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Unlikely-Camel-2598

I know this doesnt really matter, but classifying yourself as an elder millennial when you're born in '91 makes me feel like you aren't grasping quite a few things about how culture discusses generations (in your conception when is there even time for standard and younger millennials to exist/be lol?) There are books by Jonathan Haight that explain the broad concepts quite well (including your OP q).


Gullible-Fee-9079

Yeah, that catched my eye aswell. Born in 91 you are more a younger millenial.


Strong_Recipe5734

Caught*


Gullible-Fee-9079

Yeah that laught wrong. English isn't my first language, though, so thanks.


Funny-Cover6517

Because it's easier to blame others than to take responsibility for ones own actions.


bannedByTencent

They don't even know what boomer really means. This word has been a cliche for decades.


Zealousideal_Let3945

I always thought it was a reference to boomers tendency to trash millennials. It started after 10 or 15 years of that. Always thought they were related.


Minialpacadoodle

Some people, in all generations, always trash each other. Usually it's just people who are fuck-ups, but they need to blame their problems on anyone but themself.


simplyintentional

It's because the boomers parents, the greatest generation, fought and lost their lives and did tonnes of strikes so that the average person and worker would have rights and things wouldn't be the way they are right now which was similar to how it was for them. Boomers inherited a world where workers has rights and equal pay as well as a government that provided an insane amount of social supports, social programs, and subsidies; a robust healthcare system (in Canada at least); HEAVILY subsidized post-secondary education; built a huge amount of social housing; and tonnes of other things that directly benefited the average, not-wealthy citizen. Boomers inherited a beautiful world which let them become quite wealthy relative to past generations, then voted all of that away to keep more money for themselves by saving a little bit of money in taxes. When they became employers and management, they elected to not fairly share pay with their workers and instead funnelled all excess profit to shareholders, keep it for themselves, and/or collect bonuses for themselves for keeping wages low for those below them. The most annoying thing is they can't see this and blame the young for being lazy and entitled without considering that they passed down a shit economy and things are totally different now.


Strict_Jacket3648

LOL sure but there have always been the 1% and they aren't always boomers.


OkieBobbie

I'm not really sure what world is being described but it wasn't the one I knew.


Lost-Inevitable-9807

It’s not the 1% who voted in the trickle down economics that we’re living with the consequences of today. Trickle down economics is why we have so much wealth inequality today. It took majorities to make that happen election cycle after election cycle. And the boomers are huge population wise. Part of the reason behind the boomer name is because they are so sizable in terms of population, they were born during a ‘baby boom’ and their parents had large families and suffered much lower child mortality rates thanks to medical advances like vaccines. Boomers were the first generation to start substantially decreasing their family size. Even democrats like Bill Clinton implemented trickle down economics and put in place excessively punitive crime policies, and they did so thanks to votes by boomers. So even boomers who think of themselves as liberals still vote for regressive tax policies, including the defunding of public education and ignoring climate change, which they have contributed to the most. There are tons of books on this, on the whole they are the richest generation by far, on the average don’t have to be part of the 1% to enjoy a good middle class life if your a boomer.


Strict_Jacket3648

https://medium.com/@lbergelt/the-remarkable-accomplishments-of-the-baby-boomer-generation-253890fbd364#:\~:text=The%20accomplishments%20of%20the%20Baby,world%20we%20live%20in%20today. They also got beat and pepper sprayed for protesting against every thing you you just mentioned. So ya not all baby boomers are the same.


Lost-Inevitable-9807

I agree they’re not all the same, but on the whole, and definitely when looking at the average boomer, those mentioned are exceptions and in the minority. Folks like Steve Jobs, MLK, and Bob Dylan are the outliers, not the norm. The same way that Mark Zuckerberg, and Tomi Lauren do not represent the average millenial.


[deleted]

Glad I saw your comment, I was about write pretty much the same thing. They closed every door and made it harder for future generations in every way possible, but still chastise us for being "lazy" and not "dedicated to our job".


Beginning_Key2167

As a Gen Xer. That is it right there.


More-Ad-8494

preach


TemporalCash531

Beyond me how a person from 1991 (OP) wouldn’t know this - at least in its most general brushstrokes. Unless he/she has lived under a rock until now.


3qtpint

I think a lot of it was when older economists and political pundits started blaming "millennial snowflakes" for the 2008 recession.  There also the issue where it was hard to talk to older generations about how times have changed. My parents could not understand why I wasn't going to businesses in person to ask for work (everyone told me to apply online), and they couldn't understand why I couldn't move out at 18 within minimum wage. I don't hate anyone for their generational label, I think there is some confusion about how the modern world works compared to the world from 40 years ago. That leads to confusion and conflict


notablyunfamous

Because they think people should take responsibility for themselves and their life choices


[deleted]

I don’t know, it’s totally unjustified!


Ohhhhhhthehumanity

Generations always trash talk other generations. It does both ways and has happened for...generations.


cicciozolfo

They have to put the blame on somebody, for their shitty lifes.


Logistics515

Intergenerational angst and conflict has rather been a particular highlight of US culture for some time now. Most of the comedy in the old show mid 70s "All In The Family" had Boomers butting heads with Greatest Generation / Silent Generation characters. So, personally I regard it all as more of the same, if a slightly different flavor.


RandomNameGenFail003

The Boomer generation got the best part of America. They bought homes for 15,000 that are worth over a million today. They could have 3 kids and a stay at home wife on a part time job while going to college. Everything was given to them, and they left nothing for the next generation.


AskMeAboutMySwissy

I’m 62 and technically a boomer - I’ve never even seen a 15k house - not one that I’d want to live in, anyway 😂


Kindly_Honeydew3432

Probably referring to older baby boomers who could have bought an average house in the $20k range in the 60s/early 70s which, adjusted for inflation is worth in the $200K range today, and is much smaller and likely has fewer bedrooms than an average house today despite smaller average family size. Of course, the same house may cost much more than the inflation adjusted value would suggest depending on location/neighborhood.


AskMeAboutMySwissy

Absolutely. I grew up in Northern California, where real estate was always expensive relative to most places. And I’m glad I raised kids who are self aware enough to not generalize their opinions for a swath of the population whose motivations and struggles they’re mostly unfamiliar with. Some legit hateful people are doing exactly this, in case no one’s noticed.


Kindly_Honeydew3432

Yep. I understand where they’re coming from in terms of current economic hardships. But I think a lot of the argument is not fact-based, including the idea that baby boomers had it “easy.” In reality, average earnings have outpaced inflation, meaning, relative to consumer pricing index, people today have more purchasing power than they did in prior decades. I think the problem is that CPI doesn’t paint the full picture. While overall you may be able to purchase more goods and services now, the cost of housing, education, and healthcare have increased significantly more than inflation. These are essentials. But I don’t think it’s the result of a generational war declared by baby boomers against subsequent generations. It’s very complex, but largely is an unfortunate consequence of capitalism. If you give a capitalist business, entrepreneur, banker, or investors a significant market advantage, they will utilize it to maximize profit That’s part of what’s wrong with healthcare. We spend billions on corporate waste. We pay people a lot of money to maximize revenue so that we can afford to pay those people a lot of money to maximize revenue. And we make it hard for doctors to do their jobs by minimizing the resources (which are expensive) that they have available to do their job, and then we pay people to monitor them to make sure they’re doing good job despite taking away the resources they need to do a good job. The extreme on one side wants to take all the money from the haves and redistribute it to everyone else. The extreme on the other side says there is no role for government, just let capitalism do its thing and nobody will get hurt. Unfortunately, those extremes on each side have way too much power and largely dictate policy, and neither extreme is right.


[deleted]

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AskMeAboutMySwissy

I was fourteen years old in the mid 70’s - why would I be looking for a house lol.


[deleted]

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AskMeAboutMySwissy

You’re the one trying to sketch together some point or other, based on my age - so I’d say it’s relevant, duh.


[deleted]

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AskMeAboutMySwissy

Hey I’m not the one crying about how hard life is and blaming another generation for it. Do you speak for yours? I sure hope not.


SRB112

My first house cost $160000. A small 3 bedroom ranch.


Lost-Inevitable-9807

Some of us have boomer parents/uncles that DID enjoy buying their first home (new build!) for around 15k, especially if your from the Midwest: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ATNHPIUS17460Q


Kindly_Honeydew3432

True, but, adjusted for inflation, size of house, number of bedrooms in a similar cost of living area, it’s not that far off. $15k is an eye catching number. But given that you can get that same house in many parts of the Midwest now for low $200s range or even less (again, depending on location), it’s not that far off expected inflation adjusted appreciation.


Lost-Inevitable-9807

The houses today are 50-70+ years older for these prices. The scarcity of housing is simply incomparable, and we get guilt tripped for not bearing children to raise in a house with mold, cracking vinyl, and a host of other issues. Even if you adjust for inflation the quality of housing is awful, so not it’s not the same, not even close. The US is in desperate need of a housing boom I wish parents/elder family members would just shut up about what why haven’t bought the 3 bedroom house in the burbs with the big yard and bred 4 kids yet. So many of us would love that life, it’s soul crushing that we can’t afford it.


Kindly_Honeydew3432

I also think it’s a little disingenuous to pretend that these older homes are all unliveable health hazard. I have three such homes in my family, built in the 60s (maybe 50s), 70s, and 80s respectively. They are all quite nice, comfortable homes and I still have family members living in them today. They have been updated over the years and are nicer today than they were when they were new. The biggest differences between them and new built home are they are comparatively small. But they had 3 and 4 child families raised in them once upon a time. These are still very viable housing options


Kindly_Honeydew3432

I hear ya. I’m just pointing out we’re not entirely comparing apples to apples. The average house built today has more bedrooms, much more square footage, and is in a more densely populated area. And that’s inflation aside. I’m not saying it’s not hard for a lot of people’s. But there are numerous complex factors at play. I don’t think it’s the result of some generational war boomers are waging as much as complex market factors


VoidDuck

>as an elder/older Millennial (born in 1991) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennials *typically being defined as people born from 1981 to 1996* ... you don't really qualify as *older* in that context.


Extreme-Branch7298

Poor communication skills.


myfeelingsarefacts

Guys, is this irony?


Silentlaughter84

I think it's because of a lack of understanding, but it goes for both sides. Boomers lived in a world where methods of getting things done were more complicated but the end result was worth it. But they have tendency to believe that it's same world when it isn't, while things have gotten easier the end result isn't as worth it like it used to be. For example, work. Back then when you put best foot forward, your employer noticed. Nowadays it isn't really like that.


Lost-Inevitable-9807

They had things like pensions, getting ahead meant showing up on time and doing your job, today it means putting in 60+ weeks and giving your boss your soul.


JuustinB

I’ve never been given financial advice from anyone over the age of 65 that wasn’t fucking moronic is all I’m going to add to this.


Lost-Inevitable-9807

They’re really clueless about things like college loans and how that makes it impossible to buy a house when you graduate college. Plus they don’t look at how expensive housing is today. My boomers parents and aunts/uncles literally have no clue, which is bizarre because they’re not old enough to have things like dementia, it feels like common knowledge, but they just want to criticize their kids for not having it all by age 25.


LetterheadOdd5700

The boomers are a lucky generation, enjoying a level of asset wealth which is unlikely to be repeated (25% of millionaires are [pensioners](https://twitter.com/spectator/status/1434438334495997953)), with greater access to decent pensions, healthcare and housing, plus living through a period of relative peace and stability. In Britain, they benefited from reforms after WWII to create the NHS and the welfare state, so pensioners in modern Britain are much better off than the average pensioner in the 1940s. Wages rose, home ownership expanded thanks to the right to buy policy, and house prices boomed. In 1975, the average house cost around £10,000. By 1990, it was over [six times](https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/5709/housing/market/) that. The 1980s created inequalities that echo to this day, yet the boomers - who have dominated British politics since the 1990s - continue to push Thatcherist ideology that the state must be shrunk and those left behind are there because of their own fault. Instead of dealing with the problems and recognising that younger generations are hard up, we have denials and culture wars. Take Michael Gove's levelling up policy - it got little cash and most of the proposals from the regions were vetoed. So what was the point? An organised deception: the appearance of a programme with no intention of being implemented. So yes, there's a case to be made that the boomers who took over our politics from the 1990s have been selfish and self-serving in their policies, and the numbers of those who continue voting for them tend to indicate that this isn't a problem so long as the wealthier section of society, most made up of boomers, is not affected. As someone said recently, politicians don't come into power to fix problems anymore, but to take advantage of them.


Late-Reply2898

Just a guess: because they spent the last 75 years polluting and heating the planet and even now, a huge percentage want to drive around in RV's, fly to distant vacation destinations, heat and cool their 5-bedroom homes, and eat from single-use plastic containers. They still dominate politics. It's like their parents never taught them the value of humility. An entire generation of middle children, fighting for a scoop of peas at the overcrowded dinner table.


Furepubs

I think it is because they are so out of touch with the world as it is today. They grew up in a time of plenty where everything was cheap. Housing, schooling, food, medical Now we live in a time of scarcity where everything is expensive. They can't understand why the younger people can't afford stuff so they assume it's because they are lazy. Of course not every boomer is like this but unfortunately you only tend to hear from the out of touch boomers, the others are more publicity quiet.


tronquinhos

Take a look at some stories in r/boomersbeingfools If those stories are representative, that should be the answer to your question.


MochiSauce101

The Living Years Mike and the Mechanics Go have a listen - explains a lot


Lost-Inevitable-9807

They lived through a housing boom, so many of the houses that gen X and millennials are trying to buy today are really worn down and outdated by the boomers who got to enjoy buying new or near new homes, which government subsidies made possible. Today younger gen X and millennials are trying to buy these worn down houses at historically crazy prices relative to their income because boomers lead the NIMBY (they didn’t want anything built, known as ‘Not In My BackYard’) movement while they enjoyed this crazy building boom and low prices when they weee coming of age.


AskMeAboutMySwissy

It kills me that you think things were so much easier 😂 We were just middle class - yeah my mom stayed home, but my dad worked two jobs. He actually built with his own hands, the first home that I really remember - because a place in the ‘burbs was beyond what he could afford. I spent my summers between ages eleven & fourteen helping him. I remember him telling me, that it cost about 20k in materials plus 25k for the lot - he sold it for 253k in 1993. That same home recently sold for nearly 2M. Old Home (https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3150-Marina-Ave_Livermore_CA_94550_M16025-43523) You need to get over yourself and realize that just about everyone but the wealthy will struggle - that’s just how it is, and how it’s always been.


Strong_Recipe5734

Because boomers royally f**ked us! They have been in control for a long time and we are just now taking the reins. It’s not all their fault and it’s also not proper to generalize anyone from that generation as part of the problem, but as a whole, they indeed caused us a lot of grief.