So I'm reading this book:

You're gonna get bl00'd on it, I promise; it's not what I wanted it to be but it's definitely what it is and it's worth discussion.

I'm GenX. My parents are "Silent generation" which means they were born before the end of WWII; Gibney argues they're 'boomers 'cuz he likes a different definition of 'boomer and I'll say this: they're fuckin' rich even though they squandered fuckin' everything on booze my entire goddamn life. Well, my dad is. Of course, he's paying for an ex-wife, a mistress, a daughter and a private plane. That's probably over-sharing.

So I'm GenX. And for the first time in a long time I feel pretty okay. But I look around and y'all are fucked. And I'm sorry. And we're doing what we can, kids; my wife pushed eight thousand dollars into Other Peoples' Payroll last month which is money I can't spend on knocking down the business loan but it's the difference between "driving for Amazon" and "having a career" so I don't begrudge a goddamn thing.

But the fuckin' 'boomers are yelling at you because they had to STFU when we created Amazon and Google and eBay and shit like that but they're still better off than you except for the ones that aren't

but they're still so goddamn spiteful and I don't know what to do about it and I'm sorry.

    Millennials will fight this fate. They are the most educated generation in American history. They work hard. And they remain optimistic — still expressing the same faith in the American Dream as the generations that came before. However, to salvage the millennial future, it is essential to see past stereotype and understand the reality of the millennial present.

    The equation underlying the millennial struggle is as much about systemic inequities as bad timing. They graduated college carrying unprecedented debt burdens due to the skyrocketing cost of college. In 1975, college tuition for public, four-year colleges (in 2017 dollars) was $2,450. In 2017, that number reached $10,000, according to CollegeBoard. Student loans now make up roughly 74% of total debt owed by 25- to 34-year-olds, up more than sevenfold since 1989 when that number was just 10%.

    That added debt burden may have been manageable if more education had equalled higher wages. In 1977, only 24% of Americans ages 25 to 34 had attended college. In 2016, that number was 37%. Yet, over that same period, inflation-adjusted median income remained roughly stagnant at $34,000 for that same age group.

Fuckin' VOTE. It's the only thing the goddamn boomers have over you. They don't even have the numbers anymore (and us GenXers never did) but they've been running things for so long that if you listen to them they'll grind you into powder.

I'm drunk. Not rich and drunk, but I sure as shit don't drive for Amazon and I'm drinking McCormick whiskey because I'm cheap, not because I'm poor, and I'm so sorry about this bullshit.

PTR:

Oh look! Something I think about all the time. I'll download the book once I get an Audible credit. Already read Nomadland last year when my own parents were considering that lifestyle. An RV + trailer full of beehives + Midwest croplands that need pollination = my parent's best retirement plan yet.

I'm a young Millennial, born in the '90s. I'm what the Boomers like to see: college-educated, "workforce ready", full-time job with career plans, great credit score, responsible debt repayment, living in a major metro area, married young, professionally articulate and socially polite, etc. They love it, makes them feel good. They like knowing Millennials like me exist. After all, examples like me prove they haven't fucked up as badly as everyone says they have - I'm still recognizable as something they value, a worker. And in a world that's changing faster than they can keep up, they like the familiarity.

But holy fuck if I don't hold some crazy ageist rage-blame for nearly every 50+ year old I come across Out There for the shit they've put everyone else through, and every Millennial/Gen Z-er I know feels the same. The Epic of America was written in 1931, and the "American Dream" was coined in it. By the time Boomers had come of age, the Dream was old enough to be believed. By the time they were through with it, it had been destroyed along with the environment that had allowed it to exist in the first place. The number of people who are ready for an alternative is growing.

A parallel subject that gets brought up among my friends when talking about Boomers and all the shit ye have wrought is that we are well past-due for a global military conflict. The climate crisis will reach a head, migrant refugees will vie with national citizens over scarce resources, destabilized governments will topple, and superpowers will get antsy. During it all, 75 million Boomers and Donald Trump will slither into their coffins.

We joke, but it's some consolation to think that we'll hopefully be dealing with that crisis on our own.


posted 2080 days ago