From: lmpm@teal.csn.org (L. M. P. McPherson)
Subject: Re: Baby-Boomers on the Move
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 06:20:13 GMT

In article <1dcaqcINNk33@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> cg482@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Linda Paquette) writes:
>
>     Read your post and am moved to reply.  As one of the almost
>old farts, (56) I would like to say "don't throw the baby out with 
>the bath water!" 

Sorry I was so flippant. I really did not mean to imply that the
previous generations had no good qualities. The Neptune in Leo
generation, for example, survived the dirty thirties and then
marched bravely to war to defend the world from Hitler. My
parents are of this generation, and there is greatness in it
and in them. Being born with Libra in Neptune, my ideals are 
Libran, and so naturally I value those ideals over those of
other generations. That does not mean my ideals and those of
other baby boomers are *better*, just that they are mine.
Having said that, I also recognise that with Pluto in Leo,
my generation really does believe that its ideals are better.
You know, that Leo thing of thinking that *my* way is the
only way, and anyone who thinks differently is simply
mistaken...   :}

>However, along with all the freedom comes responsibility.
>
>    The younger generations have also brought with them thousands
>of unwanted babies, Aids, yuppies who's only thought is what new
>toy they will buy. The list goes on.  There are always two sides
>to a story.  Have you ever watched a 12 yr. old give birth or
>held a baby who was dying not of any physical neglect but because
>the parents who brought her into the world never held her or
>talked to her.  In the medical world it is known as Failure to
>thrive syndrome.

I do think you're being a bit hard on my generation! (And subsequent
ones; the youngest of my generation are in their mid-thirties.) The 
birth control pill brought promiscuity ("free love"), but it appears,
from current knowledge, that the AIDS virus may be rooted in
bestiality, not in promiscuity among consenting human adults.
As for unwanted babies, are the children to blame for the media's
glamourisation of sex and adults' failure to supply them with birth
control and knowledge? Are you sure this isn't your Neptune
in Virgo talking?  :)   

Now I've shown *my* bias. I don't have a single planet in Virgo.
I don't think sex is bad and the root of any evil. Of course I
don't think *anything* is bad in itself. It's all in how it's
used. AIDS may well be a "message" designed to "aid" us in
our spiritual development, to teach us that sex is meant as
the fulfillment of love, not *purely* as a means of recreation.
But one can love multiple partners just as one can have sex
with them, so promiscuity itself is not the issue, from my
point of view. Where many members of my generation may have
gone wrong was not in failing to love (for most did not feel
they were using one another), but in being overly romantic
and seeing "true love" in every attraction. The Libran influence
may have made them too needy, and this manifested as a long
series of unsuccessful partnerships. If we were irresponsible,
it was to ourselves above all others. Leonard Cohen: "If I have
been untrue, I hope you know it was never to you" (Bird on a
Wire).

Why were members of my generation so promiscuous? The biggest
reason has to be the birth control pill, which appeared on
the scene just in time for us to take advantage of it. But I
also think that the Libran need to *couple* (form a partnership)
combined with the Leo desire for romance and pleasure (fifth
house stuff) often led to hasty unions that failed to last.
But the hearts of the participants were in the right place.
They just did it differently than your generation. (By the way,
I think the Neptune in Leo generation were pretty racy in their
time.)

Abuse and neglect of children have been around for a long time.
I don't think my generation is any more guilty of such abuse
than any other generation.

As for yuppies -- where did they come from? The children born
after World War II grew up in a time of extreme prosperity. Their
parents, many of whom had been dirt poor in the thirties, were
often obsessed with material security (Pluto in Cancer), as you
might imagine. They placed such high value on money that many of
them became workaholics, tremendously ambitious. And they shared
their acquired wealth with their children -- bought them nice
toys, etc. The children became used to material comfort and
excess. I guess it became an addiction for many. With Neptune
in Libra and Pluto in Leo, it is easy to see how many of them
could enjoy luxury and extravagance, as well as beauty and
good taste.

That's the down side of that generation. The up side is a genuine
concern for human welfare, regardless of colour, gender, ethnic
origin, sexual orientation -- whatever. There is a very deep and
very real desire for peace -- and yes, love. Fairness. Equity.
From my point of view, the world cannot get too much of these.
And with Pluto in Leo, this generation may be prepared to really
accept the responsibility to lead the world toward their ideals.

>Learn from the past and keep what is good from the teachings of
>those "old farts" and bring on the new.

Good advice!


Maggie