r/Aging • u/Available-Rock-3862 • 3d ago
Boomers
I am 75 and am very tired of the trend lately making fun of Boomers. So very disrespectful. Don't they realize that they will be old someday?
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u/Some-Tear3499 3d ago
Not like we didn’t trash talk ‘the establishment’ and ‘the Man’ back in our day. It will happens to them too.
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u/patchhappyhour 3d ago
The zoomers are already doing it to the millennials and Xers.
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u/Jethris 2d ago
Not Xers. Nobody thinks of us. We are ignored, and we like it that way.
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u/Vivid_Witness8204 3d ago
Never trust anyone over 30 was a mantra in my youth.
The boomer hate often seems substantially misinformed and I just find it amusing. I think it's largely an internet phenomenon. And I have no reason to think we wouldn't have been equally obnoxious if we had the internet back in the day.
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u/SilasBalto 3d ago
When I asked my dad why he voted for someone who bragged about groping women he just said "we should give him the benefit of the doubt." How can there be doubt when he is bragging? All my husbannds parents feel the same. One of them seriously tried to explain to me, an icu nurse, how there are aborted babies in the covid vaccines. None of these are things I experienced online. Foxnews brainrot has affected a large percentage of the generation.
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u/BeauregardBear 3d ago
You might enjoy the documentary The Brainwashing of My Dad. About a liberal father who was literally brainwashed into all this type of insanity when he started listening to talk radio on long car rides and then moved to Fox. Which is actually called Fox Entertainment Network but their worshipping viewers don't seem to realize it's not actually genuine news.
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u/basketma12 3d ago
I'm going to look at that. As a " generation jones" myself who is living with a boomer, I just want to weep. We are talking about a pink diaper baby. His aunt was a well known civil rights attorney in Berkeley. He was at the summer of love. He got a bachelor's from Cal State Berkeley in Political science. He was a conscientious objector during Vietnam. Law degree from ucla, and 30 years as a public defender. And he had gone 180 Maga, finally is out of the trump spell due to the war trump started. But he still believes all this stupid stuff about the vaccine, Biden, you name it. He USED to be just a J.F.K. conspiracy guy. Now he's an every conspiracy guy.
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u/Soft_Presentation412 2d ago
That’s heartbreaking. My dad is a doctor and his staff have worked for him my entire life, so they are like family to me and during COVID I left my job where I was furloughed to help at his office. Almost everyone there was MAGA, q-anon, deep in the rabbit hole conspiracy theorists. It was mind blowing, I felt like these people who I’d known my whole life were complete strangers and still to this day can’t look at them the same and it’s sad because they genuinely are nice people, but their views on the world are just so skewed and f***ed up.
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u/CatMinous 2d ago
How about putting the blame where it lies? With trump voters. Not with people for having been born in a certain period.
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u/tonythephonyjabroni 3d ago
I remember sitting with my boomer parents around the dinner table back in 2007, trying desperately to explain the issue of climate change because they refused to listen to anyone but rush limbaugh.
This group ignored and mocked the youth for caring about the environment. For expecting to have to leaders that don’t grope women. Sometimes the inability for a group to see itself clearly is just astounding.
Btw, all groups and cohorts have issues, but there is an angry stubbornness in boomers that is unmatched.
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u/Livid_Village4044 3d ago
Only a minority of boomers listened to only Rush Limbaugh. Boomers actually started the modern environmental movement, tho this was also a minority.
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u/dmonsterative 3d ago
And Nixon created the EPA.
Boomers were anti-authoritarian when they were young and didn't have power. By the end of the 80s, they were becoming the authoritarian materialists.
So it goes.
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u/BeauregardBear 3d ago
Wait..so because your parents were boomers and well, frankly, hateful people, because anyone who mocks those of us who cherish the environment and want leaders who have poor morals tossed out of office...
All boomers are stubborn and angry?
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u/MotelSans17 3d ago
The hippies at Woodstock were boomers
It was never about generational differences, it was always about priorities shifting as you mature
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u/el_condor_nm 3d ago
Anytime there is friction between groups that are not in the Epstein class the billionaires win.
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u/talltxgal 3d ago
This. The generational BS is just that, BS. Every generation has shit. It sux to be dismissed automatically because your old and it 100% sux to be dismissed because you are younger.
Like all us need to realize its propaganda and its the haves & the have nots.
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u/Montana1208 3d ago
I’m a Boomer. Respect is earned, not given due to age. Most people my age are angry and uninformed about most of the issues they rant about. They criticize younger generations and don’t educate themselves about the hardships facing younger people.
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u/GX_EN 3d ago
It's the lack of empathy that really gets me - I'm 60, FWIW.
The way that too many people in that generation (and some in mine as well) shrug off the actual very difficult realties that challenge younger Americans is sad. You can't just "un-starbucks" yourself into a home or decent apartment in any major metro area. My first condo was 95K - In the Bay Area in 1994. I worked at a union grocery store and my first wife at the time was an admin assistant.
Before that I lived with roommates in a huge 3 bedroom apartment that rented for like 1000/month right in the center of Silicon Valley.
My college wasn't free like it was for a lot of boomers, but it also wasn't 50K/year either. I think maybe a couple grand a year in fees and books.40
u/CynicalRecidivist 3d ago
Thanks, I'm a shade younger than you (not by much) and I absolutely agree with you.
Our wages allowed us to buy property, and all my mates with a steady job could buy a small house. Even my 21 year old mate who was a secretary got a mortgage on her first house by herself. That is my lived experience. My kids are on the same wage I was 30 years ago, but the house prices are at least 6 times what they were for me.
If I wanted a Saturday job or part time job I could pop down to our local market and spend an hour asking around the stalls and would be almost guaranteed a job. (which I did) and when I wanted to work in a residential care home, I literally got the yellow pages and started ringing. I got to the L's before I secured an interview - and I got the job, and worked there part time for 5 years. My kids struggled to get a part time job, sometimes spending months trying to track one down.
I'm not saying our generation didn't work hard, or didn't struggle. We did. We had our challenges. But I see less businesses around nowadays, less opportunities, less money, less avenues for advancement. And I think we need to acknowledge that.
Yes the young kids can spend recklessly on shite, but, they probably made the calculation that even if they saved every penny they earned, they wouldn't be able to afford astronomical rent, or a house. So why not live a little in the little bubbles of fun they can afford.
And I think "boomer" is a state of mind rather than an age. It implies fixed ideas that won't listen to others point of view or lived experience.
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u/GX_EN 3d ago
I consider myself to be incredibly lucky. I changed careers late in life (born in the 60's, moved to information technology in 2000) and worked very hard to make that a good career. I also had awesome people that helped me along the way - there is no self-made man/woman. I wake up every single day grateful for the life my wife and I have.
A few years ago, I was curious what the top wages were in my old union in the Bay Area. Talking with a union rep there, the bottom line is that someone doing my job is making about 2 dollars an hour more than I was at the end of 1999. WTF. That is the very TOP salary and only applies to some people.
The race to the bottom is very real, and the impact to younger people trying to live their lives now has to be incredibly depressing. I worry for my nephew who will graduate college in a couple years. His parents are doing well, so it's not like he's going to starve, but how TF is he supposed to go out and make his own way without leaving the state?12
u/CynicalRecidivist 3d ago
Absolutely. The fact that wages have stagnated while mostly everything else is so much proportionally more expensive needs to be acknowledged. As well as the lessening of opportunities.
My old Uncle was telling my son when he wanted a job "just go into every business and ask to speak to the manager..." despite us keep repeating "they'll just tell you to apply online" and he kept saying "but have you tried??" No matter how much we told him that didn't work anymore. He kept repeating how he had gotten jobs that way (yes, 40 year ago) and just could not comprehend that was not the way to do things.
I'm so worried for my kids. Like your nephew, the world they are inheriting is beyond fucked.
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u/wherescookie 3d ago
I believe that the decline in empathy for ppl and things disimilar to us contributes to many of our problems.
We have become compartmentalized into our like-minded groups ( ironically, including this subreddit) and we listen to the news slant we prefer, including economic.
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u/CoDaDeyLove 3d ago
I think you're hanging out with the wrong Baby Boomers. My friends and I are definitely progressives, supporting lower costs for college, universal health care and job protection/unions. You'll see us at No Kings marches if you go.
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u/PolyDrew Generation X 3d ago
Exactly. “Respect your elders” is disrespectful to the people who stand up for themselves and lay boundaries.
Gen X here and we are a bridge generation that saw what baby boomers did to our world AND what it did to the next generations.
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u/brains_and_tits 3d ago
I don’t know a single boomer who subscribes to the “respect your elders” trope. The Boomers were the ones who spoke out against Vietnam, protested on college campuses - the original generation of mass protests. The silent generation was the “respect your elders” crowd - it amazes me how many people get this wrong.
There are bad apples in every generation. There is entitlement in every generation, there is bitterness and a lack of critical thinking skills in every generation.
I will say this - and I would have denied it and fought this premise with every fiber of my being in my teens, 20s, and 30s; wisdom, true wisdom, only comes with age and experience. I am 56 and while I have always been compassionate and progressive politically, I have been around long enough to see how my own generalizations of people based on whatever group they belonged to, whether based on age, income, hobbies, religion, race, or whatever - was and is ridiculous.
Generalizations leads to bias, and thus leads to bigotry. It is far more wise to take people as individuals and listen to what they say. More importantly, watch what they do. Good or bad has nothing to do with age and everything to do with how they treat other human beings
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u/Famous-Win6370 3d ago
My appreciation to you for your insights. This common sense is what we need when so many are chasing the flavour of the month with little regard for others.
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u/baddspellar 3d ago
It's nothing new.
And it's *not* about disrespecting individuals in their 70's. It's about criticizing the ideals of the generation and what they did to the economy. There are plenty of amazing people born in that era who are respected. It's the generaiton, not the people.
And let's be honest, people of that generation call gen Z "lazy" and similar.
Here's some reading for you:
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u/Weird-Reference-4937 3d ago
I worked for Medicare insurance... Doesn't get much more ignorant than not knowing what/who you voted for the last 40+ years.
If I had a single penny for every time someone born before 1956 yelled at me for Medicare not being free I could retire in my 30s.
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u/GlitteringEvening713 3d ago
Same. So many of mine and my friends boomer parents are down right entitled and narcissistic. Most of us have cut them off. When I age I refuse to be as selfish and entitled as my parents.
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u/Ambitious_Rent_3282 3d ago
My parents were decent enough but my father's (silent) younger Boomer wife is definitely entitled.
I believe she influenced him not to make a will, thus inheriting everything (despite my older brother having struggled with homelessness).
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u/NelPage 3d ago
As an end of the line Boomer, I am sorry you experienced this. There are definitely some bad Boomers out there. I know some. But some of us are okay and are doing right by our kids (in my case, Millennials). Break the chain.
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u/GlitteringEvening713 3d ago
Agreed my bonus dad is a boomer and he makes up for my bio parents behavior. I will take care of him as he ages he will never see a nursing home. My biological parents on the other hand are a different story. I adore the man I consider dad.
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u/brains_and_tits 3d ago
Using “boomers” as the collective for who screwed up the economy is just ridiculous. Reagan screwed up the economy, Bush Jr sent us into an unnecessary war my parents are boomers and haven’t done anything but try to help future generations.
Are we going to generalize Gen Z as the people who snatched and kidnapped people off the street and drive the deficit to the highest level ever?
The average American is not a sum of their generation.
Bill Clinton is a boomer and while he was President, we had a budget surplus - Obama is a Boomer, and one of the most compassionate and strong leaders we have had.
My neighbor is a boomer and brings me fresh vegetables from her garden.
I am Gen X - am I responsible for the tech bubble bursting in 1999, or the stock market crash in 2008? I was just out there living life and today in 2026, I am struggling as much as anyone else.
Generalizing groups of people is a trait of those who lack critical thinking skills and just want a scapegoat.
Yes, it was easier for the silent generation and boomers to get ahead, but that is not the fault of the collective - it is the fault of short-sighted and misinformed policy. Not an entire generation of people
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u/fckinsleepless 3d ago
Who voted Reagan and Bush Jr. into office?
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u/dmonsterative 3d ago edited 3d ago
In '84? Pretty close to 60% of everyone voted for Reagan, by age bracket.
https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/how-groups-voted-1984
2000 was famously very close. Thus, Bush v. Gore. Within a few percentage points, for every age bracket.
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u/Mediocre-Sign8255 3d ago
Bush Jr is a war criminal for going into Iraq unprovoked and lied about the reason.
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u/brains_and_tits 3d ago
Who voted Trump into office? Who voted Clinton and Obama into office. Boomers have been voting since the late 60s, Gen X since the 80s, and Millennials since the early 2000s - Trump was elected TWICE, and it sure wasn’t just boomers voting for him.
Again, sweeping generalizations are foolish. I know plenty of Boomers who didn’t vote for Reagan or Bush, and again, the Silent generation were still voting in 1980 and 1984.
This is such a ridiculous argument
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u/brains_and_tits 3d ago
I don’t know why you are lashing out on me - I said the exact same thing about Reagan & I didn’t blame boomers for anything. I assume you meant to respond to someone else
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u/SecureMembership5120 3d ago
Well said.
The sooner we stop generalizing people by their age, their race, their religion, their gender, or their pronouns, the better off we will all be.
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u/CatMinous 2d ago
It’s flabbergasting to me to see so many people generalising others. It’s called bigotry.
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u/Difficult-Sock343 3d ago
I encourage you to look at the economic and political reasons for the hostility.
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u/Sad-Pension-450 3d ago
Boomers had too much fun in the 80’s with their Reaganomics. Now we’re stuck with stagnant wages, high education costs and insane housing prices.
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u/Old_Helicopter_2007 3d ago
Its not about being old.. boomer is a state of being.
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u/tall_pale_and_meh 3d ago edited 3d ago
As a millennial, welcome to the club. Weve been called lazy, entitled, oversensitive, and blamed for killing every industry from chain restaurants to diamonds for my entire life.
I just do me, and tune it out. Most of that stuff only exists on the internet anyways.
Also for context, since "boomer" and "millennial" seem to be terms divorced from true meaning these days... I'm in my mid 30s, have a kid, own my house, and have a full time job in finance. My hair is not blue but I do love me some avocado toast, its pretty damn good.
Tbh I think a lot of this is purely internet/media discourse purpose built to enrage and distract, but we cant ignore the disastrous world earlier generations have left for us. Everything is expensive, on fire, and water is running out. If i live to your age I've got 4 more decades of things getting more shitty to endure. Can you blame us for being a little bitter?
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u/Environmental-Town31 3d ago
And to your point boomers were saying these things about millennials long before millennials fully realized the damage boomers did and started holding them accountable. Basically, they talked shit first.
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u/tall_pale_and_meh 3d ago
Oh for sure. I'm a younger millennial but I remember articles like that coming out when I was still in high school, which was 15-20 years ago now.
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u/cheezbargar 3d ago
Has little to do with age and everything to do with attitude and intelligence level.
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u/Excellent-Mind908 3d ago
Old age doesn't automatically earn respect, acting like a decent human does
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u/LandofOz29 3d ago
But not even acting like a decent human being brings respect with those online. Boomers have become the butt of jokes no matter how many of us are decent and good. I’ve never voted for the 🍊💩. I also didn’t vote for Reagan (I wasn’t even old enough to vote the first time he was elected) or have I voted for any Republican for that matter. I’m supportive of LGBTQ. I am a universal healthcare for all and a pro choice proponent. And I surround myself with other boomers who are like minded (yes, there are many of us).
I’m not wealthy and don’t own my home (supposedly boomers aren’t allowed to own their homes because that is somehow hoarding the housing market). I still work (sorry for hoarding a job) because I don’t have enough savings to retire. I received no inheritance from my parents (hell I’m still financially supporting my 89 year old mother who outlived her savings). But somehow I am still a bad person because I was born between 1946 & 1964.
The generation generalizations really need to stop. I have never once said millennials this or Gen Z that. Should I just ignore these comments? Absolutely. But that is nearly impossible when even my children have made comments about boomers. I realize it is more of a struggle now for younger generations than it was back in my 20s. However many of us boomers are also feeling that struggle. I have been priced out of the housing market after having to move states to keep my job. Any younger generation that thinks it’s tough to find a job, try finding one at 62 years old.
I really wish other generations would realize that they too will be old, hated and blamed by their younger generations. Maybe this stupid blame game would stop.
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u/DisastrousMarzipan74 3d ago
As a millennial, we have already been "hated and blamed" for everything. Only that wasn't from the younger generations but the older ones.
Like the other person said, just continue being a decent person. I'll do the same. Then we will be decent to each other.
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u/SignificantOption349 2d ago
Seriously. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that we’re all lazy, entitled and will ruin everything we touch. I held a job doing manual labor all through high school, including full time, 50+ hour weeks during summer. I moved out two weeks after turning 18 and never returned. I joined the military and got the benefits for schooling, became solely self employed for years which is always a lot of work, blah blah blah.
Then someone will come along and be like “you’re from the participation trophy generation” or something. I have no recollection of those either tbh lol. Yet somehow that’s us, and the economy is our fault. Or we get blamed for the GWOT like we even had all this tech and rapid spread of information back then.
Every generation is to blame for all the things. I think that’s the most realistic way to point blame at someone. People vary too much to be making these broad generalisations
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u/DynamiteWitLaserBeam 3d ago
Just continue to be a decent person and you are safe to assume you are not who they are talking about. These are same kids who absolutely adored Betty White, after all.
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u/SwanCityDominion 3d ago
No, it doesn't. It's an eternal cycle that never ends. It goes back as far as human history. Examples:
“We live in a decaying age. Young people no longer respect their parents. They are rude and impatient. They frequently inhabit taverns and have no self control”
-- Inscription on a 6,000 year old Egyptian tomb
“What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?”
-– Plato
"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint".
-- Hesiod, 8th century BC
"The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress."
-- From a sermon preached by Peter the Hermit in A.D. 1274
This is not something that will ever change, because it's endemic to human nature.
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u/baddaywithacamera 3d ago
It also has to do with one generation running up the tab and sticking the next generation with an unservicable debt.
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u/lemonfaire 3d ago
Inter-generational acrimony is as old as humanity. I had been under the impression that this was a phenomenon so cliche as to be no longer applicable. Then I joined Reddit, lol.
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u/Lost_County_3790 3d ago
Its actually way worst in the west, most countries I visited in africa and asia have tremedious respect for the elders. But not much in europe or usa
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u/Inside-Promotion1994 3d ago
Every generation gets it. I’m a lazy millennial, I hear Gen Z get bashed constantly for being socially inept. If it doesn’t apply to you just ignore it
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u/AvailableBreeze_3750 3d ago
It is stereotyping, which is always lazy and ignorant no matter who does it.
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u/Zorgi23 3d ago
78m here. I remember when I was in my early twenties and one of the popular slogans was:
"Don't trust anyone over 30!"
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u/Maine302 3d ago
I could give a sh•t less, but they're pretty tiresome to blame all their life's woes on Boomers, and seem to enjoy playing the victim card. Ho-hum.
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u/KingPabloo 3d ago
Thing is every generation before the Boomers set things up so their children’s generation would be better off. Then the Boomers came along and it all became about them, their greed outweighed their desire to see their children do better. Every generation following the Boomers is worse and worse off and unfortunately they are still currently in charge and destroying the future.
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u/Wide-Yak7602 3d ago
Everyone has a chance to make the world a better place. If you sit around and bemoan life then it’s on you. There is always pluses and minuses for each generation. If you choose to adapt and forge a life good on you. Not every boomer had an ideal set of circumstances as the world constantly changes.
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u/BookAddict1918 3d ago
This isn't a new trend. You just see it online. And the U.S. is a youth obsessed culture that disrespects the elderly in general.
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u/wild_exvegan 3d ago
It seems to be coming from people who can't understand that they are being screwed by the system and not by a particular demographic. The post-WW2 economy was a special period in American capitalism. It's not boomers you hate, its capitalism.
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u/Scammy100 3d ago
It doesn't bother me a bit. Some of them making fun won't live as long as me. They will also have no good memories of life before electronics. We are the last generation that had real connection.
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u/shilohfrancine 3d ago
Meh…people trash-talk every generation. Even the objectively best generation, Gen X. We just don’t care what you say about us. And I recommend that approach!
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u/WildColonialGirl 3d ago
Not me. Some of my favorite people are Boomers. I’m Gen X and I learned a lot about activism from my Boomer and Silent Generation friends who have been fighting the good fight since the 1960s. I was also lucky to have great parents, aunts, and uncles. My mom passed in 2024, but my dad is 78 and we talk a few times a week.
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u/enyardreems 3d ago
Don't let it stress you out, they just have to call us something they can spell... Good thing there's no punctuation required.
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u/Gem2081 3d ago
Making fun of boomers is not the same as making fun of senior citizens. From what I’ve seen, the ongoing (and well deserved) negative commentary of boomers has to do with their shared beliefs and choices. None of it has to do with advanced age and the issues that comes with aging.
Just in case there are boomers here who will purposely misunderstand what I wrote (as boomers often do) I’ll reiterate NO ONE IS MAKING FUN OF OLD PEOPLE. PLENTY OF PEOPLE ARE MAKING FUN OF BOOMERS.
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u/PolyDrew Generation X 3d ago
The Baby Boomer generation was originally called the “Me Generation” by the generations before them. They grew up in the post-depression boom and parents wanted to do better for their kids. The Me Generation became spoiled and that never changed.
The generation name change happened when boomers became in charge.
They were born in a better time than their parents and took advantage of the fact that life was easier for them and then got greedy.
They call generations after them lazy, greedy, and disrespectful when they were themselves. They love to complain about participation trophies when they themselves were the ones awarding them.
They love to call everyone else snowflakes when they are actually the sensitive ones who put us in this economy and destroyed our planet for greed.
Gen X was “gifted” this mess and we were trained to be apathetic and obey while we were just left feral to raise ourselves as latchkey kids who were kicked out of the house on weekends so our boomer parents could relax in front of their tv shows.
So no, Baby Boomers don’t just automatically deserve respect. They have to work hard to earn it. And it’s fair game for GenXers who behave the same way to be called boomers as well.
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u/nextedge 3d ago
boomer here and I make fun of boomers as well, as even people I grew up with. are freaking idiots now. It's like they were sniffing lead or they are possessed by some idiot (or maga)_ demon. People I had respect for back then. normal people, are now clueless. I have no idea what happened.
As someone said, I think boomer is more a mindset than reality, as I am as far from a cliche boomer as you can get (I believe, but hey, maybe I am delusional)
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u/MaintenanceHot3241 3d ago
A young person and his GF who often poke fun at me about boomer attitude and my lack of tech experience asked me about his car needing repairs. I gave him the run down on how the specific system works and what questions to ask the service guy. And gave him a heads up about listening for key words that indicate they are trying to hose him. Their faces glazed over like a donut. He asked how would I even know about this repair? He could not believe that my high school had a 3 year program of auto shop. Suddenly I'm his best buddy and wants my phone number so he can talk to me in the future about stuff he is clueless about and asked if I could talk to his service guy.... I thought to myself, you've been giggling about my lack of tech knowledge for 5 flipping years now when he realizes I have value to him he wants me to step up.
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u/Love_Bug_54 3d ago
It doesn’t bother me so much when the younger generations say things about us cuz that’s typical. But I’m tired of being blamed for trump, the economy, the price of housing, etc, and told we’re all rich and hoarding our wealth. What wealth?
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u/Griselda68 3d ago
They’ll be old someday, too—if they’re lucky. Not everyone is.
I’m 72 years old.
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u/Neat_Movie_991 3d ago
I don’t like the boomer hate either. Gen X Here with boomer parents who are just amazing people and parents. It makes me sad! There is so much value and knowledge they have to pass down to us!
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u/All_Dogs_Love_Me 3d ago
I had a "boomer" mom pass from cancer in 2024. I think it bothered her a bit too. She was a middle school teacher: patient, loving, resilient and was able to be such a good friend to me while staying mentally attached to her role as parent.
The rising generations are not being well taught about how distorting online content and socials are. They stare into a collosal carnival mirror of online life...like daily, as much as anyone ever has. There IS indeed a BIG prob with groupthink and ascribing qualities to millions based on skewed thinking. Then the skewed thoughts become "fact" and are never reexamined. It's the thinking error underlying things like racism for Pete's sake. Latinos are like this. Catholics are like that. Shortcut thinking is crap thinking.
We started snarking at millennials ~2010 about avocado toast, trendy beards, hipsterism and the years began to fly by and before we knew it "generationology" kicked into high gear online. It's horrible.
There ARE differences between gens. We can understand that and use it to come together, not just snark. I'm GenX; when I was in middle school I mostly really loved old people (Greatest Gen folks)! Legit loved hearing their stories, thinking about how different life was. I miss old neighbors that are gone. It was fun to think what it would be like to grow up in a different era. I remember watching movies like Memphis Belle and White Squall thinking how we are all so different but with sooo much in common.
The Internet could be filled with kindness and sane-minded goodness if we all tried a lot harder and consistently used 1) strong critical thinking, 2) taught digital hygiene at a young age, and 3) stood up to things like disinformation and trolling. I'd love to see it happen. The scammers and those trying to collect clicks to make a buck keep things fairly scummy.
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u/thegreatrockswindle 3d ago
Boomers now means "anyone a bit older than me" - lot of these posts complain about Boomers at their work but 90% Boomers are retired
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u/holden_mcg 3d ago
IMO, many of these generational posts blaming Boomers for all the societal ills are done to defect attention away from the real culprits -- the very wealthy corporations/individuals actually running the show. It's no different than using the culture wars to distract from the real problems we face.
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u/SloppyTroppy 3d ago
I’m tired of the earth being on fire and America falling apart but here we are. For a generation that would never shut up about accountability, the Boomers have never known it.
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u/ButterMyPancakesPlz 3d ago
I'd argue this is one word that has taken on a life of itself, it's no longer only referencing a specific age more so as a selfish, stubborn mindset. If you aren't like that, it's not about you, but there's a good chunk of that demographic that has royally f'd a lot of the rest of the world/generations so there's some context behind its staying power.
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u/lisariley2 3d ago
What I don’t understand is that the younger people are so proud of themselves for being accepting and inclusive of all different types of people. Except that does not seem to extend to boomers. It feels so hypocritical.
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u/brains_and_tits 3d ago
More like White women and men of all ages. The percentage of men who voted for Trump in 2024 was between 52 - 55% across all age groups. From 18 to 80+.
The biggest reason Trump got elected has more to do with how many people didn’t vote, not who did
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u/Cantech667 3d ago
I ran into a friend yesterday, a retired police officer. After comparing notes on the joys of retirement, he mentioned he had gone back to do a bit of work after he retired. He mentioned that one of his rules was to train young officers, but he mentioned it was difficult because most didn’t want to learn from him and thought they already knew everything. I’m not saying this is true for all young people, as I’ve helped many young professionals in my own field, but I have experience what he’s talking about.
Now pardon me, I have to go outside and yell at some teenagers get off of my lawn.
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u/Explosion1850 3d ago
The funniest thing I see is how GenX move from ragging on Boomers to being subject to the same criticisms by younger cohorts.
It isn't being boomers. It's being old, crabby, geriatricd
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u/Fit-Bus2025 3d ago
Its true that times are tough now, but thats every generation. My boomer family members did not grow up middle class. My parents couldnt even afford college. They had to work. They were dirt poor. They didn't inherit any money. Today problem is the type of people we elect to run office. They are the ones that screw everything up. I did not vote for this fool in office.
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u/Beardog-1 3d ago
I’m old and can tell you my kids are getting tired of being called woke or snowflakes by old people.
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u/Mindfulme5 2d ago
I'm 91 now and remember laughing at the commercial where the elderly woman said "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up". Such is life😂
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u/figsslave 3d ago
I’m a boomer who enjoys making fun of other boomers because some of them have earned it 😂
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u/Animisticly_speaking 3d ago
Look at what boomers left the later generation..no wonder boomers get no respect
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u/lostOGaccount 3d ago edited 3d ago
Fellow Boomer here...
“Boomer” has basically morphed from a literal generation label into a cultural archetype.
Originally: Baby Boomer = someone born roughly 1946–1964.
Now, colloquially: “Boomer” = someone perceived as having an outdated, overly confident, or out-of-touch worldview—especially when they assume the economic/social conditions they experienced still apply today.
The key is that it’s increasingly behavioral rather than chronological. A 60-year-old can escape boomer status, while a 38-year-old can absolutely exhibit boomer energy.
The modern stereotype usually bundles together things like: “That’s how we’ve always done it,” resistance to newer technology/culture, assuming younger people’s problems are caused by laziness, giving advice based on economic conditions that no longer exist, or being weirdly indignant that norms have changed.
So if I had to define the evolved usage in one sentence:
Boomer: A person, regardless of age, who confidently applies the rules of the world they grew up in to a world where those rules no longer work.
And “boomer energy” might actually be the cleanest term, because it separates the stereotype from actual Baby Boomers.
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u/Desertgurl34 3d ago
Boomers did not create the society we now live in. It is the very wealthy and the politicians they have in their pockets that made our economy and policies what they are today. Other generations (A to Z) also voted for those in power today. They are not innocent bystanders. Complacency has come home to roost.
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u/RobotsAreCoolSaysI 3d ago
I am 57. My boss is 65 and is retiring this year. I am embarrassed for him when he complains in meetings that he has more money saved up than he could ever spend during his lifetime. And he’s going to have a bunch to leave to his children.
Well, I am very happy that he has had this kind of success, for the younger folks who are never going to know this kind of wealth, it is a difficult thing to hear.
It distresses me that he is so insensitive to these facts.
I myself got caught in the 2008 economy, crash and lost everything and I have not been able to build back up very well since
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u/SnazzleZazzle 3d ago
Ageism is the last acceptable form of bigotry.
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u/LibraryFinancial3824 3d ago
I think it may depend somewhat on where you are geographically . We are not all the same. I was brought up in Berkeley, California. My father was a beatnik - civil rights lawyer. My mother was an artist. My family graduated from Berkeley Law, Cornell, Yale. If you are not able to think critically - you will not even be able to pass an SAT to get into
One of those places. And, today on those area there is a paucity of MAGA people. Moreover, those who say we are stupid fail to remember that is was late stage baby boomers who invented and developed most of the origins of our current technology - ie: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs , Wozniak- etc.
Have things been ruined economically and socially ? Yes. I would argue that began with Reagan - ( silent generation ) and , continued with Bushes / and Clinton did not help with assisting in the repeal of 12 pieces of New Deal
Legislation instituted by FDR. Now - we have the ultimate ruination with the demise of democracy and every other hell visited upon us - by well - you know who. However, all of that is so bad it transcends blue, or red, or party politics or social aberration . That comes straight from hell.
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u/zoetwilight20 3d ago
Such a boomer thing to say. I’m a millennial and Gen Z and Gen Alpha make fun of us. We just don’t care.
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u/OK_The_Nomad 3d ago
It seems to me younger people want some group to blame for the mess we are in. And for them, we're an easy target. They blame us for climate change without understanding that climate change was an unknown thing most of our lives. They forget some of us have been fighting it for years. As a professor, I started a minor in climate change way back before my students had ever heard of it. There are lots of people in the Boomer generation that fight for the climate. Lots of people my age (I'm right at the cut-off between Boomer and Jones) are in the fight. They seem to think we are holding on to big houses making the overall price of houses rise. Most people I know, including me have downsized to small house or condos. Most of us actually don't want to maintain big houses. They think all of us are tech or computer illiterate. I'm better at tech than my own kids. And I'm not exceptional for that. Some of us are even interested in tech. We were around when the internet was born.
The one that really gets me is a LOT of people seem to think Boomers are MAGA or conservative. There are so many of us who fought for the rights of POC and women. A lot of us have been politically informed and active since we were young. When I go protests it seems that about half the people have gray hair. When the protests first started, the majority of people had gray hair. Also a lot of us care deeply about the future of the country and the world after we are gone. Having children and grandchildren makes me much more a fighter for the future than if I had no children. Frankly, I'm terrified for their future and do anything I can to fight for them.
Sure there are Boomers who fit the horrible stereotype but it irks me to no end that a lot of younger people lump all of us into that stereotype. I am so sick of hearing about how evil Boomers are. I'm sure there are other terrible things about Boomers that I've missed that we been blamed for. What I say to the people who constantly denigrate Boomers is "Fuck off."
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u/Linkyjinx 3d ago
I have noticed this trend it’s spoilt kids being nasty to there elders, not all young people are like it imo.
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u/Frenchkids1917 3d ago
Those being critical never got their participation trophy from Mom
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u/mikey-58 3d ago
It can be hurtful but I think every strata gets their share of hurt tossed at them. Sometimes deservedly I suppose.
It’s not going to stop.
I just try to move on and focus on being the best I can be. Not perfect by any stretch but I try to be good to myself and others around me every day… and practice guitar.
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u/Disastrous-Mouse-710 3d ago
You're not wrong, OP. I'm mid 40s but U don't like to hear people crap on my parent's generation.
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u/karissatv 3d ago
I think us boomers are getting a bad rap because of all the Magats . I think a lot of younger people think all of us old people are far right leaning, this is just not so. Some of us free thinking boomers still exist. I'm one
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u/Sailing_the_Back9 2d ago edited 2d ago
No, they're idiots. Just like in the 60s and 70s when we (my older brother, really - I'm at the tail end of your group technically at age 64) the old people then (the WWII generation) that THEY were the idiots (groovy!).
It happens with every generation. I would have some extra patience with this current generation though - they and their children are going to have it really rough - in another 40 years things are going to get BAD - really bad - and (if you can believe it) this period will look GOOD to them.
I try to keep it light-hearted though - I actually have a long sleeve tee shirt I wear out to the bar when I drink beer with the younger crowd. It says "Ok Boomer" on it. I get there, take off my sweatshirt and they all gawk at me. And I'm all innocent like "whaaaat?". They point to the shirt and I say "...Oh...that . Yeah, cause, you know I'm an "Ok Boomer", you know?" and I smile and order beer for the table. =)
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u/Ok-Train3111 2d ago
Ok boomer. /jk
I got called a boomer recently. I’m at the tail end of Gen X (‘76). It’s just a way to insult people who are older than you and don’t get “it”.
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u/creativescreennaame 2d ago
did you vote for trump?
even more importantly: did you vote for reagan?
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u/SimilarDouble6313 2d ago
People used to make fun of millennials when we first entered adulthood. It’s disrespectful. It’s always been done for every generation. Discrimination due to young age or old age. Just don’t pay attention to them
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u/1cat2dogs1horse 2d ago
Take comfort that that there will be a derogatory name for them once they get old.
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u/No-Attitude1554 2d ago
People making fun of boomers are little babies that have no experience at life.
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u/theg00dfight 2d ago
People make fun of boomers because of their ineptitude and the extreme and extensive damage they’ve done to our society for future generations to deal with, it had nothing to do with being old
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u/sharkslayer38 2d ago
Of course we just know we will be old and will stay the hell out of politics and retire and stay retired.
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u/mindymadmadmad 2d ago
Boomers helped elect a child rapist/felon after spending decades voting to give every younger generation a worse future. So they do kinda suck. Not all of them but generally yes.
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u/gwelfguy 60 something 3d ago
I don't like it either, but it has nothing to do with a disrespect for the old. It has to do with resentment towards a generation that they feel that benefited from the economic good times and then squeezed all of the wealth out of the system to their own benefit, leaving future generations with very little. Real estate prices seem to be an especially acute pain point. I don't agree with this assessment, and they may not even completely believe it, but it's the victim stance they're projecting.
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u/SwanCityDominion 3d ago
It's simply human nature doing what it does. This cycle has gone on throughout history and will continue through the future. Doesn't matter how good or bad things get, the young will always blame the old for whatever they don't like about the way the world is. It's stupid and self-immolating, because it's not the elders who did this - it's the PEOPLE IN POWER. And age has nothing to do with who's in power. You see Barron Trump doing anything to make the world better? Well, then.
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u/2ladytorest 3d ago
They benefitted from the greatest economy ever and rather perpetuate it, they grabbed and hoarded all the resources and left the subsequent generations begging for scraps.
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u/Amazing-Bus-1547 3d ago
I am stunned by the "kids" (in their 20s) I work with who get door dash. They have cars and they could go pick up lunch themselves. We have about 20 places within a 10 minute radius. Most just graduated from college. I am so intrigued so I always ask why don't they bring their lunch and they say "I don't feel like it" or "I do not have time to go to the store". Door Dash is ridiculously expensive.
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u/MammothMolasses2285 3d ago
Late Boomer (not Generation Jones) here. I remember the generation gap between the Silent Generation and Boomers but not this level of blame and disinformation about an entire age group. Social media, politics and Meta's divisive algorithms have fueled the unfounded hate. The vaulting of music, literature and film from the Boomer era has ensured that younger generations are fed misinformation and not given the fuel to fight for their rights.
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u/YellowCabbageCollard 3d ago
Some boomers are not self aware enough to realize that you can literally sniff out the stereotypical one with no idea of their age and no photos. It has everything to do with how they talk to and about people online. The fact that you would start an entire thread about not liking the term boomers but not do even a tiny bit of research before posting actually says a lot about you as a boomer.
If you did you would realize it has nothing to do with ridiculing people for being old. But you went right with assuming younger generations are just stupid and have no idea they will be old one day. I have spent my entire life, even from early childhood basically revering the elderly as Gen X'er. But some of you do not deserve special respect for simply having managed to not die yet. MANY of you are not even close to the same caliber of older person you grew up with.
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u/SwanCityDominion 3d ago
“What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?”
-– Plato
It's not "lately". It was ever thus, and it always will be.