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I hope I’m not telling my child they are lazy, entitled, or other generally ignorant statements about their generation and the society I hand down her.

nradov 8y ago
Older generations have always made those same complaints about younger generations since humans first evolved. We like to think that we'll act better than our parents, but in the end it's just human nature.
- village-idiot 8y ago
  It’s unusual for one generational cohort to control so much for so long though, so a lot of what we’re seeing with Boomers is new. Boomers are an unusually large cohort that arrived basically at once. They are a much larger group compared to their parents and children. That alone guarantees economic and political distortions, as it means that an unusually high percentage of the population would be in a very narrow range of ages. They also lived unusually longer than their parents too, by about 20 years so far. Their parents had to share power with the Boomers because they started to die out, with the Boomers this hasn’t happened at all. This means they took the mantle of power in unusually large numbers, didn’t need to share with their children, and lived so long that they’ve stunted the political and economic growth of younger generations. That Boomers are still clogging up the lower rungs of power is literally stunting the growth of Gen X and Millenials, which will be a problem when that cohort is forced to take over due to mortality. Under normal circumstances no generation is ever in the majority, and the mortality of their parents and themselves ensures that they cycle into and out of power smoothly. This gives every generation the ability to transfer social and economic power smoothly, as well as maintaining a good worker to retiree ratio. The Boomers however have basically upset that balance by existing in a tight cohort and living unusually long. So yes, parents shitting on “kids these days” is as old as humanity, but what we’re seeing with Boomers is actually quite new.
  - enraged_camel 8y ago
    Don't forget their most important advantage: they grew up and came of age during the post-WWII boom period, and therefore enjoyed unprecedented rates of wealth and standard of living increases. You know, in direct contrast to Millennials, whom they enjoy criticizing so much.
    - j7ake 8y ago
      Millenials have also enjoyed a decade of economic boom 2008-2018, so it's not a specific advantage that boomers had that millenials did not have.
      - dragonwriter 8y ago
        > Millenials have also enjoyed a decade of economic boom 2008-2018 Both the expansion after the 2001 recession and the one after the Great Recession were strong in aggregate terms but unimpressive unless you were in a narrow slice at the top when you look at distribution; this is very different from the post-WWII expansion (even the 1980s and 1990s expansions were better distributionally than the later ones, though worse than earlier ones.) The expansion that centered the Boomer experience and provides the experiential basis for the belief that effort is sufficient for success was different than anything Millennials (and even, to a lesser extent, Gen X) experienced.
      - village-idiot 8y ago
        And quite a few of them have had their economic outlook badly damaged by the crash preceding 2008. Millenials who graduated before 2008 still have a lower salary on average than the younger members of their cohort. In inflation adjusted terms, Millenials are far poorer than their parents for their phase in life on average. The latest number I can find is 20% less earnings than their parents at a comparable age. Now Forbes argues that that’s because Millenials are extremely educated, their parents were working 4-8 longer than they were in their late 20s, giving Boomers more time to earn wealth. While that’s certainly part of it, I don’t think it explains it all. The social contract around who gets the spoils of a growing economy seem to have shifted significantly since the 1980s. That an uneducated factory worker Boomer earned more in inflation adjusted money than a colleges educated Millenial indicates that something is up.
deleted 8y ago
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nradov 8y ago

Older generations have always made those same complaints about younger generations since humans first evolved. We like to think that we'll act better than our parents, but in the end it's just human nature.

village-idiot 8y ago
It’s unusual for one generational cohort to control so much for so long though, so a lot of what we’re seeing with Boomers is new. Boomers are an unusually large cohort that arrived basically at once. They are a much larger group compared to their parents and children. That alone guarantees economic and political distortions, as it means that an unusually high percentage of the population would be in a very narrow range of ages. They also lived unusually longer than their parents too, by about 20 years so far. Their parents had to share power with the Boomers because they started to die out, with the Boomers this hasn’t happened at all. This means they took the mantle of power in unusually large numbers, didn’t need to share with their children, and lived so long that they’ve stunted the political and economic growth of younger generations. That Boomers are still clogging up the lower rungs of power is literally stunting the growth of Gen X and Millenials, which will be a problem when that cohort is forced to take over due to mortality. Under normal circumstances no generation is ever in the majority, and the mortality of their parents and themselves ensures that they cycle into and out of power smoothly. This gives every generation the ability to transfer social and economic power smoothly, as well as maintaining a good worker to retiree ratio. The Boomers however have basically upset that balance by existing in a tight cohort and living unusually long. So yes, parents shitting on “kids these days” is as old as humanity, but what we’re seeing with Boomers is actually quite new.
- enraged_camel 8y ago
  Don't forget their most important advantage: they grew up and came of age during the post-WWII boom period, and therefore enjoyed unprecedented rates of wealth and standard of living increases. You know, in direct contrast to Millennials, whom they enjoy criticizing so much.
  - j7ake 8y ago
    Millenials have also enjoyed a decade of economic boom 2008-2018, so it's not a specific advantage that boomers had that millenials did not have.
    - dragonwriter 8y ago
      > Millenials have also enjoyed a decade of economic boom 2008-2018 Both the expansion after the 2001 recession and the one after the Great Recession were strong in aggregate terms but unimpressive unless you were in a narrow slice at the top when you look at distribution; this is very different from the post-WWII expansion (even the 1980s and 1990s expansions were better distributionally than the later ones, though worse than earlier ones.) The expansion that centered the Boomer experience and provides the experiential basis for the belief that effort is sufficient for success was different than anything Millennials (and even, to a lesser extent, Gen X) experienced.
    - village-idiot 8y ago
      And quite a few of them have had their economic outlook badly damaged by the crash preceding 2008. Millenials who graduated before 2008 still have a lower salary on average than the younger members of their cohort. In inflation adjusted terms, Millenials are far poorer than their parents for their phase in life on average. The latest number I can find is 20% less earnings than their parents at a comparable age. Now Forbes argues that that’s because Millenials are extremely educated, their parents were working 4-8 longer than they were in their late 20s, giving Boomers more time to earn wealth. While that’s certainly part of it, I don’t think it explains it all. The social contract around who gets the spoils of a growing economy seem to have shifted significantly since the 1980s. That an uneducated factory worker Boomer earned more in inflation adjusted money than a colleges educated Millenial indicates that something is up.

deleted 8y ago

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