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August 15, 2006

Baby boomers and the shape of things to come ....

This morning's breakfast TV raised an interesting discussion, namely the fact that my generation, born in 1945/6/7 are now in the run up to turning 60. And for many, the question arises "what is our legacy" for our children? The BBC had invited a former Editor of the Daily Mirror to put his case for how our generation of "revolutionised" the media and changed the society in which we live. Listening to him I was struck by the fact that he sees the present media circus and its ability to destroy peoples lives, reputations and achievements, it's witch hunting and its ability to sway public opinion by selective and biased reporting as a "good thing". He also seemed to think that the increasing influence of Left wing socialist ideology and bureaucratic interference in everything from health care to wealth creation was a good plan.

So what has my generation produced as a legacy? Well, I think, to an extent, it depends on where you have lived your life. If in Britian I would suggest that it is the generation that has produced the highest rate of inflation every recorded. It has produced a media that is so left of centre it is almost a political force in its own right, it has focussed on "rights" rather than responsibilities and it has promoted the concept of "entitlement" and self indulgence to the limits. It is the generation that has seen the rise of bureaucracy to ridiculous levels, the destruction of the "British Way of Life" for the nebulous ideal of "Multi-culturalism" and "inclusivity". It is the generation which has turned its back on the order of society (except of course where it suits it to preserve their own portion of it!) and promoted rebellion and anti-authoritarianism (except for increasing bureaucracy), decries organised religion, but promotes Eastern Mysticism, any non-European religion and New age-ism. It is the generation which has promoted the "recreational" use of hard drugs and created a culture of "youth". In short, we are a self indulgent generation who take stances, act and decide to act on a range of issues because they make us "feel good" and that we "care" or have "done something".

Outside of Britian we may not have had the "Sixties" Hippy outburst, indeed, some of us even had to work for our livings instead of going on pot-smoking breaks "sitting in" at universities" paid for by the tax payers. But we haven't done much better. Some of us had to take up arms and fight a war against terrorism sponsored by one or other of the "super powers" in their "Cold War" - which translated into a "hot war" for the rest of the world. Some of us have been disposed of our heritage and the nations our forbears built as well because the way we lived, or the way at least the political elite of the time thought we should live, didn't accord with the vision of the ideologues in the so-called "Western Democracies". So what have we got to be proud of? That we do not have the ability to pass to our children anything of our heritage? That we do not have the ability to help them get a foot on the ladder to a better job or a lifestyle similar to that which we once enjoyed?

Should we be proud of the fact that our media are irresponsible, jeopardising court cases by reporting information that has not been tested in court? Should we be proud of the fact that we sent our armed forces into a war in a country we had only the most tenuous connection with (we were after all the occupying power who set up the mess that is Iraq in the 1920's and 1930's!) with defective equipment, the wrong kind of boots and insufficient ammunition? That we now want to put them on trial for fighting the very battles we sent them to fight? Should we be proud of having elected Ministers of State who smoked pot, took mainline drugs and thought (and for all we know, still think) that mass murderers like Stalin, Lenin and Guevara were "Class Warriors fighting for the cause of justice for the workers"?

The legacy of my generation is not a proud one. We are leaving our children struggling to find meaningful jobs, with education that is being eroded and dumbed down, with housing spriralling out of control cost-wise and a looming disaster called "multi-culturalism" which is, quite simply, another name for apartheid. I do not share the view that we have made a better, safer or fairer society, we have laid the foundations for a society which will tear itself to pieces, a society which will increase the divide between those who are born with the right address and the right amount of wealth and those who are not. We have made it more difficult for someone born in "poverty" (a much abused term) to actually improve their position and their career chances and those who have the right parentla support and networks to give them a flying start. Does our "fearless" media give us anything we should feel good about? Well, let me ask this question; when was the last time you saw them write about some authority figure in terms which can be described as "positive"/ And I'm not talking about their usual sycophantic reporting of any Labour Luminary.

No, I think that in the final analysis, the Baby Boom generation will go down in history as self indulgent wastrals who have, in a single generation reduced a once proud nation and society to one of insecurity and dependence on handouts. They have sidelined us as a people and drowned us in immigrants, stripped us of our right to free speech (lest it offend someone) and promoted the rights of the very worst elements of society. Am I proud to be a Baby Boomer?

You got that one right!

Posted by The Gray Monk at August 15, 2006 11:18 AM

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