What will the U18s of today vilify older generations for?

[Serada]

Boomers get a tough time for a myriad of things - irrespective if whether they had any control over them or not.

What will today’s generation blame us for? Brexit? Environment? Housing costs? Lockdown? Large numbers of children or their parents with long covid? Falling healthy life expectancy?

For still trying to force them into the old model: get on the property ladder and have kids. That world does not exist anymore. They can’t afford property and if we keep on the path we’re on their kids will likely have a difficult short life on a burning planet. Oh, and destroying their attention spans with early screens. I think that one will pale into insignificance though.

^^

Environment
Not enough reservoirs
Building too many houses
Crap state schools
High housing costs

But mainly the alright jack re pensions so final salary defined benefit and for them possibly age 80.
High food costs from perhaps brexit and unable to live abroad.

I think probably should have kept grammar schools

Obviously ridiculous 9k student loans its clearly not worth that for 90%

Normalising mainstream media being full of sensationalist fear: it makes it harder to notice and act on genuine threats among all the noise. Many of the things on this thread are those things which the papers try to frighten us with every day, such as climate change; some of them may be justified, some of them may not. But because the news is CONSTANTLY trying to frighten us with terrorism, war, immigration, climate change, the greenhouse effect, the hole in the ozone layer, your mobile phone killing you (back in 2000, before the term "social media" had been coined), viruses, extreme weather, the Millennium Bug, etc. the list goes on and on. Lots of people (including me) just wave it aside with "whatever, heard it all before", and avoid the news. If news was more balanced, we might take it more seriously. But now, it's sensationalist wall-to-wall fear, and the government weaponised this in 2020, when in their own words, they "frightened the pants off the public", which made some people take the whole thing even less seriously. Even now, I don't know what to take seriously on the news any more, and what to wave aside.

@Serada I agree about being made to pay for higher education, and the lie that it would guarantee you a good job.

And that we don't hold politicians' feet to the fire, and we allow them get away with murder: in Tony Blair's case, literally. He should be in prison for the lies alone, but was rewarded with millions, and a knighthood. While ordinary people can be sent to prison for lying about who was driving a speeding car, Tony Blair and Boris Johnson lied to Parliament, the Queen, and the public, and faced no consequences at all. Boris Johnson faced no media scrutiny in 2020, because the media were in his thrall, and asking him only the "right" questions: one of the only people to ask him any exacting questions was Justine of Mumsnet. Perhaps if the media held politicians (and other rich and powerful bastards) to account instead of frightening the pants off the public every day, things might be different.

Maybe they will have learned not to be ageist arseholes

Actually on climate change and fear mongering

I sort of agree because even though I think climate change is a serious threat and we should be doing more I don't appreciate the way the messaging is directed at children. I remember looking round a museum with a section on the climate and renewable energy (sponsored by Shell!) targeted towards kids. It was mostly very good but at the end there was a bit that said "only YOU can stop climate change" and I thought hang on, I actually think you Shell the multi-billion dollar energy giant can do more to stop climate change right now than my five year old. I'm all for kids turning lights of etc and being told about renewables. But I think the "only you can save the planet" rhetoric targeted towards the people with the least power to do so is a recipe for anxiety.

Oh far simpler, barrel leg trousers and birkies.

@Persephonia1966 EXACTLY THIS!
So often the ones preaching loudest about climate change/greenhouse gases/ozone layer or whatever threat is fashionable are the biggest hypocrites. Think of those celebrities flying to climate change conferences in their private jets, when they could be using their millions to back real change. I remember Blue Peter pontificating about these things in 1988 or so. "It is hard for poor old adults to change their ways, to use cars less, to drop glass off at the bottle bank. But children can get them to do it!" When I volunteered in a primary school recently, I was annoyed to see Greta Thunberg's face on the walls.

And during the madness of 2020 and 2021, there was a vaccine campaign directed at children which I don't think actually saw the light of day, but it was talked about. It showed children in superhero costumes, with "I've been a hero and had the vaccine" or similar. It was discussed in the inquiry. Such decisions are not, and should not, be the responsibility of children.

But teenagers nowadays like their birkies and socks. I've seen it: as soon as they finish their netball games, off come the trainers, on go the birkies (or sliders). And our generation sneers at older men wearing sandals and socks.

Nailed it !!

🤣