OP-ED: Boomers need to take some blame
In the mid-1980s, I proudly told my wife I had fit into a pair of Levi’s that were a size too small. Proof of my never-ending youth. Without a word, she slid a copy of Newsweek across the kitchen counter. On the cover? A man in Levi’s. The headline? “Levi’s Now Pear-Shaped to Fit the Baby Boomer Generation.”
This column is about the children of the Cold War, survivors of disco, Reaganomics, and years of wild optimism sprinkled with decades of delusion who changed the world. Welcome to “Feeding Time at the Trough.”
Boomer Donald Trump is back in office while Joe Biden is chilling on the beach, and the rest of us are stuck in this Boomer time-loop.
This all began just after the free love era, when our Boomer buddies looked around and said, “You know what would go great with peace, love, and rock n roll? Money. Lots of it.” So, they found the trough – and pulled up a chair.
Yes, Trump’s running the country like it is a hostile takeover of a golf resort, but let’s not pretend the Democrats are skipping that buffet. Both sides figured out how to belly up to the proverbial gravy train.
One of the most blatant systemic sources of corruption is the Congressional Side Hustle on Wall Street. It’s always been interesting that right after a closed government hearing, a bunch of lawmakers suddenly become stock-picking geniuses? They buy Nvidia right before the AI bill and grab defense stocks just before we send tanks to anywhere. Coincidence? Bahahaha.
Oh, and how about the way the stock market magically predicts which company will get a government contract after those same committee meetings? It reminds me of the time in 1980 when Pennsylvania’s winning lottery number was 666, and eight insiders just happened to win nearly $2 million. They went to jail, but Congress gets reelected.
Did you ever find it interesting that elected officials on both sides of the aisle go into public service with a $174K salary and retire with beachfront property, access to private jets, yachts, RVs, and a portfolio that reads like Lady Astor’s dream journal.
And let’s not forget those magical blind trusts, which are about as blind as a raccoon on garbage pick-up day. “We don’t know what’s in our portfolio,” they say, as they pass legislation that makes those portfolios explode. Meanwhile, they tell us they are fighting for the people. Sure, if by people they mean the tech bros or crypto lobbyists who show up with a check.
And speaking of checks, let’s talk about student loans. Who created that mess? Who jacked up tuition, deregulated the banks, and handed out credit cards like Christmas candy? We did. The generation that once said, “Don’t trust the man,” then not only became the man, but also bought a yacht named Trickle Down.
We deregulated everything, then blamed millennials for not owning homes. “Stop buying avocado toast and Starbucks,” we said, while snapping up rental properties and starting scam-for-profit universities, prisons, and hospitals. We trashed the environment, then handed Gen Z a metal straw and said, “Fix it.” We promised freedom, then sold surveillance. We said, “Hard work pays off,” while dismantling the middle class.
And now? We’ve got Baby Boomer Trump 2.0, who appears to be governing mostly by grudge and tossing out foreign policy like he’s hosting “Deal or No Deal.” The Democrats? They’re holding press conferences where they express deep concern and then head off to the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va., for a strategic retreat while the Republicans go to the Trump National Doral golf course and rewrite the Constitution with a Sharpie and a debit card.
And us Boomers? We’re on our patios, praying for our Social Security and yelling at the TV while pretending none of this is our fault.
In Washington, though, one thing never changes: It’s always feeding time at the trough.
Nick Jacobs resides in Windber.