Lisa Bornstein & baby boomers
Brent Green of Denver writes:
An Open Letter to Lisa Bornstein, re: “Move along, you Boomers …”
Many people of your generation are very good friends of mine; we work well together and get along. Nevertheless, your antediluvian and tiresome way of thinking divides society generationally into “us” and “them,” fomenting useless animosity between age groups.
So, once again, on behalf of the 78 million members of the Baby Boomer generation, I apologize for myriad transgressions we’ve imposed on your Generation X. Although we can never make up for decades of perceived injustices, I encourage you to look on the bright side.
Being part of a younger and smaller generation will soon have economic advantages. According to Merrill Lynch, our nation will confront a 10-million worker shortfall by 2010. That means lots of available jobs for younger people to fill.
Further, you can expect Boomers to help make America a better place to grow old. Just as Boomer women helped force the workplace to become more accommodating for young columnists who prefer not to work as “Gal Fridays,” we will challenge ageist claptrap such as that which dominates your op-ed piece.
Boomers have a longevity bonus of 25 to 40 additional years, thanks in part to their contributions to science (15 of the 16 honorees in TIME magazine’s “America’s Greatest in Science and Medicine”). Thus, we have some time to make America a better place for you to age. We even have time for forgiveness.
As for Boomers’ historic dominance of popular music, I can’t offer much solace except to point out that many artists near your age — many of them influenced by classic rockers — are contributing brilliantly: Sarah McLachlan and James Blunt, for example. Plus, Boomers buy a majority of the CDs being sold today; even artists near your age really appreciate it.
One final point: Your jeremiad appeared in the best medium to reach us. According to the Newspaper Association of America, over 60% of newspaper readers are Boomers. Also, 80% of the Fortune 500 CEOs are Boomers and thus have substantial authority over national advertising budgets.
I hope you value the financial support for your bully pulpit!
This letter has not been edited.
Dear Lisa....Too bad for the sour grapes piece "Hey boomers" [Daily Star, Oneonta, NY, June 2nd, wire, Scripps Howard]. I'm what you label a boomer...I grew up on TV and my dad died from WW2.
Yeah, I was at Woodstock and loved it, but I was never glued to it. It was also a great, one time event.
I enjoyed the Beatles, but also enjoyed Tim Hardin, Tim Buckley and the Blues Project.
I still listen to the great new artists...Amos Lee, Against Me etc.
I had long hair and hated the media label "Hippie"...I still tell kids that follow the Dead and wear 60 shirts to get their own life. I know most of us hated the term "Hippie".
We hated a bad war...as most of them are, but also tried to change bad policy...not the world.
I never made a penny during the 80's...I was too busy paying off student loans and raising a family.
I have been busting my ass, working all my life. I've never sold my soul for money...I've worked most of my life and that's including working for PBS-TV...including a few years at Rocky Mountain PBS, in Denver [including doing many interviews at Rocky Mountain News].
The media has labeled us, as they will you....that really sucks, but that's our media.
I'm now teaching at a state university and still producing documentaries and my wife's a nurse. We are still busting our butts to get by, so I don't want to hear how we all sold out and are sitting on a pile of money.
I have two wonderful children who add to the world and we don't want to have a label...we just want to live.
Don't get your information from Rolling Stone Magazine...they have sucked for over 25 years...try Paste Magazine.
Sincerely,
Pat Murphy...New York
ps...Don't label people...or generations.
Dear Lisa....Too bad for the sour grapes piece "Hey boomers" [Daily Star, Oneonta, NY, June 2nd, wire, Scripps Howard]. I'm what you label a boomer...I grew up on TV and my dad died from WW2.
Yeah, I was at Woodstock and loved it, but I was never glued to it. It was also a great, one time event.
I enjoyed the Beatles, but also enjoyed Tim Hardin, Tim Buckley and the Blues Project.
I still listen to the great new artists...Amos Lee, Against Me etc.
I had long hair and hated the media label "Hippie"...I still tell kids that follow the Dead and wear 60 shirts to get their own life. I know most of us hated the term "Hippie".
We hated a bad war...as most of them are, but also tried to change bad policy...not the world.
I never made a penny during the 80's...I was too busy paying off student loans and raising a family.
I have been busting my ass, working all my life. I've never sold my soul for money...I've worked most of my life and that's including working for PBS-TV...including a few years at Rocky Mountain PBS, in Denver [including doing many interviews at Rocky Mountain News].
The media has labeled us, as they will you....that really sucks, but that's our media.
I'm now teaching at a state university and still producing documentaries and my wife's a nurse. We are still busting our butts to get by, so I don't want to hear how we all sold out and are sitting on a pile of money.
I have two wonderful children who add to the world and we don't want to have a label...we just want to live.
Don't get your information from Rolling Stone Magazine...they have sucked for over 25 years...try Paste Magazine.
Sincerely,
Pat Murphy...New York
ps...Don't label people...or generations.