4 ms·

> In Sweden and other parts of the Western world, for example, recent findings point to a widening intergenerational gap where older adults report in

by 10xDev 8mo ago

> In Sweden and other parts of the Western world, for example, recent findings point to a widening intergenerational gap where older adults report increasing well being while younger individuals experience notable declines So it is just a case of older people pulling the ladder up behind themselves.

polishdude20 8mo ago
It's the baby boomer phenomenon. They reaped the rewards back then and are still reaping the rewards. The benefits have been following that age group through their lives. Its like a rolling window.
- trgn 8mo ago
  somewhat tangential, but most interesting phenomeon is the phaseshift non-boomers will undergo when they're around 45, surveying what's left, realizing how much they have paid into the system already, and desperate to claim the same rewards. it's a perpetuum mobile. if it needs to end, the young will have to wrestle it from their seniors _now_, because that gap closes fast.
  - marcosdumay 8mo ago
    Most developed countries are peaking in costs to young people right now. The people entering workforce now are getting a huge bad surprise, but the cost of supporting older people will start to decrease very soon. So, if you are looking for some future phase shift, you are searching for the wrong thing. Also, most of the developing countries will be in that situation in ~20 years. Most underdeveloped ones will get there in an extra decade or two.
    - trgn 8mo ago
      the population bulge is at 50-60. with tfr as low as they are, we're looking at at multiple decades of a top-heavy pyramid. that's not disappearing anytime soon, it will take a lifetime.
- dinobones 8mo ago
  Can you blame them for existing during early globalization, before over the financialization of everything? It's not like they actively took more than they "should have" from anyone directly, it's a consequence of their local economy and where it was at the time.
  - kridsdale1 8mo ago
    They didn’t passively exist during it. They implemented it. They are culpable.
    - dinobones 8mo ago
      There are 67 million baby boomers in the US. How can you rationally blame them all? Roughly 20% of the population. Saying the "boomers ruined everything" is not sophisticated, we can't move forward from a blame game, we have to diagnose the actions and actors that implemented them, but of course this is much more challenging. Ancedotally, I know plenty of poor boomers. Have you seen who works at a Dollar Tree lately? The popular dialogue that boomer=rich and greedy, millennial=poor and exploited is not productive, it's a fabricated generational war that distracts us from the real issues.
      - S_Bear 8mo ago
        My parents are poor boomers, but if they had to live as I do, they'd be rich boomers. They have no financial discipline and burned through cash like crazy. If they would have saved even a little bit in the 80s and 90s, they'd be in a much better situation.
  - deleted 8mo ago
    [deleted]
  - darth_avocado 8mo ago
    > It's not like they actively took more than they "should have" from anyone directly And who do you think exactly contributed to the over financialization of everything? Every single thing, good or bad, is a direct result of the actions of the generation before. We can thank them for creating a world where women get to vote but also criticize them for creating a world where everything costs a million dollars and all young people can earn is pennies. At any point in time they could’ve been like “this may not in my selfish interest, but it will ensure the future generations can have the same life as i do” and pushed for policies accordingly. But that didn’t happen.
matusp 8mo ago
> So it is just a case of older people pulling the ladder up behind themselves. Is it though? I have a feeling that previous generations were simply happy with less. Now we are so connected and everybody wants what they consider the standard according to social media: huge house in the most prominent city in their country, N exotic vacations every year, meaningful job, etc. But this would be a pretty tall order even 20 or 40 years ago.
- cayleyh 8mo ago
  I too feel this is a huge part of it, coupled with the fact that "basics" of last generation (a home you own, a stable job that doesn't overwork you on evenings and weekends, affordable options to have a family) are also being priced out of many peoples lives. You feel like you're not matching what your parents and cultural artifacts tell you you should be achieving at your age, and at the same time you're flooded with influencers on ski trips to Japan or snorkelling in Jamaica every other weekend, and it's a perfect recipe for feeling bad about your life no matter how well off you're doing compared to yesterdays median statistic.
- deleted 8mo ago
  [deleted]
- AlecSchueler 8mo ago
  > I have a feeling that previous generations were simply happy with less. They could also afford to buy houses on minimum wage salaries. I have a much higher salary than my parents, and I'm theory I can get more things from further afar, but I still live in a much more precarious situation.
duxup 8mo ago
I wonder about that. I'm older now, work with a lot of great young peers. Their lifestyle though at that age is nothing like mine was. I worked through school (admittedly because I wasn't very good at school). My first real jobs just barely paid for everything. First apartment was pretty, spartan. Eating out or going out was infrequent. I liked sports, but when I did go to sporting events I was in the cheap seats on the cheap food promotion night. That's not the lifestyle I see today. I don't blame younger folks for wanting it, it's shown to them everywhere. But the expectations are different and living them has financial consequences too.
- 10xDev 8mo ago
  Ironically you are probably doing the thing you are accusing of young people doing which is taking a tiny sample size of a privileged group and assuming that's the norm.
  - duxup 8mo ago
    We're all limited by our own pov.

by 10xDev 8mo ago

polishdude20 8mo ago

It's the baby boomer phenomenon. They reaped the rewards back then and are still reaping the rewards. The benefits have been following that age group through their lives. Its like a rolling window.

trgn 8mo ago
somewhat tangential, but most interesting phenomeon is the phaseshift non-boomers will undergo when they're around 45, surveying what's left, realizing how much they have paid into the system already, and desperate to claim the same rewards. it's a perpetuum mobile. if it needs to end, the young will have to wrestle it from their seniors _now_, because that gap closes fast.
- marcosdumay 8mo ago
  Most developed countries are peaking in costs to young people right now. The people entering workforce now are getting a huge bad surprise, but the cost of supporting older people will start to decrease very soon. So, if you are looking for some future phase shift, you are searching for the wrong thing. Also, most of the developing countries will be in that situation in ~20 years. Most underdeveloped ones will get there in an extra decade or two.
  - trgn 8mo ago
    the population bulge is at 50-60. with tfr as low as they are, we're looking at at multiple decades of a top-heavy pyramid. that's not disappearing anytime soon, it will take a lifetime.
dinobones 8mo ago
Can you blame them for existing during early globalization, before over the financialization of everything? It's not like they actively took more than they "should have" from anyone directly, it's a consequence of their local economy and where it was at the time.
- kridsdale1 8mo ago
  They didn’t passively exist during it. They implemented it. They are culpable.
  - dinobones 8mo ago
    There are 67 million baby boomers in the US. How can you rationally blame them all? Roughly 20% of the population. Saying the "boomers ruined everything" is not sophisticated, we can't move forward from a blame game, we have to diagnose the actions and actors that implemented them, but of course this is much more challenging. Ancedotally, I know plenty of poor boomers. Have you seen who works at a Dollar Tree lately? The popular dialogue that boomer=rich and greedy, millennial=poor and exploited is not productive, it's a fabricated generational war that distracts us from the real issues.
    - S_Bear 8mo ago
      My parents are poor boomers, but if they had to live as I do, they'd be rich boomers. They have no financial discipline and burned through cash like crazy. If they would have saved even a little bit in the 80s and 90s, they'd be in a much better situation.
- deleted 8mo ago
  [deleted]
- darth_avocado 8mo ago
  > It's not like they actively took more than they "should have" from anyone directly And who do you think exactly contributed to the over financialization of everything? Every single thing, good or bad, is a direct result of the actions of the generation before. We can thank them for creating a world where women get to vote but also criticize them for creating a world where everything costs a million dollars and all young people can earn is pennies. At any point in time they could’ve been like “this may not in my selfish interest, but it will ensure the future generations can have the same life as i do” and pushed for policies accordingly. But that didn’t happen.

matusp 8mo ago

> So it is just a case of older people pulling the ladder up behind themselves. Is it though? I have a feeling that previous generations were simply happy with less. Now we are so connected and everybody wants what they consider the standard according to social media: huge house in the most prominent city in their country, N exotic vacations every year, meaningful job, etc. But this would be a pretty tall order even 20 or 40 years ago.

cayleyh 8mo ago
I too feel this is a huge part of it, coupled with the fact that "basics" of last generation (a home you own, a stable job that doesn't overwork you on evenings and weekends, affordable options to have a family) are also being priced out of many peoples lives. You feel like you're not matching what your parents and cultural artifacts tell you you should be achieving at your age, and at the same time you're flooded with influencers on ski trips to Japan or snorkelling in Jamaica every other weekend, and it's a perfect recipe for feeling bad about your life no matter how well off you're doing compared to yesterdays median statistic.
deleted 8mo ago
[deleted]
AlecSchueler 8mo ago
> I have a feeling that previous generations were simply happy with less. They could also afford to buy houses on minimum wage salaries. I have a much higher salary than my parents, and I'm theory I can get more things from further afar, but I still live in a much more precarious situation.

duxup 8mo ago

I wonder about that. I'm older now, work with a lot of great young peers. Their lifestyle though at that age is nothing like mine was. I worked through school (admittedly because I wasn't very good at school). My first real jobs just barely paid for everything. First apartment was pretty, spartan. Eating out or going out was infrequent. I liked sports, but when I did go to sporting events I was in the cheap seats on the cheap food promotion night. That's not the lifestyle I see today. I don't blame younger folks for wanting it, it's shown to them everywhere. But the expectations are different and living them has financial consequences too.

10xDev 8mo ago
Ironically you are probably doing the thing you are accusing of young people doing which is taking a tiny sample size of a privileged group and assuming that's the norm.
- duxup 8mo ago
  We're all limited by our own pov.