I endorse your disclaimer. Baby boomers are not now, and never were, of single orientations. They did, and they continue to, vote and to act etc as diversely as have other generations. It remains true of course, as you say, that certain attitudes were more prevalent, or at the very least more obvious.
Dr. Craig, you have castigated, literally, hundreds of millions of people within your caricatured, but pious, screed about "baby boomers". It is quite stunning to see you add: " I have nothing against baby boomers as individuals - indeed I love them". Do you not see how closely this statement resembles the kind of self-serving apologia that we often hear from blithely, or bitterly, prejudiced individuals who categorically stereotype and stigmatize vast demographic groups, while deigning to make an exception for "individuals" within those groups? I.e. "I have nothing against muslims, or people of color, as individuals - indeed I love them". This line of thought betrays a genuine lack of fundamental socio-political awareness that goes way beyond being tone-deaf or merely careless with language. You have hereby served to create another enormous class of scapegoats to be persecuted instead of the elite overclass that governs us all. The latter is, no doubt, thankful for the work you've done today.
Ms. Craig, in a nutshell, your essay argues that "Godless baby boomers" are squarely responsible for the "downfall" of civilization. Never mind that members of this entire generation are now senior citizens.
In my prior comment, I noted that your essay serves to create an enormous class of scapegoats to be persecuted instead of the elite overclass that governs us all. And now, you ask me if I "honestly believe the elite overclass that governs us all are 100% responsible"? Well, Clare, I find that question to be 100% simplistic and reductive. But, since YOU are the one asking the question, while also playing the role of vengeful Judge, Jury, and God, I will leave it up to YOU to definitively answer for the rest of us. So, what percent of blame would you take off the backs of "baby boomers" and put onto the backs of the elite overclasses who have always mercilessly ruled over all of humanity? (I do hope that God has gifted you with an infallible calculator:-)
As for your other related question asking me what I think the "baby boomers would have done if the majority had held to a strong Christian belief?"...Let me think, maybe something along the lines of the Spanish Inquisition, or the Religious Crusades, or the Salem Witch Trials. Is that the right answer? Again, what do YOU think?
If you think this has anything to do with religion you are beyond hope.
Maybe try a little history, geopolitical analysis and at least a minimum of socio-economic analysis.
No need to mention the history of Christianity's barbarism but even that's not the point.
Confusing geopolitical realities with religion will make it impossible for anyone to take you seriously. If you think what has happened these past four years is due to a debasement of religion you are completely off the runway. It also had nothing to do with a medical emergency.
Clare, you are free to "think things would be very different in a positive way if people had followed Christianity". But, we can't read your mind. So, describe for us the ways in which you "think" the world would be more "positive" if we followed your brand of Christianity. Would we all be more like you? How "positive" would it be if every devout Christian launched their own version of your boomer-bashing religious crusade?
Many "boomers" are devout Christians, such as myself. With a scientific education, unlike many suggest, my understanding of genetics and the elegant simplicity of the genome only helped confirm my belief.
In fact, I think the opposite of what you suggest is true. many have been driven away from particularly the Anglican Church by the "wokery", catering to a minority who are mostly atheists, so not attracting new members either.
I’ve watched you on YouTube with John Campbell and have been thankful for your insights especially into the Covid fiasco & misleading information on vaccines BUT I AM APPALLED AT YOUR BLANKET BLAMING FOR A GENERATION of which I am a PROUD part of. I googled your quote, "Your truth is your truth. My is mine" and the quote DID NOT come up. I’d like to know for the sake of honesty from whom you are quoting??? I am shocked at your commenting so harshly on Boomers. I see you were born in 1962 so you were only two years in to being called a Boomer which to me means you have no lived experience during the 60’s & 70’s when Boomers spoke up against Vietnam War and took a stand against the War with much activism and against racial injustice we were protesting for others in harms way. We were NOT just for the individual actually just the opposite. I don’t know how as a Pathologist you stepped into a subject that obviously you know NOTHING about and your assumptions have no research or supporting evidence but are simply conjecture.
Compared to previous generations, baby boomers have created an era of freedom and fought for social change. They fought for women's rights, gay rights and civil rights and aimed for social equality. They created an era of service and volunteering.
For instance, young women in the 2000s could pursue careers their grandmothers could only dream about, and young people of color could take advantage of opportunities not accessible to their ancestors.[214]
Your opinion and that is all it is as it does not involve Science or Facts of which you’ve been such a proponent for. It seems to me to be tainted by something personal that is in your background and has blinded you to the actualities of the Boomer Generation. It is also a travesty that you link all of us as the same as their were completely different viewpoints split on the events that happened during 60’s & 70’s. Perhaps you are talking about the Boomers who sided with Vietnamese War and the corporate greed that reigned.
I hope you are able to take another look at your thoughts and ask yourself if you are really being FAIR and not swayed by personal events. I think you are as wrong on this opinionated article as the CDC etc is on Covid misinformation.
Lynda you are missing the point and likewise unreasonably doing exactly what you are blaming Clare for - you are shouting at her for writing an essay explaining how a generation that took new freedoms yet rejected the very values in the convenant that provided them ended up embracing tyranny and euthanasia.
The freedoms that were given arose in the 60s and 70s and as a result Thatcher and Reagan released the Eastern bloc from their own government tyranny and created a great deal of wealth for the boomers. Yet within a few years of their departure, tyranny returned in the guise of medicine and that generation, having gained wealth from those freedoms, endorsed that tyranny with blanket calls for masks and vaccines. Because they were living in fear having forgotten that those with faith do not fear.
First of all I am not blaming, (do you have an example?). Next I am not shouting, I am passionately responding to what I consider a falsehood. Your assumptions about “how a generation that took new freedoms…..ending up embracing tyranny and euthanasia”, is so twisted and warped. What generation are you? Care to reveal?
I don't think Lynda was shouting, but as she says unless you have lived experience as a boomer you can only comment as an outsider, this generation did so much for women, they were enabled to get a mortgage without a male partner, could make decisions about their own bodies and so much more as a result of the freedoms we fought for. I did not bow down to the tyranny of Covid and know others in my generation did not either. In fact looking at the rise in numbers of people with mental health problems since the pandemic it seems to be the under 40's who have buckled. As for wealth, yes some in some parts of the country have wealth through property but believe me there are many of us who don't. I won't apologise for rejecting religion either, in my view it was a doctrine created by men, revised constantly by men for the benefit of men and it still is.
Sue, EXACTLY! There are so many Boomer women that are struggling a lot financially. I’m guessing he’s young and is fond of patriarchy. I couldn’t agree more about religion. Spirituality on the other hand is completely different. Thanks Sue!
You can be happy for your generation and then accept there are some faults and maybe even an overadjustment for pragmatic goals. You don't even have to accept it has anything to do with you. You can be proud of all the changes just as well but similarly it feels like we have lost a lot of freedoms that were enjoyed previous to the boomer generation and even if there were issues for those previous generations, even in those freedoms, we don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
It doesn't have to be boomers, I already know my generation of millennials is going to get a write-up, but it's nice to have a narrative of public policy that's aligned accurately with how things have affected us.
For what it's worth, the lost generation were sort of the ones who developed this narrative that we don’t have access to nature and only cultural narratives but it took only a few societal shifts to get to the beatniks, then a couple more to get to the well-intentioned rousseauian hippy revolution.
I also want to say that it is the CHRISTIANS who voted for djt. So don’t see how religion plays a part in your opinion. A lot of my generation looked to Spirituality.
Dr. Craig, in your comments I see that you seem to discredit critical commentators by slyly referring to them as people who "take it personally". Well, I sincerely hope you won't take this personally, but you are also a "baby boomer", aren't you? Given that you were reportedly born in 1962; and given that the "baby boomer" generation is usually defined as people born from 1946 to 1964. I also sincerely hope that generations X, Y, Z, etc., have nothing against you as an individual member of the "boomer" generation that you've pilloried in the town square.
Clare Craig, Nov 22: "I did not suggest that I would have been able to act differently as a boomer".
Clare Craig, Nov 23: "I was born in 1975 - but I would have written similarly if I had been born earlier".
So, Clare, which one of the above self-contradictory statements do you truthfully believe? Do you believe that you would be a "different" person, or a "similar" person, if you had been born in 1960 rather 1975?
I trust you didn't "take it personally" when I asked whether you were a "baby boomer" and I appreciate the clarification that you are not. However, you insist that you would have "written similarly" if you had actually been born a "boomer". May I ask how you know that for a fact? Perhaps you believe in the non-fact-based Christian doctrine of Predestination, which would make you be essentially the same person, irrespective of whether you grew up in the Middle Ages or the 1960s?
As it is, you're Gen X, pushing 50. One wonders what edifying work your collective cohort has done for humanity lately, except for constructing an epic fallacious narrative that blames everything on your dying "boomer" parents. Personally, I would choose Nirvana's Kurt Cobain as one of the most influential "individuals" of your generation, who, by the way blamed everything on his parents.
"Societal ills are the responsibility of all of us."
This is patently false not to mention the vagaries of such a phrase.
Best to keep the focus on the criminals who committed the crimes rather than sweeping phrases that hold little meaning.
You might also consider scrapping the absurd terminology of the oppressors- "boomers", "Gen X" and the rest of the puerile categories that are designed to distract the public and confuse the issues.
I've tweaked this line in the introduction "Boomers have been responsible for much good in society and I love individual boomers - but this essay is not about that. It is about how our society changed with them - something all members of society are responsible for."
The average Boomer was never responsible for the structure of society. They voted, and conformed like every other average worker. They were born into a society without choice, received an average income, provided for their families and drove second hand cars to save money. Today, it’s much harder for most young people, but such a situation is not the fault of the average Boomer. All that young people can do now is to try to resist the current dystopian agenda of the globalists. Some awake Boomers are lending a hand there where they can.
See my post above... no generation does any different, in that we all adapt to the world we are born into, and work with that. It was a very different world I was born into in 1951. How can ANYONE born generations later say they would have behaved other than how we did?
Boomers were divided on how they were living their lives. You still haven’t said where in the world are you who has not experienced any of the formative years of the diverse group of Boomers coming up with these myopic ideas . We were very divided on the Vietnam War. The guys that were drafted and the guys that fought against the draft in many ways were on opposite sides. Football players and Sports were divided from long hair musicians and the folk singing musicians not at all like today. I experienced the divide first hand being the daughter of a high ranking military pilot and living on military base. My parents wouldn’t let a guy with a beard or mustache in their house so unlike today. The cops & the hippies same generation, completely different.
Disproportionate power belonging to the billionaires & millionaires, the men who made much more money than women for a multitude of reasons including misogynist attitudes that have been going on since beginning of USA. I feel you are speaking about the wrong crowd lumping reasons into age group rather that Patriarchy. Isn’t that Ageist?
Yes, I agree, and most workers are stretched financially; they were in our generation but especially now. I’m not ready to go back into the cosmic soup just yet, either. (I’d write a doctoral thesis on the ethics of all this if I could but I’d never get a supervisor.) Young people today will want their expiry date put back as well, as they age. As far as longevity goes, I think human beings are fortunate. If you’re a cuttlefish you’ve got a year or two; a blowfly, a few weeks and you’re done. Oz Dave. Good night. 🇦🇺🌙
I generally like your work, Dr Craig, but stereotyping a group, and here, the Boomers, isn’t helpful. At a time of great division, it only serves to demoralise. My husband and I don’t fit this stereotype, and many of my friends are in this age group and have lived life for their families and for others. We don’t believe in spending the kid’s inheritance, and we spend quality time with our families and grandchildren.
We started in our first home with no curtains, no floor coverings and with much work to complete the house done by us. We’ve always bought secondhand cars and had relatively cheap holidays and are tertiary-educated.
Boomers here in Australia were belittled for wanting to receive Pfizer over AstraZeneca. Due to the clotting problems of AstraZeneca, some over-60s who had had previous clots or genetic predisposition to clotting events, were concerned enough to want Pfizer instead, but were labelled as selfish for “depriving” the 12 and over age group of limited supplies of Pfizer.
Boomers were also vilified for causing the lockdowns of younger people. The authorities said Australians were selfish if we didn’t get vaccinated because “Grandma might die if she catches CoVid.” This was emotional manipulation and propaganda which only stoked hatred of the over-60s and furthered societal division.
As a now 73 year old, I chose to be vaccinated,(twice only,) in order to stay alive for my grandchildren. I have a friend, close to my age, who chose to be unvaccinated for the same reason.
As a Christian, I value my faith, and also the faith in something greater than me. I would like to see more people investigating Christianity, and actually know that there are many younger people seeking the truth as revealed by this religion, especially in the last four years where truth has not been held as a foundational principle by many in authority.
I think we can see an opportunity in this current mayhem. The inversion of healthy values has provided a challenge to all of us to stand up for what we believe. Australians in large numbers have spoken up for freedom of speech and against the Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation (MAD) Bill, 2024. This required a great deal of effort, with emails, phone calls, rallies and visits to politicians’ electoral offices, to ask for the bill to be opposed. At a freedom of speech rally I attended, (which required my travelling at least 5 hours return,) I saw people of a range of ages, from teenagers to those aged in their 70s and 80s. There was a unified purpose there, and this is what we need to espouse. Unity. Whenever I hear anyone stereotyping any group, I attempt to bring to light the good in that group. Stereotypes need to be challenged wherever we see them. Certainly, highlight unhelpful attitudes and behaviours. The Ten Commandments give good guidance for a wholesome life, but without mentioning any groups as if in need of pointed advice.
I am not sure I have the skillset to set out what I wrote without labelling the group. I am sure plenty of other people would know how to go about that but I am not that good at writing. Sorry.
As a professional, you do research. I’d think it’s quite possible to find ways to ‘develop’ the skill set needed to write an article about a period of time without making stereotypes and using the term ‘Boomers’ which is frequently used in a pejorative way. As others have said on this thread, we weren’t all the same. I challenged the strapping of boys when I was a teacher and was successful, but only after a couple an attempts. I stood up against the buying of Mao’s Little Red Schoolbook using part of our student union fees to purchase them when I attended tertiary education. You say you love individual Boomers, but sadly, you don’t balance your writing with examples of Boomers doing great things over the last 70 or so years. This is the trouble with stereotypes. They single out a few characteristics as if they represent the entire group. I think the best way you could bring some light and love to this topic is to write another piece after doing some research into the good that this age group has brought to society, and the beneficial achievements created. Think of some of the architecture, which, while eliminating much beautiful detail of earlier periods, also brought simplicity of structure and line, which opened up our houses to become lighter and more airy. The best architects from the 50s and 60s integrated buildings into the natural environment.
I agree with many aspects of society today which feel less human, like great hulking cars on the road, especially here in Australia. But the amazing designs of the 50s and 60s, still being driven today, are sleek, gorgeous designs that still bring people to car shows to marvel at their beauty; people gasp with delight when seeing them drive on the road.
I love a beautiful Gothic cathedral or a painting done in a realistic style and dislike some modern art, however, there have been excesses of detail in some traditional art. The Victorian times, while contributing much beauty, was, at times, over fussy and cluttered in design. Homes of the 1940s were often dark, with small rooms, (small rooms can be good.) Each period of time has good and bad aspects and in order not to hurt and alienate one age group or any group according to identity, it would be more helpful to do more research.
I agree with comment below. You have the skillset to write detailed scientific results about Covid vaccines down to minute details and very detailed. In this case with the blanket stereotyping of the Boomers Generation it appears as though you have a one track mindset and are not open to reviewing your opinion. Why is that?
Unfortunately you still use the rather pejorative term “boomers”. Why not “Karens” and “gammons”? For me this sets the whole tone of your dissertation.
Also pointing out so bluntly that we are nearing death at a time when euthanasia may be introduced in such a way that we may well feel obliged to relieve society of the burden of our ongoing existence is a little heartless.
Most boomers like myself dislike many of the changes that have occurred in society just as much as you do. However, we are not responsible and many of us now feel under siege by a government that cares more for illegal immigrants than for us oldies. When the younger generations turn on us too, even though most of us care more for them and their future than for ourselves, it really hurts.
In the past the old were respected but now we appear to be considered as useless feeders that created a society that would prefer us dead.
Obviously I am not alone in feeling upset by your article which is a great shame as we mostly value and support the work you have done to expose the horrors that have occurred over the last few years.
I would not of gotten that was what your article was about it was so full of blame. Boomers brought “sanctity of life” to the front. They showed older generations it was ok to let loose from their Victorian upbringing.
Well Clare that’s a thought provoking message. I assume I’m a boomer on my birthday today at 74 and awaiting death. I recognise some of the ills you speak off but I and my late wife had no control of how society has developed. To lay all these problems at our door is quite shameful & I am disappointed for a deep thinker like yourself to come to such conclusions. I also have been a life long atheist & completely reject your conclusion that without faith in a mythical deity has lead to todays society. This is utter nonsense! As to waiting for an easy death & calls for euthanasia you should know we already have state endorsed euthanasia it’s called palliative care. Medics have lost their morale & ethical principles, allopathic medicine has failed us. Maybe this is where we should look for solutions.
I have not laid the blame at individuals and certainly not you and your late wife.
It is a societal change - and surely it's worth asking why that happened. Can you think of an atheist society which has bucked the trends I am writing about?
Worship of medicine is part of the problem - I will not look to medicine for solutions here.
I have edited the intro to try to balance the points you raise.
I certainly do not think that you blame individuals of my generation yet many will as we allowed ourselves to be coerced by evil people, those who were driven by self interest probably. I apologise if I gave this impression, ethical doctors like yourself have help lift the veil of secrecy & have paid a price. I feel for you, you studied long & hard & have been treated badly. I can understand your points on religious beliefs, religion has to provide us with guidance & rules to live by, for many they have been pushed aside & yes we are seeing a n impact. Sadly Us plebs never considered the possibility of people like Chief Medical Officers, the NHS, NICE & regulator would lie to and mislead us. I & Gill were coerced into taking the “vaccine” as not having it would, her oncologist said, delay her treatment, the threat was obvious. As an old analytical toxicologist and chartered chemist the mere mention of mRNA & lipid nano particles led me to think we would be playing Russian roulette but how bad could it be. It is imperative that we have a in depth root cause analysis of what has happened, this may bring about societal change. As to atheism I don’t think there is a true atheist state, religious belief didn’t protect any state. The only states that suffered less were the poorest or the one that had leaders with commonsense ie Sweden. I haven’t given up on medicine, we need medics more than ever, it needs to return to what it was before money & greed took over. It needs to understand what evidence is, you and others have talked about this. It needs to learn how to evaluate data & how to use statistics. I’m personally sick of the mantra of gold standard double blind randomised trial but that’s another tail. Apologies for going on! I still look forward to your comments.
I would add - and this is a very general comment about groups whatever they are - that if you identify as being in a group which is being criticised there are only two moral options:
(1) argue why your groups' behaviour is morally better than either that being criticised
(2) endorse the (valid) criticism of your group within your group
When individuals from groups (where the group is criticised) respond aggressively it suggests that those groups know that the criticism has validity. It's the same with the drug companies and government agencies covering for them who instead of looking into our concerns about safety set up troll harassment groups to bash us. They know they did wrong and their response is a guilty response.
If you're doing the right thing, criticism has no impact. I shouldn't have to repeat but I will - this isn't about you it's about group behaviour.
Sorry for the late reply. I don’t identify as part of any group, my comment to Clare was written in haste & poorly written. Clare didn’t define the period of this boomer generation, I took it that at my age I fit to that description. I’ve always found it odd to describe generations. We are all different & have different experiences and few can manipulate “society”. I’m certainly not one of this generation that gained financial during the 80’s, in fact the opposite. I understand many of the points Clare wrote about
Agree we have to discuss societal changes and determine the root cause of the many changes you mention. On reflection there are individuals, usually in positions of power & influence, that have had negative impacts on society, they attract followers who never question. I can think of a few from the past (Thatcher, Blair …). The current ones particularly those medics/scientists who lead our Covid response, they found useful fools in the scientifically ignorant politicians who they used to enact their project. Result is a polarised society manipulated by media, a corrupted medical system, lawlessness, a metabolically unhealthy population and as you said, folk turning away from the Church of England. A sad state of affairs with a lot to correct.
You almost didn't start on this journey due to financial fears, so same fear as a boomer and the rest of our generation that have stayed silent against all evidence? So yeah, this was a bad take.
A thing which could've been highlighted, and maybe a better point, is an invention by Logie Baird and how it helped hone psychological manipulation beyond borders - also the likes of Murdoch and a shift in how colonial power is exerted at home in the 'west'.
You stated such in a podcast; but it was a small point in the overall scheme of things, as it was in that podcast, if it caused you concern I apologise.
You used a term that is used to create division and one intended to devalue an older generation, it irked.. Gen X/Z - Nuclear family et al. are all terms that should never be used when seeking harmony as they are terms used to create divide and that isn't your intent? An atheist society, or do you mean authoritarian government that doesn't allow open worship? As I don't think an atheist society has ever existed, the dreaming is everywhere. Anyway, I'm being too semantic and I'm not moving anything toward an end goal. Tootles
Concern was probably the word you used, not fear, I have financial fears - full-time carer, I've been in lockdown for 2 decades, covid was but a blip - so I was probably projecting.
I'll edit your article, remove the opposition framing and get back to ya lol.
Naivety, the last five years, rocked even me, someone who has always been on the fringes. I was immune to the fear being projected but became horrified at the malice toward children and pregnant women, evil is the only apt word.
The timing goes back to the 'silent generation' (had to do it) the ones who should've been punished after WW2. Who were allowed to disperse into high level positions in the US and elsewhere, thus the infection spread The Canadian Parliament standing ovation demonstrates it. They just went quiet, waiting till all our veterans died, to start rising again then history could be rewritten/tweaked well they didn't even really try that hard. Just started another war with Russia using literal Nazis and how many blinked?
"Nuclear family". There, I said it, and will further say that we know it is the bedrock of a stable society and gives the best start in life for children. I was raised in a nuclear family, had one, and NOBODY tells me what I can and cannot say. <Multiple expletives deleted>
Harmony? What the **** else has Woke and all its manifestations done for harmony? Quite the opposite. A harmonious society is one that shares a common culture; without that it is doomed. As we may well be.
By the way, there is also evidence that religious nations are happier. Given the modern re-adoption of Utilitarianism, why are we not promoting religion. As opposed to division.
And whilst I am here. Anyone who thinks the secular West and theocratic Islam are compatible is beyond stupid. We are not.
Nuclear homes are relatively new thing most people lived in multigenerational homes previously, added problem today is, many can't afford to live as a nuclear family at a minimum both parent have to work.
Pretty sure no one here is against religion nor thinks it'll create discord. Lots of Muslims live in the west, even some of my neighbours? Love your neighbour as yourself.
Someone, somewhere, once wrote:
'Life cannot be reduced to pleasure and survival. Without God, what is left?'
I spent 20 years in a part of Bristol where many Muslims lived. Many ethnicities indeed. We all got on fine. However, radical Islam, which is what happened when Wahabi broke out of Saudi (West allowed it in return for oil, see Adam Curtis' BBC docus from way back), extremism spread rapidly, first in the ME, then the West. And now it's a big problem
Thank you Clare for your thought. Gill is at peace following a negligent & medically inept standard of care. As Gill was cremated, her carbon is spread far & wide, so in a sense, she & the other victims have the chance to live again, we should remember that matter cannot be destroyed. We shouldn’t forget this fundamental law. We in effect are all reborn 😳
David we all have a contribution to make. Clare put her career on the line to fight for the medical freedoms of generations abandoned by boomers - in general. She specified that her article is not about individuals but the society that has been sculpted by a generation that has profited from the wealth of the 80s and 90s which resulted from the freedoms of the 70s.
What we have been involved in is a spiritual battle and we have as a population forgotten the covenant that was necessary to enjoy freedoms without devolving to tyranny. The boomers, who forgot their faith, as a whole also forgot this convenant.
Oh dear! Spiritual, covenant, you surely realise that your talking to an atheist, such terms, if I’m following your thoughts, are nonsense to me. I’ve followed Clare for a long while, have bought her book & think she is quite brilliant. I understood she was not talking about individual folk but I can’t see how ordinary individuals like me can sculpt society. self serving individuals do that in my experience and they attract their followers, it’s these groups that do the sculpting. We’ve experienced that since 2019 yet have no power to change the trajectory. When evidence & data are withheld or manipulated we plebs can do little. This is why insiders like Clare can speak up for us. I saw the total bollock that our CMO & CSO were spouting but what could I do? We both had had Covid in January 2020, I explained this to Gills oncologist & his response was vax or delay treatment. The fact that I know about airborne viruses & biological weapons, I was a toxicologist and a Home Office CNB scientific adviser, we had to conform. Period.
Wouldn't treat her if not jabbed? If so, disgraceful. My wife over breast cancer by then, metastasised into "terminal" bone cancer (as a result of them horribly messing up her grade 2 breast cancer) and given end of 2021 if she had more chemo, said no, first lot too bad.
We'd gone carnivore a year b4 diagnosis; alive and blooming. No change in number or presentation of lesions since then.
Apols Jeremy, only just seen your reply, thank you for the Christmas wishes, sadly Gill died on the 23 May 2023. We had a similar experience to you, cock up on cock up. Yes, totally disgraceful, the implied threat was clear. The Clatterbridge Cancer Center was in total disarray and panic in July 2020, diagnosed with stage 4 HER2 with lymph node and bone disease and but in the palliative care pigeon hole. Oncologist convince the wife that all alternative treatments didn't have any evidence to support the use & would interfere with standard of care, and couldn't recommend anything else. I didnt agree. She was denied a MRI and PET scans at diagnosis even though she was in absolute intractable pain in her left arm and hand, oncologist insisted that the pain was due to the lymphedema. She had pain in her cervical spine. He wouldn't even examine her neither would our GP. She endured 12 rounds of taxane chemo & HER2 antibody treatment with CT scans showing stable disease up until Dec 2022. Then after accusations of incompetence and negligence by me to our GP and oncologist, they examined her & scheduled a spine MRI. This showed C5/6 cord compression at the exiting nerve roots, thus emergency blue lighted for radiotherapy. This left her doubly incontinent & bed ridden and with no hope of improvement. After her death the CCC denied me access to he medical records. I eventually got the records after going to the probate court , they sent 3 folders named "redacted 1, 2 & 3 that were incomplete. My complaint is ongoing. David
This is beautifully put, thank you reflection is good for the soul thanks Dr Craig. God bless 🙏 here is hoping the next generation can undo this madness of the last 3-4 decades.
I'm 73 from a very long lived family. My paternal Grandfather died aged c70, wounded badly in WW1. His wife, my beloved Irish gran, lived to 102. Bright as a button till the end. Mum's parents, both lived to 96. Bright as buttons as well.
I'm super healthy - Carnivore for 4 years and very active, garden all summer long, walk the dog, stretch, lift, garden for others. Intellectually - am returning to the classics I was taught about at Oxford 50 years ago, reading the Bible (KJ, of course) cover to cover for the first time. Plus commentaries. On completion, I realised I had no choice but to read it again. Got to Proverbs 2nd time round. Reading lit crit - not the shit lit crit of present times, which is no more than the purposeless, nihilistic deconstruction of works which have fed the human spirit for centuries. Harold Bloom - do check him out if literature lifts you - he reads as well as any prose writer can, and is a superlative critic who enhances the works that he writes on, rather than shits on them. Why bother?
So I see no reason why I should not clock high 90s. And keep moving and intellectually stimulated.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. All those who DO rail against us - tell me what you would have done differently. We all live in the world we are presented with and grow up with and into. Much of what younger people now enjoy and treat as standard is the result of my generation's hard work. And remember, our parents were busy rebuilding the country and society after 6 years of hard times.
I intend, when about to go, to so as Aldous Huxley did and sail off on a dose of psychedelics, having used them since college, and having been touched by the divine on massive doses. Looking forward to it.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57 - King James Version
Clare. Thank you for your outstanding work. You and your colleagues. My wife and I both lifelong dissidents smelt a rotten fish when Covid was thrust on us, refused masks, refused the jab, and ignored lockdown (happily we live in a rural Somerset village) and social distancing.
Did Prof Lawton ever respond to your missive to her? I hope so but expect otherwise
I did not suggest that I would have been able to act differently as a boomer nor that any one person could have made a difference to the direction of travel.
Yes - of course boomers gifted us with positive things too!
That's sad, Clare. Extraordinary how Covid destroyed apparently intelligent people's critical faculties dreadfully.
And I know you weren't having a go at boomers.
What I do know that is very different now - we worked really hard, and all shared a common culture. My first job was at16 (Mum - off you go, and you can pay us board and lodging) and after that, till I retired, apart from when being educated, I worked. And paid a LOT of tax.
Clare, that's so insightful and so very spot on. Judging by the tone of the 'offended' comments it seems you've hit a raw nerve....which makes your article so much more pertinent!
Why take offence at a point made about societal changes? How could any individual be held to account for such change?
What they could have said:
1. I agree that there has been a societal shift - and that needs addressing - but I am not sure what we as individuals could have done differently.
2. I agree there is a correlation there but I think the cause for is is [insert alternative hypothesis].
3. I disagree with the timing of these societal changes because XXX
What they have said:
"I am deeply offended."
The way they are replying makes me feel like I have made them really uneasy. Why be angry about how society changed, unless you do feel responsible somehow (which is quite a reach for an individual)? Or is it questioning their beliefs and morality that has really shaken them?
I agree with how things could have been said by responders. I disagree with the assumption that many of the comments, mine included, were based on our having taken offense. How could that be known, be differentiated from straightforward disagreement? Please consider, and you did when making an edit, that the article/post could have been reflected your opinion more accurately.
Clare, there is nothing that needs editing in your article. I just make it into the boomer generation and I'm amazed at the undeniable offence many have taken. What they don't seem to aware of is that once they reply with 'I tam offended etc etc ' (or similar) they are no longer in the realm of the rational. Their responses are coming from a place of emotions and beliefs that perhaps they ought to examine before knocking on the pearly gates. Wrapping a thick veneer of intellectual gymnastics around their fears and insecurities, as shown in some of the most verbose replies, is simply a firm of intellectual escapism.
Difference of opinions? It's the life blood of personal and societal growth. Taking offence at a generalisation? That's a tantrum.
Ah, see. I'm sorry to have missed what you point out clearly now. I obviously didn't read enough of the comments to understand the basis of yours. You are remarkable to respond to so many! As always, thought-proving posts and comments from your sub stack. Thank you.
This foolishness continues today, alas, where I live in the US. Rarely do I see a male child whose father does not call him "Bud" (Buddy), for example. Parents typically ask their kids, another example, if it's okay to leave the store now. ("Let's go now. Okay?"
It feels like boomers is shorthand for the set of social changes in (western) culture over the last n years ... Postwar years. Agree with those who say this is not blaming individuals but a good perspective on the contemporary condition
I was born in 1957. In my personal and family life I rejected ALL of these changes. I worked especially hard against abortion. This was a bedrock cataclysm that inexorably led to much destruction and despair, both directly and in ever widening shock waves. Yet I was all but helpless to stop it. How does an individual hold back a tsunami?
I have spent a lifetime loving people and doing all I can to stop the destruction of humanity at the hands of forces that are virtually unopposable. I have been largely unsuccessful even in convincing other Christians of the truths of their own faith that would ground their decisions in truth and beauty.
No doubt, evil people of my generation bear much blame. But we are not all the architects of destruction. Some of us ARE builders, but we are too few and too poorly equipped to build against the relentless waves of destruction.
Thank you. Late coming to Christianity - default by cultural, moral and ethical terms, but I am now becoming a believer. And grateful for that. Sadly, I would be a classic Anglican C of E type, but Welby put me off that way back, the final straw being him stigmatizing (stigmata, eh?..._) those of us who refused the jab.
The head of the C of E stigmatizing people? Hardly Christian.
Anyway, thank God he's gone. Loved Rowan Williams and had a long chat with a monk at Buckfast where I recently spent a week on retreat (lovely place), who knew him well and was at Oxford with him.
Boomers taking offense at Ms. Craig's apt description of the state of play, because they themselves either led a noble life swimming against the tide, or were woefully misled by others.
My original comment was going to be that I am personally acquainted with MANY boomers, who at the start of Covid, were more concerned with society doing anything and everything to preserve their biological lives in order for them to finish up their spiritual bucket list before dying, which list included European vacations and Pacific cruises and New York broadway shows.
This demographic was at a natural point in life in retirement, in sufficient numbers and with sufficient wealth in this country, to impact the rest of society by being swept up with and cooperating in the lockdowns sold to them by experts on teevee. The majority were not working outside the home and did not have care of small children. Cold, hard facts.
My comment now is that Ms. Craig is not calling down God's wrath on boomers. Nor is she negotiating with God here; she is not in need of finding one righteous boomer so that God will not destroy the city of boomers, no matter how many of you offer yourselves to her for this purpose.
Can we trust Gen-X or Millennials or Zoomers to do the right thing when their time comes? No. How can the Greatest Generation be so "great" if they are the ones who raised Boomers? All of which is to say... let's begin from the Christian point of view that we all descend from Adam and Eve. Let's call those two the Eden generation. The point of the story in Genesis 3 is that every generation is the Eden generation. Filled with individuals tempted to do wrong but with free will to resist and do good.
An excellent comment. I am at 64 at the tale end of the boomers I did not take offense at what Claire said. We are all responsible for our own actions and those form the culture of the day.
This fragmentation of society was planned and is being implemented by the invisible’elite’ since at least the sixties and it has nothing to do with boomers. The last four years has however revealed how ruthless they are in pursuit of their agenda and how compliant we are as a result of this continuing and ingeniously evil brainwashing. Thank you for all your hard work Claire but please do not lose sight of where the blame lies.
Wow! This is a powerful piece of writing. You've spelled out what few want to talk about. I think about these things all the time as they keep popping up in the news and social media and in my own life, but I haven't yet taken the time to write about them. I guess I didn't know how or where to begin. You've put this out there with such coherence.
Sorry Clare, a bit long. Edit (all of it if necessary) as required.
I read your essay and felt personally assaulted, but then had a glass of Merlot and penned this ‘rational’ reply as a fan of your work.
What is a typical boomers journey? No idea, but I’m a boomer. I’m also damn sure that my journey has not been typical, to the point where I couldn’t possibly have had the slightest effect on anything.
Born on the same day as Prince Andrew, our paths diverged from that initial SQUEAK. His star shone then dulled whereas mine never really got going, content to lurk in the deepest recesses of space. From the age of 8, I was told I was C of E. No choice there. But, I recently became an atheist, then in the blink of a virgin birth rebelled to become a spiritualist - not practicing, in spirit only. The point is I would rather be utterly confused than a definite Welby who has, until recently, had much sway over a dwindling but significant minority of sheep. ‘Jesus would have had a jab’, is his latest pearl. Mind you, it might have saved him from a fate worse than death.
You’re right, we boomers are preparing for a final shuffle. My exit may well be in ignorance of what caused it because I no longer wish to visit my doctor. I don’t want to be misled again – or outright lied to. One thing that is undeniable is that when my time comes, the world will be much worse than when I arrived. And, without doubt, there has been a temporal correlation with society’s plummet.
But I really don’t blame the boomers, individually or collectively.
I blame technology, which has developed frighteningly and exponentially to a point where human beings no longer have control. For anyone under the age of 30 there is no longer a world above the horizontal as gadgets are peered at and lives planned on the hoof. Our souls have been torn from us and incorporated into the machine.
When I was boy at school the communal computer filled a whole room, with a bit sticking out in the corridor. With a lot of heat and noise, it enabled me to print a single page - a week on Friday, as long as nobody else had booked it. Today, by the pulling of an electronic lever, edicts are flung to all corners. One such missive resulted in us queueing, 2 by 2 metres, in a car park wearing paper masks with the stopping power of a 5-bar gate to a mosquito. Some of us muttered and cursed and wondered how it ever came to this as we headed home on empty roads to leave our shopping in the garage overnight to allow the deadly beasts to perish.
True also I think, the puppeteers who lean over and watch on, pulling strings, are probably boomers. Self-made, important, wealthy ones. But please don’t blame me, I’m a humble spiritualist, who fell for it like most other people.
Actually, in some regards you probably can blame me (the individual) because, during my three-score and a bit, I have failed to shout loud enough to stop anything - or even re-direct anything. A bit of a Canute frankly. What I did mange was to shout just loud enough to alienate a few family members and plenty of friends. One ‘mate’ even called me a Canute with a couple of vowels removed.
And I won’t need euthanasia, I’ll just take medicines I don’t need.
I am not blaming you or any individual! Furthermore, my generation can hardly claim to have reversed any of these trends. In fact, I'd say we have very little to be proud of which stands in stark contrast to yours.
The technology point is clearly a huge issue that I didn't touch on but I don't think it alone would have got us to where we are. I think it's darker than that.
I know you’re not blaming me. I’m blaming me. Or at least I’m willing to take my share of the blame. I think most of us should ask, could I have done more? In most cases, yes, though in your case, not much I suggest. I know you chopped yourself off at the knees in 2020 and if others had shown the same courage, things may have turned out differently. One thing’s for sure, you have earned the right to want to blame something.
I have just read Hart and others’ open letter to the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service. It shows the power of ‘the machine’ when there is no mainstream mention (as far as I know) of the incredible injustices perpetrated on those trying to look after their patients. Despite the stature of the groups/organisations and noted individuals who comprise the list of co-signatories, as far as I can tell it made shamefully little difference. Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
The above typifies the worst aspect of it all, in that those charged with our collective care mercilessly manipulated us in the quest for power using cold hard cash as the cattle prod. Though some remain defiant, I’m afraid other ‘health care professionals’ got sucked into the disgusting whirlpool.
My Dad was a Consultant Physician specialising in respiratory disease. He’s not been around to guide me for over 50 years (Leukaemia) so most of the help he has given me is from my imagination. I was a young lad when he died so, peculiarly, know him best through his obituary where his peers wrote nice things. Including….
“As a colleague he leaves a gap impossible to fill. His genial disposition and desire to be of the greatest service endeared him to all. Tenacious and sometimes belligerent in argument in committee, he could always be expected to speak his mind but with an obvious integrity and complete absence of malice in all his dealings. In consequence he evoked a degree of affection and trust among his medical and nursing colleagues rarely encountered and for this quality alone will be sorely missed.”
I KNOW there is not a chance he would have capitulated to the narrative. I would have been proud of him, just as I am of anyone else who’s had the courage to stand up to some hugely dark forces.
A refreshingly humorous post to take down the temperature!
I have noticed that all those the most upset about Clare's article are declaring their atheism. What I've also noticed during this 5 year battle is that those who feared the least are the most faithful believers in Christ and the covenant. Over on twitter and the like, the vaccine and pharma pushers and the mutton crew types I have written about are almost all declared atheists or satanists.
It's a stark correlation and one that I think should be explored. I hope Clare does a follow up post!
Well, the Boomers are truly remarkable if they embraced free market capitalism and Marxism.
Here, a remarkable agency is attributed to Boomers, the first TV generation who were subjected to the modern manipulations of Cultural Marxism, Mont Pelerin economics or Neoliberalism, Fabianism, mindless advertising and relentless change.
This has been the period when Fabianism decided was its time to "strike hard". Some of the related developments had been held back for the right time. Look to the work of H G Wells, George Bernard Shaw, the Huxleys, Bertrand Rusell et al in the 1920s and 1930s. As in previous generations the average Boomers' power was limited to the philosophy,, economic and cultural framing they were born into. Real power was limited to an elite that drove that change. Resisting this change or trying to make unwelcome social improvements might explain what contributed to a remarkable 8 US Presidents who died in office.
I think the worthy challenge made here by Dr Craig might be better targeted at a craven management class or their masters that found the times suited them. Matt Barrie explains this powerfully and eloquently from an Australian perspective in a talk given two months ago :
We might look at the countries that were most slavishly devoted to the Covid narrative such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada. All are mere quarries with little in the way of real industry. Lack of this industry and effective use of our natural resources presages future economic horrors and further wasted opportunity. The people behind mercantilism and free market economics that denied Australia its full potential in the past are now behind plans for Net Zero, calls for degrowth, decolonialism and many other forms of madness. A well-orchestrated propaganda campaign is being pushed at our young, while the blame for causing this chimera of climate change catastrophism is directed at Baby Boomers. We might ask who really is behind transgendering our young and what is their motivation?
The blame on Baby Boomers has been accelerating for twenty years as the management class saw the need for a culprit to blame that was not them. In truth, people of my class owning their own home is a rarity. It was certainly not common before WWII. Post that war we have seen a couple of generations of working class people who have attained a degree of wealth but the opportunities available to them have been closed down for future generations. Did this just happen or was the traditional relationship between master and servant reasserted?
As a Baby Boomer with a grandfather born in 1878, just three generations have run across three centuries. What different times each lived in. I have found the world a confusing place for much of my life. Covid brought a great deal of clarity. I am much clearer about who the enemy is if not certain as to how to defeat them. I do not see this enemy in my neighbours or the average members of my community.
It is a challenging article, Clare, and I am glad you have written it. I hope it provokes much debate. It looks like it is already. We need more of it.
As a boomer I take great exception to this article and its sweeping generalisations.
I am personally not religious but have a strong spiritual and humanitarian approach to life and resent the assertion that this is inferior in any way to a belief in a particular God or a specific religious label.
“Judge not that ye be not judged” is a central tenet of my behaviour and beliefs. Adherence to that biblical instruction might have led to a more balanced and less judgmental appraisal of changes that have mostly occurred since my generation held any significant sway.
My own philosophy is based on the idea that God is love and I try to adhere to the Ten Commandments, which I believe to be an exceedingly good code of practice for any civilised society.
I would say personally that most of your generalisations were wrong.
It is many of our generation that have stepped up to the plate during the pandemic recognising the difficulties younger colleagues faced if they spoke truth to power.
It is my generation of women who forged a path for women in society, particularly in medicine. Not for us part time training and minimal hours on high salaries!
Coming from a modest background having benefited from an excellent state education I have spoken up loudly against the problems faced by young people, particularly those from a poor working class background.
Boomers were mostly not hippy dippy dreamers but hard-working realists who fought steadfastly for many of the freedoms successive generations have enjoyed. It is the abuse of those freedoms which were hard-won by us boomers that have created the society that you describe.
Unfortunately you are playing into the divisions that our leaders seek to create in our society by trying to blame my generation for all the problems we are now enduring in our society. They aim to divide and rule using authoritarian tactics. My generation recognise this from the old playbooks and are fighting against it.
I am incidentally not terrified of dying, except dying to order at the behest of those who should know better! I oppose the proposed euthanasia legislation, not because of a religious doctrine, but because of my humanitarian views and the potential for significant and escalating abuse.
Unfortunately no, I don’t really agree with you. I believe each adult generation shares the responsibility for the state we find ourselves in here in the U.K. and around the world. We are all individuals with rights and the consequent responsibilities. Many of my generation are ill informed and self centred in their approach to life, but the same applies to some members of each generation.
My generation grew up in the shadow of a war that affected their lives and experience. Our parents understood the importance of self sufficiency for themselves and for their families, communities and the country. The younger generations do not share that very real threat.
My generation grew up in a very strait laced post Victorian era where restrictions and constraints were everywhere. Children should be seen and not heard and women had to know their place which was not as the equals of men and entitled to education and opportunities regardless of their sex or social class. We struggled to be seen and heard and to stand up for what was morally right. Many of the younger generation have no conception of the difficulties and no appreciation of the freedom they have experienced as a result.
My generation, even those of us who were not Jewish, grew up understanding the very real horrors of antisemitism. We recognised the dangers in a very real sense, unlike many of the younger generation.
We appreciated nature and beauty because it was free to enjoy and not subject to any class divide.
Need I go on?
You have characterised my whole generation in a way which seems totally unjustified and unfounded in reality. I refuse to be vilified as a minority group on the basis of my age alone.
Perhaps we should paraphrase Martin Luther King.
“I have a dream that we will one day live in a nation where we will not be judged by our age but by the content of our character.”
You are making very good points - yes younger generations do not have the same concepts of freedom or the dangers of antisemetism. Yes - we take for granted the opportunites women have.
We could write a whole other essay on the failings of the generations that followed.
But this wasn't about societal shifts matching with life stages. Can you see that point?
It is very obvious from your comments that your article has created divisions where none need exist. Sadly far too many divisions have been created by those with a malign vested interest in setting one group against another. Since most of the commenters on this article were likely very supportive of your work in exposing the truth it is very sad that your article has created yet another unnecessary division.
We are generally stronger together in resisting the evil that surrounds us on all sides.
Here's a commonsensical observation: when you publicly disparage a particular cohort of people on the basis of negative attributes that you have categorically assigned to them, "individuals" within that cohort have every right, even an obligation, to "take it personally", as does the group as a whole. I am surprised at the relatively low level of push-back, given the level of insult that you've directed at an entire generation who are now senior citizens.
Clare, I've said nothing about my date of birth. So, who do you ASS-U-ME my "peers" are? The cohort of "Godless baby boomers" who you blame for the "downfall of society"? If so, you are assuming that there are no people of a more recent generation who would be EMPATHICALLY MOTIVATED to speak up in defense of their parents, or grandparents, who are "boomers". I see no semblance of empathy in your essay, nor your followup comments. You clearly find it unthinkable to imagine there are people who are motivated by anything other than self-interest. This prejudicial belief may be rooted in your own abundantly evident lack of empathy and your own defensive self-interest. It is a classic case of PROJECTION, whereby your own negative attributes are what you see when you look at others. Good luck with that.
Clare, since you're asking what generalizations you got wrong...Let's begin with a lesson in remedial logic: gross generalizations are ALWAYS wrong and you've made nothing but gross generalizations. You're welcome:-)
Christine I haven't met you in the 5 years that we have been fighting for medical freedom and against the COVID operation perpetrated on the public in order to impose a biofascist tyranny however I am interested in how you have come to be so offended by Clare's excellent post.
Could I ask first of all if, as a retiree with no mandate to do so, you accepted or rejected the COVID vaccines for yourself and how you advised others in your circle back in early 2021 when they were first offered?
My personal medical history is my own affair and. I find your rather insensitive and intrusive comment and tone somewhat offensive.
However, for clarity, as I was considered medically vulnerable, I was strongly advised to have the vaccine even though I raised the issue of auto immunity and ADE and ERD specifically in writing to my consultant. I was subject to the same propagandas as the rest of the population and had been trained in traditional medicine and was not initially suspicious of the abuse of power that occurred. I had the first two jabs and because of a research article published about COP and the similarity to Covid pneumonia I reluctantly and mistakenly had a third. I have had considerable side effects ever since!
My husband who is extremely fit was asked to sign a DNACPR notice when admitted for emergency surgery. Fortunately I was able to intervene and prevent this! We agreed that if either of us became ill we would absolutely refuse ventilation. My sister died in hospital scared and alone thanks to medical negligence during the pandemic.
I signed the Barrington Declaration and wrote to my MP on numerous occasions particularly in relation to the emphasis on protection of the elderly at the expense of younger populations at no risk. I wrote very strongly worded letters about the care sector and NHS mandates to my MP.
I have written numerous comments and spoken out against the handling of the pandemic on every possible occasion and signed up to all of the HART letters. I had a number of letters published on relevant issues in The Times but once I challenged vaccines for children and pregnant women and mandates for care workers and health service employees the letters stopped being accepted.
I have spoken out against the vaccines, school closures, mandates, side effects of the vaccine etc etc on every possible occasion since the beginning of the pandemic.
No doubt you have done more but as a long time retired doctor I did my best as I always have.
I admire and respect those who have done more and have no respect those doctors who have remained silent without joining the dots. However, in the scheme of things I have done as much as I could.
I hope you are satisfied than I have played some very small part in raising concerns and that I am not the typical “Boomer Karen” that has set the scene for the societal decline we have all witnessed in our lifetimes!
Perhaps you and Clare should reflect on the extreme sensitivity of the issues raised at a time when us “boomers” are being attacked from all sides rather than leap to the defensive position.
Thank for setting the scene and thank you for your advocacy.
Given that, I would think that you would echo Clare's thoughts rather than be fighting her very publicly here. It is a good example that your own personal fear took you to fall for a narrative despite knowing that there was no possible way that such a product could work (20 years of failed Corona virus vaccines) extreme risks of genetic therapy technology and no requirement for you to actually take it to work. Your generation should be the most angry because the excess deaths are stark, but they are not. As I have said further up, being in a group being criticised does not mean you cannot endorse the criticism. The points made are very valid.
If I was less polite I would tell you exactly what I thought of you! Having looked through your substack I am not especially impressed by your input into the Covid debacle.
We beg to differ, but I am absolutely amazed that Dr Craig tolerates your extreme rudeness on her substack.
I am absolutely not prepared to engage with you further.
Clare, I really admire and respect you but I wonder where all this came from? It seems so tangentially out of character. I think your pinned comment suggests, you understand you are making very broad generalizations. Of course, time alone will tell as we see how GenX and below make things better. At present, it doesn't look that promising.
I regard myself as an International person at the younger age limit of the "Boomer" generation, having lived and travelled all over the world, now retired after a successful career and living on the beach in an Asian country where we are free from "Government" so long as we respect the laws and regulations. And I have friends all over the world, mostly of similar age, who would be appalled by your comments. These people are in total disagreement with your accusations, are mostly devout Christians and in complete disagreement with the way the world has been managed by Deep State neocons and greedy Globalists.
If you believe that the recent evolving trend towards "nationalism", decentralization and freedom is coming against the wishes of the aggregate Boomer generation, I personally would disagree.
Perhaps MLK's belief that a man(/woman) should be judged not the color of their skin but by their character should also have included not by their age?
And one thing my generation also possesses is the ability to discuss and disagree respectfully - something later generations seem to have lost. Kindest regards to you and thank you for everything you have done throughout the Covid Military psyop.
Yes - fair critique - I have added to the intro (I think since you read it).
This is not about blaming individuals. We are all responsible for societal ills in our own society.
However, the observation that the timing of the accelerations in these shifts do map neatly to one particular generation is true. That does not mean that generation did not achieve good things or have among them good individuals. In fact, the aims throughout were to be compassionate and do good.
And yes - I for one am very grateful for the legacy of free speech, open debate and respect that your generation taught so well.
I would like to add a short disclaimer.
I have nothing against baby boomers as individuals - indeed I love them.
Societal ills are the responsibility of all of us.
I endorse your disclaimer. Baby boomers are not now, and never were, of single orientations. They did, and they continue to, vote and to act etc as diversely as have other generations. It remains true of course, as you say, that certain attitudes were more prevalent, or at the very least more obvious.
Dr. Craig, you have castigated, literally, hundreds of millions of people within your caricatured, but pious, screed about "baby boomers". It is quite stunning to see you add: " I have nothing against baby boomers as individuals - indeed I love them". Do you not see how closely this statement resembles the kind of self-serving apologia that we often hear from blithely, or bitterly, prejudiced individuals who categorically stereotype and stigmatize vast demographic groups, while deigning to make an exception for "individuals" within those groups? I.e. "I have nothing against muslims, or people of color, as individuals - indeed I love them". This line of thought betrays a genuine lack of fundamental socio-political awareness that goes way beyond being tone-deaf or merely careless with language. You have hereby served to create another enormous class of scapegoats to be persecuted instead of the elite overclass that governs us all. The latter is, no doubt, thankful for the work you've done today.
Do you honestly believe "the elite overclass that governs us all" are 100% responsible?
If so, do you think they could have done what they did if the majority had held to a strong Christian belief?
Ms. Craig, in a nutshell, your essay argues that "Godless baby boomers" are squarely responsible for the "downfall" of civilization. Never mind that members of this entire generation are now senior citizens.
In my prior comment, I noted that your essay serves to create an enormous class of scapegoats to be persecuted instead of the elite overclass that governs us all. And now, you ask me if I "honestly believe the elite overclass that governs us all are 100% responsible"? Well, Clare, I find that question to be 100% simplistic and reductive. But, since YOU are the one asking the question, while also playing the role of vengeful Judge, Jury, and God, I will leave it up to YOU to definitively answer for the rest of us. So, what percent of blame would you take off the backs of "baby boomers" and put onto the backs of the elite overclasses who have always mercilessly ruled over all of humanity? (I do hope that God has gifted you with an infallible calculator:-)
As for your other related question asking me what I think the "baby boomers would have done if the majority had held to a strong Christian belief?"...Let me think, maybe something along the lines of the Spanish Inquisition, or the Religious Crusades, or the Salem Witch Trials. Is that the right answer? Again, what do YOU think?
I think things would be very different in a positive way if people had followed Christianity.
If you think this has anything to do with religion you are beyond hope.
Maybe try a little history, geopolitical analysis and at least a minimum of socio-economic analysis.
No need to mention the history of Christianity's barbarism but even that's not the point.
Confusing geopolitical realities with religion will make it impossible for anyone to take you seriously. If you think what has happened these past four years is due to a debasement of religion you are completely off the runway. It also had nothing to do with a medical emergency.
Clare, you are free to "think things would be very different in a positive way if people had followed Christianity". But, we can't read your mind. So, describe for us the ways in which you "think" the world would be more "positive" if we followed your brand of Christianity. Would we all be more like you? How "positive" would it be if every devout Christian launched their own version of your boomer-bashing religious crusade?
Agree, would like to hear the answer also
You're kinda exhibiting exactly the kind of cultural attitude and outlook they're talking about. It's not really a surprise you're upset.
Many "boomers" are devout Christians, such as myself. With a scientific education, unlike many suggest, my understanding of genetics and the elegant simplicity of the genome only helped confirm my belief.
In fact, I think the opposite of what you suggest is true. many have been driven away from particularly the Anglican Church by the "wokery", catering to a minority who are mostly atheists, so not attracting new members either.
Then how did we end up with a society that is so broken regarding atttitude to life, truth and beauty?
What are those things you talk about that Christianity has all the answers for?
I’ve watched you on YouTube with John Campbell and have been thankful for your insights especially into the Covid fiasco & misleading information on vaccines BUT I AM APPALLED AT YOUR BLANKET BLAMING FOR A GENERATION of which I am a PROUD part of. I googled your quote, "Your truth is your truth. My is mine" and the quote DID NOT come up. I’d like to know for the sake of honesty from whom you are quoting??? I am shocked at your commenting so harshly on Boomers. I see you were born in 1962 so you were only two years in to being called a Boomer which to me means you have no lived experience during the 60’s & 70’s when Boomers spoke up against Vietnam War and took a stand against the War with much activism and against racial injustice we were protesting for others in harms way. We were NOT just for the individual actually just the opposite. I don’t know how as a Pathologist you stepped into a subject that obviously you know NOTHING about and your assumptions have no research or supporting evidence but are simply conjecture.
Compared to previous generations, baby boomers have created an era of freedom and fought for social change. They fought for women's rights, gay rights and civil rights and aimed for social equality. They created an era of service and volunteering.
For instance, young women in the 2000s could pursue careers their grandmothers could only dream about, and young people of color could take advantage of opportunities not accessible to their ancestors.[214]
Your opinion and that is all it is as it does not involve Science or Facts of which you’ve been such a proponent for. It seems to me to be tainted by something personal that is in your background and has blinded you to the actualities of the Boomer Generation. It is also a travesty that you link all of us as the same as their were completely different viewpoints split on the events that happened during 60’s & 70’s. Perhaps you are talking about the Boomers who sided with Vietnamese War and the corporate greed that reigned.
I hope you are able to take another look at your thoughts and ask yourself if you are really being FAIR and not swayed by personal events. I think you are as wrong on this opinionated article as the CDC etc is on Covid misinformation.
Lynda you are missing the point and likewise unreasonably doing exactly what you are blaming Clare for - you are shouting at her for writing an essay explaining how a generation that took new freedoms yet rejected the very values in the convenant that provided them ended up embracing tyranny and euthanasia.
The freedoms that were given arose in the 60s and 70s and as a result Thatcher and Reagan released the Eastern bloc from their own government tyranny and created a great deal of wealth for the boomers. Yet within a few years of their departure, tyranny returned in the guise of medicine and that generation, having gained wealth from those freedoms, endorsed that tyranny with blanket calls for masks and vaccines. Because they were living in fear having forgotten that those with faith do not fear.
First of all I am not blaming, (do you have an example?). Next I am not shouting, I am passionately responding to what I consider a falsehood. Your assumptions about “how a generation that took new freedoms…..ending up embracing tyranny and euthanasia”, is so twisted and warped. What generation are you? Care to reveal?
I don't think Lynda was shouting, but as she says unless you have lived experience as a boomer you can only comment as an outsider, this generation did so much for women, they were enabled to get a mortgage without a male partner, could make decisions about their own bodies and so much more as a result of the freedoms we fought for. I did not bow down to the tyranny of Covid and know others in my generation did not either. In fact looking at the rise in numbers of people with mental health problems since the pandemic it seems to be the under 40's who have buckled. As for wealth, yes some in some parts of the country have wealth through property but believe me there are many of us who don't. I won't apologise for rejecting religion either, in my view it was a doctrine created by men, revised constantly by men for the benefit of men and it still is.
You also missed the point of the article. In fact you basically made Clare's point for her.
You are trying your best to bend the arc but think it is you who have missed the point entirely.
Sue, EXACTLY! There are so many Boomer women that are struggling a lot financially. I’m guessing he’s young and is fond of patriarchy. I couldn’t agree more about religion. Spirituality on the other hand is completely different. Thanks Sue!
You can be happy for your generation and then accept there are some faults and maybe even an overadjustment for pragmatic goals. You don't even have to accept it has anything to do with you. You can be proud of all the changes just as well but similarly it feels like we have lost a lot of freedoms that were enjoyed previous to the boomer generation and even if there were issues for those previous generations, even in those freedoms, we don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
It doesn't have to be boomers, I already know my generation of millennials is going to get a write-up, but it's nice to have a narrative of public policy that's aligned accurately with how things have affected us.
For what it's worth, the lost generation were sort of the ones who developed this narrative that we don’t have access to nature and only cultural narratives but it took only a few societal shifts to get to the beatniks, then a couple more to get to the well-intentioned rousseauian hippy revolution.
Pleased you added that, very disappointed with the article though.
Much of what was attributed to Boomers here actually originated with the Silent Generation that came before.
What is the purpose of making these divisive categorizations?
I also want to say that it is the CHRISTIANS who voted for djt. So don’t see how religion plays a part in your opinion. A lot of my generation looked to Spirituality.
Dr. Craig, in your comments I see that you seem to discredit critical commentators by slyly referring to them as people who "take it personally". Well, I sincerely hope you won't take this personally, but you are also a "baby boomer", aren't you? Given that you were reportedly born in 1962; and given that the "baby boomer" generation is usually defined as people born from 1946 to 1964. I also sincerely hope that generations X, Y, Z, etc., have nothing against you as an individual member of the "boomer" generation that you've pilloried in the town square.
No - I was born in 1975 - but I would have written similarly if I had been born earlier.
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Clare Craig, Nov 22: "I did not suggest that I would have been able to act differently as a boomer".
Clare Craig, Nov 23: "I was born in 1975 - but I would have written similarly if I had been born earlier".
So, Clare, which one of the above self-contradictory statements do you truthfully believe? Do you believe that you would be a "different" person, or a "similar" person, if you had been born in 1960 rather 1975?
.
I trust you didn't "take it personally" when I asked whether you were a "baby boomer" and I appreciate the clarification that you are not. However, you insist that you would have "written similarly" if you had actually been born a "boomer". May I ask how you know that for a fact? Perhaps you believe in the non-fact-based Christian doctrine of Predestination, which would make you be essentially the same person, irrespective of whether you grew up in the Middle Ages or the 1960s?
As it is, you're Gen X, pushing 50. One wonders what edifying work your collective cohort has done for humanity lately, except for constructing an epic fallacious narrative that blames everything on your dying "boomer" parents. Personally, I would choose Nirvana's Kurt Cobain as one of the most influential "individuals" of your generation, who, by the way blamed everything on his parents.
I am writing one for Gen X next.
Are you writing one for Boomers parents, “The Greatest Generation”? I mentioned this above but felt it appropriate here.
"Societal ills are the responsibility of all of us."
This is patently false not to mention the vagaries of such a phrase.
Best to keep the focus on the criminals who committed the crimes rather than sweeping phrases that hold little meaning.
You might also consider scrapping the absurd terminology of the oppressors- "boomers", "Gen X" and the rest of the puerile categories that are designed to distract the public and confuse the issues.
I do like this article, however I have a slight issue with blaming Boomers for all of this....
Society is moving in the wrong direction, but blaming one age group for this not right.
It is on all of us.
It is indeed on all of us.
I've tweaked this line in the introduction "Boomers have been responsible for much good in society and I love individual boomers - but this essay is not about that. It is about how our society changed with them - something all members of society are responsible for."
The average Boomer was never responsible for the structure of society. They voted, and conformed like every other average worker. They were born into a society without choice, received an average income, provided for their families and drove second hand cars to save money. Today, it’s much harder for most young people, but such a situation is not the fault of the average Boomer. All that young people can do now is to try to resist the current dystopian agenda of the globalists. Some awake Boomers are lending a hand there where they can.
🙏 I love your work by the way.
See my post above... no generation does any different, in that we all adapt to the world we are born into, and work with that. It was a very different world I was born into in 1951. How can ANYONE born generations later say they would have behaved other than how we did?
I didn't say that anyone else would have behaved differently.
I didn't blame any individual either.
It is the result of the effect of crowds - of disproportionate power belonging to a particular age group.
Boomers were divided on how they were living their lives. You still haven’t said where in the world are you who has not experienced any of the formative years of the diverse group of Boomers coming up with these myopic ideas . We were very divided on the Vietnam War. The guys that were drafted and the guys that fought against the draft in many ways were on opposite sides. Football players and Sports were divided from long hair musicians and the folk singing musicians not at all like today. I experienced the divide first hand being the daughter of a high ranking military pilot and living on military base. My parents wouldn’t let a guy with a beard or mustache in their house so unlike today. The cops & the hippies same generation, completely different.
Disproportionate power belonging to the billionaires & millionaires, the men who made much more money than women for a multitude of reasons including misogynist attitudes that have been going on since beginning of USA. I feel you are speaking about the wrong crowd lumping reasons into age group rather that Patriarchy. Isn’t that Ageist?
Yes, I agree, and most workers are stretched financially; they were in our generation but especially now. I’m not ready to go back into the cosmic soup just yet, either. (I’d write a doctoral thesis on the ethics of all this if I could but I’d never get a supervisor.) Young people today will want their expiry date put back as well, as they age. As far as longevity goes, I think human beings are fortunate. If you’re a cuttlefish you’ve got a year or two; a blowfly, a few weeks and you’re done. Oz Dave. Good night. 🇦🇺🌙
I generally like your work, Dr Craig, but stereotyping a group, and here, the Boomers, isn’t helpful. At a time of great division, it only serves to demoralise. My husband and I don’t fit this stereotype, and many of my friends are in this age group and have lived life for their families and for others. We don’t believe in spending the kid’s inheritance, and we spend quality time with our families and grandchildren.
We started in our first home with no curtains, no floor coverings and with much work to complete the house done by us. We’ve always bought secondhand cars and had relatively cheap holidays and are tertiary-educated.
Boomers here in Australia were belittled for wanting to receive Pfizer over AstraZeneca. Due to the clotting problems of AstraZeneca, some over-60s who had had previous clots or genetic predisposition to clotting events, were concerned enough to want Pfizer instead, but were labelled as selfish for “depriving” the 12 and over age group of limited supplies of Pfizer.
Boomers were also vilified for causing the lockdowns of younger people. The authorities said Australians were selfish if we didn’t get vaccinated because “Grandma might die if she catches CoVid.” This was emotional manipulation and propaganda which only stoked hatred of the over-60s and furthered societal division.
As a now 73 year old, I chose to be vaccinated,(twice only,) in order to stay alive for my grandchildren. I have a friend, close to my age, who chose to be unvaccinated for the same reason.
As a Christian, I value my faith, and also the faith in something greater than me. I would like to see more people investigating Christianity, and actually know that there are many younger people seeking the truth as revealed by this religion, especially in the last four years where truth has not been held as a foundational principle by many in authority.
I think we can see an opportunity in this current mayhem. The inversion of healthy values has provided a challenge to all of us to stand up for what we believe. Australians in large numbers have spoken up for freedom of speech and against the Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation (MAD) Bill, 2024. This required a great deal of effort, with emails, phone calls, rallies and visits to politicians’ electoral offices, to ask for the bill to be opposed. At a freedom of speech rally I attended, (which required my travelling at least 5 hours return,) I saw people of a range of ages, from teenagers to those aged in their 70s and 80s. There was a unified purpose there, and this is what we need to espouse. Unity. Whenever I hear anyone stereotyping any group, I attempt to bring to light the good in that group. Stereotypes need to be challenged wherever we see them. Certainly, highlight unhelpful attitudes and behaviours. The Ten Commandments give good guidance for a wholesome life, but without mentioning any groups as if in need of pointed advice.
Thank you.
I am not sure I have the skillset to set out what I wrote without labelling the group. I am sure plenty of other people would know how to go about that but I am not that good at writing. Sorry.
As a professional, you do research. I’d think it’s quite possible to find ways to ‘develop’ the skill set needed to write an article about a period of time without making stereotypes and using the term ‘Boomers’ which is frequently used in a pejorative way. As others have said on this thread, we weren’t all the same. I challenged the strapping of boys when I was a teacher and was successful, but only after a couple an attempts. I stood up against the buying of Mao’s Little Red Schoolbook using part of our student union fees to purchase them when I attended tertiary education. You say you love individual Boomers, but sadly, you don’t balance your writing with examples of Boomers doing great things over the last 70 or so years. This is the trouble with stereotypes. They single out a few characteristics as if they represent the entire group. I think the best way you could bring some light and love to this topic is to write another piece after doing some research into the good that this age group has brought to society, and the beneficial achievements created. Think of some of the architecture, which, while eliminating much beautiful detail of earlier periods, also brought simplicity of structure and line, which opened up our houses to become lighter and more airy. The best architects from the 50s and 60s integrated buildings into the natural environment.
I agree with many aspects of society today which feel less human, like great hulking cars on the road, especially here in Australia. But the amazing designs of the 50s and 60s, still being driven today, are sleek, gorgeous designs that still bring people to car shows to marvel at their beauty; people gasp with delight when seeing them drive on the road.
I love a beautiful Gothic cathedral or a painting done in a realistic style and dislike some modern art, however, there have been excesses of detail in some traditional art. The Victorian times, while contributing much beauty, was, at times, over fussy and cluttered in design. Homes of the 1940s were often dark, with small rooms, (small rooms can be good.) Each period of time has good and bad aspects and in order not to hurt and alienate one age group or any group according to identity, it would be more helpful to do more research.
I agree with comment below. You have the skillset to write detailed scientific results about Covid vaccines down to minute details and very detailed. In this case with the blanket stereotyping of the Boomers Generation it appears as though you have a one track mindset and are not open to reviewing your opinion. Why is that?
Unfortunately you still use the rather pejorative term “boomers”. Why not “Karens” and “gammons”? For me this sets the whole tone of your dissertation.
Also pointing out so bluntly that we are nearing death at a time when euthanasia may be introduced in such a way that we may well feel obliged to relieve society of the burden of our ongoing existence is a little heartless.
Most boomers like myself dislike many of the changes that have occurred in society just as much as you do. However, we are not responsible and many of us now feel under siege by a government that cares more for illegal immigrants than for us oldies. When the younger generations turn on us too, even though most of us care more for them and their future than for ourselves, it really hurts.
In the past the old were respected but now we appear to be considered as useless feeders that created a society that would prefer us dead.
Obviously I am not alone in feeling upset by your article which is a great shame as we mostly value and support the work you have done to expose the horrors that have occurred over the last few years.
My piece was about a disrespect for the sanctity of life - not the opposite.
The term "baby boomers" was first coined by your generation and I don't see that term as perjorative.
I would not of gotten that was what your article was about it was so full of blame. Boomers brought “sanctity of life” to the front. They showed older generations it was ok to let loose from their Victorian upbringing.
What has that got to do with respecting life as sacred?
Well said.
Well Clare that’s a thought provoking message. I assume I’m a boomer on my birthday today at 74 and awaiting death. I recognise some of the ills you speak off but I and my late wife had no control of how society has developed. To lay all these problems at our door is quite shameful & I am disappointed for a deep thinker like yourself to come to such conclusions. I also have been a life long atheist & completely reject your conclusion that without faith in a mythical deity has lead to todays society. This is utter nonsense! As to waiting for an easy death & calls for euthanasia you should know we already have state endorsed euthanasia it’s called palliative care. Medics have lost their morale & ethical principles, allopathic medicine has failed us. Maybe this is where we should look for solutions.
I have not laid the blame at individuals and certainly not you and your late wife.
It is a societal change - and surely it's worth asking why that happened. Can you think of an atheist society which has bucked the trends I am writing about?
Worship of medicine is part of the problem - I will not look to medicine for solutions here.
I have edited the intro to try to balance the points you raise.
I certainly do not think that you blame individuals of my generation yet many will as we allowed ourselves to be coerced by evil people, those who were driven by self interest probably. I apologise if I gave this impression, ethical doctors like yourself have help lift the veil of secrecy & have paid a price. I feel for you, you studied long & hard & have been treated badly. I can understand your points on religious beliefs, religion has to provide us with guidance & rules to live by, for many they have been pushed aside & yes we are seeing a n impact. Sadly Us plebs never considered the possibility of people like Chief Medical Officers, the NHS, NICE & regulator would lie to and mislead us. I & Gill were coerced into taking the “vaccine” as not having it would, her oncologist said, delay her treatment, the threat was obvious. As an old analytical toxicologist and chartered chemist the mere mention of mRNA & lipid nano particles led me to think we would be playing Russian roulette but how bad could it be. It is imperative that we have a in depth root cause analysis of what has happened, this may bring about societal change. As to atheism I don’t think there is a true atheist state, religious belief didn’t protect any state. The only states that suffered less were the poorest or the one that had leaders with commonsense ie Sweden. I haven’t given up on medicine, we need medics more than ever, it needs to return to what it was before money & greed took over. It needs to understand what evidence is, you and others have talked about this. It needs to learn how to evaluate data & how to use statistics. I’m personally sick of the mantra of gold standard double blind randomised trial but that’s another tail. Apologies for going on! I still look forward to your comments.
Well said.
Pleased to read this update David!
I would add - and this is a very general comment about groups whatever they are - that if you identify as being in a group which is being criticised there are only two moral options:
(1) argue why your groups' behaviour is morally better than either that being criticised
(2) endorse the (valid) criticism of your group within your group
When individuals from groups (where the group is criticised) respond aggressively it suggests that those groups know that the criticism has validity. It's the same with the drug companies and government agencies covering for them who instead of looking into our concerns about safety set up troll harassment groups to bash us. They know they did wrong and their response is a guilty response.
If you're doing the right thing, criticism has no impact. I shouldn't have to repeat but I will - this isn't about you it's about group behaviour.
Exactly!
Sorry for the late reply. I don’t identify as part of any group, my comment to Clare was written in haste & poorly written. Clare didn’t define the period of this boomer generation, I took it that at my age I fit to that description. I’ve always found it odd to describe generations. We are all different & have different experiences and few can manipulate “society”. I’m certainly not one of this generation that gained financial during the 80’s, in fact the opposite. I understand many of the points Clare wrote about
I agree - individuals can't manipulate society but there are societal trends that happen at particular times which we ought to be able to discuss.
Agree we have to discuss societal changes and determine the root cause of the many changes you mention. On reflection there are individuals, usually in positions of power & influence, that have had negative impacts on society, they attract followers who never question. I can think of a few from the past (Thatcher, Blair …). The current ones particularly those medics/scientists who lead our Covid response, they found useful fools in the scientifically ignorant politicians who they used to enact their project. Result is a polarised society manipulated by media, a corrupted medical system, lawlessness, a metabolically unhealthy population and as you said, folk turning away from the Church of England. A sad state of affairs with a lot to correct.
You almost didn't start on this journey due to financial fears, so same fear as a boomer and the rest of our generation that have stayed silent against all evidence? So yeah, this was a bad take.
A thing which could've been highlighted, and maybe a better point, is an invention by Logie Baird and how it helped hone psychological manipulation beyond borders - also the likes of Murdoch and a shift in how colonial power is exerted at home in the 'west'.
What made you say this? "You almost didn't start on this journey due to financial fears"?
You stated such in a podcast; but it was a small point in the overall scheme of things, as it was in that podcast, if it caused you concern I apologise.
You used a term that is used to create division and one intended to devalue an older generation, it irked.. Gen X/Z - Nuclear family et al. are all terms that should never be used when seeking harmony as they are terms used to create divide and that isn't your intent? An atheist society, or do you mean authoritarian government that doesn't allow open worship? As I don't think an atheist society has ever existed, the dreaming is everywhere. Anyway, I'm being too semantic and I'm not moving anything toward an end goal. Tootles
I doubt I said it like that in a podcast.
I went in totally naive. I had no idea whatsoever of the financial penalty I would pay - so I couldn't have been fearful of it.
Yes - I did use a term that creates division - but I don't see how I could make the argument I was making without it.
There is a striking correlation in timing don't you think?
Concern was probably the word you used, not fear, I have financial fears - full-time carer, I've been in lockdown for 2 decades, covid was but a blip - so I was probably projecting.
I'll edit your article, remove the opposition framing and get back to ya lol.
Naivety, the last five years, rocked even me, someone who has always been on the fringes. I was immune to the fear being projected but became horrified at the malice toward children and pregnant women, evil is the only apt word.
The timing goes back to the 'silent generation' (had to do it) the ones who should've been punished after WW2. Who were allowed to disperse into high level positions in the US and elsewhere, thus the infection spread The Canadian Parliament standing ovation demonstrates it. They just went quiet, waiting till all our veterans died, to start rising again then history could be rewritten/tweaked well they didn't even really try that hard. Just started another war with Russia using literal Nazis and how many blinked?
"Nuclear family". There, I said it, and will further say that we know it is the bedrock of a stable society and gives the best start in life for children. I was raised in a nuclear family, had one, and NOBODY tells me what I can and cannot say. <Multiple expletives deleted>
Harmony? What the **** else has Woke and all its manifestations done for harmony? Quite the opposite. A harmonious society is one that shares a common culture; without that it is doomed. As we may well be.
By the way, there is also evidence that religious nations are happier. Given the modern re-adoption of Utilitarianism, why are we not promoting religion. As opposed to division.
And whilst I am here. Anyone who thinks the secular West and theocratic Islam are compatible is beyond stupid. We are not.
When you say religion I think you mean "Christianity" which is the only universalist religion to my knowledge. Happy to be corrected.
Woke what?
Nuclear homes are relatively new thing most people lived in multigenerational homes previously, added problem today is, many can't afford to live as a nuclear family at a minimum both parent have to work.
Pretty sure no one here is against religion nor thinks it'll create discord. Lots of Muslims live in the west, even some of my neighbours? Love your neighbour as yourself.
Someone, somewhere, once wrote:
'Life cannot be reduced to pleasure and survival. Without God, what is left?'
I spent 20 years in a part of Bristol where many Muslims lived. Many ethnicities indeed. We all got on fine. However, radical Islam, which is what happened when Wahabi broke out of Saudi (West allowed it in return for oil, see Adam Curtis' BBC docus from way back), extremism spread rapidly, first in the ME, then the West. And now it's a big problem
I am really sorry to hear about your wife. May she rest in peace.
Thank you Clare for your thought. Gill is at peace following a negligent & medically inept standard of care. As Gill was cremated, her carbon is spread far & wide, so in a sense, she & the other victims have the chance to live again, we should remember that matter cannot be destroyed. We shouldn’t forget this fundamental law. We in effect are all reborn 😳
And the allopathic path was laid out in 1910 by the Flexner Report. We can't claim responsibility for that.
David we all have a contribution to make. Clare put her career on the line to fight for the medical freedoms of generations abandoned by boomers - in general. She specified that her article is not about individuals but the society that has been sculpted by a generation that has profited from the wealth of the 80s and 90s which resulted from the freedoms of the 70s.
What we have been involved in is a spiritual battle and we have as a population forgotten the covenant that was necessary to enjoy freedoms without devolving to tyranny. The boomers, who forgot their faith, as a whole also forgot this convenant.
Can you remember what it was?
As a Boomer who was woken up by Covid, i think I was more sculpted than sculptor.
I found the article interesting but there are malign forces shaping our world that would rather remain hidden.
Oh dear! Spiritual, covenant, you surely realise that your talking to an atheist, such terms, if I’m following your thoughts, are nonsense to me. I’ve followed Clare for a long while, have bought her book & think she is quite brilliant. I understood she was not talking about individual folk but I can’t see how ordinary individuals like me can sculpt society. self serving individuals do that in my experience and they attract their followers, it’s these groups that do the sculpting. We’ve experienced that since 2019 yet have no power to change the trajectory. When evidence & data are withheld or manipulated we plebs can do little. This is why insiders like Clare can speak up for us. I saw the total bollock that our CMO & CSO were spouting but what could I do? We both had had Covid in January 2020, I explained this to Gills oncologist & his response was vax or delay treatment. The fact that I know about airborne viruses & biological weapons, I was a toxicologist and a Home Office CNB scientific adviser, we had to conform. Period.
No-one "has to conform". It is always choice. May be hard. You chose to conform. Just saying..
Yes Jeremy, we had to conform and be inoculated as the wife’s cancer treatment “would be delayed”
Wouldn't treat her if not jabbed? If so, disgraceful. My wife over breast cancer by then, metastasised into "terminal" bone cancer (as a result of them horribly messing up her grade 2 breast cancer) and given end of 2021 if she had more chemo, said no, first lot too bad.
We'd gone carnivore a year b4 diagnosis; alive and blooming. No change in number or presentation of lesions since then.
Hope your wife now well.
Merry Christmas to you both
Apols Jeremy, only just seen your reply, thank you for the Christmas wishes, sadly Gill died on the 23 May 2023. We had a similar experience to you, cock up on cock up. Yes, totally disgraceful, the implied threat was clear. The Clatterbridge Cancer Center was in total disarray and panic in July 2020, diagnosed with stage 4 HER2 with lymph node and bone disease and but in the palliative care pigeon hole. Oncologist convince the wife that all alternative treatments didn't have any evidence to support the use & would interfere with standard of care, and couldn't recommend anything else. I didnt agree. She was denied a MRI and PET scans at diagnosis even though she was in absolute intractable pain in her left arm and hand, oncologist insisted that the pain was due to the lymphedema. She had pain in her cervical spine. He wouldn't even examine her neither would our GP. She endured 12 rounds of taxane chemo & HER2 antibody treatment with CT scans showing stable disease up until Dec 2022. Then after accusations of incompetence and negligence by me to our GP and oncologist, they examined her & scheduled a spine MRI. This showed C5/6 cord compression at the exiting nerve roots, thus emergency blue lighted for radiotherapy. This left her doubly incontinent & bed ridden and with no hope of improvement. After her death the CCC denied me access to he medical records. I eventually got the records after going to the probate court , they sent 3 folders named "redacted 1, 2 & 3 that were incomplete. My complaint is ongoing. David
This is beautifully put, thank you reflection is good for the soul thanks Dr Craig. God bless 🙏 here is hoping the next generation can undo this madness of the last 3-4 decades.
I'm 73 from a very long lived family. My paternal Grandfather died aged c70, wounded badly in WW1. His wife, my beloved Irish gran, lived to 102. Bright as a button till the end. Mum's parents, both lived to 96. Bright as buttons as well.
I'm super healthy - Carnivore for 4 years and very active, garden all summer long, walk the dog, stretch, lift, garden for others. Intellectually - am returning to the classics I was taught about at Oxford 50 years ago, reading the Bible (KJ, of course) cover to cover for the first time. Plus commentaries. On completion, I realised I had no choice but to read it again. Got to Proverbs 2nd time round. Reading lit crit - not the shit lit crit of present times, which is no more than the purposeless, nihilistic deconstruction of works which have fed the human spirit for centuries. Harold Bloom - do check him out if literature lifts you - he reads as well as any prose writer can, and is a superlative critic who enhances the works that he writes on, rather than shits on them. Why bother?
So I see no reason why I should not clock high 90s. And keep moving and intellectually stimulated.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. All those who DO rail against us - tell me what you would have done differently. We all live in the world we are presented with and grow up with and into. Much of what younger people now enjoy and treat as standard is the result of my generation's hard work. And remember, our parents were busy rebuilding the country and society after 6 years of hard times.
I intend, when about to go, to so as Aldous Huxley did and sail off on a dose of psychedelics, having used them since college, and having been touched by the divine on massive doses. Looking forward to it.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57 - King James Version
Clare. Thank you for your outstanding work. You and your colleagues. My wife and I both lifelong dissidents smelt a rotten fish when Covid was thrust on us, refused masks, refused the jab, and ignored lockdown (happily we live in a rural Somerset village) and social distancing.
Did Prof Lawton ever respond to your missive to her? I hope so but expect otherwise
Thanks for this.
I did not suggest that I would have been able to act differently as a boomer nor that any one person could have made a difference to the direction of travel.
Yes - of course boomers gifted us with positive things too!
and No - no reply from Prof Lawton...
That's sad, Clare. Extraordinary how Covid destroyed apparently intelligent people's critical faculties dreadfully.
And I know you weren't having a go at boomers.
What I do know that is very different now - we worked really hard, and all shared a common culture. My first job was at16 (Mum - off you go, and you can pay us board and lodging) and after that, till I retired, apart from when being educated, I worked. And paid a LOT of tax.
Yes - all good points.
Clare, that's so insightful and so very spot on. Judging by the tone of the 'offended' comments it seems you've hit a raw nerve....which makes your article so much more pertinent!
I really have.
It's fascinating.
Why take offence at a point made about societal changes? How could any individual be held to account for such change?
What they could have said:
1. I agree that there has been a societal shift - and that needs addressing - but I am not sure what we as individuals could have done differently.
2. I agree there is a correlation there but I think the cause for is is [insert alternative hypothesis].
3. I disagree with the timing of these societal changes because XXX
What they have said:
"I am deeply offended."
The way they are replying makes me feel like I have made them really uneasy. Why be angry about how society changed, unless you do feel responsible somehow (which is quite a reach for an individual)? Or is it questioning their beliefs and morality that has really shaken them?
I agree with how things could have been said by responders. I disagree with the assumption that many of the comments, mine included, were based on our having taken offense. How could that be known, be differentiated from straightforward disagreement? Please consider, and you did when making an edit, that the article/post could have been reflected your opinion more accurately.
I didn't think you had taken offense - but many people have used that word.
"As a Boomer and an atheist, I take great offence to your article, Dr Craig."
"It's an agenda, and as a 'baby boomer' I take offence at being blamed for it."
Yes - it could have been better worded.
Clare, there is nothing that needs editing in your article. I just make it into the boomer generation and I'm amazed at the undeniable offence many have taken. What they don't seem to aware of is that once they reply with 'I tam offended etc etc ' (or similar) they are no longer in the realm of the rational. Their responses are coming from a place of emotions and beliefs that perhaps they ought to examine before knocking on the pearly gates. Wrapping a thick veneer of intellectual gymnastics around their fears and insecurities, as shown in some of the most verbose replies, is simply a firm of intellectual escapism.
Difference of opinions? It's the life blood of personal and societal growth. Taking offence at a generalisation? That's a tantrum.
Keep up the great work!
Thank you! I think you make a very good point.
Ah, see. I'm sorry to have missed what you point out clearly now. I obviously didn't read enough of the comments to understand the basis of yours. You are remarkable to respond to so many! As always, thought-proving posts and comments from your sub stack. Thank you.
Couldn't agree more - and I am a baby boomer. Befriended their children instead of parenting them.
Bingo
This foolishness continues today, alas, where I live in the US. Rarely do I see a male child whose father does not call him "Bud" (Buddy), for example. Parents typically ask their kids, another example, if it's okay to leave the store now. ("Let's go now. Okay?"
It feels like boomers is shorthand for the set of social changes in (western) culture over the last n years ... Postwar years. Agree with those who say this is not blaming individuals but a good perspective on the contemporary condition
Shorthand indeed.
We are all responsible for our own societies.
Are we, though?
I was born in 1957. In my personal and family life I rejected ALL of these changes. I worked especially hard against abortion. This was a bedrock cataclysm that inexorably led to much destruction and despair, both directly and in ever widening shock waves. Yet I was all but helpless to stop it. How does an individual hold back a tsunami?
I have spent a lifetime loving people and doing all I can to stop the destruction of humanity at the hands of forces that are virtually unopposable. I have been largely unsuccessful even in convincing other Christians of the truths of their own faith that would ground their decisions in truth and beauty.
No doubt, evil people of my generation bear much blame. But we are not all the architects of destruction. Some of us ARE builders, but we are too few and too poorly equipped to build against the relentless waves of destruction.
Well said.
This was not about individuals and you illustrate well how impossible it was to push back.
Thank you. Late coming to Christianity - default by cultural, moral and ethical terms, but I am now becoming a believer. And grateful for that. Sadly, I would be a classic Anglican C of E type, but Welby put me off that way back, the final straw being him stigmatizing (stigmata, eh?..._) those of us who refused the jab.
The head of the C of E stigmatizing people? Hardly Christian.
Anyway, thank God he's gone. Loved Rowan Williams and had a long chat with a monk at Buckfast where I recently spent a week on retreat (lovely place), who knew him well and was at Oxford with him.
Welby is a nasty piece of work. I could do a post on him but 'nasty boil jul twerp' is but one suitable anagram.
As is 'low nutty jab perils'!!!
Good grief. Or bad grief.
Boomers taking offense at Ms. Craig's apt description of the state of play, because they themselves either led a noble life swimming against the tide, or were woefully misled by others.
My original comment was going to be that I am personally acquainted with MANY boomers, who at the start of Covid, were more concerned with society doing anything and everything to preserve their biological lives in order for them to finish up their spiritual bucket list before dying, which list included European vacations and Pacific cruises and New York broadway shows.
This demographic was at a natural point in life in retirement, in sufficient numbers and with sufficient wealth in this country, to impact the rest of society by being swept up with and cooperating in the lockdowns sold to them by experts on teevee. The majority were not working outside the home and did not have care of small children. Cold, hard facts.
My comment now is that Ms. Craig is not calling down God's wrath on boomers. Nor is she negotiating with God here; she is not in need of finding one righteous boomer so that God will not destroy the city of boomers, no matter how many of you offer yourselves to her for this purpose.
Can we trust Gen-X or Millennials or Zoomers to do the right thing when their time comes? No. How can the Greatest Generation be so "great" if they are the ones who raised Boomers? All of which is to say... let's begin from the Christian point of view that we all descend from Adam and Eve. Let's call those two the Eden generation. The point of the story in Genesis 3 is that every generation is the Eden generation. Filled with individuals tempted to do wrong but with free will to resist and do good.
Yes - and subsequent generations have totally failed to address the issues too.
An excellent comment. I am at 64 at the tale end of the boomers I did not take offense at what Claire said. We are all responsible for our own actions and those form the culture of the day.
https://baldmichael.substack.com/p/toast-and-the-garden-of-eden-why?utm_source=publication-search
This fragmentation of society was planned and is being implemented by the invisible’elite’ since at least the sixties and it has nothing to do with boomers. The last four years has however revealed how ruthless they are in pursuit of their agenda and how compliant we are as a result of this continuing and ingeniously evil brainwashing. Thank you for all your hard work Claire but please do not lose sight of where the blame lies.
Wow! This is a powerful piece of writing. You've spelled out what few want to talk about. I think about these things all the time as they keep popping up in the news and social media and in my own life, but I haven't yet taken the time to write about them. I guess I didn't know how or where to begin. You've put this out there with such coherence.
Thank you.
Sorry Clare, a bit long. Edit (all of it if necessary) as required.
I read your essay and felt personally assaulted, but then had a glass of Merlot and penned this ‘rational’ reply as a fan of your work.
What is a typical boomers journey? No idea, but I’m a boomer. I’m also damn sure that my journey has not been typical, to the point where I couldn’t possibly have had the slightest effect on anything.
Born on the same day as Prince Andrew, our paths diverged from that initial SQUEAK. His star shone then dulled whereas mine never really got going, content to lurk in the deepest recesses of space. From the age of 8, I was told I was C of E. No choice there. But, I recently became an atheist, then in the blink of a virgin birth rebelled to become a spiritualist - not practicing, in spirit only. The point is I would rather be utterly confused than a definite Welby who has, until recently, had much sway over a dwindling but significant minority of sheep. ‘Jesus would have had a jab’, is his latest pearl. Mind you, it might have saved him from a fate worse than death.
You’re right, we boomers are preparing for a final shuffle. My exit may well be in ignorance of what caused it because I no longer wish to visit my doctor. I don’t want to be misled again – or outright lied to. One thing that is undeniable is that when my time comes, the world will be much worse than when I arrived. And, without doubt, there has been a temporal correlation with society’s plummet.
But I really don’t blame the boomers, individually or collectively.
I blame technology, which has developed frighteningly and exponentially to a point where human beings no longer have control. For anyone under the age of 30 there is no longer a world above the horizontal as gadgets are peered at and lives planned on the hoof. Our souls have been torn from us and incorporated into the machine.
When I was boy at school the communal computer filled a whole room, with a bit sticking out in the corridor. With a lot of heat and noise, it enabled me to print a single page - a week on Friday, as long as nobody else had booked it. Today, by the pulling of an electronic lever, edicts are flung to all corners. One such missive resulted in us queueing, 2 by 2 metres, in a car park wearing paper masks with the stopping power of a 5-bar gate to a mosquito. Some of us muttered and cursed and wondered how it ever came to this as we headed home on empty roads to leave our shopping in the garage overnight to allow the deadly beasts to perish.
True also I think, the puppeteers who lean over and watch on, pulling strings, are probably boomers. Self-made, important, wealthy ones. But please don’t blame me, I’m a humble spiritualist, who fell for it like most other people.
Actually, in some regards you probably can blame me (the individual) because, during my three-score and a bit, I have failed to shout loud enough to stop anything - or even re-direct anything. A bit of a Canute frankly. What I did mange was to shout just loud enough to alienate a few family members and plenty of friends. One ‘mate’ even called me a Canute with a couple of vowels removed.
And I won’t need euthanasia, I’ll just take medicines I don’t need.
Thanks for mellowing with the merlot first!
I am not blaming you or any individual! Furthermore, my generation can hardly claim to have reversed any of these trends. In fact, I'd say we have very little to be proud of which stands in stark contrast to yours.
The technology point is clearly a huge issue that I didn't touch on but I don't think it alone would have got us to where we are. I think it's darker than that.
I know you’re not blaming me. I’m blaming me. Or at least I’m willing to take my share of the blame. I think most of us should ask, could I have done more? In most cases, yes, though in your case, not much I suggest. I know you chopped yourself off at the knees in 2020 and if others had shown the same courage, things may have turned out differently. One thing’s for sure, you have earned the right to want to blame something.
I have just read Hart and others’ open letter to the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service. It shows the power of ‘the machine’ when there is no mainstream mention (as far as I know) of the incredible injustices perpetrated on those trying to look after their patients. Despite the stature of the groups/organisations and noted individuals who comprise the list of co-signatories, as far as I can tell it made shamefully little difference. Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
The above typifies the worst aspect of it all, in that those charged with our collective care mercilessly manipulated us in the quest for power using cold hard cash as the cattle prod. Though some remain defiant, I’m afraid other ‘health care professionals’ got sucked into the disgusting whirlpool.
My Dad was a Consultant Physician specialising in respiratory disease. He’s not been around to guide me for over 50 years (Leukaemia) so most of the help he has given me is from my imagination. I was a young lad when he died so, peculiarly, know him best through his obituary where his peers wrote nice things. Including….
“As a colleague he leaves a gap impossible to fill. His genial disposition and desire to be of the greatest service endeared him to all. Tenacious and sometimes belligerent in argument in committee, he could always be expected to speak his mind but with an obvious integrity and complete absence of malice in all his dealings. In consequence he evoked a degree of affection and trust among his medical and nursing colleagues rarely encountered and for this quality alone will be sorely missed.”
I KNOW there is not a chance he would have capitulated to the narrative. I would have been proud of him, just as I am of anyone else who’s had the courage to stand up to some hugely dark forces.
Would that there were more like your father.
A refreshingly humorous post to take down the temperature!
I have noticed that all those the most upset about Clare's article are declaring their atheism. What I've also noticed during this 5 year battle is that those who feared the least are the most faithful believers in Christ and the covenant. Over on twitter and the like, the vaccine and pharma pushers and the mutton crew types I have written about are almost all declared atheists or satanists.
It's a stark correlation and one that I think should be explored. I hope Clare does a follow up post!
Yes.
Me and my Mrs got through some dark times with humour. In fact, it's the only serious trait I possess.
Well, the Boomers are truly remarkable if they embraced free market capitalism and Marxism.
Here, a remarkable agency is attributed to Boomers, the first TV generation who were subjected to the modern manipulations of Cultural Marxism, Mont Pelerin economics or Neoliberalism, Fabianism, mindless advertising and relentless change.
This has been the period when Fabianism decided was its time to "strike hard". Some of the related developments had been held back for the right time. Look to the work of H G Wells, George Bernard Shaw, the Huxleys, Bertrand Rusell et al in the 1920s and 1930s. As in previous generations the average Boomers' power was limited to the philosophy,, economic and cultural framing they were born into. Real power was limited to an elite that drove that change. Resisting this change or trying to make unwelcome social improvements might explain what contributed to a remarkable 8 US Presidents who died in office.
I think the worthy challenge made here by Dr Craig might be better targeted at a craven management class or their masters that found the times suited them. Matt Barrie explains this powerfully and eloquently from an Australian perspective in a talk given two months ago :
https://youtu.be/NGzBwfSFdyY?si=TXPZTa7BpqQ9l-j1
We might look at the countries that were most slavishly devoted to the Covid narrative such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada. All are mere quarries with little in the way of real industry. Lack of this industry and effective use of our natural resources presages future economic horrors and further wasted opportunity. The people behind mercantilism and free market economics that denied Australia its full potential in the past are now behind plans for Net Zero, calls for degrowth, decolonialism and many other forms of madness. A well-orchestrated propaganda campaign is being pushed at our young, while the blame for causing this chimera of climate change catastrophism is directed at Baby Boomers. We might ask who really is behind transgendering our young and what is their motivation?
The blame on Baby Boomers has been accelerating for twenty years as the management class saw the need for a culprit to blame that was not them. In truth, people of my class owning their own home is a rarity. It was certainly not common before WWII. Post that war we have seen a couple of generations of working class people who have attained a degree of wealth but the opportunities available to them have been closed down for future generations. Did this just happen or was the traditional relationship between master and servant reasserted?
As a Baby Boomer with a grandfather born in 1878, just three generations have run across three centuries. What different times each lived in. I have found the world a confusing place for much of my life. Covid brought a great deal of clarity. I am much clearer about who the enemy is if not certain as to how to defeat them. I do not see this enemy in my neighbours or the average members of my community.
It is a challenging article, Clare, and I am glad you have written it. I hope it provokes much debate. It looks like it is already. We need more of it.
Thank you.
It really has provoked debate.
I see the enemy as the age old one.
So do I, Clare. And it was never clearer during Covid.
Thankyou for this, very insightful and lots of food for thought.
Yes, Claire's article reminds me of how stupid I have been.
I am sorry for your stupidity.
I said "have been". I am recovering and nowhere near as silly as I was a few years ago.
As a boomer I take great exception to this article and its sweeping generalisations.
I am personally not religious but have a strong spiritual and humanitarian approach to life and resent the assertion that this is inferior in any way to a belief in a particular God or a specific religious label.
“Judge not that ye be not judged” is a central tenet of my behaviour and beliefs. Adherence to that biblical instruction might have led to a more balanced and less judgmental appraisal of changes that have mostly occurred since my generation held any significant sway.
My own philosophy is based on the idea that God is love and I try to adhere to the Ten Commandments, which I believe to be an exceedingly good code of practice for any civilised society.
Your article is truly disappointing.
Don't take it personally.
Which generalisations do you think I got wrong?
I would say personally that most of your generalisations were wrong.
It is many of our generation that have stepped up to the plate during the pandemic recognising the difficulties younger colleagues faced if they spoke truth to power.
It is my generation of women who forged a path for women in society, particularly in medicine. Not for us part time training and minimal hours on high salaries!
Coming from a modest background having benefited from an excellent state education I have spoken up loudly against the problems faced by young people, particularly those from a poor working class background.
Boomers were mostly not hippy dippy dreamers but hard-working realists who fought steadfastly for many of the freedoms successive generations have enjoyed. It is the abuse of those freedoms which were hard-won by us boomers that have created the society that you describe.
Unfortunately you are playing into the divisions that our leaders seek to create in our society by trying to blame my generation for all the problems we are now enduring in our society. They aim to divide and rule using authoritarian tactics. My generation recognise this from the old playbooks and are fighting against it.
I am incidentally not terrified of dying, except dying to order at the behest of those who should know better! I oppose the proposed euthanasia legislation, not because of a religious doctrine, but because of my humanitarian views and the potential for significant and escalating abuse.
You make excellent points - and yes we have been gifted all sorts of wonderful legacies by your generation.
However, the correlation with life stages and societal changes does seem to be real, don't you think?
Unfortunately no, I don’t really agree with you. I believe each adult generation shares the responsibility for the state we find ourselves in here in the U.K. and around the world. We are all individuals with rights and the consequent responsibilities. Many of my generation are ill informed and self centred in their approach to life, but the same applies to some members of each generation.
My generation grew up in the shadow of a war that affected their lives and experience. Our parents understood the importance of self sufficiency for themselves and for their families, communities and the country. The younger generations do not share that very real threat.
My generation grew up in a very strait laced post Victorian era where restrictions and constraints were everywhere. Children should be seen and not heard and women had to know their place which was not as the equals of men and entitled to education and opportunities regardless of their sex or social class. We struggled to be seen and heard and to stand up for what was morally right. Many of the younger generation have no conception of the difficulties and no appreciation of the freedom they have experienced as a result.
My generation, even those of us who were not Jewish, grew up understanding the very real horrors of antisemitism. We recognised the dangers in a very real sense, unlike many of the younger generation.
We appreciated nature and beauty because it was free to enjoy and not subject to any class divide.
Need I go on?
You have characterised my whole generation in a way which seems totally unjustified and unfounded in reality. I refuse to be vilified as a minority group on the basis of my age alone.
Perhaps we should paraphrase Martin Luther King.
“I have a dream that we will one day live in a nation where we will not be judged by our age but by the content of our character.”
You are making very good points - yes younger generations do not have the same concepts of freedom or the dangers of antisemetism. Yes - we take for granted the opportunites women have.
We could write a whole other essay on the failings of the generations that followed.
But this wasn't about societal shifts matching with life stages. Can you see that point?
It is very obvious from your comments that your article has created divisions where none need exist. Sadly far too many divisions have been created by those with a malign vested interest in setting one group against another. Since most of the commenters on this article were likely very supportive of your work in exposing the truth it is very sad that your article has created yet another unnecessary division.
We are generally stronger together in resisting the evil that surrounds us on all sides.
“Let he that is without sin cast the first stone”
We are none of us blameless!
Here's a commonsensical observation: when you publicly disparage a particular cohort of people on the basis of negative attributes that you have categorically assigned to them, "individuals" within that cohort have every right, even an obligation, to "take it personally", as does the group as a whole. I am surprised at the relatively low level of push-back, given the level of insult that you've directed at an entire generation who are now senior citizens.
Have you read the supportive comments from your peers?
Clare, I've said nothing about my date of birth. So, who do you ASS-U-ME my "peers" are? The cohort of "Godless baby boomers" who you blame for the "downfall of society"? If so, you are assuming that there are no people of a more recent generation who would be EMPATHICALLY MOTIVATED to speak up in defense of their parents, or grandparents, who are "boomers". I see no semblance of empathy in your essay, nor your followup comments. You clearly find it unthinkable to imagine there are people who are motivated by anything other than self-interest. This prejudicial belief may be rooted in your own abundantly evident lack of empathy and your own defensive self-interest. It is a classic case of PROJECTION, whereby your own negative attributes are what you see when you look at others. Good luck with that.
Clare, since you're asking what generalizations you got wrong...Let's begin with a lesson in remedial logic: gross generalizations are ALWAYS wrong and you've made nothing but gross generalizations. You're welcome:-)
Christine I haven't met you in the 5 years that we have been fighting for medical freedom and against the COVID operation perpetrated on the public in order to impose a biofascist tyranny however I am interested in how you have come to be so offended by Clare's excellent post.
Could I ask first of all if, as a retiree with no mandate to do so, you accepted or rejected the COVID vaccines for yourself and how you advised others in your circle back in early 2021 when they were first offered?
Thank you
My personal medical history is my own affair and. I find your rather insensitive and intrusive comment and tone somewhat offensive.
However, for clarity, as I was considered medically vulnerable, I was strongly advised to have the vaccine even though I raised the issue of auto immunity and ADE and ERD specifically in writing to my consultant. I was subject to the same propagandas as the rest of the population and had been trained in traditional medicine and was not initially suspicious of the abuse of power that occurred. I had the first two jabs and because of a research article published about COP and the similarity to Covid pneumonia I reluctantly and mistakenly had a third. I have had considerable side effects ever since!
My husband who is extremely fit was asked to sign a DNACPR notice when admitted for emergency surgery. Fortunately I was able to intervene and prevent this! We agreed that if either of us became ill we would absolutely refuse ventilation. My sister died in hospital scared and alone thanks to medical negligence during the pandemic.
I signed the Barrington Declaration and wrote to my MP on numerous occasions particularly in relation to the emphasis on protection of the elderly at the expense of younger populations at no risk. I wrote very strongly worded letters about the care sector and NHS mandates to my MP.
I have written numerous comments and spoken out against the handling of the pandemic on every possible occasion and signed up to all of the HART letters. I had a number of letters published on relevant issues in The Times but once I challenged vaccines for children and pregnant women and mandates for care workers and health service employees the letters stopped being accepted.
I have spoken out against the vaccines, school closures, mandates, side effects of the vaccine etc etc on every possible occasion since the beginning of the pandemic.
No doubt you have done more but as a long time retired doctor I did my best as I always have.
I admire and respect those who have done more and have no respect those doctors who have remained silent without joining the dots. However, in the scheme of things I have done as much as I could.
I hope you are satisfied than I have played some very small part in raising concerns and that I am not the typical “Boomer Karen” that has set the scene for the societal decline we have all witnessed in our lifetimes!
Perhaps you and Clare should reflect on the extreme sensitivity of the issues raised at a time when us “boomers” are being attacked from all sides rather than leap to the defensive position.
.
Thanks for all that you've done to help Christine.
Thank you ❤️
Thank for setting the scene and thank you for your advocacy.
Given that, I would think that you would echo Clare's thoughts rather than be fighting her very publicly here. It is a good example that your own personal fear took you to fall for a narrative despite knowing that there was no possible way that such a product could work (20 years of failed Corona virus vaccines) extreme risks of genetic therapy technology and no requirement for you to actually take it to work. Your generation should be the most angry because the excess deaths are stark, but they are not. As I have said further up, being in a group being criticised does not mean you cannot endorse the criticism. The points made are very valid.
If I was less polite I would tell you exactly what I thought of you! Having looked through your substack I am not especially impressed by your input into the Covid debacle.
We beg to differ, but I am absolutely amazed that Dr Craig tolerates your extreme rudeness on her substack.
I am absolutely not prepared to engage with you further.
You have been most impolite. You just didn't like this pointed out to you.
Have a great day.
Clare, I really admire and respect you but I wonder where all this came from? It seems so tangentially out of character. I think your pinned comment suggests, you understand you are making very broad generalizations. Of course, time alone will tell as we see how GenX and below make things better. At present, it doesn't look that promising.
I regard myself as an International person at the younger age limit of the "Boomer" generation, having lived and travelled all over the world, now retired after a successful career and living on the beach in an Asian country where we are free from "Government" so long as we respect the laws and regulations. And I have friends all over the world, mostly of similar age, who would be appalled by your comments. These people are in total disagreement with your accusations, are mostly devout Christians and in complete disagreement with the way the world has been managed by Deep State neocons and greedy Globalists.
If you believe that the recent evolving trend towards "nationalism", decentralization and freedom is coming against the wishes of the aggregate Boomer generation, I personally would disagree.
Perhaps MLK's belief that a man(/woman) should be judged not the color of their skin but by their character should also have included not by their age?
And one thing my generation also possesses is the ability to discuss and disagree respectfully - something later generations seem to have lost. Kindest regards to you and thank you for everything you have done throughout the Covid Military psyop.
Yes - fair critique - I have added to the intro (I think since you read it).
This is not about blaming individuals. We are all responsible for societal ills in our own society.
However, the observation that the timing of the accelerations in these shifts do map neatly to one particular generation is true. That does not mean that generation did not achieve good things or have among them good individuals. In fact, the aims throughout were to be compassionate and do good.
And yes - I for one am very grateful for the legacy of free speech, open debate and respect that your generation taught so well.