Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I honestly don’t know what “boomer privilege” is because we worked for everything we have.
What you seem to not comprehend is that college costs skyrocketed when the government started lending money for it to anyone breathing. The same thing happened with housing! It’s not anything to do with Boomers.
Again, as the youngest Boomer who raised millennials, we made it crystal clear: apply yourself in high school and get scholarships. Raised a valedictorian, salutatorian, and one went in to the military. We never signed loans; they never signed loans. We supplemented for clothing, books, etc., and paid to keep them on medical coverage. They held part-time jobs.
There really are ways to do this if you make good decisions.
So as a kid, born in late 1963. I lived a life chock full of, "boomer privilege" examples being hand picking cotton, hand hoeing miles of pinto beans (literally miles), hand digging potatoes, brush hogging saw briars, Johnson grass, thistle etc. day after day on a Massey Ferguson 35 (at the end of the day I'd be so dirty my mom would make me hose off outside and only then shower), we cut (castrated) sheep, hogs, cattle and goats........milking goats and cows at 05:30 AM in the freezing cold etc. I've had hog, beeve and horse poo kicked on my face. I was boomer lucky enough to be kicked in the head by a horse.
All thought 1-12 grade my life was get up at 5*, eat, milk goat and/or cows, pack the milk off, go to school, stay of whatever kind of practice or not come home, eat a snack and then milk some more or clean a stall, check on the horses etc. etc. until dark and after dark in he winter. I still have Popeye forearms and strong hands from all the hand milking.
*When it was really cold I'd get up 15 minutes early are break ice in stock troughs. and do the same that night.
_________
Truth is I'd change nothing. My mom and dad gave my brother and me the gift of very strong work ethics, tenacity, the love of animals etc.
________
Further, we know lots of millennials........and true its a self selected cadre but not a one is a crybaby finger pointer as demonstrated in this thread.
It seems your ideas about the boomer generation come from pundits and media presentations rather than boomers themselves, like the many boomers here who related their own experiences. But you would rather quote theories than be influenced by facts. So go ahead and blame imaginary boomers for your imaginary grievances. Your posts remind me of the posts of incels who blame women for their problems. It's just crazy talk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RossCT
I don't really like using terms like privilege.
In any case, being able to deny boomer privilege is itself a result of boomer privilege.
But it's the invisible knapsack of privileges you had, due to being born in the right time and place, set up by the generation before you.
Such as knowing that you could effortlessly get a job, anytime, with only a high school education, that would support homeownership and a family of four, free or minimal-cost college (depending on the state),and access to high-paying jobs without worrying corporate America resorting to schemes like visa programs and outsourcing just to avoid paying middle class salaries.
Less tangibly, it was overall the psychological benefit of knowing the social contract was functioning, that your society "had your back," that it at least had some measure of investment in your success.
Status:
"Senior Conspiracy Debunker"
(set 25 days ago)
2,004 posts, read 865,188 times
Reputation: 1998
Quote:
Originally Posted by RossCT
They've been in power a very long time. As I said, they did stuff that affected millennials when they came of age that's not as relevant to generation X, such as drastically raising the cost of college (while telling mllennials they absolutely must attend).
There's not one good solution, but there will be continued awareness of "boomer priviliege," for lack of a better term, and how younger generations were screwed over in America. It's discussed more, but still not nearly enough.
Screwed over in America? Really? I would say your parents did a horrible job of raising you...my condolences to you of being reared by those that didn't teach and explain to you that opportunities abound in the USA. Stop whining and start working. College isn't always the answer. Do something else. I know electricians and plumbers.and hvac people that make a lot of money. They aren't college educated but they are educated in fields that make them rich.
Screwed over in America? Really? I would say your parents did a horrible job of raising you...my condolences to you of being reared by those that didn't teach and explain to you that opportunities abound in the USA. Stop whining and start working. College isn't always the answer. Do something else. I know electricians and plumbers and hvac people that make a lot of money. They aren't college educated but they are educated in fields that make them rich.
Exactly. Me, too. Those skills are in demand. Pretty much everyone needs, uses, and pays handsomely for those services.
In any case, being able to deny boomer privilege is itself a result of boomer privilege.
But it's the invisible knapsack of privileges you had, due to being born in the right time and place, set up by the generation before you.
Such as knowing that you could effortlessly get a job, anytime, with only a high school education, that would support homeownership and a family of four, free or minimal-cost college (depending on the state),and access to high-paying jobs without worrying corporate America resorting to schemes like visa programs and outsourcing just to avoid paying middle class salaries.
Less tangibly, it was overall the psychological benefit of knowing the social contract was functioning, that your society "had your back," that it at least had some measure of investment in your success.
So sorry to tell you this, but you are clueless regarding the boomer generation. The generation before the boomers were those who grew up during the depression. Then the men went off to fight WWII. They started with nothing and had nothing to give to "set up" the boomer generation. They did teach us that education and hard work are important.
Getting a job has never been effortless. Those with a high school education went to some kind of vocational training or applied to be apprentices in the trades. The high paying jobs didn't come to everyone, only the lucky few. Some families managed to have a stay at home mom for a few years while children were preschool age, but not all.
You seem to have an idealized view that being a boomer was all peaches and cream. It was not.
In any case, being able to deny boomer privilege is itself a result of boomer privilege.
But it's the invisible knapsack of privileges you had, due to being born in the right time and place, set up by the generation before you.
Such as knowing that you could effortlessly get a job, anytime, with only a high school education, that would support homeownership and a family of four, free or minimal-cost college (depending on the state),and access to high-paying jobs without worrying corporate America resorting to schemes like visa programs and outsourcing just to avoid paying middle class salaries.
Less tangibly, it was overall the psychological benefit of knowing the social contract was functioning, that your society "had your back," that it at least had some measure of investment in your success.
What you believe just wasn't reality for so many people. It's very odd that you would try to convince people of this who know you are not telling the truth.
I graduated from high school in 1976. It was scary. That was the first time I heard the term "Recession". My father was asked that year if he would take an early retirement package at 55 because they had to reduce staff and did that first before laying people off. I had three younger siblings, but my father took it because he had a veteran's disability pension and waiting to retire might mean he lost his job altogether.
The Boomers I know had to sign up for the Draft and most left their friends and family and went to war and I don't mean Call Of Duty
Later if they made it back, and wanted to buy a home .they paid up to 14 % interest on a 30 year mortgage .Yea good times
No, the depression was over by then. And these basic facts aren't really in dispute; its not just a matter of personal recollection. The claim wasn't that that boomers didn't work hard. Its more that society was set up so that they got much more out of each hour of work.
You said boomers were set up by their parents. No they were not, because boomer's parents grew up during the depression. Most of them had nothing with which to set up their boomer children.
You might want to go back through this thread and re-read what actual boomers have been saying about their own lives.
No idea what you mean by: society was set up so that they got much more out of each hour of work.
Are you trying to say the dollars went further? A dollar then bought more than a dollar today? Maybe so, maybe not. Depends what year you are talking about. Regardless, one budgets based on the amount they have. One deals with the situation as it exists, not what you wish it was.
Well, the depression was over by then. And exactly, the greatest generation, NOT the boomers, experienced the great depression as children. According to historians, its partly why the returning WW2 generation were (arguably) especially kind to their children and made sure they wouldn't have to suffer hardship like they did.
I don't think anyone ever claims that boomers didn't work hard. Its more that society was set up so that they got much more utility out of each hour of work.
SERIOUSLY, who raised you like this? Or maybe the better question is, what institution of “education” filled your brain with stereotypical nonsense?
My parents provided the BARE necessities by law and were not “especially kind” as you say. I knew that once I graduated high school, I was on my own in 1981. No financial help after that whatsoever.
I chuckle at my own millennial “kids”, nearing middle age. They are embarrassed by most of their generation.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
