Book Review: Generation Ageless 2 - A Personal Viewpoint
One of the interesting concepts discussed in this "Boomer Almanac" is the beginning point of the Boomer perception of affluence and indulgence that characterizes this group. Boomers grew up in the quarter century following World War II. The U.S. economy was strengthening and "America was flexing its muscles on all fronts, domestic and international" (p. xxi of the introduction). The parents of Boomers were prospering and they began to indulge their children.
"All Boomers came of age with expectations of unlimited potential fueled by a prosperity of 'unimaginable heights' " (p. xxii).
As middle Boomers, my husband and I were brought up into the mentality of the limitless possibilities ahead of us. Life looked good. We had seen a man walk on the moon. We had witnessed the onset of antibiotics that changed the direction of the fight against disease. Polio was practically wiped out. Civil rights issues were improving. Home ownership rose to all time highs in the 1950's and 1960's.
My husband's family felt that anyone getting a college education would have unlimited job possibilities at their fingertips. Neither of his parents had a college education. So when my husband-to-be entered college, he chose to follow his dreams and interests, regardless what employment those dreams led to-with disastrous results. I had also wanted to follow my dreams through college education, but my parents were more practical and insisted on specifically employable skills first. When my soon-to-be-husband and I both graduated in 1978 and got married in 1979, we were immediately immersed in the economic bust of the oil embargo. Reality was a harsh experience and it took many years before my husband could find employment that would keep our small family stable. In reading this book I finally understood why that happened.
There was a large segment of young people just like us entering the work force with a college education, but in such large numbers that the unprepared market was flooded. My husband was overeducated for most forms of work he applied for. Pride, a lack of confidence in himself, and poor job counseling kept him from finding that dream career. Fortunately we had two things going for us, our youth and resilience and my teaching job. I supported the family while my husband returned to school on the GI bill to take more practical courses in education.
The story of the Boomers in the '80's was how to face reality as it intersected their expectations growing up. As a coping strategy, Boomers chose to avoid limits. So in reality, it was the early economic explosion, not the protests of the '60's that was the central dynamic shaping the Boomer character. We were told we were important. Our sheer numbers indicated to us that we were indeed a powerful generation. Is it any wonder that so many of us became self-absorbed?
A number of Boomers succeeded brilliantly at achieving their dreams. They became the prosperous segment of our generation. Another subset of Boomers was faced with more harsh realities as we struggled to find our place in society.
Yankelovich calls the mindset that we grew up with the Psychology of Affluence. We Boomers didn't think we had to strive to realize the American Dream. We believed we were born into it. What a rude wake-up call the economic strife of 1979 was for us!
Some Boomers learned to live with less and settle in for the long haul. But by far, most of the Boomers became more aggressive about securing what they wanted. They decided to let others live with the limits. Self expression touted in the 1960's and early '70's turned to self indulgence.
Source: Generation Agless
by J. Walker Smith, President
and Ann Clurman, Senior Partner
Yankelovich, Inc.
HarperCollins Publishers, 2007.
US $24.95/ Canada $28.95/ UK L 14.99
Continue to the next segment of this review:
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 10