While I agree on almost everything you wrote there was one glaring omission.

One thing you failed to mention was that many/most of those loans given to “poor” people were forced by the policies passed during the Clinton Administration. These policies forced many banks to make loans to people who the banks knew would/could not be able to re-pay these loans. The government said it was discriminatory for the banks to turn down these people who could not afford it, and the government warned them they would shut them down if they continued to turn down “poor” people for their inability to pay.

The shallowest generation was the postwar generation, not the baby boomers. People who are 75 now, not 55. People too young for WW2 but too old for Vietnam.

They’ve had everything handed to them from Day One right up to the present–and it continues to this day. They had easy access to good-paying jobs, careers, cheap home financing, new car almost every year, and welfare opportunities like the now-defunct Mineral Lands Lease Lottery which my own parents still rake in about $10k/month off of but which I cannot participate in because the program is long defunct.

At least baby boomers had to cope with an illegal war followed by decades of economic and cultural stagnation overseen and directly caused by their elders from the true shallowest generation.

But you: you simply want to bash a certain generation for personal reasons, and there is nothing else to what you are saying.

I have heard your type of generation-bashing nonsense before, and many times. And it is just that: nonsense.

And in fact I consider it to be traitorous nonsense intended like the many other similar screeds to break down the fabric of this nation and its society.

I suggest you leave the USA and do not come back.

Sincerely,

Tom Lowe USA

“Past U.S. generations invented the airplane; invented the automobile; discovered penicillin; and built the Interstate highway system. The Baby Boom generation has invented credit default swaps; mortgage backed securities; the fast food drive thru window; discovered the cure for erectile dysfunction; and built bridges to nowhere. No wonder we’re in so much trouble.

This completely ignores developments like the personal computer revolution, the Internet, modern telecommunications, satellite technology, space exploration, advances in biotechnology, dramatic reductions in global poverty, etc, etc. I’m sure I’m forgetting some, but you get the idea.

You would have done well to acknowledge that the reality of the situation is more nuanced than the picture you attempts to paint.

The culture of debt in the US is no accident. It was mandated long ago by by contributions (bribes) to our law-makers by those who would benefit most. Debt in this Country is written into the tax code and discourages anyone who actually pays cash for anything. Well, we have gotten exactly what our wonderful law-makers desired.

I would also love to know which law-makers wrote the laws that paid tax credits to U.S. corporations that exported our jobs to other countries and subsequently laid-off literally millions of tax-paying Americans. Those bastard should be shotfor treason and deported to the country they colluded with.

So, you see. It is all our fault. We got exactly what we asked for. WE are our own worst enemy. And as a result, we have done serious damage to ourselves and our Nation. Damge, that no terrorist or Country could ever do. I have never seen a Country with such intelligence, education, greed and ultimate stupidity. We should quit blaming someone else. It is our own greed and corruption (Yes, corruption!) that has got us to this point.

The thing that will piss me off the worst is the words I can already hear about the lack of Social Security funds for retiring Americans who have been paying into this financial mirage all their lives. Don’t tell me about the 3 workers for 1 retiree crap. The money paid in was never invested in a damn thing! It was stolen and replaced with another fucking IOU. This hood-winking shit has got to stop. If people in areas of financial responsibility are unable to adhere to rules of honesty and integrity, then they should be held accountable in one of our worst penal institutions.

You see, we are our own worst enemy! The enemy is among us!!

I agree with Kunstler that most Americans had better get a new “Dream” and fast !

“To be more precise, I think he might have stated that the leadership produced by the baby boomer generation has been amongst the worst in American history. ”

Lee Iacocca understands it, as detailed in his book, “Where Have All The Leaders Gone?” I don’t believe the message from the pre-baby boomer generations got through to the BB’s because there was no experience associated with the warnings.

The Baby Boomers are now seeing the Ponzi Scheme/Trust Based system that is the U.S. unravel in front of their very eyes. It is no coincidence that the stock market, via mutual funds and Peter Lynch, home prices, via second and third home purchases, all saw significant rallies as the Baby boomers were in their late 30′s and 40′ and early 50′s…..the mindless money flow into these assets was SIGNIFICANT…the panic selling of these same assets has been SIGNIFICANT. This selloff in assets will continue as the most selfish and self centered generation “tries” to retire and realizes they need to get back to work.

- AT

JHM — Although one of your comments deals with the overall technological progress over the past few decades, which I agree has been considerable, I have seen similar more narrowly focused comments time and time again, with the gist that income disparity shouldn’t matter, as either technological gains, or outsourcing, continually make many products cheaper. These comments almost always invariably refer to how personal electronic devices are now everywhere.

Having a cheap cell phone, or laptop, or some other electronic gadget does not balance out spending always increasing percentages of income on housing, food, utilities, and education, or servicing debt, or the fact that many jobs have left the United States and are not coming back. Being able to watch movies on a 52” widescreen doesn’t do me much good when I am unemployed, or underemployed. (Of course, the TV would be bought on credit).

As far as the academic qualifications of today’s students go, academia doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Education doesn’t end once outside the university campus. Mentoring and developing employees (hopefully to become competent leaders) is lot of hard work, much of which isn’t and shouldn’t be the job of professors, but the job of supervisors or managers. “Those how can’t do, teach.” Well, those who “do” have to teach also. Of course, most large businesses pay lip service to improving the skill set and quality of employees, but from what I’ve seen, could not care less in actual practice. That is pure leadership failure on a business and social level.

This was not a foregone conclusion 30 years ago. It was also not the result of some unstoppable social or economic evolution. It was a conscious choice of the government and business leaders of this country. I would call them idiotic, but that is definitely not the case. Merely sickeningly selfish.