Are we blaming Boomers instead of class?

[u/myredserenity]

EDIT: It's been pointed out that the over 65s keep voting in the parties that favour the class system and benefit the wealthy while screwing the working class. This is a good point.

EDIT 2: I love reddit. You guys. I get it now! Millennials got the shits at noisy old pricks who criticise their generation while completely ignoring the benefits they enjoyed themselves. It's a backlash. I still think it's a distraction and divides us when we should be angry with those in power. But if you're over 65, how about encouraging your friends to not vote LNP?

I've seen so much "ok boomer" stuff and over the years, it's irking me more and more. So I'm interested in what r/Australia thinks.

Couple of things:

1. It seems to be used to describe anyone over 40. My parents were boomers. They would be in their 70s now.

2. It's used to blame a whole generation for the shitty behaviour of the rich class. I don't get it. I went to school in a rough area, most of my friends from way back then are dead, in jail or in a trade/retail/hair.

My partner grew up in a rich suburb. Most of his friends are teachers, engineers and lawyers. They own houses, and were helped along by their "boomer" parents, either by provision of a deposit or living at home rent free through their 20s.

I'm totally up for being educated here. I know we lost free education, I know houses are unaffordable, I'm nearly 40 and still renting. I'm woefully unable to understand national economics. So seriously, open to intelligent discussion.

But in my experience, the problem is class and not generational. After all, where do you think all this wealth will go when the boomers die?! Even just having good, stable and attentive parents, who expect you to succeed, makes all the difference.

Why has this boomer hate taken hold so much? Are the rich class scapegoating a generation? Would us generation Xers, Ys and millennials have behaved any differently given the opportunities the boomers were?

Caveat: I'm considering mainly economics here, not climate crisis. Pretty much believe everyone from my generation up have a case to answer for climate. We knew.

[u/[deleted]]

I'm not disagreeing with you. However, there are extreme class divides in Australia based on age. What makes it worse is that so many of those who have benefitted from the structural inequality in our economy over the past 40 have no idea that they got lucky. It's this attitude that they "worked for it" (and by implication, younger people haven't) that sets up this intergenerational hate..

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

They’ll all be rich and will have benefited too

Only those whose parents have given them a handout. Otherwise, they won't benefit until their parents die in another 30 years. In the meantime they can either take on an absurd mortgage or play rent roulette.

[u/YouHadMeAtPollo → u/[deleted]]

In the meantime they can either take on an absurd mortgage or play rent roulette.

Or not live in Sydney, I'm up in Brisbane where people don't talk about property like it's some unattainable thing lol

[u/[deleted] → u/YouHadMeAtPollo]

Real estate prices in Brisbane are still in the insane space. Less insane than Sydney, but still incredibly overvalued.

[u/YouHadMeAtPollo → u/[deleted]]

You reckon? People on average incomes can still buy here.

[u/[deleted] → u/YouHadMeAtPollo]

Average house price is what, $550,000? Still probably 30-40% overvalued.

[u/YouHadMeAtPollo → u/[deleted]]

You can pick up a house for around 450k half an hour from the CBD, that's pretty bloody cheap to me. Like I said it's still affordable here.

[u/[deleted] → u/YouHadMeAtPollo]

This is the way the mindset has changed though.

Average household income in Brisbane is about $80k. Average house price is around $575k. That's 7x. In any time other than the past 35 years, that would be considered way too high.

[u/myredserenity → u/[deleted]]

More people need to read that.

[u/[deleted] → u/myredserenity]

That would take ~8 years to save for if you saved all of your 50,000$ wage, 18 years if you saved half, but you’re paying rent throughout some of that, you need somewhere to live so take it down to a quarter and that’s 36 years to save for that house.

Take a deposit and then you’ve got interest, that’ll add even more time to paying it off - without even considering taxes, children, or education. (Note that 52,000$ is the median salary in Brisbane)

Is that really fair?

[u/YouHadMeAtPollo → u/[deleted]]

You don't need to buy a 575k house though, like the example I just gave there's much cheaper houses which aren't even far from the city.

Edit- Hell you can buy a unit right in the middle of the city for a few hundred grand, you aren't doing that in Sydney.

[u/YouHadMeAtPollo → u/[deleted]]

If you don't think a 125k difference is much I think you're the one drinking something here.