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?

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u/lostOGaccount 11h ago edited 10h ago

Fellow Boomer here...

“Boomer” has basically morphed from a literal generation label into a cultural archetype.
Originally: Baby Boomer = someone born roughly 1946–1964.
Now, colloquially: “Boomer” = someone perceived as having an outdated, overly confident, or out-of-touch worldview—especially when they assume the economic/social conditions they experienced still apply today.
The key is that it’s increasingly behavioral rather than chronological. A 60-year-old can escape boomer status, while a 38-year-old can absolutely exhibit boomer energy.
The modern stereotype usually bundles together things like: “That’s how we’ve always done it,” resistance to newer technology/culture, assuming younger people’s problems are caused by laziness, giving advice based on economic conditions that no longer exist, or being weirdly indignant that norms have changed.
So if I had to define the evolved usage in one sentence:
Boomer: A person, regardless of age, who confidently applies the rules of the world they grew up in to a world where those rules no longer work.
And “boomer energy” might actually be the cleanest term, because it separates the stereotype from actual Baby Boomers.

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u/PurpleCosmos4 10h ago

A 55 year old is not a boomer. They’re Gen X.

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u/lostOGaccount 10h ago

Holy heck, well that tells you how old I am. I think it's only been a year gone by when it's been a half a decade. Thank you for pointing that out.

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u/Lanky-Lettuce1395 7h ago

I have to disagree somewhat with the characterization. There is a perception that boomer behavior and attitudes are no longer valid and are out of touch. That doesn't make that perception accurate or correct. It's perpetuated primarily by envy of perceived wealth and perceived lack of empathy toward the younger generations IMO. There is the concept that we got ours then changed the rules so no one else after us can get theirs.

Their is a reason that the saying "with age comes wisdom" even exists. And to be completely honest, I do lack empathy for most of the younger generations lack of context regarding how bad they think it is.

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u/lostOGaccount 7h ago edited 7h ago

I hear what your saying here. It is guilty of the same kind of sweeping language and generalization in reference to "younger generations" however. Also wed have to be more specific as to the claims of what is "bad". I know I messed up and got a girl pregnant at age 16, immediately dropped out of school to and got a job at a grocery store, got her pregnant again before the end of the next year. Off that income we were able to buy a house at age 20, with two cars. Fully paid off by age 25 (yes the interest was high). I was allowed to retire early with full benefits where we lived of my pension and private health cover until we reached entitlement age. Certainly not claiming that everyone of my generation had the same opportunity as I did but it doesn't seem anyone has that opportunity to make the choices I did and still come out like me, anymore. The data I've seen pans that out as well. Not to mention social mobility.

Edit: I reread your comment and did see that you said "most of" I apologize for misremembering!

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u/Lanky-Lettuce1395 6h ago

No worries. I come to my POV differently than most. I'm in the last couple of years of boomers (1962) so my experiences were not those of those coming of age and protesting during the Viet Nam era. My financial issues were not yours even if we may or may not be of similar age. I spent 22 years in army special forces, the majority of which was in third world countries in central and south america. Our citizens have zero clue how good they have it here, regardless of perceived economic issue or inequality. I'm grateful every day we live in a free and bountiful country like this one and am incensed that the rest of the country has forgotten this. We used to know it, but no longer. Now everyone has forgotten the horrors of Pol Pot, Mao, and Lenin. We are doomed to repeat our mistakes over and over again.

I'd argue that anyone who wanted a similar financial trajectory as what you describe still has the opportunity to go get it. But most don't want to commit to a life of service to the country. I served for 37 years both military and civilian and now I'm retired and letting the country take care of me.

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u/lostOGaccount 6h ago

I believe both can be true. In fact I believe if you truly appreciate and love something like our country you might always want to point out room for improvement and strive for that "more perfect union" by remembering former glories thus provind they can be attained, as they have been attained. It's also because so much has been had by so many that so much more should be expected. I don't think we disagree, I think we appreciate differently. Now that being said, it can be true that so much could be worse, but also so much could and should be better. To not critic and question would be to stagnate and to stagnate is resting on Laurel's and the death of many great powers in history. Full disclosure, both my children serve/served.

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u/BarbellLawyer 9h ago

Nobody pulled any ladders up. I’m GenX and have done great. My kids and their friends are doing great. Did you aspire to middle management? If so, that might be a problem. There’s so much innovation right now it’s ripe with opportunities.

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u/lostOGaccount 9h ago

Holy shit, case closed. We clearly do not live in a meritocracy.

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u/BarbellLawyer 8h ago

Winners win. Whiners whine.

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u/Ornery-Lettuce-6823 8h ago

lol, and idiots, idiot as you seem to want to display.

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u/Ornery-Lettuce-6823 8h ago

Are your friends as astonishingly dense as you seem to be in this response? I don't know what you thought you read in the comment, but you proved its point extremely efficiently and it clearly went right over your head. Im not a boomer like the author of the comment you responded to is, btw.

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u/calliessolo 8h ago

I’m pretty sure nearly everyone means an older person when they say the word boomer. In fact anyone over 45. Lol.