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I have huge sympathy for Millennials. Boomers scraped the cream off the 20th Century and now listen to their rhetoric.
Boomers were born post WWII and received the benefits of union wages and lifetime pensions.
Boomers lived in an era of US manufacturing, no threat of outsourcing.
Boomers had the ability to go to college without having to take on extremely expensive student loans.
Boomers were able go to university without competing against international students who can afford to pay the highest rates to attend. Universities that receive less funding now give higher placement to the student that pays the most, which is typically an international student. That was not the case for Boomers.
Boomers get to retire at 62 and get Medicare coverage for the rest of their lives based on obscenely small contributions.
Boomers then reach that age of retirement, enjoy all those benefits, then spend their aging years insulting those that are younger then they are who have to pay ten times as much for an education to compete for a job against literally other countries, pay the highest rates for health coverage in US history while also paying for the Medicare recipients medical coverage and fund their Social Security.
I'm not a millennial but I get it. I don't know how they are going to afford to have families when child care costs are huge and the cost of homes increasing every year.
And millennials were born into a world rich with technology that the boomers did not have. Millenials can learn anything at any time of day thanks to the internet and the wealth of knowledge out there. They carry in their pockets devices that let them tap into a wealth of knowledge, become an expert on anything, compete in ways boomers couldn't possibly compete. The sky isn't even the limit for them. I wish I could be around to see what they do with the incredible gift they've been given. Yes there's competition but look at the tools they've been given to compete with.
It is possible to rise up and win. Look what Japan did. We were the giant but they fought their way to the top. If that's what the Millenials want they need to fight for it like Japan did. The problem Millenials have seems to be that they weren't born at the top. Neither were the boomers. Yes they had it easier in some ways but millenials have it easier in others. They carry entire libraries in their pockets. How cool is that? All that knowledge to draw from at any time they need it.
I'll address medicare and SS. My contributions when coupled with my employers contribution are not obscenely small. They amount to better than 15% of my income. Do you have any idea how much money I'd have if I had been able to invest that money? The problem isn't what we didn't pay in. It's what the government chose to do with what we paid in. Had it been invested for our retirement, the system would be fine. They robbed the bank here. I'm not worried though. The liberals want a guaranteed minimum income for everyone and I assume that will include all retired baby boomers. Seriously, if we can afford a guaranteed minimum income we can afford social security.
Oh and 65 is the retirement age for the oldest boomers and 67 for the youngest. Yes, we can retire at 62 (can't get medicare until 65) but it's at a significantly reduced benefit.
Speaking of retirement, do you know how many jobs the boomers will create when they retire? Talk about being in the right place at the right time. As more and more boomers retire, millenials will be in high demand to fill those positions. I'm not really getting where all this gloom and doom comes from but I get it. I remember the boomers complaining about how their parents ruined everything for them back in the 60's (I'm a young boomer)...and then they got up, got to work and made their way in life.
LOL on housing costs. My house is not yet worth what it was in 1995 when I bought it due to the downturn in the market. Seriously? Houses cost what they did 20 years ago and mortgage rates are cheap and you think millenials got the short shaft on housing? This is a great opportunity for them. They can buy houses at 1990's prices with low interest rates. You want to talk about getting screwed? I bought my first house in 1979 and paid 11.25% interest only to see housing prices crash in the next year. It took me 17 years to sell that house for what I bought it for. Then I bought this one in 1995 and here I am trying to struggle my way back to what it was worth back then. From where I sit it was the tail end boomers who got shafted on housing. We came of age during the recession of the 80's and saw double digit inflation and mortgage rates.
The millenials need to get over their little temper tantrum and get on with life. Every generation has it's advantages and disadvantages and they all seem to think the generation before them had it great and they got shafted...Have you ever asked yourself why? There's a very logical reason. They didn't watch the generation before them struggle to get where they are. They were too young or not around. They just see where they are and not the hard work it took to get there. In 40 years, it will be a new generation blaming the millenials for taking the cream off the top and ruining it for them. That's just the way it goes.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 03-15-2015 at 08:07 PM..
Uh; I hate to say this but, many of those "helicopter parents" ARE Baby Boomers. Their "do as I say, DON'T do as I did" attitude. Word was many Boomers partied hard 40 years ago but seem to forget that "kids" WILL get down and MOST of those kids will be fine once they get their craziness out of their minds.
I'm aware of that. The "Greatest Generation" raised the Boomers, who proceeded to trash this country and make it unrecognizeable. They're now raising the most helpless generation.
Only 1 post before the usual deflection away from the thread and the issue of whiner millennials being the least educated, least competent generation. Absolutely none of the complaints about "boomers" have anything to do with the far too large number of millennials who can't read or do basic math.
Boomers are mostly white
Millennials are not.
The statistics separating millenials from boomers in academics are found in this fact.
You can call it racist, but it's absolutely true. To say otherwise is to deny reality
Millennials do have a lot of technology in their pockets - they are one of the generations developing that technology. To call Millennials uneducated and lazy is completely opposite of those I know that work in technology.
The huge technological shifts mostly came after Boomers but they did do things like Civil Rights, the Women's Movement and interracial marriage. It's hard to imagine a time before them.
I'm aware of that. The "Greatest Generation" raised the Boomers, who proceeded to trash this country and make it unrecognizeable. They're now raising the most helpless generation.
I'd agree with you 100 percent IF the US didn't have a rebuilt Germany and Japan to deal with where making stuff was concerned. Now we're dealing with China so how much is it the fault of the Boomers messing things up or just that times simply changed. Not a question here, more an opinion.
this country has been going down hill since the late 70's. The "greatest" generation had it the best, the boomers got recession after recession, 20% mortgage interest rates, deflated wages, outsourcing, loss of pensions, etc.
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Seriously, if we can afford a guaranteed minimum income we can afford social security. 
