Wow, boomers are earnest? Yes, I remember their earnestness. They were the hippy generation that turned into the yuppy generation. That's what we Gen-Xers rebelled against. The peace loving hippies became obsessed with winning the Cold War at any cost. Instead the CIA installed military dictators who went on horrific killing sprees, (for example: the Guatemalan genocide perpetrated by Efrain Rios Montt.) The 1980's were characterized by the threat of nuclear annihilation, the war on drugs, Tele-Evangelists, the Savings and Loans crisis, junk bonds and hostile takeovers. Oh and family values (something us latch-key kids found amusing to say the least). Neoliberalism was born from the boomer generation, not Gen-X. It's no wonder we became nihilists.