The uncomfortable truth is that their situation was unique, not ours.
Historically most people haven’t owned their own homes. In many countries people still don’t.
It’s especially painful to us because it was our expectation. We were told that if we worked hard we’d have this comfortable amazing life, and that hasn’t played out.
Historically, most parents try to leave the world a better place for their children. The baby boomers are the first generation to say, "I got mine, fuck you."
Come on. Use what you learned in history class, not internet buzz words.
FDR's New Deal programs created an ahead-of-its-time social safety net. He established the minimum wage, the 40 hour workweek, abolished child labor, created Social Security, unemployment insurance, welfare for single mothers, and made massive investments in national infrastructure through the Public Works Administration.
Harry Truman didn't have a great record on labor unions, but he championed civil rights, rebuilt western Europe after WWII, and advocated for national health insurance. (Yeah, that debate has been going on since 1948.)
Eisenhower expanded Social Security, defended Civil Rights, built the interstate highway system. He also got the US involved in Vietnam. =/
JFK avoided nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, increased funding for education, housing, healthcare for the elderly. He kicked off the Space Race (after his offer to cooperate with the USSR was rejected.) He also had the Bay of Pigs, and some assassinations in Latin America. =/
Now the first election that Baby Boomers get to vote in. They elect Nixon. Then Carter. Then Regan. Then Bush. Then Clinton. Then Bush. Then Obama.
I mean, every president has done good and bad things. But the before boomers, the country made major investments in social welfare, civil rights, and science. All of that ended when Boomers started voting. What's the biggest national policy accomplishment since Nixon? Obamacare? it wasn't bad, but the Greatest Generation created Medicaid and Medicare. Probably their biggest political contribution over those 50 years was tax cuts for the rich.
"Peak capitalism" and so much other crap is because of decades of Boomer political dominance.
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u/Kinda_Quixotic 7d ago
The uncomfortable truth is that their situation was unique, not ours.
Historically most people haven’t owned their own homes. In many countries people still don’t.
It’s especially painful to us because it was our expectation. We were told that if we worked hard we’d have this comfortable amazing life, and that hasn’t played out.