Anti Baby boomer hate

[Urban Gardener]

@silva I’ve noticed the same thing.

But I think that when there’s a strong push for social change, it intensifies.

My parents are of the generation before Boomers. What are they called? I don’t even know because I’ve never heard people spewing hate at them.

They have told me about all the hate the Boomers got for the civil rights movement and the whole hippie thing.

Millenials seem to be getting the same thing.

It’s ironic that no one seems to recognize what those two generations have in common. There is a lot of common ground.

It’s just a matter of people of different ages not getting along.

 

[PTree15]

Isn't it really just a different way of the older gen complaining about the younger ones?
My whole life, 60's born, I've heard complaints from the older gen about the younger ones. The younger gen always is touted as having things easier, of being lazier, not strict or disciplined enough. The younger generation is always thought of being the ones to bring society down, bring on evil things. Every. SIngle. Generation. Full of the crap of how the world is going to hell now that they're not the ones in power.

These days I think it's more prevelent because of the cool memes--like "OK Boomer". Heck, I use that one to people my own age all time!

It's just some people. There are so many kinds of some people

Yep, social media has exacerbated all the criticism.

 

[FredVegrox]

I see the generalizations made, and dismissals for a whole group of people based on age, in media generally. It is really bad seeing racism in communication, and seeing sexism in communication, and it is bad seeing speciesism in communication, especially even seeing that among other vegans in their media groups. And seeing ageism is just as bad, and dismissal of an individual based on a whole age group along with it is that. Communication should be dealt with on its own merit regardless of the individual who communicates, as individuals are not all the same, and one individual is not really understood from what group, according to race, or sex, or age, that one is included in.

 

[Lou]

My parents are of the generation before Boomers. What are they called? I don’t even know because I’ve never heard people spewing hate at them.

Here in the USA they are called The Greatest Generation.

They lived thru the Great Depression. Fought in WW II. landed on the moon. Many of our best greatest inventions were produced by this generation. There were also great cultural and artisic accomplishments.
And they produced the Baby boomers.

I'm very disappointed in the baby boomers. (and I am one). we had a great start. we ended the Vietnam War, participated and fueled the civil rights movement of the 60s. Started the environmental movement too. but then nothing. I don't know what happened to us.

 

[Veganite]

I'm a boomer. One thing that comes to mind is how awful us boomers were with recycling, so I am told. Yet, I remember when I was a kid we didn't have plastic bags, or very few of them. We used glass for everything back then too, as apposed to all the plastic now, and then we re-used those glass jars and bottles over and over. We also didn't rush out to buy a new TV when ours broke. Us boomers were more inclined to repair that old TV. We repaired everything we possibly could. We also didn't bring knives or guns to school, that I recall.

Every generation will have it's pros and cons. Sure, we could've done better as boomers. What's important is that the next generation learns from those previous generations mistakes, but sadly that isn't the case.

*

 

[KLS52]

I think a lot of it had to do with growing pains. The world was changing. People were trying to find themselves while dealing with issues of the time.

Let us not forget the “Me Generation”. I think that might have been the start of the decline for us boomers.
“The 1960s are remembered as a time of political protests, radical experimentation with new cultural experiences (the Sexual Revolution, happenings, mainstream awareness of Eastern religions). The Civil Rights Movement gave rebellious young people serious goals to work towards. Cultural experimentation was justified as being directed toward spiritual or intellectual enlightenment. The 1970s, in contrast, were a time of disillusionment with idealistic politics among the young, particularly after the resignation of Richard Nixon and the end of the Vietnam War.”

“The development of a youth culture focusing so heavily on self-fulfillment was also perhaps a reaction against the traits that characterized the older generation, which had grown up during the Great Depression. That generation had learned values associated with self-sacrifice. The deprivations of the Depression had taught that generation to work hard, save money and not spend it; to cherish family and community ties. Loyalty to institutions, traditional religious faiths, and other common bonds were what that generation considered to be the cultural foundations of their country. Baby boomers gradually abandoned those values in large numbers, a development that was entrenched during the 1970s.”

You can read more here. It’s interesting.

The Baby Boomers were nicknamed the "Me Generation" due to their perceived narcissism | The Vintage News

I don’t believe we are where we are because of anything any one specific generation did. It’s a culmination of a lot of different things

 

[anarchist100]

I avoid reading any of that crap. I think ignoring it is the best policy! I am a proud "boomer" and old "hippie."

I thought the term Ok Boomer was designed to make fun of old conservatives, guess we might need to find something else.

 

[FredVegrox]

I thought the term Ok Boomer was designed to make fun of old conservatives, guess we might need to find something else.

Whatever the phrase was designed for, it is already a phrase of dismissing what one says, conservative or not, as if that dismissal without consideration of merit is justified. I see that online, to disregard what someone says on its own merits, when the one commicating it is known to be so much older, or if it is assumed that one is. Still besides this I see other ageist dismissive remarks with assumptions about others being another age, such as a child living with parents, living in a basement, or needing a nap time. In other words, I see ageist dismissal as a growing problem, such that anyone disagreeing in any way is more prone to be dismissed even in an abusive way with being put down with assumption of a certain age used as basis for it. This means there is less critique of statements on their own merits.

 

[Urban Gardener]

This means there is less critique of statements on their own merits.

I’ve been noticing the same thing. Everything is being reduced to people’s perceived demographics.

 

[FredVegrox]

Many people's version of “the truth” seems so obvious that to them those with whom they disagree must be arguing in bad faith, with no common understanding of the facts others see, with this our society has become highly polarized. This is a big part of how people are being reduced to what group they belong to regardless of merit in what they say.

 

[Lou]

My parents are of the generation before Boomers. What are they called?

They are sometime called the Greatest Generation. Officially they are called the silent generation.
These are the people who survived the Great Depression. won WWII, and put a man on the moon.

There is a good joke about it. not sure exactly how it goes but an old man is watching his grandson graduate from college. A young punk sits next to him and says I don't understand your generation. Growing up you had no TV, no computers, no microwaves. the old man just says, that's right so we went out and invented them.

 

[PTree15]

I've been seeing a lot of Gen Xers complaining about Boomers who insist on working past retirement because they're greedy. What some people don't get is that older folks are working longer because they can't afford private health care. They retire when they can go on Medicare. Believe me, if it weren't for that, a lot of Boomers might have retired sooner than 65.

I think it's also a function of Social Security. They've changed the age for maximum benefits depending on when you were born, meaning people have to work longer to get their full Social Security benefits. This is especially true given that so many companies have stopped offering pensions. These people act as if all Boomers have great pensions and wealth. I'm at the tail end of the Boomers (and have never felt like I fit in with them), so my age group got screwed out of decent pensions and were stuck with the ruse that is 401(k). The 401(k) is great if you make enough money early on to actually be able save toward retirement. But not everyone is so fortunate.

 

[KLS52]

I wonder how many stay at home boomer moms there are, too. I was one so never got to put that much into social security. It's fine now because my husband and I are both collecting so managing pretty well. It will be a different story when one of us dies and that second check is gone.

 

[Mufflon]

I've been seeing a lot of Gen Xers complaining about Boomers who insist on working past retirement because they're greedy.

Here the younger generations are hating on boomers because they're still getting decent retirement money despite having been able to retire earlier than the next generations will be able to.

 

[Chryssie]

I am a "boomer" and on Social Security which I had to take early because of my life circumstances. I HAVE to work. I worked at low paying and mostly part time jobs my whole life but my Social Security is no way enough to live on. I got no pensions and could never afford to save anything. I really don't know what I will do when I am not able to work.

 

[Raven]

I know this is an old thread, but I always feel excluded from these arguments as others have said as I'm Generation X. I was born in 1976 and it seems like the arguments are always between people born after 1980 and baby boomers. I don't see how my being born four years earlier makes me a lot different from slightly younger people so I don't really have any antagonism towards older people.

I do agree that in the UK people who were adults and bought property before 1999-2000 should generally be a lot better off financially as we have seen house prices go up in most of the areas of the country people want to live in. But then there are people who didn't buy property and didn't have good jobs with decent pensions in that generation too.

 

[Mufflon]

I know this is an old thread, but I always feel excluded from these arguments as others have said as I'm Generation X. I was born in 1976 and it seems like the arguments are always between people born after 1980 and baby boomers.

Gen X is usually not mentioned, that's right. When looking at the vitriol that gets thrown around whenever there is some "gen this vs. gen that" quarrel I don't complain about being more or less invisible being born in 1977, lol.

However, even 1980 is "too old" now as well - the classic "let's bash the boomers" seems to come from people who're younger. My personal impression is younger than 30.

 

[KLS52]

Gen X is usually not mentioned, that's right. When looking at the vitriol that gets thrown around whenever there is some "gen this vs. gen that" quarrel I don't complain about being more or less invisible being born in 1977, lol.

However, even 1980 is "too old" now as well - the classic "let's bash the boomers" seems to come from people who're younger. My personal impression is younger than 30.

My kids were born in 1975, 1977 and 1981. They don't get involved at all in the generational wars.

Interestingly enough, I see most negative remarks about boomers from gen x on facebook. They seem very angry that the boomers ruined everything for them.

This is why I'm so anti label everything. Generalizations really bother me. Admittedly, I get butt hurt when someone makes a derogatory comment about boomers even if the situation doesn't apply to me. I'm always saying in my head, hey...that's not me! Lol

 

[shyvas]

I got no pensions and could never afford to save anything. I really don't know what I will do when I am not able to work.

Would social housing be an option for you?

 

[Chryssie]

Would social housing be an option for you?

I am not sure what "social housing" would be in the US. There is very very little low income housing here and years long waiting lists and strict qualifications. This is why there is such a bad homeless problem.