It has become fashionable to denounce the baby boomer generation as spoiled, entitled, as lazy and profligate. But I was there, and it wasn’t like that. We were the first educated working class in history, and not only were we indoctrinated with the philosophy of the New Deal and progressive politics and scholarship, we also remembered the horror stories of our parents’ generation, the Depression and the War. We knew the wolf was never far from the door. And we could see how we were being systematically conditioned by Madison Avenue to consume, to buy, to go into debt. But most of all, we were taught to think, that reflecting on ourselves and our times was not just a useful on-the-job skill, it was a way to live our lives more effectively. To question the accepted mythology was not just pointless rebellion. It was a survival strategy.

We developed our own ethos, our own view of economic reality, perhaps a bit naive and overly idealistic at first (we were young), but we knew we were on the right track by the way the Establishment condemned and ridiculed us, tried to dissuade us. Those of us who didn’t “come to our senses”, who chose to keep the values we developed from our parents, our teachers, our own new awareness of history, and even our dialog with our contemporaries, saw clearly what was to befall America in only a generation.

We didn’t get rich, but we survived. We refused to participate in the orgy of excess and debt: personal, corporate, financial and state, that now plagues the world. Many of our contemporaries chose not to do so, they sold out. And now they are paying the price.
We also shamelessly took advantage of the new benefits available to us to prepare ourselves for the coming storm.

It wasn’t all sex, drugs, rock and roll and leftist politics. There was a legitimate and consistent social philosophy that emerged from that time. A personal Zen, if you like. A lot of us actually paid attention to what was going on around us and in class, guessed at what was coming and took steps to protect ourselves. I learned a little math and science in college, and also a little social and behavioral science, history and politics. But here is what really came in handy in the long run. This is the summation of the world view of the time, this is what made us so alien to our parents’ generation. Like I said, the hippies were right.

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Happiness, however you define it, is a more worthy goal than success, especially if someone else has defined success for you.

Do not study something that will get you a good job. Study something you will love doing or you will never be happy doing it, and you will never do a good job.

If you find you cannot do what you want with your life, learn how to apply the skills and interests you do have to whatever you will be working at.

The very nature of economic activity makes it difficult, but do your best to do something useful, something that deals with meeting real human needs, not just fulfilling a commercial advantage. There is a difference.

Avoid working purely for money. If you can get money, fine, a lot of it, even better; but acquiring as much money as you can, for its own sake, will require paying a price you may not be able to afford.

Learn to provide something others will be willing to pay for. But choose honest work. Do not sell inferior products, do not live off the labor of others, do not get rich by buying cheap and selling dear. Don’t invest more than you can afford to lose; it is gambling, not industry. Engage in business if you must, certainly if you want, but never be a mere middleman. They are ugly people who produce nothing worthwhile.

At all costs, avoid debt, keeping up with the Joneses and pointless luxury. Be skeptical of middle class values, materialism and consumerism, they are a sham devised primarily to ensure worker and consumer docility. Spend money for that which will enrich you, not make you richer. Save what you can, but live a rich life, full of experience, joy and love. Experience trumps wealth every single time; moth and rust do not corrupt it and you CAN take it with you..

Do not become part of anyone’s business plan; neither as a consumer nor a worker. Resist. All you owe them is an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. And you should demand they hold up their end of the bargain.

Play strictly by the rules, but insist they always cut the cards, and leave their hands where you can see them.

Don’t trust authority, neither commercial nor political nor moral. Even the most benign and humane institutions always serve their own agenda first. You have every right to do the same.