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Baby Boomer values: And the beat goes on
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It will be a topic for a long time: The value of the contributions Baby Boomers have made to society.
Lately, Baby Boomers like myself have been put into a position of having to defend who we are as a generation, this after a chorus of Baby Boomers stood before college graduates in May and apologized for an economic mess we are supposed to have created.
My defense of my cohorts last week generated some interesting responses from readers, including a video response (see it below) from Mike Kravinsky, who said: "I can't believe that so many Boomers feel they have to offer an apology. I take nothing away from previous of current generations, but the Boomers created a more inclusive society and ushered in the information age."
Our "Head Boomer" -- Ann Fry -- said: "As the first of the boomers (yes, born on the first day of the generation), I relish and celebrate what we've brought to the world. I'm still amazed at the young people who won't hold a door, give a seat, glued to their IPods. We, the boomers, are not the 'only' ME generation ... they're all around us."
Stewart Nusbaumer, a former Marine and current freelance writer who is currently in Afghanistan writing occasional dispatches for the Huffington Post, noted that Baby Boomers, rather than being selfish, as described by some, have indeed offered their share of sacrifice
He told the story of talking to a young Marine in Afghanistan. He said the Marine "made a sly remark about Boomers not willing to sacrifice for their country. I tapped my leg, which is an artificial, and said, 'Vietnam.' Then I asked him how many Boomers served in the military during Vietnam, he was clueless. I said, 9 million.'"
One area of disagreement will continue to be the status of President Barack Obama as a Baby Boomer, albeit late-arriving Baby Boomer since he was born 1961. The demographically accepted period of the Baby Boom generation runs from 1946 to 1964.
But there are those who insist the younger Boomers like Obama have nothing in common with their older cohorts. Obama himself has had his share of criticism of Baby Boomers and their politics.
Cindy Rafter chided me to "catch up with current thinking about generations, and join the loud chorus of experts who have pointed out that Obama is part of Generation Jones (born 1954-1965, between the Boomers and GenXers). Almost no respected experts refer to Obama as a Boomer at this point."
For his part, Kravinsky, a video blogger and professional video editor, was moved to create his video after reading stories and hearing the speeches from the various graduation speakers who apologized on behalf of Baby Boomers for what the Baby Boomers have wrought. Kravinsky called them "self-loathing Baby Boomers."
Here's his video: "Baby Boomers - No Apologies":
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