Okay, Boomer

Okay, Boomer.

The year is 2019. Media culture influences our politics, literally meaning memes influence the way we see our fellow Americans. Most recently, blame was being put on millenials for ruining America. Eventually, millennials retaliated to prove that our grandparents' generation is the one that truly wrecked things for us. And thus, the “Okay, Boomer” meme is born.

Most recently, millenials are trying to push socialism into our modern society in an effort to create a more stable economy. It’s no secret that the chances of a boomer voting a socialist into office is slimmer than the US getting rid of cows to reduce global warming. However, the whole reason that millennials are trying to fix our economy before it’s too late is because of the damage boomers inflicted in earlier years. Steve Bannon, former white house strategist, said, “The baby boomers are the most spoiled, most self-centered, most narcissistic generation this country has ever produced”... and he’s a boomer. It is clear to millenials that boomers are stuck in the past, and nothing can change their preconceived notions about millennials.

There are several misconceptions placed on millenials by boomers. For example, boomers believe millenials don’t work hard because they spend so much time on their computers. What boomers can’t (or refuse) to grasp, is that with ever-changing technology, working from your phone or computer is the easiest, fastest, and most practical way to work. By creating such a strong divide between these generations with these broad assumptions, animosity develops, and we get to the point where generations refuse to work together or respect each other.

What really isn’t addressed, is the fact that boomers were very lucky to grow up in the economy their parents raised them in. Boomers entered a rich job market with the opportunity to receive an education for a pretty cheap price, especially compared to tuition prices today. With these jobs, most boomers became business owners, which lead to the financial crisis of 2008. Boomers have a “more more more” attitude, meaning they think taking risks, buying as many stocks as possible, etc. As a result, boomers took over the banks, and boomers in government failed the regulate these banks, leading to an awful job market for future generations. In addition, boomers are sucking everything out of social security. Tony Snow, former white house press secretary for the Busch administration, said, “Today there are about 40 million retirees receiving benefits; by the time all the baby boomers have retired, there will be more than 72 million retirees drawing Social Security benefits”. That’s a lot. On the other side of the spectrum, boomers heavily contributed to the destruction of the environment when they ran businesses that burned dirty energy and dumped pollutants into the atmosphere. And, to this day, the boomer generation refuses to recognize environmental issues and a legit political topic.

To millennials, it is clear that boomers truly had a heavy hand in hurting our economy, environment, and creating a divide among generations. Before, it was an insult to be referred to as a millenial, but surprisingly, the “Okay, Boomer” meme has literally united an entire generation. It brings together people who really didn’t have an interest in politics to try and fight to find a way to create a brand new world for our future generations to live in. Okay, millenials. Let’s fix the Boomer’s economy.

Works Cited

Ripley, Katherine. “The Worst Things About Baby Boomers.” Ranker, https://www.ranker.com/list/worst-things-about-baby-boomers/katherine-ripley.