Boomers did have the Vietnam War, where almost 60K Americans were killed, hundreds of thousands were wounded, and millions of Boomers were drafted to go to war. By comparison, over the entire 20 year war in Afghanistan, 2.4K Americans were killed, and our military was all volunteer. Over the 70s-80s there were also multiple pretty bad recessions and some inflation rates that rivaled 2023, and the oil embargo in the 70s had transportation at a standstill. The HIV epidemic killed thousands in the 80s, and per capita deaths for many major diseases, were significantly higher than today. Back in the 70s and 80s, automobile accident deaths and violent crime rates were also significantly higher than today. For Boomers as kids through young adults, measles was common, with hundreds of thousands of cases per year and high rates of death or permanent disability.
And these were just some of the bad things that happened during a period of relative peace and prosperity. All this to say we should always fight to improve our society, and don’t just blindly accept bad things as inevitable or insurmountable. The past just wasn’t all sunshine and roses, and people really need to get over that.
protist@mander.xyz 8 months ago
Boomers did have the Vietnam War, where almost 60K Americans were killed, hundreds of thousands were wounded, and millions of Boomers were drafted to go to war. By comparison, over the entire 20 year war in Afghanistan, 2.4K Americans were killed, and our military was all volunteer. Over the 70s-80s there were also multiple pretty bad recessions and some inflation rates that rivaled 2023, and the oil embargo in the 70s had transportation at a standstill. The HIV epidemic killed thousands in the 80s, and per capita deaths for many major diseases, were significantly higher than today. Back in the 70s and 80s, automobile accident deaths and violent crime rates were also significantly higher than today. For Boomers as kids through young adults, measles was common, with hundreds of thousands of cases per year and high rates of death or permanent disability.
And these were just some of the bad things that happened during a period of relative peace and prosperity. All this to say we should always fight to improve our society, and don’t just blindly accept bad things as inevitable or insurmountable. The past just wasn’t all sunshine and roses, and people really need to get over that.