The Baby Boom Generation. Wasted?

Re: The Baby Boom Generation. Wasted?

Put a man on the moon?

It is sad to think that one of the few accomplishments was to put a man on the moon. This has done nothing to further mankind. We now have epidemics that were previously unknown. We had aids. We have rampant abortions. We have a declining healthcare system. We will soon have more people on pension than we have working. We have more drug addiction that we had in the 60's and 70's. The list goes on. What did we accomplish? Good question!

the personal computer....

A much higher-quality pot.

The technology spin-offs from the space program have been of tremendous benefit. Anything that could benefit from miniturization probably did. New fire-resistant materials. An entirely new medical technology. Shall I go on?

The civil rights movement.

technically, man on the moon is probably not the achievement of the baby boomers either, but of their parents still.

but surely achievements are great. depends if we want to be positive or negative. you can list a long list of bad things of our times -just as the good ones.

biggest achievement for me - although there is as much war and conflicts as ever, there is greater awareness than ever before in history, more seem to care and do something about it. we can dispute the results of course, but to me that is a good sign and step in the right direction at least.
another that people might not agree on - international organizations, especially UN, which is still young in the grand scheme of things - it's a baby boomer itself - but in Big History a mere toddler, are ever growing and strengthening. UN got a blow from the U.S. , but the next US administration will seek better relations with UN and strengthening of UN, i'm sure of it. UN and other international organization brought a lot of good. Most importantly for me the International Bill of Rights (completed in 1976), but also many specific programs and areas - environmental control - from Rio to Kyoto (again weakened by the US), development rights, millenium goals to erradicate hunger, poverty, inequality around the world...etc. (requires cooperation from G8 and IMF though and that will be tough to crack).
AIDS is a new plague - but we've had others in the mankind's past that we now know how to cure. Many of those cures were invented during the baby boomers heyday.

Goretex...don't forget goretex. That stuff rulez. And not only for jackets and shoes, also in general and reconstructive surgery.

internet, cellphone, GPS... life will never be the same as before... life is good.

Disco music
Members Only jackets

Hardrock Cafe.
Hula Hoops.
Jerry Lee Lewis.
F.M. radio
Ben & Jerry's Ice cream.
Organic ****.
Thongs.
The 700 club.
Excuse me while I suicide.

Parachute pants

Well, yeah, the baby boom generation gets wasted with some regularity.

I find myself agreeing with most of the posts so far, but the one that truly sums it up is dag's. It is the social, environmental areas that have changed for the better in so many ways. If we give up on organizations such as the UN, there will be very little hope of continued efforts toward peace and human dignity for everyone.

There are still the sweatshops, but they can no longer hide in this world of worldwide news and investigative reporting.

Admittedly, all of the above have some negative aspects; nothing that is controlled by human beings will remain pure and true to its original policy. At least the world in general is trying, trying hard to improve life world wide.

Lion tamer, your post was just scary. It's hard to believe anyone really participated in the phase.

Well, they gave us Walter and John of Virginia. <smile>

Hey Letty, you're right--it doesn't get much better than that.

Every generation gets the "treatment." In the end, nothing much changes, but for material innovations. We have the same moral weakness our forefathers had, only the center of focus drifts with the current buzz. I have always been dubious about humanity's ability to adapt and survive, but never lose sight of the vast potential if we but recognize and strive toward it.

Gus is correct, of course!

Why just check this set out:



They absolutely never had this around WW 2!

cracking the genetic code will, in the future be realized as one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century and into the 21st.

How bout POP ROCKS
HARVEY WALLBANGERS
LOWRIDERS
F**K TRUCKS
CHOPPERS
WARM BLOODED DINOSAURS (ok I tried to slip one in there)
BLUE JELLO
SKATEBOARDS


Man we really blew didnt we.
WE dont even have a hero (Maybe John Lennon but he was a boomer cusp)

DAG-Goretex was invented by this ole dude from Dupont, he was a gen 1930's or earlier.

BALLOON MORTGAGES
INTEREST ONLY MORTGAGES
MASSIVE CREDIT DEBT
BEEMERS( this was a car they couldnt give away until , in 1971 the just doubled its price thus creating a "value" by price)

BOTTLED WATER (this is the funniest, IMHO)

NEHRU SUITS
LOVE BEADS

CRUISE MISSILES

SLEEP NUMBER BEDS

MICKEYMANSIONS

"it's getting better all the time"

Has anyone mentioned reality TV shows yet ?

Not sure what this story bodes for post baby boomers- -



Rugby fan tells how he lost his tackle

A Welsh rugby fan has spoken out about how he hacked off his own testicles after his team beat England.

Geoffrey Huish, 31, took an agonising ten minutes to perform the op using a pair of blunt wire cutters, says the Sun.

Then he put his severed parts in a blue plastic bag and staggered to a social club to tell fellow Wales fans what he'd done.

Jobless Geoffrey finally collapsed with blood pouring from his groin as horrified drinkers put his testicles in a pint glass of ice.

They were handed to paramedics who rushed him to hospital - but surgeons could not sew them back.