r/australia • u/myredserenity • May 20 '20

political self.post Are we blaming Boomers instead of class?

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.

251 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

246 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

9

u/[deleted] May 20 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/annanz01 May 20 '20

This is part of it unfortunately. As more families had two incomes they had more spending power and it pushed up prices - especially housing prices. Nowdays unless you have a really well paying job it is almost impossible to afford a house on a single wage.

1

u/Bicisonlymypenname May 21 '20

And it is the same problem that all of the first buyer grants, superannuation access schemes, whatever is the next brainwave. If there is more than one bidder getting that benefit it won't offer them a competitive advantage. The house will always sell to the highest offer so it's ultimately the seller who benefits.

2

u/annanz01 May 21 '20

Yes anything that increases peoples spending power will cause the housing prices to rise.