Question being asked around the PF blogosphere: "Why is Gen X Broke?"
Velvet: "Because we were raised by broke Baby Boomers, who continue to be broke and expect their broke kids to fund their retirement."
I kid. Kinda. But seriously, I'm more than a little annoyed by all the hand-wringing and blaming going on for the less-than-stellar state of America's personal finances. C'mon people, use your brains and stop trying to find blame with one particular group. But that would be a huge task for the usually self-righteous PF blogosphere to handle, so I won't hold my breath.
In times of crisis, it's easy to romantisize the past. Kinda like how you remember your old boyfriend and how hot he was when you're in a dating rut. You forget all about the shitty, asshole-ish things he did that made you hate him. Some with the current economic atmosphere. Everyone is feeling the pinch, and if we're not looking for someone to blame (immigrants, stoopid homebuyers!, the poor, Wayne Newton) we're busy reminiscing about the good old days. "Back in the day, people used to save more and not abuse credit, unlike now! This generation doesn't know what they're doing!" Which kinda flies in the face of fact, doesn't it? We all know that most boomers are broke, but some still insist that "back then" they were stellar money managers.
Meh, anyway... A part of the reason why everyone appeared to save so much is because many americans didn't have a choice. Discrimination due to gender, race, and income was the norm back then. Once the barriers dropped, people that wanted to borrow but were previously denied were able to do so, and they did it responsibly. It wasn't until very recently, like the last few years, when things went batshit. So while the rest of you are longing for the old days, some of us will stay here since we kinda like equality.
Next question!
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