No generation of Americans has had a more detrimental impact on our nation as the Baby Boomers. They are the reason school districts like Oshkosh have too many school buildings–with so many being built to handle their burgeoning numbers in the 50’s and ’60’s. They started American families on the path to so much student debt today by first enrolling in large numbers in the ’60’s and ’70’s–fueling the growth of campuses, programs and faculty across the country–and then failing to save for their own children’s higher education–causing a boom in student loan borrowing in the ’90’s and 2000’s.
The Boomers opened the door to America’s drug problem–doing any and all drugs they could get their hands on in the ’60’s and ’70’s–then demanding that the Government do something about drugs when gangs got involved in the trade and turned violent in the ’90’s, with junkies committing crimes to get their next fix–creating the “mass incarceration crisis”. And then they contributed to the latest heroin epidemic by demanding that they never be in pain–so doctors freely prescribed highly-addictive painkillers to everyone.
And speaking of medicine, Baby Boomers are the main driving force behind the skyrocketing cost of health care with their demands to have every malady and discomfort treated with the latest medicine–from chronic dry eye to low testosterone to toenail fungus. And don’t forget the “elective surgeries”, multiple diagnostic tests “just to make sure” and rehab programs that added to the cost as well.
Now the Baby Boomers–who enjoyed the most robust American economy ever for their entire lives–want the younger generations to take care of all their needs in retirement as well. AARP is out promoting what they call the “Senior Dividend”. “If you would just pay more for programs that provide seniors aid in staying in their homes instead of going to nursing facilities now, you will save money in the long run”. If this were true–and I believe that long-term care costs for Baby Boomers will crush the Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security systems before those of us in Generation X can even consider retirement–it would be the first time that Baby Boomers have saved America any money.
What is ironic is that the Boomers were more than happy to put their parents–The Greatest Generation–into nursing homes. There was an explosion of such facilities in the 90’s and early 2000’s–because Boomers were too busy with yoga and vacations and taking the boat out on the lake to take care of their parents in their own homes. But now that it is their time to struggle to live alone–suddenly it’s “society’s responsibility” to pick up the tab.
So AARP can try to sell us all the “Silver Dividends” they want–it won’t come close to covering the “Baby Boomer Bills” that have been paid by other generations for seventy years.
