The elderly are marginalized and taken advantage of en masse. But they’re unique among groups like that, we all expect to join them. I’m never gonna wind up black. I’m never gonna wake up one day and realize my parents have finally gotten gay. And even though most people will probably wind up disabled, they don’t think they will. Discrimination against the elderly is unique and often tied to ableism.
And right now things like that term take another element in them as well, one of legitimate anger at our elders. I’m pissed i was left a rapidly warming planet when we could’ve been trying to fix it in earnest before I was born. I’m pissed that they’re refusing to help make the world better and the group most likely to support fascism. I’m pissed that I was left immense income inequality.
And I also know that collectively punishing the elderly hurts people who are just as angry about it as me. I know it hurts people who’ve been even more victimized by their peers’ conservative attitudes. It hurts my loved ones. And someday if I’m lucky I too will be old and the long term consequences of my choices will be felt by people who have every reason to be pissed about what I did with the full force of hindsight and immediacy. And I hope they’re kind to me when that happens.
But also sometimes I’m not going to have the mental fortitude to explain to an old person why I’m still mad about the green scare and that lgbt people aren’t new it’s just that many of you traumatized your friends into the closet for 80 years. And so I might be rude, knowing full well that I’ll deal with rude young people in 40 years myself. Especially since I live in a geriocracy and I’m pissed about that too.
Thanks. And like I want to be very clear here, I do think that the “ok boomer” statement is ok speaking as someone who has seriously considered all of this. It’s not cool as a response to every old person, but when the elderly are behaving in ways that fit with the legitimate grievances that us younger people have and it’s clear that they’re not going to listen it’s ok to brush them off. Baby boomers in particular are targeted because they as a generation lived in a profoundly unique position. Their parents and grandparents both got decimated in world wars and then they were just a fucking massive population spike who lived in about the most financially rewarding time to live (at least in my country). They have been leveraging these facts their whole lives and were prioritized as a generation for that entire time. As they begin their descent into the cruel fate that awaits only the lucky among all of us we do not owe them priority. We owe them dignity in their twilight years and kindness as we can, but we can brush them off as they get on their bullshit.
I appreciate the fact that people are talking about ageism more, both because I’m a long standing disability activist, but also because there is a form of ageism that I’m very concerned with and think is underacknowledged: ageism against the young, which I think is an increasingly concerning issue, especially as their voices and bodily autonomy are being increasingly politicized by governments they can’t serve in and many can’t vote on.
The elderly are marginalized and taken advantage of en masse. But they’re unique among groups like that, we all expect to join them. I’m never gonna wind up black. I’m never gonna wake up one day and realize my parents have finally gotten gay. And even though most people will probably wind up disabled, they don’t think they will. Discrimination against the elderly is unique and often tied to ableism.
And right now things like that term take another element in them as well, one of legitimate anger at our elders. I’m pissed i was left a rapidly warming planet when we could’ve been trying to fix it in earnest before I was born. I’m pissed that they’re refusing to help make the world better and the group most likely to support fascism. I’m pissed that I was left immense income inequality.
And I also know that collectively punishing the elderly hurts people who are just as angry about it as me. I know it hurts people who’ve been even more victimized by their peers’ conservative attitudes. It hurts my loved ones. And someday if I’m lucky I too will be old and the long term consequences of my choices will be felt by people who have every reason to be pissed about what I did with the full force of hindsight and immediacy. And I hope they’re kind to me when that happens.
But also sometimes I’m not going to have the mental fortitude to explain to an old person why I’m still mad about the green scare and that lgbt people aren’t new it’s just that many of you traumatized your friends into the closet for 80 years. And so I might be rude, knowing full well that I’ll deal with rude young people in 40 years myself. Especially since I live in a geriocracy and I’m pissed about that too.
Finally, some actual argumentation. Enough to convince me, at least - specially the first paragraph.
Thanks. And like I want to be very clear here, I do think that the “ok boomer” statement is ok speaking as someone who has seriously considered all of this. It’s not cool as a response to every old person, but when the elderly are behaving in ways that fit with the legitimate grievances that us younger people have and it’s clear that they’re not going to listen it’s ok to brush them off. Baby boomers in particular are targeted because they as a generation lived in a profoundly unique position. Their parents and grandparents both got decimated in world wars and then they were just a fucking massive population spike who lived in about the most financially rewarding time to live (at least in my country). They have been leveraging these facts their whole lives and were prioritized as a generation for that entire time. As they begin their descent into the cruel fate that awaits only the lucky among all of us we do not owe them priority. We owe them dignity in their twilight years and kindness as we can, but we can brush them off as they get on their bullshit.
I appreciate the fact that people are talking about ageism more, both because I’m a long standing disability activist, but also because there is a form of ageism that I’m very concerned with and think is underacknowledged: ageism against the young, which I think is an increasingly concerning issue, especially as their voices and bodily autonomy are being increasingly politicized by governments they can’t serve in and many can’t vote on.