The euro area has 16.5 million unemployed and an unemployment rate of 10.5 per cent. If that happens, we boomers will see our retirements vaporize, together with our kids livelihoods. This article is more than 10 years old. It surprises and frankly angers me that a well respected journal like Forbes would endorse a column in their pages entitled Are Baby Boomers The Greediest Generation. Only 16% of those asked recognize it in its original context as a "veterans memorial day". I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. Always mean what you say ! In 2010, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles were appointed co-chairs of President Barack Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, tasked with coming up with a plan to "bring down the federal budget deficit to 3% of gross domestic product by 2015, compared with nearly 10% today, and to propose ways to hold down the surging costs of government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.". [25] Living members of this generation are either in their 90s or are centenarians. "The elderly are retired, and it's easier to get them to go to rallies or write their congresspeople," notes Heather Boushey of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. We hated our parents as children. But, he added, if the boomers insist on getting theirs, were going to take everybody down, including ourselves., This is a BETA experience. He didnt, however, say that senior citizens were the greediest generation ever (at least in the email). But our worst economic bequest is the fantastic fiscal liability were leaving our kids. Remarkably, it was then reformed: contributions were raised to a sustainable level, and the monies collected were invested in the open markets by an independent agency, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, with the result that the CPP is today one of the worlds best examples of how a government pension scheme should be run. 38.8% were volunteers, 61.2% were draftees, the average length of their service was 33 months, and total approximate casualties were 671,278 (killed and wounded). [2]http://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/, A Message from the Public Trustees, fromA Summary of the 2013 Annual Reports, Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees, as read 7 July 2014. You know em too. We need to do the sameindeed much morebecause we are in far worse shape than any of those countries. Fortunately, in 1996 the Chief Actuary of Canada reported that the Plan could not be sustained as it was. If the Senate continues to block expenditure reform and Treasury assumptions on growth, unemployment, terms of trade, productivity and inflation are not realised, national debt will continue to rise. We cant grow our way out of this mess. So while millennials are often portrayed as the greedy ones, there is a case to say baby boomers are the greediest generation ever. Our evil ways will lead to tears, both for us and for the generations that come after us. One member of this generation, Hirohito, would become Emperor in 1926, when Japan was already one of the great powers. That's false. On cue, the left says simply raise more taxes from business and the rich to pay for the unaffordable. Yet, repeatedly, in city after city, state after state, and province after province in North America, governments have elected to defer, postpone, and avoid infrastructure investments until now, when the bills are coming due. Research professor of sociology Glen Holl Elder, Jr., a prominent figure in the development of life course theory, wrote Children of the Great Depression (1974), "the first longitudinal study of a Great Depression cohort." In the United States, members of this generation came of age, were children, or were born during the Progressive Era, World War I, and the Roaring Twenties; a time of economic prosperity with distinctive cultural transformations. A 2012 report, produced for the Republicans of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, estimated the unfunded pension liabilities of 49 state governments alone at $2.8 trillion dollars. 24 . Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, in a phony email, recently was accused of calling American senior citizens "The Greediest Generation.". Obviously, Shakespeare had it wrong. The Audit Commission recommended a single asset test for the aged pension including the value of the family home above $750,000 for couples to be phased in over 15 years giving time to plan and adjust. The solution is not to force the elderly to get by on cat food again. Op-Ed Columnist E-mail: nicholas@nytimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/01/opinion/the-greediest-generation.html. Since the letter reproduced above isn't credited to any particular person (other than an "unknown fellow in Montana"), and a number of different people have claimed authorship, there is no particular attribution for us to verify as correct or incorrect. "Hey Dick, let's get a few things straight!!! Simpson caught plenty of flack for the comments at the time. "Children can't vote, don't give money and have no power, and neither do their parents. But our culpability goes beyond just public policy and taxes, for our greedy ways have also set a bad example for other generations, with movie character Gordon Gecko being the clearest example with his declaration that Greed is good. Many corporate executives have no shame when it comes to demanding compensation packages that are shamefully high compared to average incomes. The sad truth is that there are not nearly enough bridges to nowhere in the budget to close the fiscal gap. This is a short review of the . It was politicians of that same generation who added on Medicare to burden the so-called social security trust fund while profligately plundering that same fund to provide more entitlements to that generation. The veins in my temples throbbed. The ones who voted themselves everything then as they began to age, began to pull up the ladder. Our net debt has risen from zero in 2007 to some $279 billion in 2016. Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming, Co-Chair of Obama's deficit commission, calls senior citizens "the Greediest Generation" as he compared Social Security to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats . It is you and they who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. In that book he said, "'it is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced.'. Federal government has been borrowing money to cover Social Security benefits. We called up Blyth to talk about what alt-work means for the future economy, his thoughts on universal basic income, and whether the Baby Boomers are officially the greediest generation in human . Ignoring the long-term good, or the long-term costs, and focusing on the immediate appeal of unsustainably low taxes, must ultimately be laid at the feet of the voters who elect politicians on low-tax platforms. Both arguments are flawed and self-serving. Even today arguing against taxes is a good way for politicians at any level of government, and in every jurisdiction, to get elected, from Tea baggers in America to Mayor Rob Ford in Toronto. This material may not be reproduced without permission. As we age our health care demands increase significantly. Now, with those hormones fading, we've popularized Viagra. Sarah Dunant owns up to being a member of the greediest generation - the baby boomers. In that book he said, it is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced. He argued that these men and women fought not for fame and recognition, but because it was the right thing to do.[1]. Letter to D!ck Durbin D!ck Durbin, a Senator from Illinois calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared "Social Security " to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats. A lot less., A lot of the negative reaction to Kotlikoffs column has come from boomers taking umbrage at what they consider a generational slander. "We had the greatest generation," Simpson said. Poor Broder. But the next generation is much smaller than ours, so very soon it will be a case of the few supporting the many. This button displays the currently selected search type. They see a deck stacked against them by the greediest generation in Australian history: self-satisfied with its wealth, loath to pay its taxes, happy to saddle the youngsters with eye-watering . Camarillo, Alberto M. (1 October 1971). Our . He must have thought I was about to rip off his head and spit down his . This week the secretaries of the Treasury and the Department of Finance have spoken on expenditure restraint in unusually blunt terms. Business employs 80 per cent of the workforce and is the only true generator of wealth and jobs. Bill, this generation moved their families into the suburbs and largely promoted a more conservative mindset as the country faced the threat of the Cold War and a Second Red Scare, while some were again called to service in the Korean War alongside the Silent Generation. That's right, sir. "[2] The term was further popularized by the title of a 1998 book by American journalist Tom Brokaw. We talk on our cellphones in public places, annoying the people around us. Our slogan has gone from "free love" to "free blood pressure medicine.". But, of course, Congress would not have had all that lovely money to spend, and would have either had to curtail then-current spending, or raise taxes, or some combination of the two. Our rate of domestic investment was also in the 10 to 15% range in the 50s and 60s. In his book, Brokaw explores the stories and characteristics of this generation. You can lay the blame on one government for slipshod management and deceptive accounting, but when governments of all political stripes, elected over decades, all make the same choices, you have to conclude that it is the voters who are to blame. The brilliant Harvard professor, Niall Ferguson, describes the traditional intergenerational compact as our most important social contract and one that is being broken in Western economies. Indeed, in a 2003 report by Peter S. Heller for the International Monetary Fund, Canadas implicit net governmental debt load, counting unfunded and contingent liabilities, amounted to more than 3 times Canadas Gross Domestic Product (GDP), much of it due to the future costs of its health care system. You may opt-out by. Weve reached a point now where its like a milk cow with 310 million tits! I think he is a little ticked off ! The dislike is apparently mutual. No one knows, but they easily run into the trillions of dollars. How could you do this?'". For too long, we have doubted, scoffed at, and chosen to ignore the warnings of climatologists and geophysicists. Generation Jones is the social cohort of the latter half of the Baby boomer generation to the first year of Generation X. We suggested that the superannuation tax concessions be tightened because they did not appear to be working to encourage more people to be self-funded. I can hear the angry reply by boomers already: Its not my fault! The World War II generation of the Soviet Union was further decimated by the war. I originally wrote this in 2014, and got . ! 24 November 2010. Most of us spent our youth and middle age looking out for No. When the war in Europe began, millions of British citizens joined the war effort at home and abroad. This career politician's comments illustrates the entire . They endured the Holodomor famine, which killed millions. The last time this issue was seriously tackled was back in 1983, when a Senate committee led by Daniel Patrick Moynihan curtailed benefits, and raised entitlement ages. People I've known, relatives [saying], 'You son of a bitch. But this is the choice we've made. In its latter years, this generation was introduced to continued technological advancements such as mobile phones and the Internet. Friday, November 26, 2010 Alan Simpson, President Obusha's hand-selected Cat Food Commission member doesn't suffer critics. 1. Nor can we inflate or borrow or tax our way out of it. Every year on Veterans Day, we baby boomers look around and see fewer and fewer members of the Greatest Generationour parents and grandparents who rose en mass to fight a terrible war and keep us safe. But my guess is that the world will start dumping the dollar and U.S. Treasuries far sooner. Indeed, China may be doing so already. And, of course, we expect to be gone when it comes time for succeeding generations to collect on health care. That's why the wording had to be changed. My assertion will infuriate many boomers, and I will undoubtedly get nasty messages from people who will cite all the wonderful, selfless things that they or we have done, or how we had no choice but to do what we did. Please try again later. She also tells it like it is! When that happens, count on boomers to strenuously object at the ballot box. They were part of what is called "the greatest generation." My generation is, I think, is the "greediest generation." My parents, as did the parents of many of my generation, wanted a better life for their children. The same is true of defense spending, although we can no longer afford endless wars we cant win. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Here's a response in a letter from PATTY MYERS in Montana I think she is a little ticked off! 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