Not sure if this fits here, but with all the posts I’ve seen about people in my generation being attacked as lazy/entitled/stupid in their workplace by Boomers, I just need to rant.
I do my best not to fall into the “all Boomers are selfish a-holes” mindset, because 1) they’re not, 2) that’s the same crap they pull when they say “millennials/gen z are lazy,” and 3) it’s just plain discriminatory.
At the end of the day, a “generation” is just a group of individuals who happen to be born around the same time. Every individual makes decisions for themselves and should only be held responsible for those decisions, not the decisions of everyone else who happens to be similarly aged.
But Christ, it’s hard not to fall into the “generational guilt” trap when it seems so many individual Boomers are so comfortable blaming Millennials/Gen Z – and me – for all their problems openly and TO THEIR FACE.
I absolutely LOSE IT when I hear a Boomer trot out the “Damn Millennials/Gen Z are ruining this country!” line.
WE ruined it? How could we ruin it when Boomers/Silent Gen STILL control a majority of the wealth AND a majority of political representation?
Not to mention the simple fact that even the oldest Millennials are just in their 30s/40s, so it would be a pretty incredible move for us to have amassed the political and economic power required to ruin a country since we basically JUST got here.
But, if Boomers INSIST on treating an entire group of people as a single, monolithic block based solely upon their age, they shouldn’t be throwing stones.
Regardless of your political or economic persuasion – left or right – if we’re talking about a generation “ruining this country”, Boomers are guiltier than most.
- Refusing to even acknowledge the POSSIBILITY that humans are impacting the planet, let alone killing it
- Fighting ANY type of Social Security or Medicare reform such that both will be insolvent almost IMMEDIATELY after they die
- Making even the most modest police reforms a near-impossibility
- Racking up over $30 trillion in debt that WE will have to pay for
Motherf***ers, by your “generational guilt” worldview, Y’ALL “ruined this country.” We’re just the ones left picking up the god damn pieces.
Again, to blame an entire group of people for anything based solely on their age is discriminatory.
But, if a Boomer wants to do that to us, they have absolutely no right to be surprised when people start judging them by the same rubric and they come up short.