To the OK Boomers..

[Peacetrain]

Last edited Wed Nov 20, 2019, 08:43 AM - Edit history (1)

The truth is.. if all goes well in your world you will live to be a pain in the butt to the generations behind you . As an older boomer our mantra was (when I was 18) "Do Not Trust Anyone Over 30" Yep that was us..

This is the one thing that you cannot get away from if you live a full life. You will have the generational divide. By the way I was at the very first Earth Day. Your turn is coming for leading.. it will be a while.. the youngest boomers are 55, and generation X is not going to let Y (the Millennial's who are so much like us) get ahead of them, and Z is already chomping at the bit. .. so its a bit of time yet. But I truly truly hope you are better at this than we were.

And I am OK with being a boomer. We changed history. And so will you.

[JHB]

1. I'm just going to add this to any "OK Boomer" thread I come across, to add perspective

[Peacetrain]

3. Love it!!

So true

[redstatebluegirl]

2. Thank you Peace Train!

I had the "OK Boomer" thing hurled at me in a meeting a week ago. I looked at him and laughed out loud. It kind of caught him off guard. I then went through the things I have accomplished in my life, the causes I have worked for, fought for, been arrested for and asked him to list his. He sat down. So arrogant to begin with, once you ask them what they have accomplished they cool off pretty quickly.

[Bettie]

9. Nice, so you told the younger person

that they have no right to an opinion and they should sit down and shut up.

That sure is the attitude to show them that Boomers really do believe that they are the only ones who matter.

[redstatebluegirl]

21. No, I was totally disrespected in a public meeting by a person who has very little experience.

Forgive this golden women if I don't sit down and be silent in my old age.

[Bettie]

26. I get it

I've been in a lot of meetings where a younger person even asking a question is shut down immediately as "disrespectful".

[redstatebluegirl]

35. No I'm afraid you don't. I never stopped them from sharing an opinion,

I stopped them from talking over mine.

[Hekate]

56. I get that you are determined to be sulky & to silence those like me instead of sharing...

...information in a respectful manner.

[Bettie]

64. You don't seem silenced

you seem capable of saying whatever you want to.

I don't recall addressing any comment to you whatsoever.

[Hekate]

68. DU is an open discussion board

Cheers

[Peacetrain]

11. I have just caught up with this in the last week.

And I can guarantee you this redstatebluegirl. My only child is a millennial and he will get that sweatshirt for me and hubby for Christmas..

[jayfish]

13. You Can Also Remind Them...

that we were on a pretty good glide path until the morning of 9/11/01. Sure Bush was president but things weren't going so great for him and he probably would have been a one-term President. 9/11 and our reaction to it has destroyed us.

[nolabear]

14. They have no idea what it was like to grow up in the world we did.

They’ve never had a draft. They’ve never been arrested for trying to go to public school. They never had to live during full on Jim Crow. They’ve never lived with no access to abortion and fought for that. They’ve never been unable to get credit without their husband’s co-sign and permission. They’ve never been denied a job because they were female and might get pregnant. They’ve never been denied joining the infantry because they were female. They’ve never seen such smog in LA you couldn’t see across the street. They’ve never seen a major river burn because it was so full of spilled fuel.

They fight on, and some of us did create problems they have a right to be angry about. But we fought for many, many, many of the things they take for granted. So, yeah, we’re pretty okay.

[we can do it]

18. Thank you.

[redstatebluegirl]

22. Yes!

[Arkansas Granny]

24. +1

[SammyWinstonJack]

36. Indeed!

[TheRealNorth]

49. But the majority of the Boomers voted to go back those days...

That was one of the messages Trump ran on (except for the draft)

(Added) Gen X also voted for Don the Con, although in smaller majorities.

[nolabear]

60. Yeah, well, he said a lot of things. But we're not homogenous.

Every generation has people of all kinds. Being of that generation (and really it spans about twenty years. I’m barely at the end) isn’t what makes you who you are. Nobody likes being stereotyped.

[TheRealNorth]

63. I hear ya on the stereotyping

But when I open my internet browser every morning, there are always articles stereotyping millenials, and the Boomers I know eat it up.

The stereotyping of millenials has been pervasive in our society for the past few years, and there has been no pushback until now.

[nolabear]

70. Yep, and it's wrong all around. We need each other!

[Hekate]

58. +1,000 nolabear. As someone else said: I was there for the first Earth Day...

...and so much else.

[zaj]

4. Many boomers tried....

But the legacy of that generation as a whole will be remembered for the lunacy of Trump, the GOP and the fall of American greatness and the destruction of the planet.

It's not fair for any progressive to be branded with the blame, but it's an inescapable reality.

GenX and Millennials will write the history of the Boomer Generation. And it didn't work out like we on the left needed it to.

[Peacetrain]

16. What generation do you think Barack Obama is

No we did a lot.. But no one can do it all. And there is plenty of work left for you. and the ones coming up behind you. You will never get it all done. Hey my Grandmother could not vote when she was 21.. Each generation has it work cut out of them.. and I have full trust you will do amazing things.. We did amazing things in civil rights, women's rights, etc etc..

[Loki Liesmith]

38. Lol no

[LanternWaste]

50. "It's not fair for any Millennial to be branded with the Tide Pod Challenge...

"It's not fair for any Millennial to be branded with the Tide Pod Challenge, but it's an inescapable reality."



Six of one, half a dozen of the other; that's pretty much the trap any inter- or intra-generational scolding inherently falls into. Has been for about 100,000 years.

(though I imagine the rationalizations lacking a relevant difference will be both imaginative and entertaining, if not altogether critical in thought)

[Hekate]

59. LOL No

[still_one]

5. It was the boomers that fought and died for Civil Rights, women's rights, workers rights,

environmental rights, etc. etc. etc.

[braddy]

42. Boomers were also the last great warrior generation, 10 million served.

[tblue37]

6. I am 69, but I get a kick out of "OK, Boomer." I think it is a clever retort. nt

[malaise]

7. Great post

Rec

[Mme. Defarge]

8. Far out, man!

[apnu]

10. Every time I hear "OK Boomer"

I think "hooray ageism! These young shits are gonna be shocked later in their 40s" But since I am 46 and GenX, all I say is "whatever"

[we can do it]

20. 😂

[TheRealNorth]

12. As a Gen X'r, I get where the milennials are coming from

I think it's always been the case that the older generations like to complain about the younger generation (how easy they have it, they're lazy, etc), but I have heard Boomers and some of the older Gen X'rs take it further and complain about Millenials and their spending habits putting stores out of business and basically blaming the state of the economy and country on millenials.

It's basically like the Boomers are ignoring the fact they have been electing Republicans and centrist Democrats for the past 40 years.

[Loki Liesmith]

39. Well I'm glad for the centrist Democrats

As I am one.

[TheRealNorth]

45. That's cool

But I don't think doubling down on Republican economic policies has helped Democrats. In fact, it has caused Republicans to go even more extreme.

[matt819]

15. This is a manufactured issue

As you point out, it has always been thus. Every generation has disputes with the generations they are bracketed by. Part of that is just age-related and part is because of external events and changes during each generation's prime.

Western, rural, suburban, urban.

Slavery, freedom.

Jim Crow, civil rights.

Horses, cars.

Trains, planes.

Wars and those who fight them (or don't).

Hunting, gathering, agriculture.

Technology, from the wheel, to mills, to running water, to indoor plumbing, to computers, and on and on.

This is not a big deal.

I'm a boomer and my kids are, I guess, millennials. We each confront different challenges in different ways.

[Peacetrain]

17. Exactly... as I posted to someone.. My grandmother could not vote when she was 21..

My Dad went in on Omaha Beach and helped to save the world..

We all have great things to do.. and those before us did great things.

And I have full faith they will save the environment and save the world.

[Stinky The Clown]

30. Manufactured by those not on our side, it seems to me.

When you wish to create division, you find a crack and drive a wedge in it.

No doubt other generations are unhappy with things about Boomers, GenXers, Millennials, etc. etc. It has always been this way and always will be. That is part of the human condition. Creating what is for all the world a branded division is a very skillful wedge wrought by those bent not on generational issues, but simply to divide.

And as seen in this and other threads on this topic, it is obviously working.

Sad.

[OKNancy]

19. OK Boomer Sooner

LOL

[Funtatlaguy]

27. Indeed.

[Danascot]

32. I like this as a metaphor

for the Trump presidency.

[Funtatlaguy]

44. Off the rails.

[ismnotwasm]

23. I am sitting in a class right now

Full of nurses, from Gen Z to Boomers. There is nothing else like sitting in a class of peers like this. There is no Ok boomer crap going on.

Ok Boomer does make me laugh, though Gen Z often mistakes any older generation for Boomers, so some of it is inadvertently directed toward millennials. This is also funny.

Ok Boomer is not entirely undeserved. It’s easy to get defensive. I am highly amused. Don’t mind egging it on a bit.

Lastly, it seems to be a white person meme. I mean, ok...

[maxsolomon]

25. I started "Ask a Millenial" among the Boomers in my office.

it's great - they know so much shit I don't want to.

OK, Boomer = OK, Dad . Youngs will always roll their eyes at Olds, and since Boomers largely put this Asshole in office, they should take a few lumps on it.

[MyNameGoesHere]

28. Should have never given them the internet

Or satellites.

[Eliot Rosewater]

29. OK, all I have to say is 'VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO"

[NNadir]

31. I'm a boomer and I am deeply...

...ashamed of what my generation became, how we lived and what we did.

I am extremely encouraged by the Millennials calling us out. These young people impress me.

History will not forgive us, nor should it.

[world wide wally]

33. Just remember one thing, kids... In the immortal words of Joe Walsh (guitar player..not politician)

"The smoker you drink, the player you get"

[tonedevil]

73. He also said...

Rocky Mountain way is better than the way we had. Joe Walsh, a modern philosopher.

[captain queeg]

34. I worry we are leaving a mess for our kids

The only time I’ve run into OK Boomer was my kid joking about it. The world has changed so much. We did the best we could but it’s only natural for the younger generation to want to push the old out. I haven’t been disrespected.

[samnsara]

37. don't forget..we levitated the Pentagon too :)

[I_UndergroundPanther]

65. I read about that

Love Abby Hoffman.
Anyways I'm the first year of generation X.

I think the politics of the 80's sucked.people grew stupid and self absorbed during the 80's and didn't pay enough attention to the horrible things that were happening that would have had mass protest if they happened in the 60's

I get along fine with boomers,millennials and gen x, because I have been young minded and I figure every generation has challenges and often those challenges overlap. I know millennials that work thier asses off. And boomers that sit on thier ass. Who cares, we are all people.
And the Earth is dying, and republicans are hell-bent on destroying democracy... .that's what matters really.

[Claritie Pixie]

40. But will they live a full life?

That's the difference, IMHO. Young people aren't wanting to have children or plan for the future because they aren't sure they'll have one due to climate change.

The world we're living in now is very different from the one you and I grew up in.

[jpak]

41. Why did these whippersnappers let Trump get elected?

[get the red out]

43. The youngest boomers were the worst

I'm 55 and was in college during the Reagan years, and boy were most of my fellow students self-centered assholes! I hated them! I the positive attempt at change from early Boomers gave way to a complete back-lash in my time. I always felt like I was born too late.

[TheRealNorth]

46. That has been my (general) experience also

But it carried over into Gen X as well. It makes me angry because they benefited from all the things FDR and.the Democrats created in the New Deal and basically pulled up the ladder behind them because they were convinced by the wealthy that taxes were bad.

[TheRealNorth]

52. I feel bad for milennials that went to college after me

Because while around 45% of public college was subsidized when I went to school, that number has dropped to around 30% last I checked.

[LeftInTX]

48. I'm 63 and it seems the HS class of 1980 started with "preppy stuff"

I graduated from college in 1978, but went back to school a few years later. Everyone was into preppy stuff.

[get the red out]

61. Pink and Green

Gag, and Izod shirts.

[captain queeg]

51. Yeah. That's when the Young Republicans showed upon campus

[eShirl]

53. I'm 55, started 1st grade in 1970; don't tell me I'm a boomer!

now don't ok boomer me

[Hekate]

47. Thank you, Peacetrain. smh

[Maeve]

54. It has been estimated that only 1/3rd of colonists were for the revolution

And they made a new country. The majority of boomers weren't revolutionaries in our time, either. But, yeah, we made a difference. And it looks like we trained the kids to do better than we did, so we didn't entirely f--up.
Most of my age cohort went straight into the job market (rough as that was in the early '70's) and yeah, far too many of them deserve the "Ok, Boomer" line (hell, I'll use it if I hear them say something old-fogey-ish!). My kids are millenials and struggling, but the kids are alright, too.

[randr]

55. As an ageing hippie boomer I send my deepest desires to all generations behind me

May you live as long as I, may you accomplish as much as I, and may you have tolerance of all who will be dependent and ultimately caring for you as you reach the finest final years of your life.

[FrankBooth]

57. This Gen Xer

Married to a Millennial with 2 Gen Z kids finds this whole "Ok Boomer" thing highly amusing. I mean, it's not exactly virgin ground for one generation to dismiss the generations that preceded it -- in fact that's as normal as the four seasons. Nobody is re-inventing the wheel here, and yet they always seem to think they are!

[stevil]

62. Gen X here, not on board with the bashing

But I'll be damned if I don't text "OK Boomers" next time I'm in a group message with my older siblings for shits and giggles. There's a 7 year gap between them and I.

[BuffaloJackalope]

66. I'm 55. When people (oldsters) whine about it they look like a punk.

Grow the fuck up.

[irisblue]

67. Dropping this here

Kim “It’s Boot-Edge-Edge” Murphy (@kimmurphy100) Tweeted:
https://t.co/mk0vCECq1W

Link to tweet

?s=20

[dustyscamp]

69. When people say Ok, Boomer it is usually directed to the selfish & bigoted Boomers

Don't take offense unless a rw leaning person says it then you should be mad

[Skittles]

72. CORRECT

[whttevrr]

71. Ok, Boomer.

Whatever

[DBoon]

74. This is for the 50,000 boomers who will never be able to argue their case