SkinsHokieFan Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/11/05/baby-boomers-are-whats-wrong-with-americas-economy/?hpid=hp_rhp-more-top-stories_no-name%3Ahomepage%2Fstory If anyone deserves to pay more to shore up the federal safety net, either through higher taxes or lower benefits, it’s boomers — the generation that was born into some of the strongest job growth in the history of America, gobbled up the best parts, and left its children and grandchildren with some bones to pick through and a big bill to pay. Politicians shouldn’t be talking about holding that generation harmless. They should be asking how future workers can claw back some of the spoils that the “Me Generation” hoarded for itself. Link for rest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor703 Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 So what exactly were the boomers supposed to do? Not get jobs or only take crappy ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TradeTheBeal! Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 The Boomers are vain and ravenous. Take a look at the Disco era...that's still pretty much them in a nutshell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted November 6, 2015 Author Share Posted November 6, 2015 So what exactly were the boomers supposed to do? Not get jobs or only take crappy ones? The article goes into what they did do, as opposed to what they could have done to secure a better future for the next few generations. Now the boomers can pay up. Either with cuts to the benefits they get (obvious solution), or paying a bit more in taxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popeman38 Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 So what exactly were the boomers supposed to do? Not get jobs or only take crappy ones? No, they were not supposed to rig the system to benefit themselves at the expense of future generations. Of course, they learned it from "the greatest generation" who returned from WWII and pilfered the system for their benefit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 I refuse to place the blame squarely at the feet of an entire generation of people when it's really a matter of the system being increasingly rigged in favor of business. -In the past 40 years, we've moved away from the nice progressive tax code that we had and toward one that consistently favors wealthy and investors (at the expense of our budget deficit, because these tax cuts are never paid for) -big business has been brutally efficient in killing off labor unions. Is it any surprise that wages have stagnated while efficiencies (and profits) have skyrocketed? -We let banks and big business get involved in, and control, higher education. Is it any surprise that college education is increasingly difficult to pay for, and the student loan debt problem has become a massive burden on the middle class? -We let businesses directly fund elections. Is it any surprise that we have some of the weakest worker protections, social programs, etc, in the developed world? We don't even have paid ****ing maternity leave for ****s sake. Welcome to the American Oligarchy. Most of us haven't figured it out yet, but we're all totally ****ed. It will take generations to undo the economic damage of the past 40 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreatBuzz Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 I blame them for creating the generation of ****heads that think they are entitled to everything that we have today. Is that okay to say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chew Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Now the boomers can pay up. Either with cuts to the benefits they get (obvious solution), or paying a bit more in taxes. Good luck with that, and I'm not trying to sound like a smartass lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Blame the old people and cut their benefits! That is the perfect mantra for the younger generations that believe old people are barely worth calling a few times a year. No ones gotten it right. When someone figures out how to shrink the wage gap and stop incentivizing the shipping of jobs over seas maybe we an start pointing fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Now the boomers can pay up. Either with cuts to the benefits they get (obvious solution), or paying a bit more in taxes. We are the ones working and paying taxes , we need these youngsters to get a job. (a good paying one, I got needs) This Pyramid scheme is in need of slaves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 So what exactly were the boomers supposed to do? Not get jobs or only take crappy ones? Pay down the deficit during prosperous times? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Blame the old people and cut their benefits! That is the perfect mantra for the younger generations that believe old people are barely worth calling a few times a year. It would also be pretty funny since we complain that younger generations pay no respect to older ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Expanding on my earlier post, if you want to know whose fault it is, look to white southerners. That voter block has allowed themselves to be so manipulated by racial divisions and social distractions over the past few decades that they have sold themselves out and actively vote against their economic interests. Look very specifically at West Virginia as a case study. That used to be the strongest union state in the country... Nixon's southern strategy has been brutally effective and still is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreatBuzz Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 if you want to know whose fault it is, look to white southerners. It amazes me how generalizations like this can be made. If one were to instead say problem X is "the fault of inner city blacks" they would end up in the Klan thread. Statements like this just make me discount other things you say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 So what exactly were the boomers supposed to do? Not get jobs or only take crappy ones? I guess choose not to be born (my parents). How can they help it if the WW2 generation came back horny as hell (my grandparents) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 It amazes me how generalizations like this can be made. If one were to instead say problem X is "the fault of inner city blacks" they would end up in the Klan thread. Statements like this just make me discount other things you say.Well the article claimed "the baby boom generation" so I figure "white southerners" actually narrowed it down a lot. So how about "white southerners who vote against their economic interests because of distraction issues like race, religion, guns, etc.." Does that work better? Geez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreatBuzz Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 .." Does that work better? Geez. Not really. But I've also learned that trying to change most people's mind is a waste of my finger muscles. And your statement isn't really what the thread is about so I won't derail it anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Excuses Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Blame the old people and cut their benefits! That is the perfect mantra for the younger generations that believe old people are barely worth calling a few times a year. We (the younger generation) certainly didn't vote in majority for war hungry politicians whose priority was to expand the military industrial complex. Or vote for politicians who rigged the tax system to benefit a very small few. Or for politicians who promised to dismantle labor unions and allowed wages or worker benefits to stagnate. Did we also knowingly elect politicians who promised to deregulate the financial sector? Did we also then go balls deep into loans we couldn't afford to take out, which eventually crashed the economy? It's not a perfect mantra. It's reality. Us millennials have had the system stacked against the moment we left high school, starting with massive inflation in higher education costs. My undergrad institution used to cost 8K a year in the early 90s. During my time there in the late 2000s, it had ballooned to 50K (thank god for the rich kids whose parents ponied up full tuition costs and subsidized it for us not so rich kids). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistertim Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 So what exactly were the boomers supposed to do? Not get jobs or only take crappy ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Not really. But I've also learned that trying to change most people's mind is a waste of my finger muscles. And your statement isn't really what the thread is about so I won't derail it anymore. It's actually EXACTLY what this thread is about. The fact that a generation of Americans allowed themselves to be sold out to big business, anti-labor interests, and now the country is totally screwed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreatBuzz Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 It's actually EXACTLY what this thread is about. The fact that a generation of Americans allowed themselves to be sold out to big business, anti-labor interests, and now the country is totally screwed. I actually meant making general statements about a certain race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Never considered West Virginia as "Southern". Hmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Somewhere along the line, along with ideals like compromise, the word Union became a bad word. And capitalism is suddenly untouchable. I don't know if that's my father's fault, but that's what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchogs Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 shoring up social security isn't all that difficult. raise the income cap that is taxed for SS from $118,000 to something like $300,000 and the system is solvent in the short term (for boomers) and extremely stable for future generations. none of this "work until you're 70" crap for the middle and lower class gen x'ers and millennials. sorry, rich guys, but your retirement nut (age of retirement and/or quality of life during retirement) ain't going to be affected significantly anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Never considered West Virginia as "Southern". Hmm. Absolutely. It's also about 16% whiter than the average US State (93% white vs 77% average). I believe it also has the oldest median population now, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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