Baby Boomers: What moral codes do you carry with you from the 60s when you were

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   KatyWhoWaitedposted 10 years ago

   Baby Boomers:  What moral codes do you carry with you from the 60s when you were in your 20s?
   
   Baby Boomers were born b/t 1946 and 1964. The Vietnam War and Environmental Movement played a great role in shaping our ideas, many of which seem to have been strict moral codes that we imposed upon ourselves.  I realize that I still live by many of my beliefs of that era.  I would never, COULD never buy an SUV because of the environmental impact. Few of my friends have more than 2 children since we believed it was irresponsible to over-populate the planet. Many of us are liberal in our politics,peace activists,social justice proponents. What are the moral codes you carry w you from that time?

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   Barbara Kayposted 10 years ago

   I guess you'd call me a liberal, but only on certain issues and yes social justice is important to me. I still believe in self-sufficiency as much as possible and not ruining the Earth. Another thing I think I got from that era is a mistrust of the government.
   
   I wan't an activist back then or now. I didn't believe in free love and drugs and all that garbage either. In a lot of ways in didn't change me.

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      cat on a soapboxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I definitely agree that a mistrust of authority and government came from the 60s, and I too believe in more personal accountability/ self-sufficiency. It amazes me why voters keep saying yes to more programs and still higher taxes!

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      KatyWhoWaitedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Barbara Kay.  I think the portrayal of baby boomers as "free love" advocates was an unfounded stereotype.  My mistrust for the government only applies to matters of war.  Interesting.  Cat on a Soapbox.  Thanks so much. It was opposite for me.

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   jada67posted 10 years ago

   I was always taught to respect  myself and the elderly. I have never forgotten the valves and morals that I was taught, rules and relations was strict but it made me a better person.jada67

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      KatyWhoWaitedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Jada67.  Values and morals once taught, really stick I guess.

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   cat on a soapboxposted 10 years ago

   I adhere to the same  moral principles that I learned by 1960: to respect living things, to be honest and respectful with myself, and to treat others as I would like to be treated. There will always be things to love and loathe, so live by your best example.

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      KatyWhoWaitedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Cat on a Soapbox...lovely code

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   BuffaloGal1960posted 10 years ago

   I carry the morals I learned from home and from church but often fail at it. Not a perfect person, just try to grow in grace. I generally do not have liberal views.
   
   I lived on an 80 acre farm where we produced everything from butter to meat and everything in between so I guess I got the work ethic down. We didn't waste much and even flour sacks provided clothing.
   
   I miss the days when neighbors were neighborly and family meant more than eating dinner together.

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      KatyWhoWaitedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      ah, the true environmentalist!

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      cat on a soapboxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Good answer! Unless one grew up w/ Depression Era parents like we Boomers did, it is hard to understand just how much we were taught to make use of everything and not be wasteful. People also shared and helped each other. I still live by that ethic.

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      BuffaloGal1960posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I don't know if it's the Native in me or if it's baby boomer. Perhaps it's the stories my grandmother told.  Maybe all of the above. But I truly believe "waste not, want not."  Thanks Kat & Katy

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   Diana Leeposted 10 years ago

   Honesty and respect are right up there at the top of my list along with being kind to animals and not wasting so much. Our landfills are full enough. Pollution will be what ruins all of us.

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      KatyWhoWaitedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I once belonged to League of Women Voters and our discussion of landfills was very depressing.  That group was/is so active in some really "un-romantic" issues that need addressing.  Glad you brought up landfills, Diana!

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   carlajbehrposted 10 years ago

   Live as peacefully as you can.  Treat your fellow man right.  Don't lie to him, steal from or purposefully hurt him.   Can't we all just get along?

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      KatyWhoWaitedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Love that phrase "Can't we all just get along?"It's perfectly worded and does something when you hear it. A young friend gave me a scarf recently with a peace symbol. I use it as a dresser scarf. That is the 1 symbol  has really lasted thru the yrs

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   ParadigmEnactedposted 10 years ago

   The Post Baby Boomers are something else. That's when society's long-held institutions really caved in under the turmoil of the preceding eras and nobody would have been able to process any of it because the Baby Boomer attitude was, let's let it all slide after all. Social consciousness and all that. Love one another. How would you like six figures? "Oh, ok...all is right in the world then."

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      KatyWhoWaitedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Paradigm, thanks for your comment.  That didn't happen in my group.  They got the engineering jobs, but continued marching for causes and kept many of the virtues.  Maybe it was the city we're were from or the water or something (tee hee)

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      ParadigmEnactedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That's good. Honest self-awareness is good too. I've got something bad to say about every generation. Eventually I'll get to the frontier people. Like I said too, you gotta look at the 70's to appreciate the Boomers, but they are also partly to blame

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      Sooner28posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Oh interning the Japanese living in the U.S. and dropping a bomb on Japanese civilians was done by Baby Boomers?  I never knew!

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      ParadigmEnactedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The Boomers certainly weren't part of the solution to things like that. Politics won out. Most of them went with the things that were fashionable at the time while they were and then said that they couldn't be bothered. Peace=effort and resolve.

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      KatyWhoWaitedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Paradigm, some of my Baby Boomer friends were Peace Corp volunteers. You know that popular video a yrs ago, dancing down the wedding aisle? My friend's Peace Corp SON took that video - His parents are STILL fighting for social justice causes.

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      ParadigmEnactedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I believe you KWW. I just recognize that there are major issues left over from the times.

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   Craanposted 10 years ago

   I carried the fashion, the way of dressing minus the tattoos in my early teens.

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      KatyWhoWaitedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Craan,  that must be cute!  I still do the jean thing of the era - triangle headscarf, jean shirt. I love the scarves and long skirts and colors! Thanks so much

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    Credence2posted 10 years ago

    Pragmatism, a fierce independence and self -acceptance. For the most part, I neither led nor followed, but got out of the way. Never subject to fads or high fashion and disliked being influenced to take a stance on something by a crowd solely because of its numbers.

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       cat on a soapboxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       If you kept your ears open at the demonstrations, you'd hear/see the same people cheering for peace& love as were cheering for the violent /gun-toting tactics of the subversive. It was definitely easy to persuade w/ crowd mentality.

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    GlendaGoodWitchposted 10 years ago

    I was born in 1967 but I carry morally codes of morality from the 1930s. This is what has held me together for so long. Sadly, there is no more morality left, and the county is upside down as a result.

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       ParadigmEnactedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Yeah? Did it happen overnight?

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       cat on a soapboxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       No. It  began w/ a shift toward progress education and the "self-esteem" movement. In trying to right our confidence issues and rigid style, kids were raised w/ less discipline, more creativity and a strong sense of self. It's a double-edged sword!

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       ParadigmEnactedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Don't know about that. Might be a little more complicated. We'll just say that perhaps some of the problems now are a result of other generations stopping short, phoning it in. What's anybody to do, right?

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       cat on a soapboxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       It's definitely more challenging w/ 2 income families. I sometimes want to shout, "who's the parent here?" when I see moms & dads kowtow to their kids.  What happened to EARNING privileges?

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       ParadigmEnactedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       That's true. Although generations now are dealing with horrendous economies where the compensation doesn't equal the time and effort. So the perception of value and earning remains slightly convoluted if not in a household, in society at large.

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       Billie Kelpinposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Actually new research on the "Millennials" and "First Globals" shows quite a different story than the concepts being portrayed here.  They are focusing on world problems and are trying to solve them by themselves.  Very encouraging and hopeful.

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    simondixieposted 10 years ago

    So many moral codes passed down through the years.....not just from the 60s era but from my grandparents who lived in the same house. Waste nothing was one of those values. My grandmother, who died at age 95 years ago, was born right after the Reconstruction Period in the South. This was a time when almost everyone in the South had to scrimp to get by. She used to take my grandfather's suits and cut them down and make my mother's and aunt's clothes from those old men's suits. She grew all the vegetables for the household and when my grandfather's didn't send out bills (he was a small town attorney), she served the noonday meal to boarders, who paid a small fee to eat a large meal at her dinner table. I didn't think I took all this in, but I did. Now when I walk out of a room, I turn off the lights because it would be wasteful to keep lights burning in an empty room. Sounds a little extreme maybe....but not such a bad idea after all maybe.

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       KatyWhoWaitedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Simondixie,  I think turning out lights, etc., etc. are wonderful ways to express our knowledge that as Carl Sagan said, "We live on a tiny blue dot," in the universe.  This is our only home for now. We need to think of those who come after us

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