Stop Bashing Younger Generations for Trying to Survive in Your World
Making your way in the world today takes everything you have. Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot. Or at least it would if older generations would stop taking giant f@#$ing s#!ts on you for being young and trying to live your life.
For some reason, Baby Boomers in particular are obsessed with Millennials and Gen-Z not living life the way they did. But they do this without taking into account the changes in the world detrimental to that way of life, changes that were caused by those same Baby Boomers.
Generations
Researchers have divided humanity, particularly in the last 100+ years, into different generations. These are massive generalizations based on certain commonalities in timing and culture that contributed to a way of life and perceiving the world around them.
Baby Boomers are generally viewed as the post-World War II generation, born between 1946 and 1964. Millennials are between 1981 and 1995, and Gen-Z is between 1996 and 2012. There’s also Gen Alpha who are between 2013 and 2025. The name of the next generation is up for grabs. Squidwards?
For reference, I’m part of Gen-X which runs from 1965 to 1980. We’re generally viewed as lazy clowns who don’t give fat crap about anything. That’s incorrect. Boomers and the generations before saw us that way because we didn’t care about the same things they did. Still don’t.
It’s a difference of perspective, more than anything else. Someone in their 70s views the world differently than someone in their 40s than they do someone in their teens. The key to life is understanding that and not being a giant dick about it.
Boomers are Giant Dicks About It
The world Millennials, Gen-Z, and Gen Alpha are inheriting from Boomers is a lot different than the world Boomers grew up in. Boomers want them to go to university, get good jobs, buy a house, get married, have kids, and teach the next generation to repeat the cycle.
The problem is that the entire cycle is wildly impractical, if not outright impossible, in today’s world. The cost of living across the board is astronomical. Housing costs are horrifying. Raising a kid is incredibly expensive, not to mention time-consuming.
Yes, wages have gone up but what jobs pay is rarely in step with the cost of living. And many households have two incomes from both parents working. Still, it’s not enough to get by in the world, especially when you’re a member of the Millennials or Gen-Z just starting out.
For some reason I don’t completely understand, Boomers are huge assholes about all of this. They look down on younger generations for not living life the way they did. The irony of this is that it largely ignores that Millennials and Gen-Z are just trying to get by in the world Boomers created.
Bad, Bad Boomers
Boomers are the ones who want $5 million dollars for a house they paid $40,000 for in the 1970s. They are the ones gouging people in grocery stores while paying below a living wage to the people working at those same stores. They are the ones hoarding wealth and cutting their own taxes.
On top of this, Boomers tend to live in a deluded state where they think they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. Nope. Their parents, the Greatest Generation and the Silent Generation, set them up for success. This is something Boomers are actively not doing.
Boomers love crapping on Millennials for using their phones too much. The problem is their own businesses require it. I once worked for a multi-national company that put 40+ apps on my phone I needed to do my job. Many jobs require a smartphone with data, so calm down, Boomer.
Instead of coming down on Millennials and Gen-Z for not having lives the same as yours, maybe ask yourself why that is and what you can do to help. It’s a different world, one that you had a big hand in creating. Stop blaming and start helping.
