In Obama, many see an end to the baby boomer era

[stephanie]

:rolleyes:I don't know if I should laugh or cry..:laugh2:

January 11, 2009

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK---- When George W. Bush lifts off in his helicopter on Inauguration Day, leaving Washington to make way for Barack Obama, he may not be the only thing disappearing into the horizon.

To a number of social analysts, historians, bloggers and ordinary Americans, Jan. 20 will symbolize the passing of an entire generation: the baby boomer years.

Generational change. A passing of the torch. The terms have been thrown around with frequency as the moment nears for Obama to take the oath of office. And yet the reference is not to Obama's relatively young age -- at 47, he's only tied for fifth place on the youngest presidents list with Grover Cleveland.

Rather, it's a sense that a cultural era is ending, one dominated by the boomers, many of whom came of age in the '60s and experienced the bitter divisions caused by the Vietnam War and the protests against it, the civil rights struggle, social change, sexual freedoms, and more.

Those experiences, the theory goes, led boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, to become deeply motivated by ideology and mired in decades-old conflicts. And Obama? He's an example of a new pragmatism: idealistic but realistic, post-partisan, unthreatened by dissent, eager and able to come up with new ways to solve problems.

"Obama is one of those people who was raised post-Vietnam and really came of age in the '80s," says Steven Cohen, professor of public administration at Columbia University. "It's a huge generational change, and a new kind of politics. He's trying to be a problem-solver by not getting wrapped up in the right-left ideology underlying them."


read it all and comments.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1372376,w-obama-baby-boomer-era-011109.article

[Little-Acorn]

And Obama? He's an example of a new pragmatism: idealistic but realistic, post-partisan, unthreatened by dissent, eager and able to come up with new ways to solve problems.


He's also an example of an old attitude: The idea that if only government can step in enough, take over enough, influence enough, and control enough, things will get better... and the high price govt charges for its "services", won't matter. And the other part of that attitude, is the fact that he and his acolytes are ignoring the countless times his "ideas" have already been tried, and how they have failed virtually every time. No, we just haven't tried them ENOUGH, is the mantra... but now we will.

Obama may be new. But what he is pushing, is old, tired, and worn out. Obama is just too new to be aware of it... or possibly, too new to want to accept the hard experience of the past, or the hard truth it offers.

Those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it.

[stephanie]

I believe Obama and the Democrats know EXACTLY what their doing(with the Rhinos help).

as soon as he takes office, they are going to sock it to us full steam ahead, to install all their socialist ideas, one way or another, for complete POWER. just look at the people he has put in his administration...hard core Socialist, Communist, environmentalist(who are really just communist)..

we boomers as they like to call us, are going to be in for the fight of our and our children's lives..

just my 2cnts...

[Kathianne]

:rolleyes:I don't know if I should laugh or cry..:laugh2:

January 11, 2009

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK---- When George W. Bush lifts off in his helicopter on Inauguration Day, leaving Washington to make way for Barack Obama, he may not be the only thing disappearing into the horizon.

To a number of social analysts, historians, bloggers and ordinary Americans, Jan. 20 will symbolize the passing of an entire generation: the baby boomer years.

Generational change. A passing of the torch. The terms have been thrown around with frequency as the moment nears for Obama to take the oath of office. And yet the reference is not to Obama's relatively young age -- at 47, he's only tied for fifth place on the youngest presidents list with Grover Cleveland.

Rather, it's a sense that a cultural era is ending, one dominated by the boomers, many of whom came of age in the '60s and experienced the bitter divisions caused by the Vietnam War and the protests against it, the civil rights struggle, social change, sexual freedoms, and more.

Those experiences, the theory goes, led boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, to become deeply motivated by ideology and mired in decades-old conflicts. And Obama? He's an example of a new pragmatism: idealistic but realistic, post-partisan, unthreatened by dissent, eager and able to come up with new ways to solve problems.

"Obama is one of those people who was raised post-Vietnam and really came of age in the '80s," says Steven Cohen, professor of public administration at Columbia University. "It's a huge generational change, and a new kind of politics. He's trying to be a problem-solver by not getting wrapped up in the right-left ideology underlying them."


read it all and comments.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1372376,w-obama-baby-boomer-era-011109.article
LOL! Obama was born in 60, making him a boomer! :rolleyes: Stupid reporter!

[PostmodernProphet]

I'm not sure if it is identical to "boomer" or not, but I see Obama as a throwback to modernism, rather than a postmodern president.....

Postmodernism was growing in control over modernism in the 20s.....prohibition had made government unpopular, the War to End All Wars hadn't ended war, the ship that even God couldn't sink had sunk and Mankind was losing favor to mankind.....then the Depression hit and Roosevelt and Big Government bailed the country out.....that, combined with the war effort strengthened modernism so that it carried through to the 60s.....Obama wants to rebuild America with another Roosevelt era of Big Government, definitely a modernist approach......

[namvet]

im a boomer. but i retired early. the gov had moved the retirement age to 72 to keep them in there to continue the tax base and make $$$$$$$$ but many now are leaving work.
will your generation take up the slack??? we boomers were the biggest in history. but we've done our time. time for us to go.

[Nukeman]

LOL! Obama was born in 60, making him a boomer! :rolleyes: Stupid reporter!
I thought he was born in 1964????

[Little-Acorn]

I'm not sure if it is identical to "boomer" or not, but I see Obama as a throwback to modernism, rather than a postmodern president.....

Postmodernism was growing in control over modernism in the 20s.....prohibition had made government unpopular, the War to End All Wars hadn't ended war, the ship that even God couldn't sink had sunk and Mankind was losing favor to mankind.....
I can see why you boast of using "confusion as a tool" in your avatar above.


then the Depression hit and Roosevelt and Big Government bailed the country out.....
Rossevelt did some things that helped bail us out of the Great Depression... but he didn't do them for many years after taking office in 1933. Before then, he did a great many other things... and they made the Depression far worse. He imposed huge government regulation, price fixes and wage fixes, and generally paralyzed economic activity, caliming this would "help". So business slifd down hill, less and less money circulated, more banks closed, and a "second Depression" occurred in 1937, four years after Roosevelt started "fixing" things. He finally decided that only massive spending would help things - which was true, unfortunately he had prevented the private sector from doing that spending. So he started huge deficit spending by the government instead, with much of it directed toward a defense buildup for the US and other countries (see Lend-Lease). The massive spending got money flowing and created jobs, at the expense of massive taxes during the war and huge inflation after, to pay for much of it.

Vague, ill-defined buzzwords like Moderinsm and Postmodernism sound impressive, but actually mean very little. In a Depression, people are afraid to spend money, invest money, etc. Willy-nilly government programs to restrict this, change that etc. heighten that fear and make things worse, as Roosevelt vividly demonstrated. It's not until they lose that fear (usually good examples of spending and investment are needed), that they get going again. Government can fake it, and that sometimes works.

But when government CREATED the depression or recession (as they did for the present one today), the best they can do is get out of the way and let actual people pick up the pieces and get things going again.

Alas, that's the last thing this coming administration plans to do.

[Kathianne]

I thought he was born in 1964????

Nope, 60 0r 61. Anyone born between 1947-1964 is generally considered a boomer. Some put as high as 67, I tend to disagree.

[Little-Acorn]

He was born Aug. 4, 1961. Two years after his birthplace became a state.

BTW, today is Rush Limbaugh's birthday. Happy 58th........

[manu1959]

He was born Aug. 4, 1961. Two years after his birthplace became a state.

BTW, today is Rush Limbaugh's birthday. Happy 58th........

we annexed kenya......................damn where have i been..........

[Abbey Marie]

Nope, 60 0r 61. Anyone born between 1947-1964 is generally considered a boomer. Some put as high as 67, I tend to disagree.

I guess blackness, even semi-blackness, trumps birthdate. :rolleyes:

[PostmodernProphet]

Vague, ill-defined buzzwords like Moderinsm and Postmodernism sound impressive, but actually mean very little.
I'm sorry if they confuse you....you can argue all you want about the real results or cause of the recovery, but the simple truth is that the result, coming out of the 40s was a recovery of Big Government.....which continued until the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement and Watergate caused a major collapse of confidence in the government.....

[Kathianne]

I guess blackness, even semi-blackness, trumps birthdate. :rolleyes:

Indeed:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005067.html

Birthrates, US.

[namvet]

I'm sorry if they confuse you....you can argue all you want about the real results or cause of the recovery, but the simple truth is that the result, coming out of the 40s was a recovery of Big Government.....which continued until the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement and Watergate caused a major collapse of confidence in the government.....

Vietnam and watergate almost stated another civil war. we never came so close.

[Little-Acorn]

coming out of the 40s was a recovery of Big Government......

Yep, you and I agree here, as I said.

Problem is, if Big Government HADN'T tried to "help", the country would have come out of the Depression in the 30s instead. It would have taken a few years, instead of the 15+ the government stretched it into.

As it did with nearly every other Recession or Panic etc. before that one.

[PostmodernProphet]

Problem is, if Big Government HADN'T tried to "help", the country would have come out of the Depression in the 30s instead. It would have taken a few years, instead of the 15+ the government stretched it into.

Irrelevant to my point, which is about the perspective of Obama, not about reality......