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What have Boomers done to benefit Gen X, Gen Z or even their own largely Millennial (Gen Y) children?
You left us a terrible political situation, unchecked open borders, ridiculous inflation, expensive houses, expensive universities, rampant crime (which many of you even have sympathy for, aka "tolerance"), and overall an eroded standard of living.
We pay for your absolutely massive entitlement programs, which at this point are mathematically impossible to sustain over the long run. If they still exist by the time I reach retirement age they will be so diluted as to be virtually worthless. So I continue to pay, and you benefit, but I will not. And if I'm mad about this at 37....imagine how a 27 year old or even 17 year old feels (and don't think they're unaware going into adulthood in the current environment).
America used to have factories that anyone could walk up to and get a job in. Now the people who would've worked in them are strung out on drugs, living in parents' basements, or bunk-bedded in a group house with a half dozen room mates.
You inherited the greatest economy and living standards in the history of the planet from your Greatest Generation parents. You will leave the rest of us with crumbs.
For what it's worth, my wife and I are perhaps in the top 3-5% of Millennials, and perhaps the top 10-15% of Americans overall. And yet your generation screwed frugal and honest people out of so much more. It's not just about the money either, it's about the decay we see while driving around or walking down streets
in nearby areas.
That decay is wholly on your generation's shoulders. It's also about the unchecked crazies on the university campuses. It's about the politicians (on both sides) that take, take, take, while delivering absolutely nothing; but you won't care as long as you get your entitlements for a couple more decades.
I never would have believed the stereotyping and discrimination of the elderly by the medical profession, govt and young neighbors. Ive been investigated for ins fraud because how dare I an elderly person own a horse and fall off and require some medical care! how dare I. I also have young neighbors who believe that the elderly have no right to own a single family house! All the elderly should be made to get out of their houses so the young have houses. and these are young neighbors who can afford to buy $500,000. homes. Nasty. They wont chevk on you or call the police if you fell in the street. They might run you over first. Also very hard to get contractors to work on your house cause the elderly have no money and wont pay their bills. the generalizations are terrible. I never would have believed it. and I live in a blue affluent state. terrible attitudes here.
Most know the elderly age cohort is an extremely wealthy age cohorts.
I don't care if I am invisible. I get stares at the gym; I am the oldest person lifting weights. Either they are surprised I am not dead or they are thinking what is that old man doing here.
As the Elton John song goes, and as Joni Mitchell did it so well at the Gershwin Prize for John and Taupin:
I'm still standing after all this time
I'm still standing better than I ever did
I'm still skiing after all this time
I'm still skiing better than I ever did
I'll chime in with some opinions from a 'younger' person who is not retired (I'm in my 40s, so between young & old).
I think a lot of the separation between generations, and particularly between working and retired people, is the time factor. Retired people have all the time in the world and nowhere they really have to be, and to a younger person still in their productive years it can be frustrating or even downright costly to have to deal with someone who no longer lives life on a schedule or works for a living.
I agree that when you are working isn't the time to hope for a long conversation.
I'd also like to comment on the amount of time the younger generations spend on amusement. They particularly are glued to their phones and you know how fast time can pass doing that.
I hear a lot of "I don't have time for that," but I wonder if they would if they'd manage their time more efficiently.
Just as an example, working while going to college.
I'm still leaning heavily towards not having any time for anything they don't want to do.
I can barely imagine many of our younger folks having the time to work as hard as we, or the generation before us, did.
You know, I'm not talking about the middle-age set. Those are busy years.
I try to treat all people equally, but if they're commanding more of my time than it's worth (whatever the reason, not just money), they're going to be pushed aside for something of better value. What you're describing above sounds sort of slimy and low, if I'm reading it correctly.
And that is exactly the truth. It is too much bother to be pleasant, give someone a minute or two for the sake of a buck. Please do not forget - you will be in their shoes one day.
It's not us; it's them... They don't see each other, either. They're staring at their phones or, even if not at that moment, have forgotten how or never learned to engage with real people.
I agree as far as when they are in a group, but one on one, walking in the neighborhood, I don't see this with the kids here. They are generally polite and smile, sometimes make little comments about something here or there.
Actually, they are likely to make eye contact and chit-chat than the older adults here.
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