Few generations had it as good as the boomers.
Well, this is probably the closest I can get to a satire article in the commentary section.
With each of these articles, I always try to go and look through other pieces of information, following what carries my interest and letting my mind wander in the direction it goes. While looking up supplementary details on the generational breaks, the starting and ending years, I came to one overwhelming conclusion: Boomers had it easy, but they did not attempt to preserve those good times for their children. They showed their trademark selfish and prideful streak, believing that they were solely responsible for that economic growth and social change. In their hubris, they forget how much of their wealth and fun came from a different generation’s struggles.
With a high GDP, fair taxes, cheap products and an ever-increasing market of entertainment, those born between 1946 and 1964 were gifted a prime opportunity in economic, social, medical, political and every other world possible. Things were looking up. The Second World War had recently ended, and the men and women among the nations were hopeful for a world of peace, instilling that deep sense of optimism into their boomer children, which were notably disconnected from the horrors of the war. American hegemony was at its highest peak, intimating a time of peace, and even though the Cold War was an omnipresent aspect of the latter half of the 20th century, well, we live in an age now of school shootings and the potential collapse of the American regime, with the continuous threat of nuclear arms not really helping the situation.
I am simply unimpressed by the struggles of the Boomers. They were handed an excellent post-secondary school situation, limited inflation, cheap housing, a bevy of scientific discoveries paving the way for new jobs and a government that was relatively stable and honest compared to current days.
I volunteer with a group of highschoolers each week, and the beautiful part of this particular group is that we often tackle subjects that others do not. Hard stuff. The difficult side of life and what one can do to make it a brighter place, and that is an exceedingly hard group to lead because I’m not exactly optimistic for the future. If pressed, I couldn’t tell you where I expect to be in 30 years, nor in 20, nor in 10, five, one. I don’t have faith in the greater world. Everything seems to be falling apart. The United States government is having a stroke, Brexit hasn’t moved an inch and most people have no consistency in their life. Free time? Who has that? The ability to take care of myself? Nope. I have work to do for my two degrees that don’t guarantee a decently paying job. My free time is still spent doing activities that help others so I don’t go home and fall into a depressive spiral or another nervous breakdown about my future.
Meanwhile, a generation that had it easy tells me my mental illness isn’t real.
OK boomer, let’s compare traumas, then we’ll see who has more worldly experience.
If I’m being honest, there is always the terrifying thought in the back of my head that some group of old white men will do something heinous and ruin my life, that the dispassionate so-called leaders of the world will become even more disconnected from the problems of everyday people. Boomers grew up with parents that had time for them, with a future that paved the way for success and wealth. I am not saying that the Boomers do not deserve their success, but I am saying that they should keep their money grubbing hands off my future. My life is not a tool to be used by an old man or woman to ensure the continuation of their dynasty. Boomers need to get out of politics, of economics, of the housing market, of everything. Their laissez-faire capitalist policies that have driven my father and mother into the dirt trying to provide for my sister and me can shove off.
Is it spiteful? Yes, it is, but if some old man that lives in the lap of luxury tries to tell me one more time that I only need a better work ethic to succeed and that he did it all on his own, I will gladly tell him “OK boomer” and then ignore him. These individuals that proclaim their own strength and merit are nothing more than bratty children. They did not have to deal with crushing student loan debt like current generations, they do not have to deal with the decay of the American hegemony, because they’ll be dead by the time it rolls around, same thing with climate change. Greta Thunberg was right when she said that the old fat cat boomers are stealing her childhood. For such wise, experienced and successful individuals, the vast majority of boomers are woefully ignorant to the struggles of modern times. How many boomers have to live through the constant deluge of sadness brought in front of our eyes? How many boomers grew up in the insistent fear that one will never make it? How many of them are self-sufficient? So I will make fun of them, the bad ones. Some boomers are good and great people, but the selfish streak that permeates the majority of that generation is vile and disgusting.
That’s why I make jokes. That’s why I try to make people smile. That’s why I give random gifts to people. Make cookies, lead groups, make a fool of myself, because humor is all that we have. The world’s screwed. Eventually, inevitably, someone older than I, believing themselves to be a great leader of men, will make a decision in their hubris that damns the rest of us. These little memes are all that we have to fight back against those decisions. There is one rule on the Internet in relation to memery: talk shit, get hit.
