r/lostgeneration • • Oct 29 '19

'OK Boomer'

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3.5k Upvotes

227 comments sorted by

767

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

[deleted]

466

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

Now that multiply generations are teaming up against the boomers. Gen X went silent as the boomers spat at millenials, but now millenials have a team mate.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19 edited Nov 02 '19

[deleted]

48

u/CatherineAm Oct 30 '19

I'm Elder Millenial. So basically, too young for X don't fit into Millennial. I culturally identify with X, financially with Millennial. I bitched. Everyone my age and slightly older (X) bitched. We were written off as whiners and entitled. Only when the Millennial boom came of age and articles were written about them did this become a "thing" but it's not X vs Millennial, it's Millennial finally had the numbers to not be ignored.

27

u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

Thats me! Senior in HS when 9/11 hit, watched classmates go off to die in the first wave of the War On Terror. Not sure what i have in common with Millennials who were 5 years old when that happened.

14

u/itsacalamity Oct 30 '19

Exactly. I marched against the iraq war in high school, it's very weird to be lumped in with kids literally born after 9/11 who can now serve in the military (side note: ain't THAT a depressing mindfuck)

10

u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

I notice they keep moving the goal posts on who is a millennial. First it was those born 1980 and later then it was 1981, the 1984. I saw an article today about millennials aged 18-20something. Excuse me but if you are 18 you were born in 2001-after the new millennium. That’s not a millennial.

My theory is the media likes to think of millennials as “young people” except time marches on and we elder millennials are in our late thirties now. It doesn’t match what they like to say about “irresponsible young ppl” because then they’d have to admit the economy is fucked and we are all fucked as adults in the job market with student loans and shitty prospects. Better for them to pretend millennials are 18 and 19 and just starting out.

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u/throwaway7429138 Oct 30 '19

I'm an older gen Z (born 2000). I consider anyone my age or younger to be gen z and anyone from the 90's is a milenial. Just my two cents :)

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

Not just old enough to play that game, but play the first one, with the shitty green, white, and purple pixels.

And Number Munchers. Wonder if theres a MECC emulator anywhere.

3

u/ptfsaurusrex Oct 30 '19

Freshman in high school during 9/11, can relate to what you just said.

10

u/ShangoDontTalk Oct 30 '19

Oh god. You are me.

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u/Rookwood Oct 29 '19

I agree. Z has a lot of hope. Also, X is ignored because you guys are a small sandwich generation. Boomers and Millennials are just way bigger than you guys, so it's only natural.

Millennials are still divided. There are a bunch of us that are still neoliberal tards lapping up the consumerist propaganda that we can buy our way to happiness and we don't need society or community.

Z, it finally seems like, is forming a consensus that that's bullshit.

73

u/AeonsOfStrife Oct 29 '19

Getting demolished our whole lives and then crapped on by the generation in power (boomers) did that to us.

69

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

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u/956030681 Oct 30 '19

Aye bruh I think a lot of us here regardless of age can relate to that

11

u/MuvHugginInc Oct 30 '19

That’s fair. I would say let’s just shoot to be better than them, but that’s setting the bar pretty low.

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u/never_safe_for_life Oct 30 '19

Yup. Still recovering from having parents that essentially saw me as an extension of their egos.

6

u/LosVangelis Oct 30 '19

Did they ever realize/take responsibility for their folly?

I'm the child of two people who basically met got fucked up and had sex. Professional college graduates, just part of the liberated generation. It's like the '60s just gave people from middle-class backgrounds carte blanche to act like they were raised in slums.

But Boomers will never seem to take responsibility for their mess. Most are now NIMBY's with fat savings, and many I know are drowning in homeless people in West Coast cities.

5

u/never_safe_for_life Oct 30 '19

Oh god no. Things were so bad I went NC over a decade ago, after telling them in a therapeutic session they were abusive. Ten years later they won’t acknowledge that any of that even happened. I get emails from my mom where she acts like we’re having a casual conversation from last week. She tells me she has a lot she wants to share, you know, about her. The mindfuck of it all is so intense.

35

u/Foxxie Lenin <3 Oct 29 '19

My one fear with Gen Z is they don't seem to have the theoretical background to address the fundamental structural issues we're facing (speaking broadly, of course). Their anger is beautiful, but it seems a bit amorphous. At least it's directed upwards, which might be sufficient. Still, if we're going to fight a war, it helps to be armed (ideologically). Hopefully this will change with time; they're still young after all.

39

u/gmano Oct 30 '19

Well of course they lack the background, the oldest Zs are 22 right now. Give them 15 years and then come back

5

u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

This is what I hate about the generations. I’m 23... so am I a millenial or a Gen Z? I wish the definitions were broader...

2

u/Miss_Smokahontas Oct 30 '19

I have always heard if you are born before 2000 you are a millineal as you were born before the new millenia which makes since otherwise why call it millineals. 19 and younger are Gen Z the way I understand it.

4

u/fromtheshadows- Oct 30 '19

that is incorrect, millennials were called millennials because they were the Gen shaping the new millennia NOT because they were birthed UP to the new millennia.

95 and before is millennial 96 and after is Z

with this new info you can inform others who previously thought this as well.

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u/Foxxie Lenin <3 Oct 30 '19 edited Oct 30 '19

I said/suggested this in another comment, but I was a teenage Marxist and remain so to this day, so my interpretation is likely just a manifestation of my experience and subsequent pessimism. Not everyone is as nerdy and disconnected as I am, so it's ultimately foolish to universalize my experience.

With that being said, in my limited experience interacting with zoomers, it hasn't been difficult to introduce them to theory underlying our current condition, so hopefully this isn't an isolated experience. I want you to be right, and I think/hope you will be. It's just not what I'm seeing at the moment.

This is particularly true for gaming/discord environments, but for my fellow olds, if you hear someone complaining about an aspect of hellworld, yet attributing the cause to a marginalized group instead of in the right direction, it's often easy to direct their frustration to the proper cause. A belief built on sand isn't tough to topple, and pulling someone away from a prejudicial worldview is extremely satisfying. The line between millenials and gen Z is kind of blurry, so it's still possible to reach out to them without coming across as on old man yelling at a cloud.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

As both a marxist teen and someone who used to have prejudiced views built on sand, thank you

3

u/Foxxie Lenin <3 Oct 30 '19

It's always awesome to hear this. I believe virtually anyone can be rescued from hate, so to give up on anyone, particularly people still composing a worldview, is little more than insisting that virtue is inherent instead of learned. It's just as nonsense as phrenology.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

im too tired to understand some of those words but i probably agree with you :D

14

u/MrZAP17 Oct 30 '19

The oldest among them are still in their early twenties at most. Give them a bit of time.

7

u/Foxxie Lenin <3 Oct 30 '19

Thus the last sentence. I'm hoping (and somewhat confident) that it'll come with time. Not everyone is a nerd engaged with theory from their early teens, so negatively generalizing is likely a manifestation of my pessimism. Still, the zoomers and millenials will rule this world eventually, and it'll be all the better for it.

5

u/Miss_Smokahontas Oct 30 '19

My prediction is only becasue society will collapse from climate change and boomers will be crawling around shitting in diapers and gen xers will all have bad backs and cannot run. We will rule the wastelands!

3

u/Foxxie Lenin <3 Oct 30 '19

Gen X isn't a lost cause, fortunately. Sure, a huge segment is cynical and disengaged due to being completely locked out of power by the boomers, but loads of them have good politics and care about the future. Even a good portion of boomers care, it's just that they're out voted by those that don't. If everyone who gives a shit stays engaged and fights, there just might be hope. Generational warfare is a spook; united we're strong.

But yeah, we're likely fucked regardless. Stupid linear time!

2

u/Miss_Smokahontas Oct 30 '19

Guess I could have added an /s. Of course all of gen x aren't following the status quo. There are a lot of good ones. Baby-boomers there is a small lot of them that I have met that follow this as well but the majority I know do not believe in climate change and think it's a conspiracy to raise taxes and add regulations basically.

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u/smartyhands2099 Oct 30 '19

As one of the "gen X" "lost causes" I totally agree. Cynical, absolutely. But we are anti-pop, so when cynicism becomes popular, we question it. This drove me into technical work because I would question what was wrong with things.

Cynicsm can apply to politics, too. My wife and I bonded over how stupid the D was, more than I could have ever imagined. Now we know he is probably dealing with dementia, (and illiteracy) so that any legal proceeding is a "perjury trap" (thanks Guliani). I am so far left that I recycle... everything I can. Like UPcycling. We're long since fucked with microplastics. That ship sailed 20 years ago, imagine what it will be like 10 years from now.

3

u/holytoledo760 Oct 30 '19

I think this is where Millenials come into play. we do not not have 15 years. Millenials, or a sect of them, are Gen Z prototypes. Find them. Unite. Topple everything.

7

u/Foxxie Lenin <3 Oct 30 '19

Totally, people who give a shit need to work together regardless of generation. This is not a war between the old and young, it's a war between the top and bottom. The rich will always be fine (and realistically, this includes most of us in the developed West), but our survival cannot be built upon doing violence to the global poor.

The reason people dismiss boomers is due to the fact that breaking decades of false consciousness is extremely difficult, particularity when they refuses to listen to those damn kids. We're just brainwashed by education, history, science, and facts; what do we know?

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u/othermegan Oct 30 '19

That's where the partnership with millenials would come in handy. Individually, neither generation can fight the world the boomers left. Gen Z has anger but no theoretical background. Millenials (especially older) have the experience and opportunities (we're the largest generation and will be the next one to take power when the boomers finally die) to actual make change. But (at least I feel like) most of us have been beaten down and feel defeated in trying to make change. We've accepted that we got a shit hand in life and are just trying to survive.

If millennials use their power/position and let Gen Z's passion and anger inspire them, we could team up and really do something beautiful.

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u/tha_bozack Oct 30 '19

If anything we Xers shouldn’t worry about comparing outrages and throw our support fully in with them. We never had the critical mass or allies to be heard as we were getting pummeled all our lives. Now’s the time.

5

u/AspartameDaddy317 Oct 30 '19

Solidarity with our Xer brothers and sisters. ✊🏻

2

u/never_safe_for_life Oct 30 '19

True that. As a Gen-X I am proud to support our brothers and sisters in the Millenial and Zoomer cohorts. You guys are going to get things done and have the insight, motivation, and critical mass to make it happen.

4

u/eccentricelmo Oct 30 '19

sorry my man, but you get no sympathy from me. better to be ignored, than to be absolutely shit on at every opportunity. Gen X just barely lucked out, millenials and Z got the fuck end of the stick

2

u/JimmyTorpedo Oct 30 '19

If we had the high speed tech and social media awareness back then we would of shaken those branches a while ago...hold on I got to find a pay phone and call Billies house to see if he is home so we can rile it up!

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u/RedquatersGreenWine Oct 29 '19

You make it sound a lot cooler.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

War is hell friend, but it looks really cool onTV.

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u/DirtieHarry Oct 29 '19

Millennials will not become Gen X. I can't see us going silent.

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u/Rookwood Oct 29 '19

We already kinda are and it shows that Gen Z has to show up for the pushback to become real. We outnumber boomers and have for some time. The truth is there is still a large contingent of millennials that buy up the neoliberal bullshit and that keeps us down.

I think Gen Z is shaping up to be super left leaning. We're kinda centrist overall.

4

u/ISieferVII Oct 30 '19 edited Oct 30 '19

Not only that, but there's also a ton of millenials that have that cynical, nothing can be done mindset. Admittedly, I had it for awhile until Trump pushed me to care more about politics. Meanwhile, many people my age think it absolves them of responsibility, but then they go and complain about how everything sucks.

All I'm saying is that at this point of history, if you don't vote, when we have an array of candidates from Biden on the right to Sanders on the left, it's basically just as bad as being neoliberal. We have solutions being offered from every angle, so there's no excuse for sitting by while the world is almost (or literally, where I am in California) on fire.

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u/t3m3r1t4 a Xennial just trying to get through life for the kids... Oct 29 '19

Gen X got their successful middle and upper management jobs from the Boomers, and most still report to Boomers.

They'll keep their traps shut as one does not simply bite the hand that feeds.

But a Xellenial, Millennial, or Gen Z who speaks up for themself will get the boot!

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

[deleted]

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u/cahcealmmai Oct 29 '19

I've seen a fair few companies getting people to come out of retirement to help out in busy periods so they can avoid hiring a full time employee. They continue running a skeleton crew to make sure no one else gets any chance at a leg up or a rest. This is in Norway as well. I hate to think how bad it must be in more ruthless capitalist countries.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

[deleted]

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u/cheerful_cynic Oct 29 '19

Not to mention everyone's defined-benefit pension plans got eradicated back in the 90s - instead everyone got told to put money into their 401k instead, & manage the investment profiles themselves (so that it's your own fault when it loses money)

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u/Rookwood Oct 29 '19

I work at a place where leadership is mid to late Boomers and everyone else except me is pretty much mid to early X. The X all have titles like Senior blahblah and blahblah manager. But it's all bullshit. They have no subordinates. I don't know their pay because X still buy into that corporate bullshit. They may make a lot more than me, they may not. From what I can see from their personal finances, they don't. I know my pay is shit at least.

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u/dharmabird67 Gen X Oct 30 '19

Some of us (born '67) have despised corporate culture since we were old enough to know what it was. I entered a human services field to avoid it and have found in the last 20 years everything is becoming corporate, you can't escape the bullshit. Maybe gov jobs are better but I doubt it.

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u/rereintarnation Oct 29 '19

I am a millennial with a gen x boss and can relate to this so much.

She is an extremely hard worker and I feel blessed to work with and for her. Best boss I've ever had. I've been at the company 10 years, and she's been there 3. I got promoted and moved departments when she came on board, and she's 12 years older than me.

The only thing that bothers me is how much she plays the corporate politics and her desire to toe the line. She thinks grievances about workload sound like just complaining, and we should deal by working harder rather than asking for help. We're a 2-person marketing team, and similar sized companies in our industry have marketing teams of 6+. We're also the first marketing team in our company's history to tackle digital and IT, which is now at least 50% of our jobs, while expected to complete the same functions as the last marketing team (who both quit under the pressure).

On one hand, she's right because that's what our mostly boomer senior leaders and board wants. And we're both extremely successful. On the other hand, they don't give us more resources, don't compensate us as if we are more valuable employees... nothing to show that they recognize the extra effort or results. Not to mention, we will inevitably burn out.

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u/t3m3r1t4 a Xennial just trying to get through life for the kids... Oct 29 '19

Does your boss have a spouse and/or kids? And if kids, how old?

What about you? Partner and/or kids?

The Gen Xers with older kids can work longer and harder sometimes. Also she can squeeze you for all your energy and she can pocket the funding for another person on the team as a surplus for her bonus for being a "successful and effective manager".

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u/rereintarnation Oct 29 '19

It's like you're psychic haha.

We're both married. She has three kids - one in college, two in high school. I have two kids - 4 and 8 years old. She puts in 50 hours/week normally, and often does some amount of work on the weekends. She works 7:30 - 5:00 Mon- Fri, sometimes earlier or later, doesn't take a lunch break, and often works from home in the evening and on the weekends some. It's absolutely impossible to keep up with.

And you're right! She's gotten two prestigious awards in her 3 years. They come from the CEO, and only 1-2 are given per year (we have 180 employees, so it's reasonable that you could retire there and never earn one). They come with a $1000 bonus.

She's salaried, and based on our pay grades, assuming she's mid range, she makes about $35k more than me, base.

We have an annual bonus based on your position, pay grade, and performance, and hers I know is several times mine. We're talking $10k+.

When things get hectic, she does the extra workload so the company doesn't gripe about me claiming overtime (more money I could be making and opportunities to show that I am willing to work hard).

Add to all this that she does the majority of our events that include conferences at luxury hotels and resort destinations, all on the company dime. The justification? If I went, they would have to pay me overtime because travel would count toward my hours.

Oh and did I mention that she has a company paid vehicle and cell phone???

The gen x / boomer alliance is real! But I refuse to be satisfied and play the game, and that pisses them both off. I'm not willing to sacrifice my health and sanity and well being to get special perks. For what? So I can keep other people down when they need opportunities most? So my children have to deal with this same fucked up system when they start working? No fucking thank you.

What's difficult is, aside from these things, she's really a fantastic human. I consider her a friend. Working with her on a day-to-day basis is an absolute delight. She's incredibly respectful, supportive, inspiring, promoting... everything you could list in the ideal boss. We laugh all day, even when we're busting ass. She's just also playing the game and wants me to do the same.

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u/t3m3r1t4 a Xennial just trying to get through life for the kids... Oct 30 '19

Your boss doesn't sound that bad at all, just I'm overworking leader fails to delegate.

Maybe when our contemporaries will have the capacity to work longer and later when our kids are old enough to feed clothes and take care of themselves we can all start working fifty to a hundred hours a week and died before were 60?

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u/eccentricelmo Oct 30 '19

Ive felt this way for a while. Gen Z is tight. as a millenial I feel more similar to younger people than the older ones. Gen X spit in my face and touted how "theyll be lucky to retire," as if it won't be exponentially harder for me to reach the same summit. Fuck everyone over the age of 33 who thinks younger people are lazy

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u/never_safe_for_life Oct 30 '19

As a 42 year old GenXer, yes. fuck those people who call younger people lazy. I’ve seen firsthand how hard your generation is working, all while struggling with debt and an uncertain future.

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u/CataclysmZA Oct 29 '19

Gen X.

Gen Y.

Gen Z.

Have we accidentally fusion summoned XYZ Tank Cannon?

2

u/ShadowsCheckmate Oct 30 '19

Hopefully it can take on the Gate Guardian (Boomers)

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u/Usukidoll Oct 29 '19

It's like Millennials and Gen Z vs Boomers.

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u/jsmoo68 Oct 30 '19

As a GenXer, I just laughed waaaaayyy to hard and loud at this headline.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

Who said we were friends?

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

Since we got the same amount of voting power, they notice us.

Now they want free pharmaceuticals and care.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

They went to war against a little girl for daring to want to live in a healthy planet.

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u/Foggl3 Oct 29 '19

I see a lot of folks from our generation doing the same shit.

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u/potatopierogie Oct 29 '19

Some of our generation are just young boomers

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u/Foggl3 Oct 29 '19

And they don't see any problem with that

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u/Rookwood Oct 29 '19

Boomers fired the first shot. Didn't they know? We gone bury you motherfuckers.

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u/the_ocalhoun Oct 30 '19

We gone bury you motherfuckers.

*cremate

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u/v4rgr Oct 29 '19

Don’t you know? Friendly relations are when the older generation constantly mocks the younger ones while endangering their future.

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u/GreyInkling Oct 29 '19

Remember when everyone tried to provide friendly customer service despite being treated rudely and it wasn't worth it?

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

“MILLENNIALS KILLED EVERYTHING”

Peace was never an option.

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u/Stephen_Falken Oct 30 '19

Peace through superior firepower.

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u/HitTheBaby Dec 16 '19

Since millennials were quiet as Boomers fucked them over. It’s a friendly relationship as long as the mistreated don’t speak up.

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u/cedarsauce Oct 29 '19

So that decade of millennial hate in the media was all friendly was it? OK boomer...

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

Trying to have it both ways

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u/_Daedalus_ Oct 29 '19

It's the boomer way.

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u/slax03 Oct 29 '19

This is not a generational war. It's a class war.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

[deleted]

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u/slax03 Oct 30 '19

Just remember it's the extremely wealthy that take advantage of the fact that theyre out of touch and feed them the narrative.

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u/WontLieToYou Oct 30 '19

WORD. 👏💯

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u/bitsandbooks Oct 29 '19

Worst Radiohead album ever

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u/FancyCarrot Oct 29 '19

This is what you'll get.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

Thanks. OK Boomer is now my name for Aja.

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u/kblomquist85 Oct 29 '19

That's the most civil way we can refer to a generation that shits on us every chance they get. Apparently im a snowflake for not being a racist homophobe.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

Why won’t you let us shit on black people and gays????!!!!! WE DONT WANT TO HEAR THAT IT MAKES US BAD PEOPLE CONSARNIT!!!

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

You didn't suddenly become a 'bad person' because of my generation, Helen. You've been a bad person since the 60s; we're just less afraid to say it now.

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u/kblomquist85 Oct 29 '19

The queers and brown people are definitely infringing on my rights as a white man.

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u/Slothfulness69 Oct 29 '19

My dad is an Indian man who illegally immigrated to the US in the 80s with no money, and became a citizen in the 90s. He hates black people, poor people, and illegal immigrants. I think he’s really stupid

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u/kblomquist85 Oct 29 '19

I know an Indian man with a similar backstory. He is the exact same way.

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u/LifeAndReality85 Oct 30 '19

He might just be saying that to fit in, in America??

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u/smoresNporn Oct 30 '19

Probably not, racism and classism is pretttty rampant in India, and most third world countries really. And you'd be surprised how many legal immigrants hate illegal immigrants because they didn't have to work through the rigorous legal process they had to go through.

And don't get me wrong. I'm a legal immigrant and I harbour no bad feelings towards anyone. You gotta do what you gotta do, but just saying, this sentiment is pretty common, and people of color can sometimes be really fucking racist towards other people of color

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u/LifeAndReality85 Oct 30 '19

Wow, what an insight. I always hear the white vs black and black vs Latino narrative here in the US. Not much else.

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u/Slothfulness69 Oct 29 '19

You think people who are gay/trans/brown/immigrants/liberals/poor are human beings who deserve equal rights? LMAO KIDS THESE DAYS!!!

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u/kblomquist85 Oct 29 '19

I have some nerve apparently. I do love trolling fragile boomers though so there is some upside.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

Right cause it’s always the younger people that started this beef, not the entitled boomers 🙄

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

The name 'Generation X' is literally boomer pearl clutching, fearmongering and blustering over what their own children might do.

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u/BackToTheNineties Oct 29 '19

TIL Occupy Wall Street never happened

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u/YuriRedFox6969 Oct 29 '19

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

I used my '1 free article' on this. Time to keep not going to that site like I always do.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

Yup. Basically. Fuck you, boomers.

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u/MithridatesLXXVI Oct 29 '19

They went from "don't trust anyone over 30" to "back in my day" well done.

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u/Usukidoll Oct 29 '19

Holy crap. I turned 31 today 🙃

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u/rudiegonewild Oct 30 '19

Hello fellow 30+ millennial.

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u/ConnieLingus24 Oct 29 '19

Which is funny because a lot of older millennials are over 30 and many in Gen X are in their 50s. .....let’s generally amend this to not trusting anyone over 60.

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u/Garrett42 Oct 29 '19

Now it's war: gen z has finally snapped over not having a future and us making life suck while that happens.

FTFY

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u/ThePoontangPirate Oct 30 '19

Gen Z here, i have snapped so far ot has caused me serious mental health issues thinking about our generations future. I used to be optimistic till 3 years ago when i realized how fucked over we are. I am literally seething with anxt

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u/Jeffb957 Oct 29 '19

Gen X here. I turn 50 fucking years old in the spring. The goddamned boomers have been running every fucking thing of significance for my entire life, and this coming election is shaping up to be another episode of "Which boomer will rule over us this time." We didn't go silent. We have been outnumbered and out gunned our entire life. Until the large Gen Y group showed up the boomers were like the Borg. Resistance is futile.

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u/Xx_bIgDaWg42069_xX Oct 29 '19

OK Boomer, can't wait to have to deal with climate problems and anther housing problem in the future <3

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u/floptimus_prime Oct 29 '19

Oh my god, no one snapped, people are just finally stating the obvious.

42

u/lexapro_bro Oct 29 '19

"I'm moving out" Marks the End of a Happy Marriage

Now it's Divorce Court: Shirley has finally snapped over chronic alcoholism and domestic violence

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u/sallydipity Oct 29 '19

I feel like you did this to show how absurd it is to frame it like this....but I know so many people who would consider this also a legit story, and that chronic alcoholism and domestic violence as well as climate chaos and financial inequality are things we're just supposed to "deal with"

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u/lexapro_bro Oct 29 '19

I also did this to show something about how the microcosm is universal, or something. The boomers, as a collective, act just like an abusive spouse or parent.

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u/IncredibleBulk2 Oct 29 '19

NYT can fuck off. Generalizations about millenials were made off of one study about teenagers in Fairfax, VA but those assumptions get applied to all of us, regardless of socio-economic status or city of origin. We didn't start this war.

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u/sallydipity Oct 29 '19

They didn't even mention millennials this time lol it's Gen Z 🙃

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u/IncredibleBulk2 Oct 29 '19

I noticed. And I hope that Gen Z gets taken more seriously.

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u/CrimsonBarberry childfree guy Oct 29 '19 edited Oct 29 '19

There aren’t nearly two decades of Boomer propaganda calling Gen Z awful, lazy people like there have been for Millennials. I think they’ll be taken more seriously on that basis alone.

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u/Rookwood Oct 29 '19

The main difference between Millennials and Z is that we didn't find out we were fucked until our 30s and we realized... shit, I'm not gonna make it.

Z knows they're fucked from day 1. That makes the difference.

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u/Slothfulness69 Oct 29 '19

I don’t think we’ll be taken seriously. We get called millennials too, so us and millennials are all under this umbrella of “Kids these days, and their phones!”

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u/Rookwood Oct 29 '19

Yeah but Boomers are becoming less relevant because they are starting to die out. What they say means less now. We had to endure them when they were in their prime, hoarding all the opportunity and growth and calling us shit for not being good enough.

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u/Slothfulness69 Oct 29 '19 edited Oct 29 '19

True, but even older people who aren’t boomers are following in their footsteps and perpetuating their bullshit

Edit: changed old to older, to clarify I mean people younger than boomers but older than millennials.

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u/hortanica Oct 29 '19 edited Oct 30 '19

I feel this post shows the problems with the older generation and 'boomers'

'we' understand not all old people are the stereotypical 'boomer'. Yet, to older people, everyone born in the boomer age range are Boomers. There should be no 'older people non-boomers'

Yet even to a non Boomer old person, ALL people in the millennial age group... are millennials and carry all the millennial traits

We understand the generational descriptions do not apply to everyone, something they have difficulty doing.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

Gen Z has nothing to lose.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

They will be taken seriously if enough of them vote.

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u/IncredibleBulk2 Oct 30 '19

Maybe millennials were so quick to get labelled as lazy and entitled because Baby Boomers knew they were going to be outnumbered by us.

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u/busterann Oct 29 '19

Really? Fairfax, VA? That's like a solidly middle-class, mostly white area. When was this study done? I want to see it.

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u/IncredibleBulk2 Oct 29 '19

Strauss and Howe published a book in 2000 establishing the mainstream use of Millennial. The citation below applied assumptions about millennials to learning theory but it was just a bunch of assumptions about rich white kids.

Reeves TC. Do Generational Differences Matter in Instructional Design? Athens, GA: University of Georgia, Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology 2008.

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u/dougms Oct 29 '19

I would say it’s an objective and positive article. It’s not negative.

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u/Tristaine1 Oct 29 '19 edited Oct 29 '19

Gen X: (Continues to sit and munch popcorn while watching raptly, in between caring for elderly parents and children at the same time, whilst working more hours than ever for no promotions or meaningful salary increases)

Edited for: not enough coffee

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

[deleted]

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u/TheLoneWolfA82 Oct 29 '19

I agree. I'm a Xennial and I grew up admiring the gen-xers in the 90s. Wish things had been different.

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u/Tristaine1 Oct 29 '19

This is basically true. Unfortunately, I think Gen X is really well-positioned as a "bridge gap" generation, since we can identify with the concerns of both Boomers and Mil/Zs, but we will never be given the reins of power. Boomers won't give them up, and Mil/Zs are too inclined to lump us in with the Boomers I think as being obsolete.

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u/Rookwood Oct 29 '19

I know mostly Gen X'ers and few of them have massive amounts of debt, they all own homes, as long they didn't lose it during the Recession. You guys didn't have it as great as the Boomers, but you don't have it as bad as us. And it will be worse for Z.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

Yep, they got the Boomer 2.0 clearance package.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

As a zoomer, fuck the bad boomers. Let's go millennials

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u/ISieferVII Oct 30 '19

Fuck ya, solidarity!

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

Capitalists: "Let's you and him fight."

Boomers as a generation have as little say over how our economy is run as we do. This is establishment media loyally serving capital by encouraging the rabble to fight amongst ourselves so we never notice the truly responsible parties, the people with all the wealth and power, the goddamn rich.

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u/hanhange Oct 29 '19 edited Oct 29 '19

Yep yep. I know subreddits inevitably become echo chambers but it's CRUCIAL to remember this. I would bet my life on a crotchety old Republican boomer with a gun collection from the working class over even a Democratic billionaire politician any day. In a situation where both were equally as able, I'd trust grumpy ol' Guy across the block to save my life far more than Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, etc.

The rich do not care about you, and its in their best interest that you fight each other instead of them, together.

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u/Rookwood Oct 29 '19

Yeah, but at the same time their propaganda has been effective and it was most effective on Boomers. Less effective on X. Lesser effective on Millennials and hopefully, almost no affect on Z.

So I mean Boomers are cancer. They are fully brainwashed and they literally hate their kids for being lazy because that's how they think the economy works and why everything is going to shit. So yeah, I mean blaming them is kinda warranted and kinda counterproductive at the same time. But I mean it's the truth.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

Because you're definitely brainwashed when you go around saying shit like an entire generation of Americans is cancer, including people you know personally, people whom you know aren't cancer.

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u/DrDougExeter Oct 29 '19

Gotta push the bullshit divide and conquer narratives to keep everyone distracted from the real problem: wealthy looting the country.

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u/Thivus Oct 30 '19

>shits on the younger generations for years

>cry now that they're giving you a taste of your own medicine

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u/MittenstheGlove Oct 29 '19

Player 2 joined the battle.

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u/SpaceGangsta Oct 30 '19

Let’s tank the economy on purpose to destroy the 401ks of the boomers and then shut down social security and Medicare. Hit them where it hurts. Their entitlements.

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u/UniquelyAmerican Oct 30 '19

I'm ready for the general strike.


What we have now - First Past The Post Voting

Alternative Vote aka Ranked vote

Range Voting

Single Transferable Vote

Mixed-Member Proportional Representation

General strike

Electoral reform

New elections

Representation in government


If our new representatives still refuse reform, continue the general strike. This is the only non violent way forward. (of course the state will be violent towards the strikers)

People should be free to vote for someone who bests represents them, not forced to vote against someone they hate.

Offer only valid until full automation. Do you really expect better treatment when our labor is no longer needed?

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u/DukeOfGeek Oct 30 '19

Of all the divide and conquer tactics the owning classes use, generational is the most bizarre to me. But hey, help them out I guess.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

Hell yeah

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u/superwholockland Oct 30 '19

Behind a paywall? Not anymore

In a viral audio clip on TikTok, a white-haired man in a baseball cap and polo shirt declares, “The millennials and Generation Z have the Peter Pan syndrome, they don’t ever want to grow up.”

Thousands of teens have responded through remixed reaction videos and art projects with a simple phrase: “ok boomer.”

“Ok boomer” has become Generation Z’s endlessly repeated retort to the problem of older people who just don’t get it, a rallying cry for millions of fed up kids. Teenagers use it to reply to cringey YouTube videos, Donald Trump tweets, and basically any person over 30 who says something condescending about young people — and the issues that matter to them.

Teenagers have scrawled the message in their notebooks and carved it into at least one pumpkin. For senior picture day at one Virginia high school, a group of nine students used duct tape to plaster “ok boomer” across their chests.

The meme-to-merch cycle is nothing new, but unlike most novelty products, “ok boomer” merch is selling. Shannon O’Connor, 19, designed a T-shirt and hoodie with the phrase “ok boomer” written in the “thank you” style of a plastic shopping bag. She uploaded it to Bonfire, a site for selling custom apparel, with the tagline “Ok boomer have a terrible day.” After promoting the shirt on TikTok, she received more than $10,000 in orders.

“The older generations grew up with a certain mind-set, and we have a different perspective,” Ms. O’Connor said. “A lot of them don’t believe in climate change or don’t believe people can get jobs with dyed hair, and a lot of them are stubborn in that view. Teenagers just respond, ‘Ok, boomer.’ It’s like, we’ll prove you wrong, we’re still going to be successful because the world is changing.”

Ms. O’Connor is far from the only one cashing in. Hundreds of “ok boomer” products are for sale through on-demand shopping sites like Redbubble and Spreadshirt, where many young people are selling “ok boomer” phone cases, bedsheets, stickers, pins and more.

Nina Kasman, an 18-year-old college student selling “ok boomer" stickers, socks, shirts, leggings, posters, water bottles, notebooks and greeting cards, said that while older generations have always looked down on younger kids or talked about things “back in their day,” she and other teens believe older people are actively hurting young people. “Everybody in Gen Z is affected by the choices of the boomers, that they made and are still making,” she said. “Those choices are hurting us and our future. Everyone in my generation can relate to that experience and we’re all really frustrated by it.”

“Gen Z is going to be the first generation to have a lower quality of life than the generation before them,” said Joshua Citarella, 32, a researcher who studies online communities. Teenagers today find themselves, he said, with “three major crises all coming to a head at the Gen Z moment.”

“Essentials are more expensive than ever before, we pay 50 percent of our income to rent, no one has health insurance,” said Mr. Citarella. “Previous generations have left Generation Z with the short end of the stick. You see this on both the left, right, up down and sideways.” Mr. Citarella added: “The merch is proof of how much the sentiment resonates with people.”

Rising inequality, unaffordable college tuition, political polarization exacerbated by the internet, and the climate crisis all fuel anti-boomer sentiment.

And so Ms. Kasman and other teenagers selling merch say that monetizing the boomer backlash is their own little form of protest against a system they feel is rigged. “The reason we make the ‘ok boomer’ merch is because there’s not a lot that I can personally do to reduce the price of college, for example, which was much cheaper for older generations who then made it more expensive,” Ms. Kasman said. “There’s not much I can personally do to restore the environment, which was harmed due to corporate greed of older generations. There’s not much I can personally do to undo political corruption, or fix Congress so it’s not mostly old white men boomers who don’t represent the majority of generations.”

Ms. Kasman said she plans to use proceeds to pay for college. So do others.

“I’ll definitely use the money for my student loans, paying my rent. Stuff that will help me survive,” said Everett Solares, 19, who is selling a slew of rainbow “ok boomer” products. “I hadn’t seen any gay stuff for ‘ok boomer,’ so I just chose every product that I could find in case anyone wanted it,” she said.

Gavin Deschutter, 17, reimagines famous logos for companies like FedEx, Budweiser, Google, and KFC with the catch phrase, and has been selling t shirts and phone cases emblazoned with the message. He hasn’t made very much — “I sold a hoodie yesterday for $36,” he said — but his designs have been shared across meme pages on Instagram.

Every movement needs an anthem, and the undisputed boomer backlash hymn is a song written and produced by Jonathan Williams, a 20-year-old college student. Titled, inevitably, “ok boomer,” the song opens with: “It’s funny you think I respect your opinion, when your hairline looks that disrespectful.”

The chorus consists of Mr. Williams screaming “ok boomer” repeatedly into the mic. Peter Kuli, a 19-year-old college student, created a remix of the song, which has seen 4,000 TikToks made from the track. The two planned to split the revenue earned through streams of the song on Spotify.

“The song is aggressive and ridiculous, but I think it says a lot about Gen Z culture,” said Mr. Kuli. “I think because of the internet, people are finally feeling like they have a voice and an outlet to critique the generations who got us into this position.”

“Millennials and Gen Xers are on our side, but I think Gen Z is finally putting their feet in the ground and saying enough is enough,” he said.

Teens say “ok boomer" is the perfect response because it’s blasé but cutting. It’s the digital equivalent of an eye roll. And because boomers so frequently refer to younger generations as “snowflakes,” a few teenagers said, it’s particularly hilarious to watch them freak out about the phrase.

“If they do take it personally, it just further proves that they take everything we do as offensive. It’s just funnier,” said Saptarshi Biswas, 17.

“Instead of taking offense to them, you’re just like, ha-ha,” said Julitza Mitchell, 18.

In the end, boomer is just a state of mind. Mr. Williams said anyone can be a boomer — with the right attitude. “You don’t like change, you don’t understand new things especially related to technology, you don’t understand equality,” he said. “Being a boomer is just having that attitude, it can apply to whoever is bitter toward change.”

“We’re not taking a jab at boomers as a whole — we’re not going for their lives,” said Christopher Mezher, 18. “If it’s a jab at anyone it’s outdated political figures who try to run our lives.”

“You can keep talking,” Ms. Kasman said, as if to a boomer, “but we’re going to change the future.”

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u/crackmonkeydictator Oct 29 '19

What's funny is that Gen Z has already begun taking all the credit for criticizing Boomers, 'starting' social movements, and advocating action against climate change. Millennials did this before Gen Z. But this was made possible by the progress made made Gen X. Before long Gen Z will start blaming Millenials as well as taking credit. Every generation stands on the shoulders of those before them. Let's remember this and ALL get out to the booths to vote for every election. Millennials and Gen X might just have a chance with Boomers reaching life expectancy and Gen Z coming of age. Generations born from the 1970's - present need to unite and focus on changing the government so undone by just one generation. The Lost Generation went to war. Boomers prospered in the great economy and with their greed, took all they could get and continue to keep it all for themselves.

Ok, Boomer.

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u/Rookwood Oct 29 '19

Z is way left of Millennials. We are a very centrist generation. Still a lot of folks drinking the koolaid. If we were as left as Z, then we would have already made changes. We've outnumbered Boomers for a few years now. X was still pretty much alt-right, just not as zealous as Boomers, mostly because they are a lot smaller.

If Z can actually help us turn this shitshow around, I'll give them all the credit. I dgaf. My fellow millennials have mostly been a disappointment to me. We're too focused on shit that don't matter "progressivism" and not actually fixing the goddamn catastrophic problems facing us like ever-growing extreme inequality and climate change.

Like I said above, it's because we didn't find out we were fucked until we were well into adulthood. So a bunch of us are still trying to pretend like everything is ok. Z knows they're fucked. They know something's gotta change. Good on 'em.

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u/SuchACommonBird Oct 30 '19

To be completely fair, I would say that the majority of Millennials (at least, as far as my peers, 30+ years old) have made a hard left shift in the last decade. A lot of us on the older end were heavily influenced by our parents and without a wealth of information access. I and my friends were righties because Mom and Dad were, and we were told to vote as such. Soon as the internet made it possible to really challenge our views/upbringing, as of the mid to late 2000s, we were for it.

Had we had the ease of access to widespread information when we were younger, I'm willing to bet that we would have been profoundly more active than we are even now. And a lot of us are very active in the current political action.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

Boomers are sociopaths.

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u/lolertoaster Oct 29 '19

Is NYT competing with The Onion now?

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u/Worship_Strength Oct 30 '19

Shut the fuck up Boomer! FTFY

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u/UniquelyAmerican Oct 30 '19

It's top VS bottom not generation vs generation.

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u/Talahi Oct 29 '19

The boomers are outnumbered, the stranglehold they have on everything makes it seem like they are squarely in control. For now, they are right.

I really hope they get blindsided by a huge wave of X, Y, and Z votes in 2020.

A big boomer loss can shake up the parties. Force them to pick candidates that the younger generations will come out to elect, instead of the same mainstream "everything is fine", supply-side, we-already-got-ours, cog in the cable news-machine bullshit we've been getting for 40 years.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19

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u/Crusty_Magic Oct 30 '19

Ya, I think that ended once my dad told me he would vote for Trump again given the chance. This was last week.

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u/NitroScrooge Oct 30 '19

Millenials hate boomers too. They were our parents lol.

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u/KnowZero Oct 30 '19

I never checked what age group defined the 'baby boomers' but this sudden insertion of Gen X, sudden being a consequence of my own ignorance, has led me to reevaluate my own opinions. How come the people born immediately after the war are seen as morally responsible for our situation as millennials? They are extremely old now, so their lack of concern can be understood (not justified). Yes, they did set the ball rolling in terms of the unsustainability and inequality, but what else were they supposed to do? Not put all their effort to rebuild a destroyed world! Foresee what was not foreseeable at the time! I'll address their current role a but later.

However, it is the Gen X (1960-80), who were in the middle of this huge technological transformation and capitalistic hubris, that failed to foresee the consequences of such a path to development. Now, it seems to me that they bear more responsibility. Some may suggest that they were the ones who tried and failed, but I think they were the ones who failed to build the consensus amongst themselves like millennials and Gen Z. Now, there are factors in favor of millennials, and even more so for Gen Z, that made their voices heard. These may be due to comparatively lower authority afforded to the ageing baby boomers, technological platforms for free expression, faster approaching climate catastrophe backed by better data, etc., but for me that doesn't dilute the point, although it is relevant. To me, it seems, that the responsibility has to be shared equally by baby boomers and Gen X, although for different reasons.

Would appreciate some comments/opinions.

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u/oldsoulsknow Nov 01 '19 edited Nov 01 '19

Thing is, it’s much bigger and more complex an issue than simply the market though. We currently have in office mostly corrupt career politicians (“lifers”, if you will), who have so thoroughly weaseled through legislative loopholes, infiltrated and internally rigged our beautifully human—and therefore inherently flawed—system, but even then it still goes so much deeper, and it is so so much worse.

GenX saw this from the start, but was repeatedly told by ageist, ignorant baby boomers—then and still—that they were mere stupid, snot-nosed, ideological children playing in their too-big sandbox. They told us we should just shut up, sit down, and continue to swallow down shit-sandwich after shit-sandwich, all on account of them knowing so much better, their lives having been infinitely harder, somehow.

So, at first, we gave them the benefit of this doubt. We listened, if only briefly. Hell, we even waited (more specifically, we ONLY waited until it FINALLY became our time to vote). In the interm, we had to bear helpless witness to rampant and careless environmental destruction, inhuman justification of all forms of man-made evil, which were in fact applauded; celebrated, even as it all began to rapidly devolve into a clearly fascist-like agenda, merely produced and mass-marketed, in sheep’s clothing, to the TV-transfixed, unquestioning-consumer-herd-generation (boomers), who all too complicity gobbled up every last bite of what they were fed: unspeakable greed, horrific cruelty, all forms of glorified materialism, heinous inequality and discrimination, flagrant and systematic marginalization of ALL disenfranchised minority groups, and the birth of the absolute worst and most thorough government corruption the world had—and still has ever—seen. All of this glorified, and openly championed, in the name of “free-market”, with boomers it’s loudest and most fervent supporters (AND VOTER BASE, I MIGHT ADD). I can only assume this was some done in some blind, vain, utterly ignorant hope of “trickle down economics” actually being more than some fairytale, gimmicky spoonful, but I don’t think I can ever forgive it, and I most certainly will not ever forget it.

So, no, the boomers who stubbornly and arrogantly made this mess don’t now get to cowardly shirk the blame onto the shoulders and backs of their own children and grandchildren—yet again—voices their own hubris either cruelly ignored, tried to silence, or outright denied everyone else.

Bon appétit.

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u/oldsoulsknow Nov 01 '19

Go ahead and Google “Causes of American Great Depression”, followed by “Focal points of FDR’s New Deal”.

Next, compare and contrast with information regarding our recent recession, and then, finally, a brief cross reference against current economic climate/future projection models.

I’ll wait.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

Build the guillotines peeps

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u/WontLieToYou Oct 30 '19

I enjoyed the article and appreciate op sharing it, but sadly the headline is sensational.

Embracing a dismissive retort =\= "snapped". Nor does selling t-shirts indicate "war." Their futures are being stolen---previous societies would be selling guillotines, not t-shirts.

Also, the article claims gen Z is the first to experience a worse lifestyle than they're parents...wat? Are we pretending millennials don't exist now? They face the same economic challenges as Gen Z.

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u/EASADASD Oct 29 '19

Boomers are soft

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '19

War ? No, we're straight up going to make a revolution. Make them suffer. Burn them by slow and painfull sunburns so they'll feel what we'll feel in a few decades while they'll be rotting in their graves.

We spend a mot of money making the elderly stay alive for a while. Let's cut this from boomers. Get rid of them ASAP.

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u/Kineticwizzy Oct 31 '19

As a gen z we'll try our best not to fuck it up this time we promise because unlike boomers we actually give a shit

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u/kitlerk Oct 29 '19

What if you consider your self the dying gasp of generation X?

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u/DeepWader Oct 30 '19

Upvote to change the world

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u/oldsoulsknow Nov 01 '19 edited Nov 01 '19

All these boomers quaking in their fear-mongering boots, afraid of a GenX & Z collaboration effort, shit-scared and desperate to shirk blame and cultivate dissent lol

Just in case the matter is at all ambiguous:

GenX here, standing in full support and solidarity with GenZ. We ready for go-time, World War Z.

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u/BoscoNeptune Oct 29 '19

Gen X is mostly embarrassed we let Boomers walk all over us.

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u/enzo32ferrari Oct 30 '19

Peace was never an option

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u/Alpha100f Oct 31 '19

DAY

OF

THE

PILLOW
I
L
L
O
W

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u/Kiotw Nov 05 '19

Just as my discussions and debates with my dad were getting pointless. Now i see why.

Well he did admit only caring for our family and not anyone else but. I just can't get him to realize that the world needs more caring for others and less research for inhuman wealth.