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On The End of the 00s: How To Lose Your Idealism In Under Ten Years, by Natasha Vargas-Cooper

i knew you had no sense of humor. thanks for confirming that.

Posted on December 30, 2009 at 8:14 pm 0

On The End of the 00s: How To Lose Your Idealism In Under Ten Years, by Natasha Vargas-Cooper

And, btw, most of the people watching the Baby Boomer TV shows were the children of Baby Boomers, curious about their parents and how they grew up. Now I'm done.

Posted on December 30, 2009 at 12:46 pm 0

On The End of the 00s: How To Lose Your Idealism In Under Ten Years, by Natasha Vargas-Cooper

Allow me state my bias way up front. I am 63 years old (this makes me one of the first of the baby boomer generation - literally). I think "my" generation did a great many good things - the civil rights struggle (which began long before i was born),the rise of feminism, the drive for participation and openness in government (a pompous phrase for the expansion of democracy). "We" also did some awful things - our treatment of returning soldiers during the Vietnam War is probably the most egregious. Having said that, here's my problem: when you talk about Boomers you are talking about people born between 1946 and 1964...Now,even if you want to shorten the span, that's a hell of a lot of people So collective guilt may not the most constructive way to go. (And, btw, divide and conquer works quite nicely for the capitalist, statist rulers of this country). But to talk about such a huge number of people in mind-numbing cliches is really beyond belief. It's about as smart as saying "I hate Jews," "I hate blacks," "I hate Catholics," or "I hate people with hyphenated last names" -- which i do btw since that says to me that you are a person who can't decide who you are so you hang on to two identities, or you just want to sound more European. I can't decide which is worse. Whatever. There are real problems in this world. There is real evil in this world. EVERY group consists of good people, evil people and people somewhere in-between. Even hyphenated last name people. This line of thinking is just a fatal distraction - not that different from thinking recycling and driving a Prius will change the world. In my experience, most people of all generations, in all times, are just doing the best they can. Trying to live decent lives and not hurt other people. Just like the people who read and respond to this column. Sorry to end on cliche.

Posted on December 30, 2009 at 12:45 pm 0