Will Intergenerational Warfare be Next on Harper's List?

There was a piece in the Globe and Mail recently, written by two young members of the Religious Right: Not their parents’ conservatism

It may have been in response to several earlier articles, including one by Don Newman, reminding Canadians that our current conservative government is not affiliated with the party of Sir John A, but is in fact the Reform-Alliance, a neoconservative party.

The piece by the two young fundamentalists starts out:

"If the past month has proven anything to a baby boom about to turn 65, it’s this: Millennials are sending a firm message that it’s time for you to move on and, just maybe, take your institutions with you."

There is a new sheriff in town, and apparently Baby Boomers are to get out of Dodge. We no longer matter.

This is not really a new concept in the neoconservative movement. After Conrad Black took over Saturday Night, and turned it into a vehicle for the far right, the magazine ran a story (1995): "Grandma! Grandpa! Get Back to Work!"

It was horrible. They attacked seniors like they were the same "welfare bums" they had been squealing about in previous articles.

"Retirement isn't a birthright, those who enjoy it haven't earned it."

The author suggested that retirees were enjoying themselves at the expense of their kids and grandchildren. These "leeches were relaxing on the golf course in Florida, sucking off resources from the people who needed them — the productive workers of today and tomorrow." The implication, of course, was that the elderly weren't productive.

It went on to suggest a higher retirement age, means tests for eligibility to pension plans and part-time work for the elderly.

"....an intergenerational fight for public funding has begun in Canada".

The response was immediate with many seniors angrily reminding Black's hack that they had earned their pensions by wartime service and contributions to society, as well as with payroll deductions.

But this has been the theme of neocons, as we see with the Tea Party in the U.S. Pit the sick against the elderly, the working poor against families on welfare. So why not encourage students to go after grandma and grandpa, blaming them for the high tuitions and lack of decent jobs?

The Harper government refuses to raise taxes to pay for their financial mess, despite the fact that many of us Boomers are encouraging it. And yet they are going through with more tax cuts, for the "corporate welfare bums", who are "sucking off resources from the people who need them".

But if they can handle the PR as cleverly as they handle all other propaganda, we will turn on each other and not them.

And if we do turn on them, they've got riot police and they know how to use them. And when it comes to beating on Canadians, age is not a factor. They just "whack 'em and stack 'em". It's up to us to claim the victims.

This may not be their parents' conservatism, but it isn't their parents' Canada either.