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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 20-Jun-07
Generational composition of Congress

Web Log - June, 2007

Generational composition of Congress

Why can't Congress govern?

I'm constantly pointing out that the reason that the country is paralyzed and Congress is so incompetent is because it's run by Boomers, and Boomers are incompetent at governing (and Xers are even worse).

A web site reader wrote to me and asked how this can be true if all the leaders of Congress are from the Silent generation -- that is, from the generation that grew up during World War

So I went to this web page, which provides an age breakdown, and I prepared this table:

                  Senate   House    Combined
                 -------  -------   ---------
      Age Group   #   %     #    %    #   %   Generation
      ---------  -- ---    --  ---  --- ---   ------------
      30-39       0  0%    20   5%   20  4%   Generation-X
      40-49      10 10%    89  20%   99 18%   Xer/Boomer
      50-59      28 28%   166  38%  194 36%   Boomer
      60-69      37 37%   124  28%  161 30%   Boomer/Silent
      >70        24 24%    39   9%   63 12%   Silent

By splitting the 40-49 and 60-69 age groups evenly between the two generations in each case, you get this result:

                  Senate   House    Combined
                 -------  -------   ---------
      Gen-X         5%     15%         13%
      Boomer       52%     62%         60%
      Silent       42%     23%         27%

The important split here is between the Silents (who grew up during World War II and remember very well what happened) and the Xers and Boomers (who have no personal memory of WW II and think it wasn't such a big deal).

It's true that the top leaders in both the House and Senate are Silents, but that doesn't mean that they get their way. It's the Boomers and Xers that have most of the votes but have no idea what they're doing. All they know how to do is argue; they don't know how to govern.

As I've said many times, the survivors of World War II, the GI Generation and the Silent Generation, did great things -- they created the United Nations, World Bank, Green Revolution, World Health Organization, International Monetary Fund, and so forth. They created these organizations and managed them for decades with one purpose in mind: That their children and grandchildren would never have to go through anything so horrible as World War II.

And the relevant question for today always is: Can you imagine clown circus Congress today doing anything remotely like those accomplishments? They're so dumb, they couldn't even figure how to vote themselves a pay raise. (20-Jun-07) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 20-Jun-07 Generational composition of Congress

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 20-Jun-07
Generational composition of Congress