A) Nuclear Family: The idea that the father goes to work to support his family and the mother stays home and devotes her time to the children. During the baby boom generation, this was seen as the ideal and most traditional family style. The media encouraged this family type by displaying it on popular television shows such as Harriet and Ozzie and Leave it to Beaver.

B) Counterculture: When young people began to express values that went against the societal norms. Teens throughout the baby boom generation experimented with drugs, alcohol, and questioned the rules of society as a form of rebellion. Protests and anti war riots began to occur as well to express their beliefs against the government’s choices.

C) Materialism: As the baby boomers grew up, people started to express their personal and societal values by obtaining material possessions.  Because the baby boomers were so seen as such importance to society, their parents began to spoil them with possessions, which helped boost economic companies such as Gerber and Johnson and Johnson.

D) Self-fulfillment: During the 1960’s there was a transition from the idea of “we” to “me”. This was the transition into self fulfillment, when everyone became more focused on their own dreams and aspirations than the overall concern of society.

E) Dependency Load: The dependency load is the portion of the population that is not actively employed. The dependency load was sky high during the beginning of the baby boom generation because the majority were under the age of being able to work.  This was the time when the government had to put a lot of money into developing schools for the children to go to. The movie also explained how the dependency load with rise again when the baby boomers begin to go retirement and the money will need to be shifted into producing retirement homes.

F) Life Expectancy: The life expectancy is the average years a person is expected to live. The life expectancy one thousand years ago was only 25 years old, compared to the average life expectancy of the baby boomer generation to be around 77 years old.

The actions of the baby boom generation as they grew up have impacted the way my generation lives and behaves. Psychologically, the behaviours of the boomers have caused my generation to have low self esteem and increased amounts of depression in teenagers. The boomers became obsessed with materialistic things, and over the years it has unfortunately become a defining factor in who an individual is. Teenagers today have the tendency to focus on materialistic things, and form their clusters of friends by things such as clothing style and interests in video games. For the people who don’t have these items, they develop low self esteem and feel as though they don’t fit in. This could also be the cause of the increase in depression because of the feeling of loneliness and being unwanted because they don’t have the latest version of the blackberry.

A large impact for our generation from the baby boomers was the economy.  The baby boom generation’s after effect of materialism and feeling as though anything is possible has left the economy heading downhill. Along with the boomer’s inability to save money, my generation is headed for great amounts of social dept, way more than the movie had every expected. Government money was placed into developing schools for the boomers and supporting them while they were unable to work; schools that are now being torn down because they’re aren’t the same amount of children to fill them anymore. Along with the amounts of dept, our economy is focused on making products to keep the boomers looking young, which will cause my generation to be over focused on growing old as well.

The culture of the baby boomer generation was very traditional and the typical family form was the nuclear family. This was the type of family that was encouraged all over the media and seen as the ideal way to live. For my generation, this is no longer the only form of a family, but our culture still believes that the nuclear family is the way to success. This implies that people of my generation who do not live in nuclear families will not grow and develop as well as individuals who do, which isn’t always the case. Our society needs to understand there are other forms of a family that work, and the culture of the baby boomers won’t be the way to success forever.

Taking into consideration the way the baby boomers developed growing up, three businesses could be developed to help the baby boomers as they grow up into their senior years. In order to meet the social needs of the baby boomers, I would develop a classroom style learning center that the baby boomers could come to to learn how to  properly save money and develop a plan for the future. Because the baby boomers had difficulty saving money because of their financial optimism, this type of program would help prepare them for their elderly years. The program would be structured on the five steps to saving money, mentioned in the movie. On the side, the program would also include classes on living longer, as the life expectancy was increasing for the baby boomers and it should be encouraged to continue to rise.

To meet the cultural needs of the baby boomers, society would develop retirement homes that were simulated to life in the baby boom generation. The homes would look how the homes they grew up in, with the added help of health care professionals to meet their elderly needs. There would be the materialistic items, such as the television, that would show political events from the 60’s, like protests and political issues, and the radios would play the Beatles and other liberating artists. This living style would bring a kind of comfort to the boomers as they grow older so they wouldn’t feel over whelmed by the constant change of the generations to come.

To meet to psychological needs of the baby boomers growing up, society would develop an anti-aging product that would help to reduce women and men’s hair from turning grey. As the baby boomer generation began to get older, they began to worry a lot about aging, and wanted to stay and feel young as long as they could. Instead of encouraging the materialistic methods, like plastic surgery, the product would be all natural and painless. It would be a type of daily conditioner that helped to lock in the color of your hair for longer, while infusing some natural color boosters back into the hair. This product would help the baby boomers feel younger because it would make individuals feel as though they don’t have to go and get surgery to say looking young; it would be a more natural approach to a happier, senior boomer generation.

1 Comment

  1. You need to check your facts. Baby boomers have taught the value and work ethic that got our country through two recessions and several wars.

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