"Baby Boomers could maybe fuck off and let younger people get on with the job of unfucking the country."
James Roe, in a Facebook comment on my blog
 |
| Chuck Schumer, in 1967 |
"Don't worry. I am 69 years old. I will die pretty soon and get out of the way."
Peter Sage, in response
Young people are getting restless.
It should not surprise the current Boomers. We were restless back in our youth.
Democratic activists are raising the generational issue. A Pew study found Democrats in their 30s and 40s prefer a candidate in their 30s and 40s. The ideal age for a president was the 50s, according to a majority of Democrats. Click: Pew Research
Democratic leaders have plugged most of the spots in Congressional leadership with people in the late 60s and 70s, Pelosi, Hoyer, Schumer. This is bottling up political energy. Younger people want to see younger faces. They know Boomers are out of touch with their concerns. People in their 60s and older have something to protect, Social Security and Medicare. Climate problems forty years out seem more abstract to a 70 year old than they do to a person in ones twenties.
Obama spoke of "the fierce urgency of now" but in getting expanded access to healthcare he lost the Democratic majority that could move a progressive agenda beyond that. The Obama era ended up as primarily an era of repair to the country in the wake of the financial crisis, not an era of sustained progress on issues of income inequality or racial justice. In re-inflating asset prices America made it harder for young people to buy a home. The rich got richer but the middle class got squeezed.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez represents something exciting for some millennials: a charismatic leader who gets it, who sees things their way and communicates their way. She does for young progressives what Trump did for many frustrated socially conservative, became a populist spokesperson the political establishment had not provided.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a boogy-man Fox News uses to frighten its viewers. She wants to take away cars and airplanes and hamburgers! She is impatient! She wants to change things! She is so young!
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a boogy-man Fox News uses to frighten its viewers. She wants to take away cars and airplanes and hamburgers! She is impatient! She wants to change things! She is so young!
That is also what makes her a leader for the millennial left.
Zachary is a Generation X man living and working Portland, Oregon. Like many left activists, he remains unhappy the Democratic Party tipped the primary scales toward Hillary and away from Bernie. He contacted me in response to comments in this blog about Biden and the electoral wipeout of George McGovern in 1972. He warns against tacking to the middle. He feels the fierce urgency of now.
It is a characteristic of his generation and situation--age 40--that he asks not to include his last name. He has a job. A career. He, too, has something to protect.
It is a characteristic of his generation and situation--age 40--that he asks not to include his last name. He has a job. A career. He, too, has something to protect.
 |
| Zachary |
Guest Comment by Zachary
As a group, the Democrats are incapible of defending themselves. (Full stop) Except Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She can fight.
She lands uppercuts on big Pharma. She can fight with pigs and dance away with the win.
The majority of my friends feel that it is the establishment Democratic Party that is truly responsible for the 'Idiocracy' we are living in today. This is what happens when you go against the clear grass roots front runner. Yes that is Bernie.
Let's not repeat the mistake again.
Who knows how to 'Twitter Battle'? AOC. (Yes, this is incredibly important) Who has the quick retort? AOC. Who scare the GOP? AOC.
The fear that I have, the fear that my friends have, is that a great opportunity will be missed.
Listen to the Freshman Congress woman, get behind her. Hope. I remember hope. She gives me hope.
Whoever she backs in the primary I will back. (Full stop.)
5 comments:
"Don't worry. I am 69 years old. I will die pretty soon and get out of the way."
Peter Sage, in response
We can only hope.......
The cult of Bernie...sigh...
Idealism is a noble thing and not to be belittled. However, it can be blinding. Sen. Sanders is right about policy, but he is not electable at this time. My hope is that, realizing this, he will drop out soon and endorse Elizabeth Warren.
On the larger issue it is somewhat simplistic to characterize the generational divide without taking into account some pertinent history. Nixon begat Carter begat Regan whose success pushed the Democrats to the right, hence Clinton (to beat Bush 1), then Bush 2 -9/11-Recession...Obama!...and now we are where we are. Perhaps this was predictable? All along the way Democrats have shed principles to the point where they couldn't support the most Progressive president since...nobody. In my view the most naive thing Bernie acolytes believe is that somehow we are going to overturn the corporate state overnight. Magical thinking.
It's not so much about age as worldview. Look at the protests...mostly boomers. Believe me, there are plenty of under-40s who are as Regressive as their grandfathers.
I am with you 100%. Quite disgusted with Democrats only want progressives like her. I also will vote by who she supports, thank you I am 76 protested in 60s, we have not forgotten
Boomers like us. We were the generation of kids who were always to blame for whatever happened at school. I was in the generation of teachers who were to blame, not the kids. We were the generation who entered the job force with twice the seekers (both sexes) and found there were 100 applicants for every position. We were the generation who protested Vietnam, fought for the environment and insisted on equal rights for all -- except that many of us did not. We were the ones whose Social Security taxes were raised to cushion our parents' generation under Reagan. Generational labels have not served us well. I doubt we need additional ways to divide us.
Sometimes I feel like a millennial in a Boomer body. I was a delegate for Bernie in 2016 and was thoroughly disgusted with the way DNC leadership rammed HRC and the “scripted” platform past all of us and told us we could only vote yes or no. It was like it was HRCs race to lose. With the GOP completely under Trump’s spell, and with his astonishing 40% approval rating, it will take a unified DNC and compelling candidate to dislodge the would be Emperor from wreaking further havoc on us all.
Post a Comment