Boomtastrophe

The most socially responsible act that the babyboomers could perform is mass suicide. They're getting past the age where they could contribute anything to society (if they ever did) and now we're supposed to support them in their retirement.

THANK YOU for this brilliant article. The fewer boomers and boomer arrogance and boomer culture wars I see in my future, the more I look forward to it!

Bitter neo-con drivel.

Nice drawings, bitter text.
I know your generation is sick of hearing about how cool the '60s were. It must be intimidating to live under the shadow of The Beatles and all that.
So come up with a group that good and I'll be the first baby boomer to get off his high horse and kiss YOUR ass!

I know your generation is trying, but there hasn't been anything really exciting (in music) since 1986 or so, and that was retro anyway (Morlocks, Chesterfield Kings, Bangles, and maybe Nirvana a few years after that...).

Great article about the most self indulgent generation in history. Neocon drivel? half the article is a rip on Bush and neocons.

So how're you gonna change Social Security?

If you pay into something for years, you damn well expect to get the pot (no pun?) at the end of the rainbow.
Your generation isn't paying for it, the boomers already did, out of their paychecks, if they ever earned any...
If the money's not there now, it's because the government spent the money (whatever money) on something else and now they don't wanna pay the piper.. hey, a deal's a deal... no welching baby!

I don't see the current generation acting any less self indulgent, with cell-phones, i-pods, blank stares, obesity, $200 tennis shoes, 300 pot clubs, $5 lattes, cable-satellite hook-ups... do any of the new kids really know the value of the dollar?

Ever hear of elbow grease?
OK maby some of the current crop has a work ethic, but try being a little more friendly, less intimidated, less self-indulgent yourselves.

It's called "LOVE", child!

How can people born over an 18 year period be considered part of the same generation? Clearly that means some of the people born at the end are children of some of the people born at the beginning.

All this generation crap is nonsense. You are blaming and crediting a group of tens of millions of people for all kinds of things. They don't act in unison. They aren't one unit. They are individuals. No one expected a generation of people to act in unison before. This is all media driven. It gives the media a way of talking about issues.

Get over it.

To commentator #6.

Re: Social Security - "If the money's not there now it's because the government spent the money" - And which generation IS the government, as well as the the largest group of voters?

Re: Indulgence - "I don't see the current generation acting any less self indulgent, with cell-phones, i-pods, blank stares, obesity, $200 tennis shoes, 300 pot clubs, $5 lattes, cable-satellite hook-ups... do any of the new kids really know the value of the dollar?" - I'm pretty sure the booms created most of those economies. I don't about the blank stares. Do boomers make a lot of facial gestures?

Re: "Love" - "OK maby some of the current crop has a work ethic, but try being a little more friendly, less intimidated, less self-indulgent yourselves.

It's called "LOVE", child!"

As children our boom parents proved that they were good at saying we were the ones that were "harshing the mellow". And guess who became their parents when we turned teen. We grew up with AIDS (party's over), and Crack gangwars (drugs have all gone bad too!), pending nuclear war was still with us, and yet we were getting called on that it was our inability to put rosy glasses on that was the problem. The fact that you yell in caps "It's called LOVE, child!" is exactly what I'm talking about. You can't yell someone into feeling "LOVE", nor guilt trip them into it, manipulate them into it, hold them to it as a standard before you'll give any, or any other mirrors of your parent's methods, only using "LOVE" instead of "responsibility" as a measure.

Everyone has got some problems, that's why booms are criticized as hypocritical instead of criticized as having problems. Punks will admit it, booms won't. Punks are cool if they have handle their problems in a muscular way, booms are cool if they seem "perfect".

BTW I love the younger gen. I think they are fucking awesome.

I like how commentor #4 responds back with "until you have your Beatles". Ha ha ha ha ha.

Love child, diferent from the rest, ok we get it...
every generation's individual and does the opposite of the one before... twas ever thus.

At least since "The Wild Ones" Brando defined what we (were) rebelling against... "what do ya got?"

Was Lennon perfect? A proto-punk or just another over-rated baby boomer? Actually McCartney was the tough one. Looks can be deceiving.

Personality, charm, and a whole lot of facial expression, that's what the beatles had, but ok, the "blank" generation had their moments too.

As the previous commenter pointed out, the punks took responsibility for being slackers, never claimed to be perfect. They rejected love as the answer because they never got any from their parents too busy in love with themselves.

Open fire on the classroom and write a whining 26 page article on the hipocracy of the hippie yuppies who snubbed you. So the "new" style is trashing Woodstock, doing inner city junk instead of shaman substance sprouted from shite.

"Wild in the Streets", you have to check out the twist(-ed) ending of that 1968 exploitation flick where the kids who dose Congress and take over the government when the "greatest" generation (WW2 vets) are pissing themselves laughing as they lower the voting age ("Fourteen Or Fight") paving the way for the pre-MTV generation to make love in the Lincoln bedroom if you will...

and then the "now" generation discovers they're just like the old fogey squares they've replaced, when a 10 year old snears at the new boss dude, saying "18 - that's old!"

You know how the Beatles got so big? Not by being on a show like American Idol, getting voted in by millions of pay-TV subscribers.

They rode around the sticks in unheated vans, staying warm by lying one on top of the other to keep from freezing.
Working their asses off on prellies with toilet seats around (his) neck, doing 6 sets a night, for 2/3 years before finally getting a shot at publishing.

You think boomers should bow to Kurt Cobain who couldn't handle success or being an icon for a bunch of dumb asses so he had to blow his own head off?

Of course we do... we love skanky Suicide Girls, apathetic American Idles, SF Weaklings, Gay Guardians, Karo-Wack wannabes, inner city slackers, and hey kids, Beck just gets better and better!

Rejoyce!
It's gonna be a brave new world of 10+ billion ka-boomers, keeping busy blasting everybody's balls off... seee-yahhh!

Hey whiner, I am a baby boomer born in 1960 and I drive a 4 cyclinder car and ride my bike and take the bus as much as possible, I live in a 915 square foot house. (no mansion or suv for me. I see alot of young people driving suv's.

As for complaining about the current mess we are in now, young people need to take a long hard look at themselves. If I am mistaken a huge majority of them do not vote. That is a big reason we have the current tax cutting, major deficit, anti choice, war mongering president. Furthermore where are all the young people when it comes to war protesting? They are at home enjoying the fact that there is no draft. (brought to you by the baby boomers)

So get out there and show what you stand for. Yes the current state of affairs sucks. So do not blame it on one generation as we are all in it together. VOTE PROTEST and let your voice be heard.

So far the comments I have read here are way out in left field, so I'll try to make sense of it the best I can. In my mind, there hasn't been a musical act since that had as much influence on society as did The Beatles. And the only one before was Elvis Presley. Not to say that there hasn't been plenty of good music and will continue to be, but even that is off the mark.

Yes, I do think the Boomers are guilty of hyprocrisy in a lot of ways. The generation who once promoted "free love" are probably the most uptight people you'll find today. How many of them are now preaching abstinence and fighting to rid the movies of sex and violence. And giving up the smoking bans, which although I have always hated the habit, will no doubt in the long run prove to be as unworkable as was alcohol prohibition. And those that once referred to police as "pigs" are now living in gated communities complete with their own private police force. They ended up becoming most of what they ridiculed about their parents. They tended to drive an entire upscaling trend in society, and yet invoked mass layoffs at companies where the workers only sin apparently was making too much money.

How weird. Youth jealous of older people. I thionk there are some seroious self esteem problems going on.

I am not sure, but I think the author just called me a nappy headed ho!

A generation can only last as long as the previous generation can reproduce. By definition that is from about age 13 to 43. Therefore a generation could not possibly span more than 30 years at the outside. That is unless the term has been redefined and coopted to serve some undisclosed agenda, like selling us mateial things we don't need as a substitute for the freedom we don't exercise and and the liberty we fail to protect.

Was a time when journalism entailed more than regurgitation of Propaganda (marketing doublespeak). How sad that we continue to fall for the easy language that divides us along artificially constructed lines of demarcation and market manipulation. How pathetic that each generation falls prey to the same old Nietzchean siren song, "Tomorrow belongs to me!".

These tactics are highly effective in selling manufactured goods; houses, cars, clothing, etc... or what the Propagandists refer to as "lifestyles". In this faux democracy one is free to be as unique and original as one wants to be... but the only valid expression of self is through the conspicuous consumption of mass produced goods. You have to order from the menu, and generational propaganda is on the menu this season.

Now, imagine for a moment that you were free to address inequity directly, that you were free to suggest that what the symptoms that manifest as re-segregation, gross economic disparity, declining lifespans, increasing infant mortality, declining literacy, declining voter participation, the suspension of habeas corpus and the bill of rights, an endless state of war against an unidentifiable enemy (ala 1984)... imagine if you could explore this as class warfare. Then you might be able to do something other than whine, and moan, and reach for your favorite drug, and wrap yourself in self congratulatory synicism thinking that it makes you look smart. It doesn't. It makes you look smug, lazy, and stupid... Just like all of the pundits from all of the previous generations since the invention of Propaganda.

To quote Lady Day:
Rich relations give crusts of bread and such,
You can help yourself, but don't take too much...

Note: the Beatles were not Boomers...they were of the Silent Generation (born 1925-1942).
Harrison was born in 1943, so he is barely a boomer.

Take credit for Disco, the true Boomer contribution to pop culture.

Silent Generation... Are they related to the "silent majority"?

The Beatles were Silent Generation but "The Beatles" were born in the '60s, capeesh?

I remember kids (step-kin) in 1964 slightly older than me (9 yrs old) who didn't go for the Beatles at all.
They had dance parties, played AM radio and collected 45 rpm records, but they were never maniacs for anything, so never became part of any youth movement...
Technically baby boomers, yet a world apart from me.

I love the music they loved then about as much as my generation's stuff, as much as punk, as much as Beethoven, and some current things have been real good.

Music is just an example I'm using to say that that lines between generations are blurred, that the article is a joke.

People change, no one holds onto the ideals of their youth forever unless they're fanatics or something, like me!

I knew a punk rocker (Ron the Ripper of CRIME) who liked disco... if it was LOUD.

I turn 60 in August and I don't think that us Boomers are the greatest generation or did the greatest deeds in the history of mankind at all. I think us Boomers were the blue print for the slackers just as the Beatniks were the blue print for the hippies.
I think that doing your own thing was fine if it was the same as what everyone else was doing. And don't even consider that expressing your own thoughts, reading something different or liking a different group or guitarist was okay because it wasn't. Over time, I developed a great affection/appreciation for what Mickey Hart has done with percussion and drumming. The Dead? I waited for them to sing on key and tune their instruments and it never happened. Ted Nugent's comment about Jerry Garcia was right fucking on. I spent 2 years in Saigon as a REMF, one day at Woodstock and have spent the time since struggling with money problems, relationships, relocating to stay employed. That's the way it goes.
The sad thing about the current crop of presidential candidates is that president is still spelled 'o-l-d-b-o-y-n-e-t-w-o-r-k'. And that's the way it is.

I grew up watching nostalgic TV programs that flashed us all back to the Vietnam-era (remember Wonder Years and China Beach?). Then there were all those hours-long-specials about how the Boomers had done everything important there is to be done. There's the answer to why Gen-Xers are seen as slackers: we were told our parents were the greatest things since sliced bread and there was nothing much left for us to contribute to the world. And now we're supposed to pay for their healthcare (when we can't afford our own coverage) while working jobs that aren't there because crusty boomers refuse to vacate the premises and have outsourced the rest overseas. Swell.

Geez the flat out contempt hatred and stupid assumptions here. Someone's doing their best to create "damned if you do, damned if you don't". We're either too poor, or too rich. I like the very occasional disclaimers in the article that this or that isn't our fault - that's really a lame mask for outright contempt. Basically the message is why don't we just die and get the hell out of the way.

52 years old. I'm not poor but I'm certainly not rich. I don't own a 2nd house. I never voted for either Bush. I was and still am vehemently opposed to this war which is taking us over a cliff. I have never talked down to or shown contempt for the upcoming generations, indeed my 19 year old son is part of it. He is my highest hope. I personally doubt if the money in Social Security will be there but I * did * pay into it - with no consent it was withheld from numerous paycheck. The money is Social Security is a Will O' The Wisp that has been borrowed and fawked away by various entities in the gov't for their own uses. So don't worry, the boomers will get screwed. If we're vain well...we're just as human as you. I don't deserve your contempt. Youth is this very cool high - you'll discover you'll miss it and cling to it yourself once you get old. Hate us for being human? That's your problem.

Brilliant article with several passages that are both hilarious and, unfortunately, accurate. The boomers have always been convinced that they are the center of the universe. It's funny how their solutions to whatever problems they've faced have always been massively self-indulgent and self-serving - Bored? Hey, let's take shitloads of drugs...Want sex from someone different? Divorce the spouse, the kids'll understand (and fuck 'em if they don't, lover wants his/her own kids anyway)...Already got your jollies burning gas with muscle cars and Porsches? Ban the internal combustion engine! Everyone must now drive electric cars or face arrest!...

Boomers are the most destructive, self-righteous pack of assholes ever to walk the earth.

Reading the reactions of Boomers to this story, there's even more laughs than in the story itself. What a bunch of thin-skinned wusses. You had your chance as a generation and you blew it. The least you could now is shut the hell up.

I know it is sometime after this article is published, but still, I just wanted to say that this is a great piece of work.

Reading the comments I find it funny to see the boomers respond they way they did. It is an entire generation in denial.

To the boomer that claimed the Beatles: The Beatles weren't boomers and Sgt. Pepper's isn't that great. Pink Floyd's Dark side of the Moon is better and, guess what, they also aren't boomers. The music your generation made was Disco, and we all agree about the quality of that.

-ttfn

Great article, you are the small child saying that the emperor has no clothes. The Baby Boomers have had an impact on American society for sure but only their slowly fading eyesight could see their actions as in the best interest of our society, our country and the planet.

Save us from the Boomers.

Brilliant article, and very well said.
The boomer generation just cannot seem to accept aging gracefully, either....Viagra and convertible sports cars for balding, impotent, beer-bellied geezers; boob jobs, botox, and fertility drugs for dry shriveled old crones. They traded ideology for gluttony and crass consumerism, ate the world and then pissed on its bones.
Give it a rest already.

Two comments: First, this story has Boomers dead to rights. What a poor excuse for a generation. Second, why doesn't SF Weekly do more stories like this? Instead of the same long and dull stories about people no one's ever heard of and could care less about, how about more stories about topics that actually get people to react? How about it, Weekly? Try dishing up something fresh instead of being stale and stagnant... like the Boomers.

THere is a really good discussion of this topic at http://thisamericanway.blogspot.com/