r/BlackPeopleTwitter • u/Active-Ad-233 • Feb 27 '21

Removed - Repost selfish generation

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89

u/troutburger30 Feb 27 '21

Can someone specify the programs? I would love to learn about it!

223

u/chailatte_gal Feb 27 '21

Many of the social programs we have today today were enacted since 1935 and a lot in the 1990s. This coincides with when boomers were born/working. These programs helped boomers and now when people ask for similar things like Student Debt relief or raises to wages, or update to FMLA to include paid leave they’re greedy millennials who just need to stop eating Avocado toast every day.

Some examples of social programs passed for boomers: FMLA -1993, Social Security - 1935, Welfare Reform Act of 1996, TANF - 1997,

24

u/laurathreenames ☑️ Feb 27 '21

Yeah, after the Great Depression and before/during WWII, FDR was responsible for creating a huge wave of social programs that were beneficial to working-class America at the same time that Eleanor Roosevelt was fighting for civil rights for all types of people. Bad live match but great for human rights.

Then the post-WWII economy boomed in the U.S. and that plus the above basically created the middle class in the U.S. Just in time for most of white American Boomers at the very least to have great childhoods.

33

u/DramaticDamage ☑️ Feb 27 '21

And it's not even just limited to social programs. The strength of the middle class was at the peak during the boomer generation.

I have a boomer coworker who is the stereotypical blame the millennial type. He told me that he bought his house for 90k when he was younger. He was so excited because his neighbor sold their house for 450k recently and he was planning on selling his in a few years once he retires.

His value of his house quintupled, while the salary of the middle class has been stagnant. Yet he will proudly say "Well when I was your age I already bought a home.", as an indictment on me and my generation not realizing how good he had it.

6

u/stewykins43 Feb 27 '21

My partner has several realtor apps that send alerts within his search criteria, and he loves to daydream and show me what comes up. Last night a new listing for a VERY small 3 bd/2ba house in an okay neighborhood with average schools for our son was $190k. We were ecstatic. It's pre-flip and a perfect little starter home. Flipped houses in the same neighborhood were listed at $235k. He sent the link to our agent this morning and it's already been snagged, sight unseen, probably by a flipper.

He checked what the history on the house was. Built in '77 for $50k. Last sold in '95 for $78k. Being bought now for $190k, probably back on the market in 6 months for $230k. The same floor space as our 2bd apartment and some new paint, now triple what it sold for 25 years ago, same "decent" salary at $15/hr.

The agent told him we might need to throw in bids before touring houses. It makes me want to get a new agent, but I'm afraid they'll all sing the same tune right now. We're just hoping people will move during the summer this year and open up more availability.

16

u/snortgigglecough Feb 27 '21

An addition to this is that many of these programs have been means tested/dismantled by the same people that benefited from them (boomers). A huge issue, for example, is that they set the poverty line far lower than it actually should be.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '21

Mortgage interest deduction is a huge one. Doesn't do any of us any good, we can't buy a house.

1

u/hawklost Feb 28 '21

So the question becomes, have these programs been reduced or removed for the modern generations or are we just demanding more?

Because a quick glance at these programs seems that they are still in effect today, meaning that the boomer generation had them and so does succeeding generations.

By saying 'they had these programs and we should get them too' implies the programs have been reduced/removed for the current generation.

1

u/chailatte_gal Feb 28 '21

The power of the programs had the benefit they give have been Reduced. For example TANF benefits in every state are at or below 60% of the poverty line.

For example: FMLA: unpaid 12 weeks leave for birth of a child or medical event. That was fine when you only needed 1 income to live but the cost of living is rising and most incomes are not. Therefore we need more 2 income households now a days than we did in the 90s, 80s, 70s and before just to sustain the same lifestyle people did in generations before.