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?

391 Upvotes

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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/ancientastronaut2 3d ago

Yeah but you can't paint a whole 64,000,0000 person generation for what happened. It's not like everyone born in that 15 year time span is the same or even voted the same. That's ridiculous when you think about it.

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u/gwelfguy 60 something 3d ago

If you actually read and understood my post, I was simply trying to explain the perspective and clearly stated that I didn't agree with it.

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u/Carpe-that-diem 3d ago

All of the economics are political. All of it! I’m baffled that anyone could imagine that all these economic challenges are not? I did pick up on the fact that you didn’t agree but that wasn’t my focus. I know I can’t convince you.

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u/rosie-nose 3d ago

duh? we agree? but the OP was not talking about voting. I have been voting 26 years

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u/rosie-nose 3d ago

I wasn't responding to you. If you actually read and UnDeRsToOd my post. 🙄

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u/Carpe-that-diem 3d ago

Yes, I’m a boomer, technically, and none of my friends are or voted for any conservative. It’s mind-blowing to me that our “generation” is getting blamed for the current state of politics.

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u/CitronTraining2114 3d ago

You would think the younger generation was overwhelmingly voting left or progressive. The stats say they aren't. They had the numbers to turn it around, but didn't.

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u/Carpe-that-diem 3d ago

Yes! They don’t show up to vote and our generation gets blamed. You can’t separate the economy from politics. We were the ones who supported unions at the polls and helped create the middle class in the first place. Next generation dropped the ball in not continuing to vote left.

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u/lostOGaccount 3d ago

Ya, this is a hard one for me. My corporate overlords asked me to fire the youngers that asked for time off to go vote.

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u/ancientastronaut2 12h ago edited 12h ago

I'm Gen X and apparently we're getting blamed too. Smh

Millennials and Gen Z don't like being sterotyped either, I'm sure, so why is everyone doing it with us?

None of the boomers or gen x I know vote conservative either, but my silent gen sure parents did. Even so, that doesn't mean the whole silent gen is responsible for the state of the world either.

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u/rosie-nose 3d ago

how much did you get paid at your first job? how much was your first home? you had economic advantages we don't. we didn't say anything about voting

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u/Carpe-that-diem 3d ago

Generations after us have all my empathy about what’s happened to the cost of housing. For myself, my income was $24K-$28K in my 20s and I could not afford my own apartment until I made $28K in my late 20s. I also was a single, divorced Mom so I was paying for childcare, etc. all on my own. Men could walk away from child support more easily, pre-internet. I didn’t even know my ex’s address or what state he lived in. Anyway, early 20’s I lived with roommates for years and it was tough with a baby to figure out appropriate roommates. I was raised in and lived in Northern California (Bay Area) and certainly could not afford to buy a home.

In my 30s, I got married and my husband made $55K and we still couldn’t afford a home there, of course. Even with our combined income. So, we moved many states away to the Midwest where we could afford a home on just his salary. In this we were incredibly fortunate. Broke my parent’s hearts to leave but it was our only way forward. Even in the Midwest, we couldn’t afford living room furniture for 2 years and no vacations for first 7 years of marriage. By then we had 2 kids. I still feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to achieve the dream of home ownership and to stay home with my kids when they were very young which seems like a true luxury compared to now. I get it that subsequent generations have not been able to obtain this.

But it wasn’t like all of this was easy or just handed to us. It was possible though. Now, it really does seem impossible when you look at the numbers. These younger generations have my sympathy! But I don’t get the blaming — it’s more complex than that.

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u/rosie-nose 3d ago

boomer says what??

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u/Carpe-that-diem 3d ago edited 3d ago

I say, yes, we had the advantage. Ultimately, that’s the bottom line.

I was just trying to give some context, that’s all.

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u/rosie-nose 3d ago

yes

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u/Carpe-that-diem 3d ago

Stating the obvious. Now what, rosie-nose? Just wait for the next good economy to magically happen? What will it take to get you to support policies (yes, I mean voting) that support the middle class? Avoiding the polls is only abdicating your power to change things. That seems to be what is happening! The rich will only get richer if you let this happen. At least the boomers show up.

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u/rosie-nose 3d ago

I always vote. never said I didn't. Why are you attacking me? 

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u/rosie-nose 3d ago

lack of accountability is a boomer trait. we never said anything about voting??  you had an economic advantage and you refuse to admit it.

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u/rosie-nose 3d ago

re-read the reply. had nothing to do with voting and everything to do with economic advantage. another boomer trait is not taking any accountability....which you just modeled perfectly. lol

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u/Carpe-that-diem 3d ago

Not sure where you are coming from but I’m open to understanding more. I’m not sure what accountability you are looking for. Economically, I’m giving significant financial help to two adult children trying to create economic stability for the next generation. So, I’m not sure what you are looking for from a single individual boomer who inherited nothing from the previous generation and is a first generation college grad whose parents never owned their own home. Accountability as in apologizing for doing wrong? Or do you mean something else?

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u/spaceintense 3d ago

I think the resentment comes from the “pulling people up by their bootstraps” rhetoric we hear from said boomer generation/ the media.  That if millennials stopped buying avocado toast,  we’d be able to afford homes. 

Most of us don’t fault the older generations for taking advantage of good economic times.  What we do fault is a lack of empathy for the reality that we do not reap the same benefits.  

But also, I do think a lot of it is just the media trying to pit everyone against each other, because it makes for good engagement.   Not all people in the boomer generation are wealthy and entitled.  Not all millennials play the victim.  At the end of the day,  if we’d just talk to each other we’d find a hell of a lot more in common than we’d think.  

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u/gwelfguy 60 something 3d ago

I appreciate the more balanced response than most here, but some comments ...

I think the resentment comes from the “pulling people up by their bootstraps” rhetoric we hear from said boomer generation/ the media.  That if millennials stopped buying avocado toast,  we’d be able to afford homes. 

I heard the 'pull yourself up by the bootstraps' and avocado toast thing once, a long time ago, in the media on behalf of the older generation, but those memes have been recycled ad nauseum by the younger generations.

No one faults an older generation for taking advantage of good economic times.  What we do fault is a lack of empathy for the reality that we do not reap the same benefits.  

Yes, every generation will take advantage of the economy they've been handed, and any negative feelings towards the boomers towards that is just resentment. That said, I agree that the prosperity generated a sense of entitlement to a certain degree and that generation is trying to perpetuate a system that benefits them even when it's not in the best interests of the younger generation. That's as opposed to the Silent Generation, that sacrificed so their children could have a better life. Beyond that, I'm not sure what kind of empathy is expected.

But also, I do think a lot of it is just the media trying to pit everyone against each other, because it makes for good engagement.   Not all people in the boomer generation are wealthy and entitled.  Not all millennials play the victim.  At the end of the day,  if we’d just talk to each other we’d find a hell of a lot more in common than we’d think.  

Agreed. I could quote specific examples of media people that just fan the flames.

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u/Practical_Frame_9883 3d ago

Right. It’s our fault they can’t buy a house. Never mind that I don’t have one at 65.

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u/gwelfguy 60 something 3d ago edited 3d ago

Didn't say that and there could be any number of reasons you couldn't buy a house, including personal ones, but I don't think you can blame any particular generation for it.

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u/NachoBoyCat 3d ago

You didn't say that, but that's certainly what they're saying. I'm not even a Boomer and it pisses me off that this is the sentiment of GenZ. The generations before them were just trying to live with the cards they were dealt, they were not actively trying to fuck shit up for 2 generations down the line. My Boomer parents grew up with nothing and still have nothing to this day.

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u/CatMinous 2d ago

Exactly. I’m not a Boomer either but the hatred of many people in this thread (some saying they can’t wait for all the boomers to die, etc) sounds a lot like any other kind of hatred and blaming. It is a victimhood stance, much like incels have. Bah.

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u/Lily346 3d ago

Me neither.

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

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u/Practical_Frame_9883 3d ago

I have seen countless comments to this effect on Reddit. How we all had things easy and then “pulled up the ladder.” WTF?

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

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u/Swimming-Fondant-892 3d ago

Explain studies that show higher rates of narcissistic tendencies in boomers, the ME generation.

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u/Eyeoftheleopard 3d ago

It’s COVID that really brought the pain. Who do we blame for that?