Regular readers of my columns probably gathered, yesterday, that I had watched the New York Times video of Lulu Garcia-Navarro’s interview with influencer Tucker Carlson.
I didn’t actually want to watch it. But once I started watching, I couldn’t stop.
I’m that way with potato chips, too. Once I start, I can’t stop. Not watching them, but eating them.
During the interview, Mr. Carlson admitted to making certain mistakes over his many years of reporting on, and commenting on, Washington politicians. But of course, his mistakes were not nearly as bad as the mistakes made by Washington politicians.
I occasionally make mistakes, myself. In fact, my entire generation occasionally makes mistakes. As we all know.
One of Mr. Carlson’s comments hit me especially hard:
I’m just telling you I think the future, the energy, not just on the right, but I think right and left under 30 agree on this… that young people have been shafted by older people, particularly by the baby boomers, people born between ’46 and ’64. And I think they’re right about that. I do think that’s the most selfish generation, most loathsome, mediocre generation this country ever produced. Not all of them, but in general, I would say. Their behavior has been shameful and selfish.
And I hear young people … say things like “Only baby boomers would have a second home in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, but not help their kids buy homes.”
That’s what I hear. I hear people who understand that their lives will bear no resemblance to the lives of their parents and grandparents, and they’re really upset about it.
This hit me hard because I was born in ’64. So that means Mr. Carlson was talking about me, using words like “selfish” and “loathsome” and “mediocre”.
If I had been born a year later, in ’65, I could have agreed with him. But as it stands now, I have to feel insulted.
Honestly, I’m comfortable if people want to label me as “selfish” because I heard that accusation on a daily basis, back when I was married, and it’s actually pretty accurate. And “mediocre” is also applicable, of course.
But “loathsome”? I’m not sure I even know what that even means.
Apparently, Mr. Carlson is not the only person who feels this way about baby boomers. I came across an article in Psychology Today, written by a real psychologist, Nicholas Balaisis Ph.D., that offered advice to young people, mostly under 30, who feel compelled to blame boomers for their own shortcomings. The article was entitled, “The Psychology of Boomer Blaming.”
The article purports to give advice to Gen Z kids suffering from feelings of anxiety, hopelessness, and depression. Basically, Dr. Balaisis agrees with these kids, that the boomer generation, almost single-handedly, created a world that generates hopelessness and depression. I should mention that Dr. Balaisis lives in Canada, but apparently, the boomers have created the same depressing, anxiety-ridden situation up there. Something I didn’t know.
Maybe the boomers ruined the world everywhere?
When I did a Google search for the term, “boomer blaming” I found literally dozens of articles describing the phenomenon. The funny thing, though. I don’t think Gen Z even knows how to read. All these advice columns, by people like Dr. Balaisis, are getting read mainly by boomers, and it’s just making us feel more guilty than we already feel.
More likely, Gen Z is watching TikTok dance videos, or shopping for shoes. That’s not really going to help matters.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.