A Baby Boomer Speaks

By pure chance I learned of a commencement speech given by our governor, Mitch Daniels. The full text is here. But I wanted to excerpt a couple things.

Discussing how the "Baby Boomer" Generation pretty much messed up, he says

'As a group, we have been self-centered, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, and all too often just plain selfish. Our current Baby Boomer President has written two eloquent, erudite books, both about..himself.
"In sum, our parents scrimped and saved to provide us a better living standard than theirs; we borrowed and splurged and will leave you a staggering pile of bills to pay. It's been a blast; good luck cleaning up after us."

True enough. He goes on to say that the graduating students should live for fulfillment, not just for material gain.

It reminds me of a quote by Zig Ziglar: "You can have everything you ever want if you just help others get what they want."

In my mind, that's the trick about living as a Conservative. By helping others, whether through charity or through business, I become better, wealthier, happier. Many on the other side of the political spectrum think we conservatives are greedy. I always point out that we are not the ones demanding someone else pay for our health care or our retirement. The other side says we're "mean" when we point out that single-motherhood is not a good way to raise a child. I would say we're pointing out the obvious. They say we're not realistic when we suggest abstinence is the best method of ensuring you don't have a child before you're ready. I would say that it's common sense. Just like the best way to not get a DUI is to not drink.

As the debts of today will be paid tomorrow by our children, it's necessary to note that our children could have been the wealthiest generation. Instead, they will be more enslaved than we are. Thanks, Baby Boomers. Your greed and stupidity has likely begun the collapse of the greatest civilization the world has ever seen.