A common criticism levied at the Baby Boomers by members of younger generations is that Boomers as a group have hoarded disproportionate wealth while leaving their posterity only crumbs.
Now Business Insider has provided data showing that not only are younger generations’ suspicions of having been robbed correct, the generational larceny is even worse than they’d imagined.
In 1989, baby boomers (defined in a recent Federal Reserve report as Americans born between 1946 and 1964) were roughly the same age millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) are today. But boomers held 21% of America’s total net worth in 1989 — seven times millennials’ paltry 3% share in 2019, wrote Alex Tabarrok in the blog Marginal Revolution.
The chart below shows what percentage of total US wealth each generation has held since 1990, according to Fed data that extends through 2019 Q2. Over time, the Silent Generation has seen a decline from 80% to 25% of total US wealth, presumably because they’ve begun to pass away and exhaust their retirement accounts and pensions.
As baby boomers age, their percentage of total US wealth has increased from 20% to nearly 60%.
Point of clarification: While pretty much everyone younger than the Boomers is getting screwed, perceptive readers will note that the BI article erroneously combines Generation Y and the Millennials.
When you correct for the 1989 Gen Y/Millennial cutoff and compare standard markers of prosperity like home ownership, one cohort ends up holding the fuzzy end of the lollipop.
If you guessed it’s Gen Y, you win. Go ahead and keep the lollipop.
Rivaling that stark revelation is the picture that emerges when Generation Jones (yellow line) is considered separately from the true Boomers. They arguably got screwed as badly as Gen Y despite being only a decade younger than their Boomer siblings.
Gen X and millennials haven’t even reached these wealth levels. Thus far, Gen X only comprises about 16% of US wealth. And perhaps most strikingly, the line for millennials is almost completely flat: They’ve barely seen any increase in net worth, coming in at less than 5% of total US wealth in 2019.
It’s worth noting that these generations are younger, so comprising a smaller percentage of US wealth is expected. However, the chart below, which highlights the percentage of US wealth held by age, shows that the young are still financially behind: Their wealth levels are below where they should be.
What we’re seeing is the result of Boomers inheriting the greatest prosperity in history, heedlessly and artificially expanding their largesse via a series of credit bubbles, and refusing to pass on more than a pittance to their heirs.
Boomers aren’t just being miserly with their wealth, either. They’re clinging just as greedily to power, even though the effects are proving disastrous for the West’s future.
The same trend unfolded in Alabama. Although we greatly respect and honor Jeff Sessions, it is undeniable that his political capital took a massive hit after he failed to protect the president in the Russiagate episode. Due to his personal vendetta against Sessions, Trump endorsed Sessions’ opponent Tommy Tuberville.
If Tuberville wins, he will be another useless member of the GOP establishment, rather than an America First conservative. If Sessions had cultivated and supported a fresh and untainted successor to take his place, then that successor might have won in the 2017 special election, and we would have another America First conservative in the Senate right now. Instead, Roy Moore, another past-his-prime political narcissist, lost to the Democrat, Doug Jones.
Perennially returning old dogs and damaged candidates to the fray is not the way forward for a vibrant and successful political movement. America First leaders must selflessly identify and cultivate talented and charismatic successors. Instead, the movement is functioning as a set of interlocking personality cults. When figures like Arpaio, Kobach, Sessions, and Donald Trump exit the stage, there is no one to carry the torch forward in their stead.
Unfortunately, this trend transcends politics. Just think about the endless parade of Baby Boomer business executives clinging to authority long after their faculties have started to fade. Or, think of college professors coasting on tenure into their eighties, rather than retiring so the glut of young PhDs can get jobs (37 percent of college faculty are over 55). Consider the steadily growing wealth chasm between older Americans and young adults hoping to start families. Even during the current coronavirus pandemic, we have imposed a devastating lockdown that has destroyed the wealth, economy, and mental health of the young in order to add a few months to the lives of the oldest and sickest in America.
Older generations are hoarding wealth, power, and opportunity. America’s social cohesion is totally frayed. Instead of giving a leg up to the next generation, the older generations prolong their stay at the top as long as they can. And right now, the America First right is as guilty as anyone.
Clearly people need a reminder, so pay attention. The main purpose of working to accumulate fiscal and social capital is not to die with the most toys. It is to provide a sound foundation and base of support for your progeny to continue building up the family legacy and continue the process with their children. That is how civilizations are built and maintained.
That is observably not what is happening now. Nor has it happened for some time. Instead, three generations were left to raise themselves while their parents pursued consumerism. Those same parents then handed their children over to grifters and charlatans who left them financially and intellectually impoverished before throwing them out into the worst job market this country has ever seen.
And as the crowning insult, that perverse generation now sneers at and mocks their progeny for daring to seek relief from their misery.
Since Scripture reserves its harshest condemnations for those who defraud and abuse workers and children, the question to ask yourself right now if you’re a Baby Boomer is, How will I avoid the unquenchable fires of Hell?
Before you ask, yes. God does judge generations as a whole.
Now, I have interacted with well-intentioned Boomers who are convinced by the data and rightly ask what they can do to right these wrongs.
Once again, Scripture gives an answer. Give to the poor–not just out of your excess; to the point that it pinches your wallet. Those closest to you take priority in the order of charity, starting with your immediate family and moving outward. Strangers from over the horizon should not take precedence over your children, who are more likely to be among the poor anyway.
This isn’t rocket science. If you have a vacation home, but your son is living in a van, your moral obligation is obvious. Make sure your kids and grandkids have food, heat, shelter, and security.
Is the fruit of your loins a debt slave languishing under the yoke of the banks and the government’s rod? Do what you need to do.
Sell the boat.
Sell the condo.
Cut the cord.
Don’t give money to people who hate you.
Christ calls us to be co-redeemers with Him. First, redeem your sons!
Second, release your death grip on power. It’s true that many in the younger generations are immature and irresponsible. A major reason why is that they’ve never been given any real responsibility. Start mentoring them today. Then, when they’re ready for the training wheels to come off, step down and hand them the reins.
Seriously, how hard is it to see that failing to prepare the next generation for leadership is a civilizational dead man’s switch? The rest of us have to live here after you’re gone. Give us a fighting chance!
Finally, if all of that isn’t enough to rouse Boomers’ slumbering sense of charity, perhaps seeing the grim fate that awaits them if nothing changes will move them to act with enlightened self-interest.