A Moment in Time

A Moment in Time
Action expresses priorities.
Mohandas K. Gandhi

The other day I read a blurb in the news about Diet Coke becoming the second leading soft drink brand in the world behind only Coke.  The snippet of information went on to speculate that it was a result of the Baby Boomers becoming more weight conscious in our older age and switching.  That made sense but then I started thinking about how the Baby Boomers get blamed for everything and I decided to make a small stand for all us Boomers who have been reviled for one thing or another ever since we became old enough to make noise.

There was that “free love” thing that had everyone talking.  I’m uncertain exactly where that came from but it wasn’t from me.  I am suspicious that the rumors of that were way overblown but publicized better because of more television.  The pill did relieve the girls of some anxiety but I can’t attest to there being any more love than usual.  Free or otherwise.  I am of the opinion that if people want to express themselves in such a manner they will find a way to do so.

I suppose there was more pot and some other drugs.  Pot had always been kind of a beat thing but it looks like one of those things were demand drove supply.  Kind of like it is now.  Without demand supply dries up.  Simple capitalism.  People where I was would hear of LSD from time to time but it rarely showed up.  A lot of people don’t know it but the first LSD came from government labs that were testing it on soldiers and other unwitting subjects.  Some of them developed an appreciation of the stuff.  But when you look at the Boomers today I dare say there is no more use of those substances than in any other demographic.  Alcohol was then and still is the most abused drug in the world.

The Boomers were brought up to believe that in a society such as ours that one could rise to whatever station he or she aspired to.  I’m not sure that is true any more.  We were taught by our parents that our opinion was as important as any other but not more important.  Some of us were more insistent on getting someone to pay attention to our opinion than others were.  Some were not insistent enough.  Some of us saw injustice in how minorities were being treated and demanded that our country live up to its promise.  Some didn’t.  Women realized that they were not being paid as much nor being listened to as much as they would if they were men.  Of course, they had known that for quite some time but could not find many allies in their cause.  They found some allies in the Boomers.  On the other hand, many Boomers were content to not rock the boat and leave things just as they were.

What I think the Boomers did was hold a mirror up to America and ask whether or not we liked what we saw.  The Boomers made it difficult to sweep under the rug because we did rock the boat.  And it didn’t take a few days for the newspapers to publish it because the TV cameras were right there and Walter had it on the evening news.

What I mean to say is things change and if they don’t then they should.  The Boomers just shouted it out.  Some of us had staying power and others didn’t.  The Boomers are much like most other generations in that regard.  Youth is insistent and refuses to wait.  Just evidence the turmoil and upset in the Arab nations.  It is the youth that are in the vanguard not realizing they their cause is nigh impossible.  To youth, all things are possible and that is a wonderful thing.  It is now the responsibility of the Boomers to try to show that exuberance can be tempered with wisdom but not extinguished.  We haven’t been as good as I would like with that.

The Boomers were many of the things people say we were.  And many weren’t.  We were the largest generation America had ever produced and at a time when there was much to be changed.  We tried with some success and some failure.  But we tried and we are still trying.  Some of us.

The Boomers are getting ready to retire and we are going to bankrupt the nation with our huge numbers requiring health care and a Social Security check.  No matter that we have been paying into it for all of our working lives. For those who weren’t there I will point out that we are not the ones who started that.  Social Security became law in 1936 while our parents were not even thinking about making Boomers.  Social Security was instituted by our grandparents many of whom were born in the previous century, lived through the gilded age, World War I, the stock market crash and the Great Depression.  Their children fought World War II and then made us.  They liked it so much that they instituted Medicare.  Our parents are often called “The Greatest Generation” and deservedly so.  The point is that they did not lack compassion for the less fortunate and agreed that a just society shared its wealth more equitably.  We have forgotten that.

That’s my take on the Boomers.  Some of you Boomers will see yourself here and some won’t.  We are all still Boomers.