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https://www.wsj.com/articles/millen...ive-11641153923 Millennials Are the Silencing Generation Baby boomers were carefree and exuberant; our children are dour and anxious. By F.H Buckley Jan. 2, 2022 5:00 pm ET Attendees listen to music at the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival near Bethel, N.Y., Aug. 14, 1969. Photo: /Associated Press OK millennial, you don’t care for us baby boomers. You complain that we’ve taken all the food off the table and left you the crumbs. You say we cling to our jobs and won’t make room for you. And you especially resent how, throughout, we took ownership of the zeitgeist, the spirit of the age. In the 1960s we were a youth movement that demanded to be heard. We marched on the Pentagon and occupied college administration buildings. In the 1970s we mellowed, listened to the Band and the Eagles, and read Charles Reich’s “The Greening of America.” In the 1980s we rebounded as yuppies. We became investment bankers and lawyers, and the women among us wore suits with padded shoulders. Thereafter we ascended to political power—not always wisely, truth be told. But our music had lyrics and melodies, and our protest songs took on real injustices. We cemented a civil-rights revolution for women and minorities and left a mark on all succeeding generations. So, of course you don’t like us. We were carefree and exuberant, while you are dour and anxious. We had Woodstock; you have safe spaces. You are Alfred de Musset’s enfants du sičcle, living in the shadow of an earlier, more exciting generation and conscious of having missed out on all the fun. What you’ve forgotten, however, is that it’s up to each generation to make its own mark. Defining yourself by your resentment of an earlier generation isn’t how to do it. So perhaps we still have something to teach you, ungrateful wretches that you are. What we find missing in your generation, more than anything, is laughter. We grew up on Mad magazine, which taught us to appreciate great literature (“By the shores of Gitche-Gumee / Out near Feldman’s Bagel Factory”) and prepared us for Watergate and the Clintons. When we were a little older, we subscribed to National Lampoon, a magazine that knew nothing is funny unless someone is offended, and the more they’re offended, the funnier it is. We laughed at “Blazing Saddles” and “Animal House,” films you aren’t permitted to see unless you download them when no one is looking. The last time we saw anything funny on late-night television was Norm Macdonald’s news updates on “Saturday Night Live” in the 1990s. Now we’ll marvel at how anything resembling humor has been surgically removed from “SNL” and the talk shows. Sneering at people you despise isn’t an amusing diversion. The generation before us used to be called the silent generation. But they weren’t silent. They invented rock ’n’ roll, the music of our time, but a genre you’ve permitted to die. And they didn’t try to cancel anyone the way you do. You are the silencing generation. The only thing we wanted to ban was banning itself. And if ever we seemed to have gone too far, if ever we had a momentary regret, we called for madder music and stronger wine. That rubbed our elders the wrong way. We offended people. You are perpetually offended. We were John Belushi’s Bluto; you are Dean Wormer. Perhaps that’s why we could roll with Donald Trump’s offenses against taste (up to Jan. 6 anyway). Your generation, not ours, elected Joe Biden. He looked like one of Holden Caulfield’s phonies to us, and we decided we could tolerate Mr. Trump’s mean tweets. So if you want to vaunt your moral superiority, we’ll grant you Mr. Biden. Although possibly you’re having some second thoughts about that. Frankly, when I look at your generation and realize that you’re our children, I wonder where we went wrong. Except that when I think of our excesses, I can’t be surprised that you decided to rebel in your turn. We had thought we had seen the promised land before us, but it bounded away as we approached it. And you saw us fail. And so we offer you our forgiveness, along with the wish that you’ll pardon our offenses. We’re bound together, across the generational divide that always separates parents and children, and over which we extend to you our love and hope for the future. One last word of advice: You won’t believe what your kids will say about you. Mr. Buckley teaches at Scalia Law School and is author of “Progressive Conservatism: How Republicans Will Become America’s Natural Governing Party,” forthcoming in July. Thoughts?
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Jan 4, 2022 10:57
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I’m gonna outlive that old bitch
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Jan 4, 2022 10:58
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his webcomic sucks!!!
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Jan 4, 2022 11:01
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Jan 4, 2022 11:04
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I don't know who that is and that's a lot of words that translate to "I'm not mad, you're mad!" Also the Eagles suck.
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Jan 4, 2022 11:05
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what are zoomers
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Jan 4, 2022 11:10
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Some good points there, I may give this trump fellow a shot.
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Jan 4, 2022 11:16
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wow, this might be the worst of its kind i've ever seen, and i've hate-read a lot of them. a dude publishing a political book about how republicans will be america's "natural" governing party and somehow it slips his mind to mention power, wealth, and political influence in his incisive analysis of historical generational difference. wonder how that happened
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Jan 4, 2022 11:17
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Just glossing over the whole “leaving the crumbs” thing.
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Jan 4, 2022 11:18
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lol @ the silent generation not silencing anyone. No, definitely not trying their drat best to silence anyone not straight, not white etc etc. And some of the most powerful ones of their day certainly didn't support the German American Bund, who in turn supported those doing literal book burnings.
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Jan 4, 2022 11:23
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We'd like to be able to pay for rent and food.
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Jan 4, 2022 11:25
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LimaBiker posted:lol @ the silent generation not silencing anyone. The oldest silents were 13 when the german American Bund dissolved? I think you're mixing up the silents and greatest generation.
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Jan 4, 2022 11:33
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Szyznyk posted:Just glossing over the whole “leaving the crumbs” thing. Yeah, lol. "Why are you guys so dour, stressed, and broke all the time? Cheer up!" "Can we maybe get paid on par with what you were making in the 60's?" "gently caress no, those profits are my god given right, get back to work slacker!"
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Jan 4, 2022 11:36
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drat, WSJ giving the NYT a run for its money on who can craft the better hateclickbait articles. Not going to waste my time giving that shitheel and his toilet paper publication my attention. At least that whiny "my horrible husband" op-ed was funny to laugh at.
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Jan 4, 2022 11:48
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reignonyourparade posted:The oldest silents were 13 when the german American Bund dissolved? I think you're mixing up the silents and greatest generation. Oh, you're right. Thought they were older.
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Jan 4, 2022 12:00
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Boomers in the UK are to blame for Brexit In short, gently caress boomers
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Jan 4, 2022 12:01
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Isn't it the lot of every generation's youth to be termed dour and anxious by their elders??
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Jan 4, 2022 12:10
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Oh my god, I'm loving 30 stop trying to chide me into calling you every day because you're bored, I got poo poo to do and a baby to care for, an actual baby less than a year old
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Jan 4, 2022 12:21
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g
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Jan 4, 2022 12:25
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Every passing day there are fewer boomers on the planet and that is objectively a good thing.
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Jan 4, 2022 12:28
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ProperCoochie posted:Every passing day there are fewer boomers on the planet and that is objectively a good thing.
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Jan 4, 2022 12:28
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funny to imagine what set this loser off to write his hate screed about the earths population born in a certain time like some kind of astrologist with dementia. This guy is about a decade late to the “avocado toast” social media hate baiting, and most people have learned to move on.
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Jan 4, 2022 12:28
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CelticPredator posted:I’m gonna outlive that old bitch Yeah, I refuse to die until he's dead. Put "Outlived an old bitch" on my tombstone.
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Jan 4, 2022 12:41
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syntaxfunction posted:Also the Eagles suck. They really do.
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Jan 4, 2022 12:44
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*Grinds teeth as the drama queen narcissist generation whines and cries because they don’t feel special enough*
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Jan 4, 2022 12:45
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Boomer culture sucks
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Jan 4, 2022 12:49
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syntaxfunction posted:Also the Eagles suck. Grape posted:They really do. 
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Jan 4, 2022 13:00
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Jan 4, 2022 13:02
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What is it about Buckleys being huge weenies?
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Jan 4, 2022 13:03
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ok boomer
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Jan 4, 2022 13:05
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My "thoughts" are that this person needs to be the first against the wall, op
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Jan 4, 2022 13:07
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I bet I could whip his rear end lol
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Jan 4, 2022 13:08
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he does not gently caress
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Jan 4, 2022 13:12
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Who the gently caress do they think will be looking after them in the nursing home? With all their bullshit self fellating jabs at the younger generations they're likely to be piled up on top of each other in a room and set on fire before someone takes care of them in their dotage. But I know that won't happen because younger generations are actually more compassionate than these selfish bums.
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Jan 4, 2022 13:16
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Viginti Septem posted:We'd like to be able to pay for rent and food. Get a job, hippie lol
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Jan 4, 2022 13:19
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kids today don't know what it was like living in America's Golden Age, they don't know what it was like to watch... Animal House?
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Jan 4, 2022 13:21
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Remember life before the internet and central air conditioning? It was PERFECT. also I had several hair and Jessica looked at me in algebra class
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Jan 4, 2022 13:24
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Big Beef City posted:Remember life before the internet and central air conditioning? It was PERFECT. also I had several hair and Jessica looked at me in algebra class Here he is at his peak during the 1970s. He had more hair: 
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Jan 4, 2022 13:27
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OK boomers, you don’t care for us millenials. You complain that we ate too much avocado off the table and left you the pit. You say we cling to our phones and won't show you how to use them. And you especially resent how, throughout, we took ownership of gender. Call me, WSJ
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Jan 4, 2022 13:27
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BrassRoots posted:Who the gently caress do they think will be looking after them in the nursing home? Let them find out
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Jan 4, 2022 13:32
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