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Coventina

(29,801 posts)
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 03:16 PM 8 hrs ago

*Warning: Rage Inducing* Older Americans Are Hoarding America's Potential

***snip***

It is not ageist to ask whether older people should be required to give more to younger Americans and national priorities — it is critical to the future of our democracy and society. America needs to confront gerontocracy before the system collapses under the weight of its inequality and injustice.

Older Americans deserve a say over the future even when they might not live to see it. But they do not deserve the stranglehold over it they currently enjoy through overrepresentation in elections, which produces too many regressive policies and too many seniors in the highest offices.

Older Americans are owed the care that everyone else funds. Indeed, they should get more of it than they get now — including funding for long-term care at home or in nursing homes. But they also need incentives to give up accumulated housing, jobs and wealth.

In little more than a century, the extension of life has transformed American and global politics. It turned older Americans, who had been one of the most underprivileged groups in the country, into some of the most overprivileged.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/opinion/ageism-gerontacracy-america.html

***************************************************************************************

Full disclosure: I'm Gen-X

WTF is this shit?
Old people are the problem?!?!?!?!

NO!!! THE PROBLEM IS BILLIONAIRES AND THEIR ENABLERS!!!!

I can't even with this nonsense.

75 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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*Warning: Rage Inducing* Older Americans Are Hoarding America's Potential (Original Post) Coventina 8 hrs ago OP
I am so fucking sick of this ageism. travelingthrulife 7 hrs ago #1
New York Times hots another one out of the johnnyfins 7 hrs ago #2
WOW okay.... Why not start at FalloutShelter 7 hrs ago #3
I'm an old guy and I am certainly hoarding everything on my SS retirement income...wowza! wcmagumba 7 hrs ago #4
Yes- I expect that message is a prelude to asking older people to work longer before retirement Redleg 7 hrs ago #5
But then they're hoarding jobs from deserving younger people! Disclosure- I'm working full-time at 77. NBachers 6 hrs ago #22
Beat 'em to it. boonecreek 5 hrs ago #53
With age comes wisdom. pwb 7 hrs ago #6
Actually, he is in his 50's. niyad 6 hrs ago #16
Damn kid. paleotn 6 hrs ago #30
This is true. I have a couple of vintage pieces that are older than he is! niyad 6 hrs ago #34
"Overprivileged," my wrinkled old ass! Ocelot II 7 hrs ago #7
I hear you. I can no longer afford to have a pet NoSheep 6 hrs ago #14
Oh dear, I wonder if Ocelot has become one of those retirees who...... FadedMullet 6 hrs ago #25
I'm not eating cat food, but my cats are. Gotta keep them fed! Ocelot II 5 hrs ago #43
The same here. GoCubsGo 5 hrs ago #63
What was the age at which Logan had to run? dickthegrouch 7 hrs ago #8
It was 30 in the movie FoxNewsSucks 7 hrs ago #10
The Epstein Class is coming for everything Johnny2X2X 7 hrs ago #9
Probably a safe bet to say there are selfish, greedy, narcissistic assholes in every "defined generation." Smokster 7 hrs ago #11
+1 leftstreet 6 hrs ago #15
You're right 👍 MustLoveBeagles 6 hrs ago #17
And that is what it is--the politics of division. valleyrogue 1 hr ago #71
To The Whippersnapper Author: 🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕 ColoringFool 7 hrs ago #12
Consumerism fueled by the web has made them think everything must be lush and shiny and abundant NoSheep 6 hrs ago #13
The average age of the first time homebuyer *now* is about 40. 50 years ago, it was much lower. WhiskeyGrinder 6 hrs ago #20
If my wife and I hadn't gotten married and stayed in the relationship for 20 years (plus), Igel 4 hrs ago #65
This ageist asshole is 54, a law professor at Yale, clearly not hurting. niyad 6 hrs ago #32
A lot of people have this attitude, not just the very young MustLoveBeagles 6 hrs ago #18
I mean, he's publishing this to promote his book, but...some of his points aren't wrong. WhiskeyGrinder 6 hrs ago #19
What fresh shit is this? I'm sick of it... in the press... on the editorial pages... and "online" in certain places too. QueerDuck 6 hrs ago #21
Boomers have no say in our birth. SleeplessinSoCal 6 hrs ago #23
They can take my HARD EARNED money OnionPatch 6 hrs ago #24
Maybe old conservatives are enabling the problem IronLionZion 6 hrs ago #26
I've been seeing this trope pop up on other social media periodically, especially before elections jmbar2 6 hrs ago #27
While it is true that we older folks are 'over-represented' in the election process calguy 6 hrs ago #28
This one really caught my eye, too, calguy! slightlv 5 hrs ago #56
Yeah that's lame jfz9580m 6 hrs ago #29
This message was self-deleted by its author Figarosmom 6 hrs ago #31
Over represented in elections. Old Crank 6 hrs ago #33
I'm Old bluestateboomer 6 hrs ago #35
The American Dream and The Nuclear Family... BurnDoubt 5 hrs ago #36
;-{) Samuel Moyn Kent Professor of Law and History Goonch 5 hrs ago #37
Uh.... MorbidButterflyTat 46 min ago #74
Just another way to divide us. Buddyzbuddy 5 hrs ago #38
Exactly, Big Blue Marble 5 hrs ago #44
Yeah, it sounded like preconditioning: "Don't be selfish when we cut those SS benefits." William Seger 5 hrs ago #47
The older generation worked hard, saved their money, put kids thru school and they can't enjoy life? Deuxcents 5 hrs ago #39
First senior to give up wealth and housing should be wnylib 5 hrs ago #40
Trying to get youth worked up to vote for those who Ilsa 5 hrs ago #41
;-{) Senicide - Abandoning Old People on Ice Floes Goonch 5 hrs ago #42
This message was self-deleted by its author Skittles 5 hrs ago #45
I'm a boomer... GiqueCee 5 hrs ago #46
Looks like we have another cultural group to start blaming...... Chakaconcarne 5 hrs ago #48
Thank you! mcar 5 hrs ago #49
Shameless parasitic Yimby trash from the predictably awful NYT jfz9580m 5 hrs ago #50
I'm with you. But I do think we need term limits.. Joinfortmill 5 hrs ago #51
I just wish they woud pass the baton already Skittles 5 hrs ago #57
Repeat after me: EVERY BILLIONAIRE IS A POLICY FAILURE! EarthFirst 5 hrs ago #52
I know I'm privileged, and I am very torqued at the condition of a large part of younger generations. Susan Calvin 5 hrs ago #54
As an oldster myself, I paid into the system for decades COL Mustard 5 hrs ago #55
This shit has gone on with every generation for as long as this country existed. GoCubsGo 5 hrs ago #58
I DO give up my "accumulated wealth". Every time I buy something. Callie1979 5 hrs ago #59
That is one of the dumbest takes I've ever seen Takket 5 hrs ago #60
Samuel Moyn is Full. Of. Shit. DinahMoeHum 5 hrs ago #61
No quarter was ever asked for. OC375 5 hrs ago #62
Yeah we're a pox on civilization snowybirdie 5 hrs ago #64
Yeah, I'll need more than a little incentive to give away my house. Qutzupalotl 4 hrs ago #66
Unrepented Boomer PCB66 4 hrs ago #67
Recommended. H2O Man 3 hrs ago #68
Anybody got this article out from behind the paywall? I get "You've been blocked by the NYTimes because sinkingfeeling 2 hrs ago #69
We don't owe these ageist people one thing. valleyrogue 2 hrs ago #70
Screw this! csusan 1 hr ago #72
It was a guest writer's opinion piece. Locutusofborg 1 hr ago #73
My 90 yr old mom has dementia, dad passed 2 yrs ago vapor2 26 min ago #75

travelingthrulife

(5,368 posts)
1. I am so fucking sick of this ageism.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 03:21 PM
7 hrs ago

There are millions of young people who oppose progressive policies. The arrogance of some of these younger people astounds me. They don't even know yet that millions do NOT agree with them and they will have to fight Republican/oligarch thought just like we had to.
They are also usually woefully ignorant about civics and history as well.

Redleg

(6,981 posts)
5. Yes- I expect that message is a prelude to asking older people to work longer before retirement
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 03:25 PM
7 hrs ago

Same day different shit.

NBachers

(19,504 posts)
22. But then they're hoarding jobs from deserving younger people! Disclosure- I'm working full-time at 77.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 04:49 PM
6 hrs ago

boonecreek

(1,547 posts)
53. Beat 'em to it.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:57 PM
5 hrs ago

Worked until I was 70 as a copier/printer tech which can be physically demanding, but
that was my decision.

Ocelot II

(130,860 posts)
7. "Overprivileged," my wrinkled old ass!
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 03:30 PM
7 hrs ago

Just hoping I don't outlive my modest savings and the GOP doesn't kill Social Security before it kills me. Cat food is getting expensive.

FadedMullet

(961 posts)
25. Oh dear, I wonder if Ocelot has become one of those retirees who......
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 04:55 PM
6 hrs ago

......have to eat cat food. Haven't heard about that in a while.

GoCubsGo

(34,953 posts)
63. The same here.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 06:14 PM
5 hrs ago

And, they better hope they don't get laid off after 50. If think they have it rough now...

dickthegrouch

(4,578 posts)
8. What was the age at which Logan had to run?
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 03:36 PM
7 hrs ago

IIRC it was 30yo
Logan's Run (movie)
In the book it was 21yo !

Soylent Green wasn't collected too much differently either.

Be careful what you wish for!

Us older people have more experience, and are more likely to look at more considerations than the younger, faster 'move quickly and break things' types. Breaking things is almost always BAD!

FoxNewsSucks

(11,809 posts)
10. It was 30 in the movie
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 03:51 PM
7 hrs ago

I read the book and watched it several times.

The TV series was OK for shows in the 70's.

It's also a good display of how gullible people are. They can call it "renewal" all they want, still looks to me like they're just blowing up and disintegrating.

Johnny2X2X

(24,332 posts)
9. The Epstein Class is coming for everything
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 03:44 PM
7 hrs ago

And Donald Trump is ready to take it and give it to them.

This type of ageism is part of it. Because the current generation of retirees is the last generation the Epstein Class wants to have retirements at all. And articles like these get regular people thinking that, "hey, yeah, why should these people get to enjoy the fruits of their labor after a lifetime of work when I won't get to do that decades from now?"

Baby Boomers got to enjoy pensions and affordable homes, fair pay that allowed them to live comfortably and retire in dignity. And all of those things are a threat t the Epstein Class.

Smokster

(27 posts)
11. Probably a safe bet to say there are selfish, greedy, narcissistic assholes in every "defined generation."
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 03:53 PM
7 hrs ago

Probably close to 80% of older people are struggling to get by financially just like 80% of younger people. You can judge a society on how the older generation and aging population is treated. America absolutely sucks in that regard. The "American Dream" as advertised has been unattainable bullshit for the majority, whether young or old, for a long time. The blame is being directed at the wrong targets. The ruling class loves to create division as it directs the blame away from their selfish and greedy lust for more while the majority continues to get screwed over. Way too many people both young and old buy into the division.

valleyrogue

(2,763 posts)
71. And that is what it is--the politics of division.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 09:19 PM
1 hr ago

Works like a charm every single time. Meanwhile the REAL culprits are laughing all the way to the bank.

ColoringFool

(824 posts)
12. To The Whippersnapper Author: 🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 04:00 PM
7 hrs ago

You want immediately what we didn't obtain until our 40s: House; new car; vacation.

And you want a family, too, when many of us had to choose, because of finances.

You want now salaries and positions we never reached, even with our multiple Graduate degrees.

You want no war to be drafted into, no Wall like ours.

You want to believe you won't age.

Did I mention? 🖕

NoSheep

(8,358 posts)
13. Consumerism fueled by the web has made them think everything must be lush and shiny and abundant
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 04:19 PM
6 hrs ago

That's not the way it works.

WhiskeyGrinder

(27,081 posts)
20. The average age of the first time homebuyer *now* is about 40. 50 years ago, it was much lower.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 04:45 PM
6 hrs ago

And from the article:

The median age of a home buyer was barely 30 in 1981; by 2024, it was 56.

Igel

(37,569 posts)
65. If my wife and I hadn't gotten married and stayed in the relationship for 20 years (plus),
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 06:19 PM
4 hrs ago

neither of us would have been able to afford a house.

Couldn't now, post divorce--but she kept her faculty retirement account, unscathed, and I "kept" the amount paid for the house and what was left on the mortgage, after making payments from 150% to 200% of the principle due each month. So I have a house and she has an apt. Her retirement will have more money than mine, but she'll also have rent while I'll have house insurance and upkeep. And when I am forced to sell, I'll have the sales price of the house to tide me over to the grave.

Don't combine finances, it makes things tougher. When we moved into the neighborhood a lot of couples, because of financial stress, divorced or separated--and less than a year later maybe 25% of the houses had been told. At a discount. (Which is how we got ours.) And too often to a REI. Note that most of the REIs in the area own fewer than 5 properties, so it's not like it's megacorporate America. (Still, the renters are usually obnoxious and don't care.)

niyad

(133,157 posts)
32. This ageist asshole is 54, a law professor at Yale, clearly not hurting.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:11 PM
6 hrs ago

Quite the resume, but my little grey cells are telling me his screeds are personal. His Harper'snarticle in next month's issue is even nastier. Someone older got a position he wanted.

MustLoveBeagles

(16,861 posts)
18. A lot of people have this attitude, not just the very young
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 04:35 PM
6 hrs ago

My generation (GenX) is full of entitled people.

WhiskeyGrinder

(27,081 posts)
19. I mean, he's publishing this to promote his book, but...some of his points aren't wrong.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 04:42 PM
6 hrs ago

This one, more than any other, is the key IMO:

At the same time, Medicare’s exclusion of funding for long-term care at home or in nursing homes understandably leads the aging to worry that they will run out of money before they pass away, which exacerbates and rationalizes their choice to stash for a rainy day.


I've also seen boomers hold onto jobs and roles and neglect mentoring their successors, leading to stagnation, frustration and brain drain in various organizations, both professional and volunteer. It's definitely a thing.

QueerDuck

(1,849 posts)
21. What fresh shit is this? I'm sick of it... in the press... on the editorial pages... and "online" in certain places too.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 04:47 PM
6 hrs ago

Often in the "last places you'd expect" ... but there it is, front and center... for all to see. It's even CELEBRATED!

It makes me want to vomit.

SleeplessinSoCal

(10,428 posts)
23. Boomers have no say in our birth.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 04:49 PM
6 hrs ago

Nobody has. We benefit from the strides in medicine re: longevity. By in large boomers have been activists over environmental issues and civil rights. We took pride in voting. I see so many cynical young people say voting is pointless. Is that the fault of their parents? Society today? Corruption? Being devoid of critical thinking? Totally distracted by God only knows what...

OnionPatch

(6,335 posts)
24. They can take my HARD EARNED money
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 04:52 PM
6 hrs ago

over my dead body. Literally.

Sorry kids but half of us didn’t vote for this shit. This old boomer never voted for a Republican a single time in my life. I protested and was active against it. This shit ain’t my fault.

jmbar2

(8,050 posts)
27. I've been seeing this trope pop up on other social media periodically, especially before elections
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 04:59 PM
6 hrs ago

This story is ragebait meant to stoke resentments of younger folks who are struggling financially with jobs and housing. Oligarchs want to keep the left divided, this time by age group. It's becoming more frequent as elections are coming, and billionaires are getting the attention they deserve.

It will take a multigenerational, multiethnic and global effort to break the hold of capitalist oligarchs over our lives. When you see clips of No Kings marches, there are plenty of greys out there with signs. We are allies.

Some of the posts I see are clearly bots, or AI. I still respond because they attract eyeballs.

The kids are truly suffering and need all the help we can give. One way we can help is by gently pointing out the ragebait stories being planted in their feeds.

calguy

(6,164 posts)
28. While it is true that we older folks are 'over-represented' in the election process
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:05 PM
6 hrs ago

It’s only because too many young ‘potential” voters are too damn lazy to show up at the polls and for the future they want. They far outnumber us in terms of population, and can take over any time they want, if only they would participate in the democratic process.

slightlv

(7,857 posts)
56. This one really caught my eye, too, calguy!
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 06:05 PM
5 hrs ago

If my age group is over-represented in the electoral process, it's because we've dragged ourselves out of our homes, walker or cane in hand, and made the trip to vote. I've voted Democratic all my life, and damned proud of it. But hea... I'm a (gasp!) woman! They're trying to take away my right to vote with every bill that gets through the process. The damned SAVE act is being tacked onto every single damned bill by the Repugs. THIS is what these people should be screaming about... not the damned fact we actually voted.

"Kids" feel under-represented? Hea... I got an idea! Get out there and vote in every election you can. Local, state, Fed... every single one of them... make your voice be heard until it becomes such an ingrained habit you'll be as enraged as I am that they want to keep me from voting!

Whoever said this is just the next point at which they try to divide us is right. But will kids see this? My grandson has been, for days, telling me trump is ruining the SS system so bad that there'll be no way he'll ever be able to retire. I can see the day when the rich demand that 1/4-1/2 of every paycheck is collected into a mandatory 401k account marked "for retirement only." We're already mostly there now.

I've paid into SS since I was younger than 16. I've worked all my entire life. But as a female, I've always had the lowest salary whatever I did... and remember the days when the "Want Ads" in the newspapers were divided into "Male" and "Female"? I do. It didn't take long to see the wage inequality between the sexes. Kids have a whole lot of ways to make sure they have more when they retire, they just have to look at the inequities of today and see that those change.

Frankly, my retirement sucks. The most I ever made in my life was around $70k/year. And that was in IT. Even *it* was lowballed because I was female. I nearly fell over when I discovered how much more my male coworker was making... and believe me, it was for nothing more than simply being male. This was just a few years ago. The mindset hasn't gone away... they're just passing it on down to the next generations.

But because I lived from paycheck to paycheck most of my life, there was no time or way to build "retirement savings." You can't save anything when you're trying to feed and educate your kids... not on the salary mothers were being paid. Kids today are mad because their salaries now match the ones I had to raise a family on. I don't have a lot of sympathy. I have some empathy for them; been there, done that; know the grief and frustration that comes with it. Even lived in my Horizon car with my kid the one and only time I was ever out of work for more than a week. Being on the bottom costs a LOT in all kinds of way, including monetarily. I honestly didn't think, after working all my life, that I'd be scratching by on $1200/month SS. And I know there are people who get a hell of a lot less than I do. I just finished paying on the last EMS bill. $335... again. With medicare, MA, and any other way you can be covered, it's still $335 that one of the other hospitals that didn't get paid will bitch about soon. And while I truly understand why and how SS became to be and has existed this long, remember YOUR parents got the full benefit of it. WE are getting less than they did. By the time it comes to my grandson, unless something changes, they won't have it anymore. People can't afford to have families now.

Kids also don't have our living costs. Every COLA is based on them and their cohorts. No one factors in what it costs the elders to live, how they have to spend their money. Even Obama turned back a change for the better. What he promoted was "if they can't afford to buy beef, they'll do the next best and buy chicken." Didn't fly then with us.. won't fly now, when even chicken costs what a steak *used* to cost (if I still had good enough teeth to eat it!)

My grandson and I have a lot of the "generational" talks. His eyes have been opened to what we seniors have to try to do with what little money we get each month. And I worry for him and his future. He's a good kid; but he's gotten jaded long before I did about it all.

Yeah, this "article" needs to flushed down the toilet where it belongs! Bah!

jfz9580m

(17,421 posts)
29. Yeah that's lame
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:08 PM
6 hrs ago

Last edited Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:45 PM - Edit history (1)

The most rage inducing thing I ever saw was an infuriating profile of Wayne Hsiung, the Direct Action guy by this lame New Yorker columnist whose profile I have no wish to raise.

Wayne is a little too high energy for me. I don’t trust people who think attention is the way to change. If anything it is the other way around. You cannot do or hell even think anything worth doing/worth thinking about under surveillance.

And by the time you figure out how to think again your captors unfortunately are probably quite a bit ahead. Except the perverts who wasted your time, but at least their own as well.

It is these damn non-pervert saboteurs, especially the most “expert” who are sabotaging one without even being aware of it like my asshole mentor. I hate that guy.
He offers one unusable advantages that aren’t going to work in a society this brainless.

This society cannot distinguish between sad web comedy performances and genuine shock at everything being a joke in these societies to a level that is baffling to the merely honestly mediocre.

I don’t really hate my mentor. Or at least not how people classically think of hate. I still consider him my mentor and a colleague.

But he is some kind of insane Type A. I mean most pis are and that’s cool to the extent that a small subset of these guys (high profile scientists) of whom one might ask questions like “Okay how crazy are you?” are people who are crazy in ways I genuinely would respect. I understand that type of crazy and were I not committed to marijuana which pays its dues in this horrible world in less terrifying ways and these people are all unfit to draft sexual harassment norms because they are male and insane in generic ways or female and non-existent or not allowed to weigh in.

Well and there is my category. Not insane but for all common sense purposes labeled that.

It is all about balance. I am not context unaware. I am trying my best with the hand I have been dealt. But I am on the left and Gen X.

And the one thing I liked about Gen X was feb facade of ironic detachment. I do care about stuff, but purely aesthetically very nice people who are very demonstrative re protests etc tend to attract a lot pf attention which is counterintuitive.

I often can’t very clearly remember how I ended up here that isn’t totally pathetic .

It is really lame. The only types of people “inside fhe system” I would mesh with would be similar people who ideology wise are always about to get the boot from corporate jobs or national security jobs, but not like someone really daft who doesn’t use whistleblower protections and leaks stuff in ways thT.

Like it is not sane people who want to be photographed and cannonized.

But there should at this point exist a pool of web data - especially at a time like this - that is shared between national security (U.S. and India), honest journalists (i.e. Yasha Levine or Christopher Ketcham), honest activists (e.g.: Apar Gupta of the Internet Freedom Foundation) and of course the scientific and medical community (with Prof Hennessy’s tendencies to hog kept under control by someone senior enough to explain to him why it is bad even for him to have no Yasha Levine/Lina Khan/Current Affairs types around.

The thing I like about EarlG, Yasha Levine etc is that they have the ability to be discreet while being on the left and not paranoid.

Like to me, people who want to go viral or be influencers, that is not a bright person. If you go sharing some link because you found something obscure online at least to the extent of being something as lame as the purloined letter meeting Candide’s Garden conceptually.

I am confused sometimes to ponder something where it is unclear whether something is a sign of the Idiocracy or well..something I can roll with once the shock settles down.

With one exception (a creepy Indian male doctor in his mid to late forties whose first name starts with an R whom I met in one of the following states- KY, TX, TN, OR, CA*), I didn’t meet any not serious people prior to Jan-Feb.


My horrible mentor should totally appreciate honest support from a card carrying “MeToo Type” as someone who is less sophisticated than I assumed initially. Maybe not unsophisticated exactly so much as common sense failing when there are some cultural differences.

That was the thing about my main mentor. It didn’t matter that he was white, male or American, we were always completely in sync in how we think about science I can now see.

He had gotten past that hump that is the test of every scientist - talented or piddly but aspiring to a bounded level of limited but perfectly respectable and attainable competence.

He will be fine. His managerial skills were far superior to even the average pi’s. My last mentor was decent. But it would be impossible to establish communication (I can see in retrospect) fast enough then, but not going forward as much.

Response to Coventina (Original post)

Old Crank

(7,162 posts)
33. Over represented in elections.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:13 PM
6 hrs ago

Whose fault is that?
Get your young ass off the sofa and vote.

bluestateboomer

(551 posts)
35. I'm Old
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:15 PM
6 hrs ago

and I'm perfectly ready to vote for(and donate to) a young leader. Our kids are getting the shaft from the regime we have now. I had hope for Kamala, but legitimately or not the orange idiot was elected.

BurnDoubt

(1,821 posts)
36. The American Dream and The Nuclear Family...
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:20 PM
5 hrs ago

assumed we would all be self-sufficient and independent, like other Predator Species and part company when the offspring demonstrated they could feed themselves.
And yet, that isn’t the way we got here.
The Extended Family was the cart that brought us here. If we work together we may get something for us all………...
Like most of our existence, we’re now competing groups, complete with trash-talk names and catch-phrases.
More Wild-West Dog-Eat-Dog crappola.
This is making somebody rich. Is it you?

Buddyzbuddy

(2,742 posts)
38. Just another way to divide us.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:22 PM
5 hrs ago

Especially since Social Security will be of utmost importance in 2028. So, it must be time to attack seniors, of which I'm one.
This won't be a problem once we start taxing the crap out of billionaires.
Oh, do you think they might be behind this?

Big Blue Marble

(5,702 posts)
44. Exactly,
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:40 PM
5 hrs ago

blame each other and lose focus on the ongoing theft of the capitalists and the billionaire class as
as they concentrate more wealth.

The loss of opportunity for younger people is not because their parents and grandparents were
successful during a time when middle class people could still acquire wealth, the loss of opportunity
for these generations is because the society has been restructured by the 1%.

Deuxcents

(27,315 posts)
39. The older generation worked hard, saved their money, put kids thru school and they can't enjoy life?
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:23 PM
5 hrs ago

The Gen Zz or whoever is spewing this 💩 should see where the real wealth is being hoarded and that’s those who don’t pay their fair share of taxes, multi million dollar homes n yachts which good for them but pay your fair share! Zz, quit your whining and jump in to your future and find your best interests, volunteer, talk with your elders and learn something 😤

wnylib

(26,240 posts)
40. First senior to give up wealth and housing should be
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:25 PM
5 hrs ago

Donald J. Trump. He would set an example. He does not need Mar a Lago AND Trump Tower.

Second, McTurtle. He hasn't got much time left, so he can let go of his houses and a few $million toward affordable housing.

Next, Lindsay Graham. He is 70. Doesn't need to hoard wealth.

Etc.

Ilsa

(64,435 posts)
41. Trying to get youth worked up to vote for those who
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:36 PM
5 hrs ago

will kill our social security and medicare. Screw that. My kids can have my "wealth" when I'm dead.

Goonch

(5,330 posts)
42. ;-{) Senicide - Abandoning Old People on Ice Floes
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:37 PM
5 hrs ago


"It’s called Senicide – the custom of abandoning or killing the elderly once they reached the age of 60 or 70. Different cultures practiced it in different ways over time. In Japan, it is known as obasute and literally translates to mean ‘abandoning an old woman’, usually by carrying her up a desolate mountain and leaving her there. The Inuit abandoned elders on ice floes. If you are ageing in Australia and are financially vulnerable, while you may not be dumped on an ice floe, you are at risk of being abandoned.

Every week, more than 230 older Australians die while waiting for government-funded help to stay in their homes, according to new Government figures secretly release in January this year and disclosed by Annika Smethurst in the Daily Telegraph. Around 30,000 have died over the last two years.

This is just one element of the social dislocation that we are witnessing with our ageing population and particularly with women ageing in Australia. Never before have we had a growing underclass of women aged over 50 becoming impoverished and homeless. The 2016 Census showed that there were 1,060,515 women aged 65+ below the poverty line. Exponentially the numbers are much higher now. One in 3 single women aged 55+ live in poverty according to an Australian Human Rights Commission report in April 2019.
The Face of Poverty in Australia is the Face of an Older Woman

The face of poverty in Australia is now typically the face of an older woman. The World Economic Forum has declared that Australian women will outlive their savings by an estimated 12.6 years. This is the generation with little or no super, and with fewer assets and savings than men. These are the women who cannot afford to buy enough basic food, who crowd the emergency rooms suffering from hypothermia because they cannot afford heating, who sleep on couches, in cars and even cemeteries because they cannot afford rent or a mortgage, and who, in despair and in increasing numbers, are committing suicide...........
https://womangoingplaces.com.au/abandoning-old-people-on-ice-floes/#

Response to Coventina (Original post)

GiqueCee

(4,476 posts)
46. I'm a boomer...
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:46 PM
5 hrs ago

... I'll turn 80 next year, if I'm not shot in the back by ICE. In theory, us ol' fuddy-duddies have accumulated the wisdom and experience from having circumnavigated Old Sol more than 60 or 70 times, to be able to make well-informed decisions that affect – and hopefully benefit – all of us. But then, because of the perverse, and mistaken belief of some, that ignorance is just as good as knowledge, we end up suffering the capricious and malicious whims of a mentally unstable, and pathologically selfish narcissist in the person of Donald J. Trump. He is the worst thing that's happened to this country since the Civil War. He is a hateful, petty, and vindictive bully with the moral compass of a rabid hyena. It going to take years, if not generations to undo the catastrophic harm he has inflicted on America. But he is also the product of a centuries-old rationalization that accumulating untold wealth somehow makes someone inherently better that those not so wise in their choice of parents, like little Donnie.
Liars, thieves, and child molesters are running this circus at the moment, but the center will not hold, as they say. Their arrogance and grotesque incompetence will be their undoing, and the clown car filled with billionaires not content to wallow in their wealth, but instead, crave dominion over the lives of others, is going down, and it's gonna go down HARD.
It will fall to us to clean up the mess they've made of things. And Gawd help anyone who tries to carry on their diseased legacy; we've had enough of assholes that decry DEI, eschew empathy, and condemn being "woke", when they don't even know what the fuck means.
Let conservatism take its rightful place at the Dark End of the sociopathy spectrum, and banish Republicans to political Siberia until they see the error of their ways, and try to redeem themselves by endeavoring to be decent people for a change.
Sigh... but I ain't gonna hold my breath in anticipation of such an outcome.

Chakaconcarne

(2,793 posts)
48. Looks like we have another cultural group to start blaming......
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:53 PM
5 hrs ago

Anything to take attention away from billionaires.

jfz9580m

(17,421 posts)
50. Shameless parasitic Yimby trash from the predictably awful NYT
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:56 PM
5 hrs ago

The real object lesson here is how parasitic a lot of the industries tech is fueling are and how these creeps thought data mining and bs guilt like this will make people hand their homes and lives over to this manipulative trash.

“You have a pension! You owe the corrupt creeps at Reliance/SBI Card and Tata!” No I really don’t! That is why I am filing complaints about the whole thing asap in India. Really stupid to try to get away with shit like this.

Skittles

(172,200 posts)
57. I just wish they woud pass the baton already
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 06:07 PM
5 hrs ago

but some people just cannot give up power

EarthFirst

(4,192 posts)
52. Repeat after me: EVERY BILLIONAIRE IS A POLICY FAILURE!
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 05:57 PM
5 hrs ago

All y’all in the back of the room catch that?

Susan Calvin

(2,452 posts)
54. I know I'm privileged, and I am very torqued at the condition of a large part of younger generations.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 06:01 PM
5 hrs ago

But you are absolutely fucking right that I and the rest of the boomers are not the main problem. Thank you.

COL Mustard

(8,306 posts)
55. As an oldster myself, I paid into the system for decades
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 06:02 PM
5 hrs ago

And I don’t have a problem with collecting the benefits that I earned. I will also leave a decent bequest to my kids when I’m gone, but that’s just the way it is. I got very little in inheritance from my parents, but I certainly want to do better for my kids.

The housing market is currently priced beyond what they can afford, so the only way they’ll get the American Dream is to inherit it.

GoCubsGo

(34,953 posts)
58. This shit has gone on with every generation for as long as this country existed.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 06:10 PM
5 hrs ago

I'm Generation Jones. I remember the same complaints and arguments from my peers when I was younger. If you don't like us old farts "overrepresenting" in elections, then get off your ass and run for office.

snowybirdie

(6,722 posts)
64. Yeah we're a pox on civilization
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 06:15 PM
5 hrs ago

We did buy our first house in 1967. It was a 1000 sq ft ranch one bathroom three tiny bedrooms. Holding our family of 7. House built in 1955. Didn't have any vacation till our tenth anniversary. Stayed home mostly and drank cheap wine and beer. Today a grandchild just had to have a totally remodeled kitchen and bigger master bedroom, plus an addition to have an office in their first new home. Tne "old" ten year old house was so very outdated and all needs to be redone. Can't bear anything other than quartz countertops. Then the vacation to the Caribbean is soon and the concert season is starting so they gotta go! We paid our dues. Won't apologize to the spoiled generation.

PCB66

(134 posts)
67. Unrepented Boomer
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 06:22 PM
4 hrs ago

I was a kid in the 1950s that was probably the best time in history to be a kid.

The 1960s were the best time to be a teenager and young adult (except for that Vietnam thingy).

Married a wonderful woman.

I was able to get through college with a couple of Engineering degrees without any debt.

The 1970s were a great decade to start a family and career.

I was able to advance in my career and raise two two sons in the 1980s and 90s.

Got both my sons through college without debt.

Did a significant amount of community service.

Paid a ton and a half in Federal, State and Local taxes.

Gave a respectable amount to charities over the decades.

Was able to retire at age 55 with a comfortable retirement.

I passed on some degree of success to my sons since they are doing well.

Can't I enjoy life without some yahoo blaming me for their generational problems?






sinkingfeeling

(57,878 posts)
69. Anybody got this article out from behind the paywall? I get "You've been blocked by the NYTimes because
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 08:43 PM
2 hrs ago

you're IP address is being used", when I try to remove it. I'm on a VPN.

valleyrogue

(2,763 posts)
70. We don't owe these ageist people one thing.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 09:16 PM
2 hrs ago

And these people seem to think nothing happened before they were born.

Got news for them: The despised baby boomers went through SHIT during most of their working years because that was the time when Reagan--who they didn't vote for--put through ruinous trade policies and tax policies which all but destroyed the middle class.

Most of the time it was difficult for my generation to get work because there were so many of us and not enough jobs for everybody. Many of us, especially if we are never-married women, are unable to leave the labor force and are working well past 70. We aren't dripping in wealth.

Fuck that goddamned shit lies from people who don't know anything.

csusan

(78 posts)
72. Screw this!
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 09:28 PM
1 hr ago

I'm 73 years old. I worked 30 years in developmental disabilities and loved my job. Most people wouldn't touch this work with a 10 foot pole. It didn't pay as well as like a lot of other fields because it was considered a woman's job. If there were any men, they were ones that got promoted. I worked for the state and county. I receive a pension and SS. Medicare which doesn't pay for hearing aids which I need and don't have the income to cover them.

I volunteered my butt off for Obama. I knocked on doors for Harris. I rarely saw young people out knocking on doors. If they did it was one time. I did it every Sunday afternoon and the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday election day. I have voted in every city, county, state and federal election since I turned 18.

I paid my dues and am still paying. Don't come knocking on my door. If you want younger people in politics then get out and volunteer. I would gladly vote for younger people in politics. I go to pop up protests in my community mostly older people. I help the local spanish organization with food drives, I was an ICE verifier when they came to my town. I'm a member of indivisible in my city. I have attended all 3 no kings rallies in my city and have done the mile and 1/2 march through our downtown with a bad knee and painful hips. Same as knocking on doors which took me twice as long because of my knee and hips as it would have taken a young person. But they weren't there.

I'm not exactly sure what it is that I'm suppose to do or not do. You want me to go home and sit in my recliner? Gladly just let me know when the youngins are ready to take over.

Locutusofborg

(588 posts)
73. It was a guest writer's opinion piece.
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 10:17 PM
1 hr ago

One person's opinion published by the NY Times. Let's not overreact.
You know what opinions are like...And everybody STILL has one.

vapor2

(4,682 posts)
75. My 90 yr old mom has dementia, dad passed 2 yrs ago
Tue Apr 21, 2026, 10:50 PM
26 min ago

only me and my sister to care for her. I am 72, raised my son and have no energy to care for her. Any other care is simply unaffordable and just no words for necessary elder care.

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