Controversial Political Opinions

[JasonBlack]

(05-21-2022, 08:39 AM)David Horn Wrote:

(05-21-2022, 12:38 AM)JasonBlack Wrote:

(05-20-2022, 04:56 PM)David Horn Wrote: Boomers are a lot of things, but a paragon of virtue is not one of them.  In fact, we're a totally bifurcated generation, split solidly between all the political and social paradigms.  The far right and far left are about equal.  The same can be said of the Born Again v. Whatever-constitutes-the-opposite.  We're not Prophets.  We're more of a bridge ... or several.  Word to all the younger generations: don't look to us for guidance.  You'll get far too much of it and it will all be conflicting.  Follow your own drummer.

I would argue there is a big difference between giving individual guidance vs societal guidance. 

With regards to the former, I've met a good number of boomers who can fill this role, but they tend to be "counter-boomer" either of two ways:
1) Being more like their Gen X next juniors: combining the no-nonsense pragmatism and resourcefulness of Gen X with the assertiveness and willing to dive into the political weeds of boomers. The boomers who are assertive while still actually listening to people should be proud of that aspect of their generation. Gen X don't have it, Millennials have a little, Gen Z, as would be expected from a generation that is both adolescent and of the Adaptive archetype....have none whatsoever.
These types are often either entrepreneurs, Vietnam vets or people who have had to rebuild their life after a serious fuck up or unfortunately event.
2) Aging gracefully into sage roles with works on history, realpolitik or finance. Where many boomers swung in the direction of rigidity in middle age, these doubled down on hyper-open mindedness and a desire to dive into and model the depths of the worlds machinations. Think Niel Howe, Robert Greene or John Mearsheimer.

In either event, they set themselves apart by having developed the more tangible side of empathy: an ability to put themselves into other's shoes, not for the sake of being a bleeding heart liberal, but for the sake of accurately understanding their circumstances so they can provide more realistic advice adapted for the situation. Even then, I do think a lot more boomers have a strong desire to help the younger generation and be a kind of Obi-Wan figure, the problem is that most of them can never get past a rhetorical, talking-point communication style that deals in broad brush strokes where a finer tip is needed. 

With regards to the latter....I'm afraid I have to agree. Boomers couldn't organize their way out of a paper bag, or screw in a light bulb without inventing some moral crusade or transformative experience. Meanwhile, millennials compulsively make up rules to follow, often organizing groups together before anyone has even decided what to do. If we compare them to families, boomers are a family passionately fighting over whether they're going out for Chinese, Italian or BBQ, while millennials are a family of compulsive "where do you want to eat?", "I dunno, where do you want to eat", "I don't know, where do you want to eat?" (Gen X just went out to eat by themselves, and Gen Z just asked their family to bring them back something because they didn't want to leave their room)

I'm not 100% in agreement here, but close enough.  We Boomers are the first generation to confront change at the pace we see today.  Some of us kept-up, others, not so much.  I'm a leading-edge Boomer, so my youth experience was linear and boring until the Civil Rights movement and the JFK murder.  After that, things began to change quickly but none of us were attuned to change.  Many missed it entirely.  Others headed for the two extremes where certainty always lies.  Vietnam was another sorting function.  Younger Boomers had different challenges and different outcomes.  In short, we had too little preparation for addressing far too much history.  Some embraced it and others tried to hide.  Ergo: we're a mess.

Our one saving grace: we're better that the Transcendentals, who were the first to flex their muscles in a changing world. In their time, the Agricultural Age ended and the Industrial Age began -- the first advance in human society in 12,000 years. They earned the right to be arrogant and both right and wrong headed. So far, we haven't triggered an outright civil war ... but give us time. We may yet!

The saving grace of boomers is that they saved the crusading of older idealist gens for battles they know they can win with few causalities. ex: I was against the war in Iraq and most of what was done in Afghanistan, but I will say this...we kicked their asses. There was no risk of a draft, and even if you felt you needed to join the military to afford school and healthcare, you had plenty of other options. The boomers gave millennials and Gen X the choices they were never given, and we should remember that.

edit: reading this again, I realize that was kind of your point haha