RASCAL REPORT
An Eye on Baby Boomers Since 2022
Mark Cuban calls boomers the most “disappointing generation.”
According the Mark Cuban, “Boomers are gonna go down in history as the most disappointing generation ever, from sex, drugs and rock ’n roll to what we have today.” And what do we have today, Mark? Sex (Viagra and Alprostadil), Drugs (legal weed) and Rock ’n Roll will never die.
Wenner in the early days in San Francisco office
Jann Wenner as boomer spokesman.
Jann Wenner, founder of Rolling Stone magazine, has a new book “Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir.” Wenner founded Rolling Stone magazine in 1967 with $7,500 he borrowed from family. Over time the magazine became known as a cultural beacon reflecting the truths and advancing the myths of a generation. The magazine treated rock ’n’ roll with a reverence it had never received at the time. He pushed the envelope with provocative feature articles on politics and current events. Wenner says he sees no evidence of boomer culpability for the climate and other crises. “That lays squarely on the carbon and the oil companies and the politicians who have taken their money, not with baby boomers.”
91% of boomers overwhelmed by tech.
A new study from Consumer Affairs reveals that 91% of Baby Boomers (and Gen X) feel overwhelmed by technology. Computers are the most overwhelming (32% top pick). Even Facebook and Instagram were cited by 31% as making them feel overwhelmed. This is a big problem and results in the older population being discriminated against in the workforce (73% feel they have been victims of ageism at work). From an employer standpoint the feeling is that “Young people have more tech fluency and are able to pivot more quickly,” Valtech diversity and inclusion director Sheree Atcheson said in an interview. “In a start-up situation, another issue is about them being able to take a lower wage and higher levels of equity which pays off later, an approach that doesn’t work for a lot of older people with family responsibilities.”
Who says you get more conservative as you get older?
This does not mean they (Boomers) have become “more progressive”. But it does mean they have used their critical thinking skills to recognize what has really changed since 2008 is the Republican Party, its candidates, and its commitment to democracy.
The final indignity? “OK, Boomer.”
It was a marvelous generation — wildly creative, innovative, socially-aware, unconventional, unorthodox, unapologetic — and unsustainable, as it turned out.
Now we are graying, a bit grumpy, inexplicably more conservative than anyone might ever have imagined (32 percent of us identify as conservative). The generation that warned each other, “Don’t trust anyone over 30,” doesn’t trust anyone under 50.
The final indignity?
“OK, Boomer.”