to think the ageism on here has been disgusting recently

[EverythingYouDoIsaBalloon]

Distaste for the idea of older mothers. Pesky pensioners daring to shop at weekends when they've 'got all week' to do it. Retirement-age people being lambasted for not resigning to free up jobs for younger people. A lack of comprehension as to why older people are even in the workplace at all. Calls for over-80s to be stripped of their driving licences. A solemn assertion from one pp earlier in the year that '60 isn't young. It's old.' like middle age doesn't even exist. And that’s just off the top of my head.

Some people are going to get a shock when they get older themselves, according to some of the comments I’ve seen on this forum recently.

I agree with much of your first paragraph. But the inequalities that have resulted in this are wealth and class based, not age based. A blanket policy to prioritise the young isn't the answer while there are some young people who have greater wealth and advantage than some older ones. Prioritise those who are struggling, regardless of their age. And if that means wealthy pensioners dont get winter fuel payments, and the money goes to struggling families for example, I'll be cheering that on. But we need to support individuals dependent on their situation not their date of birth. To each according to their needs.

The voting age suggestion is batshit. Some people believe people over 70 should not be allowed to vote (as they're at an age where their opinion is irrelevant apparently, as it's a 'young person's world,')🙄 And some people believe they won't live much longer, so they shouldn't have the right to vote on the future of the young. (Yes, I have seen people say that!!!)

May as well say no-one under 30 should be able to vote, as most of them have little knowledge about most things, and they know fuck-all about life, suffering, financial hardship, and raising a family etc.

So if we're going to cap the upper age limit, then let's cap the lower age limit too. Only people aged 30 to 69 may vote.

Voting is made harder for younger people. They move more often so registering is more complicated and more recently we've had the government accept old people's cards as ID for voting, but not student cards.

Call these voter ID laws what they really are: voter suppression and an attack on young people | Polly Toynbee | The Guardian

I'm 60 and am absolutely not going to qualify that with telling you how fit and healthy I am, or that I have a young outlook. I had a child at 41 and adopted another at 45, and don't care that some think I'm selfish. I'm a third generation single parent, a lefty lesbian, my life has been so different from the boomer stereotype but that is true of almost all my peers.

My grandmother was 101 today. She was an unmarried teen mother who married a German Jew in the war, a black Caribbean man a few years after, then had a long lesbian relationship. She raised 10 kids in poverty; she doesn't care that people see her as an old biddy.

My mum raised three kids solo, in a temporary council flat with no inside toilet. She built a career and is still working today. She doesn't care that people think she has spent her life behind a picket fence.

My life hasn't been as hard as theirs, but I have a lot on my plate. As well as raising my teenagers and working full time, I am carer for my ex who developed Alzheimers in her 50s. I don't care that people assume I'm a Brexit-voting Tory.

But I am so over being characterised as someone who had everything handed to me on a plate. Yes, I had some advantages, but some things were way harder. In the end, class trumps generation every time: the children of wealthy boomers will have it easier than boomers who lived lives of poverty and oppression.

I am outraged by the state of the housing market, by student loans and the exploitation of young workers. If you think 'older people' are your problem, you're missing your real enemies by a mile.

Great Post @Ketzele . I don't share your lefty politics (I'm a social conservative but hate the Tories although left wing economically). But I was raised on a council estate and lived a life when young that most young people now would find a shock. I too have given up explaining myself to people, don't really respect their opinion anyway if they are judgmental about age.

Great post, @Ketzele . I salute all three generations of your family - you all sound like fantastically strong women.

Fab post @Ketzele - similar here - my mum became a single parent in 1972 and went back to night school - eventually qualifying as a teacher in 1986 - having been kicked out of school at 15. We always struggled for money but she was and is an amazing woman. In 2020 she won a British Citizenship Award for setting up an after school club in her church that offered hot food and fun to local families. The same church she set up a playgroup in in 1971 because one was needed - it ran for 25 years. A life long lefty she is also appalled at the future her grand daughters face - student loans, unaffordable homes etc -

our mothers and grandmothers changed the world in so many big and small ways - and she’s still fighting for better.

Ghosty are you on Merseyside by any chance?

Used to be! 😀

Ah I wondered, I thought I remembered your mum's story, if she's the lady I think she is (I saw an interview on YouTube with the church and the vicar) she is wonderful.

Oh yes, all us oldies are living in paid-off 6 bedroom houses on nice fat pensions, while gaily swanning from one exotic holiday to the next, with daily visits to coffee shops/restaurants/Waitrose in between.

While of course incessantly moaning about young people and their mobile phones/addiction to avocados, etc. being the cause of their relative penury.

Possibly her - St Mary’s Church? Wallasey - talking about how she became a Christian after my sister wandered into the church as a toddler!

@ghostyslovesheets Yes! Ghosty that's her. You should be so proud of her she's lovely.

Aw thank you ☺️ I do love her dearly, she’s a pretty awesome woman x

Sorry but the local bus doesn’t go anywhere near where I work, nor to any supermarkets, besides now that I’m old and doddery how am I supposed carry it all on a bus 🤷🏼‍♀️

😂

Totally this-so many older people receive abuse from younger (ignorant) people for retiring and living on a state pension-and yet those who choose to keep working, and not be a 'drain' on the state get abuse for that too!! They just can't win, and those who disrespect older people need to give their head a wobble. They'll be there one day, listening to younger people abusing THEM.

and yet those who choose to keep working, and not be a 'drain' on the state get abuse for that too!! They just can't win

Especially if continuing to work means the only time they can go to the supermarket is on a Saturday - after all, everyone knows 'old people' have got all week to shop. eyeroll

OMG you are spot on and you, your mum & grandmother are the true epitome of strong, brave, determined women.
Age based assumptions and bias are the product of lazy thinking-as bad as casual racism or sexism.
Your final sentence: "If you think 'older people' are your problem, you're missing your real enemies by a mile" is SO true it should be shouted out daily, every day, until the message is received and understood.
Class and money (and property) is still all that matters in this country. The true enemies of the people love seeing younger people turn on the older-it's a great distraction from us actually tackling the real causes of inequality around us.
Thank you for posting your post. I wish I knew you, you sound inspirational!

They'll be there one day, listening to younger people abusing THEM.

Or worse, telling them to take this nice little pill and make way for the younger generations, stop being so selfish by being a burden! It's coming.

I think so too. It's terrifying.

I agree OP. And the casual use of 'old' to describe someone doing something the OP doesn't like when their age really has nothing to do with it.

The early days of the first covid lockdown were particularly shocking, though that included people who were not 'old' but otherwise at risk - how they should all be made to stay in, often alone, for however long it took while everyone else should be free to get on with life as they saw fit because the old and the vulnerable were the 'problem' that younger, healthier people were being inconvenienced by.

So true, depressingly. I think covid/lockdown had a really noticeable worsening effect on ageism and ableism. Those who can't keep up, for whatever reason, or need more assistance, are just made to feel like nuisances by far too many nowadays.

Not really surprising when members of the actual Government were going about at the height of the covid crisis saying things like 'just let people die', mind you.

"So true, depressingly. I think covid/lockdown had a really noticeable worsening effect on ageism and ableism. Those who can't keep up, for whatever reason, or need more assistance, are just made to feel like nuisances by far too many nowadays."
Sorry but I think you are 100% wrong on this actually. Sure a lot of people moaned about lockdown but for the most part people DID comply. Even though it was unprecedented, and even when it was a massive curtailment on their own lives, for the sake of other people.
Have a think about say university students. Do you remember being a student? I bet you were out socialising, at classes, drinking with your mates, whatever. Well this cohort of youngsters were expected to give all that up. And they did it. For others. And now people are saying things like this! FFS.

Yes, it was awful for them and I have a lot of sympathy, but I'm struggling to see the relevance to my point. Yes, people did comply (I never said they didn't), but a hell of a lot of them complained about having to, and made remarks about how the vulnerable should just sort themselves out and let the healthy get on with their lives. It got worse the longer lockdown went on.