In defence of boomers

If I were a psychologist, which I am not, I would guess that Kristian Gravenor’s parents were baby boomers and he had lots of problems with them. His rant against boomers and hippies [The Kristian Perspective, Nov. 7] was pretty vitriolic and deserves rebuttal.

First, about the hippies. I was never one myself and shared his opinions about their beliefs and customs even at that time. I liked quite a bit of the music (far better than today’s rap) and really appreciated the more liberal attitude towards sex, but that was about it.

The only thing particular about hippies was their numbers and influence. They were the ’60s version of 20th-century youthful rebellion that included the lost generation, the beats and, dare I say it, the punks of Gravenor’s age. Frankly, I find today’s rings in noses and assholes, tattoos, baggy pants and fuchsia mohawks as distasteful as the hippies’ “shitty long hair and smelly jeans.” But that’s their business.

As for the baby boomers in general, well, I’m guilty of being one of those. We stand accused of being narcissistic and self-congratulatory. I don’t think that’s quite true. We’re probably no worse than those before or since, but we are hugely influential due to numbers, and spoiled. Most of us have never fought in wars or suffered economic depressions as previous generations did. We are often too anxious to have it all and have it now, so some become white collar criminals and so on.

But the biggest accusation is about the debt we created that poor Mr. Gravenor will have to pay for us. Well, my parents rang up one heck of a debt putting people to work in the Depression with government make-work-projects (Mr. Gravenor is possibly too young to have pissed in one of the Vespasiennes that were built for this purpose, but they sure were handy at times). They also spent like drunken sailors to deal with the Kaiser, Hitler and Tojo.

I don’t mind paying those debts. Somehow, Gravenor thinks this debt was created buying “subsidized jobs, Seadoos, bean-bag chairs, hash pipes…” I must have slept through it all. I never had any of those. I demand my share of the government largesse that bought them for all us hippies! No, dear fellow, this money bought the Trans-Canada highway, the seaway, national medicare, employment insurance, welfare, a CEGEP system, many more universities with tuitions a fraction of what they were in my day, Canada’s contribution to world peacekeeping, put men on the moon, advanced science and medicine, and so on. I trust Mr. Gravenor has never benefitted from any of these. If so, he may want to return the money to reduce the debt.

I have been working in one form or another since 1963. I am okay financially most of the time but far from rich. I figure I have paid about $1-million or so in taxes in that time. How much has Gravenor paid I wonder?

We are not perfect, but we haven’t been all that bad… at least up to the standards of previous generations. I have three sons. I expect their generation to be better than mine. They won’t become so by writing columns whining about what their parents did or didn’t do, or what they wore. They will do so by learning from our mistakes, taking responsibility and taking charge.

» Ken Frankel

Restore the Rant Line™!

I understand that the individual who does the Rant Line™ is on leave. I would like to know why a replacement wasn’t found during this person’s absence. Maintaining the Rant Line™ is not a complex endeavour! I, and many others I know, pick up the Mirror every week for the sole purpose of reading the Rant Line™. Please bring it back as soon as possible.

» Jon Mitchell

[Ed’s note: ] The Rant Line™ starts up again next week, in the issue of Nov. 21. The line is now open, so if you’ve got an opinion on the local music scene, call or fax 271-RANT (7268).

Correction

Due to the vast number of entries, a few errors may have found their way into Sound Check 2002 [Nov. 7]. Techno-metal band Ögenix was incorrectly listed as Genix and DJ Roberto’s contact number, 831-5712, was inadvertently omitted.

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