Does anyone — such as myself — wonder how different the Boomers would have turned out if it had not been for the horrible influence Dr. Benjamin Spock had upon our own parents, the Greatest Generation?
Whenever folks lambaste the Boomers (of which I am one), I always remember the fact that it was our parents who returned from WWII, birthed us in quick order, and proceeded to shower us with more attention and more coddling than any former generation of Americans. We were of such large numbers and had so much comparative affluence that whole marketing schemes were built around catering to the “young generation.” By the time we were in our early teens, we were practically at the center of the American universe. And by the time we were really hitting our rebellious stride, most of our parents’ generation were nearly downright scared of us. This is not a recipe for turning out the best citizens in a free society.
Nevertheless, the Boomer rebellion, which mainly centered around the Vietnam War and continued conscription, was pretty short-lived among the majority of us. The vast majority of Boomers left the left and became the heartland conservatives that fueled the conservative movement and elected Ronald Reagan in one of the biggest landslides in American history. Most of us left college, grew up, started businesses, fueled a religious revival (remember the religious right?) and raised the children in which the Nation now has its best hope. And yes, the tables in modern America have completely turned. The remaining Boomer left has only had this much influence because our generation was so large (79 million) in comparison to the ones both before and after it. That percentage of us, who refused to grow up, are the ones who have fueled this Nation’s descent into moral decay and the desire for a Nanny State. They are the ones who encouraged and actively bred the sense of entitlement so prevalent among American youth. But the tables have turned in their favor. And those nonconformist leftists of yesterday are now the conformists (PC folks) of today. Whereas the conservative Boomers and our children have become the nonconformists of today. Now, here is our challenge. As conservatives, we must learn to harness the natural rebelliousness of youth with the ideas of nonconformism as a way to change the future for the better. We must show our youth how old and tried-and-failed the policies of the socialists really are. We must endear them to the original American patriots with clarity and forceful rhetoric. Otherwise, American exceptionalism is a sunk ship. And the world will quickly devolve into the barbarism from which it has been lifted, in large part, on the able shoulders of Americans.