I just submitted this Letter to the Editor to the New York Times.
Re: “How Stingy Boomer Parents Became the Best TV Villains,” by Elizabeth Nelson (Sunday Magazine, 13 November)
Of course evil patriarchs make great TV. Elizabeth Nelson then sails into blaming older Americans for the housing shortage, labor trends, and “underinvestment in things like schools.” Not only are these folks living too long, they have the temerity to own things. “What’s theirs is theirs…. there is no great mechanism by which to wrest control over the resources of an elderly person.” Bummer!
The ageism, ableism, and authoritarianism—hey, why wait?—are appalling. Both the 1% and the 99% are made up of all ages. Instead of falling for old vs. young framing, we need to join forces across difference—now more than ever.
from Roxanne Lopetrone
I am sick and tired of this ranting about how “greedy” Baby Boomers should die–or whatever–in order to give their “fabulous wealth” to younger generations. So now the NYT has added to the constant hatred of Baby Boomers which is rife on Reddit and Bored Panda. Nice.
For a reality check, I recommend a book, Generations, by Jean Twenge, copyright 2023. It is all data–real data not emotional, biased falsifications. Here is just one fact from her book on pages 263-4: Based on Social Security data, “in 2020 the median individual income of 25-44 year olds was at a record high”…..”Online carping about ‘stagnant wages’ should have stopped after 2015…… In fact,the longest period of falling or stagnant wages was not when Millenials were working age adults, but between the 1970’s and the mid-1990s,when Boomers were the young workers.”
As a boomer who experienced the 20 year period of wage stagnation, plus mortgage rates of over 16% (see link), stagflation, massive and constant lay-offs, be assured that the Baby Boomers had as many societal financial challenges as others do today, except for college costs. Many of us are living solely on social security and are terrified of spending an extra dime. So this hateful “greedy baby boomer” fallacy needs to stop. Like now.
https://www.bankrate.com/mortgages/historical-mortgage-rates/
You’re right – The NY Times published a terrible article about what appears to be some terrible TV series. For starters, dynasties aren’t really anything new in America – the Astors, the Rockefellers, the DuPonts, the Mellons, and all the others have always been, and have nothing to do with the Baby Boomer generation. As for the current Boomer 1%, many made their fortunes when they were young and they’re not particularly ancient now — Bill Gates is 69 years old. Oprah Winfrey is 70. They became very rich when they were in their teens, 20s and 30s at the latest, as did Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Paul Allen, and I could go on, and on, naming hundreds (if not thousands) of people in entertainment, sports, high tech, banking, and all sorts of businesses where they didn’t inherit their wealth. They earned it, mostly from scratch. And they did it without the technology that exists today, because they created the technology. The Boomers didn’t have it while growing up. So, Elizabeth Nelson, please … shut up.
As you wrote, Ashton, there are young and old in both the 1% and the 50% and the 99%. Are people living longer? I hope so! That means the job sector for doctors, nurses, and allied fields is – pardon the expression – booming. The lack of housing means the same for the construction biz. As a Baby Boomer, I am in no way responsible for any real estate prices in New York, or anywhere else. This generation has so many more advantages than our generation — outrageous technology completely unavailable or even conceivable decades ago; and consequently the ability for many to work anywhere remotely, so the young can now buy homes (often huge!) where it is cheaper and literally phone their work in. Hence the popularity of websites like “Cheap Old Houses,” and its spin-off TV series, “Whose Afraid of a Cheap, Old House?” Watch it – it’s terrific reality TV!
Finally, why would any kid feel entitled to reap the rewards of their parents’ hard work, no matter what generation or century we’re talking about? It’s one thing to go into the family business, but it’s another thing to feel entitled to inherit the family business. Many of our parents’ generation were born into poverty overseas, during wartime, or grew up during the Great Depression, or were killed in WWII and didn’t get to grow up at all. The Boomer generation lost 60,000 to the Vietnam War. Of course, that’s not as bad as the mid 19th century generation which lost 600,000 to the Civil War. The military is now voluntary. What are these current whiners complaining about?!
Additionally, while the minimum wage is now $16 in NY; when I went to work fulltime in Philly in 1977 at the age of 21, my minimum wage was a little more than $1. The Times article was offensive on so many levels. As a punishment, I wish the editors would make the author write her next several articles on a manual typewriter with no correcting ribbons. Force her to use a landline only and submit her manuscript either by hand or via the United States mail. I would hope that might cure her sense of entitlement.
I think it’s important not to fall into name-calling or the who-had-it-worse trap. I was born in 1952, into an unprecedented 70 years of peace and prosperity in the wealthiest nation in the world. Younger people have every reason to envy my demographic good fortune. But it shouldn’t make me the enemy. That’s what prejudice does: It divides us, making it harder to join forces against the truly wicked problems of the day. Confronting climate change and the rise of fascism requires all ages to work together.
I hope my comments were not misconstrued as they were aimed only at the TV critic, who should have known better. When I was in my 20s and 30s, I spent a lot of time with good friends who were in their 70s, 80s, and 90s. I sought them out specifically, because I was interested in the “Roaring Twenties,” and they lived with what I still consider to be a magical window on that fascinating era. This month, I turned 69 years old, and, since my mid-to-late 50s, I’ve spent a lot of time performing with and friending folks in their 20s and 30s. I don’t have children myself, so I don’t relate to younger people as “kids,” either. But, I am offended by any sense of entitlement, because I have been working hard for more than 50 years to garner what you referred to as our “demographic good fortune.” I was fortunate enough to have generous parents, too, but also view my parents’ Ashkenazy longevity as more good fortune, and not what the critic seemed to deem problematic “old age.” Given the cavalier attitude some took during the dangerous year of the pandemic, perhaps I am overly sensitive to anyone imagining my still being here is an inconvenience for them. But, I also spent the past 27 years writing about people of all ages who never made it past a certain point. Ponder the ramifications of spending close to three decades writing passages like, “They found her legs in one bag, her torso in another. They never found her head.” I am, by rights, a bit jumpy. We are all only on this planet for a short period of time, so, yes, I hope more people learn that joining forces across the age spectrum is the only way we can combat real issues. Covering lousy reality TV shouldn’t include class or age warfare.