opinion
-
Battalion/Pai
November 1,r
Slouch
By Jim Earle
“Boy! They ought to quit worrying about Tylenol and
spiked candy. The real problem is with baseball bats. ”
How tough is baby
boom’s lot in life?
by Maxwell Glen
and Cody Shearer
A well-heeled young friend of ours
was drowning his sorrows die other day
over drinks, unhappy with his lot as a
member of the baby boom generation.
Taking up a familiar complaint, he
moaned that “we’re never going to be as
successful as our parents.” If there was an
American dream, he said, “it’s all over
Of course, our friend, 26, is one of
millions his age who have arrived at this
conclusion. As a car-carrying member of
the baby boom generation, he’s felt enti
tled to handicap himself with every
ounce of sociological jargon available ab
out high expectations, sheer numbers
and diminishing returns. Like so many
others, he’s embraced books such as
Daniel Yankelovich’s “New Rules: Sear
ching for Fulfillment in A World Turned
Upside Down” as a defense against a
creeping sense of failure.
His pessimism reflects a common be
lief that the baby boom generation’s size
has not only doomed its members’ fu
tures but helped to cause our nation’s
economic misery, too.
But while his resignation is no doubt
useful in eliciting sympathy and monthly
stipends from mom and dad, it may be as
bogus as the foreign-made taste of
Haagen-Daaz ice cream. Though unem
ployment tops 10 percent and national
productivity stagnates, good ’ol dad
seems to have been right when he said:
“If you think things are bad now, you
In the broad matter of housing, a high
er percentage of young couples own
homes today than did 25 years ago. Be
tween 1970 and 1980, for example, “the
proportion of homeowners rose from 49
to 58 percent for the 25-through-29 age
group, and from 66 to 76 percent for
those 30 through 34,” writes Russell. (In
1960, 44 percent of all husband-wife cou
ples between 25 and 29,years of age own
ed homes.)
Though earnings didn’t grow as rapid
ly in the 1970s as they did in the 1960s,
baby boomers, according to Russell, have
earned real incomes as high as, or higher
than, those of any preceding generation.
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77843.
One vote can be the difference
Hi
“My vote won’t matter anyway,” is a
comment made by many when elections
approach.
This argument seems to stand up be
cause thousands and thousands of votes
are cast in each election. But this couldn’t
be farther from the truth.
In many cases, one vote has changed
the course of history.
• one vote cost King Charles I of Eng
land his head in 1649;
• Elizabeth II is Queen of England be
cause the British House of Commons
voted in favor of the House of Hanover,
96-95;
• the U.S. Senate agreed in 1845 to
annex Texas by a one-vote margin;
• in 1868 the U.S. Senate twice failed
by a single vote to convict President
Andrew Johnson in his impeachment trial.
his race lor President. In nimo
New Jersey, one-half of one peie
the votes cast swung 43 electoralv]
him. Reversing that small perrai. ,
votes in only two states wouli
hai
After America became an indepen
dent nation, the power of a single vote
continued as a major factor in electing its
leaders.
Thomas Jefferson was elected Presi
dent over Aaron Burr in 1800 by one
vote in the I louse of Representatives, fol
lowing a tie in the electoral college.
John Quincy Attains in 1824 was
chosen President by a one-vote margin
when his race was decided by the House
of Representatives.
Rutherford B. Hayes was elected Pres
ident over Samuel J. Tilden
when a special Electoral Commission
voted 8-7 in his favor.
John F. Kennedy had less than a one-
vote per precinct leatl across the nation in
by Dia
B
ever)
community
thrown his election into ilie Hthev must
Representatives for a decision. American
Fhe stories of one-vote deal the group
sions happen at till levels ol gove hfd, leadei
One California congressional anc ' more .
bent’s race ended with a tie vote .VP^Pjf v<)1 '
leuuiicd lli.il die i.ue he (lectf H
drawing lots. I he incumbent Latm Am<
block votin
His secretary had decided she !l ot
bus\ working at campaign head(|B^™2j S :.
to vote on election day.
‘Trad it
. ii Americans
In a Cincinnati suburb, a cit)j )ecause t j
candidate was hospitalized on tbp-nifies
day for an emergency appendt
without having voted.
I le lost by one vote.
So one, single vote does matte
the effort to get to the pollsonf.
Your vote could make all thedif
in the world.
should have tried growing up in the De
pression.”
Indeed, as hard as it may be to swallow,
the baby boom generation has fared bet
ter than its predecessors, according to
Louise B. Russell, Brookings Institution
economist, in a new book, “The Baby
Boom Generation and the Economy.”
After comparing the last two genera
tions’ access to education, housing and
income, Russell concludes the baby
boomers have no right to complain.
In education, Russell notes, more
money was squandered on post-war kids,
per student, than on members of any
previous generation. The quality of in
struction has also been higher. (In 1930,
for example, only two states required
that elementary-school teachers have a
B.A. degree. By 1961, 44 states did.)
’ Be
m P;
,arge
Si
cans
.ilia,
C, s
it to ’
.mer
Mai
it Cl<
f San Ant
merican
ITSMiy WAY REMAN MEDAGRKlDIHf PlPttl
“San A
lad a su
Mexican-/
oup is
fonzales :
He said
Election results too close to ca
o partici]
ind civic ]
^he past 3
tie Mex
fmnity ha
‘definite
by Clay F. Richards
United Press International
WASHINGTON — (’.amblers who have
saved up a bundle during the football strike
should avoid the temptation to bet it all on the
outcome of the November election.
A little more than a week bef ore Americans
decide whether to restore the Democrats to
power or reinforce Ronald Reagan’s 1980
mandate — or do neither — the outcome is by
all bets too close to call.
As Sen. Wendell Ford, D-Ky., the chair
man of the Senate Democratic Campaign
Committee put it: “Theelection is happening
now.”
that things will get better,” says pollster Peter
Hart. “The people want to return to the
center.”
The pollsters say Americans want neither
the extremes of Ronald Reagan’s program or
equation.
,, , , J He adc
tax, tax, spend, spente , .
a . m i iU have 1
am they associate with the Demo®
That leaves a confused electorates
a return to the
that could do anything on election dat
bet the rent money.
Any Democrat will tell you the voters are
fed up with Reagan’s economic program and
the high unemployment. They will tell you
voter emotions are running heavily against
the GOP and the tide is favoring Democrats.
And in the next breath they will tell you
Democrats will pick up no more than an addi
tional 20 House seats in the elections, well
below the average of 38 the party in the White
House loses in mid-term elections.
Try to get them to explain the difference
between the momentum and their predictions
of the outcome, Democrats say “money.”
There have been well f inanced candidates be
fore and some have lost and others have won.
The reason it is hard to tell what is going to
happen is that apparently many voters ha
ven’t made up their mind how they are going
vote, or more importantly whether they are
going to vote at all.
Blacks and women are overwhelmingly re
ject Reagan policy but their turnout figures
may not be equal that of other elements of the
voting population.
And the failure of Democrats to present a
clear alternative to Reagan policy has turned
off some voters.
Because there appears to be no firm nation
al movement emerging in the voting pattern
so far, local issues may play a more important
role in how the .elections come out. The peo
ple will more likely vote for the candidate they
are more convinced can do something about
crime or will vbte tfi cut defense spending or
whatever their special interest is.
“Voters are looking for some assurance
Mi
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©1982 by NEA, Inc.
“Now that I’ve told you my thoughts on abor
tion, I’ll tell you my ideas about prayers in
school and handgun control. ’’