "don't trust anyone over 30", I will be siding with those above 30.

Smart man, because people over 30 pretty much own everything. :)
 
First off, you are wrong. The Baby Boomers have not been in power for that long. Secondly, it's the WWII generation that voted themselves massive social security benefits (after putting the program into place). It is entitlement programs that are bankrupting this country, and EVERY SINGLE ONE WAS PUT IN PLACE BY THE WWII GENERATION. This is a gross exaggeration and simplification of the situation.

Now then, there might be a chance of stresses between generations...however remember that one generation is the parent of the other. Children don't typically hurt their parents, which is part of the ongoing problem with entitlements.

Claiming that entitlement programs is the single debt creator of our country is a gross exaggeration especially when other countries have less debt that involves their much more encompassing entitlement programs. Perhaps it also has to do with our defense budget, international aid, the constant creation of more departments that are redundant (entitlement and other), and having lower taxes on average than most of the industrialized world?
 
The system would have worked fine if the retirement age had kept pace with the life expectancy.

There is a problem with simply increasing the retirement age because we are living longer. The length of old age is being extended more than the length of our productive years. This is especially true for those that do manual labor.
 
There is a problem with simply increasing the retirement age because we are living longer. The length of old age is being extended more than the length of our productive years. This is especially true for those that do manual labor.

The worst thing we have done as a society to our elders is to infer that people are no longer productive at "x" age (being 65 right now). I bet we would have a healthier elderly population if they were to remain more active instead of believing they need to put themselves out to pasture.
 
No, its a class war, not a generational war as I see it.
 
No. The old generation will die off to be replaced by the new, as is the cycle of life. The new generation will bring their values when they come to power.

It's the way of things. A war between generations would be like the right hand of the body fighting with the left. It would make no sense.
 
Well, quite honestly, we need to go back to the ideal of the elderly living with their adult children and helping to raise their grandchildren. Let the twenty-somethings and the thirty-somethings go out and work two jobs to support their families while their parents are ensuring that their children will enjoy some continuity of cultural values.

All that can be done without living with them....
I mean, I love my kids and grandkids, but LIVING WITH THEM?:shock:
No thanks....:2razz:
 
I don't do well with generalizations, so me being a tail-end baby boomer who is as cheap as the day is long can't really go with your take on the boomers.

So, you are a cheap date? My wife jokes about that, our idea of a cheap date is going to Sam's Club for the hot dog combo....:2razz:
The preferred word is frugal....for the wise among us....I have always assumed that things can fall apart at the worst possible time, and lived accordingly. Some things did fall apart, but we had multiple baskets, and more than one egg in each basket.
We have plenty of friends who were less insecure about their future, and didn't save as well, even tho they had more income than us.
A little paranoia is good, in the future/retirement income department.
 
You two may just be cheaper than me, as my idea of a good time was "Honey, can you swing through Taco Bell, and we can watch a movie when you get home?"
 
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