Sustainable Democracy

Throughout the ages, there have always been differences between the generations, but never has there been such a classic struggle for the future of democracy, when… BABY BOOMERS vs GEN X collide!

Today’s conflict: “You don’t work hard enough” vs. “There is no golden retirement watch, get over it”

As a child, I have fond memories of riding in the doughnut truck with my dad at 4am while he made deliveries. In those days, he would work 10-12 hour days and still not keep pace with his father, who enjoyed to complain, “if only I could find someone to work as hard as me, this business would really take off!…” My father, my stepfather, and every significant Baby Boomer Male that I have known has lived in the shadow of his own father’s work ethic. It seems the self-esteem of the males of the Baby Boomer generation sustains itself directly from, firstly, his “work ethic” and secondly, the size of the souped-up engine in his car of teenage yore.

This is not quite so of Generation X, who, in large part, derive their work ethic from, firstly, their best video game coup-de-grace, and secondly, the size of the souped-up processor in his computer today (!flame! You will burn in the after-flame of my overclocking, byeatch!) Generation X does work, in consideration they have legitimized video gaming as a competitive sport, complete with cash prizes.
Video gaming is work, especially to really buckle down and beat Halo 3 on Legendary level over the weekend.

There is a difference of approach between the generations. Baby Boomers seem to be hurrying about constantly while Generation X is more, well, sedentary. More significantly, there is a difference of concern. Generation X is certainly not as concerned about making money.

The goal of a Good American man, I have learned through example, is to work as hard as he can to make as much money as he can. But what do you do with all that money you make, papa? Well, er, you save it, and you occasionally buy things, but truth be told, you make more money so you can afford bigger monthly payments (bigger house, bigger car, fancier department store) and more of them!
A Good American measures his success in the quantity and quality of items owned and on display.

While Generation X is not as concerned about working all the time to make money so they can buy more stuff, they ARE still getting things. Better yet, Generation X does not have to work so hard to buy them. How so? There is the most obvious reason – credit cards! Consider, my mother requested I not mention to my step-father that I was accepted for an American Express card at 18 when he had only recently earned his own. “Such a privilege wasted on such youth!” he would have said.

There are other influences which ignite a Molotov Cocktail of doom for American democracy. First, more stuff is made more cheaply today, so while we all are behind inflation in annual raises, we are now able to buy more for $20 at the Super Wal-Mart. Secondly, Generation X is the third generation of spoiled brats in American history, and we can all point our fingers of suspicion towards the Depression Survivors for starting it all. So grateful were they for surviving the Depression, they fatefully decided their own children shouldn’t suffer the same fate, and bought their kids lots of stuff and worked really hard to pay for it all.

There is strong likelihood that a Depression today could wipe out an entire generation. If the credit card industry was destroyed, Generation X would be rendered unable to purchase necessary living expenses; none writes checks, and only druggies carry cash! Today, we are so dependent upon credit cards to pay for our lifestyles, we have lost sight of America as a democracy; instead, we live in America as the world’s greatest shopping mall.

The guaranteed rights of the Constitution do not seem to protect the right buy whatever we want, however much we want. Our country serves poorly as an example of democracy when we show off our ability to buy things. American democracy should shine with efficiency and balance of people who work to live, instead of working to pay the company store debt. People who live in insurmountable debt have lost more than a paycheck – they have lost their souls!