--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For anyone born after 1945, the welfare…" description: "\"“For anyone born after 1945, the welfare state and its institutions were not a solution to earlier dilemmas: they were simply the normal conditions of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a95/tony-judt-1730_baby-boom_for-anyone-born-after-1945-the-welfare-s_1914524.jpg" --- # For anyone born after 1945, the welfare state and its… ![“For anyone born after 1945, the welfare state and its institutions were not a solution to earlier dilemmas: they were simply the normal conditions of life - and more than a little dull. The baby boomers, entering university in the mid-'60s, had only ever known a world of improving life chances…” quote by Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a95/tony-judt-1730_baby-boom_for-anyone-born-after-1945-the-welfare-s_1914524.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a95/tony-judt-1730_baby-boom_for-anyone-born-after-1945-the-welfare-s_1914524.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a95/tony-judt-1730_baby-boom_for-anyone-born-after-1945-the-welfare-s_1914524.jpg) > ““For anyone born after 1945, the welfare state and its institutions were not a solution to earlier dilemmas: they were simply the normal conditions of life - and more than a little dull. The baby boomers, entering university in the mid-'60s, had only ever known a world of improving life chances, generous medical and educated services, optimistic prospects of upward social mobility and - perhaps above all - an indefinable but ubiquitous sense of security. The goals of an earlier generation of reformers were no longer of interest to their successors. On the contrary, they were increasingly perceived as restrictions upon the self-expression and freedom of the individual.”” [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Post‑war generations grew up with welfare as the norm, seeing it as a backdrop rather than a solution, leading to a desire for personal freedom over collective security. **In simple terms:** Welfare became ordinary, prompting a shift toward individual freedom. Key Takeaway Recognize how context shapes values. Themes history generational change welfare state Mood analytical thought‑provoking Type historical philosophical When to use this quote - policy analysis - educational curricula - public discourse - political activism - personal reflection Key Concepts social contract individualism Questions to Reflect On - How do current social safety nets affect personal ambition? - In what ways can societies honor both collective welfare and individual freedom? A Different Perspective Balancing security with personal liberty remains complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [1945 Welfare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/1945-welfare-2904272/) [Baby boom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baby-boom/) [Baby boomer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baby-boomer/) [Baby boomers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baby-boomers/) [Earlier Generation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earlier-generation-1311554/) [Generation Reformers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generation-reformers-2904271/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Social mobility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-mobility/) [Welfare state](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/welfare-state/) ## Related quotes > [Now, do I think the baby boomers tend to be self-absorbed? I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/now-do-i-think-the-baby-boomers-tend-to-be-self-absorbed-i-do/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Guitar makes even have a word for these baby-boomers-who-alwyas-wanted-to-be-great-guitarists-and-now-have-the-money-to-indulge-those-dreams: dentists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-brookes/guitar-makes-even-have-a-word-for-these-baby-boomers-who-alwyas/) [Tim Brookes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-brookes/) > [The baby boomers are the most spoiled, most self-centered, most narcissistic generation the country's ever produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-bannon/the-baby-boomers-are-the-most-spoiled-most-self-centered-most/) [Steve Bannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-bannon/) > [There is this idea that appealing to youth is the only way forward. But that is no longer the case. Youth is not everything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-walters/there-is-this-idea-that-appealing-to-youth-is-the-only-way-forward/) [Julie Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-walters/) > [A lot of baby boomers are baby bongers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-nealon/a-lot-of-baby-boomers-are-baby-bongers/) [Kevin Nealon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-nealon/) > [“The baby boomer generation, my own, is content, if of the Left, to live out our remaining years upon the work and upon the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/the-baby-boomer-generation-my-own-is-content-if-of-the-left-to-live/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“Whatever science has done to destroy the world, it has unquestionably saved the lives of women and their babies. Nature is not gentle with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/whatever-science-has-done-to-destroy-the-world-it-has-unquestionably/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [The baby boomers have dropped the ball on their burden of responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meghan-mccain/the-baby-boomers-have-dropped-the-ball-on-their-burden-of/) [Meghan McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meghan-mccain/) > [Baby boomers selling your rumors of their history, forcein' youth away from the truth of what's real today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-watt/baby-boomers-selling-your-rumors-of-their-history-forcein-youth-away/) [Mike Watt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-watt/) > [We're just not ready for the retirement of the Baby Boomers. And we'd better prepare for that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/we-re-just-not-ready-for-the-retirement-of-the-baby-boomers-and-we-d/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [There were all us baby boomers who had a grammar school education, started to learn, then went on the pill, the whole thing, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-walters/there-were-all-us-baby-boomers-who-had-a-grammar-school-education/) [Julie Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-walters/) > [While I do occasionally order items on the Internet, it's hard to teach an old shopper new tricks. I'm convinced that the catalogue will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-rudner/while-i-do-occasionally-order-items-on-the-internet-it-s-hard-to/) [Rita Rudner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-rudner/) > [Maybe it will be a great thing when the Baby Boomers finally die out. In real life, it's not a matter of the good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-bowman/maybe-it-will-be-a-great-thing-when-the-baby-boomers-finally-die-out/) [Jack Bowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-bowman/) > [I don't know if the idea of a career in show business or in the arts in general was looked down upon as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-sudeikis/i-don-t-know-if-the-idea-of-a-career-in-show-business-or-in-the-arts/) [Jason Sudeikis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-sudeikis/) > [The reality is that baby boomers are turning senior citizens and not only is it inhumane, but the system will go broke. There needs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-suozzi/the-reality-is-that-baby-boomers-are-turning-senior-citizens-and-not/) [Thomas Suozzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-suozzi/) ## More by Tony Judt > [I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't believe in a single or multiple godhead. I respect people who do, but I don't believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/i-don-t-believe-in-an-afterlife-i-don-t-believe-in-a-single-or/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Markets do not automatically generate trust, cooperation or collective action for the common good. Quite the contrary: it is in the nature of economic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/markets-do-not-automatically-generate-trust-cooperation-or-collective/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“ Lieux de memoire . . . 'exist because there are no longer any milieux de memoire , settings in which memory is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/lieux-de-memoire-exist-because-there-are-no-longer-any-milieux-de/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Keynes died in 1946, exhausted by his wartime efforts. But he had long since demonstrated that neither capitalism nor liberalism would survive very long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/keynes-died-in-1946-exhausted-by-his-wartime-efforts-but-he-had-long/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [The Second World War had a precipitating effect in that it discredited the empires, as well as bankrupting them. Not only could you no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/the-second-world-war-had-a-precipitating-effect-in-that-it/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“That the state might exceed its remit and damage the market by distorting its operations was not taken very seriously in these years.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/that-the-state-might-exceed-its-remit-and-damage-the-market-by/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Whatever their other differences, French Gaullists, Christian Democrats and Socialists shared a common faith in the activist state, economic planning and large-scale public investment.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/whatever-their-other-differences-french-gaullists-christian-democrats/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [I think if I'm controversial it's not because I set out to be. It's because I've never felt comfortable being part of someone else's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/i-think-if-i-m-controversial-it-s-not-because-i-set-out-to-be-it-s/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“This reduction of 'society' to a thin membrane of interactions between private individuals is presented today as the ambition of libertarians and free marketeers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/this-reduction-of-society-to-a-thin-membrane-of-interactions-between/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Something is profoundly wrong with the way we live today. For thirty years we have made a virtue out of the pursuit of material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/something-is-profoundly-wrong-with-the-way-we-live-today-for-thirty/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Today, neither Left nor Right can find their footing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/today-neither-left-nor-right-can-find-their-footing/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [We have responsibilities for others, not just across space but across time. We have responsibilities to people who came before us. They left us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/we-have-responsibilities-for-others-not-just-across-space-but-across/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“What did trust, cooperation, progressive taxation and the interventionist state bequeath to western societies in the decades following 1945? The short answer is, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/what-did-trust-cooperation-progressive-taxation-and-the/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [Healthcare reform is a paradigmatic case. It is self-evidently necessary and inevitable and has been on the agenda for 35 years, and the political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/healthcare-reform-is-a-paradigmatic-case-it-is-self-evidently/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Inequality is corrosive. It rots societies from within.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/inequality-is-corrosive-it-rots-societies-from-within/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) [Explore all 211 Tony Judt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) ## More Baby boom quotes > [Now, do I think the baby boomers tend to be self-absorbed? I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/now-do-i-think-the-baby-boomers-tend-to-be-self-absorbed-i-do/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [We live in an age of generational turmoil. Baby-boom parents are accused of clinging on to jobs and houses which they should be freeing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ridley/we-live-in-an-age-of-generational-turmoil-baby-boom-parents-are/) [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) > [I don't know if the idea of a career in show business or in the arts in general was looked down upon as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-sudeikis/i-don-t-know-if-the-idea-of-a-career-in-show-business-or-in-the-arts/) [Jason Sudeikis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-sudeikis/) > [Jews took it very seriously to marry other Jews and repopulate the Jewish bloodline, and my father's generation gets very serious in my household…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-lerman/jews-took-it-very-seriously-to-marry-other-jews-and-repopulate-the/) [Logan Lerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-lerman/) > [The baby boom is about to become a patient boom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalton-mcguinty/the-baby-boom-is-about-to-become-a-patient-boom/) [Dalton McGuinty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalton-mcguinty/) > [Every generation trash-talks younger generations. Baby boomers labeled Generation X a group of tattooed slackers and materialists; Generation Xers have branded millennials as iPhone-addicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-blumenthal/every-generation-trash-talks-younger-generations-baby-boomers-labeled/) [Neil Blumenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-blumenthal/) > [Packed with fascinating personal perspective and testimony, Michael Takiffs A Complicated Man wholly justifies its title. The book is far more than a kaleidoscopic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-hamilton/packed-with-fascinating-personal-perspective-and-testimony-michael/) [Nigel Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-hamilton/) > [One of the hallmarks of the baby boomer generation is that it doesnt live like the previous generation. It hasnt yet given up jeans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-klugman/one-of-the-hallmarks-of-the-baby-boomer-generation-is-that-it-doesnt/) [Ron Klugman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-klugman/) > [“For those readers who are Boomers, or have parents or grandparents who are Boomers, it may be of small comfort that this book does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cannon-gibney/for-those-readers-who-are-boomers-or-have-parents-or-grandparents-who/) [Bruce Cannon Gibney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cannon-gibney/) > [Maybe it will be a great thing when the Baby Boomers finally die out. In real life, it's not a matter of the good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-bowman/maybe-it-will-be-a-great-thing-when-the-baby-boomers-finally-die-out/) [Jack Bowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-bowman/) > [Baby boomer media like 'The Times' is a laughingstock, and we should do whatever we can to ridicule it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-mcinnes/baby-boomer-media-like-the-times-is-a-laughingstock-and-we-should-do/) [Gavin McInnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-mcinnes/) > [A masterwork. A particularly American magic realism that touches the heart of race and childhood in our country; it's 100 Years of Solitude for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-kushner/a-masterwork-a-particularly-american-magic-realism-that-touches-the/) [Ellen Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-kushner/) > [The well-heeled Baby Boomer demographic, which has discretionary money to spend on gambling, has long been a primary target for casinos ...And given yesterday's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-ross/the-well-heeled-baby-boomer-demographic-which-has-discretionary-money/) [Ryan Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-ross/) > [I think the Baby Boom has enjoyed itself, maybe sometimes a little too much, and we're continuing to enjoy ourselves, maybe a little too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/i-think-the-baby-boom-has-enjoyed-itself-maybe-sometimes-a-little-too/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [While I do occasionally order items on the Internet, it's hard to teach an old shopper new tricks. I'm convinced that the catalogue will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-rudner/while-i-do-occasionally-order-items-on-the-internet-it-s-hard-to/) [Rita Rudner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-rudner/) [Browse all 141 Baby boom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baby-boom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For anyone born after 1945, the welfare state and its institutions were not a solution to earlier dilemmas: they were simply the normal conditions of life - and more than a little dull. 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