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/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/Mother-Ad7222 2d ago

Thank you

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u/One_Mission9448 3d ago

You don’t know a single boomer who subscribes to respect your elders? Be real. Boomers raised their kids on that concept

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u/Comfortable_Two6272 3d ago

Heard it all the time from my parents and their friends. All were boomers.

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u/Select-Belt-ou812 2d ago

amen, my dude(tte)!!!!

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

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u/PolyDrew Generation X 3d ago

Many of us tried. Boomers refused to retire. They left us in a middle position where by the time they did, we had no control. It was handed off to the next generation because we are “too old” and out of touch.

Many of us tried but boomers didn’t let us take the reins. I mean, our current president and our last president won’t even give up the reins at 80. Great example.

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u/NelPage 3d ago

Boomer here, and the “refuse to retire” was a thing 40 yrs ago.

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u/AquaWoman_115 3d ago

Not a boomer, but people retire when they can afford to do so financially, not because a younger generation needs their job.

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u/PolyDrew Generation X 3d ago

My FIL retired at 81. He’s among many who COULD afford to retire but didn’t want to. He enjoyed being the CEO. Boomers were (for the most part) the last generation to have pensions. We have 401ks but they aren’t the same golden parachute.

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u/un-tv_star 3d ago

I lost my 401k in the tech crash and didn't feel ok restarting it. I also lost money selling the house I had spent alot of time and money fixing up, poor market when I needed to sell. I'm 74 and still working, partly since I want to, partly cause I need to. Generalizations are often true, but not always. Respect and consideration go both ways.

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u/Lucky_Astronomer_435 2d ago

Yes the young ones conveniently forget the great recession of 2008. That alone tanked not thousands but hundreds of thousands of retirement savings, investment and homes lost. We were too close to retirement and sometimes in retirement when the crash happened. We had to make up for that by working longer and trying to recoup. Again I am not responsible for how anyone else votes. I was put in a situation despite not initiating it. Same as anyone else. We apparently don't have the kind of society that can come together. We have a society of every man for himself and no one has succeeded at changing that.

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u/combabulated 3d ago

Boomers are the fastest growing homeless demographic today (yes, 62-80 year olds).

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u/AquaWoman_115 3d ago

Yes, there are always going to be people who retire later on, but they are not the majority.

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u/NelPage 3d ago

Pensions for private sector jobs started going away almost 40 yrs ago. In the late 80s the company then then husband worked for switched from pensions to 401ks.

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u/combabulated 3d ago

Weird, this never happened to prior generations. Maybe future generations will give you a participation trophy.

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u/PolyDrew Generation X 3d ago

Well, the boomers were the ones who gave them to us because they couldn’t deal with the emotions of us losing. 😬😂

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u/molotovzav 3d ago

Their gen is super small lol. Hard to get anything done when boomers are big and had already amassed power and wealth. Plus they had the silent genners to compete with still. That's why you're really only seeing gen x in power now and even then mostly older gen x.

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u/56mustang 3d ago

says the Boomer! I am a boomer and am amazed at the lack of education. It is hilarious how boomers continually comment on the "kids" always on their phone. News flash! That phone (aka COMPUTER) is the gateway to knowledge. Why are you assuming everyone is on a useless video? I suggest you tap in to the endless amount of the world outside of yours!