As a progressive member of the “boomer” generation it is all too easy to feel righteous when it comes to the debate on inequality in America. After all, while my life is comfortable, I am certainly not wealthy. I can blame the rich 1% as the income gap widens and proudly wear my 99% t-shirt. It is a no brainer to point to the income, capital gains and estate tax laws to find the problem and the solution. Tax the rich. My task is made easier when economists recently declare that the bottom 99% received a microscopic $80 increase in pay per person in 2010, after adjusting for inflation. The top 1%, whose average income is $1,019,089., had an 11.6 percent increase in income.
It has taken a lot of soul searching to finally admit that, by and large, the attack on the 1%, while relevant and necessary, is largely a smoke screen. The real problem with and solution for inequality in America, for now and for years to come, belongs to me and my generation. (I must admit this statement was difficult to write) There are simply too many of us, asking for too much, to ignore.
Warren Buffet rightly proclaimed his economic class as part of the problem. It is time for boomers, as a generational class, to do the same. Intergenerational inequality is the elephant in the corner and we boomers must get to work and help clean up the mess, or the manure will continue to pile up exponentially.
Our grandparent’s sacrifice was the great depression; our parent’s the Second World War. We boomers must make our stand against the economic dysfunction that has placed capitalism and the American Dream in crisis in this new millennium. If for no other reason, we boomers by and large were responsible for the dysfunction. We ran the economic, political and financial institutions that made it all possible.
With the exception of the Vietnam War (where many of us protested but easily avoided military service), our boomer lives have been blessed. Most of us made it through our work lives with no depression, no austerity programs, the longest bull market in history and low taxes. Our higher educations were funded with government stipends and miniscule loan rates. We took jobs in the public and private sectors, where it was difficult to be fired and received generous defined benefit pensions for life. With easy credit, our homes became ATMs so we could borrow and live like kings. Our extended life expectancies are such that the Social Security and Medicare payments we will receive are quite the bargain. Unfortunately, it appears that our children will have few or any of these economic benefits.
No one is attacking the boomer generation in this election year, or even suggesting that a little sacrifice might be in order. While the rich 1% provides an attractive scapegoat, we boomers are the most powerful political force in the history of the civilized world. We are courted by politicians and corporations. We are analyzed by social scientists and marketers like no one before us. AARP makes the tea part appear as insignificant as well, an afternoon tea party. Older voters (who tend to actually vote) are always given a pass by government. Because of our numbers, the boomer generation magnifies this tendency.
If my daughter were to ask me why our much richer society cannot provide her generation with the same benefits I have received, I could simply blame the wealthiest 1% or mark it off to the luck of time and place. In truth, we boomers have to step forward and begin giving back in a meaningful way. Supporting less benefits, beginning later in life, is a starting point. Paying higher taxes on earned and retirement income is another. (In Pennsylvania, our pension benefits should be taxed) Calling for limits on needless healthcare would help, as would living wills and end of life directives.
Individually, each of us wants a better world for our children. As an organized political monolith, boomers ask for more and want to give back less. The wealthiest among us may be greedy but at least they protect both their children and their resources. This is why they must contribute first and give often.
For the rest of us in our sixties, who are taking a larger slice of the pie, to give our children less, it is time to end this irreconcilable position. Living out our golden years on the backs of our young is selfish, destructive and a breach of the intergenerational social contract we have with the next generation. Let us roll up our sleeves and show what responsible boomers can do to extend and improve the American Dream.
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