"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?

If you don't vote, in many constituencies the Conservatives get in by default. Is that what you want?

Are you actively campaigning for an end to the FPTP system?

And are you campaigning at grassroots level to get your voice heard about the issues that matter to you?

Who's not acknowledging the situation? Well, frankly - you. Earlier on in the thread you dismissed what I said by calling me a chat bot! I mean...

Genuinely, who should youngsters be voting for? Who is making policies for us? Who, if elected, will try and keep our votes?
Because at the moment, I think we don't vote because there isn't anyone for us to vote for. Until we have a statistical majority, no party is interested in us

I feel the same, because Labour is simply Tory lite, but I will still get out and vote to GTTO. That is the starting point.

Political parties are not interested because you don't get out and vote. It is a vicious circle. Older people can only do so much now. It is your time to change things, just as we did. You must be the change you wish to see in the world. (Ghandi apparently didn't actually say that, but I think it is apt).

@Oliotya

Just a quick Google of 'Labour party policies'* brings this up, as one of the first things that they say:

A Labour government would freeze council tax this year, paid for with a proper windfall tax on the oil and gas giants making billions.

We’ll bring down energy bills for good with our plan to make Britain a clean energy superpower.
^^
And we’ll give parents peace of mind by delivering free breakfast clubs in every Primary School, paid for by abolishing non-dom tax status.

Isn't this something appropriate for you? Worth voting for?

It's very silly to say that there isn't anything to vote for.

*I have no idea what any of the other parties are saying/promising - that was literally the first thing I Googled

Who's not acknowledging the situation? Well, frankly - you. Earlier on in the thread you dismissed what I said by calling me a chat bot! I mean...

I said the relentless lectures which did not acknowledge people's views were like a chat bot.

And it wasn't even meant for you.

Lots of accusatory lectures have been delivered but no one has said " what do you think of the situation ?"

It's crap. It affects my family big time.

@traytablestowed

@Oliotya

Apologies. Got you muddled. You weren't saying to get out and vote.

Until we have a statistical majority, no party is interested in us

What does this even mean?! I think you'll find that any of the political parties would want your vote!

I have been reading this thread with interest. I am neither a "boomer" nor a millennial - I am the ignored Gen X - and struggle to understand this inter-generational blame game.

I have noticed that people younger than me seem, as a whole, to be much less politically interested, much less likely to watch the news, much less likely to protest and less environmentally aware. I appreciate that's a vast over generalisation but I am frequently surprised by this. I wonder if it's due to being children or teens in the early 2000s when things were good although it may be that I just remember those years of the Labour government as good after spending my entire childhood with the Conservatives in power and there being constant protests.

No one is going to create policies for people who don't bother to turn out and vote. If you don't vote, you can't really complain about anything. Previous generations of women died for you to have the right to vote so it is fo important to do so and have your say.

@sunglassesonthetable so what do you think of the situation then?

Exactly.

@YetAnotherBeckyMumsnet @MNHQ

If we can put to one side for the moment the attempt to divert the thread with thousands of words of regurgitated press releases and focus on the subject of the thread - ageism and is it allowed on MN?

I and others have highlighted examples of ageism where we reported and no action was taken. I've had the same experience on other "isms" in the past where racism, abelism etc were left standing "to be robustly rebutted on the thread" ie leave it to the targets of the comments to justify why we are sick of racism/otherism

I've robustly rebutted racism and abelism on threads and then been deleted because we should 'report the post'.

So which is it? Do we report bigotry and rely on the random roulette wheel of moderation or do we robustly rebut on the thread and get deleted and possibly banned?

Now that (hopefully) the copy and paste queen has gone to sleep for a bit, it might be nice to get back to the reason this thread was started.

@Oliotya @traytablestowed

Do you agree that it's reductive and offensive to use ageist language on MN against people? Is it OK to post abuse about people who are retired being on public transport, in swimming pools, in shops etc? Is it OK to want older people to be forced out of the houses that they (through no fault of their own- to coin a phrase) bought with the money they earned? Is it OK to call a woman an old bag? An old hag? Do you think it's OK to assume all older people living next door to younger people are "nosy old fuckers" Etc etc.

As others have said, replace the word "old" with the word "black" or "disabled", or yes, even "young" and it takes on a slant that should make everyone using such language think.

I know nothing about economics and unlike some soi-disant people, I don't pretend to.

I do know the housing situation in this country is dire. Is that my 80 year old dad's fault because under Margaret Thatcher he bought his council house? Does that make him (with his bad heart and frail wife) undeserving of the possibility to be able to catch a bus at what time he wants? Or go swimming when toddlers are swimming? Does my Dad, in short, as a house owner, deserve the abuse that older houseowners on MN get?

I went to university under Margaret Thatcher and never had to pay a penny. Is the student loan situation then somehow my fault? Is the fact that my daughter will finish university full of debt my fault because I didn't?

This thread was started as a plea to stop with the base, offensive, reductive, insults, often using ageist language.

Not all old people are nice.
Not all young people are.

But to actively wish death (and if you were on here during Covid then you can't now deny that there was thread after thread doing exactly that) on older people, to spew ageist bile on thread after thread is crossing a line.

HQ have now made it clear that we have to deal with it ourselves. I don't believe that. I don't believe that the MN I joined 20 years ago would have said that. I was here when the parents of disabled children had to fight to be heard, and when black MNers fought to be heard. I'm neither, but supported both 100%. I'd like now the same courtesy extended to older Mumsnetters and older people in general.

What kind of a fucking society are we in (in either the microcosm of MN or the macrocosm out there) when insulting someone because they're older is still OK?

C8H10N4O2, yes. I would like to know this too.

TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon well said.

TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon

Well said.

Shhhhh don't draw attention to us, we're just keeping our heads down and going with the flow

Earlier in the thread someone complained about being locked down in order to "save"old people. This shocked me as they clearly let their hatred of older people to completely cloud their rational thinking.

@TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon very well put. That was indeed the purpose of this thread, following one of the most offensive, ageist threads I've ever come across on here.

so what do you think of the situation then?

Tbh I think I just said. It's crap.

It affects my family profoundly which in all the lectures yesterday was completely irrelevant. .

Families are inter generational so affects reverb throughout.

And these stereotyped generational cut of lines kind of imply only certain people are affected.

Some posters clearly don't get on with their family and seem to have personalised that across society as a whole.

@traytablestowed

Earlier in the thread someone complained about being locked down in order to "save"old people. This shocked me as they clearly let their hatred of older people to completely cloud their rational thinking.

Yep I noticed that.
But you know, pick your battles.

It was, excuse the pun, endemic.

Really, remembering the way countless thousands of comments along those lines were allowed to stand, I guess we have our answer about how the powers that be here feel about ageism, when it concerns older people.

I've been catching up with this thread and frankly I'm appalled!
The ageism is really disgusting!
And I will add , I'm offended and I'm too young to be a boomer or probably gen x , so know that @WarOnTheSlugs and those who agree with her have offended not only those posters who are the age they are gunning for but quite a lot of younger posters too!