Tuesday, February 9, 2016

AN IDLE THOUGHT WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE RESULTS TO COME IN

I have completed my preparations for the sixth lecture and I will record later today, if the Sears repairman comes when he said he would [I shan't hold my breath], so this morning, during my walk, rather than review what I am going to say, I found myself brooding about the campaign.  I puzzled for a bit over the extraordinary lead that Bernie seems to have with so-called millennials [although, strictly speaking, a millennial would not be old enough to vote, but never mind, as Gilda Radner would say.]  The following thought occurred to me.

These days, an essential part of growing up is making some sort of break with one's parents.  Sometimes, it involves listening to music they hate, or getting a tattoo, or having odd parts of one's body pierced.  I grew up in an FDR family -- we read PM [you had to be there], listened to Bob and Ray every night, and, thanks to my father, were adamantly anti-communist.  But my grandfather, whom I knew as a genial old man, had spent his life as a dedicated socialist, so I skipped a generation and became a socialist.


Now, Bernie and Hillary are only five years apart in age, but Hillary looks like everyone's mother, and Bernie looks like everyone's grandfather.  I just wonder whether that is one secret of his success with the young.

7 comments:

  1. Just an FYI, Bob (of Bob and Ray) Elliot died last week.

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  2. FYI, "millennial" generally refers to people born between 1980 and 2000. Only the tail end of the millennial generation will be unable to vote in this upcoming election.

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  3. I think there are real political/economic reasons. There have been some analyses of this. Plus a good sense of the (as someone put) Democratic party crawling up the ass of corporate America.

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  4. I would also point out that a large cohort of millennials were entering the workforce around the time of the recent financial collapse. This will predictably have a significant impact on their lifetime earnings.

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  5. JWF, thanks for the clarification. Speaking as someone born too early to be a Boomer, I am a bit out of touch. My comment was a jeu d'esprit, not a serious attempt at analysis, needless to say. Just something to pass the time while we wait for the results.

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  6. Bernie Sanders also has movie credits to his name. This scene from the 1999 film "My X-Girlfriend's Wedding Reception" is really priceless:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWl6TLvlFEk

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