Who The Hell Created The Baby Boomers & Why Did They Raise Their Kids That Way?

The speaker is Doug McAdam, professor of sociology at Stanford University and an expert on the 1950s and and1960s. I interviewed him in 1999 for my TV series on the 1960s (Making Sense Of The Sixties) which included a show on how largely middle-class white families in the 1950s (some would say) "spoiled" their children and why they did so. I grew up at that time and I wasn't spoiled. Many of the viewers on this clip have commented that they did not come from parent to spoil them. Most of them were not raised in the suburban middle-class.

Although I lived in Levittown Long Island which was a suburban middle-class community, my parents were below the middle class and I had to work to get my Boy Scout uniform and my first bicycle. Many of my fellow students in school in the 1950s were middle-class and by today's standards, many would say their lifestyle was exceptionally comfortable and exceptionally easy. I’m not sure about spoiled.

Prof. McAdam paints a clear picture of the parents of the baby boomers, some of whom had grown up in the depression. Most of whom had lived through World War II. They were told by the government, the church, and social leaders of the time, that the 1950s would be a calm time, a time of increasing wealth, a time of family life and family values. And for many, that is just what it was.

So how did the 1960s come from the 1950s if the 1950s was so great? Well, it wasn't great for everyone for sure, and about 40% of the baby boomers say that they participated in the rebellious events of the 1960s, some small percent in the political movements such as antiwar protests, and a much larger percent in the social protests, longhair, rock 'n' roll, marijuana, freer sex, etc.

McAdam also points out how many of the rebellious movements of the 1960s including the women's movement, the civil rights movement, Native American protests and so many others, were influenced by the civil rights movement and the way that black students largely in the South, conducted themselves during nonviolent protests on behalf of civil rights.

[savioursoul]

He is missing the BIGGEST thing that made the Baby Boomer generation what they were/are and that is the fact that they were the first generation raised with televisions. That had a massive impact on them. Mass media as we know it emerged for the first time.

[johnnysalter]

The dude never even came close to describing the harnshiness of the depression and WWII on people. My parents were used to folks going hungry so the boomers parents wanted their children to have everything they did not.

[thejourney]

My parents grew up in the depression. My Dad grew up in a two room log cabin. He fought in WW2 and never talked about it. Mom was a teen during the war. They married in 1952 and had me five years later. They worked hard. Daddy was a brick mason. He built our family home. We were the first to have in door plumbing with a bathroom. It was the first brick home in our hollar. Yes, I know it’s hollow, but I’m a hollar girl. Mom worked at Blue Bell where they made Wrangler jeans. It was piecemeal work. We had the first tv and the second phone. I didn’t get everything I wanted, but Christmases were huge. My sister came along in 1965 and Mom was a little easier with her. She got to do things I didn’t, like join the Brownies. Our first big weekend trip was to Jamestown when I was three. I still remember that 62 years later. Our first vacation was on the Blue Ridge Parkway when I was seven. We camped on weekend every summer and our vacations, we camped and saw most of the eastern US. Mom saved quarters for gas for our vacations. They worked hard, taught me to do something right the first time, and to be honest. I’m thankful to be a Boomer and to have been raised by two of part of the Greatest Generation. They didn’t do everything right, but they did the best they could.

[willdwyer]

I was fortunate to spend about a decade of my childhood living next door to my maternal grandparents. Grandpa was born in 1909 and served in the western Sahara as an army medic during WW2. Grandma was born in 1912 and she was one of the first special education teachers in Michigan. My grandmother's first husband, my biological grandpa, died of a heart attack in his mid 50s when I was a baby and my mom was in her 20s. Grandma first married and had the first of three children during the great depression while she was still in college and she had her youngest child, my mom, about three months before Pearl Harbor. Grandma married her second husband when I was 3 years old in 1971. Their garden was at least 6000 square feet and they put me to work in it to teach me how to grow food instead of being dependent on a supermarket.

[getsmart]

I was "spoiled". I had two parents in a stable marriage; a stay at home Mom, a blue collar, WWII veteran Dad. Not rich, but above "poor" enough that we never went hungry. Both of them spent adequate quality time with me and my siblings. We never questioned their love for us. We lived in a predominately white suburban area between the farms and a city with less than 40, 000 people. Church on Sunday. Visit with grandparents after church every Sunday. Wednesday night prayer meetings. Age appropriate chores by age 3 (put your toys away). Dr. Spock stuff came and went, the love and care didn't ever stop - neither did the expectation to work around the house and help out. Friends with fewer demands on their time often waited (impatiently) for me to finish chores and go play. First job at age 8 cutting grass for my elderly, black neighbor. From my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and adult leaders and teachers I learned morals and the purpose thereof; to be honest and deal squarely with everyone; to take pride in a job well-done (with no corners cut) for the sake of the task at hand no matter how trivial; to have friends be a friend to others. My influences were not saints. My uncles came back from WWI using booze as medication. My parents had some real good arguments early on. Everyone kept their act together, imperfectly, despite their challenges.

I enjoy watching these videos from David because they help me examine my generation. They remind me of times and events gone by that I haven't thought about for decades. It is an interesting, forensic review. I find it very valuable. I am so appreciative that David Hoffman is making these and other videos available to the public via YouTube. I believe the more we understand each other, generationally, the better we can care for each other and move through this life together with hope for the future.

[davidroberts]

He is absolutely correct 👍 I was in San Francisco during the 60's, I now live Off Grid in the mountains. My children are very much apart of quote " Normal Society " and I'm very proud of them. All I wanted for them is too be happy and at peace with whom they have become.Very excellent interview David, thank you for sharing this. 🕉️ Namaste 🕉️

[thomasmacy]

Im 63 i was told...your job is to pass in school grow up and be a useful member of society, the world does not owe you a living, life is not fair, suck it up and keep going.

[inkey]

He starts out not even mentioning that the boomer parents barely survived the 1918 the Great depression, then WW2. They even tried to draft my dad again for the Korean war but he was so mangled from ww2 they wouldn't take him. I never got any of this prosperity, My dad was an alcoholic war crazed disabled vet. No mention of the many children being raised by very damaged men from the war.

[janetjoiner]

I'm a boomer but no one laid out anything for me and my 4 brothers. Not sure if WW2, PTSD dads, beating the crap out of their kids and moms with post partum depression tuning out to 5 out of control kids was celebrating family, maybe it was, IDK. I tried all my life to make things better for the Earth and my fellow man, in spite of my own traumas but it certainly didn't give us much opportunity in life. All 5 of us were talented kids too. I wonder how many others didn't get a chance?

[benkempf]

People who came from nothing then wanted to give their kids everything. It's a viscious cycle.

[jasonburrell]

I was born in 1981, and I can say the adult children of the 50's and early 60's, are the people I look up to most.

[darklotus]

I’m 42. As a teenager I always wished I could talk with older folks trying to bridge gaps & bring understanding. Now I say that about people in their 20s now. Baby boomers were resisting a very stuffy society. Where older Gen z/ younger millennials are rebelling against people who were into Nirvana lol.

[phabulouss]

I agree, television 📺 was the baby sitter in our house. Talk about mass brainwashing. Its gotten worse. We, my household, haven’t watched TV in years. We actually have household conversations; and I got rid of Wi-Fi years ago, as well. Smartest family decision, ever!

[elgooges]

The 30's kids, they did the best they could.

[willdwyer]

The banking industry created the boomers. They're the wealthiest and greediest generation in American history. When my mother was my age in the '90s, she thought it was humorous to joke about my generation getting screwed out of their inheritance. Her punchline was, "...being of sound mind and body, I spent it all."

[skybarwisdom]

David: please do an interview on 'Generation Jones' because we had a totally different outlook and experience in life coming of age in the mid to late 70s and early 80s. We were way too young to experience the turmoil of the 60s as we were just kids, and we don't like being lumped in with the Boomers.

[tamarrajames]

This man was very clear in his estimation of what the “baby boom” really was. The War had damaged our parents in ways they had no way to resolve, other than to try and live a script of perfect family life…an idea that had carried them through the Great Depression and WWII. They didn’t want to talk about their experiences in wartime, and wanted our lives to be perfect and untouched by those things that had dominated their lives. At the same time, we were in the Cold War, with safety drills we knew were useless in the case of nuclear attack. We also saw the injustice of segregation head on, and we wanted change. We rebelled because the dream we were living wasn’t our dream and we had little undertaking of our parents experiences. Thank you for sharing this David, it is important to grasp the seeds of our revolt.🖤🇨🇦

[stifledvoice]

My mom was so disappointed I wasn't a "preppie, " like one of those squeaky clean kids on tv in that right wing "Up With People" group.

[MichaelSHartman]

Must be nice not to have a single gray hair, and tell the Boomers how they lived. I guess they are going through the upcoming inflationary period, and gas shortages then tell Boomers how bad it is like Boomers have no idea what inflation, or an oil crisis is like.
I remember elderly on fixed incomes eating dog food because they couldn't afford both food, and medicine. There were businesses going bankrupt everywhere, and double digit unemployment. You were scared to say a word out of line because there was a long line of people ready to take your job. Gas prices increased 7 fold. The president setting speed limits to 55, and thermostat settings to 68 and 80 to save energy. Long gas lines, rationing, and certain days one could buy gas to arrive to find there was no gas. Car pools were invented, and mandatory. People buying woodstoves because it was cheaper than electricity. The idea of underground homes were being considered. I remember being cold. This went on for a decade.
Millienials have no idea of what it was like to live under the bomb that they are so easy to dismiss. Instructions to early school children to seek out an adult if there was an attack because their parents were probably dead. News of the Soviets increasing their nuclear arsenal was a regular thing as were EBS test. Images of homes being blown away, and people burning as they stood. Children had nightmares about nuclear war. To hear an air raid siren, and believe nuclear winter was 15 minutes away. More than one person thought it would be better to die in the blast than survive. These dismissive Millienials should watch "Threads" to get a sense what it was like. They carry on about nuclear weapons when they know a tenth of what we knew. In 1986, the Soviet Union had a 40, 000 megaton arsenal.
We had the Vietnam War, and the draft. We had the hippies, and yippes who seemed preoccupied with drugs, and communism, but the majority of us were conservative.
We did get to know a time before the drug culture. A time when kids could play outside alone, go out on Halloween by themselves, and have cars and houses unlocked without fear. Drugs bring crime with them. Cartels, pushers, addicts, thieves, and other crimes. My county went from one of the best places to live to the third worse complete with meth labs. It drives me crazy how people think it's their right to get stoned.
I know "Ok, Boomer", "Boomer Reducer", Boomer being a slur, and Boomers are the cause of all the world's problems. How we are so spoiled. Go get your participation award, and tell me how bad you have it.

[tyanthony]

Funny to me how ppl look back at the 50s with a nostalgic sense of normalcy when in reality that was the most abnormal time in American history, prior to the 50s and from the late 60s to now is real America; Poverty, crime, broken families and corrupt politicians. This is the American way