Okay, Millennials...

[Tessera]

Okay, Millennials...

Well, it was only a matter of time. Millennials have been whining and crying about Boomers for the past decade, posting "Okay Boomer" and "Okay Gramps" all over the internet. So now, it appears that the Boomers are fed up and quite ready to put Millennials in their place.

Here's a recent article from The Wall Street Journal and I strongly suggest that you read it:



Millennials will no doubt perceive this article as being some kind of scathing attack upon their generation, and then dismiss it as such. Big mistake, kids. What they need to realize is that it was they who first launched scathing (and largely unwarranted) attacks against MY generation. Well, consider the above article to be a serious reality check. Your lives will never improve until you learn to take personal inventory.

On top of that, you're starting to piss off the Boomers with your whining... and that isn't gonna end well. My suggestion would be to build bridges, instead of burning them.

While I don't agree with the decidedly right-wing bent of the author, I nevertheless agree with most of his observations about Millennials. I've made many of the same observations myself, right here on this board.

Quite frankly, I have to admit that the majority of complaints that I've heard from Millennials amount to "When are you Boomers gonna die and give us your stuff?"

My answer to that question is: "Maybe never, but definitely not for several decades to come. How about making your own stuff, like we did? Or is that too difficult?" 

[Blankspace]

I have to agree, it's like Millennials copied the worst behavior of the Boomers while , unlike the Boomers, Millennials haven't do anything good to offset all the bad shit they have done.

And the guy who wrote the article isn't the first person to say stuff like this, first heard something like from Bill Maher's show.

New Rule: OK, Zoomer | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYSLyvbR_1w

[Tessera]

I only agree with Bill Maher about half of the time, but he definitely nailed it in that video.

It's important to point out that I don't dislike Millennials... not at all. I just think they've been making far too many excuses
for their own lack of motivation. For their own lack of creativity. For their own lack of incentive. For their own lack of courage.

Millennials... blaming Boomers for your own shortcomings is not going to lead to anything positive. Boomers contributed
numerous significant and lasting things to our society and/or our culture before the age of 40. That is simply a fact.
Seriously folks, the personal computers that we're using right now were invented by Boomers decades ago.

Or how about Steven Spielberg's movies? Or Robin Williams? Or Eddie Van Halen? Or... Amazon.com? Shall I continue?
Jeff Bezos was only 30 years old when he created Amazon. Spielberg was around the same age when he made Jaws.

But if we ask "Can you name three important things that Millennials have contributed to our culture?" ...the answer
is never forthcoming. Instead, I usually hear a lot of whining about how Boomers are somehow holding Millennials
back and preventing them from having any original ideas of their own. What a load of self-defensive rubbish.

Feel free to enlighten me, if my perception is wrong. Seriously... please do. I don't ban people for disagreeing with me. 

[Blankspace]

I only agree with Bill Maher about half of the time

Same here.

Or how about Steven Spielberg's movies? Or Robin Williams? Or Eddie Van Halen? Or... Amazon.com?

I noticed when Millennials make something its a bad rehash of something that came before.

[Blonde Guardian]

I noticed when Millennials make something its a bad rehash of something that came before.

I have to agree with this. Gen-Xers don't seem to have had this problem. At the very least, they made most of the best vidya games. I think timidity and having a victimhood mentality (I won't succeed because the world has wronged me) tends to guarantee that one will not produce great works.

Millennials/Gen-Zers also usually spend their lives immersed in technology and other people's works, as opposed to the world around them, which probably makes for a shallower creative well to draw from.

[Tessera]

I think timidity and having a victimhood mentality (I won't succeed because the world has wronged me) tends to guarantee that one will not produce great works.

On top of that, I think it leads to a generation who are always looking for excuses to display mock outrage. Let me call attention to a specific excerpt from the article in my OP:



You have no idea how much this rings true. We've seen it right here, on this forum board. Every once in awhile, I've posted stuff which I personally find to be funny. Some of my more ribald photoshopped images, for example. Or the time I posted some examples of sexually explicit underground comics, from the late 60's/early 70's. Or the examples that I've posted of old National Lampoon ditties.

More often than not, those posts have either been met with silence, or else a few folks have responded negatively. In every case, I happen to know that the folks who responded negatively are Millennials. Elsewhere, on another board, someone once said to me "Boomer humor is gross." When I asked why, she said "Because it's always offensive." Umm... well yeah... so what?

Another time, while I was playing EverQuest online, I told the following old joke:

Q:   What do you call a brunette standing between two blondes?
A:   Translator.

That joke happens to have been written by the late, great Robin Williams and he occasionally told it during his stand-up routine. Well, right after I told it, only two people laughed in chat. Several others ganged up on me, saying "Why do Boomers think it's funny when they make fun of someone's physical features?" Or some words to that effect.

The author of that article is correct, when he says that Millennials appear to be permanently offended at all times. I'm sure they believe that their incredibly thin skin indicates that they're better and more sensitive people. What it really indicates is a miserable and loathsome state of mind, where everything you do, everything you see and everything you hear rubs you the wrong way. Folks, that isn't a sign of inner strength -- it's a sign of inner weakness and a desperately insecure need for everyone to like you.

Or perhaps I should say "an insecure need for everyone to like you, more than you like yourself." Hopefully, the more perceptive among you will see what I'm driving at here.

This is not the road to happiness, my friends. Nor will it lead to a better world. It's just a self-righteous, pretentious and hypocritical state of "nothing will ever be good enough, unless it's 100% perfect." Well, the person staring back at you from the mirror will never be 100% perfect, either. So maybe y'all just need to lighten up and stop ruining your own lives.

Boomers aren't keeping anything from you -- you're clearly keeping it from yourselves.

[Will Never]

Unlike a couple years ago, TBH, I don't hear that many people harp on about boomers since Trump has been removed from office.  From what I have witnessed, it had become fashionable (to some) to express dislike of boomers at some point during 2019-20, and even then it was directed at the most aged boomers in their 70s (literally Trump), whose presidency is regarded as a sort of last dying cry.   Most people I would know today would make fun of somebody who still said "ok, boomer" at this point in time.

Funny thing: I saw this in the general chat playing SW:TOR earlier today. 


People are past this issue, I feel.  Y'alls observations may well vary.

[Tessera]

Well, I think the fact that the Wall St. Journal felt compelled to publish that article suggests that the situation persists.

Listen, every generation winds up at odds with their parents' generation eventually. We certainly did, when we were young adults and now, I guess it's our turn to feel the heat.

My defense is that, in our case, we said "Okay, we'll show you. We'll do everything bigger and better than you old farts ever could." Which is pretty much exactly what Boomers (collectively, if not individually) ended up doing. We made better music, we made better movies, we invented better technology, we built better and more beautiful bodies during the "hardbody decade," and on and on. We changed modern culture, in ways that are still prevalent. We pushed progress along -- which is what every successive generation SHOULD be doing with their time.

Millennials, on the other hand, seem to be consigned to resentfully behaving like vultures... circling above the Boomers and screeching "Hurry up and die, so we can take your stuff!" That isn't being innovative... that isn't being self-sufficient... that isn't contributing to progress... no, that's being unmotivated and parasitic.

There doesn't need to be a generation gap, but there does need to be a realignment or two in the ways that Millennials perceive their place in history. Please understand that this is my attempt at giving out helpful advice. Whether or not Millennials take that advice will have absolutely no effect upon my generation at all. We already have everything that we need and we're going to keep it until the day we die, as is our right.

Your future is in your own hands. Just as it was for us.

Falling back on the poor excuse of "You Boomers grew up during a better and easier time" simply has no merit. Your generation didn't get drafted and shipped off to Vietnam against your will... mine did. Your generation didn't get your heads beaten in for wearing your hair long... mine did. Your generation didn't get thrown into jail for 10 years for smoking a joint... mine did. I could continue, but my point is that there has never been "an easier time" in America. It has ALWAYS sucked for young people.

If you really wanna blame someone other than yourselves, then blame Ronald Reagan. He's the clown that deregulated everything in sight and effectively paved the way for corporate rule in America. Been that way ever since. Well, Reagan wasn't a Boomer... he was my grandfather's age. The so-called "Greatest Generation." I guess they weren't so great after all, when you get right down to it.

[Blankspace]

If you really wanna blame someone other than yourselves, then blame Ronald Reagan. He's the clown that deregulated everything in sight and effectively paved the way for corporate rule in America. Been that way ever since. Well, Reagan wasn't a Boomer... he was my grandfather's age. The so-called "Greatest Generation." I guess they weren't so great after all, when you get right down to it.

It wouldn't surprise me if this infighting between age groups is just another thing being drummed up to distract us from what is really fucking us over.

[Tessera]

Well, I'd just like to revisit something that I've said in the past about Millennials... and once again, this is not meant as an attack...

Yours is the first generation in history that grew up with the internet in your lives. This has been both a good thing and a bad thing.

It's a good thing, because any technology which allows people to have more or less instant access to information can be very educational.

Now let's talk about why it's a bad thing. Internet communication is responsible, in my view, for both Millennials and GenZ being very poorly socialized. Think about it. Our species evolved to depend upon eye contact, facial expressions and body language when we communicate to one another.... but internet communication has taken all of that away. No, emojis don't help. 

We now have two generations who have grown up in a very artificial way.... primarily communicating to one another through written text only. There's no actual human contact. No actual socialization. Everybody can be anonymous. Everybody can display their worst behavior toward each other with impunity, because nobody actually knows who anyone else is. Everybody becomes jaded and cynical. Everybody becomes lazy and unmotivated.

Everyone fails more than they succeed. Suicide rates among Millennials and Zoomers are the highest in history. Not cool. Not cool at all.

It's a fact that when polled on the subject, about half of the Zoomers out there said that they would rather lose one of their own fingers, instead of losing their smartphones. Umm... 'scuse me?

See, my generation didn't grow up with any of that dehumanized crap. We met with each other in person. We did things together in large groups. We saw each others faces and listened to each others voices. It motivated us, just as it had motivated every previous generation, to do things together and work toward a common good. And so... we created new things. We accomplished new achievements. We did things that had never been done before.

It's a fact that Boomers have become the wealthiest and most powerful generation in history... and I have no doubt that Millennials look at Boomers today, feeling both envious and resentful. Instead of making an effort to understand why the Boomers succeeded, where Millennials have clearly failed, many are instead clinging to this myth that they have: namely, that the evil Boomers have somehow cheated Millennials, out of what they feel is owed to them.

Let's home in on that phrase... "owed to them." It's dripping with entitlement. My generation didn't feel as if anything was owed to us... we just wanted the older generations to stop using us as cannon fodder and stop using us as political tools. We just wanted them off of our backs, so that we could get on with the business of creating and producing our own contributions to history... and to our own lives. It was after the Vietnam war finally ended, that the Boomers were finally allowed to sprout and grow without interference. A cultural tidal wave quickly ensued: summer blockbuster movies, disco and punk rock, an explosion of heavy metal in the early 80's, the invention of the personal computer, Saturday Night Live, the proliferation of drive-thru fast food restaurants, a Pandora's box of new fashions and hairstyles, bungee jumping, para-sailing... shit, this could become a VERY long list...

So where is the Millennial list..? I've asked this simple question face-to-face with Millennials, on more than one occasion. Where is your list of contributions that you've made -- to our culture, to our society, etc..? I've actually wracked my brain, trying to think of something... anything... that the Millennial generation have invented and then given to the rest of us. In all honesty, I am unable to think of anything at all. You seem to be very good at consuming, but not very good at producing. Are you ever going to wake up and realize this about yourselves?

Instead, we're back to what we're all talking about in this thread: resentment, hostility and a frankly irrational blaming of Boomers, for what are clearly failures on the part of Millennials.

As the author of that article (in my OP) said, at the very end of his rant, "One last word of advice: you won't believe what your kids have to say about you." Yup... that's gonna be interesting. Are all of you gonna say "It's Grandpa's fault that I never got off of my fat, jaded ass and did anything meaningful," or are you gonna be honest and tell your kids the truth?

[Tessera]

Boomers Strike Back

Watch this video:  https://youtu.be/j1Zg2S2-heY

Boomer comic Brad Upton strikes back at Millennials and GenZ and it's actually pretty funny stuff.
Those of you who are able to be honest with yourselves might wanna take a look.

[Blankspace]

Boomers Strike Back

Watch this video:  https://youtu.be/j1Zg2S2-heY

Boomer comic Brad Upton strikes back at Millennials and GenZ and it's actually pretty funny stuff.
Those of you who are able to be honest with yourselves might wanna take a look.

He brings up some good points.

[Blonde Guardian]

Boomers Strike Back

Watch this video:  https://youtu.be/j1Zg2S2-heY

Boomer comic Brad Upton strikes back at Millennials and GenZ and it's actually pretty funny stuff.
Those of you who are able to be honest with yourselves might wanna take a look.

Haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but I appreciated the "you know what happened to the dumb kids? They didn't make it" crack.

[Tessera]

Haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but I appreciated the "you know what happened to the dumb kids? They didn't make it" crack.

Yeah, we didn't have "safe spaces" when we were kids.   

[Tessera]

Here we go again...




This exchange is from YouTube. The OP was clearly being sarcastic, in his veiled attempt to blame Boomers for what's happening right now in Ukraine.

My response speaks for itself. I have no desire to go to war with Millennials... but if they're smart, then they don't want a war with me, either.

[Tessera]

More Millennial Denial



First of all, I want everyone to fact check what I said about obesity among Millennials. Please... feel free.

You see, Millennials are the very first generation in history to grow up with the internet. As a consequence, they are also the first generation to spend most of their day sitting on their asses in front of a computer. Isolated, munching continuously on garbage food and interacting with their peers in a decidedly artificial and socially crippling manner. Their bellies and thighs kept getting bigger and bigger, whilst their creativity and motivation got smaller and smaller.

Previous generations went outside, interacted with each other face-to-face, were physically active and cared about their appearance. We were properly socialized. We made personal impressions and personal connections with others.

Boomers aren't "hoarding" anything... not unless you believe that when people reach a certain age, they're expected to just hand over everything they have to their kids. Boomers are PRODUCERS. Millennials are CONSUMERS. Boomers CREATED the wealth that they have. Millennials, on the other hand, COPY everything that they see and just suck it all up like a sponge.

Hey Millennials... where is your Bill Gates? Where is your Eddie Van Halen? Where is your Steven Spielberg? Where is your Robin Williams? Name three things of lasting significance or importance, that Millennials have contributed to our society and/or our culture. C'mon... just three things. Spielberg made "Jaws" and "ET" when he was still younger than most of you are today. The same goes for Bill Gates and Microsoft. Same goes for Jeff Bezos and Amazon... which was originally just a little dial-up web site that sold used books, back in the early 90's. Want me to continue?

So let's put this "Boomers have hoarded it all" crappola to the test. JUST NAME THREE THINGS. Is that so hard?

Oh, and we didn't "trash the planet" either. The planet is actually CLEANER now than it was when we were kids. Boomers were the generation of No Nukes rallies. Boomers were protesting by the tens of thousands against the dumping of toxic waste into our air and water. Boomers organized concerts to help pay for world hunger. Boomers were the ones who embraced high-mileage, low-pollution vehicles... while our parents generation made fun of us for doing so. Yes, we could have and should have done even more. But at least we did SOMETHING. We got ACTIVELY INVOLVED. How about you? Where are your rallies?

I could go on and on about this shit, but what's the point? By now, this thread should have made it abundantly clear that collectively, Millennials are suffering from a serious case of denial about their own shortcomings. It will be very amusing indeed to see what YOUR kids say about YOU, when they reach your age. Good luck!

[Will Never]

I feel this boomer-millennial "controversy" is simply another politicized online culture war issue manufactured by memers and internet trolls, much like the "controversies" over CRT and trans bathrooms.   They are issues that affect almost no one yet account for a disproportionate amount of noise in the online sphere.  Example: trans people are like 1% of the population yet the bathrooms thing is a "hot issue?"  These culture wars, often generational, are promulgated by actors who have an interest in sewing discord in the United States. Anna Kasparian shares what I believe is valuable insight from an article in the Atlantic by Jonathan Haidt, with a link in the description. 

Short version: the most prolific commenters and participants of online political culture war topics between groups comprise a miniscule percentage of the broader population.  They are subsets of an elite that show the greatest homogeneity in the political and cultural values.  Not only does the broader population not share their beliefs, but they simply do not participate in the culture wars because they are so put off by the prevailing of mock outrage over nuance. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrjnpl5xA4o

[Blankspace]

I feel this boomer-millennial "controversy" is simply another politicized online culture war issue manufactured by memers and internet trolls, much like the "controversies" over CRT and trans bathrooms.   They are issues that affect almost no one yet account for a disproportionate amount of noise in the online sphere.  Example: trans people are like 1% of the population yet the bathrooms thing is a "hot issue?"  These culture wars, often generational, are promulgated by actors who have an interest in sewing discord in the United States. Anna Kasparian shares what I believe is valuable insight from an article in the Atlantic by Jonathan Haidt, with a link in the description. 

Short version: the most prolific commenters and participants of online political culture war topics between groups comprise a miniscule percentage of the broader population.  They are subsets of an elite that show the greatest homogeneity in the political and cultural values.  Not only does the broader population not share their beliefs, but they simply do not participate in the culture wars because they are so put off by the prevailing of mock outrage over nuance. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrjnpl5xA4o

I agree, I find a lot of these social "outrages" to be nothing more then stupid bullshit meant to distract from real issues.