The Thread of Cancellation

[rubber soul]

You're right on some fronts. We did benefit from the sacrifices our parents and grandparents made. They didn't want us to suffer through the depression and wars that they did, so yeah, we were kind of spolied. That's why you might shake your head at how Jerry Rubin went from radical Yippie to Reaganesque stockbroker.

I'm a late boomer that grew up in the suburbs so I missed much of the Vietnam/Civil Rights protests as I came of age. We, as a whole, got caught up with the get rich dreams of Reaganomics. I also went to a high school where the majority of students were conservative to the point where they thought the black students always got all the breaks. Incredibly enough, we didn't have a KKK club.

Somehow, I've managed to stay fairly liberal, even progressive, as I've gotten older. But, I've also become more pragmatic realizing it takes more than a few protests to change anything. So I vote for what I can realistically get.

That doesn't mean you should give up. Some things have improved as time goes on and there is no reason that things won't get better in the future.

But, we have to keep going after it. That, ultimately, is our failure as the boomer generation. Maybe your generation will have better success, I hope so.