A person took to Reddit and questioned why the baby boomer generation is not advocating for younger generations like their previous generation did for them.
The silent generation endured devastating wars, The Great Depression, and fought for civil rights to solidify their place in society. Consequently, the baby boomers who followed faced fewer hardships. They could afford housing easily and inherited wealth to secure their futures. However, it seems boomers aren't doing the same for future generations. u/DirkVerite on Reddit sparked a discussion on why boomers aren't advocating for Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z as their grandparents did for them.
"I've been reflecting on the current state of our workforce and how things have changed over the generations," the person wrote. "The parents and grandparents of boomers fought hard to bring in labor laws that significantly improved working conditions for them. They kept the fight up for themselves. But now, it feels like the boomers have forgotten those hard-won battles and aren't advocating for us in the same way."
"It's disheartening to see that everyone seems to be looking out for themselves these days. The sense of solidarity that generations before us had is sorely lacking. If we want things to get better, we need to band together and support each other. But it seems the younger generation struggles with this the most," the post continued. The person questioned why boomers aren't stepping up to help younger generations. "They should remember what their elders did for them and continue that legacy of fighting for better working conditions and fair treatment," the post concluded. The post sparked an online debate on what might've changed for boomers to not follow in the path of their ancestors and some even shared their experiences of being raised by a boomer parent.
u/Hippy_Lynne mentioned, "Gen X here raised by boomers. They didn't even advocate for us when we were children. They needed a nightly public service reminder that they even had children. We were expected to move out and be fully self-sufficient no later than our 19th birthday. I honestly think the vast majority didn't even want children, they had them due to a mixture of societal expectations and a lack of family planning options. There is a reason they were called 'The Me Generation.'" u/LawrenceTalbot69 wrote, "They’re the 'Screw You, I Got Mine' Generation. Their legacy will be Donald Trump. They’re about five years out from a mass dementia wave, it’s already begun. Private equity-run healthcare aims to clean them all out before they go, so don’t expect them to leave much."
u/Immudzen stated, "They don't understand. I have talked to some older relatives and they just don't understand how expensive housing, education and other stuff has gotten. They don't understand what it takes to get a job. I have talked to people who said I should have just worked harder to put myself through college without debts. When you point out what jobs pay vs what college costs, you just get told you need to manage money better." u/Emotional-Ebb8321 commented, "Because their grandparents suffered through hell and made damn sure they wouldn't have to. Conversely, they had it relatively easy and assume it's still easy."
u/SmokeOne1969 quipped, "My boomer parents are pretty liberal and progressive. They understand that my generation has fewer opportunities and more problems to deal with and they advocate for me but they also realize that most of their generation have turned into selfish idiots." u/yagirlsamess added, "My boomer dad acts like he's carrying the burden of the working class but he received two generous inheritances in the last 40 years and he's sitting pretty on the type of pension that doesn't exist anymore plus Social Security, which he's voting to cut. I asked my parents if I could get my inheritance now (that's how they got their first inheritance) while I'm on food stamps and they said that I could just ask if I need them to buy me some groceries. Thanks. Your parents bought you a house when you asked."