They were bought. They grew up in a world of plenty. They were sold the idea that it will always be this way as long as they vote conservative. Fox News (and less blatant media) came and pacified them by giving them excuses for being greedy, which enabled the worst wealthy actors to hoard their shit and codify the greed into the both culture and law. They were used to create a system that is fucked and now are confused when the system they built sucks and the world of plenty is being shown to just be a short term golden age.
I wish I could confidently say I’d do better, but probably not. We are products of the world we live in and are shaped by what we see and hear.
I dunno, my limited sample size says the boomers were raised by parents who lived through WWII, so they were raised frugal. Save as much as you can types. Then yes, things were eventually good… the 70’s had high inflation I think. So now they hold on to whaterevr they have.
But yeah, can’t say I would have done better.
100%, I don’t think there’s a single thing that I would do differently than them on an individual level. Housing was cheap (compared to today). School was cheap (compared to today). Healthcare costs were manageable (again, relative). Being frugal and attempting to have enough retirement to make it through old age is not a vice, that is just sound money management.
The actual sin is making it harder for everyone else coming behind them.
Make housing more expensive by restricting zoning (I already purchased my house, so I need to protect my investment from things that would degrade the value).
Make school more expensive by not properly scaling public higher education (I am already out of school, so why should we invest more in public schools).
Make unions weak (no collective action means I personally might earn more, though workers overall will earn less).
Make a single payer healthcare system a political impossibility (the system is working for me (because I have $$), I might have to wait in line with all the poors if they can also access the same level of healthcare).
Basically they enshittified government and culture before it was cool, creating stratification layers to benefit themselves when the available alternatives would have been better for society and subsequent generations.
We are products of the world we live in and are shaped by what we see and hear.
Yeah, but it’s every individual’s responsibility to employ critical thought.
If two asshole billionaires named Elon Musk and Donald Trump do a livestream discussion a month out from an election in which they talk about hating worker rights because they get in the way, then maybe, as a worker, I shouldn’t vote to give them power.
But they did do that and working class Americans went out in droves and voted to give them power anyway.
I don’t absolve boomers because they were tricked. If you get tricked for decades to vote against your best interests and the best interests of your children…then you’re a dumb and/or greedy asshole.
They were bought. They grew up in a world of plenty. They were sold the idea that it will always be this way as long as they vote conservative. Fox News (and less blatant media) came and pacified them by giving them excuses for being greedy, which enabled the worst wealthy actors to hoard their shit and codify the greed into the both culture and law. They were used to create a system that is fucked and now are confused when the system they built sucks and the world of plenty is being shown to just be a short term golden age.
I wish I could confidently say I’d do better, but probably not. We are products of the world we live in and are shaped by what we see and hear.
I dunno, my limited sample size says the boomers were raised by parents who lived through WWII, so they were raised frugal. Save as much as you can types. Then yes, things were eventually good… the 70’s had high inflation I think. So now they hold on to whaterevr they have. But yeah, can’t say I would have done better.
100%, I don’t think there’s a single thing that I would do differently than them on an individual level. Housing was cheap (compared to today). School was cheap (compared to today). Healthcare costs were manageable (again, relative). Being frugal and attempting to have enough retirement to make it through old age is not a vice, that is just sound money management.
The actual sin is making it harder for everyone else coming behind them.
Basically they enshittified government and culture before it was cool, creating stratification layers to benefit themselves when the available alternatives would have been better for society and subsequent generations.
Yeah, but it’s every individual’s responsibility to employ critical thought.
If two asshole billionaires named Elon Musk and Donald Trump do a livestream discussion a month out from an election in which they talk about hating worker rights because they get in the way, then maybe, as a worker, I shouldn’t vote to give them power.
But they did do that and working class Americans went out in droves and voted to give them power anyway.
I don’t absolve boomers because they were tricked. If you get tricked for decades to vote against your best interests and the best interests of your children…then you’re a dumb and/or greedy asshole.