I’m coming at this in a context. Which is that the silent generation (1926 — 46) and the boomers (1946 — 64) have moved down a path which leads to destruction, and perversely) are beggaring the following generations. As Elusive Wapati notes
There is much not to like about the social or fiscal mores of the Baby Boomer generation, especially from a Gen X or Millenial perspective. The generation that made divorce and unwed childbearing not only acceptable but commonplace and unremarkable, the generation that gave us liberalism in all its Frankfurt School horror, is also the generation that gave us the sexual revolution, abortion on demand (56M Gen X, Millenial, or younger US babies dead since 1973), and now is agitating for euthanasia
I checked the link. The person he is referring to is 54: not that much older than I am. She’s seen her father kill himself and now wants a doctor to kill her as she has cancer. (Which is cowardly. Doctors have an ethical duty to preserve life. ABortion is shunned by most doctors. Most doctors shun euthanasia. You don’t need a physician. You need to develop a spine and learn to tolerate suffering.
Now, most of the damage — speaking as a late boomer — was done while I was in primary school. But we have doubled down and are moving even further down the liberal pathway: in NZ we have just legalized gay marriage and we have a whole pile of elders demanding euthanasia — while the medical profession, the disability advocates and the churches all disagree. These generations have compounded error and will be found wanting.
13Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king said to Daniel, “So you are Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? 14I have heard of you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that enlightenment, understanding, and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and tell me its interpretation, but they were not able to give the interpretation of the matter. 16But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you are able to read the writing and tell me its interpretation, you shall be clothed in purple, have a chain of gold around your neck, and rank third in the kingdom.”
17Then Daniel answered in the presence of the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, or give your rewards to someone else! Nevertheless I will read the writing to the king and let him know the interpretation. 18O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar kingship, greatness, glory, and majesty. 19And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. He killed those he wanted to kill, kept alive those he wanted to keep alive, honored those he wanted to honor, and degraded those he wanted to degrade. 20But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he acted proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and his glory was stripped from him. 21He was driven from human society, and his mind was made like that of an animal. His dwelling was with the wild asses, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God has sovereignty over the kingdom of mortals, and sets over it whomever he will. 22And you, Belshazzar his son, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this! 23You have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven! The vessels of his temple have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them. You have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know; but the God in whose power is your very breath, and to whom belong all your ways, you have not honored.
24“So from his presence the hand was sent and this writing was inscribed. 25And this is the writing that was inscribed: mene, mene, tekel, and parsin. 26This is the interpretation of the matter: mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27tekel, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; 28peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
29Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed in purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made concerning him that he should rank third in the kingdom.
30That very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed.
There could be a reason for this, and it relates to Abortion. Prior to freely available abortion, everyone knew that if you had sex, she could get pregnant: in my parents (silent) generation if you did not have a babe within two years of getting married you were allowed to adopt because you were deemed infertile. But abortion meant that the next generation was the same siae or smaller, and that altered things.
That is because it is unheard of for the elderly to monopolize politics in this way. Although elders always dominate in political roles, they are usually serving a public dominated by the young. So, the counter-pressure has lessened.
The elderly think this means that they now will be able now rule solely in their own interests, but sidelining young people just leads to violence because the young are less risk-averse. Politics and the law will be sidelined eventually, as we can already see with the increase in vigilantism and mob violence.
I’m an outlier for my generation. Most of the people I hang around with are ten years younger than I am — in part this is because I’m still raising teenage boys like they are. I live in a country where the leadership is around my age (and many like me, had kids late) and they are already thinking about handing the reins of power over. I;m not in the US, and to me this is horrifying.
Look at politics. Youth debt-loads and unemployment are skyrocketing, schools are decaying, marriage is dying, but the elders just want to debate gun control, cheap mortgages, the stock market, and saving entitlements (rather than reforming them). The latter four are primarily topics of interest for the old. They toss out gay marriage and immigration reform to buy some youth votes, but that’s just circus and helping them keep their maid or live-in nurse.
Our generation is, like all generations, weighed in the balance. The Silent generation (who did not fight in WWII: they were the children of the depression) helped lead the (now dead) GI generation into a liberal future. My generation followed: I won’t speak for the hippies (they are a decade older than me and had a different experience) but my bunch started out nihilistic (we were the punks) but then fell into the programme of personal peace — without any criticism of any choice one makes) and affluence (or he with the most toys when he dies, wins).
Both have been found wanting. And it is the duty of the church to preserve the minority or remnant who is faithful, and warn the rest.