Name: A generation of sociopaths
ISBN: 9780316395786

A generation of sociopaths

Gibney shows how America was hijacked by a generation whose reckless self-indulgence degraded the foundations of American prosperity. Acting without empathy, prudence, or respect for facts-- acting, in other words, as sociopaths-- they turned American dynamism into stagnation, inequality, and bipartisan fiasco. In the 2030s damage to Social Security, public finances, and the environment will become catastrophic and possibly irreversible. Gibney argues that younger generations have a fleeting window to hold the boomers accountable and begin restoring America.

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game_the0ryMar 2023

> As populations age into a higher percentage of retirees, the system is forced to cope with a more people who are purely consumers, but contribute nothing to the system.

Sort of off topic, but I do agree that the older generations in the western world, particularly the american baby boomers, act sociopathic as a group. There is a good book about this: A generation of sociopaths. [1]

Sad to watch an entire generation hate their children and grandchildren (if they even have them). Believe me, I do not enjoy painting an entire group of people with a shit-stained brush, but it is what it is and it should be called out.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Generation-Sociopaths-Boomers-Betraye...

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MisterOctoberNov 2019

There's a similar book by Bruce Gibney called "Generation of Sociopaths" that addresses this notion - a thought-provoking read

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MisterOctoberSep 2018

Yep! it's funny - I've been feeling some disgust and resentment toward the behavior of my parents' generation for some time, and felt like I was kind of alone in that until I saw Bruce Gibney's recent book [and accompanying NPR interview on] 'Generation of Sociopaths,' which coherently makes it clear that, well, there are other folks who feel the same way.

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yontherubiconJul 2018

This is oddly enough, a lie.

Read Sexual Sabotage by Judith Reissmann. It's a reframing of Kinseyism and the Sexual Revolution, showing that the sexual statistics on Adultry, Pre-Marital Sex, and Homosexuality which precipitated the Sexual Revolution, were colored by massive selection bias, and motivated by Kinsey's own rather perverse proclivities.

EDIT: I'm not calling you a liar. I'm just saying that the societal narrative that any of the things that you're suggesting were always prevalent is not so. Another book worth reading is A Generation of Sociopaths by Bruce Cannon Gibney. There are statistics on marriage and divorce between the Greatest Generation and the Boomers that are insane. The average GG partner count was 1; the average for Boomers was 15, and has been going down ever since.

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throw-234May 2026

> Sounds dramatic, but what are we talking about here?

How about this? https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/4633773-eat-the-boomers-...

> In his book, “A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America,” Bruce Gibney argued that “generational plunder” was their economic legacy. Through tax cuts and deficit financing of several wars, the Boomers left America in shock. “Plunder” is a strong word. In the corporate legal world, it is enough to justify a clawback of the plunderers’ assets.

IMHO if we don't use it to settle the debt, it won't be inherited by people anyway, it will simply be deleted during end-of-life care, where the oldest boomers pay the youngest boomers that are still in charge of whatever insane private-equity healthcare mess we land on, thus making the "greatest generational transfer of wealth" directly to the 1%.

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clumsysmurfApr 2018

> it seems more and more that the US is "pushing off" things, to what end I don't know.

I suspect there are many reasons I'm unaware of, but two things come to mind.

First, the IRS is chronically underfunded because their budget is approved by Congress, and Congressman get funding / donations / bribes by people that don't want the IRS going after them for their shenanigans.

Second, there is (understandably) controversial book by Bruce Gibney called "A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America"

https://www.amazon.com/Generation-Sociopaths-Boomers-Betraye...

with a recent interview here

https://www.vox.com/2017/12/20/16772670/baby-boomers-millenn...

"They habitually cut their own taxes and borrow money without any concern for future burdens."

The general mindset seems to be to kick the can down the road, on all things, including the environment. This group became the dominant political power in the mid 90s, and still holds great power.

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