"boomer" thread

[Maireas]

You've hidden this evening's offensive, ageist thread, stereotyping "boomers". Will this be deleted? Can we have a robust response to ageism on MN?

No. Just saying that the wrong people are being blamed here and the Millenials are now in charge. I'm not blaming all young people (Rushi Sunak is young to me).

Oh I wouldn't worry, the same poster upthread claims boomers elected Thatcher despite the fact that in 1979 a sizeable chunk of them couldn't vote, a sizeable chunk more didn't vote (historical problem with young voters) and the dominant vote then and in 82 was "greatest generation".

Sweeping generalisations when that supports the "old people are all rich bastards who destroyed the world", anecdotes and alternative reality when they don't. Pointless arguing with it.

I do find it depressing that whichever generation is younger than me (can't remember the names) have successfully watered down the feminism that gave them their freedoms with the 3rd wave sex positive bullshit

No indeed, one of the many ways in which women were discriminated against in the workplace. Far more boomers grew up in poverty (absolute, not just relative) whilst millennials on average had a much higher standard of living. But we can ignore all that because a proportion of boomers and gen X got onto the property ladder which was itself a historical glitch which will pass down to their children and grandchildren, assuming its not used in care costs to save the next generation's taxes.

Its disappointing to see @MNHQ buy into the "richest generation" trope when its measured very much on static property and wealth disproportionately owned by men and the top third and from which women and minorities were disproportionately excluded.

Which is of course why it needs class analysis, not lazy, broad brush generalisations. Population demographics is fine for planning at high level - numbers of school places, public housing planning, town planning etc but utterly rubbish for developing policy detail or policy applied on individual levels.

No it hasn't I clicked on the link and it appeared.

🤣

And that response to the economic data and facts is exactly why people are unimpressed with Boomers, in general.

And that response to the economic data and facts is exactly why people are unimpressed with Boomers, in general.

My mags is shite granted but that statement is not true .

Who are All these people who are unimpressed with Boomers generally?

I don't know them in my world.

There's a couple of ranty folk on here but I don't feel it.

No, it's not. You admitted that it's anecdotal. You don't know everybody aged 55-77 on order to evaluate their personality or morals.

No. I made one specific comment based on my own experience and caveated it that it was of course anecdotal. Whereas almost all of my other posts have been based on well documented research and indisputable economic realities. Yet, unsurprisingly, you zeroed in on this one comment about a personal experience that I explicitly stated was anectotal and quoted just that part of it out of context. Hmmmm...

What "fact" is it that people are unimpressed with boomers "generally "?

@WarOnTheSlugs

Oh I wouldn't worry, the same poster upthread claims boomers elected Thatcher despite the fact that in 1979 a sizeable chunk of them couldn't vote, a sizeable chunk more didn't vote (historical problem with young voters) and the dominant vote then and in 82 was "greatest generation".

I've not mentioned Thatcher once in a single post (except this one to respond to yours!) so again: you're wrong.

You appear to have misread my comment.

would you mind clarifying it? @WarOnTheSlugs

Yep. Gordon Brown is also a Boomer. He is 72 now.

@WarOnTheSlugs must be utterly exasperated by now. You misread her post. She has tried, diligently and patiently, to explain the frustration that many people feel towards "Boomers" by using facts and statistics to illustrate the ways they have benefitted, as a whole, from inter-generational inequality at the expense of younger generations and how their voting patterns have, as a whole, directly contributed to this inequality. You can read her posts if you want further clarity, they are written very clearly.
As a "millennial" myself I can attest to the fact that the frustration comes from a reluctance from some "boomers" (including some of this thread) to admit or acknowledge this, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. It is, as @WarOnTheSlugs has pointed out, akin to gaslighting.

Thanks @traytablestowed

I didn't want the sermon on the mount just one very specific sentence I had obviously misconstrued.

It was asked in good faith.

But you know, keep on with the lectures.

In my RL nobody gives a shit how old you are and or what societal trends you lived through.

A kind of blanket Boomers = whatever, is just nonsense. The same as any other prejudice.

"A kind of blanket Boomers = whatever, is just nonsense. The same as any other prejudice."

@sunglassesonthetable but that's the whole point - it isn't prejudice that we're talking about here. It would be prejudiced to say "all old people are lazy and selfish" or whatever, but to state facts - for example referencing the historical voting pattern of a generation as a whole, referencing the well-documented impact on wider society - is literally just stating facts.

It's important to acknowledge and discuss these things, both in order to take logical steps to address them and also to prevent them from reoccurring.

@traytablestowed thank you. It has been exasperating and frustrating. Some people seem very blinkered and impervious to facts and data and seem determined to take everything as a personal insult rather than consider the broader picture.

but that's the whole point - it isn't prejudice that we're talking about here. It would be prejudiced to say "all old people are lazy and selfish" or whatever, but to state facts - for example referencing the historical voting pattern of a generation as a whole, referencing the well-documented impact on wider society - is literally just stating facts

Of course it is prejudiced and like most prejudices, it makes no sense.

By your reckoning, someone born on 31st December 1964 is responsible for voting in the Tories (apart from between 1997-2010) and hogging all the wealth etc. because they are a Boomer. Someone born on 1st January 1965 isn't because they are part of Generation X.

It is ridiculous.

you. It has been exasperating and frustrating. Some people seem very blinkered and impervious to facts and data and seem determined to take everything as a personal insult rather than consider the broader picture.

Oh please.

Of course they take it personally!!!!

They are 1 actual person with a birth date, and you are reeling of facts and figures as if it's their responsibility.

Shit happened. Just like it's happening now.

And if you can't see past data to actual real people's lives, you're colossally missing the point.

I'm at the very tail end of the boomer years.
I agree with you, we have a lot to answer for.

Crack on with "the historical voting patterns "of a few generations or actually
ask a person for their lived experience.

You literally sound like an A1 chat bot.

You know what ? there are many many generations that have "a lot to answer for. "

Yes, all the progress that was made in LGB rights, womens rights, employment rights, battling racism, the beginning of the environmental movement..