Congrats on living long enough to complain about it
Congrats on living long enough to complain about it
We also watched it fall apart while we were growing up.
I remember when M2 debuted with the idea that it would just play music videos, you know … like MTV used to.
I didn’t mind when MTV stopped playing music; Rob & Big, Viva la Bam, and Pimp my Ride were very entertaining and helped define my later teenage years. The day MTV2 just became just MTV with rearranged timeslots was the beginning of the end. And now MTV is just The Ridiculousness Network now. It’s practically the only thing they air now.
Some days I interact with some people that make me bemoan all of the safety guides that have allowed the idiots to breed enough that I now have the misfortune to interact with them.
Then there are other days where a safety rule/guide/regulation has stopped me from doing something monumentally stupid and fatal that reminds me that those safety regulations are written in blood and that sometimes I’ll be that idiot in someone else’s mind. It’s humbling and comforting in an absurdist way.

United States of Whatever by Liam Lynch.
I’ve always thought the boomer/millennial whining was people of the exact same personality being insufferable to each other, just throwing down inane stereotypes while being emotionally immature and unable to be decent people.
Every age group has people like that, of course. I just get tired of having to watch it play out constantly online. So just shut the fuck up and do some good in the world. Instead of griping about people, show us something inspirational that you’ve done. Be the example of what you want other people to be.
You have a great sentiment that I whole heartedly agree with.
There is just one problem I see: the word “do.”
Everyone wants to bitch, piss, and moan. But, very, very few are willing to “do” anything meaningful about the need for “do” in their community. It’s always someone else’s job or I don’t have time or I could never do that.
I’m an old boomer now. I’ve spent my time “doing” things for my community because those things needed to be done and no other people wanted to do them. I just want Millennials, GenX, and GenY or Z step into these things and bring their skills and perspectives to our community. We need them. And I just want to finish the remaining 10 years or so of my life and fade quietly away. But that hasn’t happened yet, I have a Township Board meeting this Thursday evening…
I feel personally attacked by this!
As a result I’ll do nothing!
It’s exact opposite of a trend. The younger generations criticizing the older ones for not living up to their responsibilities has been just as much a constant throughout human history as the older generations criticizing the younger ones for being lazy by their parents’ definition.
The world sucks, as usual, and by now Gen X are old enough to be in charge. It’s sensible to call them out, just like in a decade or two it’ll be sensible to call out the Millennials for the same thing.
Blaming old people is a defining trait of the young. When young, and I remember blaming my parents for bringing me into this world that didn’t give me the things I wanted easily.
Maturing as an adult means taking responsibility for yourself, and doing the things you can do to improve your situation.
Of course one can keep blaming old people for everything until you’re old enough to be blamed, if that’s your jam.
Oh, I am aware that this dynamic doesn’t quite work. Both sides of the equation get it almost, but not entirely, right. Because getting it right is challenging.
The older generations do get lazy as soon as their own needs are met, especially those of them who wield power. And that doesn’t just mean politicians but also CEOs, large investors, etc. Working for the common good is difficult and most people follow the path of least resistance, leading to the dynamics young people complain about.
But young people fall prey to the very same dynamic. It’s easier to get disillusioned and complain on the internet than to consistently go out and exert pressure. Sure, maybe they go on a protest march or two but few have the energy to consistently go on marches, be active in politics, stay on top of which companies are toxic, openly defy the law, and do a myriad other things that don’t directly benefit them in order to fight for a better world. You can do that if you’re rich and isolated from consequence but in that case your life is cushy already so you’d be fighting for abstract principles.
There are few people of the caliber of Bernie Sanders or Greta Thunberg because it’s really hard and carries a real risk of ruining their own life. Most people who do try end up like the people who glue themselves to highways: They get ridiculed and fined and effect no change whatsoever.
So for most people all that remains is resignation. Gen X said “whatever” when they weren’t listened to because they weren’t willing to sacrifice their personal future to escalate things until change is inevitable. Millennials say “OK Boomer” as they find themselves in the same situation for the same reason.
(I’ll gloss over the “young people are lazy” part but it boils down to young people actually being lazy in terms of failing to apply themselves in ways the older people did, with the caveat that some of those ways no longer apply and young people are applying themselves in new ways the older people don’t realize are necessary now. This perception dynamic is at least as old as recorded history.)
“Old enough to be in charge” is not the same as “in charge.”
Clinton, Bush 2, Obama and Trump are all Boomers. Biden is Silent Generation.
Gen X is smaller than Boomers and Millennials. We have always known we were going to be passed over in governmental power dynamics.
Get some class and material analysis. This neoliberal, metaphysical (that’s just the way the world is) bullshit is so tiring. Older generations are not the cause of your problems, the ruling class is and you are doing free labor for them right now.
Call out people sure, but pretending like this is the eternal cycle of society and that older people just suck is wild.
Accept these downvotes with pride.
Genx has a deeply seated victim complex.
Someone was saying the generations slipped over politically but they actual hold 41% of house seats, that’s more than boomers and almost three times millennials at 15%.
Less represented on the senate (28%) but still second place behind boomers (61%).
It was clear over a decade ago that genx would not be better than the boomers.
That’s what they’re saying.
They’re saying that you say you did that as a kid. But many kids did that, and unlike you, didn’t survive it, so now kids aren’t allowed to do that.
Perhaps, but I fucking hate Boomers just like the rest of the world. Lumping us, especially those of us born after 75 in with Boomers, is crazy. I have nothingin common with them.
I can’t afford a house, I will never retire, I am hard left, etc., etc. Screw that generation.