User Panel
The problem did not start with the Baby Boomers and it won't end with them. It only became a pronounced problem under the Boomer generation because they are the first large, retiring populace that the programs under the New Deal and the Great Society initiated will have to now cough up for. As I understand it, the gen X and or Millenial generations will dwarf them. Then we'll see who will blame who for squandering this "fixed economic pie" you allude to, OP.
|
|
And what generation brought us 87 genders, safe spaces, gender neutral bathrooms, mansplaining, Antifa, white privilege, normalizing pedophilia, and working overtime on making America a socialist shithole?
|
|
Quoted:
I was born about halfway through the baby boom generation. This country is much wealthier now than when I was growing up. So no, boomers did not squander the wealth of the nation. What a ridiculous idea! Now, did some individual boomers squander a great deal of wealth? Yes, every generation has some that do. View Quote Illusion of wealth on the national credit card. Our standard of living is higher, our GDP is greater, and so is our debt. I don't blame boomers as a generation, but the policies of our government and corporations under the guidance of the "greatest" generation and then the boomers and subsequent through today most definitely are at fault. |
|
|
Quoted:
Eh; kinda. They didn't necessarily squander the current wealth they had in-hand, so much as build and commit to liabilities, that make it heavily burdensome on the next generation. Social Security is the big one, since they retire with something like 40 years left to live, yet get full SS and more expensive medical and pharma now. Here's what the SS% of GDP has been doing. It crept from 4.5% of the GDP in the 1980s to as high as 6% of GDP, which actually is a lot. But not as dire as people act: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v75n1/v75n1p1-chart01.gif Which doesn't look so bad, until you stop and look how the next (and current) generation's wealth generation activity is fairly substantially being diminished and diverted to pay for that, which you can see in this graph. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Payroll_tax_history.jpg/800px-Payroll_tax_history.jpg My own opinion is because we have a smaller and smaller portion of the population actually working and making wealth, so they have to pay for everyone else. And you can see how SS Disability grew, though not all of that is Baby boomer retiree's; as a substantial growth in the liability has occurred due to younger generations also all claiming disability coverage: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/chartbooks/disability_trends/chart01.gif Though the oligarchy is taking their substantial cut now too, so that they can continue that trend of fairly substantial polarization of wealth that's occurred and was (likely still is) accelerating. https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/idsoFdCI5b2s/v1/-1x-1.png It's not all bad, in many ways the average American is still wealthier than his historic counter-part. But that wealth is considerably less than it otherwise could be, when you consider the rate of wealth generation he is producing per unit hour today, compared to his predecessor. View Quote |
|
Quoted:
The only reason I still work is to fuck a younger guy out of my position. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes |
|
Quoted:
"Social Security has problems, but running out of cash isn't one of them The big question a lot of folks (especially millennials) are probably asking about Social Security, given its many problems, is this: When, exactly, will the program run out of cash? Believe it or not, the honest answer, assuming no changes to the way Social Security is funded, is never." https://www.fool.com/retirement/2018/11/09/heres-when-social-security-will-run-out-of-cash.aspx View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Don't know... we'll just have to see if the majority of Boomers stop working and paying into the system first. "Social Security has problems, but running out of cash isn't one of them The big question a lot of folks (especially millennials) are probably asking about Social Security, given its many problems, is this: When, exactly, will the program run out of cash? Believe it or not, the honest answer, assuming no changes to the way Social Security is funded, is never." https://www.fool.com/retirement/2018/11/09/heres-when-social-security-will-run-out-of-cash.aspx The Trustees project that the combined trust funds will be depleted in 2035, one year later than projected in last year’s report. Social Security’s total cost is projected to exceed its total income (including interest) in 2020 for the first time since 1982, and to remain higher throughout the remainder of the projection period. |
|
|
You heard wrong.
Read Nomi Prins' All The Presidents' Bankers. It'll tell you how it was engineered for a long time. Bubba started free trade, which allowed the jobs to be offshored on the promise that we could successfully transition to a service economy. Corporations off shored themselves to avoid taxes. We used to make everything we needed. Not now. Bubba signed the legislation to repeal Glass-Stegall. CFTC's proposal to regulate derivatives was shot down during Bubba's reign in office. Banking practices with leveraged MBS and derivatives is what blew up the banks and required the bailout in 2008. |
|
Quoted:
Boomers have raped and pillaged this country View Quote Not a single Boomer voted for LBJ and his Great Society, the programs that set us on the path to our current situation. Not a single Boomers was eligible to vote until the 1968 election. The massive expansion of the welfare state was mostly the doing of the so-called "Greatest Generation", who eagerly abandoned the principles of self-reliance they learned during the Great Depression in order to get someone else to pay for their freebies. |
|
Quoted:
I'm neither Boomer or Millennial, and I think the notion is ridiculous. If you can't get what you want out of this country it's your fault, no one else's. Only in GD can someone expect personal responsibility from others but blame all their failings/hardships on someone else. Well, maybe DU, as well. View Quote |
|
Quoted:
Wealthier? Illusion of wealth on the national credit card. Our standard of living is higher, our GDP is greater, and so is our debt. View Quote I would bring up the Ricardian Doctrine of Equivalence, but every time I do I am accused of being a 19th century philosopher-economist. |
|
Quoted:
LOL. Not a single Boomer voted for LBJ and his Great Society, the programs that set us on the path to our current situation. Not a single Boomers was eligible to vote until the 1968 election. The massive expansion of the welfare state was mostly the doing of the so-called "Greatest Generation", who eagerly abandoned the principles of self-reliance they learned during the Great Depression in order to get someone else to pay for their freebies. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
Boomers have raped and pillaged this country Not a single Boomer voted for LBJ and his Great Society, the programs that set us on the path to our current situation. Not a single Boomers was eligible to vote until the 1968 election. The massive expansion of the welfare state was mostly the doing of the so-called "Greatest Generation", who eagerly abandoned the principles of self-reliance they learned during the Great Depression in order to get someone else to pay for their freebies. |
|
We first need to agree on what constitutes a "Boomer".
Baby Boom Generation: anyone born from 1946 to 1964. Baby Bust aka Generation X: anyone born from 1965 to 1982. Millennials: Anyone born from 1983 to 2000. Keep in mind that most Boomers weren't able to vote until the 1970s, because the voting age was 21 back then. |
|
|
Some of y'all sound like the "you didn't make that" meme.
Hating someone because they have something you don't? Try to remember how gracious you were to the ones that came before, when the next generation is blaming you. |
|
View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Don't know... we'll just have to see if the majority of Boomers stop working and paying into the system first. "Social Security has problems, but running out of cash isn't one of them The big question a lot of folks (especially millennials) are probably asking about Social Security, given its many problems, is this: When, exactly, will the program run out of cash? Believe it or not, the honest answer, assuming no changes to the way Social Security is funded, is never." https://www.fool.com/retirement/2018/11/09/heres-when-social-security-will-run-out-of-cash.aspx The Trustees project that the combined trust funds will be depleted in 2035, one year later than projected in last year's report. Social Security's total cost is projected to exceed its total income (including interest) in 2020 for the first time since 1982, and to remain higher throughout the remainder of the projection period. "But that wouldn't leave Social Security bankrupt and unable to pay any benefits. Even if Congress does nothing to shore up the system by 2034, Social Security will be able to pay out 79 percent of promised benefits until 2090. The last time Social Security nearly depleted its reserves was in the early 1980s, when Congress shored up the program by gradually increasing the full retirement age from 65 to 67 and started to tax benefits based on income levels." https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/info-2016/debunking-six-more-myths-about-social-security.html |
|
Quoted:
Damn straight. You live in the most prosperous time man has ever seen and live in the Greatest nation in the world.most people posting here are probably middle class making household incomes close to $100k a year. If you can't figure out how to live below your means and save for retirement it's your own damn fault. Stop blaming others and take responsibility fore your actions! View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
I'm neither Boomer or Millennial, and I think the notion is ridiculous. If you can't get what you want out of this country it's your fault, no one else's. Only in GD can someone expect personal responsibility from others but blame all their failings/hardships on someone else. Well, maybe DU, as well. |
|
Quoted:
All I know is my parent's pension is six figures until the day they die. That is a deal that nobody from my generation will ever receive. View Quote |
|
Quoted:
Eh; kinda. They didn't necessarily squander the current wealth they had in-hand, so much as build and commit to liabilities, that make it heavily burdensome on the next generation. Social Security is the big one, since they retire with something like 40 years left to live, yet get full SS and more expensive medical and pharma now. Here's what the SS% of GDP has been doing. It crept from 4.5% of the GDP in the 1980s to as high as 6% of GDP, which actually is a lot. But not as dire as people act: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v75n1/v75n1p1-chart01.gif Which doesn't look so bad, until you stop and look how the next (and current) generation's wealth generation activity is fairly substantially being diminished and diverted to pay for that, which you can see in this graph. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Payroll_tax_history.jpg/800px-Payroll_tax_history.jpg My own opinion is because we have a smaller and smaller portion of the population actually working and making wealth, so they have to pay for everyone else. And you can see how SS Disability grew, though not all of that is Baby boomer retiree's; as a substantial growth in the liability has occurred due to younger generations also all claiming disability coverage: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/chartbooks/disability_trends/chart01.gif Though the oligarchy is taking their substantial cut now too, so that they can continue that trend of fairly substantial polarization of wealth that's occurred and was (likely still is) accelerating. https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/idsoFdCI5b2s/v1/-1x-1.png It's not all bad, in many ways the average American is still wealthier than his historic counter-part. But that wealth is considerably less than it otherwise could be, when you consider the rate of wealth generation he is producing per unit hour today, compared to his predecessor. View Quote This chart assumes all salary employees work 40hrs per week. Because, you know, all salary employees today head out at 5pm and don't do any work until they head into the office the next day at 9am. |
|
|
The Hard Timers fucked us by electing Wilson who swung the balance of WW1 and led to the rise of Hitler. Then the Greatest Generation fucked us by voting in FDR who aided and abetted his communist friends in the USSR which eventually subverted most of our educational institutions, which were able to successfully mindfucked the Boomers and most of the Millineals.
Had FDR not provided Lend Lease and other forms of aid to the USSR during WW2, the Nazis and the Soviets would have ground each other to a pulp and we could have waltzed right in and had established a free Europe and Russia, and the USSR along with their friends in DC would have never been able to subvert our country. Can't remember who said it, but we outlived the USSR in the Cold War. Unfortunately they hit one of our arteries before collapsing and now we're bleeding out as well. I'd say the US is in cataclysmic depression and full on socialism by 2024. Record Corporate Debt, Record Student loan debt, record govt debt, record deficits, record govt obligations. Our society is an interest rate hike away from failure. Let that sink in. |
|
Quoted:
Boomers kicked the can down the road, but the root cause of the socioeconomic issues we're dealing with started generations prior. I will say that most have no conception of how good they actually had it. View Quote How were people supposed to know that the gravy train was going to end? And when? I just dont get the mindset of able bodied young men not going out and getting theirs, but rather sitting idly by wishing they had what others had. Here I am working double shifts, hauling scrap, working odd jobs for cash and living pretty darn well by most peoples standards. I guess Im just fucked in the head being happy and thankful every day. |
|
Nah. They dindu nuffin.
Quoted:
The thing that always comes to mind when I read things like this is how do you ever know until the partys over? How were people supposed to know that the gravy train was going to end? And when? I just dont get the mindset of able bodied young men not going out and getting theirs, but rather sitting idly by wishing they had what others had. Here I am working double shifts, hauling scrap, working odd jobs for cash and living pretty darn well by most peoples standards. I guess Im just fucked in the head being happy and thankful every day. View Quote Many people in both groups. The bitterness comes from falling for loved ones' counsel. Boomers talked a big game about every generation having it better than their parents and buying a university certification as part of it. Millennials got medieval Chinese social dynamics instead of the American dream. No big deal in the big picture - that's what most people get - but most people are told that's what they're getting. |
|
My 2 Uncles lived to 98 and 99 and collected huge SS pensions. My mother is 92 and has less benefits because the Goverment changed the rules but she will collect another 3 years at least. I work in a Emergency Room and about 1/2 the people we serve never worked, will never work and collect as they call it "SSI". So there's a lot of blame to go around.
|
|
Quoted:
Wealthier? Illusion of wealth on the national credit card. Our standard of living is higher, our GDP is greater, and so is our debt. I don't blame boomers as a generation, but the policies of our government and corporations under the guidance of the "greatest" generation and then the boomers and subsequent through today most definitely are at fault. View Quote "Y'all had it so great" is a wonderful catchphrase, until you consider the average youngster today would refuse to live in the trailer my boomer parents lived in when I was a wee lad. "The basics" sure didn't cover a 2000 sf house with granite counter-tops, luxury import car in the driveway, and 1K electronic device in your pocket, back then. But yeah, it's all Mayo sandwiches and Goodwill outfits today. Or so I hear. |
|
Quoted:
short answer: yes... Their parents, the Greatest Generation, fought WWII. They left for France and the Pacific at 17 and 18, fought overseas for years, came home, used the GI Bill to get an education or a trade, then worked their asses off to pay off the tiny house they built. The lived depression-era living, saving a little of each paycheck and accumulating a small nest egg. Their children, the Boomers, lived in an age of plenty. They grew up, often with new schools. They went to college in a time when tuition was cheap and you actually could pay your way with a part time and/or summer job. The started work in an era when the corporate pension existed: Work 20, 25 years, retire at 55 with 60% pension. Had inexpensive health insurance. They voted themselves great government handouts and ran up a zillion in national debt. They started the "But I Want it Now" lifestyle. They spend 110% of what they earned, have nothing set aside for retirement, and are relying on someone else to care for them. They had it all: Cheap college, cheap housing, great benefits. They stand to benefit from the greatest transfer of wealth in history, as their parent die and leave them the nest egg. The children of Boomers?: Lets see. they are inheriting an essential broke country. Education is now unaffordable. Those that go to college will have massive debt. When they start work, their real wages - accounting for inflation- are considerably lower than the Boomers. They will not have a pension, instead get a 401K. Those few that do have pensions are in "tier 5" or some altered plan that requires higher contributions, longer work span, for far less benefits. When they marry and have kids, family insurance plans are far more expensive. Oh, and since the Boomers still demand more than their fair share of the pie, this generation will pay higher taxes, which are funneled directly to the Boomers. Boomers lived in a gravy age, consuming the wealth of their parents, and they are now - as a generation - going to impoverish their children and grandchildren.... View Quote Surely there is someplace better for you. Right? |
|
I have no tattoos, no rock concerts no fancy cars, no drugs, cigarettes, data plans, but i have acreage and no debt.
Just because you squander your earnings instead of investing them, don't bitch to me about your poor choices. |
|
BTW, the wars have really squandered our wealth. Don't forget all that military spending to fund them.
Aren't we $22 trillion in debt now? |
|
I think it's more a case of corrupt politicians of both parties squandering this nations wealth and passing overly restrictive laws preventing up and coming generations from grabbing a piece of the pie. What if Johnson had been shot instead of Kennedy no Great Society, or war on poverty. It wasn't us who created all these programs sucking wealth out of the productive elements of society. What if greedy socialist unions never killed off the goose that laid the golden egg, or we had gotten sucked into pointless wars? Thing is, most of us just happened to be born at the right time in history. You got a gripe? Go take it up with your political master.
|
|
Quoted:
short answer: yes... Their parents, the Greatest Generation, fought WWII. They left for France and the Pacific at 17 and 18, fought overseas for years, came home, used the GI Bill to get an education or a trade, then worked their asses off to pay off the tiny house they built. The lived depression-era living, saving a little of each paycheck and accumulating a small nest egg. View Quote Then they came home and built a comfortable Welfare State for them to retire in and passed on the bill to their kids and grandkids. Social Security? It was on the books before the first Boomer was even a drunken celebration grope after WWII ended. Medicare? Passed in 1965, before the Boomers were even eligible to vote. Medicaid? Passed as part of the same bill. Food stamps? Passed in 1964. The Immigration and Nationality Act, the main source of our current immigration nightmare? Passed in 1965. Even the Viet Nam War was a result of Greatest Generation senior officers trying to fight Nazis in Western Europe instead of guerillas in Southeast Asia. And a Greatest Generation CinC who tried to make the war cheap and easy so it wouldn't threaten his pet programs. Much of our current fiscal problems were baked into the cake long before the Boomers even thought about retirement. And it was the Greatest Generation who did the baking. |
|
Quoted:
Yep, anyone can end up wealthy but most refuse to do it. View Quote Then read posts from able bodied folks born here, with a functional family/support structure, who claim they can't manage to do that. Color me skeptical. |
|
|
Quoted:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/rbkV6JLYUN7xfnd35T06it-It0qMfMn3Guybb1n7EcJxBLOVVY70Q-XitIkjSXGNAmST6nWsb-BtUT_3-1yFm_pogu9KK6sXiweeKb-AtXUDo1D_ub7jDgQxIlYRq5uCUg=s412 , , , , , , , , Lets say this fantasy were true, have you fucked up so bad as their child that they will spend it all and you'll get no inheritance? Or just not enough? Thats not a good look. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
All I know is my parent's pension is six figures until the day they die. That is a deal that nobody from my generation will ever receive. , , , , , , , , Lets say this fantasy were true, have you fucked up so bad as their child that they will spend it all and you'll get no inheritance? Or just not enough? Thats not a good look. |
|
People from all generations have had a hand in the destruction of our way of life.
Trying to blame one generation for the evils in our country is beyond stupid. The generational blame game is another tactic by the Left to divide people into warring tribes. |
|
Quoted:
LBJ, and the rest of Congress that voted in the Great Society, Not Boomers, FDR, and Congress that voted in Social Security, Not Boomers. President Nixon and the Congress that took us off the Gold Standard and let the dollar free float......not Boomers. View Quote It was their generation that was in charge of the unions and the City and State governments when all this stuff was put into play and if we were lucky we caught the tail end of it. |
|
|
|
Get back to work you twinks. I retired years ago, and when I hit SS age, there better be some SS $ left. If not, my beer and ammo budget may take a hit.
|
|
Quoted:
We first need to agree on what constitutes a "Boomer". Baby Boom Generation: anyone born from 1946 to 1964. Baby Bust aka Generation X: anyone born from Millennials: Anyone born from 1983 to 2000. Keep in mind that most Boomers weren't able to vote until the 1970s, because the voting age was 21 back then. View Quote Period: 1961 – 1981 |
|
Quoted:
indeed we are the 20th and 21st century version of the mongol horde.. https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/field/image/Subutai.jpg View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
Boomers have raped and pillaged this country https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/field/image/Subutai.jpg |
|
Quoted:
And all of their frustrations come beating on your door..... View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes |
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.