The Two Boomers: Myths and Misperceptions about My Generation

1965’s iconic rock classic My Generation poignantly captured the eternal struggle of the Baby Boomers with these tattered lyrics by Pete Townshend of The Who:

People try to put us d-down (Talkin’ ’bout my generation)
Just because we g-g-get around (Talkin’ ’bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (Talkin’ ’bout my generation)
I hope I die before I get old (Talkin’ ’bout my generation)

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine twenty years later, he said that “‘My Generation’ was very much about trying to find a place in society.”  Now, nearly fifty years after the song’s release, it seems we still haven’t found it yet.  Perhaps, we never will.  But before our epitaph is written into the soiled pages of history, I’d like to set the record straight about my fellow Baby Boomers.

Those who weren’t there living on the frontlines of the counterculture movement between the mid 60’s and 70’s generally do not hold opinions about the Boomers worthy of any merit.  One had to experience it first hand to fully understand what was happening.  The currently popular myth that we were all a bunch of unwashed, doped-up narcissists (hippies), who discarded our life philosophy in the 1980’s to become yuppie capitalists, is a distortion of monumental proportions.  Here is an accurate assessment from someone who was there:

Even in their heyday, the Baby Boomers were never a monolithic group.  The approximately 85 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 were as separated by time and region as any other generation.  The Early Boomers were more rebellious, experimental, and socially active than Later Boomers.  Those in urban areas were typically far more liberal than those living in rural or even suburban locales.  It was America’s college campuses where the counterculture movement grew into a national (and yes, worldwide) spectacle.  Many Boomers, and others not directly involved, were swept up into the frenzy because there was an appealing moral purity to the message.  Years later, when the fervor had died down, most of the latecomers were just as quick to abandon it.  And the renowned tie-dyed hippies of Haight-Ashbury fame, popularized by the evening news, were a very small number of folks who did have a great influence on music (e.g. Janis Joplin) and art at the time.

Although the Baby Boomers didn’t initiate many of the social causes attributed to their generation (environmentalism, for example, traces back to the 19^th century – see John Muir), it is doubtful any other fought as hard for them.  The centerpiece achievement was undoubtedly our opposition to the Vietnam War (listen to Ohio by Crosby, Still, Nash & Young), or more broadly, our anger at the callous practice of imperialism and war-profiteering (I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag by Country Joe and the Fish).  We were also instrumental in advancing environmental concerns (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) by Marvin Gaye), civil rights issues (Southern Man by Neil Young), and were strong advocates for the Women’s Liberation Movement (Respect by Aretha Franklin).  But our railing against an inflexible institutional establishment, which we contemptuously referred to as “The Man,” reflected a deep resentment towards authority that still emblemizes the Boomers to this day (For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield).

Conversely, drug abuse and sexual promiscuity were endemic among Baby Boomers.  Although, it can hardly be said that any other generation was chaste.  Our parents, the Greatest Generation, were prone to alcoholism, extramarital affairs, and domestic violence.  At least we were more peaceful with each other.  The charge from religious conservatives that Boomers were a spiritually corrupt generation is a sanctimonious load of delusional drivel.  Such ignorance demands self-examination for hypocrisy (“let he who is without sin cast the first stone”).

Another common meme about Baby Boomers is that we “sold-out” our principles and became the depraved “Me Generation” of the late 1970’s and 1980’s as coined by the conservative reactionary Tom Wolfe.  Again, this opinion says more about the perspective of the viewer than it does about us.  The narcissism that Wolfe and fellow writer Christopher Lasch saw was a misinterpretation of the non-conformist philosophy of self-expression born in the late 1960’s – or as we used to say, “do your own thing.”  Likewise, Millennials (Generation Y) often accuse Boomers of succumbing to the “greed is good” mentality of the Reagan Era.  If working for a living in a capitalistic society is to be considered avarice, then so be it.  Maybe, if we had remained in the Woodstock mud communally sharing our food, Millennials would have respected us more?  I doubt it.

If you’re still reading this pathetic ramble, let me clearly define for you the meaning of this article’s title – The Two Boomers.  The first one I’ve termed the Vanguard Boomer.  These are the trailblazers and their devoted legion who personified the counterculture movement of universal peace (see:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_child).  They were, and still are, the “commie pinko liberals” despised by right-wing conservatives.  This subgroup literally and figuratively “dropped out” of conventional society.  They disassociated from organized religion, and didn’t start participating in our political system until the early 1990’s (see:  http://elections.gmu.edu/voter_turnout.htm).  They also didn’t have many children and were responsible for the initial decline in America’s birthrate (see:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/11/29/graphs-of-the-day-part-ii-u-s-birthrate-falls-to-lowest-on-record/).  Today, Vanguard Boomers are the highly educated early retirees who, ironically, are now extremely politically active (see:  http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/business-brains/baby-boomers-retiring-sooner-than-expected-study/23214).

The second subgroup I’ve labeled the Bandwagon Boomer.  As previously mentioned, these folks were only casually associated with the counterculture movement.  They would join with the Vanguards on selected issues, such as the anti-Vietnam War effort, but were otherwise a philosophically distinct faction of society.  They were much more religious, much more family-oriented, and much more politically diverse.  In the 1980’s, they were part of the Reagan Democrats.  In the 1990’s, they supported the independent presidential candidacy of Ross Perot.  By the turn of the century, Bandwagon Boomers had become increasingly conservative and today fill the ranks of Tea Party libertarians.  The 2012 election illustrates well this split in the Baby Boomer demographic.  Of the 130 million Americans who cast ballots, 38% were 45-64 years old (approximate age of Boomers – there is no exact generational standard).  Of these, 51% (25+ million) voted Republican, and 47% (23+ million) voted Democratic (see:  http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/main).

Well, that about covers everything I guess.  Can you dig it?  If not, chill-out and don’t be a drag man!  The 60’s and 70’s was a cool, far-out, psychedelic, groovy kind of time that changed the world in profound ways.  Many positive aspects of modern society were established back then, and it is a shame they are often taken for granted now.  As for me, I am righteously proud to be a Baby Boomer.

Some final thoughts:  I regret that my generation didn’t do more for LGBT rights in those days, and we should not have ignored the plight of labor unions and collective bargaining (they’re suffering now).  And in case you are wondering, DISCO SUCKED!

Robert A. Vella