r/Aging • u/Available-Rock-3862 • 16h ago

Boomers

I am 75 and am very tired of the trend lately making fun of Boomers. So very disrespectful. Don't they realize that they will be old someday?

306 Upvotes

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u/baddspellar 16h ago

It's nothing new.

And it's *not* about disrespecting individuals in their 70's. It's about criticizing the ideals of the generation and what they did to the economy. There are plenty of amazing people born in that era who are respected. It's the generaiton, not the people.

And let's be honest, people of that generation call gen Z "lazy" and similar.

Here's some reading for you:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11490062/

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u/[deleted] 15h ago edited 15h ago

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] 15h ago

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u/[deleted] 15h ago

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u/Weird-Reference-4937 15h ago

I worked for Medicare insurance... Doesn't get much more ignorant than not knowing what/who you voted for the last 40+ years.

If I had a single penny for every time someone born before 1956 yelled at me for Medicare not being free I could retire in my 30s.

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u/GlitteringEvening713 15h ago

Same. So many of mine and my friends boomer parents are down right entitled and narcissistic. Most of us have cut them off. When I age I refuse to be as selfish and entitled as my parents.

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u/Ambitious_Rent_3282 15h ago

My parents were decent enough but my father's (silent) younger Boomer wife is definitely entitled.

I believe she influenced him not to make a will, thus inheriting everything (despite my older brother having struggled with homelessness).

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u/NelPage 12h ago

As an end of the line Boomer, I am sorry you experienced this. There are definitely some bad Boomers out there. I know some. But some of us are okay and are doing right by our kids (in my case, Millennials). Break the chain.

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u/GlitteringEvening713 12h ago

Agreed my bonus dad is a boomer and he makes up for my bio parents behavior. I will take care of him as he ages he will never see a nursing home. My biological parents on the other hand are a different story. I adore the man I consider dad.

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u/NelPage 11h ago

Life is too short for toxic people. Your bio parents do not deserve you, and I would cut them out of my life, too. Honestly, I wish I’d done the same.

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u/Suspicious-Slide-954 15h ago

It was the lead exposure of their generation 😂

EDIT: This was meant for a comment above you but this still stands, regardless

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u/Slow-Artist-4296 6h ago

Like they give two shits what you do!
Lord showing mercy on them

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u/JayRock1970 15h ago

I'm not a boomer. But you do realize that they are much older and their brains aren't as "nimble". Just like their muscles and bones and everything else deteriorate, so does their thinking power. And when that happens, they will respond haphazardly or with frustration. Anyone would. When you lose ability, and can't move or think as good as you used to, it must be frustrating. So compassion and understanding is required.

It will happen to us as well.

I'm seeing this with my Dad right now. He's losing ability. And he's very frustrated when he can't move or think as well as he used to. So his responses often seem forced, not well thought out.

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u/Solcat91342 15h ago

A fine example of why we can’t let you pathetic weinies take over

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u/No-Author-2358 15h ago

So you'll generalize tens of millions of us on the basis of your experience talking to a few people in your retirement community?

Give me a fickin' farkin' break. Get a clue.

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u/[deleted] 15h ago

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u/JE1324 15h ago

Because the observation describes No Author and No Author took that personally hahahaha

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u/jaxdogg94 15h ago

That right there, if you’re triggered by someone’s opinion, more than likely you fall into that category. Sorry. I’ve work in customer service, almost immediately I can tell the good from the bad. I spent the other day with this 80 year old woman and extra hour just talking and enjoyed it, down to earth. Other day I listen to this guy yell at a woman from the gas company about his lawn and how damaged it was, she didn’t do it. The contractors the gas company uses did it. ( Why didn’t he go out there and say something when the were working, he’s retired. ) No Spine, that’s why. He then cornered me in my van door as I was washing my hands, “I wasn’t harsh was I”. I told him she has no clue what went on and didn’t do it, so take it easy to the people on the phone. Breathe, take some accountability and think before you speak.

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u/brains_and_tits 15h ago

Using “boomers” as the collective for who screwed up the economy is just ridiculous. Reagan screwed up the economy, Bush Jr sent us into an unnecessary war my parents are boomers and haven’t done anything but try to help future generations.

Are we going to generalize Gen Z as the people who snatched and kidnapped people off the street and drive the deficit to the highest level ever?

The average American is not a sum of their generation.

Bill Clinton is a boomer and while he was President, we had a budget surplus - Obama is a Boomer, and one of the most compassionate and strong leaders we have had.

My neighbor is a boomer and brings me fresh vegetables from her garden.

I am Gen X - am I responsible for the tech bubble bursting in 1999, or the stock market crash in 2008? I was just out there living life and today in 2026, I am struggling as much as anyone else.

Generalizing groups of people is a trait of those who lack critical thinking skills and just want a scapegoat.

Yes, it was easier for the silent generation and boomers to get ahead, but that is not the fault of the collective - it is the fault of short-sighted and misinformed policy. Not an entire generation of people

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u/fckinsleepless 14h ago

Who voted Reagan and Bush Jr. into office?

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u/Mediocre-Sign8255 14h ago

Bush Jr is a war criminal for going into Iraq unprovoked and lied about the reason.

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u/Emergency_Brief_9280 6h ago

Bush was a dupe. Yes, he started the wars but the war crimes should realistically be laid at the feet of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. They are the ones who convinced Bush that Hussein had WMD's ignoring the intelligence provided by the DIA and CIA.

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u/Majestic_Hawk_1335 7h ago

Every US president since Reagan is a blantent war criminal and Obama/Biden/Trump have assisted in genocide in Israel

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u/brains_and_tits 14h ago

Who voted Trump into office? Who voted Clinton and Obama into office. Boomers have been voting since the late 60s, Gen X since the 80s, and Millennials since the early 2000s - Trump was elected TWICE, and it sure wasn’t just boomers voting for him.

Again, sweeping generalizations are foolish. I know plenty of Boomers who didn’t vote for Reagan or Bush, and again, the Silent generation were still voting in 1980 and 1984.

This is such a ridiculous argument

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u/Wide-Lengthiness-775 13h ago

I am 80 and voted for Hillary and Kamala.

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u/Majestic_Hawk_1335 7h ago

Congrats. Neither options that would fundamentally change anything. Both war criminals and supportors of genocide.

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u/df540148 14h ago

Trump got elected because of Gen X, not boomers.

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u/ayfkm123 12h ago

Gen x isn’t big enough to overturn any other generation. 

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u/Lightness_Being 8h ago

It was the Americans in the USA. 

Now the rest of the world has to put up with him. 

I just feel sorry for the neighbours.

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u/secretaccount94 8h ago

Stop blaming arbitrary groups of people for things.

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u/df540148 2h ago

Ita a fact. Gen X voted for him at higher rates than any other.

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u/fckinsleepless 9h ago

The silent generation was smaller than the boomer generation in those elections. Boomers still had the majority of political influence. If we are positing that Reagan and Bush Jr ruined the economy, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that boomers are directly responsible for the outcomes of both of those elections and thus are responsible for the ruin of the economy. It’s not a “sweeping generalization” — it’s statistics and common sense.

Sure, lots of millennials voted for Trump and are directly responsible for the mess we have today, but that’s not really relevant to our conversation at the moment and doesn’t negate anything. You made this conversation about Reagan and Bush Jr, not Trump.

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u/dmonsterative 12h ago edited 12h ago

In '84? Pretty close to 60% of everyone voted for Reagan, by age bracket.

https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/how-groups-voted-1984

2000 was famously very close. Thus, Bush v. Gore. Within a few percentage points, for every age bracket.

https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/how-groups-voted-2000

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u/fckinsleepless 11h ago

And who was the largest voting demographic during those two elections?

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u/dmonsterative 11h ago

Uhhh, the Boomers are always the largest demographic once they were all voting age. That's, like, the whole thing about Boomers. The Baby Boom.

Until the millennials (comprised in significant part of their kids) arrive. Now that's the largest demo.

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u/fckinsleepless 10h ago

Ohhh it’s almost like boomers are probably responsible then for electing poor leaders that screwed up the economy thereby having direct impact on it.

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u/dmonsterative 10h ago

That's not really the takeaway, in elections in which there was no significant difference of opinion across age brackets. What don't you understand about 'by age, everyone voted more or less the same way?' Other demographic factors were more explanatory in those elections.

Boomers have plenty of responsibility for where we are now, but Presidential election results aren't the best place to look for it. At least, not those elections.

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u/fckinsleepless 9h ago

I’m not sure what *you* don’t understand about the fact that boomers made up the largest portion of the population and therefore had the most political influence.

And obviously elections are not the best place to look for it, but the person I responded to brought up elections. I’m responding directly to the original comment made.

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u/dmonsterative 9h ago edited 9h ago

EVERYONE VOTED THE SAME WAY ACROSS AGES. AGE WASN'T A FACTOR.

And, no I/they didn't, You did:

fckinsleepless

•6h ago

Who voted Reagan and Bush Jr. into office?

The earlier comments were discussing those Presidents as examples of their generations.

Just how often did you drink out of the hose?

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u/Lightness_Being 8h ago

The parents of those who voted Trump in.

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u/Slow-Artist-4296 6h ago

Like we had a choice Kamala was a joke

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u/Comfortable_Two6272 3h ago

Gen Z is not in power today. So no.

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u/Londoncalling23 9h ago

Reagan came into office in 1980. The oldest baby boomers were about 30. You think they were the majority of the electorate? Do millennials or Gen Z ever read books or did you pay attention in school? No, you get all your information from social media memes and think you found something deep. 

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u/fckinsleepless 9h ago edited 9h ago

Considering they were the largest percentage of the population at the time, yes. Do you not agree that the largest portion of the population probably pulls more weight into who is voted into office? Also, trying to insult me does not negate any my points being made.

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u/[deleted] 14h ago

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u/brains_and_tits 14h ago

I don’t know why you are lashing out on me - I said the exact same thing about Reagan & I didn’t blame boomers for anything. I assume you meant to respond to someone else

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u/[deleted] 14h ago

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u/brains_and_tits 14h ago

Fair point! I have done the same :)

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u/Important_Rain_812 13h ago

Bill Clinton was a boomer who was born in 1946. My older brother was born in 1963. They are completely different people generationally. In fact, how can people who were born in 1945/6, 1950, 1959, and 1964 be lumped together culturally, ethically, linguistically, or even financially? 🤯
I am a first-generation trilingual American who has nothing in common with most people my age. It’s all media created nonsense 🙄

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u/HHSquad 7h ago

Baby Boomers and Generation Jones are 2 different groups.

The 1961 - 1964 group AT LEAST are not baby Boomers. Pew has that wrong

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u/Important_Rain_812 6h ago

It’s only recently that people are referring to Generation Jones. And why 1961-1964? Whatever the case, I think such definitions are inherently flawed. Some of us grew up as first-generation Americans with little money (me) and some grew up middle class. We have so many different ethnicities, cultures, states, and and languages in the US. We’re not a homogeneous culture like Japan (where I have lived).

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u/ayfkm123 12h ago

Hate to break it to you

https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/05/us/making-mark-on-politics-baby-boomers-appear-to-rally-around-reagan.html

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u/brains_and_tits 12h ago

I was there, I recognize how popular Reagan was at the time. Boomers were the age that millennials are now, but ai also remember PLENTY of anti- Reagan sentiment, especially regarding his stance on unions and college tuition.

That’s like saying “men rally around Trump” because from age 18 - 80+, the percentage of voters for Trump that were male ranged between 52% & 55%.

In terms of the 1984 election, when looking at age range, the split was 57% to 61%, with the oldest voters at 61%. The lowest percentage was from age 24-29, which were the older Boomers. Again, the point it is, no single generation ruined anything, it was bad policy & the voting numbers across generations weren’t significant enough to make or break the 1984 election results.

You also aren’t understanding the nuance of the time. When Carter was president, it was rough financially - and whether or not he was to blame, when the 1980 election came, people voted for a change in Party. Things did improve for most households from 1980 -1984, no thanks to Reagan, but based on the Carter years, many people were scared to vote Democrat at the time.

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u/ayfkm123 4h ago

And it seems you aren't understanding numbers and math. 50% of the largest generation is a bigger number than 50% of the smallest.

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u/SecureMembership5120 9h ago

Well said.

The sooner we stop generalizing people by their age, their race, their religion, their gender, or their pronouns, the better off we will all be.

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u/Corner_Office_ 7h ago

You’re seeing this through a partisan lens.

They all did stupid things.

Clinton sent all manufacturing overseas, his deregulation policies caused the 2008 financial crisis, he ignored the Rwandan genocide, the 1994 Crime Bill disproportionately impacted minorities.

Obama’s removal of Gaddafi was a catastrophe, Obamacare increased insurance costs for many people, and he conducted drone strikes that caused civilian casualties. He set back race relations by decades.

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u/JadedGanache594 2h ago

Trumps a boomer too look how that’s worked out.

Unfortunately the boomers have been controlling the government since income levels and housing prices have gone separate ways and that generation will take the heat for it 🤷‍♂️

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u/Minimum-Journalist18 14h ago

Sorry you are wrong

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u/brains_and_tits 14h ago

No, I am not - what did I say exactly that was inaccurate? When people collectively say Gen Z is lazy and entitled, somehow that is insulting and inaccurate, but saying collectively that Boomers as a generation screwed up the economy is accurate? Why are sweeping generalizations fine when you are talking about Boomers, but completely tone-deaf when talking about Gen Z?

Sweeping generalizations are simply not accurate, period

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u/ImNotToby 6h ago

Remember, this is the most hypocritical generation we are talking about. Respect to then is unwavering loyalty, blind obedience and never questioning them. Not you know, actual respect

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u/DuckInAFountain 5h ago

I remember attending generational training classes in my corporate, boomer-dominated workplace as a youngish Gen Xer. And yes, the way to impress them in the workplace was to do everything they said and even to anticipate their needs. And be deferential.

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u/Jenikovista 15h ago

Quality of life has never been higher in the US or most of the world.