I
think one of the hardest things about growing old is that you can remember what
a pound of hamburger cost fifty years ago ($.45), so when the government
assures us over and over there is no inflation we sort of get a disconnect
going that seeps into many different areas of our lives.
Wise
men say that History repeats itself. Those who have studied the facts and
lived long enough to get a seasoned perspective understand that if it doesn’t
repeat itself it sure does rhyme. Which leads me to an observation made
by every generation since time began; every generation believes that the one
following it is made up of a bunch of molly-coddled softies who will obviously
allow the world to go to hell in a handbasket. As a still surviving
though somewhat battered member of the boomer generation I am beginning to
think that when the Greatest Generation thought this about us they may have
been right. By every metric imaginable, except of course technological
toys and wonders, we have presided over the decline of America.
Our parents conquered the world
Our
parents conquered the world and then defended their conquest against that
destroyer of hope the USSR for fifty years until that great gulag of nations
collapsed under its own weight. Then in 1992, we repudiated those who had
won the war and secured the peace. Following a colossal betrayal, “Read
my lips,” our generation took the reins and proceeded to run the whole thing
into the ditch.
First
we have the Clinton inter-lewd with its fake prosperity courtesy of the peace
dividend, the dot com bubble, and the Contract with America Congress.
Then we have George II and endless wars for peace combined with a guns and
butter economy at home where couples making a combined income of 40,000 could
buy $400,000 houses. This was followed by BHO and his anti-colonialist
disdain for all that had made America great combined with a micromanaged
centrally-planned economy guaranteed to sweep us into the dystopian trash heap
of History.
Then
faced with Mrs. “The Last Nail in Our Coffin” Clinton and Mr. “Take a Chance on
Me” Trump, we chose Mr. Chance who may well end up being the last Boomer
president. All of us who chose the chance are now waiting with baited
breath praying he will do what he said he would do. If he does, this last
Boomer president may well bring back the glory of our parents and we will hand
this off to the X Generation and give them a shot at preserving it for those
who come after them.
Back
to my theory that each generation sees the one following them as the ruin of
all that is holy and why that is in reality a truism as old as time.
The Greatest Generation was once
known as the Silent Generation
The
Greatest Generation was once known as the Silent Generation until we
re-christened them because of their stolid plodding through FDR’s Great Depression
and their solid performance in WWII. They looked askance at the music and
the counter-culture of the Boomers. Those few who actually were Hippies
did ride a sociological tsunami that did in fact change our culture. The draft
dodging flag burning micro minority rose to the top of the political world with
the Watergate Congress and hang on to power to this day. The rest of us
went to work. Eventually most of us followed the predictable
trajectory. The liberal firebrands of youth become the worker drones of
middle age and eventually the conservative mossbacks of old age.
Remember
the Generation Gap? Today it feels more like a Generation Gulf, or close
encounters of the third kind.
Generation
X seemed to come out of the womb with an eye for style, a penchant for name
brands, and an ability to work for what they wanted. They are mostly
moving through the worker drone phase right now. Their younger brothers
and sisters of Generation Y or the Millennials are now shedding their youthful
fire and entering into middle age. Now come the Centennials or as some of
us call them the Snowflake Generation and we see the fruit of our loins
terrified of micro-aggressions, seeking safe places, and protesting elections
when they didn’t even bother to vote. Oh what is the world to do?
Take
a beat, take a breath, and step back. Yes, when we see our grandchildren
crying because they think someone might have looked at them crossways we wonder
about the fate of the Republic. Instead of bemoaning our coming fall once
these limp-wristed get a trophy for showing up crybabies take over remember
they have several stages of growth coming before they get there. There’s
nothing like raising kids and working twelve hour days to support them to put a
little steel in your spine. Give them time. Their rebellious
attitudes and oh so delicate sensibilities will crash upon the reef of 3 AM
feedings, paying the bills, buying the house, and worrying whether Social
Security will be there when they need it.
The
young always act as if youth was some clever thing they invented not knowing
that we all were once young, and if we survive we grow old and things generally
seem to carry on from there.
The
only lesson we learn from History is that we don’t learn the lessons of
History. As far back as records go every generation has thought the next
was going to be a disaster forgetting that they are the ones who raised that
next generation and having a little faith in how their example and time would
mellow youth into old age. Remember everything is relative. The
next time you find yourself telling some young whippersnapper how you walked to
school uphill in both directions in a blizzard without a coat think of the
story of two old men. One says, “Why back when I was boy all I had to play
with was a stick.” The other old man his eyes blazing with jealousy at
the frivolous prosperity of others exclaims, “You had a stick!”
Comparison
Of Prices Over 70 Years
Just
as an interesting by-the-by:
Average Cost Of New Home Homes 1930 $3,845.00 , 1940 $3,920.00, 1950 $8,450.00 , 1960 $12,700.00 , 1970$23,450.00 , 1980 $68,700.00 , 1990 $123,000.00 , 2008 $238,880 , 2013 $289,500
Average Cost Of New Home Homes 1930 $3,845.00 , 1940 $3,920.00, 1950 $8,450.00 , 1960 $12,700.00 , 1970$23,450.00 , 1980 $68,700.00 , 1990 $123,000.00 , 2008 $238,880 , 2013 $289,500
Average
Annual Wages 1930 $1,970.00 , 1940 $1,725.00, 1950 $3,210.00
, 1960 $5,315.00 , 1970 $9,400.00 ,1980 $19,500.00
, 1990 $28,960.00 , 2008 $40,523 , 2012 $44,321
Average
Cost of New Car Cars 1930 $600.00
, 1940 $850.00, 1950 $1,510.00 , 1960 $2,600.00
, 1970 $3,450.00 ,1980 $7,200.00 , 1990 $16,950.00
, 2008 $27,958 , 2013 $31,352
Average
Cost Gallon Of Gas 1930 10 cents
, 1940 11 cents , 1950 18 cents , 1960 25
cents , 1970 36 cents , 1980$1.19 , 1990 $1.34
, 2009 $2.051 , 2013 $3.80
Average
Cost Loaf of Bread Food 1930 9
cents , 1940 10 cents , 1950 12 cents , 1960 22
cents , 1970 25 cents ,1980 50 cents , 1990 70
cents , 2008 $2.79 , 2013 $1.98
Average
Cost 1lb Hamburger Meat 1930
12 cents , 1940 20 cents , 1950 30 cents
, 1960 45 cents , 1970 70 cents
, 1980 99 cents , 1990 89 cents , 2009 $3.99
, 2013 $4.68
http://canadafreepress.com/article/back-when-i-was-a-boy
