There&#x27;s an intergenerational war going on and millenials don&#x27;t even know it

Original post by skeptical_john

For quite some time now baby boomers - those born between 1945 and 1965 - have been destroying the futures of those born after them

Arrogant, self entitled nonsense.

Its a symptom of the increased individualism within our society..

the older generations are thinking much more about themselves and their own lives in their old age then the younger generations... I could happily write pages on how our society is shifty away from collective societal structures such as families, the church, coporate families, the idea of a country, and towards a group of individuals.. but thats not really for this thread.

Instead I will say this:

This is the issue that our generation will have to face.

Every generation has a struggle, and many are unique from past generations.. this is ours. To be honest its not that bad compared to world wars, famine, disease/plagues etc, the threat of nuclear destruction etc. etc.

Sure some generations recently have had it much easier then us comparitivly, but thats just the roll of the dice.

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Now a great question is how can we solve this problem. Sure society needs to solve it, but you cant rely on the goverment to quickly adress deep issues like this. Really its up to us.

For me one of the biggest things we need to do is stop trying to live the life of our parents. Its just not going to happen for most people.. forget the ideas that past generations had about how to live your life and instead break down all the major components of life: family, a home, passions, financial indipendance etc. Break them down one by one, and look at how they can be achieved in our current society.. not only the traditional ways of solving them, but also new aproaches that our generation can consider that previous generations cant.

For me this solves one of the core issues, which is as you say - young people do not realise whats going on. To many are struggling against problems because they are trying to live like past generations did, but in a completly different soiety, where the two dont match up.

Reply 4

fallen_acorns

20

Original post by Drewski

Arrogant, self entitled nonsense.

I agree with the idea that many young people are self entitled..

But the OP is not nonsense.. it is aferall completly provable that our generation, by traditional standards, will have a harder time then past generations:

Higher property prices, Lower wages, Less job security, Less financial Independence, Higher competition for jobs = all things that are easily demonstratable.

(and infact, just today there is a headline on the BBC news page about a new study showing that we will be the first generation to earn less over our lives then our parents)

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Dont complain about those who take issue with the problems caused by past generations.. but instead complain about those who expect others to solve those problems, rather then getting off their arses, thinking a little, and solving them for themselves..

Afterall you can bet your arse that our grandparents generation complained about older generations initiating wars that they had to deal with.. but you can also bet that they dealt with those problems head on, and came out on top. Thats what we have to do now, realise the problems, then deal with them.

Reply 5

Drewski

Original post by fallen_acorns

But the OP is not nonsense.. it is aferall completly provable that our generation, by traditional standards, will have a harder time then past generations

I'm not denying that any of that has happened, I'm denying the notion that this has been done deliberately and out of spite, that belief is the nonsense.

Reply 6

Aph

22

You missed out the fact that most of the elderly who live down south and who can afford it don't get solar panels where they would make a huge difference to their electricity bills and would make our dependence on fossil fules less because they won't live to see the benifits. I also agree with the poster above that it is a result of individualism and the encouraging of selfishness in society which is to blame.

Reply 7

dingleberry jam

3

Original post by Drewski

I'm not denying that any of that has happened, I'm denying the notion that this has been done deliberately and out of spite, that belief is the nonsense.

I must have missed that bit, where do they say that?

Reply 8

skeptical_john

OP

13

There's not a day that goes by that I dont see more strong evidence for my premise above

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37508968

Yet the people least interested in this are millennials themselves.

Reply 9

Original post by skeptical_john

For quite some time now baby boomers - those born between 1945 and 1965 - have been destroying the futures of those born after them but very little seems to be discussed about it, especially by those most affected: millennials.

Think about the amount of benefits they have had in life and they with almost every one the draw bridge is being rolled up leaving only scraps for the rest of us.

Affordable housing. Baby boomers were able to buy houses at a fraction of today's cost. Most were about 3 times the average wage now it's 5-8 times.

Education. Boomers had free education (granted many did not go) but for those that did it was amazing advantage not afforded to other.

Secure jobs. Jobs which had great security and benefits which were often for life. We're stuck in the gig economy with little hope of long term secure futures.

Pensions. There retirement age of 60-65 for which we will be paying for is likely to be much older for us. The best we can hope for is it being about 75 but I expect to rise further than that.

Brexit. Older people were far more likely to vote out. Having done so they have removed the ability for us to work, study and find relationships in 27 other countries.

NHS. finally the one thing that is still decent the NHS. Be under no illusion though that this will not be there for you in your old age. Projections of the costs for this are astronomical and unless Britain almost doubles in size it will have to cease we know it.

There is far more to say on it that this but this gives you an idea yet when you speak to millennials they ether seem oblivious or it downright denial.

Uhm, no.

Reply 10

Eulers_

Original post by ckfeister

Uhm, no.

#convicingargument

Reply 11

Original post by Eulers_

#convicingargument

Older people are people who voted us into the common market, why did they change? We was born in EU era, we don't notice what has happened, they do.

Reply 12

Eulers_

Original post by ckfeister

Older people are people who voted us into the common market, why did they change? We was born in EU era, we don't notice what has happened, they do.

that doesn't necessarily mean they're right though does it?

Reply 13

Original post by Eulers_

that doesn't necessarily mean they're right though does it?

It changed without approval of ANY country, everything they have done has been done undemocratically by Tony Blair, democracy is the heart of UK values. Do young people know any of this? No, go and look it all up I read both sides before voting I don't know about you.

Reply 14

Eulers_

Original post by ckfeister

It changed without approval of ANY country, everything they have done has been done undemocratically by Tony Blair, democracy is the heart of UK values. Do young people know any of this? No, go and look it all up I read both sides before voting I don't know about you.

oh stop whinging about anti-democratic stuff, our current PM was elected by a tiny proportion of the UK, once our politicians are in office the average person is virtually democratically powerless to change things, our monarchs are unelected, the trajectory of our country is chosen by about 300 people.

'undemocratic' is the new 'racism' - a buzzword that people who hate the EU throw into the mix to start an irrelevant chain of discussions, the EU is undemocratic, but democracy, as Frank Underwood in House of Cards says, is so over-rated.

Frankly, without the EU we would still be in inter-war style international relations

Reply 15

Original post by Eulers_

oh stop whinging about anti-democratic stuff, our current PM was elected by a tiny proportion of the UK, once our politicians are in office the average person is virtually democratically powerless to change things, our monarchs are unelected, the trajectory of our country is chosen by about 300 people.

'undemocratic' is the new 'racism' - a buzzword that people who hate the EU throw into the mix to start an irrelevant chain of discussions, the EU is undemocratic, but democracy, as Frank Underwood in House of Cards says, is so over-rated.

Frankly, without the EU we would still be in inter-war style international relations

Never whined about anti democratic stuff, we can throw them out in 5 years if we don't like and reverse it if opposition party think thats what people want, monarchs don't have barely any powers anymore.

Reply 16

Therec00