"In this sticky web that we're all in, behaving decently is no small task." -- Novelist Stacey D'Erasmo

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Boomer Problems and Politics


     This round of the Best of Boomer Blogs ranges from the personal to the professorial.

     Karen Austin of The Generation Above Me points out that as we age our bones become weaker, but we can work to strengthen them through diet, exercise and supplements. Karen herself has Osteopenia, so she has been learning about Calcium Carbonate, found in many anti-acids (as well as the White Cliffs of Dover). She also notes how absorption of calcium can be a problem, but that taking too much calcium has its risks, too.

The White Cliffs of Calcium Carbonate. Photo by: HBarrison
     Meanwhile, if you're dreaming of that retirement home, and thinking of selling your house, you must make a move over to The Midlife Crisis Queen. Her life is turning upside down lately . . . literally, as she relates to us in The Process of Selling Your Home These Days . . . (or why I threw myself down the stairs this week!)

    But what I'd like to know is: How come, when you're selling your house, the real-estate agent comes in and makes you dispose of half your furniture, and all of your personal items, and then recommends spending untold amounts of hard-earned cash on various improvements that you just know the new owners are going to rip out even before they move in. But when you're going to look at houses to buy, the paint is peeling off the side of the house, a dog is barking at you from the garage, the bathroom sink is stopped up, and the kitchen looks like it was last renovated in 1963 . . . by someone with extemely bad taste?

     Oops, do I sound like a curmudgeon? Maybe it's because I'm getting older and more conservative. Or, at least that's what Rita  R. Robison, consumer journalist, writes in her post Baby Boomers Becoming More Conservative as They Age. On the other hand, Millennials age 18 to 33 are more liberal. Although half of Millennials identify as political independents, in recent elections they have voted heavily Democratic and they favor liberal views on many political and social issues, such as support for same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization

     Do you even agree with the premise that boomers are getting more conservative? I'm not sure I do. If supporting more money for Social Security beneficiaries is considered a liberal cause, then Baby Boomers are becoming more liberal, not more conservative. But I'm pretty sure that's not the whole story.

     Anyway, I'm not not even sure what we think of as liberal and conservative applies to our current situation. For example, unions are usually considered liberal; but more often than not they are arguing forcefully to keep the status quo . . . which is more like a conservative thing to do, isn't it? Meanwhile, conservatives are opposed to many measures designed to protect the environment . . . and yet, look at the word "conservation." It's got the word conservative right in it! So go figure.

     Anyway, check out Rita's post which refers to a poll by the Pew Research Center, which gives all sorts of insights to how people believe and behave. Just don't blame me if you don't believe what the pollsters say you're supposed believe. 


9 comments:

stephen Hayes said...

As far a politics goes, I couldn't get much more liberal. I doubt age will make a conservative out of me. Happy Easter.

Linda Myers said...

I"m a left of center independent, but I do have conservative thoughts from time to time. Right now, income tax reform is occupying a lot of those thoughts. Like, how come you can only deduct sales tax on your earned income? What if you spend a million dollars a year of your discretionary savings?

Maybe that's not conservative after all. Just sensible.

DJan said...

I'm a 71-year-old liberal. I missed being a baby boomer by a few years. I wonder what generation I belong to. :-)

Anonymous said...

Checked out the blog on home selling. I asked a broker whether we should fix up our old house or sell as is. The land under our house is about two-thirds the value of our home. Thus, our house will sell no matter what. A buyer can tear down the structure, and probably will. In the interim we are making small cosmetic repairs.

Meanwhile we're aging in place. We like our area and know someday we will have to move into something smaller. Or, one of us will die and the other will be forced to move.

Anonymous said...

PS I am a social liberal with a gay granddaughter who supports same sex marriage and a fiscal conservative.

Many Conservatives support so-called liberal causes. Jeb bush and the Everglades, and John McCain and the Grand Canyon are a case in point. John McCain said many years ago "conserve" is the basis of conservation and conservative. The problem with many BB 'liberals' is that they are not Liberal.

SS is not a problem.

Medicare is...like or lump it. So is the over-reaching over-regulating big federal government.

Rosaria Williams said...

I am pretty much a liberal.

Douglas said...

Virtually no one is liberal or conservative.... not counting a few celebrities. Most of us carry thoughts/beliefs that cross those boundaries. The young are usually liberal while the older of us lean toward conservatism. What's the old saying? "If you aren't liberal in your 20's, you don't have a heart. If you aren't conservative in your 40's, you don't have a brain."

#1Nana said...

Umm, yeah, you sound like a curmudgeon!

Anonymous said...

I read your blog regularly I am in the middle, the social security admin a real bummer if you did not work and save like hell..My brother in law got his ptsd after all the tbi vets came home from Afghanistan, plus they all have ptsd, he got it in 07 geez, he was in Vietnam in 1968 oh, my living God, we had to go to the governor of God-Forsaken Oregon and the congresswoman Patty Murray of the great state of Washington to get his ptsd money, he has worked 31 years for an umbrella company in Portland he worked like hell, his gal pal wife in Oregon lived for over 30 years was dead by then, his life was kicked around, he got his ptsd since may 07 they pay in a month of arrears, he still works like hell, how fair is that?? Not much! I meet people on disability from many states other than Washington they ride the bus never look for work and get over $1,500 a month, how is that fair..I am becoming a big advocate for the poor and hungry volunteering so much I could positively scream, the working poor is rising faster than any segment, the working poor yet many who get state and fed disability seem pretty medically and mentally fit to me, I see them when I tote food to the pantry I buy and cook for the working poor, these are not people who are not working, no they don't get much at all and make sure their wives and husbands have food and their tiny children and they are forced to starve, so they get to the pantry where I volunteer and we feed them..They will not have a retirement or riches when they can no longer work many jobs??? I am becoming very disillunioned by our politicians they live like KINGS and QUEENS, with no care of the real citizens they represent the working and more working poor and hungry.......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!