Boomsday

Politics and religion. But mostly politics. Just a hint of religion.

Normally I want to read about neither of these (at least not as a recreational activity), so it may seem a bit odd that I picked up Boomsday with the actual intent of reading it. Shocking, I know. But, the thing is, the cover is just so inviting! I was walking past it in the bookstore and the bright blue and yellow screamed at me to pick it up. At first it looked pretty boring, but then I noticed that the author was said to have also written Thank You For Smoking (I will admit, I didn’t even know that was a book before it was a movie) so, I decided to take home Christopher Buckley’s book – Boomsday!! Really. Good. Choice.

Just think of this as reading The Constitution with Ad Libs. Okay…that is probably not at all what it’s like, but I felt like I was being educated on some of the goings-on of our public office holders while also being entertained by such outbursts as, “Instead of staring at a computer screen all night and railing against the government and shrieking that the sky is falling, you should be out exchanging bodily fluids and viruses with the rest of your generation” (taken from page 8, spoken by Terry Tucker).

So, what’s this book about? Basically it is a political satire - specifically about the Social Security “crisis” that we are facing. The main character, Cassandra Devine urges her peers via a political blog she spends most nights pouring her thoughts and opinions into, to rise up against the Baby Boomers who are cashing in on the social security that they will end up paying for. Why should her generation have to pay the bill when they weren’t the ones who made the mess, she asks. This triggers a few people to take to heart what she has said and lead a small revolt – catapulting her name and face up to the top of the most interesting people list and, eventually, landing her on the cover of Time magazine.

Oh, did I mention that she also recommends that people voluntarily “transition” (in laymen’s terms: commit suicide) at the age of 65 to allow a break in Social Security spending and not forcing the new generation to pay the bill the Boomers ran up. Add that to the fact that Cassandra soon becomes the girlfriend of a Senator who eventually decides to run for President, with the Transitioning Bill at the forefront of his platform.

Tell me you don’t wanna read this now.

- S