This year the oldest Baby Boomers will turn 65.
An article by Marsha Mercer in the AARP Bulletin quotes TV commentator Paul Begala. Calling the Boomers "The Worst Generation," he says:
Boomers are the most self-centered, self-seeking, self-interested, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing generation in American history.
Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. My two oldest children are Boomers. I was born at the tale end of "The Greatest" generation. But how can we be so great if we parented these selfish Boomers?
The truth is that I don't agree with the negative portrayal of the Boomers. If they haven't been as self sacrificing it's because they didn't have to be. They went about experimenting, discovering, designing and building for the future. I don't begrudge the Boomers their creature comforts.
Mercer says that Boomers "haven't embraced civic engagement the way they have Botox and Viagra."
I don't know about that. Most of the Boomers I know are hard working volunteers and workers. And I expect that when they retire they will continue to make great contributions to society.
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