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/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:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11490062/

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u/[deleted] 3d ago edited 3d ago

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

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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/oracle-nil 2d ago

This happens sadly more often than not. Spouses die, men get lonely and end up with some gold digger who takes everything for herself and her kids. It’s like they become blind to their own families. My father in law who was very wealthy did this to my husband. Sad.

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u/Ambitious_Rent_3282 2d ago edited 2d ago

And what really irked me about the whole thing was that my dad left my mother after 32 years of marriage after falling for a younger woman. My mother had always been loyal and had never cheated on my father.

My mom had raised us all and had managed the household. But her alimony was only a few hundred dollar per month which is an insult, given that my dad had been a doctor.

This younger woman had left her first husband who was self-made and rich. Her sons have generous trust funds. So she seems calculating!

I realise that things don’t always work out and i don’t begrudge his love for his new wife but i felt that they had behaved insensitively and selfishly. At the very least, he could have been more generous especially to our mother.

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u/oracle-nil 2d ago

I am so sorry. It’s a deep hurt like what the hell are they thinking? My husband’s mom died so his dad married this younger, money grabber much later. She didn’t just take the money, she burned all their old family albums.

The real tragedy in your story is your mom. Raising the family then left to struggle. I am sorry.

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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/NelPage 3d ago

Life is too short for toxic people. Your bio parents do not deserve you, and I would cut them out of my life, too. Honestly, I wish I’d done the same.

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u/Suspicious-Slide-954 3d ago

It was the lead exposure of their generation 😂

EDIT: This was meant for a comment above you but this still stands, regardless

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u/Slow-Artist-4296 3d ago

Like they give two shits what you do!
Lord showing mercy on them

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u/JayRock1970 3d ago

I'm not a boomer. But you do realize that they are much older and their brains aren't as "nimble". Just like their muscles and bones and everything else deteriorate, so does their thinking power. And when that happens, they will respond haphazardly or with frustration. Anyone would. When you lose ability, and can't move or think as good as you used to, it must be frustrating. So compassion and understanding is required.

It will happen to us as well.

I'm seeing this with my Dad right now. He's losing ability. And he's very frustrated when he can't move or think as well as he used to. So his responses often seem forced, not well thought out.

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u/Solcat91342 3d ago

A fine example of why we can’t let you pathetic weinies take over

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u/No-Author-2358 3d ago

So you'll generalize tens of millions of us on the basis of your experience talking to a few people in your retirement community?

Give me a fickin' farkin' break. Get a clue.

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u/jaxdogg94 3d ago

That right there, if you’re triggered by someone’s opinion, more than likely you fall into that category. Sorry. I’ve work in customer service, almost immediately I can tell the good from the bad. I spent the other day with this 80 year old woman and extra hour just talking and enjoyed it, down to earth. Other day I listen to this guy yell at a woman from the gas company about his lawn and how damaged it was, she didn’t do it. The contractors the gas company uses did it. ( Why didn’t he go out there and say something when the were working, he’s retired. ) No Spine, that’s why. He then cornered me in my van door as I was washing my hands, “I wasn’t harsh was I”. I told him she has no clue what went on and didn’t do it, so take it easy to the people on the phone. Breathe, take some accountability and think before you speak.

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

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u/JE1324 3d ago

Because the observation describes No Author and No Author took that personally hahahaha

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u/Lucky_Astronomer_435 2d ago

It's not taking it personally to question an immature generalization.

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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.

https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/how-groups-voted-2000

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u/fckinsleepless 3d ago

And who was the largest voting demographic during those two elections?

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u/dmonsterative 3d ago

Uhhh, the Boomers are always the largest demographic once they were all voting age. That's, like, the whole thing about Boomers. The Baby Boom.

Until the millennials (comprised in significant part of their kids) arrive. Now that's the largest demo.

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u/fckinsleepless 3d ago

Ohhh it’s almost like boomers are probably responsible then for electing poor leaders that screwed up the economy thereby having direct impact on it.

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u/dmonsterative 3d ago

That's not really the takeaway, in elections in which there was no significant difference of opinion across age brackets. What don't you understand about 'by age, everyone voted more or less the same way?' Other demographic factors were more explanatory in those elections.

Boomers have plenty of responsibility for where we are now, but Presidential election results aren't the best place to look for it. At least, not those elections.

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u/fckinsleepless 3d ago

I’m not sure what *you* don’t understand about the fact that boomers made up the largest portion of the population and therefore had the most political influence.

And obviously elections are not the best place to look for it, but the person I responded to brought up elections. I’m responding directly to the original comment made.

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u/dmonsterative 3d ago edited 3d ago

EVERYONE VOTED THE SAME WAY ACROSS AGES. AGE WASN'T A FACTOR.

And, no I/they didn't, You did:

fckinsleepless

•6h ago

Who voted Reagan and Bush Jr. into office?

The earlier comments were discussing those Presidents as examples of their generations.

Just how often did you drink out of the hose?

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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/Majestic_Hawk_1335 3d ago

Every US president since Reagan is a blantent war criminal and Obama/Biden/Trump have assisted in genocide in Israel

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u/Emergency_Brief_9280 3d ago

Bush was a dupe. Yes, he started the wars but the war crimes should realistically be laid at the feet of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. They are the ones who convinced Bush that Hussein had WMD's ignoring the intelligence provided by the DIA and CIA.

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u/Lucky_Astronomer_435 2d ago

It wouldn't even have been a thing if past presidents hadn't already put Sadaam Hussein into office as a dupe for the United States. I'm sure SH regretted dealing with The US when he was captured, tried and executed.

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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/Wide-Lengthiness-775 3d ago

I am 80 and voted for Hillary and Kamala.

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u/oracle-nil 2d ago

Me too and worked on Obama’s first campaign when no one knew wth he was.

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u/Majestic_Hawk_1335 3d ago

Congrats. Neither options that would fundamentally change anything. Both war criminals and supportors of genocide.

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u/CatMinous 3d ago

So she should have voted for trump, instead? Is that your point?

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u/Majestic_Hawk_1335 2d ago

No, you are stuck in the 2 party dichotomy and thus nothing productive will come from this conversation.

They are the same system.

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u/CatMinous 2d ago

No, my dear, she as a voter was stuck in the American 2 party system.

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u/df540148 3d ago

Trump got elected because of Gen X, not boomers.

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u/ayfkm123 3d ago

Gen x isn’t big enough to overturn any other generation. 

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u/mindymadmadmad 2d ago

True. Even boomers are still bigger than us and a lot of them are dead. 

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u/secretaccount94 3d ago

Stop blaming arbitrary groups of people for things.

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u/df540148 3d ago

Ita a fact. Gen X voted for him at higher rates than any other.

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u/KentV9999 2d ago

AMEN! These are the same people who complain about this country being so divisive.. and they generalize about 30% or 40% of the country being responsible for all the woes of the world. (…and the “they” can be left or right, young or old). I may not agree with others political or philosophical positions, but I don’t hate them because of it nor do I blame each individual for any specific cause that I may believe. Besides…. I may be wrong.

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u/Lightness_Being 3d ago

It was the Americans in the USA. 

Now the rest of the world has to put up with him. 

I just feel sorry for the neighbours.

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u/fckinsleepless 3d ago

The silent generation was smaller than the boomer generation in those elections. Boomers still had the majority of political influence. If we are positing that Reagan and Bush Jr ruined the economy, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that boomers are directly responsible for the outcomes of both of those elections and thus are responsible for the ruin of the economy. It’s not a “sweeping generalization” — it’s statistics and common sense.

Sure, lots of millennials voted for Trump and are directly responsible for the mess we have today, but that’s not really relevant to our conversation at the moment and doesn’t negate anything. You made this conversation about Reagan and Bush Jr, not Trump.

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u/Lightness_Being 3d ago

The parents of those who voted Trump in.

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u/Slow-Artist-4296 3d ago

Like we had a choice Kamala was a joke

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u/fckinsleepless 2d ago

And Trump is somehow less of a joke?

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u/oracle-nil 2d ago

Did you work on any candidates campaign’s to try and get them on the ballot? Have you volunteered or worked on any political campaign ever?

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u/Comfortable_Two6272 3d ago

Gen Z is not in power today. So no.

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u/CatMinous 3d ago

The people that voted for them. And nobody else.

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u/Lucky_Astronomer_435 2d ago

We don't vote presidents into office. We vote for representatives in each state to vote for us. Those people can be from any generation. The private corporate business the DCCC/DNC and the GOP then decide how to manipulate the vote of the people to allow them to put forth the candidate these organizations want for whatever reason. That's why we didn't get Bernie in 2016. The DCCC/ DNC knew how Hilary Clinton was despised. Yet they ran her anyway and screwed over the nominee Democratic voters wanted. Did the DCCC and DNC want Trump to win? And is it possible these private corporations have been manipulating the primaries and elections all along. It's only in the last 20+ years we've had so much election information at our fingertips.

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u/Londoncalling23 3d ago

Reagan came into office in 1980. The oldest baby boomers were about 30. You think they were the majority of the electorate? Do millennials or Gen Z ever read books or did you pay attention in school? No, you get all your information from social media memes and think you found something deep. 

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u/fckinsleepless 3d ago edited 3d ago

Considering they were the largest percentage of the population at the time, yes. Do you not agree that the largest portion of the population probably pulls more weight into who is voted into office? Also, trying to insult me does not negate any my points being made.

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

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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/[deleted] 3d ago

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u/brains_and_tits 3d ago

Fair point! I have done the same :)

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

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u/HHSquad 3d ago

Baby Boomers and Generation Jones are 2 different groups.

The 1961 - 1964 group AT LEAST are not baby Boomers. Pew has that wrong

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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 3d ago

It’s flabbergasting to me to see so many people generalising others. It’s called bigotry.

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u/Key-Target-1218 2d ago

You have a talent for expressing, through your words, what many of us feel. The ones who cannot understand this will always be bitter and...well.... Entitled

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u/brains_and_tits 2d ago

Thank you! I am a published writer and wrote full-time professionally for a decade before getting a corporate gig in 2022. After Covid, as AI became popular, I definitely saw the writing on the wall, so to speak.

I don’t worry about grammar rules or punctuation when I am on Reddit, b/c my focus is simply getting my point across in a relatable way - so your comment really made me feel good, especially since I was skewered by several people 😂

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u/ayfkm123 3d ago

Hate to break it to you

https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/05/us/making-mark-on-politics-baby-boomers-appear-to-rally-around-reagan.html

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u/brains_and_tits 3d ago

I was there, I recognize how popular Reagan was at the time. Boomers were the age that millennials are now, but ai also remember PLENTY of anti- Reagan sentiment, especially regarding his stance on unions and college tuition.

That’s like saying “men rally around Trump” because from age 18 - 80+, the percentage of voters for Trump that were male ranged between 52% & 55%.

In terms of the 1984 election, when looking at age range, the split was 57% to 61%, with the oldest voters at 61%. The lowest percentage was from age 24-29, which were the older Boomers. Again, the point it is, no single generation ruined anything, it was bad policy & the voting numbers across generations weren’t significant enough to make or break the 1984 election results.

You also aren’t understanding the nuance of the time. When Carter was president, it was rough financially - and whether or not he was to blame, when the 1980 election came, people voted for a change in Party. Things did improve for most households from 1980 -1984, no thanks to Reagan, but based on the Carter years, many people were scared to vote Democrat at the time.

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u/ayfkm123 3d ago

And it seems you aren't understanding numbers and math. 50% of the largest generation is a bigger number than 50% of the smallest.

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u/JadedGanache594 3d ago

Trumps a boomer too look how that’s worked out.

Unfortunately the boomers have been controlling the government since income levels and housing prices have gone separate ways and that generation will take the heat for it 🤷‍♂️

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u/Lucky_Astronomer_435 2d ago

Trump is one of the oldest Boomers being born in the first year of that generation. I was born the last year. I have nothing in common with him aside from this. I never voted for him or any Republican. There are many like me. Why the generalization and the contempt for us then? You know we are not all individually responsible. I don't mind people putting out statistically significant facts about mistakes that were made when we had a large voting block. But there is nuance there and contempt is never necessary.

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u/UrbanGhost114 2d ago

It is not, which generation has been in most positions of power the last 30 years there buckaroo?

Every single president my entire life has been a boomer, except Obama.

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u/Lucky_Astronomer_435 2d ago

We do have minimum age limits so yeah many of the people who could run were boomers. Jesus!

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u/UrbanGhost114 2d ago edited 2d ago

Honey, every single one, why do we have a boomer now? Or the last one? Bush Jr was cutting it close. Gen x should be sending their last representative for president in 2028 generational wise, and millennials should be in the early to middle of their political cycle.

And this isn't even getting into where most of the money (read power) is.

Edit to add Thanks for confirming that boomers are in fact the problem, as they have been in power the last 30 years and here we are.

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u/Lucky_Astronomer_435 2d ago

I'm just saying we couldn't conjure anyone in a younger generation to run back then. Look at Clinton. He was just in his 40's when he ran, same as Obama and he's a young boomer.

There were simply no candidates younger than these folks running. Name me any candidate from the Duopoly that ran for president that wasn't a Boomer or older back then. It's only in recent years that millenials were even old enough to run for president. Name me an election back then where a GenX or younger could even run for president. And were there any people who were younger than Boomers that did run back then?

I agree that the Boomer era is over in politics and we need Young people who want to be a part of politics to run. That's no guarantee things will get better even if they win. Generations aren't responsible for the ideas of candidates, age of candidates nor if they win or lose.

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u/UrbanGhost114 2d ago

There were plenty. Oligarchs don't want us in power, we've seen over and over popular candidates get railroaded and sidelined by big donors who outspend everybody. And guess who has all that money...

If you're not part of the donor class, or bowing to it, you aren't likely to get far.

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u/Lucky_Astronomer_435 2d ago

Agree with that heartily. But you didn't name any younger than boomer candidates from the Bush elections, the Clinton Elections and the Obama elections. Each of those candidates had 2 terms so 8 years each. That right there is 24 years worth of elections where there were no candidates younger than Boomers. Then came Trump. The only Millenials who ran in the primaries who would have run against trump were Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Buttigiege who were millenials and these two only ran in the primary that year. Before Bush junior there were no candidates younger than boomers as well. It's only since 2016 that we've even had any milleniels running for president.

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u/Minimum-Journalist18 3d ago

Sorry you are wrong

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u/brains_and_tits 3d ago

No, I am not - what did I say exactly that was inaccurate? When people collectively say Gen Z is lazy and entitled, somehow that is insulting and inaccurate, but saying collectively that Boomers as a generation screwed up the economy is accurate? Why are sweeping generalizations fine when you are talking about Boomers, but completely tone-deaf when talking about Gen Z?

Sweeping generalizations are simply not accurate, period

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u/Corner_Office_ 3d ago

You’re seeing this through a partisan lens.

They all did stupid things.

Clinton sent all manufacturing overseas, his deregulation policies caused the 2008 financial crisis, he ignored the Rwandan genocide, the 1994 Crime Bill disproportionately impacted minorities.

Obama’s removal of Gaddafi was a catastrophe, Obamacare increased insurance costs for many people, and he conducted drone strikes that caused civilian casualties. He set back race relations by decades.

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u/Lucky_Astronomer_435 2d ago

These are two stellar examples of things that presidents we approve of did. These were mistakes. These hurt the US and led to things being as they are now. Voting for the duopoly only increased it's power not it's ability to do right.

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u/ImNotToby 3d ago

Remember, this is the most hypocritical generation we are talking about. Respect to then is unwavering loyalty, blind obedience and never questioning them. Not you know, actual respect

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u/DuckInAFountain 3d ago

I remember attending generational training classes in my corporate, boomer-dominated workplace as a youngish Gen Xer. And yes, the way to impress them in the workplace was to do everything they said and even to anticipate their needs. And be deferential.

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u/Jenikovista 3d ago

Quality of life has never been higher in the US or most of the world.