We talk alot here about Baby Boomers and how they have walked through the doors of opportunity that had been open and promptly shut them. But so many of our problems with the economy can be traced back to the 80s or even earlier.
The military industrial complex that drains government spending to such a degree that paying for social services becomes difficult is a product of the post WW2 boom. The slashing of tax rates for the highest earns dates back to Reagan. So does the slow but steady dismantling of workers rights to unionize, financial deregulation and the rightward lurch of our courts. And which generation held the largest voting share and most of the economic power at the time?
That's not to excuse the Boomers, they actively made things worse. But Boomers would've been between 15-35 when Reagan was elected meaning the Silent Generation was driving us toward our unfair economic system.
Note: I'm using the following dates to define generations: Silent Generation (born 1925 to 1945) Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1965)