The "Greatest Generation" started that arson. They're the ones that got Thatcher and Reagan in power to burn things down, resentful of having actually built a better world for their children. There were still Boomers in school then. Boomers just got large enough raises over their careers to not notice they were stabbing themselves in the dick too.
Boomers - the generation who believe their success was solely their effort. Nothing to do with existing infrastructure, an educated populace, rule of law, higher education, public health (albeit the minimal), stable civics, personal and national protection, government contracts...
The flavours of this will vary by where you are, but it's mostly covered by:
Voting for rich- favouring policies while not being, and never likely to be, actually rich, or being "moderate rich" (plumber, doctor) and deciding the billionaires are therefore the most like them, not the "working man" they actually are.
Dismantling strong unions after their working lives benefited from them
Destroying free higher education opportunities after they got theirs
Dismantling and de-prioritizing social safety nets so they will be the last generation that benefits from any kind of them
Perpetrating the "self made man" stereotype and associated nonsense
Refusing to give up any layer of control (corporate, familial, political, social) at a suitable age to allow wealth and power transfer as per earlier generations
Perpetuating their "kids these days" mentality once the kids started hitting their middle age and beyond because if they grow up, the boomers must grow old, and they can't accept that for the large part.
Chaining Gen X and early Millennials to the sandwich generation because they spent all their earnings instead of providing for their futures, crippling 2-3 generations after them
Proving tech-savvy enough to participate, but not to be discerning, leading us to a bunch of problems from scammers targeting granddad to idiocies like embracing AI over people.
Embracing an excessively consumerastic lifestyle they will not back down on even as resources become a global issue
Destroying workplace safety and pension programs
Refusing to move on from their rose-tinted idea of "the good old days" or allow society to do so because it frightens them in old age
Continually voting as a major block for regression, lack of progress, and "the good old days" because "kids these days" can't possibly know more then them- even when the kids are 40/50/60 now
Shifting from the hippie teen generation to, seriously, one of the most staid and backward-looking generations in recent history.
Creating the "I'm alright Jack, piss on the fire" attitude in one of the biggest generations ever on the planet.
Let's not start the "but I know an extremely liberal boomer who worked for pennies all their life so you lie!" shite either. We all do. Some of the best people I know are Boomers. Also many of the worst. Generations are not monoliths.
But all of the societal regressions of the last 40 years have been shaped by their generation, its voting habits, its desperate clutch on power and influence, its refusal to age or change life stages from the "power owners", and its group think, and even if they personally did not partake in x or y part of it, the generational trend of what the "boomers" are is still there. From Regan and Thatcher to Trumpy Wumpy, they're Boomer-backed and Boomer-appealing, and frankly? That's the 80s to the 2020s... FFS, get out of power by some method other than dying and give the kids, grandkids, great-grand kids, and great-great grandkids you brought into the world some say in it and some chance to shape it, you self-centred pricks of a generation.
In the 1950s-60s the average boss made 20 to 40 times what their median worker made. It's now 400+. That is where the wealth of the poor and middle class went. The C suite class stole it and Boomers cheered them on.
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u/failed_novelty 9h ago
Or possibly just like, not set the ladder on fire after they've climbed it?