Talkin’ bout my generation
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Ben Stein, who you may remember as the boring teacher in “Ferris Bueller” but who is really an all-around smart guy, gave a short interview to Money magazine (HERE) and expressed doubt that the economy is really in all that much trouble. But he did think there was a problem a lot worse out there, and I’m inclined to agree: the problem is my generation. We’re wankers.
Q. Are you totally sanguine about the outlook for the economy?
A. No. There’s a real economic crisis highballing down the track. And that’s the baby boom’s retirement. There are going to be 20 million or 30 million people coming up quite short of the money they’ll need to live on. I’m terribly worried about that.
Q. What’s the problem with boomers?
A. A shortage of intelligent behavior. We’re a lazy, undisciplined generation.
Yep, we are. And there are a LOT of us, which in itself is a problem. Consider, for example, that a graph of a developing country’s population by age usually looks like THIS, and that ours looks like THIS. That’s a whole bunch of geezers coming down the pike. And as the man says, it’s not just that there are so many of us, but that we’ve shown a propensity for acting stupid. Why is that?
Beats me. But since it’s probably time to lighten up, I might guess that it had to do with us playing with toys like the one below for too many hours of the day.
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Where in the world can I find a sling wing for my kids? I can just imagine their exuberance when I offer that up for fun as an alternative to something mundane and predictable like xbox.
Ben Stein has been growing on me lately.
Swing wing: Doncha love it? I think my favorite kid is the plucky youngster who is REALLY trying to walk along looking like he’s having fun while he’s knocking himself out trying to keep that infernal thing going. Yep, I think any of your kids would be more than happy to spend many fun-filled hours with their Swing Wing. Add a few peaceful months while they’re in a coma and a couple years of physical therapy to recover lost brain cells, and you can see why parents would be lining up to purchase this doodad. Kind of surprised my mom never tried it.
Ben Stein: He is REALLY a cool guy. I think I’ve got other posts where I quote him. He’s got a movie coming out pitting intelligent design against Darwinism. I can’t wait.