'OK Boomer' Marks the End of Friendly Generational Relations

[Celerity]

Now it’s war: Gen Z has finally snapped over climate change and financial inequality.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/29/style/ok-boomer.html



In a viral audio clip on TikTok, a white-haired man in a baseball cap and polo shirt declares, “The millennials and Generation Z have the Peter Pan syndrome, they don’t ever want to grow up.” Thousands of teens have responded through remixed reaction videos and art projects with a simple phrase: “ok boomer.”

“Ok boomer” has become Generation Z’s endlessly repeated retort to the problem of older people who just don’t get it, a rallying cry for millions of fed up kids. Teenagers use it to reply to cringey YouTube videos, Donald Trump tweets, and basically any person over 30 who says something condescending about young people — and the issues that matter to them. Teenagers have scrawled the message in their notebooks and carved it into at least one pumpkin. For senior picture day at one Virginia high school, a group of nine students used duct tape to plaster “ok boomer” across their chests.

The meme-to-merch cycle is nothing new, but unlike most novelty products, “ok boomer” merch is selling. Shannon O’Connor, 19, designed a T-shirt and hoodie with the phrase “ok boomer” written in the “thank you” style of a plastic shopping bag. She uploaded it to Bonfire, a site for selling custom apparel, with the tagline “Ok boomer have a terrible day.” After promoting the shirt on TikTok, she received more than $10,000 in orders.

“The older generations grew up with a certain mind-set, and we have a different perspective,” Ms. O’Connor said. “A lot of them don’t believe in climate change or don’t believe people can get jobs with dyed hair, and a lot of them are stubborn in that view. Teenagers just respond, ‘Ok, boomer.’ It’s like, we’ll prove you wrong, we’re still going to be successful because the world is changing.”

snip

[TheBlackAdder]

1. Friendly? Gen-Xers, Millennials and Gen-Zers were being shit on constantly by Baby Boomers.

[Skittles]

3. I agree

I see OK BOOMER as a retort specifically for Boomers who JUST DON'T GET IT

[Celerity]

6. friendly is not the way I would have put it either (I am a 23yo millennial/Gen Z border born)

But I do NOT wish for Gen wars at all. Everyone loses then.

[tazkcmo]

20. I agree with you.

Personally I'm excited to watch the Gen xers and millennials beginning to stand up and take charge. Go get em tiger!

[canetoad]

74. +1 Good post

Generational wars and insults are stupid, counterproductive and ugly.

And aint that the beauty of the internet; unless you said so, I would not have known your age or generational cohort, neither would you know mine (which is 65, pure boomer!).

Each generation faces existential fears. Mine was an all-obliterating nuclear war, yours is an unliveable planet because of human-driven climate change.

[comradebillyboy]

153. Right you are...

[Progressive Jones]

71. How so? I'm a "trailing edge" Boomer, and I don't recall shitting on any younger people. nt

[BlueStater]

73. So because you yourself didn't do it, that means no one else in your generation did, right?

I'm 33 and I can't tell you the number of times I've come across some cantankerous older person bitching about my generation. Hell, I've seen it happen on this very website.

Considering the Baby Boomers are mostly to blame for inflicting Bush II, the Iraq war, and Trump on me in the last two decades, I'm not going to take any bullshit from them about how awful Millennials are.

[Progressive Jones]

82. Hey, BlueStater, how do you think it felt for me to have Reagan shoved up my ass

at the ripe old age of 21?

I understand your beef, but it wasn't my entire generation by a long shot. People my age got shit on pretty regularly by those who were happy to let crap like 'Nam, for example, go on for so long. I only missed that draft by a couple of years. 'Nam ended when I was 16. I went to a lot of funerals in those days.

And don't get me started on the economic shit storm that started right when I got out of High School, and hasn't been corrected since.

On the other side of the coin, all of these fascist fucks like "The Proud Boys", Richard Spencer, Stephen Miller, and the rest, are from your time. That means they'll be shitting on my 11 year old daughter's generation. What do we do about them?

Read up on what took place in the 20 years before you were born. This shit didn't start when Bush 2 and company stole that election.

Your beef is with the Red State/Rural types who were dumb enough to be conned by Limbaugh, et al. They're same kind of idiots that brought us Trump, and that crew is cross generational.

My point here is that we shouldn't be throwing bombs across generational lines. There are plenty of us from 18-98 who are Left Of Center, and want things to go the right way.

The bottom line is, nothing changes until the wrong people are voted out of office. Peace.

[brush]

88. Please. Boomers are split in their political orientation just like your generation.

You left out Clinton, Obama and Hillary actually getting more votes than trump—a good portion of those votes came from boomers.

You also left out those nazis and white supremacists at Charlottesville who toted torches, chanted, bashed heads of many blacks and killed Heather Heyer.

Those thugs aren't boomers, they're millennials which just shows your generation is just as split in political orientation as boomers and GenXers and the Zers behind, many of whom are still forming their political beliefs.

I dare say the boomers you ran into who insulted you were trumpers, and you can't really say you've been mistreated like that by all boomers.

No broad-brushing of any generation or demographic please.

[Kaleva]

108. Painting with a broad brush isn't something progressives do.

Hillary and Bill Clinton are Baby Boomers. Baby Boomers were in the thick of the anti-Vietnam War protests.

Your comment:

"Considering the Baby Boomers are mostly to blame for inflicting Bush II, the Iraq war, and Trump on me..."

I suspect you'd be leading a happier life if you spent less time thinking of "Me!" and spent more time, not just thinking about but actually helping others less fortunate regardless of their age group, ethnicity, sexual identity and so on.

[Progressive Jones]

147. Exactly. nt

[Blue_true]

142. The trailing edge Boomers are in a category of their own.

They are NOTHING like the first wave boomers, the socalled "flower children" who flocked to Reagan, and now Trump.

[brush]

166. You're misinformed. I don't know why it's hard to understand, flower...

children/hippies of the '60s did not flock to Reagan and Bush. The Young Republican half of the boomer generation did.

You might want to know, a good portion of posters on this site are boomers and many were active in anti-war, anti-Nixon and civil rights demonstrations in the 60s-70s, hardly Reaganites or trumpers.

On the other hand, how do you account for those nazis and white supremacists at Charlottesville? They were definitely Millennials but hardly representative of the whole generation so please don't make the mistake of lumping all boomers into the Reagan/Bush/trumper camp.

And btw, where are all the demonstrations against trump's bullshit from the Millenials?

[Mariana]

167. The majority of Boomers voted for Trump in 2016. nt.

[brush]

168. Show some proof.

[Mariana]

169. Certainly.

https://edition.cnn.com/election/2016/results/exit-polls/national/president

https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/how-groups-voted-2016

[brush]

170. It shows a split from 45 and older, as I said.

[Mariana]

171. Exactly.

The majority of Boomers voted for Trump in 2016, as I said.

[brush]

172. You're not getting it. A 50/50 split is a split, not a majority.

I've said all along that the boomer generation has been split since the days of 60s-70s protestor/activists/left-leaning half and the young republican half. It remains so.

Half demonstrated against the war, Nixon, civil rights, for women's equality etc. The other half did what repugs do and still do.

And btw, where are the demonstrations and protests against trump's outrageous bullshit from the Millennials?

[Blue_true]

174. Mariana is more right than you are.

The "Boomer" generation covers people born from 1945-1965, that is why I am a middle Boomer, I was born in the mid-middle of that range. The youngest Boomers would be 54 years old, only 9 years older that the 45 age she referenced. The largest wave of Boomers were in the first 9-10 years of that generation, then it tapered off during my birth year on toward the end.

Mariana pointed out that the 45 and older group went for Trump. The 65 and older group overwhelmingly went for Trump, that group would almost totally be early Boomers, except for one year of them. That group was not predominantly young republicans when they were young, some were very likely flower children, but other than using a chance to get stoned and laid for free, they honestly didn't give a shit about anything meaningful.

[brush]

176. Now you're going with there are two boomer generations? Please!

It's a bizarre argument that a generation can now be conveniently divided to bolster an argument when her chart shows that boomers voted 50/50 for Clinton and trump.

But let's go with that and say the younger half of the millennials protested and demonstrated against trump's outrageous bullshit and not for it like the white supremacist, nazi, millennials in Charlottesville.

Oh, wait. What? You mean there aren't any demonstrations?

[Blue_true]

178. Your retort seems to be based more on emotion than data.

The white supremacists have been vastly outnumbered by young people everywhere they have tried to spew their poison, it was not remotely a 50-50 affair. Mariana and I pointed out that the older Boomers, those 65 and older went overwhelmingly for Trump and before him Reagan, I have personal experience with them and Reagan since I was in my early twenties then and saw the late twenties and all the thirties (all early Boomers) go apeshit to vote for him, younger Boomers like me mostly opposed him, the Boomers younger than me opposed him even more than my Boomer split did. Guess what, if you get 80% of a large group voting for a prick and 75% of a similarly sized but slightly smaller group (some mid and much larger contingent of late Boomers) voting against that prick, you get close to a 50-50 split, so your defense of first wave Boomers is somewhat benign because it doesn't disprove the assertion that first wave Boomers have either abandoned the socalled Sixties social justice push (and even that claim is debatable, yes we had civil rights gains, but it was largely Blacksbleeding and negative tv footage seen around the world that brought about change, the socalled flower children were too caught up in drugs and free sex to really give a shit, also, it was MY Boomer group and younger Boomers that integrated schools fully, the older Boomers in my area had spent their time fighting with Black Boomers, my group and younger Boomers peacefully integrated).

I was too young for the Sixties stuff, I was in my early teens for the late part of it, younger than that for most of it, but what I witnessed as I came of age has caused me to permanently dismiss the early Boomers as being serious about social change and social justice, their support of Reagan, the Bushes and now Trump only solidifies my contempt for that group of Boomers.

[brush]

180. All I can say is that's a new one...two boomer generations.

[Blue_true]

181. The generation politically and socially has shown that fissure for decades.

It is not reaching into healthcare, where middle Boomers that have reached Medicare (I admits only maybe 2 years worth versus 10 years worth of Medicare participants) are so far considerably healthier than their older counterparts. The fissure in that generation will be with us for a long time.

[Aristus]

72. I was just going to say the same thing.

I'm a Gen-Xer who has a great deal of admiration for the young people coming up today. They give me hope, and I'm sick of Boomers turning their noses up at them.

[DangerousRhythm]

78. Same.

Millennials and Gen Z will have my support in this.

[brush]

90. Come on. You should know better. It's not all boomers. That generation is...

just as split with grumpy a-hole trumpers as GenXers are. You think there are no a-hole, grumpy, trumper GenXers, or Millennials for that matter (see the nazi, white supremacist a-hole millenials at Charlottesville)?

Join to fight the real enemy, trump and his racist base.

[Progressive Jones]

91. I've got a 33 year old son who is a fucking Trumpflake. It's humiliating. nt

[stevil]

100. As Gen X myself....

This whole thing is maybe the first generation war between internet competent generations. In real time so It'll pass quickly, faster than the ones before and just as assured as the ones after. In the future Gen 3D printer will battle Gen Hipster. It will probably dominate the entire 3 hour news cycle in 2045. The more things change....

[Piasladic]

118. Yes!

So glad you are back.

[Johonny]

124. Yip, you're just suppose to take it.

They left us with a huge national debt, no pension, a social security filled with IOUs, a broken medical system, impossible housing costs, and all they f'ing do is watch FOX news and tell me about socialism while collecting their medicare, social security, and pension they got froma union job they destroyed the union of, and free or low cost college because they went to a state school with massive tax payer assistance or a GI bill.

Don't like America Boomer, well I blame you for it's current state. So cry me a river.

[Progressive Jones]

141. Hey, we're not all like your fucking parents, alright. Take it out on them. nt

[Johonny]

150. Okay boomer. Luckily my parents are actually intelligent progressive boomers with self reflection

But the fact remains since the boomers have become the majority of the voting age population 1980. The country has gone further and further away from the liberal post war nation. The GOP has become a radical party of the far right. That's the legacy politically of the boomers.

I find it sad so many progressive boomers hide their head in the sand and fail to acknowledge the failure of their generation. Not all, for a lot of them have spoken out how the boomers eccentially blew it (It being the messages of civil rights era). But certain this thread and your lack of professional response points to the fact, many won't accept this basic fact. Bush and Bush Jr. Reagan, Newt, and Trump etc... are your generation's political legacy. A legacy that has had the younger generation fighting the longest war in our nations history at a time they are considered weak and fragile. It's a joke. A joke they will no longer take. You can either let that bother you, or you can get pissed off that so many of the boomer generation went down the rabbit hole.

[Progressive Jones]

155. I didn't vote for any of those assholes. You sound like my 33 y.o. Trumpflake son.

Trumpflake Son's excuse for supporting that loser is "Your generation pushed me there!" I have no idea what the fuck he's talking about, as he was raised in a Progressive home and environment. He's doing that "teenage rebellion" thing wrong, and about 15 years too late but, I digress.

Why are YOU whining about an entire generation, when it wasn't an entire generation that fucked everything up?

Why aren't YOU aiming your ire at those who actually brought us
garbage like the Reagan, Bushes, Trump, et al.? I'm talking about the Red State/evangelical boobs, labor union traitors, racist trash, etc. These were the same kind of chumps who forced Trump upon us, by the way.

On that last note, I'm going to ask you to step into my shoes for a moment.
How do you think myself and tens of millions of others felt when Reagan was shoved up
our asses at the ripe old age of 21?

What are YOU doing to get rid of Trump, and more importantly, the radical right wing infestation
of Congress? What are YOU doing about the voter suppression problems?

What are YOU going to say when the generation that comes after you
demands to know why "The Proud Boys", and all of their related radical right wing fascist
trash from your generation were allowed to flourish? Spencer, Miller, Milo, et al? They aren't "boomers", my friend.

Bottom line: Get Out The Vote. Do the work. That's all you can legally do.

It's my personal opinion that Left, Right, or otherwise, there isn't a politically lazier electorate on the planet than what we have here in the US. Non-voters are low quality citizens as far as I'm concerned.
Myself, and millions of others, have been working our asses of for decades to try to straighten this mess out.
It's anti-productive to whine, and paint an entire generation with your Big Brush of Blame.
Stop alienating political allies, and join the fight.

Peace.

[Johonny]

161. My biggest concern is that the vast propaganda machine that targeted boomers, isn't going away

To me the okay boomer movement is likely going to fail. Meaning that as the generation shifts (its coming sometime in 2020 or 2024) and the vast propaganda machine (Born again movement, talk radio, FOX news) built to aim mostly at white male boomers will start gunning for the younger generation.

It's pretty clear the boomer were not prepared for it. It was something that was brewing since the 1920s and simply exploded on that generation. The vast block of white male boomers that now live in an alternative reality is proof it worked. (I think it's these males that the okay boomer movement is really targeting which is why my parents who hate these people too get a kick out it. They lived with those * as neighbors for longer than I've been alive). There is a feeling among the younger generation that they're better prepared to fight it. I'm not so sure. Right now Fox news and the such aren't targeting them. But it's coming. Sometime between 2020 and 2024 they're going to become the majority voting block. The 2016 elections showed the propaganda machine is going to shift. The online targeting worked. Ther're going to find new ways to target the younger generation. I think it clearly destroyed the boomer generation politically (That's what it was meant to do. It's geared toward white male boomers and the numbers show it worked on them!). I fear it. And I know, I'm it's next target.

[Progressive Jones]

165. I agree with a ton of what you've written in this post.

Something I didn't touch on are the "cultural" differences from region to region in the US,
and how the propaganda machine you brought up has affected the nation in a very negative way.

Even at my age (60), I've never come to understand the urban/rural divide.

I'm a city boy, born and bred (Chicago). In all my years, I've never felt any propaganda aimed at me, a white working class urban male, and never saw a natural, pronounced division between urban and rural Americans. In my mind, we're all Americans. However, when the 1980's rolled around, I began hearing talk of "The Heartland", and "family values". I believe that rural people were targeted hard with this. The idea that they were "the real Americans", and "only they possessed real family values", and "people of faith", ad nauseum. They were being spoon fed these ideas in a ploy to make them feel "different" from those "godless, commie urbanites". Having said that, I'm not claiming all small town/rural people to be right wingers. My mother grew up in rural Indiana, and most of her family is still there. They are far from being righties, although they will tell you that much of that State has chugged the right wing kool aid.

Now, here's the environment I grew up in --- Irish and Italian Catholics, with a church on damn near every street corner. Little League baseball, Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, tightly knit families, people who went fishing and hunting; virtually no different from the rural world except for the farmland. However, most urban people were Democrats, in the vein of FDR/New Deal/JFK. The GOP knew they couldn't beat that, but they've certainly tried, and succeeded with a few.

What I'm saying is, the "Great Social Divide" was fabricated for the political gain of the GOP/right wing. Racism has been exploited for the political gain of the GOP/right wing. Insidious and disgusting.

[ismnotwasm]

2. My new thing is "Ok Neckboomer"

Cracked me up.

It’s worth noting that millennials and genX are getting lumped with boomers by genZ I’m keeping my head down until this passes

I love TikTok

[Celerity]

16. "Millennials and Gen Xers are on our side, but I think Gen Z is finally putting their feet in the

ground and saying enough is enough,” he said.

from the article

[ismnotwasm]

41. Hope so

Ima borderline boomer, mother of a genX AND millennials and grandmother of an almost 21 year old gen Z. That’s what early breeding gets you. It will be ok. I love generation Z, they are growing up with a lot of diversity.

[Celerity]

56. I was born on the Millennial/Gen Z border, the oldest Millennials are around 15 years older than me

and the youngest Gen Z'ers are around 15 years younger, so I can relate a bit to the Xennials (the youngest Gen Xers who do not feel really part of either the Gen X'ers or the Millennials, especially the oldest Xers and the youngest Millennials) in terms of generational ambiguity. Buttigieg feels almsot like a different Gen to me (he is 14 years older than I am) and I already feel a bit alienated from the youngest teens I know as well (they literally do not remember a time before there were iPhones, lolol). I get on the best overall (there are hundreds of exceptions personally, ranging in age from 80ish to 15, so this is just a broad generalisation) in terms of overall commonality, with people born say 1987 to 1997 or so. I started uni when I was 15 years old, so there is a 3 or 4 year (at a minimum, often it is 7 or 8 years) push-back (birth wise) for the age cohort for me too in terms of social sets from that too.

[ismnotwasm]

63. That makes sense

Since I’m an RN, most of my co-workers are millennials and GenX, but I can see the up and coming generation and I’m very excited about them.

I get along with everyone. Just one of those people—although I do admit a love for people who are a bit rough around the edges or just plain interesting (I’m not particularly interesting, is probably why)

[brush]

95. See post 88. You're dreaming if you think all GenXers and Millennials are on...

your side. All those nazis/white supremacists at Charlottesville were/are Millennials. And Richard Spencer and the rest of them came there from all over the country.

The murderer who killed Heather Heyer traveled there to join his Millennial brethren.

All adult generations are split in political beliefs and it's always been so—you know, repugs v Democrats.

[Celerity]

128. non sequitur

I only quoted the article, and no one ever claimed ALL Gen X and Millennial are on anyone's side. absolute statements are never ever valid when you dealing with cohorts of millions of people.

Also,

it's always been so—you know, repugs v Democrats.

always?

The Democratic Party was founded on January 8, 1828 and has underwent different permutations and realignments over the past 192 (almost) years. The same for the Republicans, founded 165ish years ago on March 20, 1854.

Again with the absolute statement (always).

The alt right and white nationalists are an extremely small sub section of the Millennial generation btw, who overall are FAR more tolerant as a group than the Boomer Gen. It is disingenuous to try are broadbush the Millennial Gen is such manner as you did, IMHO.

The same holds true for Gen Z versus the Boomers in terms of tolerance overall. When the first, oldest Boomers were already in their 20's it was still illegal for my parents (they were not yet born however and neither are from the United States, I am a citizen by birth here only) to even marry (I have a white father, mixed-race black mum) in some US states. In the case of myself (I am a married lesbian, coming up on 2 years! woot) I was still a teenager when Obergefell v. Hodges legalised same sex marriages nationwide in the US. It took inter-generational pressure to help get that through.

[brush]

133. Whatever parties existed in history had opposition parties.

The Repulican Party was once the more progressive party.

Dixiecrats split from the Democratic Party in the '60s and joined the repugs because of the Johnson admin's successful civil rights initiatives. You're right about that. Party alignments change and some parties weaken and die.

As far as millennials being more tolerant than boomers, I beg to differ. There has always been a dichotomy in the boomer generation. Do you think
the members of the Weather Underground, the SDS, all the street demonstrators of the '60s and 70s, the Black Panther Party members, the Chicano orgs, campus Black Student Union members, Russell Means and Native American protestors, etc. were conservative, non-tolerant repugs?

Please. That split is still there. Who do you think contributed the most votes to elect Bill Clinton, give Gore and Hlllary popular vote victories, elect Obama twice and empowered the blue wave in 2018? It was the progressive half of the boomer—you know the ones who actually make it their business to be sure to vote, unlike other generations who vote less often, and that is documented.

And btw, if trump had tried his crap in the '60s/70s there would've been huge demonstrations against him and Stephen Miller's racist, white supremacist naxiism on campuses and on the streets of cities around the country—as the more progressive half of the boomers did against Nixon, white racists and the war. Where is the present day activism?

Sorry, I just don't see that kind of commitment to inequality and tolerance in any segment of the younger generations.

[Celerity]

135. Boomers love to claim things they either did not start or where many of them were far too young

to have any truly meaningful influence.

The Weather Underground and the SDS were not Boomer founded for instance.

And I absolutely stand by my premiss that my 2 Gens (I am a Zennial, ie. border Millennial/Gen Zer) are far more tolerant as a whole than the Boomer Gen as a whole. This is backed up by most every major demographical study and poll.

You also are being so situationally subjective in your positings, pushing and claiming things that are positive (and overstating influence) whilst at the same time ignoring or downplaying the bad things than sprang from Boomers and before.

IF you look at age group cohorts you will find that Boomers and before are far more likely to vote Rethug than younger Gens. Also, in 2018, the post Boomer Gens voted (in pure numbers) more than the Boomers and before. Post Boomers were literally the largest force in the Blue Wave.

Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X outvoted older generations in 2018 midterms

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/05/29/gen-z-millennials-and-gen-x-outvoted-older-generations-in-2018-midterms/

[brush]

136. Where are the demonstrations against trump and miller?

[Celerity]

137. there have been many, with people of all Gens involved, hopefully there will be more nt

[Crunchy Frog]

145. How many people in that generation could even tell the difference

Between two people in their fifties, one a "boomer" and one an "X-er"?

Many older non-boomers will get caught in the crossfire or hit by shrapnel in this latest attempt to sow division in society.

[Celerity]

146. 'Boomer' is more of an attitude to me and my age cohort more than a parsing of exact age nt

[jberryhill]

4. Good for them

[Celerity]

18. +100000

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Why don't we *not* buy into the notion that one generation is better than another,

or that one is being persecuted by another, or any of that kind of bullshit. Old or young or somewhere in the middle, we are all in this mess together. None of this is helpful at all.

[sir pball]

47. Stop being sensible. I'm going to visit my dad next month

At his lovely retirement community in Florida. They're all Boomers (I'm 40, not sure whether GX or Mil), but probably 2/3 of them are aging ex-hippies with a flaming hatred of Trump that I rarely see even here in NYC.

It's stupid, shortsighted and counterproductive. As you say, we're all in this together!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

51. Exactly. I'm also an elderly ex-hippie Boomer with a flaming hatred of Trump.

I participated in antiwar demonstrations during the '60s, voted in every election since 1972, and have never once voted for a Republican, even in state or local elections and I deeply resent being slimed as a sellout Reagan voter. If you're old you were young once; if you're young you will be old someday (if you're lucky). But you will still be the same person. Old people and young people are not different species, and pitting the generations against each other over perceived grievances is stupid, destructive, and based on false premises.

[Chemisse]

102. It is bullshit. I can't even keep track of what label goes with what age group.

And I like it that way.

The last thing we need to do is divide and prejudge based on age.

[SharonClark]

107. Agree.

My 88 year old Mom is much more progressive than some 25-55 year olds in the family who are “too busy” to know what is happening politically.

Trying to divide us with phony generational divides is not helpful.

[EarthFirst]

7. Would they prefer #gotmine ?

The entire “I got mine...” generation has been shitting on Millenials for situations that are far beyond their control; perpetrated by the ones wagging their fingers in disgust...

Here’s another hashtag: #okaydealwithit

[tishaLA]

44. That's fine but weren't those "I got mine"

Yuppies in the 80s/90s also boomers?

[TlalocW]

8. Of course THIS is what marks the end

Not blaming millenials for the imminent doom of everything from the diamond industry to paper napkins to golf courses (all of which this 47-year-old would be fine with). Previous generations screwing things up so badly that they couldn't do financially what Boomers are telling them to do in the first place and blaming it on avocado toasts. Etc. If these people truly want to see entitlement, it's waiting for them in the bathroom mirror.

TlalocW

[Docreed2003]

23. Agree completely

Singed a similarly disgusted Gen Xer

[blogslut]

9. lol

I'm too tired and uninterested to work around the NYT paywall to read the rest. Is the article as finger-waggy to Gen Z as what I've read in the OP?

Because, if it is, I scoff at the irony. I don't consider myself a boomer. I'm Generation Jones. But! I'm old enough to remember a thing they used to call "The Generation Gap". Up the establishment, man.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

11. yep. the "generation gap" was used to help elect and re-elect Nixon

This particular generational fight may have started too late to assist trumpers.

[Beartracks]

76. "Generation Jones"?

Not familiar with that one...

======

[Celerity]

84. basically it is the latter half of the Boomers

Born in the mid-to-late 50's to the mid 1960's.

[blogslut]

86. Yes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Jones

My father was too young for WWII. I have no memory of Uncle Miltie or Howdy Doody. I was 3 years old when Kennedy was shot. We never had bomb drills in my school. I was nine when the Beatles broke up. I had yet to turn 14 when Phnom Penh was evacuated.

[Freddie]

103. Late Boomers

I think the dividing line is those who could get drafted and those who turned 18 after the draft ended. DH and I are Gen Jones (me 1956, him 1958). My brother (1953) had a draft number and changed his whole life - wasn’t originally intending to go to college - because of it. DH didn’t have to worry about it.

[BlueTsunami2018]

10. When have we ever had friendly generational relations?

These boomers were the people with the slogan “never trust anyone over 30” who then went on to become Reagan voters. Their parents were appalled by Elvis and The Beatles and they, in turn, were horrified by Ozzy in the 80’s. We just said “whatever dude”, the 80’s version of “OK Boomer”.

This is nothing new, old people are bitter at young people and young people are dismissive of old people. Always have been, always will be.

But as a Gen Xer, I love the “OK Boomer” trend. George Carlin knew of which he spoke.

[mucifer]

13. wow I just posted about the same thing you did at the same time ha!

[BlueTsunami2018]

15. Great minds.

[xmas74]

98. Gen Z is supposedly calling Xers Karen.

As in Karen, the middle-aged suburban soccer mom who demands to speak with a manager immediately while being filmed. Or the Karen who put raisins in the potato salad.

I informed my Z kid that the difference between Boomers and X is we don't care what they call us. I then told her to move her butt so I could take over the couch while listening to the Singles soundtrack and watching a movie by Richard Linklater. She wasn't amused.

[mucifer]

12. Wasn't it Bob Dylan who said "Never trust anyone over 30"?

I remember a teacher of mine giving us a quote that was similar to "ok boomer" something about the generational clash and it was from ancient times.

This is nothing new. The young ones will have their children taunt them and generalize about their generation, too.

That is if the planet is still around.

[dflprincess]

32. Jack Weinberg said it - though he rarely gets the credit.

And he's 79 now (80 next spring).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Weinberg

[braddy]

62. Bob Dylan isn't a boomer.

[tblue37]

14. I'm 69. I find "OK, Boomer" to be a clever and effective retort. nt

[Blue_true]

143. I am a Boomer.

I think "Ok Boomer" is hilarious and to the point.

[dustyscamp]

17. I blame boomers and their side kick gen-xers for fueling the last few decades of hate against

good natured people and the younger more progressive generations

[Celerity]

24. little harsh on the latter half of Gen X (who were born up until 1980 unless you

count the Xennial/Generation Catalano (born 1977-1980 or so) micro-generation thing. I am a border Gen Z/Millennial and have had little issues overall with that cohort. Granted my experiences are mostly from London and the EU, other than a few years in Los Angeles, but the internet was already over 26 years old when I was born, and the World Wide Web 5 years old (the first website was made almost exactly 5 years before I was born) so I grew up with a LOT of zeitgeist-sharing tech from the start.

[dustyscamp]

36. My hate for Gen Xers is pretty high because they helped fuel the Gamergate fire and the rise of the

Alt Right. Guys like Mike Cernovich, Christopher Cantwell, Donald Trump Jr, Richard Spencer, Carl "Sargon" Benjamin & Gavin McInnes.
I should probably have added some from my generation (Millennial) on there too because they also helped spread the hate. Tomi Lahren, Steven Crowder, Milo, Ben Shapiro & Paul Joseph Watson.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fuckthealtright/comments/ae8r83/the_alt_right_is_not_a_gen_z_phenomenon/

"Any Gen Z (zoomer) spouting out Pepe memes on 4chan or YouTube is an auxiliary member. The alt-right is a Millennial/Generation X phenomenon. Study the dialogue on /pol or other reactionary forums.

They spout memes of 80s/90s culture.

They ruminate an awful lot on the women in their lives: neigbors, coworkers, mothers, sisters, exes, etc. They always bitch about the spats said women start. They also gossip about said womens' sex lives, especially if the men said women date are darker than sand.

They always talk about out-of-print games or novels that have radical-right themes

They always reminisce about their hometowns when they were mostly-white.

They use the term "millennial" for any under-30 person, especially if said person has no political convictions.

In fact, for the past decade, the arch-nemesaries of the Millennials and Gen Z are not the Boomers but Gen X and early Millennials (or Xennials) who are born 1960 - 1990. Most of the hate is pop-cultural, rather than economic. Most of the "politically incorrect" Xennials love snark and darkness, hence the love for grunge, heavy metal, goth, and punk and all their fashion trends and mantras. Anything bright and/or melodic is "wrong." They have a sick obsession with masculinity to the point where they use it as a moral compass, peddling folk tales about correlations between fashion/music tastes and testosterone and advocating Templar Christendom. They are the original "angry white males", the armchair historians who root for the tyrants, the neocon Republicans, and the right-wing podcasters rocking the airwaves. Most of our popular right-wing pundits online are Xennials:

Alex Jones (b. 1974)

Mark Dice (b. 1977)

Jordan Peterson (b. 1962)

Steven Crowder (b. 1987)

Gavin Mc Innes (b. 1970)

Glenn Beck (b. 1964)

Ben Shapiro (b. 1984)

In short, the whole "Gen Z is first post-WW2 conservative breed" headline made by conservatives is a farce. Gen Z may be politically incorrect or have right-wing fancies, but they are not conservative."

[Celerity]

46. the alt right are a tiny little slice of Gen X and early Millennials (with a few Boomers tossed in)

Seems a bit broad-brush to hate the whole Gen X cohort (or most of it) over those assholes.

Also

In fact, for the past decade, the arch-nemesaries of the Millennials and Gen Z are not the Boomers but Gen X and early Millennials (or Xennials) who are born 1960 - 1990.

is totally wrong with those dates

Boomers are born 1945-1964 (20 years, although some say 1946 as the start) and Xennials ended birth-wise 10 years before 1990 (I do not buy into the original extension of it to 1985, let alone 1990). The Millennial Gen is broadly accepted to be born 1981 to either 1995 (some say 1996). Gen Z is 1996 to around 2010. Post 2010-born is Gen Alpha.

I personally relate closest with roughly the end 2/3rds of the Millennial Gen to the very beginning of Gen Z (say 1986 born to 1997, 98 or so.) I know many teens (I was one only 4 years ago, lol) and already I feel a difference with the younger ones. A person born in 2005 literally had no clue about the 2007-2009 financial crisis and wasn't even remotely born when 9-11 happened (even I recall it fairly clearly, I was 5 (and in London, so there is that, the 7/7 2005 bombings are MUCH closer to home for me, as I was on the Tube that morning with my mum, albeit did not see any of the explosions till hours and days after), although obviously I did not have an adults understanding of all the ramifications. Full disclosure, I have an academic interest in this subject of Gens and a very intense interest (art, fashion, academics, financials, philosophy, culture in general, etc) in the years 1995 to around 2009/2010 or so, especially the the 10 year period of 1999-2008.

[dustyscamp]

49. I don't really hate the whole Gen X or Boomer generation

There are plenty of good people to counteract the bad in every generation I am sure. It's just that the bad in those generations stand out to me much more than the good guys unfortunately.

[Celerity]

67. I am sure my Gen-frame on both sides of the Atlantic will produce plenty of prongers too

I need to come up with a witty name for us, as I am already tired of typing out Millennial/Gen Z border, lol.

In fact, I came up with a name

Zennial

AND

lol

It already is a thing

A note from a Zennial: Breaking generation stereotypes with activism

https://theblacksheepagency.com/blog/a-note-from-a-zennial

[stevil]

101. Lol!

You'll understand when you're older. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[RobinA]

19. Whatever!

Boomers were young, we rolled our eyes at our stodgy parents. Now we’re older, kids are rolling their eyes at us. At some point some whippersnappers will be rolling their eyes at 60 year old millennials. It was always thus. The world turns.

[Blue_true]

144. You beat me to it.

The Boomer dismissal of older asses was an eye-roll followed by a "whatever" spoken through clenched lips. To you larger point, new generations always assume the older ones are overbearing, while the older ones tend to be preachy, condescending assholes with youngsters.

But, I must add as a middle Boomer. I am really disappointed with my older Boomer peers. They had a chance to massively change the world and largely dropped the ball.

[tazkcmo]

21. All I have to say is

Stay off my lawn you kids!

[struggle4progress]

22. "Here in America, everybody else is an ignorant asshole who is unfairly prejudiced against me!"

meh

[brettdale]

25. Yodas response

Link to tweet

[Celerity]

26. lolol

[Codeine]

28. I sent that to my Gen Z stepdaughter this morning

and she said she laughed so loud she nearly got her phone confiscated.

[DBoon]

27. Abbie Hoffman is rolling in his grave

Many of us fought against the Vietnam War, supported the eminist and envirnmental movements, and continued our dedication to making the world better.

For all our hard work, we are now the butt of a joke.

[Codeine]

29. None of that is the reason

you’re the butt of the joke, I assure you.

[RichardRay]

42. So, enlighten me?

The ‘OK, boomer’ thing seems pretty ugly. Why isn’t it?

Why should I, a 72 y/o boomer, go on giving a damn? I’ll be dead in 10 years (neurodegenerative disease), so what why should I keep working for the good? I mean, aside from my old boomer values.

[Codeine]

50. What is the legacy your generation

is leaving those who come after? Hint; it ain’t all the things in the post to which I responded.

A millennial or GenZ kid sees none of that, just an impossible economic mountain to climb while a bunch of boomers mock his generation and tell them they just need to work harder, totally oblivious to the advantages they enjoyed and then made unavailable to those who followed.

Unaffordable educations, unaffordable housing, unaffordable childcare — boomers weren’t subjected to any of that shit, but they just want to mock the people staggering under that burden with endless commentary about “snowflakes” being “triggered.”

And let’s be real, it’s not as if the Boomers were respectful to the older generations of their youth. If the worst you’ve got to put up with is some kid posting an “Okay Boomer” meme I think you’ll survive.

[braddy]

60. Abbie Hoffman wasn't a boomer.

[Loki Liesmith]

30. They'll sell out eventually.

And for cheap.

[dflprincess]

31. Kids, I don't know what's wrong with these kids these days,

Why can't they be like we were, perfect in every way?

And so it goes, from one generation to the next.

[Hortensis]

33. This is about reducing Democratic turnout in 2020,

Last edited Mon Nov 18, 2019, 11:11 PM - Edit history (1)

of course.

I'm a boomer. I know who to blame: conservative voters, as well as nonvoters. 1965 was the year the first Democratic president sounded the first of our warnings on global warming and warned Congress to start planning to stop it, and of course under democratic domination salaries and benefits were high in general.

What Repubs instead planned to stop was Democrats.

Reagan was elected due to a major new conservative wave that replaced the liberal New Deal wave when I was only 26. The beginning of a perfect storm of bad timings. Most of the boomer boys I went to high school with went to Vietnam, sent by nonexistent (according to the OP propaganda) voters. The very oldest boomers were 36 when nonexistent voters turned the nation over to the Republican domination that promised to keep Democrats from stopping fake climate change. The youngest boomers were 16.

Resist the mindfuckers out to destroy us by, now, turning kids on their parents. Think. Unite to fight. It’s past time to kill the corrupt Reagan era and begin a new half century of liberal progressive government dominated by Democrats.

[appalachiablue]

64. More divisive media to foster hate & split the Dems.

Last edited Tue Nov 19, 2019, 12:49 AM - Edit history (1)

Don't lump me and my Boomers, 5 of us b. 1947-1961 with the "Reagan Democrats' primarily working class voters who switched, or with the cons who voted for the Reagan-Bush Team in 1980-1988.

We voted D before and after Reagan as did our parents and grandparents.

I endured the Reagan-Bush reign for 12 long, hard years in DC and have the scars to prove it.

[Dagstead Bumwood]

34. I'm on the early cusp of Gen-X.

We were called "slackers," if memory serves, and not just by the Boomers, but by the Greatest Generation as well. Seems like everyone feels put upon at first and decries being mischaracterized buy an older generation. That is, until they reach the top of the generation food chain and then they start stomping on those below them with both feet. The circle of life, as Elton sang.

[essme]

39. Xers were dealt a double/triple whammy. 2/3rds the size of Boomers...

...and 2/3rds the size of Millenials, called slackers/losers in media (we embraced it to a degree), had parents divorce in never before seen waves, the first "modern" generation to be told we'd never get to where the Boomers/parents were, typical "youth suck" issues compounded by demographic real issues.

Then once we got solidly into the workforce, and started advancing, Boomers wouldn't fucking RETIRE! By the time they started FINALLY aging out Millennials were competing with Xers for the same shit. No traditional generational leadership handover. By the time we get ready for SS the Boomers will have probably sucked the system dry...

So I dig OK Boomer.

[Codeine]

53. As an GenX kid I agree.

I do feel like the Boomers had all the advantages, and our own GenZ/Millenial kids are screwed even worse.

[herding cats]

61. On a lot of issues Gen-X and and Millennials are dealing with are the same issues.

Which I know isn't popular to hear, but it's still reality.

Global warming: Check!

College debt: Check!

Income inequality: Check!

Also reality, none of this generational war will have a deep impact on the 2020 Presidential election. Which some GOP Boomer era strategists are hoping it might.

[meadowlander]

83. Old enough to get whomped by the Global Financial Crisis,

not young enough to switch careers in time to fully recover from it before retirement.

[Codeine]

93. That's me in a nutshell.

Fifty in a few months eking out the process of raising a family in a duplex apartment.

[Polybius]

158. I think the Greatest Generation liked us Xers more than Boomers though

They really couldn't stand them.

[Dagstead Bumwood]

173. It's like that old joke.

Why do grandparents and grandkids get along so well? They have a common enemy.

[Autumn]

35. I think it's an awesome retort, very witty.

[Bonx]

37. "Hey you're old, so I'm dismissing whatever you said"

hilarious.

[Codeine]

54. Boomers rather invented that attitude,

didn’t they?

[Mariana]

66. Well, it isn't offensive when the Boomers do it.

I think that's how it works.

[Caliman73]

87. Probably not.

That attitude I think, has been around since before the baby boomers. Most generations think that the generation after them has it better than they did and are soft. The younger generation see the older one as holding them back.

Boomers maybe get the credit because of mass communication and commercialization of media and culture. They didn't invent it.

[Codeine]

92. You're right;

I guess “commodified” was more what I was thinking. They made it a generational rallying cry, a marketing slogan masquerading as artistic expression.

[Caliman73]

127. I totally agree with that assessment.

I think the Boomer generation did a number of good things during the 60's and 70's with the Sexual Revolution, Civil Rights, etc... but it certainly did get monetized and commercialized.

[LanternWaste]

134. Ancient Greeks invented it.

Romans made it cool.

Gupta Empire gave it gravitas.

Protestant Reformation thought it was "totes adorbs!!!"

Jacobins try to behead it.

Rosie the Riveter had it added to her job description.

Generation Tide Pod Challenge liked it because it fit on a t-shirt.





"Everything ancient is without precedence to youth."
(Samuel Clemens)

[Codeine]

138. . . .

Nicely done!

[Autumn]

114. "Hey you're young, so I'm dismissing whatever you said" is fine?

I don't think so. Not in my book.

[Bonx]

131. Who said that?

[Autumn]

132. In response to your "Hey you're old, so I'm dismissing whatever you said" ,which no one ever said

which you thought was hilarious. I reponsed with something else no one ever said.

Bonx (1,627 posts)

37. "Hey you're old, so I'm dismissing whatever you said"

hilarious.

Autumn (36,393 posts)

114. "Hey you're young, so I'm dismissing whatever you said" is fine?

I don't think so. Not in my book.

[Bonx]

140. Ah, so I totally misunderstood what is implied by 'Ok Boomer'

Maybe it's a compliment? Or a nod to someone named 'Boomer'?
Thanks for the help!

[vercetti2021]

38. I'm fine with it

I'm close to 30 and I've been dropping this against people younger than me that act like they know all. Seems to work wonders

[panader0]

40. Can't believe no one has posted this yet

[Tipperary]

43. Exactly right.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[LakeArenal]

45. Anyway to divide folks.

Old people are treated worse in America than most any other country...

Everyone stop whining about everyone.

[ThoughtCriminal]

48. Meanwhile...

A handful of ultra-rich oligarchs just love the idea of generations blaming each other while they help themselves to an extra scoop.

[Progressive Jones]

52. Gen Z ought to be thankful for Boomers bringing them legal weed. nt

[Codeine]

55. Yes, what a hugely important boon.

Who needs education, housing, or a career when you’ve got weed?

[Celerity]

57. I do not even smoke, so I do not even get that benefit

[Codeine]

59. Exactly.

This place and its marijuana obsession works my nerves sometimes.

[Progressive Jones]

69. Apparently there's no sense of humor around here. nt

[JonLP24]

156. I don't like alcohol at all but it is legal

I like cannabis partly because it helps me not become overly emotionally involved over what is said here. To be honest I get my feelings hurt a lot in political discussions. Cannabis helps me not take it so seriously.

With everything going on in life cannabis is a nice relief.

[braddy]

58. The bigotry merely moves to another race or group, now the old, it never stops, it just moves.

[herding cats]

65. Hey, you know what? We're all in this together.

The GOP wants us to play generational games and split our votes... I'm not playing that game. They, and all their Trump apologist, can go screw themselves. I'm not playing this, obviously intended to divide us, game.

I don't give a fuck who wins our nomination at this point. They have my vote. They're leaps and bounds better than Trump.

ETA: Folks, this isn't about we Dems. Focus here, please?

[Stinky The Clown]

68. Meant. To. Divide. Us.

[Codeine]

70. People that age feel divided already.

The division is one of opportunity, one of hope, and one of aspiration. All their avenues have been closed off by their elders, so a little snark and bitterness seems a reasonable reaction.

[Hoyt]

75. As a Boomer, I like to remind similar that younger generations pay our Social Security like

we paid our ancestors. Not considering their wellbeing is a big mistake.

[live love laugh]

77. So is that how Trump should be responded to? nt

[Baked Potato]

79. Divide and Conquer

[area51]

139. +1 n/t

[greyl]

80. Fuck the NYT, and that sweatshirt is missing a comma. nt

[Bettie]

81. Boomers are the "I've got mine now screw you"

generation.

No, not all of them, but they are the ones who embraced Reaganism, they are the ones who cheered the weakening of unions.

They are the ones who saw the character of Gordon Gecko as a heroic figure, something to emulate.

Not all, but enough. They brought us to where we are now.

[Mariana]

89. The majority of Boomers voted for Trump in 2016.

Most of them will probably do it again in 2020, if given the chance.

[Bettie]

112. And that's what we're talking about, the majority

not all of them.

This was a response I read to this article and it said all I was thinking (and more) in a much better way.

https://stoehr.substack.com/p/if-anything-ok-boomer-is-too-timid

Excerpt:

Let me rephrase. It’s not a war in the sense that two sides are clashing. It’s more one-sided. It’s only when young Americans, whether Millennials or Generation Z (ages 7-22), stand up and say something about the war that you hear anything about it in the mainstream news media. Baby boomers own and run the news media. They make the big decisions. Their hold on our news media, our political culture, and what we’re even allowed to talk about is so complete as to be invisible. So when young Americans come up with a flippant catch-phrase like “OK, Boomer” to acknowledge the war, it’s news. There’s never been “friendly generational relations.” Young people are getting woke.

Let me rephrase again. It’s not so much a one-sided war as a kind of slow-motion sabotage of the very society that created the richest and most politically powerful cohort the world has ever seen. It’s no stretch to say young white baby boomers had every advantage one could imagine from a government shaped and informed by the compromises of the New Deal (later the Great Society). Free college, low-cost housing, thriving wages, and an ever-expanding economy. It’s no stretch to say this same generation did not want to share the blessings of an expanded democracy with the generations that came afterward. The ladder was dropped down for them. They climbed it. They pulled it up behind them. And that started with Generation X.

snip

What do we get? Lots, but what comes to mind is that the boomer generation isn’t really what we’re told it is. To be sure, baby boomers in their youth protested the Vietnam War, marched for civil rights, went to Woodstock, and all that. But that warm nostalgia is contravened by an ice-cold fact. Since 1972, a majority of boomers has voted for the Republican candidate in all but one presidential election. That was Jimmy Carter in 1976, probably due to Watergate’s reformist aftermath. Other than that, boomers went with the Republican each and every time. Yes, not all. But most.

Again: Not all, but most. And I’m not singling out a majority unfairly. This is fair. Because the biggest generation in size and influence voted for the Republican candidate in all but one presidential election in nearly half a century, boomers are responsible more than any other group of Americans for the dominance of the Republican Party between Reagan’s election in 1980 and the financial panic of 2007-2008. They are responsible for the long contraction of government activism in the lives of ordinary Americans. They are responsible for massive inequities of power and wealth. They are responsible for assaults on the law, morality, the environment and on the truth. They are responsible for what was the “conservative consensus” in which everyone, even liberals, agreed that government was best when it governed least.

[Mariana]

119. No one has said that ALL of the Boomers did anything.

Good or bad. Not one time has anyone even suggested that ALL of the Boomers did anything, except be born during a certain time period.

[Bettie]

121. No one is saying it, but

over and over (here and elsewhere) I see Boomers complaining that they are being broad-brushed and picked on, so I put it that way.

Was hoping to head off being jumped on. Guess that failed.

[brush]

85. Seriously? This issue is more important than getting rid of trump and taking...

the Senate? Boomers, GenXers, Millennials and GenZers all need drop this and get behind fighting the actual enemy, that orange a-hole imposter sitting in the WH.

[rownesheck]

94. Gen X'ers are da bomb, yo!

We are the greatest! Our music is the best!!! No one can deny it. Boomer music is second. I don't even consider the stuff these young uns listen to nowadays as music. I'll defend this fact to the death!!!

Just a bit joking, but I do LOVE the music of gen X. I do agree that every generation has dipshits. And every generation has badasses. One thing that causes the crappy situations that millennials and gen Z see our country in, is mother flippin voter apathy. If we all voted in every election, we would be living in a GD utopia right now. Normal people far outnumber the dipshits. It's just that the dipshits vote every election. VOTE, VOTE, VOTE DAMMIT!!!! alright, my delirium has taken over. I'm going to sleep. Byeeee!

[Demonaut]

96. counter with "whatever"

[NCLefty]

97. "It's still early enough in the meme that it can be pivoted to 'okay baby'. 👶🏼"

Saw on Twitter.

[roamer65]

99. Generational differences won't matter when the economy and the dollar go to shit.

We will all be in the same damn breadlines, except for the 1 percenters.

I think I’ve made my point. Focus on the real enemy.

[BeyondGeography]

104. Enjoy it. If we don't break the economic spell this generation is dealing with

it’s going to get a lot worse than, “OK Boomer”:

“Essentials are more expensive than ever before, we pay 50 percent of our income to rent, no one has health insurance,” said Mr. Citarella. “Previous generations have left Generation Z with the short end of the stick. You see this on both the left, right, up down and sideways.” Mr. Citarella added: “The merch is proof of how much the sentiment resonates with people.”

Rising inequality, unaffordable college tuition, political polarization exacerbated by the internet, and the climate crisis all fuel anti-boomer sentiment.

And so Ms. Kasman and other teenagers selling merch say that monetizing the boomer backlash is their own little form of protest against a system they feel is rigged. “The reason we make the ‘ok boomer’ merch is because there’s not a lot that I can personally do to reduce the price of college, for example, which was much cheaper for older generations who then made it more expensive,” Ms. Kasman said. “There’s not much I can personally do to restore the environment, which was harmed due to corporate greed of older generations. There’s not much I can personally do to undo political corruption, or fix Congress so it’s not mostly old white men boomers who don’t represent the majority of generations.”

I know how angry I was when Reagan was elected, but at least I could carve a good life out for myself economically when I started working in the early 80s with the help of much cheaper rents, a limited debt overhang from college, and full-time jobs with benefits and regular raises (that last bit ended about 15 years ago). It’s a lot harder now.

[raccoon]

105. Just because Some journalist says something doesn't make it true. NT

[FM123]

106. Very good post!

[Hortensis]

109. Very BAD. This is meant to turn Democrats on Democrats.

You might wonder where Celerity and others are getting this divisive propaganda from -- because it's not from us.

DU has tons of boomers. I imagine your own family has some also. Any young people who refuse to vote for Democrats out of gullible, misdirected anxiety become our newest worst.

[still_one]

115. Exactly, it is divisive bullshit. Surprised the NY Times doesn't make this their headline news

story.

Those terrible "boomer" fought and died for Civil Rights, Women's rights, workers rights, Environmental rights, SC justices like Ginsberg, etc.

It would be nice if some instead of spewing out nonesense would actually look at things objectively

[Hortensis]

116. Well, studies say kids (some of them) are less vulnerable to

mass media propaganda like this than older generations who didn't grow up with it. Sure have to hope so.

My older grandsons are smart, nice people, obviously wired as well as raised liberal, and I can't imagine they'll be victims, much less easy ones, for resentment propaganda.

[still_one]

122. I think everyone is vulnerable to mass media propaganda, young and old

[Hortensis]

123. But RESENTMENT propaganda is targeted to those who display

a tendency to it, not to the simple ignorance and gullibility that are weaknesses we all share.

Only some are hooked by messages directed straight to various negative emotions, bypassing intellect, but the effect tends to be very powerful. Just look at the OP. Hundreds of millions of good Democrats and deeds angrily redefined as Republican crimes.

NOT good at all.

[JonLP24]

159. DU has a ton of boomers

Which is why there weren't any complaints here when Bill Maher & others ranted about millenials. I voted in every election but it didn't stop people here from bashing millenials over turnout gaps.

[Hortensis]

160. Few DUers watch Maher, a classic poisonous scorpion.

He spouts principle and good sense that enables those who come for what he serves up to imagine they're justified, but he always defeats what he claims to support with poisonous, often outrageously bigoted messages aimed at Democrats, women, racial and ethnic groups, and so on. Especially Democrats, but no group is safe. I hadn't heard he was going after millennials, but of course.

There's something wrong with him, and other scorpion types. Their special blends of principle and principle-defeating malice have a very toxic effect on those vulnerable to it. So, be glad most of us didn't know he was going after millennials. And, don't worry, he hasn't abandoned using boomers to poison other age groups on the idea of voting Democrat, even as he piously tells them to.

[JonLP24]

163. Glad to hear you aren't a Maher fan either

I agree completely with your post.

[Hortensis]

164. That's nice to hear also. I avoid Maher threads like...poison.

[JHB]

110. We all know how this plays out...

Support the artist: Give the original a click:
https://thenib.com/life-cycle-of-a-meme

[ismnotwasm]

113. Pretty much

It is kinda fun, but has no real basis in successful social structures. It’s also a white thing, although I’ve seen a few people of color use it.

[Celerity]

129. lol, good post nt

[Tarc]

111. After several years of "millennials disrupt the wine industry!", "these 20 chain restaurants..

...are dying because of millennials", etc... I (as a Gen X'er, I just from the sideline), think they're entitled to a bit of a retort.

[muriel_volestrangler]

117. I'm left wondering about the '"thank you" style of a plastic shopping bag'

WTF does that mean? It's as if the writer thinks there's one style for all shopping bags. This is puzzling me more than anything Gen Z, boomers or anyone in between has been saying.

Should we respond to NYT articles with "OK Hack"?

[Maeve]

120. As a mid-Boomer, I may use that retort, too--esp. when one of my generation says

something stupid and/or pro-tRump. We grew up with a set of rules that had ceased to work and now we try to pass on our own rules that don't apply.....the kids are alright, let 'em be.

[Peacetrain]

125. Interesting.. not worried about it at all until they start killing us ..

The Silent Generation absolutely hated and hates Boomers too. We turned their world upside down. this too will pass..

[Thomas Hurt]

126. I have no idea what any of this means of why I should care.

[MineralMan]

130. It's a shruggable meme, as far as I'm concerned.

[Crunchy Frog]

148. Every new generation thinks they've invented youthful rebellion.

It's cute.

[GulfCoast66]

149. Nothing new under the sun.

Older generations have always thought they knew more than younger and the young folks resented them for it. Means nothing really.

I guess I am a first year Gen Xer. Born 21 years after WWII ended. Never gave it much thought. I play the hand I’m dealt.

In a month we will be on to something else.

The real fight is between the poor and struggling middle class, no matter their generation, against the wealthy class. That all we should care about.

[sl8]

154. OK, Grandpa.

"It's best let old people think they still matter"

[Polybius]

157. I saw this pro Xer meme recently :)

[Celerity]

162. Ironically 3 of the 5 (the 3 on the left) are Boomers, lolol

[TidalWave46]

175. Circular firing squad. Insignificant.

That said, OK Boomer is kind of an awesome response for those who have dealt with a certain segment of the boomers.

[H2O Man]

177. baloney

[Iggo]

179. I'm older and I've got more insurance.