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Did the boomers bring peace to Canada?

MICHAEL VALPY

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 3:49 AM EDT 02/06/07

Historian says Canada more peaceful, tolerant ...Read the full article

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  1. E. Biggs from Canada writes: You are probably correct that the boomers were the catalyst for change bringing in all the goofy ideas that we have today. I also think that Pot has a lot to do with the thinking of that generation and therefore if we had the Pot today, we also could start thinking like numbskulls. One good thing is that the boomer generation is now paying for their views.
  2. Michael Sharp from Island Paradise, Canada writes:

    TRhe boomers brought peace to the world.

    The world has never been a better place than it is now.

    Far fewer wars.
    Less famine.
    Increased standards of living world-wide.
    Lower incidence of child mortality.

    Thanks to boomers.

    You're welcome.
  3. Stephen McIntosh from Winnipeg, Canada writes: The hippies promoted a culture based on tolerance, understanding, education and research. In essence, they built the base for the progressive society that is Canada.

    Trudeau was a great leader. He was a Liberal who ran things like a New-Democrat. That is what Canada is all about.

    Peace!
  4. Michael Sharp from Canada writes:

    Stephen McIntosh from Winnipeg:

    Peace, love, dope.

    Emphasis on dope.
    I'm talking to you.
  5. Let me tell You How It Is-THE EXPERT from Seattle, Washington, United States writes: The Hippies were a group who would now be referred to as losers or grungy people who only existed in the 1960's thanks to the prosperity created by their hard working, frugal parents who saved and didn't live beyond their means. This prosperity created by their parents allowed these peace-freak hippie losers to attend universities without needing to work. These hippies went about dismantling and changing their countries history and culture just for the sake of change.
    The hippies are more akin to the students of the Chinese cultural revolution in the 1960's who went about destroying history, art and culture just to impose their own selfish vision.
  6. Clive Gingell from Ottawa, Canada writes: Trudeau was a disaster, a dictator loving socialist posing as a liberal.

    His legacy is that perception outweighs action, and that 'if you say it, it's already accomplished'. Ignorant self absorbed narcissists who believe their own 'sweeter, nicer' propaganda because they're too selfish and lazy to investigate the world's realities and it's easier to chant the mantra.

    Just one small example - Charitable donations: 'In terms of the percentage of income donated, in a comparison
    among US states and Canadian provinces and territories,
    Canadian jurisdictions fell behind almost every single US state,
    with the exception of North Dakota and West Virginia'.

    http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/admin/books/files/Generosity.pdf
  7. janfromthe bruce from Canada writes: And those aging boomers are the same people who are most concerned about global warming and climate change. Their activist mentality of 'we can change the world' motivates them to get on board for the planet environment.
  8. John Arthur from Canada writes: Stephen McIntosh from Winnipeg, Canada writes: The hippies promoted a culture based on tolerance, understanding, education and research. In essence, they built the base for the progressive society that is Canada.

    And in the process they dismantled an otherwise perfectly functional society. We have disposable everything now, including families and relationships that the state conveniently subsidises. Our social programs are woefully underfunded, and will be heavily drawn on in the next few years by the very people that buggered them in the first place. What BS.

    Trudeau was a great leader. He was a Liberal who ran things like a New-Democrat. That is what Canada is all about.

    On the contrary, he was a communist, with a holier than thou, screw you, its my way or the highway, attitude! His government was neither frugal or democratic, and they spent more than they earned for several decades. They kept bribing their sheep with their own money. Don't forget, he put troops in Canadian streets, no other canadian leader has tried that tactic.

    Peace!

    Ya, love and grooviness baby.....NOT.
  9. Boreal Moose from Canada writes: Its amazing how revisionist these cons are. The question is not about hippie freaks smoking pot you ignorant fools. Better questions might be:

    How are black people treated today versus 1960? What about an unwed pregnant 16 year old? Gay people Native people? Do we all jump into lock-step to follow the drum beat of myopic patriotism on the road to war anymore? Do we think our child will end up hell if he listens to rock music and smokes a joint? Perhaps he will, but he may be a doctor, lawyer or even president of the USA.

    On the other hand, all of you pining for a return to the mythical `Leave it to Beaver' white folk fifties freaks may have a point. Post-60s moral relativism has allowed the USA to sink so low that a drunk driving convicted, alcoholic cocaine user can be President! Damn redneck post-hippie freak!
  10. Boreal Moose from Canada writes: John Arthur - a functional society for whom?

    And John - you didn't need to say so. We could tell from your post that you care NOT for peace, and you certainly aren't at all groovy.
  11. Dave Jansen from Canada writes: Not sure about that.... but they did leave us with half-a-trillion in debt and pension plans that are going to blow up in our faces within a couple of decades!
  12. Chris Robinson from Incheon, SK, Canada writes: What happen to all these Hippies with their progressive thinking? Did they grow up and grow out of their fad? These baby boomers now a days seem to be more concern about making money, paying less taxes and corporatizing the world. When will these hippies start thinking more globally? Hippies are dead. They vote for Harper because you sure know us young people aren't voting. Oh course the hippies made some changes. Most progressive changes are made by young people. How about workers/unions in the 20s and 30s? People shaking their hips to Elvis in the 50s? These hippies mad some changes yes but what happen to their thinking? They grew up and got jobs. They are still concern about 'self.' But now a days it's mostly economic self and no so much about freedom.
  13. Clive Gingell from Ottawa, Canada writes: Chris Robinson: Perhaps, when the funds from mom & dad dried up, and they were kicked off the pogey/welfare, they had to become, (Gasp), self-supporting.......ain't THAT a kick in the head!

    Reality supplants daydreams every time.
  14. Boreal Moose from Canada writes: Clive from Ottawa - Are you heading to any of the hundreds of Gay Pride Parades this summer? Any same sex weddings? Did you enjoy Black History month? Know any teachers, lawyers or doctors who listen to the Stones and smoke dope in the evenings after a hard day's work instead of drinking alcohol? Did you notice the half a million people on the streets of London telling Blair not to go to Iraq? Seen any OSCAR wining Michael Moore docs lately? Are you aware that pot is now the biggest money making agricultural product in BC because of the HUGE consermer demand in USA? DO you know any women who've had a legal abortion based on THEIR choice, not that of panels of hospital burocrats in suits sporting penises?

    Peace out, you sorry red neck.
  15. Cheryl Graham from smoggy toronoto, Canada writes: And what a great environmental record they left - perhaps pensions should be levied an debt retirement tax?
  16. Alberto Bayo from Canada writes: Jeez...talk about self-serving, naval-gazing. The sixties kids were spoiled, pampered and given everything. They complained and protested about many things and yet never offered up any viable solutions to the real or percieved problems of the world. History takes a long time, centuries. The sixties generation get too much press, but it's they who are running the presses right now. They'll be forgotton, like all generations a few decades down the road.
  17. Jacob Kasperowicz from Kirkland, Canada writes: The legacy of the 'Hippie' generation is evident in our daily lives in Canada & the U.S. After their protests,love-ins,sit-ins,etc, they got smart. They worked hard to get into the system as lawyers,bureaucrats,lobbyists,psychologists,professors and any other positions that would allow them to alter the system from within. Results; criminals have more rights than victims; they turned the tables on the education system making the next generation dumb & dumber; raised their children to think 'I / I / Me/ Me' is what counts; skewed the economies of North America with Junk Bonds, Tech Bubbles, Housing Bubbles; and created a wholesale disregard for society as a whole.

    Be they Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, Liberals or Neo Cons, they and their offspring have whittled our society down to a basket case that may never find its course again.
  18. morten qwigly from Canada writes: We should have legalized cannabis back in '72' with the LeDaine report I was all for it.
  19. Alberto Bayo from Canada writes: The young people who served Canada during World War One...there's a generation that made a difference and deserves rememberance.
  20. Paul Thompson from Canada writes: Very insightful comments Boreal Moose, and a refreshing antidote to the verbal flatulence of that fool from Seattle. The baby-boomers shouldn't pat themselves on the back too much, and yet...As for the comment on the generation that fought the first world war...well, they were one of the most screwed-over generations in history who were conned into fighting one of the stupidest wars in history, and in the end they accomplished nothing, not through their own fault, but through that of the same idiots who started the war in the first place, whose incompetence in managing the aftermath led to the conditions that caused the second world war. The baby boomer's 'make love not war' slogan was a perhaps naive but nevertheless admirable attempt to break the cycle of humanity's tragic history.
  21. John Silverman from Canada writes: The hippies did all of us a great service - they built the greatest country in the world - Canada - that we have today. Things wouldn't be so amazingly great if it wasn't for them. We wouldn't be so tolerant, understanding, have the freedoms and everything that we all enjoy today.

    I'm extremely offended some on here are down on them and wish that we lived in a George Bush dictatorship. What kind of Canadian's are you??? Don't you want freedom and respect for all??? We owe them alot. Thanks!
  22. Boreal Moose from Canada writes: Alberto Bayo- WWI vets caused the largest and most violent riots in Toronto history upon returning home. Three days of violence suppressed by mounted police on Yonge Street (16 cops injured along with 150 people and 20 businesses completely destroyed). The riots started because many returning servicemen deeply resented, even hated, the `foreigners' who were running successful businesses in the City. The spark for the riot happened when one of those `swarthy' Greeks allegedly oogled a serviceman's girlfriend.

    Having said that......when thousands of French soldiers on leave from the front line during WWI went on strike to protest the stupidity and futility of the war.......they certainly have my greatest respect and admiration.
  23. Bob Rollheiser from Canada writes: If you remember the 60's, you weren't there'... dooode
  24. Clive Gingell from Ottawa, Canada writes: Boreal Moose: You forgot to address the hundreds of non-existent Straight Pride Parades, (I say 'non-existent', because were one to be proposed, as I believe one was somewhere in the N.W., the clamor about 'discrimination' from those who want everything THEIR way would be deafening). 'OSCAR winning' crocumentaries.......awarded by narcissistic Hollywood actors who are paid millions of dollars to pretend to be someone else in movies that have little or no dialogue but lots of explosions, and who complain that CEOs of major corporations who create jobs for tens of thousands are overpaid, while THEY are paid what they're 'worth'.....those guys? Teachers who light a doobie? Have you seen the state of the schools lately? (Check your own post: burocrats, consermer, wining ). Abortions: Be interesting to see stats on how many of those who have them do so because they're too lazy or stupid to take advantage of the NUMEROUS methods of contraception available today.......(and YES, I realize there are valid instances). Iraq: Didya ever see the protestors when Saddam was killing, didya ever see the protestors when Pol Pot was killing? Didya ever see the protestors when the Taliban were blowing the backs out of innocent women's heads on soccer fields? Didya ever see the protestors when the Iranians were executing young girls who killed their rapists? No, you didn't, because the only place you see these 'protesters' is where they won't get hurt by those they are protesting against. I'm old enought to remember the Aldermaston 'Ban The Bomb' marches where dupes, later found to have been funded by the Soviets, tried to get the West to give up THEIR weapons. Useful Idiots.........well, OK, not so useful.
  25. Paul Thompson from Canada writes: Hundreds of non-existent Straight-pride parades, Clive? As a straight guy I see no need to organise a parade but nothing is stopping you. I won't say the boomers were perfect but take a pill or light up a doobie or something already, you sound like you are on the verge of a stroke.
  26. Clive Gingell from Ottawa, Canada writes: Paul Thompson : I think you miss the point. I was merely using Boreal Moose's terminology: Quote 'any of the hundreds of Gay Pride Parades', and pointing out that when someone. (certainly not me, I could care less), attempted to organize a Straight Pride Parade they were accused of discrimination.........but when a gay bar, (in recent news), wanted to ban straights there wasn't a sound.

    As I say, 'Freedom Of Speech', (etc), only applies to certain individuals/groups when it's THEIR speech that is being broadcast.
  27. guillaume afleck from Canada writes: The equal rights movement - think of the civil rights struggle in the US was started in the years after the war by the boomers PARENTS and continued to build until the early sixties when most of the battles were won. The boomers were literally children then.

    The stuff that came after: self indulgence, avoidance of personal responsibility, and most of all special, unequal rights for favoured groups (Favourtism, Quotas, double standards encoded in law, etc.) is what the spoiled white useless hippies brought after. Not the same thing. We are still trying to repair the damage to fairness and equality brought about by those stoned selfish children.
  28. Paul Thompson from Canada writes: Affleck, with your terminology like 'spoiled white useless hippies' I think you are motivated less by a concern for fairness and equality and more by your own hatred of anyone that's not like you.
  29. Montgomery J. Klaxton from United States writes: Sure the boomers activated the peace and love movement and were a catalyst for many humane things that we now take for granted, however, many of them are now the corporate greed mongers that have manipulated the system to such a gross extent that discrepancies in standards of living are threatening to erode much of the progress made in decades gone by!
  30. John Arthur from Canada writes: Boreal Moose from Canada writes: John Arthur - a functional society for whom?

    And John - you didn't need to say so. We could tell from your post that you care NOT for peace, and you certainly aren't at all groovy.

    I lived during that time Moose Meat, did you? If you did, you must have been tripping large, if you didn't, get stuffed.

    As to peace, I loathe the idea of war, but I support those sons and daughters in it, I do not deride or shame them, or rally against them in the streets. Vietnam was such a case, and if you were among the protesters, we have nothing to discuss. If you weren't around, get stuffed.

    To grooviness, who cares, it's a matter of opinion, and yours to me does not matter. As a taxpayer, I fund your welfare or pension, and put clothes on childrens' backs. As a taxpayer, I help fund the 'new' families for the 50% of relationships that fail, whilst paying for the one I have that has not.

    So basically Moose Meat - get stuffed.
  31. The Profit Hath Spoken from Canada writes: Peace, tolerance, women's rights, gay rights, social activism, legal aid....pretty good for starters in a short little piece like this one. Can hardly wait for the book and the movie: Entitle it 'Once Upon A Revolution Aborted by Daddy's Business' But Clayton Ruby must be Canada's worst hypocrite epitomizing the chasm between what the Hippies accomplished and what Canada is now, because legal aid has all but disappeared for everybody but criminals. And now Canada is about war not peace.A nation of corporate sycophants sitting in private cubicles growing the economy. Does money change everything? Is the Pope Capitalist? If only Generations X, Y and Z had the values, principles, vision, courage and spiritual generosity to rise above their rotten materialism...Hats off to the Hippies who made the ultimate sacrifice for Canada and Canadians in the revolution against social, political and sexual repression. Self-sacrifice, boys and girls - that's what the advancement of civilization is all about.
  32. Butch Timko harvesting turnips from Canada writes: Well I see that munchies induced by the pot or hash delightfully lit up on hot knives is not the problem. But it seems like somebody has not come down from their LSD trip.

    As pointed out previously we now have professional victim classes under the hallucinigen of tolerance and all that other doped up political correctness foisted on us today.

    Bigotted hiring practices are now accepted as the norm, casting aside meritocracy, just so we can have another voice and usually an unqualified voice entering the fray.

    I like the part in the article where the old lezbians are recruiting new and younger gals into the lifestyle. Should I mention how the boomers spoiled a new generation into feminized little girly men.

    The only thing the boomers can take credit for is the explosive growth of part time jobs now rampant in our economy and global warming.
  33. Dave G from Canada writes: This is all a numbers game. In the 1960s, when this generation was began to vote, the politicians were aware of their power. Not even the end of WW2 had brought the desirous social changes most people wanted but demographics surely did.

    Now that this generation is middle-aged it has encouraged the largest wealth gap between classes and generations in the entirety of Canadian history. Its attitude of entitlement, greed, dishonesty and disregard for employees' rights, as well as making lives unaffordable for the generations following it, is the only legacy for which it will be remembered.

    Before retirement, the Baby Boomer generation is engaged in one mass wanton act of asset-stripping. Whether future generations can/will seek and secure a return to a more honest and dignified society remains in serious doubt - children do what children see.

    But the Baby Boomer generation won't care, it will have long-since died out.
  34. Andrew Slater from Canada writes: Having been born in the early 50's, grown up in the 60's, off to university in the 70's I lived through the era of 'free love' where it was hard to not become a drug user hopping from one 'lover' to another. I participated in shutting down a university in a 'peace demonstration' against the forces of the military-industrial complex. At the time I really thought that our generation was going to change things for the better; after all wasn't this the 'dawning of the Age of Aquarius', ushering in a new day of peace and harmony? Come on, people, we all have to admit that we were wrong and that our generation has really screwed things up, that we are not going to be leaving the world to our children as a better place to live. More war, a society focused totally on greed, the shipwrecked relationships and spread of disease that came from so-called 'free' love, the walking away from principles of wisdom that had guided hundreds of previous generations simply because they were 'old', the embracing of anything that is wierd and off-base simply because it is 'new'. But we all have more self-esteem. Yeah, we did a great job, folks.
  35. Dave G from Canada writes: 'Michael Sharp from Island Paradise, Canada writes:

    TRhe boomers brought peace to the world.

    The world has never been a better place than it is now.

    Far fewer wars.
    Less famine.
    Increased standards of living world-wide.
    Lower incidence of child mortality.

    Thanks to boomers.

    You're welcome.'

    A nice and deservedly earned dose of sarcasm.
  36. Pearl Van Oyster from Canada writes: Congrats to Boreal Moose for the most inspiring and insightful posts I've read here in ages.

    I think the so-called Hippy movement in Canada had huge impact on our society, and much of it positive long-lasting.

    I have always considered myself a post-hippy hippy, and as a very young kid in the Sixties, grew up very much believing in being open-minded to others, embrace differences, not to judge people too quickly (but I do judge people), that marriage can be seen as a piece of paper and not an emotional commitment, etc etc.

    I think the Hippies were the Romantic poets of the 20th century, believing and promoting an ideology they truly thought could change the world.

    I also think what's happening in the world right now very much emulates what was happening in the late Sixties and early Seventies. Wars for all the wrong reasons, protest at home, and the word liberal has become a dirty word to narrow minded thinkers, just like the word hippy was back then.

    Let's hope we can learn from history and take steps to avoid a latter day Kent State. We haven't done so well avoiding a replay of Vietnam though, have we?

    Peace, love and beads, man. Still makes sense today.
  37. Jay D from Ottawa, Canada writes: The largest demographic group (the boomers) went through their teenage years in the 60s and 70s. It is no surprise that idealism and youthful hope were rampant. Of course the kids grew up and decided they wanted houses and families. They demanded suburban infrastructure (schools, roads). Their legacy is one of excessive consumption and unlivable surburban sprawl.
    I do give them credit for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a document that makes Canada a first world nation.
  38. Pearl Van Oyster from Canada writes: I didn't mean to say everything the hippies tried was a success; it wasn't. It was very idealistic stuff. They found they had to work, and that formal education was good. Many dropped out a tad too much and never made it back.

    But as for live and let live, accept people, embrace differences, don't fight all the time: those are good ideals. And questioning authority. Offering different ways.
  39. Chris E. from Ottawa, Canada writes: Baby boomers. The the un-greatest generation.
  40. Eric Kirkpatrick from Vancouver, B.C., Canada writes: In todays protest in Germany it was mentioned that the Marchers were mainly students or Boomers. What scares many of you is that the Boomers (Hippies and Yuppies) are the healthiest, best educated, wealthiest and most activist generation yet. As well as in other generations as they age they will display this health, wealth and educational strength by voting more than the X or Me Generations (or whatever they want to be designated) to keep the initiatives going. Take a look at the major issues we are dealing with, watch the interviews and reports, the experts and protesters, they are mainly students or Boomers. Just don't assumed we are all cut from the same cloth. Most of our MPs and MLAs are Boomers and do not think alike, if at all.
  41. by jove from Vancouver, Canada writes:

    They have neutered western culture to the point where they have enabled those who wish to impose their will upon the world to take up arms.

    They see us as immoral, hedonistic, self-centered, narcissists, who will not even make the sacrifices necessary to protect their own children from the barbarian hordes.

    Petty dictators are on the rise: Mugabe, Chavez, Morales, Ortega to name but a few.

    The Russian bear is moving to reclaim it's lost empire.

    Iran is developing the bomb.

    The Islamic Fundamentalist are trying to reclaim their empire and expand it to include the 4 corners of the world.

    China consolidates it's power and is dramatically increasing it's armed forces offensive capabilities, as has India, Pakistan, Vietnam and many others.

    The western world has been severely weakened by the most selfish generation in history, the baby boomers, and we are ripe for the plucking.
  42. Dave G from Canada writes: Jay D from Ottawa, Canada writes:..Of course the kids grew up and decided they wanted houses and families. They demanded suburban infrastructure (schools, roads). Their legacy is one of excessive consumption and unlivable surburban sprawl...'

    Touche, as they aged they became ultra-conservative and ultra-consumptive. The original me-me-me generation.

    'I do give them credit for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a document that makes Canada a first world nation.'

    Oh yes? And look what Baby Boomer government managers do to it. They ignore the Charter and withdraw funding for its protection at evry single turn. Harper has just retracted the money for Charter oversight protection so that he can rule Canada in his own style, i.e. American.

    Also, a true first-world country would be more honest, less corrupt and less racially suppressive of its non-white citizens (Aboriginals; East Indian, Chinese immigrants etc).

    No, Canada is as close as you get to a Banana Republic within the G8 group of nations. It just looks better than it actually is.
  43. Michael Sharp from Canada writes:

    I wasn't being sarcastic.

    As an example, in my parent's time 50 million people died in a single war. Mind you it was a world war but never mind.

    Is that happening now?

    Not even close.

    Why is reality so hard for the socially progressive to grasp?
  44. sean wood from vancouver, Canada writes: Sex, drugs, rock and roll and a rejection of materialism quickly turned into sex, drugs, rock and roll and the most blatant display of consumer greed in history. Where did all that global warming come from?, look in a mirror and see the altruistic hippie who is now so entitled to his entitlements.There is no doubt at all, that all that altruism spawned the risk averse socialist Nanny State that we call Canada. Huge inefficient Government bureaucracys now encroach on most areas of our lives and demand ever increasing amounts of cash to just stay afloat. Make love not war was a great idea but there has been a nasty little conflict going on in some part of the world since 1950. Until Afghanistan, Canada has been able to nimbly skate around that little fact. A feelgood sense of altruism mixed with a hedonistic desire for endless pleasure is a boomer in a nutshell.
  45. gord winters from Canada writes: if greed is peace i agree with the whole thing.
  46. Dave G from Canada writes: Michael Sharp from Canada:

    Oh brother, are you ever out of touch.

    There are more wars and conflicts raging around the world now than at any time in history.

    There has never been a greater disparity in wealth distribution since records began.

    Western industrialization has so seriously damaged the planet that increasing aridity means the European Mediterranean countries, among others, will have to redraw and defend their borders against southern aggressors just to survive. Water will become the new oil and wars will break out over it.

    You obviously don't follow world affairs too much do you?
  47. gord winters from Canada writes: Michael Sharp, i have always assumed you were being sarcastic in most things you say.

    are you serious? i always thought you were a troll... i still suspect you are.

    no one could really be that dumb.. could they?
  48. Ramesh Fernando from Canada writes: Just great another study for the self-worshipping boomers, whose leaders like Trudeau ran up billion dollar deficits which all younger people are going to pay for. Productivity until 1973 was booming (no pun intended), after that it has collapsed in Canada. Some of it was due to oil embargo, but a lot due to the socialist policies like Unemployment Insurance for everyone just for working for a couple of weeks. It bankrupted Canada, and while Trudeau can like peacefully all of us have to pay higher taxes to support paying back the debt those clowns incurred.
  49. by jove from Vancouver, Canada writes: Michael Sharp from Canada writes: as an example, in my parent's time 50 million people died in a single war. Mind you it was a world war but never mind. Is that happening now?

    Yes the same reactions that lead to World War II are being repeated.

    The belief the enemy is not a real threat.

    Appeasement of their demands.

    5th columnists actively and openly operating in the west.

    Public not willing to support measures to help lessen the threat.

    Enemy sees us as weak, no widely held convictions, to unite us against a common threat. We are unwilling to take actions necessary to stop advancement of their agenda.

    Individual sacrifice for most is out of the question.
  50. Butch Timko harvesting turnips from Canada writes: The Charter is not a boomer legacy, not even by a stretch.

    Trudeau who was fit and of age during WWII choose to ride around the Quebec countryside in a uniform inspired by the Deutsche Afrika Korp.

    Trudeau was no boomer, he was from the previous generation.
  51. Richard Hawrelak from Sarnia, Canada writes: Stupid headline Michael. It should have read, 'Did the Boomers Do Anything for Canada.'

    As many have pointed out, the Cdn Boomers did nothing. As for change, it all took place south of the 49th. Cdns of the boomer age were just wanna bees.
  52. jimmy mccray from United States writes: David G: 'Before retirement, the Baby Boomer generation is engaged in one mass wanton act of asset-stripping...'.....perfectly said.
  53. Alberto Bayo from Canada writes: Hippies brought peace? Man someone's had a couple too many blotters.
  54. Eric Kirkpatrick from Vancouver, B.C., Canada writes: Many of these posters assume that all Boomers were (are) Left Wing Tree Hugging Hippies or Yuppies. Baby Boomers is a generic term that describes a demographic anomaly resulting from the arrival home of millions of combat weary soldiers with one thing on their mind and 9 months later, staring in 1947 we have evidence of this. It was World wide and doesn't imply race, religion, political or ethnic persuasion, gender or economic status. Conservatives seem to use it as a catch phase to describe any and all that they disagree with although they themselves are often Baby boomers. My parents and Grandparents had gone through two wars and begged us 'Never Again'.Hippies were a minority compared to the Yuppies but along with them and like minded groups did innitiate or give aid and support to many causes such as the Anti-War and Civil Rights movements, Womens and Gay rights, the Environmental and Consumers' movements, health and eductional advance etc., all of which impact our society still and for generations more.
  55. GlynnMhor of Skywall, Azeroth from Canada writes: Dave G from Canada writes: 'There are more wars and conflicts raging around the world now than at any time in history.'

    Not at all. The world has actually never been so peaceful. Fewer people die in wars but the media still present the conflicts the same ways even though many of them would have been too trivial to even be reported 50 years ago. For example, in Afghanistan since 2002, Canadian Forces have suffered just 56 deaths. In contrast, the Korea Police Action (not even called a war at the time) cost us 519 deaths in less than half that time.
  56. evelyn robinson from Canada writes: by Jove; you neglected to mention the real BIG dictator to the world;
    Technically GW Bush but strings are pulled by Cheney.

    Those who spew hate to the boomers: don't hate because they had more intelligence and compassion and built this beautiful country. We built and paid for the infrustructure that future generations have neglected and now are falling apart. Most of us have money saved for our retirement and still contribute generously to the tax base.
  57. bob london from Canada writes: Surprise!!! THe prof is from UVIC. Now we will have a the 80 percent of the boomers who will be grinning like a baby in their warm dirty diaper. Give it up. Most of this generation did not contribute but got lazy jobs in government and unions and are now the largest money sucking group in history. They are beating their parents for money so Crimestoppers has set up help lines for grand parents and have raised the worst kids ever.

    God help us if we are going to praise the group in general.
  58. Leon Russell from Canada writes: 'Petty dictators are on the rise: Mugabe, Chavez, Morales, Ortega to name but a few.'

    By Jove, you just named all the groovy cats that give me hope for the future.
  59. Freshand Forwardthinking from Canada writes: To all posters younger than the baby boom generation - butt out with your ill-informed remarks,. As the G & M article correctly notes, there is very little social history to date on the realities of the baby boom generation. If you weren't there, your opinion is irrelevant.

    To all posters born before the baby boom generation, the times will NEVER go back to the blind, nationalistic, obedient, racist & ignorant times that you so fondly think that you remember.

    To the haters & gripers of every age - you could just as easily blame someone other than the hippies or baby boomers for all the doom & gloom that you fear. Try blaming the failure of organized relgion. Try blaming the 50% of adults(baby boomer & not) who cannot or will not hold their marriages and families together. Try the military-indusrial complex that has poisoned the best of American ideals. Try looking in the mirror.

    To the baby boomers out there - don't give up!. It is NOT too late to change the world! Love & Peace will beat back the darkness.
  60. Bob ImamI from Canada writes: The Bay Boomers, the vilest of all generations, are guilty of more death and murder than even the most murderous monsters of history could dream about.

    44 Million abortions, in North American alone, committed by women, because of the hippie philosophy, that sex has no responsibility and human beings are disposable.

    Thanks for nothing.
  61. Bob Rollheiser from Canada writes: So what have the following generations done? Surely the genius of the new millennium can improve? Give it a go, and quit blaming your ancestors. Prove your better... we're waiting, go ahead, we'll read about it in the Globe.
  62. Bob ImamI from Canada writes:
    Key to personal success....

    Imagine the most self serving hateful thing you can.... You won't be the first, a Hippie Leftover thought about it before you and told all of its scum contemporaries.

    Now, they all will want it, especially if it serves their vast egos, their insatiable appetites, or their amusement.

    For example, the foul hippies are getting sick of cancer and heart disease. They will start harvesting body parts from living people for their own comfort.... just you wait and see. Heck they are doing it already with fetus stem cells for Parkinson's etc. They will do it with whole organs.

    I say sell coffins, depends, canes and walkers to the filth for 10X the normal price. Make the Hippie scum pay for all the misery they've brought upon us.
  63. evelyn robinson from Canada writes: Bob imami; you are one nasty jerk.
  64. Sandy Danchuk from Saskatoon, Canada writes: I'm clasified as a boomer; yet, because I grew up in a residential school, I did not experience dating, Pot (drugs of any description), freedom of speech, feminism etc.

    I value what we have today. Our younger generations have no idea how military and engrained in society that a womens' life and lack of choices were for us.

    Boomers rock.
  65. D C from Canada writes: I don't think you understand.. Most 'hippies' really were from the upper middle classes, just panhandling for change a bit and wearing grannie glasses and going bare foot on the Sparks Street Mall (eeewwww) but in the evening they were back at Mom and Dad's for supper, in well-appointed upper middle class style as befits the daughters and sons of lawyers and bureaucrats.

    It was all a massive CON ! There were serious adherents.. they were in the Communist Party (M-L) and they did many violent acts.

    But hippies ? Gimmee a break... there might have been a couple hundred real ones... and didn't I see some living on a commune outside TO written about earlier last month ('40 years on') ?

    The Movement of the Sixties contained all the factions that one would expect , from radical anti war bombers of ROTC centres to little bra-less girls panhandling for change and giggling a lot...

    but one thing is true, the Boomers sure believe that somehow, magically , they were all there and part of the movement, and now taking credit for the thing ...

    Trudeau ? Mr. Trudeau used his natural flair for thumbing his nose at society to his advantage, and was obviously a master at tapping into the tenor of the times... but he was a rancid Communist and given real power would have established 'camps' in the Tundra for those who disagreed. He admired Mao Tse Dung ! The same way silly little girls admire Che Guevera today ! Well, actually worse because Trudeau was an intellectual and should have known better.... but surprisingly most of the Communist filth today comes directly from professors in universities and people of that type.
  66. Lisa Jones of the Anglo-Celtic nation within a nation from Canada writes: Yet another ridiculous article from the Globe. The boomers (I am one) have been so 'tolerent' that now our anglo-celtic kids and grandkids (Yes, most boomers in Canada are anglo-celts) are doing very poorly in absolutely everything. I posted this on another blog this morning, but the results of the annual national math contests reveal that there is nary an anglo-celtic name on the list. About 99% are Asian. http://www.cemc.uwaterloo.ca/english/contests/past_result/2007/pcf_results.pdf My, what a wonderful tolerant bunch we anglo-celts boomers are....so tolerant that our kids are fat, on booze, on drugs, and doing very badly on every national test in the country. We are so tolerant that we have let Quebec stomp all over us for the past 40 years to the extent that French/Quebecers now hold 65% of the civil service jobs in the national capital region, and in so doing control ALL of English Canada's money. And guess where that money is going Canada, not into that 'oh-so-tolerant' anglo-celtic stronghold of Ontario with its shocking poverty rate in Toronto alone, and homeless people everywhere. But go to Quebec and you will see little poverty or homelessness. But we anglo-celts have been soooooo tolerant. Oh yes, the 'tolerant' anglo-celts, who have basically tolerated ourselves out of contention in Canada.
  67. Boreal Moose from Canada writes: John Arthur....that's it....get it all out.....lets talk about it....
  68. Pamela Achurch from Peterborough, On, Canada writes: What fun! I am trying to visualize the kind of society we would have now if the hippie movement had not occurred? Would we still be watching 'Andy Griffith' and 'Leave it to Beaver' on our TV's? Would women still be angels of the kitchen deferring to Ward Cleaver as the head of the house? Would minority groupls still be kept in ghettos? Would gay and lesbians still be cowering the closet afraid of being vilified by society? Would women still be dying from botched back street abortions? Would physically disabled kids still be kept out of schools? Would the intellectually challenged still be hidden in back rooms in shame? Would all of our movies and television be produced in the US? Would we still have nuclear warheads on missiles in North Bay, Ontario? Would our medicare system have survived? Would divorce still require an Act of Parliament? Would assistance for the poor still be in the hands of the churches? Would only the wealthy kids get to university? Yes, we still have poverty, war and racial discrimination but at least we are aware that it is wrong! Those in our society who find comfort in the 'good old days' should examine their own lives to see what benefits they have accrued from the love, peace and equality mantra of the hippies. Ironically, the greatest gift of the 60's is choice. No one is forcing the ultra conservatives to join the 21st century with a social conscience.
  69. Henry Allen from Toronto, Canada writes: I see we have the usual post-boomers showing up to whine that the world has not been made perfect for them, their parents failed them and it's the boomers' fault. Well, children, instead of whining, get out there and make something happen. Fix what you think needs fixing and stop bitching.
  70. C. H. Oakley from Canada writes: All you geriatric hippies can lick my nuts. Are you going to take credit for the invention of the wheel?
  71. Dave G from Canada writes: Lisa Jones of the Anglo-Celtic nation within a nation from Canada: Yours are interesting sentiments, some of which if correct certainly demand transparency in Government dealings. I'm not sure if the tolerance you mention is supported by a preference by Anglos for Anglos. By far the worst treatment I have encountered in this country, as a 'New Canadian' from Britain, has been from Anglophone Canadians. Perhaps that's because I'm part-black, even though I am more English than they could ever be. Pamela Achurch, Peterborough, ON: racial discrimination is very much alive and well in Canada. One sees that immediately when passing through the more affluent and less affluent neighbourhoods in cities like Ottawa (especially) and Toronto. Eventually it will rupture Canadian society to the same extent it has America's but the blame will largely be 'traditional' Canadians' for tolerating and indeed encouraging excessive discrimination in recruitment practices. On this, Lisa Jones of the Anglo-Celtic nation has a valid point; one department of Border Services Canada in Ottawa is staffed almost exclusively by a white francophone woman, her family and their friends. Henry Allen: you are a buffoon. In the post-war period labour was in short supply, wages were liveable and housing more attuned to the demography. Over the last decade however Western populations have been inflated by excessive immigration to bring down wage levels (in a vain attempt to compete with cheaper Sino-Asian manufactured goods), housing costs and equity values accelerated and full-time, fair-paying, pensioned positions with full benefits stripped down. The only way to stop this rot would to be to bring the system to its knees, either through mass boycotts or by less democratic means. Neither is advisable, but the rising frustation in less-fortunate younger generations will almost certainly find an outlet if the greed of the Baby Boomer generation continues unchecked.
  72. Durward Saar from Canada writes: Peace? What peace.
    Nearly every continent on the planet is at war or threatened by terrorists.
    More people starve today than in the 1970's.
    Homelessness is rampant.
    Drug culture and welfare are the only growth areas that should be attributed to acid head hippies.
    Tolerance, though pushed by law, is less now than years ago.
    Wages today compared to the 60's and seventy's is a pittance.
    Hippy or socialist the plan is the same.....you work,we play and we all get paid from your labor.
    Canada would be a far greater country now, had someone assassinated Trudeau in his first mandate.
  73. I. M. Al Wayswright (not opinionated) from from the land of summer, Canada writes: To begin with at any given time there are three if not four generations alive. The political, economical leaders tend to be people from their 50s to their 70s. This means that in spite of all their protests baby boomers were in no position to lead the country until recently. Therefore the people who shaped our society, the leaders in the second half of the XX century were NOT baby boomers. The economic boom of the 60s-70s was created because large corporations became so scared by communism they were willing to pay better wages. Now they think that the threat of communism is over (I'm not so sure) they try to take back all that was given. It was this better distribution of wealth that created the economical well being of the 60s-70s. Politicians who still knew what it was like not having the social safety net introduced the social programs. It just might be destroyed by the Gen Xers who have no idea what life was like without it. Now let see how spoiled boomers really were. In the 80s recession it was mostly the boomers who lost their jobs and homes. After paying the money they borrowed (at 10% interest you pay the principal back in 5 years the rest is just profit for the bank) the banks walked away with their houses too. In our fair village the huge 4-5000 sq ft ‘retirement homes’ are not being built by boomers. Most boomers are still 5-15 years away from retirement. And as with every generation there are rich and poor, there are smart and dumb, hard working and lazy, this applies to boomers too. If I would describe boomers I would say they seem to be more informed and concerned about the environment and the socially disadvantaged, they are generally hard working. In spite of what everyone says we paid most of the taxes in the last thirty or so years. Will we even have old age pension by the time we retire? Stop blaming everything on the boomers.
  74. Jeremy F from Alberta, Canada writes: I have to agree that all baby boomers weren't hippies but that alot of them were. They didn't have enough kids and the ones they did raise are very selfish, carefree and self-absorbed and not taken seriously at the work place. The hippie generation's offspring will have less kids and so on until they die off altogether. They passed on a life style that is care free and all for living the moment rather than thinking about future generations. Thats the problem, their life style can't survive, it was doomed from the start! The groups who will survive are traditional families who pass on good values and have enough kids to look after them when their older. Unfortunately alot of their kids get corrupted as well but thankfully alot of them try to distance themselves from the corrupt lifestyle that the hippie generation passed on. All that the baby boomer generation was, was a guilt trip from the war of the old days and that was passed on to their few offspring who look down on their traditonal cultures but embraced other cultures from poorer countries. Thats why alot of hatred exists again Christian conservatives and the like but they openly embrace even more conservative cultures from Asia, South America and the Middle East! Why do you think you see Far-left socialists marching with strict religious Muslims? Their hypocrisy is amazing. It's a very dangerous mindset and the reason why Canadians have such low birth rates. The Canada you see today will be alot different 50 years down the road thanks to the very selfish, self-absorbed baby boomer generation. Thanks for nothing.
  75. gran2006 skipper from Hamilton, Canada writes: Bob London,
    As an aging hippie who slaved for the government for 35 years, I can tell you that the children of the hippies are the BEST generation ever!
    We made them aware of things that we weren't able to change and they are doing it. It is a great pleasure to watch this generation as they approach the age of power. There will be another revolution yet!
  76. Dave Jansen from Canada writes: The people that criticize the hippies are simply still angry that they themselves were kept out of the sexual revolution. Perhaps based on their looks or their attitudes.

    It angered them so much that they became bitter conservatives - working hard to legislate women's bodys and society's sexual ways.

    Poor silly conservatives - still angry about being rejected oh so many years ago.
  77. I. M. Al Wayswright (not opinionated) from from the land of summer, Canada writes: Jeremy F why are you so angry at the boomers? Are you a generation before or a generation after them?
  78. Lisa Jones of the Anglo-Celtic nation within a nation from Canada writes: Dave G. I have lived in 6 countries, including the UK, USA and Canada. You are misleading anglo-celts in Canada. You are not more 'anglo-celtic' than we are. About your point that anglo-celts have been less than friendly. You are now seeing the enormous social problems that are the direct result of the idealistly foolish baby boomers who were actually stupid enough to bring in nearly one million Asians who are outperforming us in everything. We are now becoming bottom feeders in the country we built, not only because of immigration policies that basically discriminate against our own well being, but because the foolishly idealist baby boomers were stupid enough to elect nearly 40 years of french Quebec based governments to control our money. Dave G, of the around 200 billion the federation takes in each year in revenues, about half alone comes from traditionally anglo-celtic Ontario. Only around 25 billion ever makes it way back to the foolishly idealistic people of Ontario, who are too stupid to ensure that one of their own ever runs this country. The result? Anglo-celts have been getting screwed for a very long time now.....but that's all okay in their foolishly idealitic opinion because it's real important that everyone else in the country is happy, even if it means they have to sacrifice. And for those of you who think baby boomers are a bunch of spoiled rich fat cats, guess again. They have been hurt the most by their own foolish ideals. Their kids and grandkids are suffering in the Canada they built, just as much as you are Dave G. And that is probably why the minorities are sensing hostility from the anglo-celts. Heck, there are nearly one million Canadian born Canadians working in the USA alone just to survive, and most of them are anglo-celts. And lets not even talk about the natives in Canada. They have been completely lost in this 'tolerant', - let's let everyone into the country'- Canada.
  79. evelyn robinson from Canada writes: There really were not that many hippies. Never seen anyone panhandling on the streets except hari krishnas; the drug scene was 'really not there. No one tried to sell us drugs in school.
    And the hippies grew up and most became yippies.
    But we did effect many changes and more respect for females.
    Unfortunately many of us raised spoilt kids that feel entitled to a soft ride in life.

    Now we can't walk down the street without being accosted by panhandlers and we can see drug needles everywhere.
    This may well be called the lost generation.
  80. Dave G from Canada writes: 'Lisa Jones of the Anglo-Celtic nation within a nation from Canada writes: Dave G...You are not more 'anglo-celtic' than we are...You are now seeing the enormous social problems that are the direct result of the idealistly foolish baby boomers who were actually stupid enough to bring in nearly one million Asians who are outperforming us in everything. We are now becoming bottom feeders in the country we built...' I don't mind if I get banned for writing this but I'm going to go out with a bang if I do. Lisa Jones: if you are to be believed, what you are is white, racist, neo-Nazi, neo-fascist, trailer-park trash. Exactly the kind of useless immigrant stock that would have had to leave Europe to be able to survive. I am half-white British, half British-Caribbean, born in England, raised in England, have served my country of England in uniform and am an Englishman through and through. Yet you, however, are just a mere white waste of space. If you were not both born and raised in England, then you can never - absolutely never - be more English than I am. And if you tried to tell other (real) English people that you were they would laugh and call you a North American fake with an identity crisis. Now, I'm sorry if that throws your identity into even further turmoil but it is a fact. You are a 'Canadian', whatever that means, for better or worse. And, Lisa Jones, when it comes to white 'Canadians' like you feeling outperformed by Asian immigrants then I hope they outperform you and your like onto the street in the middle of winter. You deserve it and they are obviously more industrious and harder-working. 'Feeding bottoms' is a job that would suit you very well, I'm sure. You built Canada did you? Single-handedly, in one generation? What about the Chinese railroad workers? They weren't exactly white? What about the Japanese you interned? What about the attempted Aboriginal genocide? Lis Jones, you're nothing more than human vermin.
  81. Dave G from Canada writes: 'Lisa Jones of the Anglo-Celtic nation within a nation from Canada writes: Dave G...You are not more 'anglo-celtic' than we are...You are now seeing the enormous social problems that are the direct result of the idealistly foolish baby boomers who were actually stupid enough to bring in nearly one million Asians who are outperforming us in everything. We are now becoming bottom feeders in the country we built...'

    I'm glad though tht you take responsibility for 'building' this second-rate, nepotistic, backwards and corruption-ridden former colony. It's certainly not a patch on the mother country and its development is so painfully slow one wonders if Canada will ever be born alive. Canada wouldn't know European culture and civilization if it sat down to dinner with either.

    It's time for you to go and drain your swamp Lisa Jones, and to pay your rent for the land you occupy.
  82. Lisa Jones of the Anglo-Celtic nation within a nation from Canada writes: Dave G..... I'm a citizen of both the UK and Canada. My roots in the UK are solid as are the roots of the rest of the anglo-celts of Canada. And furthermore, we are still a commonwealth country, and long considered to be one of the colonies of the UK. Dave G.... you are racist, judging by your tone.
  83. Lisa Jones of the Anglo-Celtic nation within a nation from Canada writes: Dave G....I like it when people like you are honest....IT allows the baby boomers to see just how foolish their open door policy has been. Dave....why are you here in Canada if