I have dreams. Don't laugh.
On the subject of the federal budget to be released tomorrow, Stringer46 gets all chest puffy and John Galty on the younger generation:
The majority of boomers, that I know anyway, like me, do not need or want handouts from the government. We worked hard all our lives and are now retiring with the residue of our life's earnings. We are not and do not want to be supported by the younger people.
That is some good stuff. What Fugle might call weapons-grade stupidity.
I'm sure that you, like me, have heard this your whole damn life from the Boomers. You've heard how hard they work and how they've done it alone, no help from nobody nohow never nuh uh. You've heard about how spoiled you are and how you don't know the value of a dollar or hard work. Every generation says this kind of stuff to their kids. But it seems to me that the Boomers I meet are convinced that their success is completely self-made. They completely ignore that they might be the most pampered, most coddled generation ever.
This is something I point out to my relatives. I remind them of the family members who had severe medical problems that required extensive hospital time that didn't cost them a cent. Some are chronically sick and thankfully don't have to go bankrupt. I point out that their children, like me, went to school when there were no user fees and buses available all the time for sports and trips home. I point out that they incurred minimal cost for their children's university tuition ($1500/year when I was going through in the second half of the 80s) so that they could keep all their hard earned money. I point to the roads, doctors, schools, phone systems, and the eleventy-hundred other things that the Canadian government, by way of taxpayers, has provided them so that they could be battle-scarred individualists.
Of course it doesn't sink in; it never does. That's what makes them adorable.
ah but they are entitled to their entitlements.
ReplyDeleteAs Dick Solloman would insist, "It's not welfare if it supports meeeee."
So strange. My parents are boomers who are now struggling because they pay for their meds. And fuck if those savings don't burn up fast. Now, they live slim. And still pay taxes. And as they are only 66, I fully expect to have to pick up the slack as they become more feeble. That whole Right Wing attitude just is fucking killing the middle class. I have a 7 year old. Where does that leave me? Right in the sandwich, baby! For the rest of my fucking life. My hubby and I will never be able to retire.
ReplyDeleteHarebell,
ReplyDeleteOf course they are entitled, they worked hard and paid taxes, unlike anyone else ever. Plus, government bad.
Hi Leanne,
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the reluctance to have drugs covered under our health care. You'd think the free-market capitalists in government would know to use the leverage they possess to get better deals and to allow or encourage more generic drugs.
I always laugh when my wife talks about retiring. She's so hopeful. I guess you can try and be the healthiest, tastiest part of the sandwich. Before you're eaten alive of course.
i say we take Stringer46 at his word and allow him to opt out of receiving OAS. I don't think we should let him stop paying into the system that supports the common good, but if he wants to go all Galt's Gulch and not accept any help from society, then by all means little wingnut, fly and be free.
ReplyDeleteBut since I've been paying for years to support sending the troops overseas and sending the police to beat up protestors and the drug enforcement agencies and equalization payments for Alberta and sending your offspring to Catholic schools and the Senate and a million and six other things, fuck you if you think you are not going to keep paying into the system just because it is spending a pittance on something you don't approve of.
If some dimwit wants to play rugged individualist after society pays to raise him, fine, but suddenly declaring themselves sovereign citizens doesn't absolve them of their ongoing debt to society. As long as they are breathing the air the government helps keep clean and drinking the water that isn't poisoned and using good transported to them on public roads and enjoying the safety and freedom ensured by the military and police and fellow citizens, then they can fucking well pay for it just like the rest of us.
Your list of things to remind wingnut relatives of is a good list, but the real list is miles longer and the main reason I never ever discuss politics with relatives anymore.
"Your list of things to remind wingnut relatives of is a good list, but the real list is miles longer"
ReplyDeleteSo true. I figured I was preaching to the educated choir, so I didn't need to pile on. But perhaps an update with a link.
Relatives? They seem lost to me. Law and order types who don't want any laws to apply to them. And some are in law enforcement. My kids get sick before some family functions. Darn them for keeping me home.
Maybe point people to #1 on this list in the future?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cracked.com/blog/6-things-rich-people-need-to-stop-saying_p2/#ixzz1oLKBsPse
Thanks for the link Fugle. As usual, I'm tilling an already plowed field.
ReplyDeleteIt's a big field, plenty of room.
ReplyDeleteYou are seriously tredding on dangerous ground. Don't you know that the old farts have ample time and resourses to rally towards those who slander their good reputations. Ever read Tom Brokaw's 'Greatest Generation?' I'm tell'n ya, these people will cut you to ribbons.
ReplyDeleteGo into hidding, NOW!