"boomer" thread 2 💥

[IClaudine]

A thread for people who want to combat ageism on the site, because MNHQ can't be bothered to.

Agree and this is why basing slurs on demographic definitions which completely ignore inequality within those groups is so stupid. It its the age equivalent of this:

Reddit - i.redd.it/qtuqzy10r8g61.jpg

That's such a good image.

I agree. It feels to me that the majority of the MN demographic didn’t grow up in these areas.

Absolutely. The big issue I think is those who will be shut out of this versus those who will massively benefit. A lot of the people grumping about their wealthy parents not understanding their children’s financial position will end up with much of this wealth and they themselves probably grew up in a household with far more disposable income than their parents had had as children.

I was born at the very end of the Boomer age limit, left school at the height of Thatcherism, unemployment was 80% in my local area, and a lot of the people I grew up with ended up on heroin by the time they were 18. Whole communities have never recovered from this wholesale decimation of working class life and culture. Pisses me off when young people tell me how easy my generation had it.

This in spades Tgbtgb. I think I said on the other thread, I grew up in South Wales. The people who blame Boomers for everything need to come here and visit the valleys. See how people are still suffering, see how many Boomers had their lives ruined by Thatcherism, see the deprivation. My dad had his livelihood taken away and it hurt him badly. At one point out of five working age adults in our household, only one had a job and that was part time. I still remember one time going to cash the giros, and how shameful it felt. I left when I was 18 because there was nothing for young people. They have no idea. Pisses me off no end too.

Whew, that was cathartic! The giro incident was in 1981, and I still remember it. My family was lucky, everyone managed to get jobs in the end and went on to good things. Others, not so lucky.

I was talking to DP about this just yesterday! And at the post office when you cashed the giro you could buy £1 savings stamps for your electricity card (literally a stamp you licked and glued onto the official piece of cardboard), or gas card, or telephone card. And then used them towards paying your bill in the leccy / gas / BT shop in town.

Margaret Thatcher, UB40s, jumpers for goalposts ...

Relate hard to this except Scotland and family of shipbuilders. My memories of that period as a kid are really, really depressing. I said this on a similar thread recently, but it wasn't just your own dad, it was other members of your family too, your friends' dads and neighbours. Whole communities. There was no others jobs they could move into either. I think that's why Gen X had become very politically aware by the time the poll tax came round, then we found clubs and raving as a way to switch off from the shit.

I'm generation Jones - depending on the graph used I can fall into either boomer or X. I was born and grew up in Central London where the streets are paved with gold.

I spent a disproportionate part of my childhood going back and forth to the Brompton Hospital with chest problems caused by the damp and overcrowded housing. But it was ok - because most of my friends were there too for the same reason. Central heating didn't exist for us any more than double glazing, our own bedrooms, dedicated bathroom per housing unit or a brass farthing to spare at the end of the week.

I went to school in a class of 48 pupils. The other two classes in my year group were the same size. But again we were lucky because our older siblings had been in classes of over 50. The building was falling down and the loos were outside - a hangover from the Victorian era building standards. Two kids in my year group went to university - it was a good year. Girls were particularly discouraged from higher education because WC girls would only babies so it made more sense to go and work in the post office at the earliest opportunity.

The WC minority community into which I was born doesn't exist any more. Affluent country dwellers and the odd pop star bought up the small flats and terraces as handy pieds a terre for Harrods and the Kings Road. The community scattered, extended families were separated from support networks but nobody cared because apparently real communities don't exist in cities, only bucolic villages with nice views!

Then there was trying to get into work in the Thatcher era into a male dominated industry that routinely discriminated against us and pension schemes which excluded women and paid maternity leave was a fantasy. Oh and then there was the National Front.

Yep, being born WC in the 60s was pure luxury all the way.

No she didn't. That was not a credible threat. She made a sarcastic comment after a poster had used an offensive term for a person of colour that most posters ignored ( it was deleted much later ). She was making the point that if she had called people that, it would not have been ignored. Please don't misrepresent her intentions.

It's true of all the generations. People use 'millennials' to describe anyone young. They'll use it to refer to 18 year olds. Millennials are between 27-42. Hardly all young people.

Yes that may be true, but it doesn't take away from the issue this thread is about - that bigotry against older people is not challenged robustly enough by MNHQ,

They don't, however, suggest these misnamed "Millennials" should fuck off and die to free up assets for their use, though.

Zedders are 18, not Millennials. Everyone knows that.

This in spades Tgbtgb*. I think I said on the other thread, I grew up in South Wales. The people who blame Boomers for everything need to come here and visit the valleys. See how people are still suffering, see how many Boomers had their lives ruined by Thatcherism, see the deprivation. My dad had his livelihood taken away and it hurt him badly. At one point out of five working age adults in our household, only one had a job and that was part time. I still remember one time going to cash the giros, and how shameful it felt. I left when I was 18 because there was nothing for young people. They have no idea. Pisses me off no end too.
Relate hard to this except Scotland*

I grew up in S Yorks. Can also relate. Thatchet destroyed the steel and mining industry. She wanted to destroy the North of England. No jobs anywhere. Horrible times.

"Millennial" is mostly not used in the same way as "Boomer" and you know it.

Yes, stupid people say stuff about snowflakes etc, but there is not the same bitterness, resentment and hostility behind the use of the word "Millennial".

Just reported a post on the DM wfh thread which refers to "classic right wing Boomer bitching"

Hi everyone. We'd like to reassure you that we're not ignoring your comments. There's a lot of feedback on the previous thread and this one and it takes time to go through and discuss. We are talking about the points you've raised and will return with an update this week. Thanks for your patience.

From the same DM thread. Some people really are full of hate towards older people. Would any other demographic be told to suck up bigotry?

As a millennial I find it utterly laughable that you think the boomer generation gets "all the blame" for our current situation. Bashing millennials has been a full-time occupation for many older people over at least the last decade as far as I can see and now there is the backlash and you don't like it. Well tough, suck it up.

I am not sure how my post on the Royal Threads has been brought into a discussion about ageism on Mumsnet.

My post was in response to someone who used the highly offensive term "non-white" to describe the Duchess of Sussex.

I pointed out that this was an othering term that revealed unconscious bias as it centres whiteness as a norm, and all other races are "non-white". I pointed out that the last I heard this term used was in apartheid South Africa. I asked whether posters would be happy to be called non-black, and also observed that posters would be up in arms if I called them "Karens."

This had nothing to do with the age of posters and was a riposte to the blindness of Mumsnet posters when it comes to race and racism.

Indeed, until this thread was alerted to me, I had no idea there was a discussion on ageism on this site.

So no.

@jeffgoldblum is completely wrong, and I would go as far as saying she is being malicious and goady in informing you incorrectly that I threatened to, as she says, call us all Karens.

It's also telling that she says it was in reaction to a post that I found offensive.

The post was offensive. It was called out by other posters too, and was rightly deleted by @MNHQ. That she does not see it as offensive despite all this, and that she attributes its offence only to my reaction speaks volumes.

I hope this sets the record straight and would appreciate it if, in future this poster did not take my words out of context to stir up unnecessary drama on other boards.

Thank you.

The post I reported was deleted thankfully.

Gah, that thread has got worse. I am out.

I'm afraid that by the time I saw the thread, it already had over 200 posts. And they were pretty awful from the get-go, so I didn't bother.

I would leave Mumsnet, but there is a long running politics thread that I would be sad to lose.

Don't go! We need as many on our team as possible!