Boomsday: A Novel by Christopher Buckley

Boomsday: A Novel, satirist Christopher Buckley, (New York: Hachette Book Group; 2007), 318 pages.

In Boomsday: A Novel, satirist Christopher Buckley turns his attention to the excesses of the baby boomer generation, and their negligent handling of the looming insolvency of Social Security and Medicare. Buckley’s book imagines an inter-generational public policy war between profligate, entitled, self-indulgent baby boomers and the younger generations that will be stuck with the bill for funding the ponzi schemes known as Social Security and Medicare. The major character in the novel is the aptly named Cassandra Devine, an exceptional student that gained admission to Yale, only to find out after her admission that her father had spent her tuition money on a business start-up, and that she would be forced to pay for college through joining the army. After a brief time in the army, and 10 years in Washington D.C. as a public relations specialist, Cassandra spends her nights as a blogger who campaigns against the excesses of the baby boomers. One night she suggests that baby boomers be given financial incentives to kill themselves by age 75 so as to save their country from the financial burden of caring for them. The idea catches on among the younger voters stuck will the bill for funding baby boomer Social Security and Medicare, and becomes a major public policy issue during a Presidential election.

Buckley’s well written satire again exposes the ridiculousness and comical ways in which Washington D.C. operates. Nonetheless, as entertaining as Buckley’s book is, we should ask ourselves what becomes of the chaos that the main character causes? What does she achieve by proposing such an outrageous policy that becomes the focus of an election campaign? Apart from creating chaos and humorous satire, Buckley seems to say that very little is resolved. Sure, there are interesting and outrageous political debates, and many conflicts and arguments, but in the end, the only thing that has improved is the career prospects of the participants while the issue of the solvency of the major entitlement programs is “kicked down the road.” Most of the characters have better jobs in the end. Perhaps the greatest irony is what happens to Cassandra: in the great tradition of solving political problems, she is appointed to the position of Commissioner for Social Security and thereby made responsible for the running of the system she vociferously opposed. The chief critic is made responsible for administering the system she criticized.

Buckley’s gift is his ability to shine a light on the looming financial calamity facing the U.S.A. in a quick-witted, humorous, and outrageous manner. He’s again written an enjoyable book that mocks American political institutions in a manner that only an insider can, while making “Cassandra-like” warnings of a potential fiscal calamity.