There are good and bad, hard working and lazy in every generation, although it's worth bearing in mind that the baby boomers will still be able to collect pensions when they're old (including many who pissed all their money up against a wall), which can't be said for younger generations, who will be paying for the Baby Boomers' pensions.

Baby Boomers will tell everyone else about how hard they have worked, yet they also won't mention the fact that Australia has gone from being the Lucky Country to something else now, and that generations yet to be born are going to be saddled with massive social and environmental problems largely inflicted under the watch of the Baby Boomers.

I'm not saying that young people now will necessarily make a better fist of things, but let's neither demonise nor lionise the Baby Boomer generation across the board.

Tinkerbell, if you read Judy's article and all responding posts, the issue is not whether BBs worked hard, it is what has happened to Australian society and western society generally on the BB's watch. Panho and Shorbe are righteous. Read and reflect.

I understand what Sancho and shorbe are saying, its true to a degree. However the country has mostly been run by those who are pre-BB's. BB's, were more concerned with establishing and enjoying life and war generations were doing a good job. Then it was hijacked by the bureaucratic politically correct (pre-BB's), thats when they started charging for education and everything else.

The original plan was for society to reach a stage when we all worked less, enjoying more freedoms and leisure time. Political correctness was the ploy used to take away that goal, changing it to a politically correct economic dictatorship. Which we currently have.

Now we have the present ruling generations blaming us for a situation that none of us believed would occur, nor knowingly caused. So BB's have also been conned. The problem is everyone has allowed the dictatorship to move us away from our goals and into increased enslavement.

Privatisation was the first step, moving the assets and resources from the people to corporations. Now the only income the government receives, is from us. That goes towards subsidising the owners of what we used to own, so they make a profit and we get charged more, for less. Just like banks, and everything else they've sold off.

As long as people keep voting for political parties, we will just lose more and more. Presently you even pay for driving on the roads we either payed for, or subsidise. Where's the logic in that approach, unless you enjoy your life being en slavered, sounds pretty stupid to me.

Take oil, we get about $6-$10 a barrel for our oil, the company sells it to itself in Singapore for $72 then they refine, add costs and sell it back to us. But the oil may never leave the country.

Where do political parties get their money from, the owners of our assets. Its not a complicated thing to see.

Great article Judy.

If Australia really does have an impending shortage of labour then it makes sense to enable healthy BBs to remain in the work force and contribute to society. Most BBs have seen our parents live a quiet retirement and want something more meaningful.

However as an over 50 with a hefty nest egg tucked away I have faced unprecedented ageism from potential bosses who want to employ a 30 year old and HR consultants who decry the skills shortage, yet can't tell you what precise skills are in demand then hire in a lot of Indian graduates.

Got to laugh at the federal minister who says that mining companies are crying out for workers, yes, skilled workers hired from Perth, not unskilled blow-ins trying to get off the dole.

BB don't want to work 70 hours per week, 4 days is just fine and don't want to do heavy manual labour either. After spending 35 years in a sedentary occupation the manual dexterity required of factory workers would bring on arthritis real fast. And some of us know our selves to well to be confident of our abilities to start and grow a business.

Could someone tell me what it is about the Baby Boomer generation, as it appears that everything they touch turns to dust as they worship the Holy Dollar.

For thousands of years, parents and the elders worked had to improve the lot of the forthcoming generations. After so much blood sweat and tears, the BBB's come along where they have created poor educational facilities where they are dumbing down children, health systems are disgusting. Hell, rural area's of New South Wales alone have less services than Third World Africa.

This generation took took took. They took their jobs and everything. Now, they tell their young, pay for your education, pay for your training, compete with imported peasants who are earning less money, be isolated and treated as criminals.

I have seen youth kicked out of shopping centres by Baby Boomer fear of youth when all they are doing is spending money. BBB's are anti youth. I have seen BBB bus drivers refuse youth because they are young. Only youth have laws saying that 3 or more youths together is a gang. Why don't you do the same with YOUR generation? Oh I forgot, you are God's.

BBB's, when your generation have all died off, watch the society flourish once more.

Spider, good post, i hope that when you get into your post 40's you'll be different from us gruppy old men.