Generation Blame
It’s the Boomers' fault. A line that the Millennial generation spits out carelessly with every podcast, blog post, and social media platform. Que the almost predictable Boomer rage in the comments blaming the Millennial generation for their sheer ignorance and entitlement. It’s as if both generations are pointing fingers at a two-way mirror. Both are massive populations with large amounts of political and social influence, but instead of working together, they are looking for a reason to absolve themselves of responsibility. Meanwhile, Generation X sits back, arms crossed, “They’re all nuts! We are the best generation! We gave you the Internet you all are arguing on, and well… the entrepreneurial DIY culture the Millennials are making a living from. One glaring look from the Millennials and a Boomer tisk-tisk, and Gen X retreats, knowing full well they don’t have enough people to back their argument. Besides, don’t we have a kid to drop off at school or a Pixies reunion concert to attend? We might as well be the coal miner standing between the banker and the farmer.
Arguments, rationalizations, and scattered accusations aside, who is to blame? One generation, the Boomers, hold most of the wealth accumulated throughout the 80s and 90s with their thirty-plus year stable careers, severance packages, retirement funds, and now a booming overly inflated real estate market. As we struggle to put food on our tables and gas in our cars, the average middle-class Boomer can make millions off a 3-bedroom family home they own that they mortgaged in 1978 for nearly the same amount as their middle-class pre-retirement income. A generation who grew up with the onslaught of television ads, mass consumerism, and “Leave it to Beaver” suburban fantasies that came true in the 1980s. I think enough is said just by mentioning the 80s. The other, are Millennials. A generation of supposedly lazy, entitled brats who expect big paychecks straight out of college and the latest tech gadgets to quell their hunger for more, but many continue to live with mom and dad because rents are through the roof, and owning a home is a pipe dream. No wonder these generations are at odds. Gen X gets lost in the shuffle. In fact, I’ve heard more than one Gen Z punk (sorry, not sorry for my lack of woke jargon) call us Boomers. Let me tell you about the severe annoyance this brings about. I wonder if Gen Z has ever read a book beyond the bookshelf in the Montessori preschool they attended in 2010.
The confusion is astounding. All we have to do is look at who created the generational divides and made them stick. It’s the very thing we are all fighting about; information warfare through the media we consume daily. If we look closer, this has been happening for multiple generations. It didn’t begin with the Boomers. The advent of the town square, gossip in pubs and shops, and the newspaper brought about the information age. The people in the medieval royal courts were likely having disagreements about generational blame. Have you ever looked at the propaganda being touted around during the Nazi occupation of Germany in the 1930s leading up to the world war?
We are being misled into believing this is a generational competition when it’s actually a societal shift, a spiritual and social evolution that has been happening for millennia. Blame will get us nowhere unless what we see in each generation is a lesson to improve upon what has been done in the past. If we focus on what each generation has done to create a better world, we could collaborate instead of insulting each other. What we are truly dealing with is ignorance and helplessness toward an increasingly corrupt societal state that wants us to hate each other instead of working together for the common good. It’s time to reset our moral compass and get to work!
S. Angell is a published poet, writer, philosopher, video blogger, and preschool teacher by day. She explores an array of topics including love, life, death, history, and society from a philosophical perspective. You can find her on Instagram @therainydaypoetess or TheRainyDayPoet.com
