Boomers and the Presidential Election

Posted by: Gene M. | May 02,2008


I find this election season totally fascinating.  I’ve written before that I’m supporting Barack Obama.  My support hasn’t changed, but man has a lot happened since I was originally writing about the election and how it related to credit cards and finance last year.  Really, I don’t fit the demographic for an Obama supporter, as I’m of the Clinton’s generation.  Call me a self-hating Boomer, maybe.  That might be a little strong, but I do agree with a lot of the criticisms that Boomers take and why a fresh start is necessary.  

While I don’t agree that the Boomers are to blame for our current economic trouble, they’re far from blameless.  Here’s the situation: across the board we’re seeing that industries are looking for short-term profits over long-term sustainability, which is finally coming to a head in today’s credit crisis.  The subprime mortgage crisis was a direct result of this outlook.  Many new, and warned, that giving out so many loans was unsustainable and then the inevitable happened.  

Climate change works under the same framework.  Companies may have gained short-term profits by skirting environmental laws, and now it is coming back to haunt all of us.  Giant SUV-drivers may be driving a safer car, but that car is wreaking havoc on the environment.  At the same time, I have no figures, but I imagine the bulk of SUV drivers are those under 50 with young children: i.e. not the Boomer generation.  

Where Boomers get blamed is that they’ve created this culture of live now, forget the future.  I don’t buy that exactly.  As I’ve written here before, the desire for a quick fix is a human issue, not necessarily a generational one.  That said, what makes the current election so vital is that it so symbolic.  It is an election about the older generation against the younger generation.  Defend the Boomers all you want, but there’s no doubting that we’re facing serious challenges built upon generations of bad policy and neglect.  

For this reason I think the “Change” tag is an important one.  We definitely need to rework how we act as a civilization.  Yep, I’m thinking in big terms because we’ve got big problems.  A potential perfect storm is on the horizon: both economic and ecological collapse.  It’s painful to write those words, but the fact that it’s even a possibility is pretty startling.  Electing a candidate like Obama would be as much a psychological break from the past as it would be a way to bring about new policies in regards to the environment or the economy.  That’s why this Boomer wants to vote for a President much younger than I.  

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