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Budi

(15,325 posts)
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 10:18 PM Feb 2022

"Boomers seem very resistant to understanding that the living standards"....





As a kid my mom had to pump water from a well but go off.

David2022
Baby Boomers seem very resistant to understanding that the living standards of the younger generations have declined in both relative and absolute terms.


The hardships of growing up in a world of touchscreens.
I hear you David2022. Really. I just choose to ignore you.
Frankly, David2022, its getting kinda old, ya know?

Rant Off....~
213 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
"Boomers seem very resistant to understanding that the living standards".... (Original Post) Budi Feb 2022 OP
+1000 PortTack Feb 2022 #1
Here's the problem in David2022's statement Budi Feb 2022 #195
Aaah! Fresh air! Iggo Feb 2022 #198
I know, indoor toilets and running water instead of milking cows and mucking manure. L. Coyote Feb 2022 #2
Oh right, we 'boomers' just don't understand the living standards of our children's generation. elleng Feb 2022 #3
Every generation thinks the older generation had it so much better. I remember being so jeolous of Demsrule86 Feb 2022 #90
I grew up aware that life was much harder for my parents' and grandparents' generations. CBHagman Feb 2022 #115
My Dad was an engineer and my Mom was a RN...we were not rich but we hade a nice home and Demsrule86 Feb 2022 #120
This message was self-deleted by its author Budi Feb 2022 #194
In my day, Wuss xyz dweller Feb 2022 #4
While you joke about technological advancement, standards such as home ownership are withering. LonePirate Feb 2022 #5
Everything cost less back then. sheshe2 Feb 2022 #11
As a gen "x" gay texan Feb 2022 #12
Exactly TheRealNorth Feb 2022 #16
I wouldn't say impossible madville Feb 2022 #73
you do know that GenX is mostly right-wing right? Demsrule86 Feb 2022 #109
Yes gay texan Feb 2022 #132
Well, you say that, but ... muriel_volestrangler Feb 2022 #166
Most of the Genx's in Ohio I know are Republicans...where as the older and younger voter are not. Demsrule86 Feb 2022 #201
Boy, hope the generational progression holds true. It's way past time Hortensis Feb 2022 #192
Female boomers never had the opportunity to earn a living wage spooky3 Feb 2022 #20
Thank you, and scholarships went to white males. Plus our pay was way below pay for men. we can do it Feb 2022 #78
My sisters graduated a progressive High School in 1972, and Home Economics was a stressed trade. TheBlackAdder Feb 2022 #196
Good lord. we can do it Feb 2022 #197
I graduated from college mcar Feb 2022 #103
Same here. Women started out in the business world with admin positions and had to smirkymonkey Feb 2022 #200
Even graduating from college was no assurance you'd get a living wage. llmart Feb 2022 #124
I didn't get lucky. I started my first real full time job leftyladyfrommo Feb 2022 #187
The math says you are wrong at least in 2 locations. KentuckyWoman Feb 2022 #48
Yeah, this is out of touch Sympthsical Feb 2022 #128
Who's buying these hyperinflated homes in your area? OilemFirchen Feb 2022 #130
People moving away from the city due to WFH Sympthsical Feb 2022 #137
I'm well aware of real estate inflation over the past number of years. OilemFirchen Feb 2022 #142
Generation X mainly Sympthsical Feb 2022 #147
Not Boomers, then. OilemFirchen Feb 2022 #160
I'm upper middle class Sympthsical Feb 2022 #162
If someone bought a house in the 1970s at 40 years old, that person was not a Boomer. OilemFirchen Feb 2022 #171
Red-lining is a great social and economic injustice Sympthsical Feb 2022 #189
This message was self-deleted by its author KentuckyWoman Feb 2022 #174
On top of that, the % home ownership hasn't fluctuated more than 2.7% either way in over 30 years... George II Feb 2022 #176
The average home size was much smaller then, but everyone raccoon Feb 2022 #68
And a lot of families had only one car forthemiddle Feb 2022 #83
I'm older than you but it sounds a lot like my family's lifestyle. Nt raccoon Feb 2022 #86
My family always bought used cars and eating out was so rare I remember each time. betsuni Feb 2022 #88
We only had one car for most of my childhood and Dad always bought used cars. Demsrule86 Feb 2022 #110
THe only time we at out was whistler162 Feb 2022 #207
My family had none. iemanja Feb 2022 #156
In my family, there were five kids and my Grandma lived with us in a three bedroom Demsrule86 Feb 2022 #95
Where I live, all of the new homes going up Mariana Feb 2022 #126
Most people had 2 or 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. leftyladyfrommo Feb 2022 #188
The % of home ownership has actually remained fairly stable with minor ups and downs... George II Feb 2022 #170
Spoken by someone who thinks the world started at his birth. brer cat Feb 2022 #6
Post removed Post removed Feb 2022 #45
My father, like many, had to shovel coal into the furnace to heat the house Wicked Blue Feb 2022 #7
I grew up like your father.....coal furnace and all. pidge Feb 2022 #46
We had a clothes line. Texaswitchy Feb 2022 #55
Yep. I'm trying to show that boomers haven't always had better standards of living Wicked Blue Feb 2022 #119
I Know some of my uncle's boomer friends never did that well their whole lives - OhZone Feb 2022 #8
not this Boomer Skittles Feb 2022 #9
I think I am technically at the very tail end of the Boomer generation, but have heard it smirkymonkey Feb 2022 #203
I too feel for the young folk Skittles Feb 2022 #210
These generational battles on DU jcgoldie Feb 2022 #10
David2022 could explain what he really meant, then. Budi Feb 2022 #17
with ya ' 100 % ! monkeyman1 Feb 2022 #47
Preach it, as a sister of a Vietnam vet. Boomerproud Feb 2022 #98
"Broadbrushing an entire generation" PatSeg Feb 2022 #100
David2022 is not some rando on Twitter. He is David Austin Walsh, a postdoctoral fellow in the Celerity Feb 2022 #145
My brother won the last draft lottery and he was born in 1956 Dave says Feb 2022 #182
there were still lotteries held, but the last call up that saw Vietnam combat duty was in 1972 Celerity Feb 2022 #185
David2022 is not some rando on Twitter. He is David Austin Walsh, a postdoctoral fellow in the Celerity Feb 2022 #145
We boomers got almost free college and cheap houses alittlelark Feb 2022 #13
Not close to true. Spoken like a white male thinking others had your advantages. we can do it Feb 2022 #75
Spoken like a white female who Lived it. alittlelark Feb 2022 #111
I am not a boomer...a bit younger but I sure didn't get free college. Demsrule86 Feb 2022 #116
Bullshit. Late BBs closer to GenX, denied scholarships and jobs given to unqualified white men. we can do it Feb 2022 #118
So u r all about MALE boomers alittlelark Feb 2022 #121
Married/straight/white/priveleged to be precise. we can do it Feb 2022 #122
the good old days weren't so great iemanja Feb 2022 #155
That is not true at all. We faced double digit interest rates and loans which required 20 % down... Demsrule86 Feb 2022 #92
How did you get a cheap house? iemanja Feb 2022 #152
Your mom had to pump the water... druidity33 Feb 2022 #14
David2022 dropped the broadbrushed statement. I responded. Budi Feb 2022 #22
Did you read my post? druidity33 Feb 2022 #70
Yeah, boomers never had to think about Beastly Boy Feb 2022 #15
As a boomer, I can say that you could start... ret5hd Feb 2022 #23
Opportunities change, priorities change, but GDP per capita, Beastly Boy Feb 2022 #41
Great post! smirkymonkey Feb 2022 #204
Proving the point. Way to go n/t kcr Feb 2022 #49
Not sure at all what you mean. Care to elaborate? Beastly Boy Feb 2022 #53
because Boomers aren't into Starbucks or Netflix Skittles Feb 2022 #64
This is just as simplistic as the tweet I am mocking. Beastly Boy Feb 2022 #80
omg Skittles Feb 2022 #179
Thank you. Beastly Boy Feb 2022 #181
This Boomer doesn't envy his generation their world. Ron Obvious Feb 2022 #18
Yes. It means, 'continue on with what bothers you' Budi Feb 2022 #24
Boomers reasonably expected better life Bobstandard Feb 2022 #19
Drafted to a Jungle wasn't 'easier'. It fkd up a lot of people who were ready to start their life. Budi Feb 2022 #26
Most weren't. Effete Snob Feb 2022 #30
Really? So for those that did, they're irrelevant? Budi Feb 2022 #35
There are plenty of millennials and younger who served in post 9/11 wars AZProgressive Feb 2022 #67
My "son of boomer" expects house, retirement, 4 cars... RainCaster Feb 2022 #21
I expected house, retirement, decent car... ret5hd Feb 2022 #25
I got it too, but I worked 40 years for it. RainCaster Feb 2022 #27
He knows it is never in the cards. ret5hd Feb 2022 #33
My son is saver...he has a great deal of money in the bank, a nice, a wife and an adorable baby. Demsrule86 Feb 2022 #97
At 61 I have my first house, which is really my husband's. betsuni Feb 2022 #99
That is ridiculous and David should know better. I get where he is coming from. Demsrule86 Feb 2022 #107
There are still opportunities out there madville Feb 2022 #112
Who taught him to be that way? nt. Mariana Feb 2022 #66
If you are talking about your own son Bettie Feb 2022 #84
Oh lord Sympthsical Feb 2022 #28
Actually you are incorrect. I brought it here because it is a lie. Budi Feb 2022 #36
There are thousands of lies on Twitter everyday... progressoid Feb 2022 #135
David2022 chose to make his post. He's one of millions repeated on a loop Budi Feb 2022 #205
"Wasp nest in a bingo hall"! BlackSkimmer Feb 2022 #85
Completely unrelated Sympthsical Feb 2022 #102
I'll bite since you put it out there - so what might that word be? George II Feb 2022 #172
Banana hammock Sympthsical Feb 2022 #173
Apparently not - I've never heard of that expression and clearly don't know what it means. George II Feb 2022 #177
Which is oddly appropriate for the thread Sympthsical Feb 2022 #184
Not really, but whatever. Thanks for the insult, I think. George II Feb 2022 #186
And 2000 years ago Romans wiped their asses with sponges. meadowlander Feb 2022 #29
massive transfer of wealth? I'd say blame that on... electric_blue68 Feb 2022 #34
Thank you. REAGAN. REPUBLICANS. Budi Feb 2022 #38
Yup electric_blue68 Feb 2022 #40
Yw... electric_blue68 Feb 2022 #42
Thank you for being in the middle of that hard battle. But damned if we didn't succeed!! Budi Feb 2022 #44
Oh, your thanks is unwarrented (I think) - these Choice Marches while essential to... electric_blue68 Feb 2022 #51
Good for you. We did it once & that determined spirit will carry on with you 🍃 Budi Feb 2022 #57
"We gave it to you." Mariana Feb 2022 #58
LOL. NOPE! We all know who dropped the ball in 2016. Budi Feb 2022 #60
The majority of voters of Boomer age cast their ballots for Trump in 2016. Mariana Feb 2022 #65
That is not true. Demsrule86 Feb 2022 #114
Denying reality doesn't help. Mariana Feb 2022 #117
Oh look!! A truth bomb Autumn Feb 2022 #123
I'm not interested in wasting time blaming anyone. meadowlander Feb 2022 #131
Well, I hope so, too. I have a few gens of younger cousins, plus just on general principles... electric_blue68 Feb 2022 #212
Things are just different. Yeah a lot has changed. captain queeg Feb 2022 #31
I remember eating a lot of homemade hamburger helper and meatloaf growing up. Texaswitchy Feb 2022 #32
I had to steal to eat after my father abandoned the family. 58Sunliner Feb 2022 #37
That is so sad. However, the guy who wrote the post is likely not in such dire straits. Demsrule86 Feb 2022 #93
I think it's a mixed bag ... electric_blue68 Feb 2022 #39
another one of these? Kali Feb 2022 #43
thank you, Admins Kali Feb 2022 #199
Not buying it RainCaster Feb 2022 #50
I'm betting David2022 has bought his share of environmentally toxic plastic water bottles also. Budi Feb 2022 #54
Aaaaand here we go with distress inarticulately being phrased in inaccurate terms, and thus being... JHB Feb 2022 #52
David2022 should maybe learn to rephrase his inarticulation Budi Feb 2022 #61
He says he's an "Ivy League PhD" and teaches, so it's his job to be articulate! betsuni Feb 2022 #63
Thank you for proving my point JHB Feb 2022 #71
As one of the not so numerous 25yo and younger posters here, I am dismayed to see this dross. Celerity Feb 2022 #56
Goes with boomer bashing. Texaswitchy Feb 2022 #59
As if there is any remotely comparable level of boomer bashing here. Celerity Feb 2022 #69
More power to you. Literally. Tom Rinaldo Feb 2022 #72
The post 1965 crowd did not step up to vote when they turned 18. Texaswitchy Feb 2022 #74
+1000000000000 betsuni Feb 2022 #76
This! mcar Feb 2022 #105
Your telling me to show some respect when I simply am commenting on the prevalence Celerity Feb 2022 #125
As an older person I taught my children and Grandchildren respect is earned not given. Autumn Feb 2022 #144
I do not see any respect. Texaswitchy Feb 2022 #163
As an older person I see way too many preconceived notions about young people. Autumn Feb 2022 #167
What you've described is absolutely no different than when we were young. OilemFirchen Feb 2022 #178
I taught my children to give respect to those eho earned it and that they had to earn Autumn Feb 2022 #190
Thanks for speaking up AZProgressive Feb 2022 #77
I hope so. Texaswitchy Feb 2022 #79
It's the third rail Bettie Feb 2022 #91
You don't even have to mention Boomers. Mariana Feb 2022 #140
True Bettie Feb 2022 #169
I enjoy your posts Celerity iemanja Feb 2022 #159
thanks! Celerity Feb 2022 #164
I think you've misread the OP, Celerity, and your post is unhelpful muriel_volestrangler Feb 2022 #165
I did not misread the tweet nor the intent of the OP. Some of the replies illustrate the very points Celerity Feb 2022 #168
He uses the word "gerontocracy." Oh, David. Future generations will whine about yours, too. betsuni Feb 2022 #62
Hammer meet nail. we can do it Feb 2022 #82
This thread is depressing, stereotypes and closed eyes Amishman Feb 2022 #81
Thank you for posting this Bettie Feb 2022 #87
My sweet summer child - you've brought statistics to a pity party. meadowlander Feb 2022 #133
LMAO.. Bettie Feb 2022 #136
Across shag carpet Sympthsical Feb 2022 #138
I don't mean to belittle you but I graduated college leftyladyfrommo Feb 2022 #89
I think it's time some of these people realize that what they have was earned off the backs.... George II Feb 2022 #94
Be thankful you didn't face a draft board ready to send your Emile Feb 2022 #96
... mcar Feb 2022 #101
yay more divisive arguing! CrackityJones75 Feb 2022 #104
Well, they know that touching the third rail Bettie Feb 2022 #134
Poverty was much worse than the sixties and the seventies cinematicdiversions Feb 2022 #106
I worked three jobs when I was first starting out and did home daycare when my older kids were Demsrule86 Feb 2022 #108
Our kids wore cloth diapers to save money. During the Emile Feb 2022 #113
Every generation Corgigal Feb 2022 #127
It's not about blaming. It's about the steadfast refusal to support policies to help Sympthsical Feb 2022 #129
I get it about student loans. Texaswitchy Feb 2022 #150
My first election was in 2000 Sympthsical Feb 2022 #161
"Not our fault!" (which isn't even accurate) KentuckyWoman Feb 2022 #180
Who put the policies in place? Sympthsical Feb 2022 #183
Like I said. KentuckyWoman Feb 2022 #213
I wonder if David2022 is influenced by watching 50s/60s tv shows Zorro Feb 2022 #139
My father didn't wear a tie and suit. Texaswitchy Feb 2022 #141
That's what I mean Zorro Feb 2022 #143
The main part is whatever motivated states treestar Feb 2022 #148
I really don't know what makes some of these people hippywife Feb 2022 #149
If the David2022's say it, it must be true, right? Right? Budi Feb 2022 #151
I've heard it way more than once hippywife Feb 2022 #154
The Da id2022's have been replicating that same mssg for 6 long years. Budi Feb 2022 #157
That narrative only applies iemanja Feb 2022 #153
American Millennials are facing complex, rapidly changing economics ismnotwasm Feb 2022 #158
"... a dad trying to get his sons to figure out a rotary phone. I mean, why?" Mariana Feb 2022 #193
Neither of my Boomer parents went to college, had a 14k house at age 21 RANDYWILDMAN Feb 2022 #175
My MIL and her friends bought our babies the nice outfits I loved Hortensis Feb 2022 #191
Reminded me that my brother's and my kids were dove tailed together alphafemale Feb 2022 #206
Oh, the humanity! That sounds really nice. Our boy and girl Hortensis Feb 2022 #208
My daughter and son were about 3 years apart alphafemale Feb 2022 #211
A lot of boomers struggle themselves nini Feb 2022 #202
It is the staggering debt that is the problem alphafemale Feb 2022 #209
 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
195. Here's the problem in David2022's statement
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 01:46 PM
Feb 2022

"Boomers seem very resistant to understanding .."

Its not resistantce David2022, its your blatant broadbushing need to blame like a child who didn't get equal parts of the cake as his sibling got.
Grow up. At what point in your life did you realize the errosion of our society was taking place? Not until it directly affected you?

Hey David2022, do some homework & stop electing people who appeal to the Populist messaging.
Its really not just about you at whatever stage of life you're at right now.

You want student loans cancelled too. For you.
And the rest of society is to step aside & applaud as you parade your big win?
You see where your cult of Populism is skewed "for me but not for thee"?

"Boomers seem very resistant to understanding.."
Oh we understand alright. We've been understanding since the 60's. As we watch our civil rights & human rights being chipped away at because you chose to selfishly follow the cult of Populism over the fking cliff, dragging the rest of us down with you.

For instabce, the David2022's rant of 'Cancel Student Debt' by Exec Order is concerning when not all your wishes can be done by Exec Order. Your resistance to understanding that process is more than telling, David2022.
Who are you anyway?

Yes David2022, Your resistance to understanding that process is more in line with the RW goal of an authoritarian govt, by stripping the Powers of the 3 branches of our govt.
Subverting Congressional Powers to the Executive.
Is that what you are after?

Please explain David2022, how that Populist mantra repeated ad nauseum by the 'what about MEers' & those who dupe you into believing it, misses the Subverting ofCongressional Powers to the Executive part of the equation.

You're a smart guy David2022. Let's hear the explanation.

Here's a more fair approach, David2022, that not one of you have bothered to address in making actual progress.

I honestly don’t want people making $100000/yr and up to have their debt cancelled unless they work 5 years in public service or were scammed by unscrupulous schools.
We can use that money for pre-k in underserved communities, or for giving cash payments to poor seniors.

~~~~

Perhaps you can move your goal forward by calling on your fav Congresspeeps to write such a bill or Cosign on to one already written & ready to present to the Dept of Education, since the decision you're seeking is in their hands. Not the Exec Branch of President Biden.

Start there David2022.
Its a process and honestly your approach is a bit unnerving since pushing for the use of executive authority to cancel student debt, is perilously similar to "Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld's unitary executive theory."

We are not an authoritarian govt. Yet.

Do you understand a little more David2022?

L. Coyote

(51,129 posts)
2. I know, indoor toilets and running water instead of milking cows and mucking manure.
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 10:26 PM
Feb 2022

They just don't know the joys of the good old days.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
90. Every generation thinks the older generation had it so much better. I remember being so jeolous of
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 09:35 AM
Feb 2022

my parent's success. Of course, we had one fairly good-sized TV in the living room and a small one in my Mom and Dad's bedroom. My Mom had the same carpeting for 20 years and let me tell you it looked brand new. We didn't have cell phones or any phones save the one in the Kitchen or my Mom and Dad's bedroom which was forbidden territory...we ate out once a year...no kidding. clothes shopping in the fall shoes bought big so they would last. When I grew up. I was a single mother for a while and worked three jobs...teaching, after-school care, and data entry at GE credit on weekends when my daughter was with her Dad. After I met my husband, we had more kids. He had a good job but he worked in autos so it was feast or famine. A standard of living is not something one generation can pass down to the next generation unless you are quite wealthy.

CBHagman

(16,968 posts)
115. I grew up aware that life was much harder for my parents' and grandparents' generations.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:32 AM
Feb 2022

My grandparents were born before the major banking, labor, and social safety net reforms. They grew up in an era when family life itself could be grim (abandonment, addictions, corporal punishment). Now people will say those particular elements are still with us, and indeed they are, but our ways of addressing the problems have progressed.

I should add that my grandparents then lived through a global pandemic, two world wars, and the Great Depression.

My parents had to deal with the Depression, World War II, the polio summers, and more. Yes, there were the GI Bill and a relatively booming economy, and the notion that a family could get by a single income and that retirement was possible, but it didn't always work that way.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
120. My Dad was an engineer and my Mom was a RN...we were not rich but we hade a nice home and
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:40 AM
Feb 2022

plenty of food...both lived through the depression as kids. And my Dad and Mom were of a saving disposition. They won the real estate lottery by buying a cheap house and having it worth a million when they sold it. It was hard starting out though...double digit interest rates, recessions, student loans were hard to get, and pretty much shit, pell was not an option for me...hubs was the first in his family to go to college. They were Irish Immigrants...he was the youngest. We made a good life for our family but it was often a struggle. Every generation has its issues.

Response to Demsrule86 (Reply #90)

dweller

(23,558 posts)
4. In my day, Wuss xyz
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 10:31 PM
Feb 2022

we had to crawl uphill in relative terms, and downhill in absolute terms …
deal child


✌🏻

LonePirate

(13,386 posts)
5. While you joke about technological advancement, standards such as home ownership are withering.
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 10:35 PM
Feb 2022

50 years ago, a median income was enough to buy a home and raise a family. Not so anymore.

sheshe2

(83,319 posts)
11. Everything cost less back then.
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 10:53 PM
Feb 2022

Pay was less as well. My first waitress job at 14 yrs old paid me 97 cents an hour plus tips.

gay texan

(2,403 posts)
12. As a gen "x"
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 10:53 PM
Feb 2022

It was impossible to make a living with a job fresh out of high school. It was impossible to go to higher education without high interest loans.

There were good "boomers" and there were "bad boomers" Every generation has their malcontents.

The "bad" got us Reagan, Bush, unbridled greed and fucked up wars down the road. The good got us EPA, Gay rights, great music, and the right to question anything and everything.

madville

(7,397 posts)
73. I wouldn't say impossible
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 07:46 AM
Feb 2022

I’m a Gen X and out of high school in the 90’s I got a job at a Georgia Pacific plant making $10 an hour 48 hours a week, making $520 a week. Bought a $37k house at age 19 with a FHA loan and my payment was $410 a month with taxes and insurance for 15 years at 8% interest. It wasn’t bad for the time and area, but it was kind of a dead end career-wise. I joined the military and got a degree at no cost using tuition assistance while on active duty.

Know several people that back then got degrees from state schools by getting jobs with the state, prisons and forestry were easy entry level jobs to get after high school in this area, got full benefits and could attend any state school for no cost.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
109. you do know that GenX is mostly right-wing right?
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:24 AM
Feb 2022

'If, as seems possible, Joe Biden wins the presidency by peeling away older white voters from the Republican coalition, liberals won’t just win the White House; they’ll gain a new generational villain to bemoan. Instead of laments about The Villages and sneers of “OK Boomer,” there will be a realization that the last bastion of conservatism in a leftward-shifting country may soon lie with my own Generation X.'


https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/19/opinion/sunday/generation-x-republican-party.html

gay texan

(2,403 posts)
132. Yes
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:42 PM
Feb 2022

I do not disagree with that statement one bit. An odd memory i have in grade school that only a few of us kids saw Reagan as a bullshit artist. To everyone else, he was Jesus Christ.

My generation were some of the first to be totally sucked into the RW talk radio and Fox news worm hole. The repeal of the fairness doctrine paid off for the right.

Combine that with the religious Satanic panic, anti-gay fear mongering of the 80's, and I'd say you have a nearly brainwashed generation.

A fun thing to do is to simply mention President Clinton to your typical RW gen-x person. They usually get foaming at the mouth mad, HOWEVER, they can't come up with a specific reason why. All they know is what they've been told. Same thing goes for Hillary, Obama, and really anyone that has a "D" at the end of their name.

Perhaps this was the endgame of the radical right, or a happy accident. The generations ahead of mine are becoming more left as we go along. I hope good wins out in the end before it's too late.

Meh, enough musing from me, i got stuff to do.

muriel_volestrangler

(101,146 posts)
166. Well, you say that, but ...
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 03:59 PM
Feb 2022

Gen X is, typically, born 1964-1980. So in 2020, they were 40-56. Exit poll results:
40-49 Biden 54% Trump 45%
50-64 Biden 47% Trump 52%
https://edition.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/national-results

So Biden was +9 in the age group that is entirely Gen X, and -5 in the one in which under a half were Gen X. So it looks like Gen X voted for Biden, overall. The NYT opinion column was pre-election, of course; that was Ross Douthat guessing. He is himself a right wing asshole, but that shouldn't be extrapolated to the whole generation.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
201. Most of the Genx's in Ohio I know are Republicans...where as the older and younger voter are not.
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 03:17 PM
Feb 2022

I would say given Trump's abject failure on Covid, some may have crossed over in 20 but may not again with a different candidate than Trump.

Let’s stipulate that generational divisions are somewhat arbitrary and artificial, and that they track imperfectly with the age divisions favored by most pollsters. Generation X consists of Americans born between 1965 and 1980, which means that we’re currently in our 40s and early 50s, and pollsters prefer to poll the 45-64-year-old cohort, where President Trump’s clearest strength now lies.

Still, pollsters who track the generations show Xers as more Republican than other groups. In the Morning Consult survey, for instance, Joe Biden has led consistently with baby boomers since the spring, while Generation X is the only generation with whom Trump occasionally pulls into a tie.

Given that most people’s conservatism modestly increases as they age, this trend is probably a prologue, and Gen X conservatives will increasingly become the bulwark of Republican support — and the party’s leaders, whether in the form of Nikki Haley or Josh Hawley or Donald Trump Jr., Generation Xers all.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/19/opinion/sunday/generation-x-republican-party.html

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
192. Boy, hope the generational progression holds true. It's way past time
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 12:52 PM
Feb 2022

for one of the major liberal-conservative wave shifts to finally correct to the left. 40 years of increasing devastation.

The plumber who made an emergency call yesterday and gave us a quote is a classic of the GenX type described. As practiced as one of the Fox hosts he obviously watches, he followed his estimate with a quick list of the ways "Biden" has forced his prices up. (In only one year too. If only "Biden" would use his powers for good!) Unfortunately, Ron's a True Believer, so I couldn't laugh, and I had to grab my husband's arm to keep him from responding and delaying the "Bye, Ron. Thanks again, and we'll think about it." Not in my living room.

spooky3

(34,300 posts)
20. Female boomers never had the opportunity to earn a living wage
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:17 PM
Feb 2022

Unless they graduated from college and got lucky to get a good job.

we can do it

(12,116 posts)
78. Thank you, and scholarships went to white males. Plus our pay was way below pay for men.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 08:42 AM
Feb 2022

We weren't even allowed most good paying jobs for quite some time.

mcar

(42,206 posts)
103. I graduated from college
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 10:43 AM
Feb 2022

and worked as a secretary for four years before I got promoted. My next job was in my profession but I was grossly underpaid and too timid to ask for more, even though I knew men at my level had higher salaries.

 

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)
200. Same here. Women started out in the business world with admin positions and had to
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 03:06 PM
Feb 2022

"work their way up". Even with college degrees from good universities. Or had to go back to graduate school to start out in the same roles the men got right out of college.

Men already came in at the Junior Analyst or Associate Account Manager positions. The only women who ever started in those positions graduated at the top of their class from an Ivy League university and had connections.

llmart

(15,499 posts)
124. Even graduating from college was no assurance you'd get a living wage.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:56 AM
Feb 2022

If women went to college at all, they went into traditionally female careers that paid very little; i.e.; teaching, social work, library science, nursing.

leftyladyfrommo

(18,815 posts)
187. I didn't get lucky. I started my first real full time job
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 07:42 PM
Feb 2022

For $350 a month. I ate a lot of macaroni and cheese. I couldn't afford a car so I walked or rode the bus. My apartment was not in a good part of town. It was furnished.

I never really minded. I was young.



KentuckyWoman

(6,666 posts)
48. The math says you are wrong at least in 2 locations.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:04 AM
Feb 2022

The math alone says it is easier. Less required down, lower interest - and house to gross income is about the same. I have no doubt this is not true everywhere but at least in these 2 places the math says home buying today vs 1970 ish is slightly easier.

My idea is that priorities have changed. Couples have more money going to all the other things is life and there is less available for buying a home. Remember - 60's and 70's we weren't supporting multiple screens, multiple cars, MUCH larger houses stuffed to the brim and weddings that would make Robin Leach impressed. I'm not trashing any of that. I'm just saying comparing expectations now vs 1970s is hard to do.

Also. I personally never knew anyone in the "good old days" who could get by with only one paycheck income in the household. I don't know who or where that was true but I never saw it among anyone I knew. Even the town lawyer - his wife did nearly all his office work so he would not have to hire someone. Otherwise not even their family would have made it on his income alone.

*****

Johnson County Kentucky (Rural)

1966 when we bought our house in Johnson County KY.
Our household gross income was $6712. We considered ourselves average.
The house was $16800 and 862 sq ft. Electric and phone yes - indoor plumbing no. Coal stoves for heat. For the area - "average"
Interest rate was 5.92% and minimum 20% down no exceptions.

1966 The math = $16800 / $6712 = 2.5 times yearly gross income.

2019 Johnson County data -http://www.city-data.com/city/Paintsville-Kentucky.html
Median household income $32614
Current Zillow house costs - Closest I could find in the area is larger - 1100 sq ft and listed at $75000. It has plumbing and gas heat.
Interest is running about 4% with downpayments between 3-15%

2020 (ish) The math = $75000 / $32614 = 2.3 times yearly gross income.


********

Riverdale, Georgia - City (my sister)

1972 - according to the mortgage paperwork have after my sister died.
Gross household income 1972 = $9987
Brand new built house - 2Bed 1 bath - heat and central air. $27682
17% down plus 3% gifted down payment. 7.58% interest

The math - $27682 / 9987 = 2.77 times yearly gross income

2019 Riverdale GA http://www.city-data.com/city/Riverdale-Georgia.html
Median household income = $53528
2 similar houses on her street currently listed on Zillow $148900 and $151300.
5-15% down and about 4% interest

The math - $151300 / 53528 = 2.8 times yearly gross income

Sympthsical

(8,925 posts)
128. Yeah, this is out of touch
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:18 PM
Feb 2022

Your examples are very nice for you, but they're also in the South. This would be like comparing California to Texas.

My home is now valued at ten times my income. It has increased 30% in two years. And I live in the outer, outer burbs of San Francisco. It's literally farmland a block away from me.

I have no idea what this preternatural resistance is in people - Democrats at that! - to recognize the problems faced by the generations following them.

But I still never get enough of "I worked at a gas station to pay for college!" stories this stuff always generates.

Seriously. I wish people would say, "I really don't care about the younger generations and have made no effort to examine the issues affecting them." It would feel far more honest and save lots of words.

Sympthsical

(8,925 posts)
137. People moving away from the city due to WFH
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:08 PM
Feb 2022

Covid changed a lot of working patterns. Now, a lot of people who no longer have to live close to the city and commute to work are seeking out relatively affordable homes - where a lot of them rented most of their adult lives.

It isn't limited to California or the Bay Area, either. My brother lives in the Midwest, in an exburb of a major city. He said values are skyrocketing there as well. His development was corn fields ten years ago. Now, homes are going for half a million. He paid $220k in 2011. Guess what didn't go up 50% in the past ten years.

So housing where I am is up 30% in two years. Yeah, guess what hasn't gone up 30% in two years.

And this isn't even recent to Covid. Covid is simply aggravating it. Housing has been going up for a long time, making it out of reach for many Millennials.

The median house price in California is nearly $800k. Nice if you're in, say, tech. If not, oh well. Enjoy renting, peons!

OilemFirchen

(7,143 posts)
142. I'm well aware of real estate inflation over the past number of years.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:36 PM
Feb 2022

Thankfully, we own our home outright. We couldn't possibly afford a different house in our neighborhood, with prices having quadrupled in the past decade. We couldn't afford our own house, were it on the market. This, BTW, is smack dab in the middle of the rust belt.

That begs the question I asked of you: Who's buying homes in our own neighborhood? We know the answer, as we're keenly aware of the demographics of our newer neighbors.

So, I'll ask with a bit more specificity: Who's buying the hyperinflated homes in your area? What generation? It's apropos to this thread, wouldn't you agree?

And another question, if I may indulge you: Why is the San Francisco region so amenable, such that real estate values are so disproportionally high?

Sympthsical

(8,925 posts)
147. Generation X mainly
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:49 PM
Feb 2022

I'm on the upper edge of Millennial, and I'm easily one of the youngest owners in the neighborhood I've met or know of.

Mid-40s seems like the youngest owners. Couple next door is 60s, other side is 52. Across the street are mid 50s. Etc. Another gay couple we're friendly with just bought in the past year, and they're both low 70s.

Partner turns 50 this year. This is a first house for both of us. And again, this was with our combined financial powers at a lower price than things are now.

OilemFirchen

(7,143 posts)
160. Not Boomers, then.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 03:15 PM
Feb 2022

Somehow the Gen Xers (and, in your case, Millennials) were able to finally wrest themselves from abject poverty in order to buy an $800K+ home (about $650K more than we (boomer + millennial) can afford).

Finally, my heart can stop bleeding for them.

Sympthsical

(8,925 posts)
162. I'm upper middle class
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 03:30 PM
Feb 2022

I'm nowhere near average for my peer group. Friends my age are still renting and will be doing so for the near future.

Look, I don't get the point of asking questions when the response is sarcastic dismissal without regard for what is being discussed.

It's not news that someone upper middle class, even by Californian standards, can (eventually) get a house.

The problem is when even middle class people cannot. I have a 40 year old friend, single, doing electronic security for banks. He has three roommates, because that's what he's affording.

I'd like to hear Boomer stories about highly skilled technical positions that can't afford a house in the 1970s at 40 years old.

I'll wait.

OilemFirchen

(7,143 posts)
171. If someone bought a house in the 1970s at 40 years old, that person was not a Boomer.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 04:25 PM
Feb 2022

But, here... chew on this. My dad, a highly-skilled chemical engineer, was pretty much forced to sell our first family house in 1962 because redlining was causing rapid, dramatic depreciation. He wanted to buy a house in the closest southern suburb, but that city had a covenant that disallowed Jewish families from homeownership.

Instead, he bought a house in the closest northern suburb. We sold that home in 2018 for about $10,000 more than its original price in 1962. Why? Because that township had been redlined when I was in my late teens.

For your example, I'm a Boomer. I was also a skilled professional. I bought my first house in 1983 for $31,500 at 14.9% interest. I was 29 and the CEO of my own business. I was also financially inept, so, after a hostile takeover, I was bankrupt the next year. Imagine that.

None of the private businesses I worked for exist today, leaving me with no pension(s) at all. Thankfully, I was well-paid and so have a nice Social Security income. Wish I could say that for most of my Boomer friends, mostly artisans, some of whom are squatting in friends' homes. Even my stepfather, a first-generation American who was a G.M. line worker his entire adult life, died nearly penniless, with no pension and a lifetime's accumulation of worthless stock.

Sounds like you did well for yourself. Congratulations. Maybe it's you, rather than the rest of us, who could inform the author of the tweet upon which this O.P. is based.

Sympthsical

(8,925 posts)
189. Red-lining is a great social and economic injustice
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 08:51 PM
Feb 2022

But using that to dismiss what is now widespread out of hand is a red herring.

But you have failed to acknowledge, in any small way, the economic challenges of those who have come after.

Yeah, I am doing well, and I still care about those who didn't. I still care about the world I will leave when I'm gone.

I swear to god, if this kind of hyper-defensive posture were held by the operators of the James Webb, we'd have high definition images of some of the most distant navels in the universe.

Response to Sympthsical (Reply #128)

George II

(67,782 posts)
176. On top of that, the % home ownership hasn't fluctuated more than 2.7% either way in over 30 years...
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 05:56 PM
Feb 2022

Top was 69.2% (), bottom was 63.8%. That's a total swing of 5.5% back and forth more than once.

forthemiddle

(1,373 posts)
83. And a lot of families had only one car
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 09:01 AM
Feb 2022

My family was very typical of the area. My Dad worked a full time job in the factory. Mom stayed home, but she babysat for a couple more kids, and took in laundry from a single guy.
This was early 70’s. In the mid 70’s we moved to smaller town, and when all three kids were in school, Mom took part time jobs in retail, and then we really thought we were rich because we got a second (very used) car!
We also never went out to dinner, except special occasions, and one vacation a year was our treat.
This was all considered middle class.

 

whistler162

(11,155 posts)
207. THe only time we at out was
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 06:42 PM
Feb 2022

when we went down to Long Island to visit my mom's parents and her brother's family, shout out for the Good Steer. I don't believe my father ever owned a new car. My mom had a couple after she started working and learned to drive.

Every generation blames the previous generation for what is perceived as the ills at the time.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
95. In my family, there were five kids and my Grandma lived with us in a three bedroom
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 09:52 AM
Feb 2022

one and a half bath house. it was probably about it had a big living room and dining kitchen area and that was it. It was around 1200 ft likely. I remember thinking it was so big as a kid but when I went back I was shocked at how small it was.

Mariana

(14,847 posts)
126. Where I live, all of the new homes going up
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:50 PM
Feb 2022

are either giant McMansions, or shitty cheaply built condos that will be falling apart in 10-15 years. Some of the condos are retirement communities where younger people are prohibited. There are zero new small detached homes being built. Some of the older small homes that have gone up for sale have been bought by builders, torn down, and replaced with said giant McMansions.

George II

(67,782 posts)
170. The % of home ownership has actually remained fairly stable with minor ups and downs...
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 04:24 PM
Feb 2022

In 1990 it was 64.1%, went up to 69.2% in 2004, then dropped over the next 10-12 years to 63.7%. In the last 5-6 years it's been going back up again - now 65.5%.

Over 31 years it has been between 63.7% (2016) and 69.2%, only 5.5% top to bottom.

Response to brer cat (Reply #6)

Wicked Blue

(5,767 posts)
7. My father, like many, had to shovel coal into the furnace to heat the house
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 10:38 PM
Feb 2022

The phone was a party line and neighbors listened in all the time

My parents never owned a clothes dryer - my mom hung wet clothes outside on a line

We never owned a dishwasher either. First time I had one, I was 36

Everything had to be ironed, including bedsheets and underwear.

When shoes wore down, they were re-soled.





Texaswitchy

(2,962 posts)
55. We had a clothes line.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:16 AM
Feb 2022

And old style washing machine outside.

My mother had to pack buckets of hot water to the washing machines or fill it up with a water hose.

We lived in blue collar neighborhood in a wood frame house.

One car.

You walked, ride the bus, or rode your bike.

Life didn't get easier until Jr high school.

Just one kid left.

Remember our parents went thru the depression and WW 2.

A different time and place.





Wicked Blue

(5,767 posts)
119. Yep. I'm trying to show that boomers haven't always had better standards of living
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:40 AM
Feb 2022

As you say, lots of us grew up with lifestyles that today's young people can't begin to imagine. We weren't poor but our families struggled.

I'm not complaining, but the reality in the 1950s and 1960s was very different. I wore hand-me downs growing up and some of our furniture came from the Salvation Army. I can remember just one family vacation, driving to Niagara Falls, and my father complained about the cost all the way there and back. We never ate at restaurants, and the cars were always second hand.

We lived in a mixed blue-collar/lower middle class neighborhood, wood frame house, one bathroom. One car. Mom didn't drive. A few families kept chickens and raised their own vegetables. Our lot was too small.

My father was 43 when we moved into our first house. He helped with the construction in spare time from his job as a bookkeeper. He finished the basement and built a shed in the back. He bought an odd-sized building lot to save money, and the builder had to construct the house plan sideways to fit on the lot.

My parents were refugees from eastern Europe and came here with almost nothing. Luckily it was possible back then to raise a family on a single income, which is not the case today.

Unlike today's colossal bills for internet, wireless phones and cable, we didn't pay for tv, let alone cable or internet because they didn't exist yet. We got a few channels. CBS, NBC and ABC, the Channel 13 educational channel, WNEW Channel 5 from New York City, and WPIX Channel 11 from Newark NJ. People elsewhere in the nation usually only had the three basic channels, but we were 20 miles outside NYC. The stations all shut down at night.

It is true that the millennials and younger ones can't afford houses, and are drowning in student loan debt. It shouldn't cost anything to get a college education provided one has the grades to get admitted.The government needs some kind of loan forgiveness,

On the other hand, the younger generations could wait and save to buy a modest house, and not expect a 4-bedroom place with granite countertops and a two-car garage right away. At least they might, if they weren't paying off student loans.

My husband and I, both boomers, have moved from fixer-upper to fixer-upper to fixer-upper to the not quite as bad fixer-upper we have today, a small house built in 1967. No garage, just a carport. We have a 17-year old Toyota that was bought new, and a 9 year old Toyota bought used. There were times when we could only afford one car. More than half the furniture came from garage sales and thrift shops, and some of our clothing does too.

In addition, we had to pay every penny of both our kids' student loans; neither graduated, and both have health and other issues. One lives with us, but can't work because of severe anxiety/panic disorder. I don't know how we will manage when and if my husband retires; I'm retired and get a small amount of Social Security, having stayed home with the kids a few years and then only working part time.

OhZone

(3,212 posts)
8. I Know some of my uncle's boomer friends never did that well their whole lives -
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 10:39 PM
Feb 2022

Or so they tell me.

Skittles

(152,963 posts)
9. not this Boomer
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 10:42 PM
Feb 2022

I think young people have it much harder than I did "back in the day", and I actually DID pump water (at my grandma's house).

 

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)
203. I think I am technically at the very tail end of the Boomer generation, but have heard it
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 03:26 PM
Feb 2022

referred to as "Generation Jones", which is those of us who make up the social cohort of the latter half of the Baby Boomer Generation to the first years of Generation X. The term Generation Jones was first coined by the cultural commentator Jonathan Pontell, who identified the cohort as those born from 1954 to 1965 in the U.S. I would imagine that you are a member of that cohort as well, just going by your previous posts.

I think we had it a bit easier than older boomers, but along with the first few years of Gen X, were able to take advantage of favorable economic conditions before things all started to go to hell for the younger generations.

My siblings are all Gen X as well and the younger ones are more conservative whereas I and my brother who was born a few years after me are the liberals in the family.

We were born late enough to have it pretty easy growing up, but not so late to find that housing and economic opportunities were in the sorry state they are these days. I noticed the decline decades ago. Particularly with housing and job security.

I feel sorry for younger people these days. Not only are things harder for them, but they don't have a lot to look forward to either.

Skittles

(152,963 posts)
210. I too feel for the young folk
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 07:25 PM
Feb 2022

it really irritates me when fellow Boomers just DO.NOT.GET.IT......totally myopic

jcgoldie

(11,582 posts)
10. These generational battles on DU
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 10:49 PM
Feb 2022

People just talk past each other and they do not benefit either side it seems to me.

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
17. David2022 could explain what he really meant, then.
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:11 PM
Feb 2022

Perhaps the issue lies in his broadbrushing an entire generation.
Trust me, as a "boomer" I'm well aware of the hardships he faces.
How he arrived at the idea that boomers all grew into & lived their adulthood with no apparant 'hardships' to speak of, is beyond me.
Maybe he heard it on the internet.

I dunno. Its kinda a dumb statement.
Did David2022 ever have to pivot as an 18 yr old, ready to step in the world, dreams in hand, to a mandatory military draft that dropped him in a jungle to fight for his life?

Nope.

So pardon my eyeroll as I hear yet another claim of a life of hardship & inequality from the David2022's .

I hear your David2022.
Do you hear me?
Nope.

Rant about the David2022's, is Off for the day.
Thanks.

PatSeg

(46,773 posts)
100. "Broadbrushing an entire generation"
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 10:39 AM
Feb 2022

This is the problem. When we start out painting an entire generation with one broad brush, we shut down any chance of meaningful communication. It is clearly meant to be antagonistic and confrontational.

There are advantages and disadvantages to every generation and individual stories will vary. Meanwhile, David2022 you won't be the first person to blame your problems on your parents or grandparents generation. With time and experience, you'll grow out of your delusions. Then your kids will blame you for everything and the cycle repeats!

Celerity

(42,632 posts)
145. David2022 is not some rando on Twitter. He is David Austin Walsh, a postdoctoral fellow in the
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:42 PM
Feb 2022

Department of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia. His academic work centers on alleging active links between the far-right and conservatism over the past two centuries.

Curious that you always refer to him only by his twitter url name.

Also the majority of Boomers were too young to be drafted and called up to serve, and the vast majority who were old enough never were called up and never served in actual combat in Vietnam.

The first Vietnam draft lottery was held on December 1, 1969 and affected the birth years 1944-1950 (1944 and 1945 born were not even Boomers).

The last draft call for the war was held on December 7, 1972, and the youngest birth year subject to that was 1953, which was applied to the lottery held on February 2, 1972.

Celerity

(42,632 posts)
145. David2022 is not some rando on Twitter. He is David Austin Walsh, a postdoctoral fellow in the
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:42 PM
Feb 2022

Department of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia. His academic work centers on alleging active links between the far-right and conservatism over the past two centuries.

Curious that you always refer to him only by his twitter url name.

Also the majority of Boomers were too young to be drafted and called up to serve, and the vast majority who were old enough never were called up and never served in actual combat in Vietnam.

The first Vietnam draft lottery was held on December 1, 1969 and affected the birth years 1944-1950 (1944 and 1945 born were not even Boomers).

The last draft call for the war was held on December 7, 1972, and the youngest birth year subject to that was 1953, which was applied to the lottery held on February 2, 1972.

alittlelark

(18,886 posts)
13. We boomers got almost free college and cheap houses
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 10:56 PM
Feb 2022

Millennials have crushing college debt and few can afford a house……

My guess is MOST of them would pump water to get the advantages we had.

alittlelark

(18,886 posts)
111. Spoken like a white female who Lived it.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:25 AM
Feb 2022

Not sure what u r trying to say, but any sane rational boomer will know what I am saying to be true.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
116. I am not a boomer...a bit younger but I sure didn't get free college.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:33 AM
Feb 2022

I worked my ass off to pay for my college...there were few loans and they were hard to get...My Dad by then made too much money for me to get anything but not enough to afford to pay for my college. And I was a girl...my three brothers were sent to college by my parents.

we can do it

(12,116 posts)
118. Bullshit. Late BBs closer to GenX, denied scholarships and jobs given to unqualified white men.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:37 AM
Feb 2022

Hell, women couldn't even apply for the better jobs, or credit. Who are you trying to deceive? Witnessed the activism of the 1960 as a kid rather than as participant. Went to work during the economic downturn of the late 1970s. Never shared in the prosperity privileged (white male) growth of the 1960s economy.

alittlelark

(18,886 posts)
121. So u r all about MALE boomers
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:46 AM
Feb 2022

Yes, they were extra privileged. We female boomers were generally legally connected to them and received the same benefits.

All in all ridiculously unbalanced against millennial experiences.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
92. That is not true at all. We faced double digit interest rates and loans which required 20 % down...
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 09:45 AM
Feb 2022

And I have kids, so I am just going to say it. My oldest two were very careful and worked through college. We helped all of our kids as much as we could. The youngest took out loans even when her tuition was mostly paid...and used the money for whatever she wanted. She didn't work the entire time either. I told her that money must be repaid...don't do it. But she didn't listen. She is whatever comes after millennials and most of her friends did the same thing.

When she aged out, and I no longer had a say...she got bigger loans as she didn't make what her Dad did and incurred a great deal of debt that she didn't need to have. She move out and got her own place working sporadically. The other kids lived at home or later in a house we bought for that purpose (hud house we fixed up). Most of her friends and some of my older kids' friends have done the same thing. And I wonder if some of them have considered that if they are bailed out with the debts some of which were not incurred for school expenses, it likely will be the end of the student loan program.

iemanja

(53,001 posts)
152. How did you get a cheap house?
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 03:00 PM
Feb 2022

Because I grew up with boomer parents and lived off welfare in apartments. My mom finally was able to get a tiny house when she was in her 50s.

druidity33

(6,435 posts)
14. Your mom had to pump the water...
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:00 PM
Feb 2022

but your parents owned the home? You had 3 siblings maybe? Everybody "just scraping by" on Dad's income at the GE plant? Managed to go to a State school by working part time at nights because it was possible then? But wait, he's got a pension? And that house sold for $750 large? They bought it for what, when? $10,500 in '51? Oh and that inheritance and property your mom got when her dad died? How much was that again? When did you move to Florida/Arizona?

I'm a GenXer myself... but i gotta say, this is a shitty argument/meme/tweet. Very short sighted from both sides. BTW a hand pump for my well would cost over $6,000.

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
22. David2022 dropped the broadbrushed statement. I responded.
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:19 PM
Feb 2022

His statement shows a total lack of awareness for who he's whining at.

It's insulting.

druidity33

(6,435 posts)
70. Did you read my post?
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 06:58 AM
Feb 2022

Because i was ostensibly agreeing with David2022. And i called the whole thing a stupid argument.



Beastly Boy

(9,056 posts)
15. Yeah, boomers never had to think about
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:01 PM
Feb 2022

skipping our daily Starbucks latte fix or canceling our Netflix subscription... how can boomers possibly relate to the living standards of the younger generations?

ret5hd

(20,433 posts)
23. As a boomer, I can say that you could start...
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:20 PM
Feb 2022

by understanding:

Low/reasonable cost college is GONE
Higher paying blue collar jobs are mostly GONE
Pensions are GONE
Long term employment is mostly GONE

In essence, the hope/vision for a comfortable life is a thing of the past. You weren’t smart enough to be born right? Fuck off and die…but feel free to play candycrush and make TikTok videos on those gadgets you’re so lucky to have.

When I was their age, there was a vision that hadn’t died yet. Maybe it was never TRULY there, but at least there was hope.

And maybe it’s just me and my pessimism, but I’m starting to agree with them…the hope is dying. We have invited…nay, BEGGED for… the wolves to protect us.

I know my post isn’t well fleshed out, and finger pecking on one of those goddamned gadgets isn’t conducive to rewrites and editing…but I think you get my gist.

Beastly Boy

(9,056 posts)
41. Opportunities change, priorities change, but GDP per capita,
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:44 AM
Feb 2022

the most widely accepted standard of living index, has been rising more or less equally for boomers and the following generations:
https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/gdp-per-capita

The grievance presented in the linked tweet is as baseless as it is presumptuous, pointing a finger at a random target.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist the snark.

 

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)
204. Great post!
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 03:38 PM
Feb 2022

Probably the best one I have read on this topic so far.

Sometimes, I am glad that I am a tail-end Boomer/Gen Jones-er because even though I have done ok for myself, I don't have a lot of hope for the future and I'm not so sure I would be happy about still having another 45-65 years ahead of me. It looks pretty bleak for the younger crowd, especially if we slide into years of right-wing authoritarianism.

Skittles

(152,963 posts)
64. because Boomers aren't into Starbucks or Netflix
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:50 AM
Feb 2022

?

I know that back in the day, I could rent an apartment, take college classes and still buy a used car.....think a young person could easily do that now?

Beastly Boy

(9,056 posts)
80. This is just as simplistic as the tweet I am mocking.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 08:53 AM
Feb 2022

Like I said before, opportunities change, priorities change, but GDP per capita, the most widely accepted standard of living index, has been rising more or less equally for boomers and the following generations:
https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/gdp-per-capita

The tweet in question is completely unjustified by the facts on the ground. The claim in it is anecdotal at best and baseless otherwise, wreaking of entitlement and incrimination. I, for instance, could not afford rent, or college tuition or a used car back in the day. Nor could I afford any commonly available costly personal indulgences. It didn't even occur to me to whine about being misunderstood by the entire previous generation without as much as looking up the statistic.

 

Ron Obvious

(6,261 posts)
18. This Boomer doesn't envy his generation their world.
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:13 PM
Feb 2022

However, what does "but go off" mean here? Something like "Do go ahead"?

I'm acutely aware that my vocabulary is rather dated but have no desire to do anything about it.

Bobstandard

(1,278 posts)
19. Boomers reasonably expected better life
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:16 PM
Feb 2022

Boomers could reasonably expect to do better financially and in terms of creature comforts than thei parents. I don’t think that’s true today. In addition, millennials and other adjunct cohort face the depredations of climate change. The future looks more and more dystopian. Boomers had it easy in that and many other respects. I should know, I’m one of them.

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
26. Drafted to a Jungle wasn't 'easier'. It fkd up a lot of people who were ready to start their life.
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:30 PM
Feb 2022

David2022 is of a fortunate generation.

Appreciate if the David2022's would acknowledge that.
Maybe that's the whole problem.
They don't.

 

Effete Snob

(8,387 posts)
30. Most weren't.
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:56 PM
Feb 2022

If we are talking about the big picture, the fact is that being drafted and going to Vietnam did not happen to the vast majority of the Boomer generation.

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
35. Really? So for those that did, they're irrelevant?
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:21 AM
Feb 2022

Ya I'm pretty sure 'boomers' didn't live a utopian life as the David2022's claim they did..

David2022's could use a history lesson.

I don't know how he arrives at his claim.


AZProgressive

(29,322 posts)
67. There are plenty of millennials and younger who served in post 9/11 wars
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 05:44 AM
Feb 2022

The reason why I joined the Army is because I was looking for work.

It is a good thing because of my disability I get an income from the VA. If I never went to Iraq I probably wouldn’t have a disability but it is a good thing because without it I would be screwed. So I’m much better off than most millennials because of it but again I have a disability that most people don’t have to deal with.

RainCaster

(10,673 posts)
21. My "son of boomer" expects house, retirement, 4 cars...
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:18 PM
Feb 2022

All because he might finish college. No desire to work for it, he is ENTITLED.

ret5hd

(20,433 posts)
25. I expected house, retirement, decent car...
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:29 PM
Feb 2022

WITHOUT college…or even a HS diploma. And I got it. Got all that. And I was not any kind of exception. Practically my entire local cohort did the same. I could have worked for Boeing. Or McDonnel Douglas. Or others. I never WANTED to work…I wanted a job that payed worth a damn.

Those are all gone now, as far as a GED kid anyway…and most college grads.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
97. My son is saver...he has a great deal of money in the bank, a nice, a wife and an adorable baby.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 10:02 AM
Feb 2022

He has worked hard and saved his entire life. He went into the trades and works in autos. He never liked school particularly. He is a smart kid but he just didn't like it. He has a 401 K so does his wife who works from home...and that is their retirement. It can be done with discipline and perseverance. The generation before baby boomers paid almost nothing for houses that were later sold for huge sums of money. My parents bought a house for 36,000 and sold it for a million dollars in Connecticut.

I was plenty jealous.n I got my first house when I was 34...we had to pay 20% down and the interest rate was 9 and 3/4...it had been double digits most for quite a while. We were so broke, I had to stay with my Mom for two weeks because we couldn't afford groceries. But we believed we could make a good life and in the end, we did...there are ups and downs of course. You have to believe you can succeed and work towards a goal. My kids are not paying huge amounts of money on their loans...they all have deals thanks to President Obama...even the youngest one. I think lowering or ending the interest would help a great deal myself.

betsuni

(25,122 posts)
99. At 61 I have my first house, which is really my husband's.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 10:28 AM
Feb 2022

Still living like a student, though. Thought it might be all grown-up and nice, but it's just our same old stuff in a new place. Mattress on the floor, piles of books and albums. But as I'm a Boomer and a property owner, according to David "We live in a gerontocratic system where a particular generational cohort who are disproportionally property owners has most of the political power." He forgot to call me a status quo neoliberal centrist.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
107. That is ridiculous and David should know better. I get where he is coming from.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:18 AM
Feb 2022

I was jealous of my parent's success and for a while despaired of ever achieving any of it. I generally furnish my houses (have lived many places with hub's who works in autos and flipped houses too) with new or newish upholstered furniture and the rest I thrift...it makes for a really attractive house if you are into that sort of thing. I like to have fashionable stuff but I hate to pay a great deal so I shop at TJ Max, Marshalls, or Gabe's ETC...lately, I discovered Shein which has pretty decent stuff for very little money. I posted a pic of me in my Mrs. Santa outfit I wore on Christmas eve...got that from Shein.

You can live a good life with very little money these days. My two older kids are good a pinching pennies. But we had more when the younger once came along and she is not or maybe it is just her nature. She actually will order Mcdonald's from Door Dash when she is so close she could walk and has overdrafts on her bank account quite often. If I were starting out today, I would probably put a used trailer on a piece of land and fix it up...save money to buy a house or build a house...or find a completely derelict house that you could live in, and fix it up. My two older kids bought way more expensive houses than I could afford at their age...the younger one asked her Dad the other day if we would buy her a house...sigh.

madville

(7,397 posts)
112. There are still opportunities out there
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:28 AM
Feb 2022

For someone straight out of high school to build a nice career with a pension. I always encourage young people to look at the trades, look at municipal employment it cities in their area, utilities, and the military.

I retired from the military and now work for a large municipal electric utility and we also have gas and water departments. They hire apprentices regularly in our apprenticeship programs, they start at 35-40k and top out at 65k over the five year apprentice program, no cost health/dental, and are in the pension from day one. A 30 year career gets them about a 67% pension and the 401k matches 5% of their base salary whether they contribute or not. They make journeyman in 5 years and the journeyman payscale right now is $35-44 an hour, top out in 4 years.

It’s harder and harder for them to recruit and retain younger people these days. Many are turned off now because we’re still required to drug test for THC, others don’t want to dedicate 5 years to learning their craft in an apprenticeship. Some divisions in the departments here are offering sign up bonuses now for the first time ever because recruiting new workers is so difficult.

Bettie

(15,995 posts)
84. If you are talking about your own son
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 09:09 AM
Feb 2022

then, you might have made parenting choices to cause him to think this way.

Because the vast majority of young people don't think this way. Mostly, from what I've seen, it's the kids of well-off families.

Sympthsical

(8,925 posts)
28. Oh lord
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:47 PM
Feb 2022

It's like someone threw a wasp nest into a bingo hall.

This was dragged over here solely to get some wrassling going.

There's a word for that.

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
36. Actually you are incorrect. I brought it here because it is a lie.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:27 AM
Feb 2022

And it is a broadbrushed whine that deserved defending.

Wake up David2022 whomever you are. Boomer gen wasn't all the utopia you claim.




progressoid

(49,824 posts)
135. There are thousands of lies on Twitter everyday...
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:57 PM
Feb 2022

Yet you chose to bring this particular one here.

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
205. David2022 chose to make his post. He's one of millions repeated on a loop
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 06:32 PM
Feb 2022

For all I know David2022 is a bot set on repeat to hold the Populist base. Its hard to tell since they all sound alike. "Its all those old people! They did this to ME!!"
"@Send $3 cuz we're fightin for you!"

Yippie do da.



Sympthsical

(8,925 posts)
102. Completely unrelated
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 10:42 AM
Feb 2022

They cast Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham in a new Great Expectations series.

She's going to slay it!

Again. Completely unrelated. To anything.

meadowlander

(4,358 posts)
29. And 2000 years ago Romans wiped their asses with sponges.
Sat Feb 19, 2022, 11:54 PM
Feb 2022

What does that have to do with the fact that the post-Boomer generations are the first American generations to have things worse than their parents? Higher tuition, lower wages, higher housing costs, less access to health care, no pensions, worse job security, longer hours, longer commutes, more resources spent on aging parents living longer, more resources spent supporting kids that can't get jobs, footing the bill for climate change...

Is everything worse than it was forty years ago? Of course not. Nobody said it was. But it's just ignorant to pretend that some technological advances cancel out the massive transfer and accumulation of wealth in the Boomer generation and the impact that will have on their kids and grandkids.

&t=1s

electric_blue68

(14,598 posts)
34. massive transfer of wealth? I'd say blame that on...
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:19 AM
Feb 2022

Reaganesque, "greed is good" Boomers, not the whole generation. (I'm a near the beginning of the 2/3rd of boomers)

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
38. Thank you. REAGAN. REPUBLICANS.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:31 AM
Feb 2022

Half the 'Boomers' David2022 blames his hardships on also opposed & fought against Reagan, Bush 1, Bush 2, etc.

The David2022's need to get their facts straight.

Oh btw David2022's, who fkd up Roe v Wade for the next generations? You know who those next gens that'll follow you are NOT going to blame for that disastrous loss David2022? Right. They aren't going to blame BOOMERS. We gave it to you.
You have any idea at all how long & hard a fight that took for women's basic reproductive rights David2022? Do you even know that?

Thought so.
You own this one, so stop whining at us.



electric_blue68

(14,598 posts)
42. Yw...
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:48 AM
Feb 2022

before I saw your reply I went back and added Civil Rights, and more women's equality to my post.


Life knows, I was in DC for Choice Marches/Rallies 3xs.

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
44. Thank you for being in the middle of that hard battle. But damned if we didn't succeed!!
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:54 AM
Feb 2022

Thank you.

electric_blue68

(14,598 posts)
51. Oh, your thanks is unwarrented (I think) - these Choice Marches while essential to...
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:08 AM
Feb 2022

keep our freedom going(!) these were after Roe v Wade was enacted. These we're in the ?'90s and '00s.
The hard work and as done by my older women-sisters, and empathetic men. 👍
I was 18, I think.

I've gone to 2 of the NYC Woman's Marches here in NYC
They were wonderful, poignant.
Maaaybe this year if it's nice and sunny. Or at least wave from the side lines with a sign. 👍

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
57. Good for you. We did it once & that determined spirit will carry on with you 🍃
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:20 AM
Feb 2022

The loss was devastating to our personhood.
I truly wish you well.
💙

Mariana

(14,847 posts)
58. "We gave it to you."
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:25 AM
Feb 2022

And yet, in 2016, the majority of Boomers voted for Trump to take it away.

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
60. LOL. NOPE! We all know who dropped the ball in 2016.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:34 AM
Feb 2022

This biggest loudest NonVoting block was the David2022's.
That's not even debatable anymore.
Past tense.

💙#VoteBlue

Mariana

(14,847 posts)
65. The majority of voters of Boomer age cast their ballots for Trump in 2016.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 04:54 AM
Feb 2022

That's just a fact.

meadowlander

(4,358 posts)
131. I'm not interested in wasting time blaming anyone.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:35 PM
Feb 2022

I'm interested in *doing something* about the policies that are creating this intergenerational inequity. Which are impossible to enact if you can't even point out the facts without boomers getting defensive and assuming you are "bashing them" or are "ungrateful for Roe v Wade" to pick a random example.

electric_blue68

(14,598 posts)
212. Well, I hope so, too. I have a few gens of younger cousins, plus just on general principles...
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 07:44 PM
Feb 2022

Occasionally I've made younger friends, waaaay younger nice acquaintances on line as well bc of strongly shares interests!

captain queeg

(10,035 posts)
31. Things are just different. Yeah a lot has changed.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:09 AM
Feb 2022

Somethings are better and somethings are worse. I tell my son that I can provide limited advice about the working world. Work has changed a lot since I was a young man. I try to stick to subjects that seem pretty timeless like money management and social interactions. Not that those things haven’t changed somewhat but a lot of life’s lessons are still applicable. I told him about sex when he was fairly young. (My parents never did tell me about it). I could tell he was listening intently. I finished up with “you can ask me about anything” though he never has. At least I gave him the basics and I can tell some of those sunk in.

Texaswitchy

(2,962 posts)
32. I remember eating a lot of homemade hamburger helper and meatloaf growing up.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:13 AM
Feb 2022

There were six people to feed

One paycheck.

My older boomer siblings picked cotton in the summer time on my grandparents farm.

The boys had a paper route.

Tell me all about this high standard of living.

58Sunliner

(4,339 posts)
37. I had to steal to eat after my father abandoned the family.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:28 AM
Feb 2022

We were homeless, I had few clothes, slept on a mattress on the floor for part of my life. My mother had a job that made her spend over 2+ hours on the bus every day. We lived with the shame of a broken family that struggled with poverty. I'm sorry for the kids who have it rough.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
93. That is so sad. However, the guy who wrote the post is likely not in such dire straits.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 09:50 AM
Feb 2022

I am so sorry you went through that. It was feast or famine in my house...sometimes we at cheap meals and wore hand-me-downs...but we always had a home and food.

electric_blue68

(14,598 posts)
39. I think it's a mixed bag ...
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:34 AM
Feb 2022

I do know from some reading that the generations after us boomers has seen declines, I don't think it's totally true across every part of each of these gens, but it probably has affected more within each passing generation. That's not good.

As for climate change - I was marching in DC several times for renewable engeries back in the '80s.
Not enough people would listen.
My own life got waylaid in the early & mid '90s, so I was diverted, though I've kept some of a hand in it.
I always have tried to vote for people who had at least some interest in this, along with civil, equal & human rights in general, etc
My dear poor younger cousins will suffer from this long after me.

Thanks, gaytexan for acknowledging the good side of boomers.
Part of the older boomers helped with Civil Rights, and older & younger boomers for more equal rights for women, as well. 👍


Kali

(54,990 posts)
43. another one of these?
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:50 AM
Feb 2022

this is a good look. older people ragging on younger people. why not just put "git offa muh lawn" in your sig line?

RainCaster

(10,673 posts)
50. Not buying it
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:08 AM
Feb 2022

I'm a late boomer, as is Mrs RC.
Parents had a small 3br, 2ba in small town.
Vacations were always camping.
Took one airplane flight before leaving home.
High school dropout, GED. Homeless a year.

My kids grew up on acreage in a tiny rural area. Large house, large sailing yacht, plenty of cars.
Many awesome vacations - Disneyland, Disneyworld, Paris, London, Mexico, Hawaii...
College fully paid.

I don't believe that the good times are over for my kids. They had a great start to life as adults. Now it's time for them to start life on their own, with far more resources than I ever had. And hell yes, I'm tired of the entitlement bullshit one of our kids is spewing.

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
54. I'm betting David2022 has bought his share of environmentally toxic plastic water bottles also.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:15 AM
Feb 2022

I know plenty of "David2022's" who use & discard those things wherever they go.
So I ain't buying all their cryin either.



JHB

(37,128 posts)
52. Aaaaand here we go with distress inarticulately being phrased in inaccurate terms, and thus being...
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:09 AM
Feb 2022

...roundly dismissed by people who should know better because that inarticulation terms it as a dig at them.

The costs of basics has risen relative to the past. It's harder to get off the ground today. It's harder to start a family today. Pay attention to that and help try to fix it.

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
61. David2022 should maybe learn to rephrase his inarticulation
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:41 AM
Feb 2022

Appears his broadbrushing an entire generation of which he apparantly knows little about, is possibly misinterpreted.
Maybe he'll correct himself at some point.

betsuni

(25,122 posts)
63. He says he's an "Ivy League PhD" and teaches, so it's his job to be articulate!
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:11 AM
Feb 2022

Says that Baby Boomers not understanding "explains the cleavages in left-liberal politics today." Then says, "Most of the angry responses to this have missed the point: this is a *political* problem. We live in a gerontocratic system where a particular generational cohort who are disproportionally property owners has most of the political power."

I don't get it. Old people vote? Some kind of gerontocratic conspiracy theory?

Celerity

(42,632 posts)
56. As one of the not so numerous 25yo and younger posters here, I am dismayed to see this dross.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:18 AM
Feb 2022

More youth bash, which is entirely par for the course here.

I really wonder at times why I even continue to engage. More and more I find myself in a right proper strop after simply reading some threads, let alone interacting and pushing back.

I try to provide insight and context from my different (especially age and geographical) perspectives, but the generational grievance gap (in terms of who gets the old bovver booting) is large and, on here, far too one way.

Sorry, but it's really hard to give a jot atm.

De rec the OP and some of the replies.





Texaswitchy

(2,962 posts)
59. Goes with boomer bashing.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:33 AM
Feb 2022

The youth vote could have changed things over the years.

But there wasn't a youth vote until President Obama.

If you want change you got to work for it.

Nobody will give it to you.



Celerity

(42,632 posts)
69. As if there is any remotely comparable level of boomer bashing here.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 06:14 AM
Feb 2022

It is not remotely close.

Also, Boomers and up voted majority Trump and Rethug Congress both times, so there's that.

In 2024, Millennials and Gen Z will vote (actual votes, not just eligible voters) in equal numbers to Boomers and up, toss in Xennials (Carter Babies, born 1977-1980) and they will outvote the older gens.

The younger voters overwhelmingly vote Dem, especially my age cohort (18-32, I am dead in the middle) but I have been trying to warn that Biden and Dems are cratering with 44yo and unders, especially 30yo and unders (down a net 50 points from Jan 2021 to mid December 2021) in YouGov polling (I need to see if those trends continue).

If the official Democratic Party's real world stance in both words and actions equalled the worst third to half of DU when it comes to anti youth (especially Millennial and Gen Z) sentiment, we (is in we Democrats) would be well done and dusted for 2022 and likely 2024.

If it mirrored the worst fifth to a quarter or so here (and continued as such with Gen X taking over for Boomers and up in terms of putting the anti-youth boot in), it would be Red waves as far as the eye could see.

Tom Rinaldo

(22,911 posts)
72. More power to you. Literally.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 07:29 AM
Feb 2022

"Generational wars", to the extent that they go on here, are tired and counterproductive. I come from a generation that once gave some credence to the expression "Don't trust anyone over thirty", but to the extent that ever had a grain of truth to it that revolved around social and cultural issues much more so than overtly political beliefs; the "sexual revolution", general freedom of expression, the rejection of knee jerk conformity - "Question Authority" - etc. We had our radicals and our reactionaries, and both sets left an impact on society.

I really enjoy your participation on DU, whether or not we always agree (we do much more so than not.) Thank you for hanging in here when age demographics on DU skew so heavily toward older generations. The strategic importance of younger voters and activists as a core constituency of the Democratic coalition tends not to be adequately acknowledged here much of the time. A portion of that "neglect", I think, is a holdover remnant from the fierce Sanders/Clinton primary wars raged on DU in 2016, when Bernie often identified his "revolution" with young voters.

Political identification tends to "lock in" when voters are young. The future of the Democratic Party, but much more importantly of America, is in the hands of people in your generation. If "they" fall away from actively embracing the Democratic Coalition, we all are screwed. DU needs more members speaking up on the importance of issues of specific concern to younger voters, and on the importance of youth organizing.

Texaswitchy

(2,962 posts)
74. The post 1965 crowd did not step up to vote when they turned 18.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 08:18 AM
Feb 2022

They didn't.

1983 could have been a start of a youth vote.

Built a power block like other groups.

No one will fight your battles but you.

This all boomers vote Republican is lame.

I see a lot of younger voters very right wing.

All the young Nazi types are not boomers.

I started my work life dealing with angry white men who didn't like the changing world.

It was 70's.

It was not all disco and Bee Gees.

I am pissed of over Roe vs. Wade being dismantled.

So much work over years being taken down by angry right wingers many of them post baby boom.


We boomers are not your enemies.


Take over Democratic Party and change it but that means voting in every election and not needing to be in love with the candidate.

Vote D in every election and get rid of the Republicans.

My Father was involved in the Democratic Party since 1949. Was a Union man.

I grew up in politics.

I followed in my Father's foot steps.

We boomers were matching and fighting for rights before some of y'all were born.

Show a little respect.

You guys could learn a lot from us boomers if you tried

We could be allies.






I

Celerity

(42,632 posts)
125. Your telling me to show some respect when I simply am commenting on the prevalence
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:21 PM
Feb 2022

of younger people bashing here says it all.

Autumn

(44,743 posts)
144. As an older person I taught my children and Grandchildren respect is earned not given.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:37 PM
Feb 2022

I see a lot of people fighting for their rights and their lives now. When they had BLM protests here in my city when I went down they were almost all young people. Yes, we could all be allies, but that goes both ways.

Texaswitchy

(2,962 posts)
163. I do not see any respect.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 03:30 PM
Feb 2022

I am talking about 1983 and up.

Should have been voting.

To many evil baby boomers posts for me.

I never voted Republican.

A lot of people had it hard.

I have been liberal democrat all my voting life.

I do not like being dumped in with republicans.

We are a big generation easy to pick on.

I personally think y'all would never listen us anyway.

To many preconceived notions about us.

To sad.


Autumn

(44,743 posts)
167. As an older person I see way too many preconceived notions about young people.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 04:09 PM
Feb 2022

It sure is eye opening.

OilemFirchen

(7,143 posts)
178. What you've described is absolutely no different than when we were young.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 06:13 PM
Feb 2022

I'll add that blaming previous generations isn't unique either.

If there's a difference, it's that by the time we had careers and families we stopped maligning our ancestors. Early millennials are in their forties now, ferchrissakes. If they were taught to earn respect, were they not taught to give respect back?

Autumn

(44,743 posts)
190. I taught my children to give respect to those eho earned it and that they had to earn
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 11:33 AM
Feb 2022

respect also. We older people have left a lot of problems for the younger generation to deal with.

AZProgressive

(29,322 posts)
77. Thanks for speaking up
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 08:26 AM
Feb 2022

This board used to have a lot more younger people on this board in the 2000s but after years of millennial bashing (I rarely spoke up against it) I can see why they are no longer around.

I think that Generation Z will be the generation of change.

Bettie

(15,995 posts)
91. It's the third rail
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 09:40 AM
Feb 2022

it really is.

Mild criticism or pointing out things like the fact that there are, for example, no pensions anymore and there are significantly fewer jobs with decent pay winds them up.

Mariana

(14,847 posts)
140. You don't even have to mention Boomers.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:32 PM
Feb 2022

Try to start a discussion about the experiences of Gen X, Millennials, or Gen Z, and it'll promptly attract a crowd of Boomers posting about themselves, making it all about *them*.

Bettie

(15,995 posts)
169. True
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 04:23 PM
Feb 2022

just post a statistic about how later gens are less well off and you get a slew of stories about how they all had immense hardship, so much worse than anyone who ever came before or after them.

The rest of us can not possibly understand their struggle.

Or so I hear.

iemanja

(53,001 posts)
159. I enjoy your posts Celerity
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 03:08 PM
Feb 2022

even if I disagree with some of them. I also recall you got dozens of hearts, so others appreciate you too.

muriel_volestrangler

(101,146 posts)
165. I think you've misread the OP, Celerity, and your post is unhelpful
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 03:47 PM
Feb 2022

David2022 made a tweet which, on the face of it, is wrong (that the typical millennial is worse off in absolute terms than boomers were at the equivalent stage). So another tweeter and the thread starter took the piss of that one guy, for what he said.

But you're trying to make it into an entire generational fight on DU - "more youth bash, which is entirely par for the course here", when you take that as aimed at the people your age in general. It wasn't.

"The generational grievance gap (in terms of who gets the old bovver booting) is large and, on here, far too one way" - I don't know, you're doing your best to make it two-way.

Celerity

(42,632 posts)
168. I did not misread the tweet nor the intent of the OP. Some of the replies illustrate the very points
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 04:16 PM
Feb 2022

I raised.

I acknowledge that I (in terms of my age cohort) am massively outnumbered here. On the other hand, I refuse to accept that me simply expressing grievances about a trend I see on a discussion board amounts to some sort of manifestation of this claim (about some intergenerational war starting attempt from my end):

I don't know, you're doing your best to make it two-way
.

betsuni

(25,122 posts)
62. He uses the word "gerontocracy." Oh, David. Future generations will whine about yours, too.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:45 AM
Feb 2022

Best comment: "You left out the word 'white' everywhere in your tweets," which is exactly what I was thinking.

Amishman

(5,538 posts)
81. This thread is depressing, stereotypes and closed eyes
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 08:59 AM
Feb 2022

For those doubting the premise of this look at statistics on housing affordability, education cost, and real (inflation adjusted) wage growth.

The major early adulthood expenses are far higher now, while wages have not even kept up with inflation over the past decade.





Bettie

(15,995 posts)
87. Thank you for posting this
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 09:12 AM
Feb 2022

the absolute hatred and contempt some show for younger generations is really saddening.

meadowlander

(4,358 posts)
133. My sweet summer child - you've brought statistics to a pity party.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:45 PM
Feb 2022

How can the facts stack up against someone's anecdote about the time they had to get up to change the channel on their TV?

leftyladyfrommo

(18,815 posts)
89. I don't mean to belittle you but I graduated college
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 09:28 AM
Feb 2022

In the middle of a recession. There were no jobs.

I had no back up. No family to rely on.

These aren't such hard times. Up until after WWII life could be pretty hard. You just had to scramble.

George II

(67,782 posts)
94. I think it's time some of these people realize that what they have was earned off the backs....
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 09:50 AM
Feb 2022

...of the "Greatest Generation" and "Boomers".

Without them the country and the world would be a much different place, and not for the better.

It's the ol' "what have you done for me lately?", or more like "why do I have to work as hard as you did?"

Bettie

(15,995 posts)
134. Well, they know that touching the third rail
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:47 PM
Feb 2022

will cause a big dust up and cause more hostility toward young people.

 

cinematicdiversions

(1,969 posts)
106. Poverty was much worse than the sixties and the seventies
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:06 AM
Feb 2022

Heck even the middle class were poor back then.

I'm generation x and I remember the days before eating out once a week and fast fashion.

Hell I remember only being able to talk on the phone for a minute because of long distance charges. And everyone drive to vacations No one flew their family.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
108. I worked three jobs when I was first starting out and did home daycare when my older kids were
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:21 AM
Feb 2022

born...cooked everything from scratch, baked my own bread, had one TV...and thrifted most everything.

Emile

(21,883 posts)
113. Our kids wore cloth diapers to save money. During the
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 11:28 AM
Feb 2022

warm months we still hang our clothes outside on a clothesline to save money and the planet.

Corgigal

(9,291 posts)
127. Every generation
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 12:55 PM
Feb 2022

Blames the one before.

Song already been sung about this phenomenon.

&feature=share

Sympthsical

(8,925 posts)
129. It's not about blaming. It's about the steadfast refusal to support policies to help
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 01:20 PM
Feb 2022

Look at student loan debt discussions. The situation happened. Fine. What do we do about it now?

And people won't even recognize it's much of a problem. "Well, back in my day, books cost a nickel! So why don't you youngins pull up your bootstraps like when I mowed lawns to pay for school."

I mean, I have an incredibly difficult time distinguishing these attitudes from what Republicans say.

Extremely difficult.

It's one thing to say, "Not our fault!" (which isn't even accurate) and "I refuse to support any help!" (which is what is being said).

Texaswitchy

(2,962 posts)
150. I get it about student loans.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:57 PM
Feb 2022

Times were always tough.

My parents were kids during the depression.

My father went hungry a lot back then.

It is the blaming the boomers for everything wrong.

It gets old.

Maybe if y'all would have been voting back then we could have had good things.

To many young people did not engage in politics.

If you do not vote other people will.

Nice to have had a series of progressive Presidents.

Takes getting involved.

Reagan and the Bush family should never been in power.

And now all these Trump voters of all ages.

Baby boomers were involved in politics.

The voting age was lowered to 18 because of the Vietnam War.

Sympthsical

(8,925 posts)
161. My first election was in 2000
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 03:23 PM
Feb 2022

And I'm at the upper cusp of being a Millennial.

These problems and systems were in place long before we got here. These student loan systems were firmly established by the time I entered college. Certain politicians made student loans even harder to manage well after I had left college.

So this, "You should've voted!" is disingenuous. When? I don't think the class elections in elementary school counted for much. And, lest anyone not understand this, certain prominent politicians currently in office backed the financial legislation that made the mess so much worse. So how does that track? The bankruptcy bill in 2005 had 18 Democratic Senators pulling for it. People I voted for (and continue to vote for).

Sure, with Republicans it would've been a lot worse. But, what, "If only you had voted harder for the guy who helped do this to you!" What is that explanation? How is that a logical response to anything at all?

I always vote Democratic. Probably always will. But "Vote harder!" when people I do vote for happily stick the knife into my generation is not a valid answer.

We need better answers, and older generations need to recognize the problem. Why would politicians change when a good chunk of their own party is saying, "Don't give people free stuff!"

The older generations have to start taking some responsibility for the consequences of what they've done. And part of that accountability is creating and/or supporting solutions to the problems they've helped create. The stereotype of Boomers is that they're a highly selfish generation who make everything about themselves (Remember, the Me Generation?).

These responses aren't doing a whole lot to dispel that stereotype. Just putting that out there. It's not like the Greatest Generation ran around shirking responsibility and declaring "Not our problem, everyone!" Imagine if they had.

KentuckyWoman

(6,666 posts)
180. "Not our fault!" (which isn't even accurate)
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 06:54 PM
Feb 2022

So yes, it is about blaming.

According to the 2020 Census. https://www.census.gov/topics/population/age-and-sex/data/tables.html

3% Older than Boomer
10% Boomer
63% Voting age adults younger than boomer.
24% Minors

The next generations can easily out vote us and have been able to for some time now.

Millennials are generally 30 something... yes? By age 40 we had bought the family homestead but were struggling to keep up with the payments. We thought we were struggling but OK. We had the basics, nothing fancy - and except the house were not in debt. We did not have much in the way of savings. It was all sunk into the house. Now I am 80's. My husband died in 2019. I have about $50,000 in various savings which I think is enormous. I have about $1500 coming in from various sources every month - before any medicare premiums etc. My car is 19 yrs old and if it finally dies then I'll stop driving rather than buy another.

I feel fortunate to be in the circumstances I am in. I'm a lucky one. I can afford to live alone. All I can say is compare that to a 30 / 40 something today. If you are saying life is struggle and you can only afford the basics, nothing fancy - then life is similar.



Sympthsical

(8,925 posts)
183. Who put the policies in place?
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 07:08 PM
Feb 2022

And they were in place by the time I made it to college over twenty years ago. They were in place before Millennials could vote.

Who?

Was it the policy fairy?

You say blame. I say responsibility and accountability for the system created.

Man, the absolute refusal to feel any sense of responsibility for those who come after. It's staggering.

Kind of explains the global warming though. I mean, honestly.

KentuckyWoman

(6,666 posts)
213. Like I said.
Thu Feb 24, 2022, 12:45 AM
Feb 2022

I get it that you think the Democrats who came before you failed you. Fortunately for the last 20 to 40 years now the after boomer generations can vote. They have had the power to right the wrongs. How is that going?

Zorro

(15,691 posts)
139. I wonder if David2022 is influenced by watching 50s/60s tv shows
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:25 PM
Feb 2022

that paints a pretty unrealistic picture of life during that era, and that's why he thinks things were much cushier for baby boomers then.

Big houses, big rooms, nice suburban living, etc. Maybe it was aspirational for people living during those times, but it didn't resemble anything like what life was like for me.

Texaswitchy

(2,962 posts)
141. My father didn't wear a tie and suit.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:33 PM
Feb 2022

My mother did not wear pearls.

We were a blue collar family.

There were poor families in the neighborhood.

The civic club had spaghetti suppers to help buy food for the families.

No free lunches for kids in school.

Zorro

(15,691 posts)
143. That's what I mean
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:37 PM
Feb 2022

I'd watch those shows and wonder "who lives like this?" We sure didn't, and I didn't know any one who did.

treestar

(82,383 posts)
148. The main part is whatever motivated states
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:49 PM
Feb 2022

to stop funding their universities. The cost of an education is much higher.

hippywife

(22,767 posts)
149. I really don't know what makes some of these people
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:53 PM
Feb 2022

think we all lived so easy. Most of us are not anywhere near wealthy and had to scrape through most of our lives to make ends meet. Some of us are still doing so in our old(er) age.

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
151. If the David2022's say it, it must be true, right? Right?
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 02:59 PM
Feb 2022

I believe David2022's an algorithum churning out a populist propaganda message

You Go David2022. 🙄
Who bought David2022? How much for a box of David2022's, anyway.

Bye Dave...


hippywife

(22,767 posts)
154. I've heard it way more than once
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 03:03 PM
Feb 2022

and from more than just a bot. Our parents and grandparents worked way harder than we had to, but in no way did most of us ever have it easy.

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
157. The Da id2022's have been replicating that same mssg for 6 long years.
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 03:07 PM
Feb 2022

I mean, whe someone dumps 250 grand a month to Zuckerberg's Facebook advertising machine, well...this is why.

iemanja

(53,001 posts)
153. That narrative only applies
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 03:02 PM
Feb 2022

if you're talking about the white male upper middle class. They do pretty well today as well.

ismnotwasm

(41,916 posts)
158. American Millennials are facing complex, rapidly changing economics
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 03:07 PM
Feb 2022

As well as unprecedented scientific advancement with practical day to day applications. They often, not incorrectly, see Boomers as slow to catch up.

There is a weird meme out there of a dad trying to get his sons to figure out a rotary phone. I mean, why?

American Boomers were always surrounded by war, and the economics of war.

Generally, I find Millennials are far more honest in their feelings, partly because they can identify them.

Gen Z can’t tell the difference between Boomers and Millennials which is pretty fucking funny


Anyway these generational clashes are social media made up bullshit.

Everyone is just trying get by or thrive.

Mariana

(14,847 posts)
193. "... a dad trying to get his sons to figure out a rotary phone. I mean, why?"
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 01:22 PM
Feb 2022

There was a thread here about that a while back, in which the youngsters who've never had any reason to learn to dial a rotary phone were ridiculed. Why *should* they know how to do that? And if they should know and don't, isn't that the fault of their elders, who couldn't be bothered to teach them?

It turned out the OP of that thread, who was ranting on about how ignorant the young people are, didn't know the difference between Millennials and Gen Z. Oopsie!

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212669173

RANDYWILDMAN

(2,644 posts)
175. Neither of my Boomer parents went to college, had a 14k house at age 21
Sun Feb 20, 2022, 05:51 PM
Feb 2022

you can't do that today. That was their starter house in 1972. My dad was a teamster who worked at the safeway warehouse.

When my wife and I bought our first house in 2001 it was 140k

Now some perspective

Redfin says my parents starter house, which has had 2 small additions is worth over $500 k
My starter house which has had nothing done to it, but it was purchased by a hoarder. Worth over 400k

This kind of growth is not sustainable.

My wife and I are both Gen X and I agree with the take that Gen X is the last generation with a lot conservatives. (I see many people I know on facebook, proving to me how narrow minded they really are )

We grew up with Reagan and the first Iraq war and the birth of talk radio and the birth of the internet. My generation should be able to understand information and process but they don't and they should know better.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
191. My MIL and her friends bought our babies the nice outfits I loved
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 11:44 AM
Feb 2022

because those were pretty much Sears and Penney's days for us as a young couple. I looked forward to my turn as a grandma, but our kids bought really nice stuff for much less -- for everyday play. And their friends did also, so instead passing them around they all donate them. And of course no need to save anything but a few favorites for the next child. There'll be all new and current nice when needed.

That said, I agree that the young people who fall into the "lower half" of the working classes today are getting a much worse deal than we had. And that the lower prices of "things" acts as an "opiate of the masses" to distract them from the devastating long-term effects from low wages, expensive education, and poor social mobility.

Maybe the houses their counterparts in our generation bought (and a lot more then were able to buy) only had one 5x8 bathroom for the whole family, owners needed to repaint their 30-year-old kitchens when they started looking tatty, and most children routinely wore someone's handmedowns. But we thought that was okay. And it was. Much better than okay.

 

alphafemale

(18,497 posts)
206. Reminded me that my brother's and my kids were dove tailed together
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 06:42 PM
Feb 2022

A few good quality things from Osh-Kosh and Carter's were cycled through all 5 kids.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
208. Oh, the humanity! That sounds really nice. Our boy and girl
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 06:49 PM
Feb 2022

were born 5 years apart with different personalities, so had different friends, interests, etc -- until they both had their first children, sons, about 6 weeks apart.

 

alphafemale

(18,497 posts)
211. My daughter and son were about 3 years apart
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 07:39 PM
Feb 2022

And my brother had a son in between them, an older daughter and then younger son.

They did not get to see each other very often as they were Austin, TX and we were near Savannah, GA.

nini

(16,670 posts)
202. A lot of boomers struggle themselves
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 03:25 PM
Feb 2022

But let’s not talk about how we got laid off during the late bush years, lost savings etc, then couldn’t find jobs because of age. Now retirement is not what we hoped it would be.

No age group is immune from the incompetence and greed of republicans. Until the youngsters figure out who their real enemy is history will keep repeating.

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