Age Warfare

Age Warfare

For several years, I've heard people talk about political parties pitting class against class, sometimes called "class warfare." What's interesting to me is that we seem to be lining up for age warfare.

I'm not a baby-boomer. I was born in 1966. Typically a "baby-boomer" is defined as someone born between 1946 and 1964. All my life, I've had a slight disdain for the baby-boom generation. Following in the wake of a great social tidal wave has made my life pretty interesting. My music was always seen as being less important than the music of the previous generation. Schools were always a little more aged as enrollments decreased and people started to question school taxes (since their kids were no longer in school). Requirements and regulations on student financial aid became very strict since so many baby-boomer defaulted on student loans. And, the list goes on.

Over the past decade, I've believed that the government really needed to do something effective about Social Security and the social programs that focus on the aged. My concern was that if something important wasn't done before the baby-boomer hit retirement age, then the political will would go away. I think in Missouri, we've seen evidence that this is exactly what's going to happen.

The Missouri Legislature has passed legislation that exempts social security benefits from taxes. Sounds like a great idea. Help the elderly, on fixed incomes. Here's the rub. In Missouri, social security benefits aren't taxable at all unless an individual has a benefit of $25,000 or more. Combined with a lower taxable rate (seniors pay a lower percentage) property tax exemptions, and combined with pensions, IRAs, 401ks and the like, does the tax break for people receiving OVER $25,000 really make a difference? It does. But it may not make a difference to the seniors. It makes a difference to those who have to make up the difference in state revenues...namely the members of Generation X.

Just as all this was playing out in Jefferson City, I finished reading Boomsday by Christopher Buckley. It's a nice piece of fiction. However, I feel that it may be closer to reality than anyone cares to admit. I believe in the social contract. However, I also believe that baby-boomers, as a generation, have proven that they are so self-absorbed and self-centered and so unwilling to sacrifice (compared to the WWII/Great Depression Generation) that this is just the first round. Be on the lookout for monster mausoleums and tax breaks for segways!