Well, you certainly ruined my day by trying to start a war and turn my kids against me.
One post on my feed today said that ‘my’ era of boomers are being specifically targeted as the enemy – those born between 1956 and 1963. Apparently, they call us the Jonesers because we’re trying to keep up with the neighbours.
Pretty rich coming from a generation struggling to keep up with the Kardashians.
Of course, it’s all total bollocks.
For a start, if my generation is going to get any title it should be the ‘Punk Generation’ because, seriously, we were the angry youth in 1976. We’ve actually lived through anarchy in the UK.
But then Billy ‘bloody’ Idol came along with his ‘pretty boy pop punk’ and ruined everything. He coined the phrase ‘Generation X’ and, sadly for humanity, it stuck.
Gen X led to Gen Y, who somehow morphed into Millennials. And now there’s Gen Z.
Billions of people packed to the rafters in bizarre pigeon holes with labels that say:
Boomers are greedy.
Gen X is sat on their arses.
Millennials are entitled.
And Gen Z needs emotional support.
The most stupid thing about this ridiculous war of the generations is it’s so last century.
Back in the day, when things were beamed to the masses, communication pretty much had to appeal to the lowest common denominator. But now when we can practically communicate one-on-one to almost anyone we’re dividing people up into even lower common denominations.
What’s worse is we are pitting each other against ourselves.
Young vs old is the most ridiculous divide of all. We all know young people who are wise beyond their years and 50-year-olds with the imaginative powers of a child, We know twenty-five-year-olds who could run the world and 80-year-olds who run the marathon. There always have, and always will be fast starters and late bloomers. And don’t forget we’re all going to live a lot longer than we imagined. If we’re lucky.
Of course, there are grumpy old boomers who couldn’t give a jot about the future or planet, but there is also a hell of a lot of Gen Z that cares more about the perfect Instagram shot than rising sea levels. And some of us care about other important things too. Like humanity. Because frankly, there’s no point in saving the earth if it’s just going to be filled with ridiculous opposing factions sniping at each other.
You see, the beautiful thing about this world is it’s filled with amazing people. Beautifully different people. By writing off whole generations we miss out on the gifts each brings. Everyone loves the excitement and creativity of the digital natives but the Punk generation was there for the birth of tech. We know how much it changes the world – we’ve experienced it first hand. And it’s not looking pretty at the moment. Social media was supposed to bring us all together â not become a mass propaganda machine.
Do we know who started OK boomer? It’s impossible to know.
Those of us who do Netflix with less chill these days get stuck into chewy documentaries like ‘The Great Hack’. And once you know how political operatives work on social media, you have to ask yourself, who would start such a mean spirited meme? And why? Could it be a way of stopping us coming together to make the world better? Is it designed to stop us talking and just sling insults at each other? Is it designed to silence the voice of the young?
Elections are in the air, and the last thing the old, white, fat guys in power want is old people (particularly old, fat, white guys) caring about the issues that affect the young and voting accordingly. They want to build a wall around the affluent older demographics to stop those pesky kids from saving the planet.
Don’t buy it. Next time a youngster gives you an OK boomer, just send them a smiley and vote for the world they damned well need.
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