When boomers ruled the earth
Christopher Buckley’s satirical novel ‘Boomsday’ takes place in a not-so-distant future in which the U.S. is facing a multi-trillion-dollar deficit and massive tax hikes to pay for the retirement of all those resource-hogging baby boomers.
Fed up with shouldering the burden of this pampered group of ‘wrinklies,’ Buckley’s 29-year-old protagonist devises a plan: Pass a law urging and handsomely rewarding boomers to kill themselves — suicide is to be known as “voluntary transitioning — at the ripe old age of 70.
Of course, he was just kidding around. But those worried about aging boomers’ effect on the welfare state aren’t — not by a long shot. Predictions for the nation’s health care system have been nothing short of apocalyptic.
Here’s the latest: Four in every five Canadians believe that the demands placed on the health system by aging boomers will result in reduced access and lower quality care, according to a recent study by the Canadian Medical Association.
There are also widespread fears — by close to 75% of respondents — that ballooning health costs will result in significant tax hikes for younger workers already struggling to get ahead.
Part of the challenge, of course, is that the post-war Boomer generation simply spends much more on health care than their parents did.
They visit the doctor more, they consume more services, and they aren’t afraid to use modern medicine to improve their quality of life.
Trolling for more health-care dollars for her constituents, Dr. Anne Doig, the outgoing president of the CMA and, says Canadians are right to be concerned about the future of their health care, arguing that an imminent ‘silver tsunami’ of aging baby boomers could badly strain the health system.
Will boomers bankrupt the system? How worried are you about the increasing costs of health care? Have you done anything to prepare for the future, such as looking at supplemental health insurance?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: John Gaul | Aug 24, 2021 9:38:34 AM
This is hysteria. There are lots of studies that indicate that fears of this sort are overblown. If you want to worry about an age group worry about the over-weight and obese youth who will be having heart attacks in their mid thirties.
Boomers are much healthier even considering their age.
Posted by: GenXYCusper | Aug 24, 2021 9:42:09 AM
I'm very worred about the boomers who have already almost destroyed the planet hogging even more healthcare in our system. They are such a seflish generation that have left noting to the Gen X and Yers that are now trying to build their own lives. They had the privilage of getting great paying jobs right out of school and having comfortable lives and retirements even when younger people are struggling to start families and buy modest homes. They had the standard of living at 25 that the next generation will be lucky to have at 40! There was a Star Trek The Next Generation episode that had the older generation take their own lives so they would not be a burden.....even when I saw it as a kid I thought they had the right idea.
Posted by: Ross | Aug 24, 2021 10:10:12 AM
Recall the movie Logan's Run. Time for carousel? End of life at 30?
Posted by: kristy | Aug 24, 2021 10:31:06 AM
I don't think the health care system is too much to worry about, how about enough funds in our Canada Pension Plan, all of a sudden, these people will be retiring, turning 65. (Baby boomers are born between 1946 and 1964, we are in 2010, so 2010-1946 = 64 years old)... We will probably see an increase in people receiving CPP, a stop on investing, people drawing out their RRSP's and personal savings, they will still continue to purchase prescription drugs and continuously go to the hospitals for their check ups and i don't think it will scare our healthcare system. They will start dying off in the next 20-40 years, but if you look at our increasing population we will have enough workers to support these people in hospitals, more people paying taxes, more people investing in healthcare.
Just some food for thought.
Posted by: Ian | Aug 24, 2021 11:12:23 AM
As a boomer, I disagree with some of the comments although I understand the fear is based on a lack of statistical data. The job I got out of school was far from high paying. I grossed $65 a week before taxes and deductions. Speaking of deductions, I've paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes, CPP contributions and EI payments. Give me back the CPP and EI payments I made and I can retire quite comfortably. What some of the respondents forget about is that we will leave billions of dollars to our children. Money that may not be spent wisely, but certainly will be spent.
To-day's generation has received more of a helping hand from their parents than any other and will continue to benefit from our hard earned savings. I think killing your parents at any age so that you can inherit their money or have them be less of a burden is still illegal in most societies.
Posted by: L | Aug 24, 2021 11:50:55 AM
Well, after reading some of these comments, you can't blame one generation for ruining our planet. That's not fair. To top it off, even if they DID do alot of harm, in the time period they were growing up and maturing, they didn't know any better. That's just life.
Sometimes I feel sorry for the boomers. They are getting blamed because their parents raised them wrong. Their parents, on the whole, were from the "depression." Since THAT generation had absolutely nothing, they tended to spoil their kids. However, that is not the fault of the "boomers."
Now, back to health care. Even though I believe our system is definitely not the best in the world, to begin with, I think it will do fine. The "boomers," along with the rest of us, are now learning how to live right. Will they need some healthcare? Yes. They are aging. However, I don't believe they are going to be cramping our health care system by running to the doctor constantly. That kind of behaviour takes precious time. Instead, the "boomers" are going to be enjoying their time off...and it IS well deserved time off. For the most part, they've worked hard. (no, I"m not a boomer)
Posted by: N. Tonie Tonellato-Selwood | Aug 24, 2021 12:02:30 PM
As a boomer, I strongly disagree with most of the article. We BOOMERS ARE THE BACKBONE of this era! We didn't start off with high paying jobs. We worked very hard to gain higher education & higher earnings. Noone handed most of us anything to get started. The problem is many were too soft with their children, which caused these youth of today to think we owe them everything!
The major factor is that society shoved God to the side! This current generation call things that were wrong (and still are) right and things that were right (and still are) wrong! Tollerance they call it. Disrespectful, hedonistic & downright sinfull (Yes, I used the term "sinfull".) because that's what it is. Without Christ as our Savior we are & have nothing!!!
I agree completely with the what the previous boomer has written as well.
Get a life! Work hard! Educate yourselves! Try the "caring" professions as there will be millions of us boomers still around to provide this generation & the next with jobs. The intelligent ones already have!
Another thing young ladies, do you not know that it was us gals of the 60s' that fought(& won) for the right not to loose our jobs just because we were pregnant; fought (& won) for the right to be paid the same wage as a man if we did the same work; fought (& won) for more paid time off with our babies when we had them, & much, much more!!!
Posted by: joy | Aug 24, 2021 12:05:14 PM
Why blame the baby boomers. We have alot of other drains on our health care system. Number 1 would be "refugees". For the first couple of years in country all health care costs/dental/welfare is paid by tax payers. My aunt is a nurse that works at a clinic that takes in alot of refugees, they are coming into the country with HIV, siphilus, TB, and various other serious health issues that the average canadian taxpayer has to pay for. Its easier to blame the so-called babyboomers than too look at the whole picture and it takes the attention away from high paid hospital administators, CEO's, office budgets, furniture, unnecessary travel trips, etc. This all eats away at money that is given for health care. Bottom line is we are in a recession but nobody wants to tighten their spending, the short cut is always cutting the front line health care workers like nurses and doctors. Admin/traveling/office furniture budgets should "always" be the first to go. I don't care if the furniture looks great, with computers while travel you can have conferences right online, there are lots of ways to save the money without cutting healthcare. "It always comes down to just a matter of wanting to make the cuts in the right areas." Nobody ever cuts from the top, its always the ones at the bottom that are cut.
Posted by: To Miss Selwood: | Aug 24, 2021 12:14:42 PM
To Miss Selwood: You are talking about women's rights, I believe. I wish women like yourself would have never fought that fight. Women like myself cannot now be respected as a "stay-at-home" mom. Now, to get respect you MUST have a job, or everyone (males and females) look down their noses at females. I resent that! I believe it is part of the bible that women should stay home and look after their own children or not have them. God made families a certain way for a reason.
OH, and by the way, you are trying to use the bible to back up what you say. The bible says that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. We are all equal, in the jobs that God placed us in. Why should I have to go to school for a higher education then to get a higher paying job? Why can't I have a high paying job just because I work hard and I"m dependable?
As much as I try to defend "boomers" to my friends, people like yourself make it difficult.
Posted by: cj | Aug 24, 2021 12:27:12 PM
Alot of people like to blame our aging society for costs - look at it this way. Why do people whose kids are all grown up still have to pay school taxes. I'm sure all those school taxes could be diverted then to their health care!@% I'm sure the younger generation would have complaints about paying the true costs of sending their kids to school then. I'm 42 and have no kids so even I would be happy to save those tax dollars towards my health care costs. People seem to forget "WE ARE ALL GOING TO GET OLD" and then we will be the ones burdening the system.....
Posted by: Innadiated | Aug 24, 2021 12:52:31 PM
Peak Oil will be what causes us to be poor in the near future. http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/ -- These sorts of articles are focusing on the wrong issues, and its "who dun it?" overall feel isn't really appropriate for the issue it is discussing.
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Now Boomers, I see a lot of pretty bold statements such as "To-day's generation has received more of a helping hand from their parents than any other and will continue to benefit from our hard earned savings." or "We BOOMERS ARE THE BACKBONE of this era!" -- I got news for you guys. You failed miserably as the "backbone of this era". Why? THE ERA IS BROKE! Boomers care more about their pensions than their children. No joke. The boomer generation has taken corporatism to a whole new level, and won't dare review or stop it for fear they will no longer have a retirement portfolio. Boomers won't be making the healthcare system broke because they use it, Boomers will be making the healthcare system broke because they outsourced all of our jobs, left us with debt, high inflation, and expensive resources. Thanks guys.
Posted by: GenXYCusper | Aug 24, 2021 1:24:54 PM
I totally agree with Innadiated's comments, and am not surprised by the typical self-righteous boomer rhetoric I've heard before, "we are the backbone", "we are harder working","we are more moral". Give me a break, and to the comment about $65 a week, that was probably the mid-70's which would probably translate to $650 a week now, or about $34K a year which is typicall of a starting salary today for the average university grad. Couple that with that fact that houses and cars and carrying costs have actually increased at a faster rate that salaries have (by the way I have an Economics degree) it is much more difficult for the under 30 crowed to even start their lives. I'm not sure about the whole moral God statements, this discussion has little if anything to do with religion, which most of todays generation would agree is about as relevant as tail-fins on a Chevy considering we are too busy working long hours to pay for inflated mortgages and car payments that are probably 15 times as high as they were 30 years ago with salaries that are only 10 times as high.
Posted by: joy | Aug 24, 2021 1:26:23 PM
The boomers aren't causing anything -- it is everyone's sense of entitlement that is to blame in today's society. A RN (nurse) starting out 40 years ago did not make over 40 dollars an hour. A new
RN starting out today will make that. Tell him/her that they will make minimum wage and see what happens. An administrator in any part of the city today makes about 90,000 (even if they are in their 60's). But a new administrator in their 30's/40's stepping into the position gets the same pay. Nobody wants to work for less. We have unions/seniority/bonuses/people being hired on boards write their own pay demands (Ontario hydro, CEO's of companies). Alot of those boomers live in the same small house with much of the same furniture they brought their children up with, still have veggie gardens and lead very healthy lifestyles. We live in a " I want it now society ". Yes, alot of the boomers have lived moderately and saved their money, I can't say the same for todays society of " I WANT it now" and " I'll change it as new stuff becomes the fad". People eat out all the time, own several TV's, go on expensive trips, have cable, SAT, computers, IPODS, cell phones, big houses, etc. I'm in my 40's and have lived moderately all my life, I'm saving for when I get old to take care of myself because I have noticed that alot of young adults today do not want to work and if they work they want to get paid 3 or 4 times more for doing about a third of that work. I don't blame the boomers, this is society as a whole that has the sense of entitlement.
Posted by: don | Aug 24, 2021 1:27:56 PM
innadiated: Boomers are not the only ones making blanket statements are they? I do agree with the capitlism to a whole new level but the younger generation has also reaped the benefit and now want those benefits plus some. It is a case of not good enough. You are the future ,so then take it back. Get rid of all the things that make your life easy....haul your won water....chop wood for heat...go back to the land....are you making plans to do so yet or just complaining?
As far as health care it has been said that the boomer generation is healthier than the one coming up so what makes you think the younger genertion wont cause undue strain on the system due to thier unhealthly inactive lifestyle? The arrogance of one who makes statements such as "they care more about pensions than thier childern" is hard to beleive and the reason why so many older people wonder about the upcoming generation. We did our best, gave you everything we could and do hope your childern are more appreciative of what you manage to provide for them. Did we do everything right...no...niether will you.
Posted by: Marilyn | Aug 24, 2021 1:46:17 PM
As a baby boomer I'm sick and tired of being blamed for EVERYTHING bad in this country. They had to build more schools for us, we cost more to raise, etc, etc. Now it's pensions - who do you think have paid into these pentions for 30+ years just so our parents could live comfortable retirements - remember our grandparents probably paid in very little as the plan came in in about 1965!!!
I never got university because my parents or I couldn't afford it - remember no student loans, government grants back then.
We worked hard for our house downpayment - no home plans OR money from the government as first time buyers - guess who paid for the other people - me!!! Government giving my money to them!
No one paid to raise my kids - my family worked hard. Handouts just didn't happen.
So stop harping about the babyboomers - yes we are getting older, most of us try to look after our health so we won't be a burden! We see chiropractors and other health care providers beside the orthodox providers.
But blame the governments - the money wasn't allocated and put in a separate account for the purpose of pensions - it was dumped into a general fund and spent!!! That is where the blame should be put.
Posted by: bill | Aug 24, 2021 2:11:48 PM
I agree with Marilyn's statement and several others. I am 47 years old have worked full-time since I was 18. My mother was a single parent and just this year passed away from cancer at the age of 73. She was a single parent supporting 3 kids. She jogged, swam, competed in rowing competitions up until her diagnose of cancer at 71. I don't begrudge her the CPP, old age pension, the pension she earned working at a bank for over 27 years or the 2 years she needed to use the health care system. She never earned alot of money, she let out rooms when we were kids and did alright by us. Why are we blaming my parents generation. What would happen if all those baby boomers said alright all of the money/things we saved will go to help pay for all the issues they are being blamed for. Many of the following generations would be in an uproar if it this money was given to the government. I can't help but feel the people complaining hate their parents!?@#
Posted by: s. Bezaire | Aug 24, 2021 2:24:24 PM
Right on the money Marilyn. Everything you say is the correct interpretation of what has really transpired over the last 35 years. I like many have worked and contributed all my life to CPP,EI and all the other stuff we worked hard to get for the people in the future. All of it was a great idea until the Governments (both Provincial and Federal and Municipal) have squandered billions, not millions of taxpayer money on greed and special interests. Just look at what has happened to all the necessities of life that our taxpayer dollars paid for such as Transportation, Energy (Hydro and Gas), food essentials (Milk, Eggs etc.). Prime ministers,Mp's, Mpp's who have openly stole or embezzeled tax dollars to allow a further rape of our hard earned dollars and then gone on to gain favour by expertly covering up what has happened. The legal costs alone are staggering. Our little City has spent big dollars hiding their mistakes and gag orders abound. The same goes on all over the country. These guys who blame the Boomers should take a look at the wealthiest people and tell them to stop taking a pension that was never meant to go to people with millions of dollars and certainly not for billionaires. A huge cut in pensions for politicians and the salaries too. When they give themselves a raise it should not be retroactive and should be voted on by the taxpayers at the very least. It could go on and on.S
Posted by: bill | Aug 24, 2021 2:25:34 PM
and added to my previous statement. Maybe all the Boomers should donate all there money to charities and not give it to there kids.. Charities have better lawyers to keep the money. as the kids would only blow it.
Posted by: Troy | Aug 24, 2021 2:51:06 PM
All I can say is, 'boomers', watch out for the Kool-Aid when offered by somebody that says it is for your own good.
Don't drink the god damn Kool-Aide.
Posted by: Dan from London Ontario | Aug 24, 2021 3:04:18 PM
Disclaimer: I am 30, university grad, worked several 'low' paying jobs (never made more than $40K a year), got married, and now have two children. Now that you have a box to put me in, please hear me out...
It is so easy to categorize people. "Baby Boomers", etc.
When I was growing up on my parent's farm, I really did not like Americans. I did not know any, but I knew the political practices in the USA negatively affected the livelihood of farmers like my parents. When I met Americans (my wife, her parents & brother, her extended family, my brother-in-law, etc) I liked them. They were good, honest, hardworking people.
The moral of this little story is: do not categorize people.
"Babyboomers use more heathcare time"
"Babyboomers will bankrupt the healthcare system"
"Babyboomers..." etc.
Yes, generally people use more healthcare resources as they age. Some babyboomers are very healthy. Some babyboomers are not healthy - some due to their own actions, others due to situations beyond their control.
However what about my generation? Look at us! Look at our children! Are we any more healthy then the individuals of the baby boomer generation were when they were our age? I severely doubt it. I expect that in 35 years, my generation will use healthcare system resources just as much as the babyboomers.
What can I do? Work hard. Save. Pay the taxes I owe. Keep my political representatives accountable. And remember that this Canada where we respect the value of life, and where we have the 'opportunity' to work hard so we can help those who need our help.