The difference between baby boomers and pre-boomers…
Like everyone else, boomers have been taught that the earth revolves around the sun. But, somehow, their generation tends to think the earth revolves around them.
The “me generation” grew up with television, which brought the world into the boomers’ living rooms. The medium served as parent, teacher and babysitter; and, therefore, shaped their views from an early age — not from a family perspective, but from outsiders. Unfortunately some of these views were often distortions of reality. The home life depicted on most TV shows bore little resemblance to what went on in most families, the Vietnam War appeared every night on the flickering screens around the country, assignations, protests, Watergate and other images bombarded their young minds. This, undoubtedly, added to the confusion and cynicism of boomer generation.
On top of this, the felt guilt; because so many boomers had received so much in terms of material things, while others had so little. The confluence of events of the times set the scene for the perfect storm of emotional upheaval. Their thinking resulted in the notion that all the wrongs were the fault of those older than they, thus the phrase, “don’t trust anyone over thirty.” Of course, not every boomer was a radical, but there was enough support for their being the special ones that television looked at this generation as news. Aided by this celebrity and their shear weight in numbers, the boomers gained unprecedented power. Therefore, boomers came to believe they were the solution to all perceived problems, which they blamed on by past generations. Their self-centered, narcissism was a badge many wore with pride. Could much of the blame for today’s financial and social problems be attributed to the free-spending, if it feels good do it, don’t worry about tomorrow, boomer generation?
On the other hand, those who preceded the boomers respected tradition, believed in team work, but had a sense of individualism. I have dubbed pre-boomers as the “can-do generation,” because we believed this country was great and could make a contribution – even change – by working within the system and pulling together to make this nation better for us as well as others. This does not mean pre-boomers didn’t color outside the lines or break a few rules along the way; we just went about it with a more positive attitude and fewer personal demands. For example: rock and roll is the music of our generation — a cultural change if there ever was one; and we contributed mightily to the longest period of peace-time prosperity in the history of this country.
The above comparisons might be considered the opening round for this debate. There are many examples of the differences between these two generations that are so close in many ways, yet so far apart in basic philosophy and the way we go about accomplishing our goals. Let’s hear what you have to say.
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