Talkin' 'bout my generation

I am a Baby Boomer, a child of The Greatest Generation. Our fathers fought in World War II, came home, went to college on the GI Bill, reproduced in numbers never before seen in American history and created the most prosperous period of economic growth this country has ever seen thanks to their being the best educated generation ever. We Boomers are a product of their newfound prosperity and we were raised without the privations that they knew, growing up during the Great Depression, fighting in a World War and having to sacrifice some of their youths as a result. We had it easy. They created unprecedented prosperity and we grew up in relative comfort compared to them. We were spoiled because they didn't want our generation to know the pain of what they went through. So we grew up during a time of great turmoil, the Civil Rights movement, the VietNam War and anti-war protests, the women's movement and the Space Race. Our generation, who fomented so much change during those turbulent years, seems to have reacted by becoming today's arch conservatives, the very people against whom they were fighting 40-50 years ago. I can't say that I understand this reaction to it all except that perhaps it was because of our formative years being so marked by so many sudden changes that our generation decided that enough was enough and they wanted some measure of stability. The changes that have come about just since the beginning of the new Millennium have been very profound and as a result, conservatism seems to have become even more entrenched and has lurched even harder to the right to where, in this recent election season, battles were being fought that we already dealt with and won 50 years ago. It made no sense to me that women's rights were suddenly under attack again after I thought that such a thing was already settled. Minorities have also come under increased attack, especially since we have elected not once, but twice, a black President. To the conservatives, it has completely upset the apple cart that someone who is not white is the President of the United States, but it makes it even harder for them to swallow that the President is a TRUE "African American" in that his father was a foreign student from Kenya, and our President inherited his father's African name, Barack Obama. If his name was John Smith and he was black, the conservatives would still have a problem, but the fact that he has a non-American sounding name really makes them see red. They just can't bear the changes that have come about in the twelve short years of our new Millennium.

Another thing I find a tad disturbing about my generation is that they do not seem to be destined to live as long as our parents generation has. Not a day goes by that I don't read as many obituary notices for people my age as I do my parents age. People in their 40s, 50s and early 60s are dying off in numbers equal to those of folks their parents ages. Often I will see that the dearly departed are survived by their parents, who still survive and are probably well into their 80s or older. Perhaps it is because my generation is the first one to grow up on processed foods, television and other unhealthy lifestyle things that cause we Boomers to die off at far younger ages than previous generations. Often it seems that people die from purely preventable diseases as well, and this could perhaps be attributed to the fact that our generation began reaching middle age at a time when health care costs began soaring to where many of us neglect to see doctors for fear of bankruptcy at a time when we are struggling to save for retirement. Ever since Big Business began seeing profit in medicine and made it a business and not a service, people my age are facing not addressing serious illnesses until they become so expensive as to be unaffordable to treat. When our parents were our ages, they did not have to face these crucial choices that we do, food or medicine, but of course, they have to make those choices now that they are elderly. What helps them is Medicare, something many of us Boomers are too young yet from which to benefit. So we struggle with high deductible, high co-pay insurance plans that force us to delay necessary preventive health care screenings that could catch things before they become a problem. So my generation seems to be doomed to dying off far sooner than that of our parents generation and that's a pity, because there won't be very many of us who are fortunate enough to live to a ripe old age. It's ironic because we are also the most youth oriented generation to ever come down the pike and we've fought aging tooth and nail by being more health food and body conscious than any prior generation. Working out, eating right and looking youthful has been the signature thing for my generation to do. We've probably been a huge boon to the cosmetics industry as women search to find ways to conquer wrinkles, cover grey hairs and maintain youthful looks for as long as humanly possible. And yet, my generation is dying off in what seems like a very young age in spite of all of this. It makes no sense to me whatsoever except that perhaps more sedentary pleasures have become more commonplace as technology improves. Either that or years of growing up on processed food has begun to take its toll. Either way, I find my generation's early demise to be most troubling, and I can only hope that I will be among those who lives to a good ripe old age. Hell, I'm too stubborn to shuffle off this mortal coil just yet!