I’ll not disagree that Boomers are responsible for some of the problems our society faces, but to suggest that GenX is – as a group – acting more responsibility is completely unsupportable at this point.
It’s true that the boomers are now running the country – poorly. But that is a function of their age and tenure in the workplace. Your generation simply hasn’t been around long enough to attain those positions of power yet.
Boomers do send out the credit cards, but you guys are still using them. Boomers do set interest rates, but you guys are still buying with credit. I’m pretty sure that if you guys weren’t following our lousy example we would be modifying our companies’ marketing efforts to suit. You guys could be leading but so far you seem to be following.
It’s simply a matter of numbers. Our generation has the impact that it does because of its sheer size. Your generation has less impact because it is so much smaller. In some ways an individual GenXer can be considered lucky because they’ll have a lot less competition for some types of opportunities than did the boomers. Don’t forget, much of the wealth attributable to the boomers was earned only in the last 10 years or so. Prior to that we were where you are now.
Once this economic spike unwinds you’ll get your opportunities to make your money. Be smart and you guys could wind up a lot better off than we ever were. But if you continue to do what we’ve been doing you can look forward to the same future we face.
