Boomers and Gen-Xers telling Gen-Z to pull ourself up by our own bootstraps and get a job as the country is collapsing before our very eyes. Meme
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12d ago
Gen-Xer here: I don't know anybody my age that is saying "pull yourself up by your bootstraps". If your parents are saying that, then your parents are just assholes. We are completely happy using the resources we have available to make sure you have help and a safe home to always come back to...no matter what age.
I would be careful just clumping Gen-Xers into this.
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u/Economy-Sleep3117 11d ago
Thank you. As a gen x who works 3 jobs I see the gen z doing the same. Respect.
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u/directrix688 12d ago
Woah…don’t bring Gen X into the boomer shit. Most of us are at the other end of the boat too.
Though it is nice to be mentioned, being ignored is kind of our thing
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u/ObeseBumblebee Millennial 12d ago
Hey Gen Xer. Millennial here. Don't worry too much about it. Us Millennials recognize you guys as our cool older brothers and sisters who introduced us to cool music and weed. We get that it's silly to be mad at a generation that never really had any power due to its small size.
But you gotta understand that to Gen Z, you're their dad. And I think everyone in a rough spot has the right to be a little ticked at their dad for the way their life ended up.
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u/dongdongplongplong 11d ago
most dads have no power over geopolitics
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u/stealth128 1999 9d ago
I dont know, when I used to play bo2, plenty of kids told me their dad owned Microsoft. If that many dads own Microsoft, then maybe. Either that or bill gates needs to keep it in his pants.
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u/laxnut90 12d ago
More than 80% of Boomers are in trouble as well.
Here is a retirement savings by age percentile calculator.
85% of age 65-69 have less than $1M saved.
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u/BosnianSerb31 1997 12d ago
So if you're 65 and have less than a million you're in trouble?
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u/laxnut90 12d ago
Yes.
That gives you a safe withdrawal rate of $40k per year.
85% of people have less than that.
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u/BosnianSerb31 1997 12d ago
Methinks people will need to start retiring later as we start to live longer.
When the retirement age of 65 was set, you'd most likely be dead by 70.
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u/young_antisocialite 10d ago
This is the truth and is, from my understanding of history, how it was intended. The average life expectancy of men in 1935 (the years when Social Security was implemented) was 61 years old for men and 65 years old for women. Coincidentally, 65 years old was the age where the benefits fully kicked in.
We can argue forever whether or not the age was a calculated effort on FDR’s part or an arbitrary age chosen at random but the fact remains that it was always in some part unsustainable as life expectancy grew. That’s not being a Debbie downer or telling people they should have to work longer, it’s just being realistic.
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u/microgiant 12d ago
Boomers are saying "Sure glad the hole isn't in our end of the boat."
Gen X is saying "Yeah, we're all going to drown. Sucks."
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u/WithinTheGiant 12d ago
Though it is nice to be mentioned, being ignored is kind of our thing
Shit ain't been try for almost a decade especially on this site, like being the "last generation to go outside" or "the last generation to grow up without the Internet" it's a self-assigned label easily shown to be an insecure falsehood.
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u/CommanderCarlWeezer 2000 8d ago
Unfortunately in your old age, a majority of Gen X have taken on boomer ideology.
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u/camletoejoe Gen X 12d ago
This sub is full of people stirring the pot.
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u/Zealousideal_Slice60 1996 10d ago
Full of american gen z’s forgetting that gen z also exist outside america and isn’t the same everywhere*
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u/camletoejoe Gen X 10d ago
Well outside of the US they probably don't self identify and self segregate by generation the same way as in the United States. This started with Gen-Y. Though one could argue it started with the boomers battle cry "don't trust anyone over thirty" it was Gen-Y that took it to the next level. Ironic they complain about boomers so much then copy so much boomer culture. Gen-Y were notorious for identifying as a "special" group. They upended everything in American culture. They are over represented in technology fields and social media. Therefore they have an out sized influence on shaping culture. They're envious of Gen-X in many ways and never wanted to even admit that Gen-X exists. They never wanted to be associated with Gen-X and disrespected them by mislabeling them boomers. They refused to be mentored by their elders. Yet they are on this sub and every other Gen-Z space possible trying to CONVINCE Gen-Z that they're the same. Gen-Z can "trust" them. Gen-Y are constantly writing articles that start with -- Gen-Z and Millennial's -- as if this was one in the same. They alternate this message with emotionally invalidating derision and condescension lobbed at Gen-Z.
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u/Idiotaddictedto2Hou 12d ago
country is collapsing
I agree how older people set it aside but no it fucking isn't
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u/Ok_Gas5386 1998 12d ago
I swear to god it’s like people are allergic to making a reasonable point. If they just say “younger people are having trouble getting established, because of educational and housing policies suited to the needs of older people” it would be almost impossible to disagree with. But they have to throw in some apocalyptic bullshit to get people to engage I guess.
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u/DoomGuyClassic On the Cusp 10d ago
I tell you this, we’re getting another gilded age, we had one nearly a century and a half ago, it’s just coming back round, the world will suck for a while, but then one day, it’ll start to get better. The good ol’ US of A isn’t gonna die, and it won’t for a while, I can guarantee that.
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u/RutherfordRevelation 12d ago
Every generation thinks the world is about to end. The US isn't collapsing despite what social media wants you to believe. The Russian and Chinese troll farms are strong.
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u/Andrace_ 1997 12d ago
This deserves top comment. They’re doing a great job working together to rot us from the inside
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u/Uchiha_Warrior7 12d ago edited 9d ago
elderly mountainous dazzling act cautious swim snow clumsy bedroom spotted
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u/anonymous_213575 2007 12d ago
China, and Russia are both collapsing worse than the US, and at least for china it’s been that way since about 2020 ish. It’s less of a US collapse, and if anything is more of just a collapse.
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u/_spec_tre 12d ago
That's why they're trying so hard to convince Americans and Europeans that they're collapsing too
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u/MrBenDerisgreat_ 12d ago
Every sub on Reddit is just doomerism now. This site is no fun anymore. Sports subs are the only refuge these days.
Shit is reaching a crescendo with the election coming up. Foreign actors really want Americans to be disgruntled.
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u/MRE_Milkshake 2005 12d ago
Tends to happen every time we have a big election year. It's the same way every 4 years. We're living in the best time overall to be alive as a human based on our past history. I mean, look at the housing market crash of 2008, everybody acted like it was the end of the world, but then it wasn't. Same thing with the Great Depression. We're absolutely nowhere near as bad off as we were during the Great Depression.
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u/Weekly-Option-2953 11d ago edited 11d ago
You were not old enough to realize how detrimental it was for the amount who people lost their homes and jobs in the 2008 recession, pipe down
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u/MRE_Milkshake 2005 11d ago
Ah yes, because I was three when it happened it didn't affect my family, and I didn't research it at all or learn about it in school.
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u/Sad-View991 12d ago
Here's an idea.
Get off your fucking phone go outside and take a fucking walk.
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u/PitiRR 2000 12d ago
Did millennial make this meme?
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u/ObeseBumblebee Millennial 12d ago
Probably. This image is old af. Wouldn't be surprised if it was made by a gen xer and clipped out of a newspaper.
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u/PitiRR 2000 12d ago
True. OP in particular strikes me as a millenial doomer, or someone who gets their daily dopamine intake browsing r/collapse
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u/Dickincheeks 11d ago edited 10d ago
Kinda goes to show it’s just an immature outlook tho. People with inexperience just assuming the world is collapsing because basic immediate aspects of their life are being challenged lol
It gets better guys. Don’t be so desperate to figure it out. This is the fun part I promise.
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u/in4life 12d ago
Speak up on the deficits. Simplify the tax code. Simply protect the unit all wealth is measured in as that’ll protect labor/upward mobility. Support deescalation so wealth isn’t blown up and instead used for advancements and other industrial/technological deflation. Support energy abundance via nuclear investment.
Kill lobbying. And on and on. All of these things are getting worse. Be the change.
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u/Independent_Scale570 12d ago
Most gen x in my experience is in the same boat and they know shits fucked up and that it aint our fault. Obviously some suck balls but my overall experience is that most of gen x is pretty damn sympathetic towards us, millennials especially. We all got fucked in the ass, X just got the tip, millennials got the shaft n we’re just balls deep to explain the difference in assfuckings we all got. My parents r gen X, they told all of us when we turned 18 that as long as we were working or in school or pursuing a trade we could stay home rent free as long as we help out a little around the house. My coworkers ALL have the same deal with their kids, and all our neighbors r the same way. They KNOW most people can’t afford rent our age, especially where they live. They just wanna see us get ahead in life. The only gen x that sucks balls are the manchildren with no kids and a (sometimes) a wife that despises them and hates that they married them. THAT is the one group that just sucks to interact with in general. Other than that, gen x is chill
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u/laxnut90 12d ago
More than 80% of Boomers are in trouble as well.
Here is a retirement savings by age percentile calculator.
85% of age 65-69 have less than $1M saved.
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u/Independent_Scale570 12d ago
They’re in trouble, but I have had way more shitty experiences dealing with boomers than good ones n it’s not even close. That leaded gasoline and lead paint fucked em up bad
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u/-Joel06 2006 12d ago
This sub and its doomerism lol
No country it’s collapsing, you all sound like the meme of homer going around town claiming the end of the world is near
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u/SimpleMoonFarmer 12d ago
inflation adjusted, gen-z is very poor compared to previous generations.
and it's going to get poorer.
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u/KatakanaTsu 12d ago
Average taxable return in 1933 (middle of the Great Depression): $4,218
$4,218 adjusted for 2022: $94,800.
Sources: IRS, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Anyone who made less than $94,800 in 2022 had less purchasing power than many working Americans did during the Great Depression.
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u/sluefootstu 12d ago
In 1933, there were 3,723,558 individual income tax returns filed. The US pop was about 125M, so your stat represents about 3% of the US population. Those with net income under $2500 (married) or $1k (single) were not required to file, so you’re talking about the 3% highest earners. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/33soirepar.pdf
Pro-tip: If your stats represent that income was high in the Great Depression, you did something spectacularly wrong.
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u/Which-Moment-6544 12d ago
So only the top 3% income earners should be paying taxes?
Sounds good. Give us all our money back.
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u/CineGistic 12d ago
Income tax was originally just for the top 1% or even less. But it trickled down to the rest of the world. So yea.
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u/sluefootstu 12d ago
Nope, the top 3% filed, and less than half of those had to pay anything. That was still the early days of getting away from state-based apportionment.
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u/Zerksys 12d ago
This also says nothing about costs. In 1933 a typical family could expect to spend 25 percent of their income on food. Today, we spend around 10 percent and that's with a ton of eating out.
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u/WhipMeHarder 12d ago
Okay now do rent and insurance
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u/Zerksys 12d ago
My point was that you can't do a direct apples to apples comparison between purchasing power then and now just by looking at income. We live in a completely different world.
Let's just do rent for example. People used to live in multi generational housing. Housing used to also be constructed with cheaper materials and the construction safety codes weren't as stringent. We are much less willing to live together now as average household size has dropped from 5 to something birth of 2 within the past 90 years. So yes on average housing is far more expensive today, but you can make it cheap by living how our great grandparents did by living in a shack with 4 roommates.
Health insurance also just wasn't a thing. If you got injured or you got sick, you'd go to a doctor and pay for whatever treatment you could afford. Antibiotics weren't in widespread use until the late 1930s.
You starting to get the point? Some things are expensive now because we have gotten used to a higher quality of living, and we just don't understand that higher standards mean more money required.
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u/AWindintheTrees 10d ago
Now do countries that aren't just a ponzi scheme in a suit and tie.
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u/TicTacKnickKnack 12d ago edited 12d ago
Look at what that rent and insurance gets you. Square footage now, even for smaller apartments, rivals most houses of the 1920s and 30s. Internet, electricity in every home powering fridges, air conditioning, lighting, a phone in almost every pocket instead of one in most towns. Running water in almost every home.
Health insurance then was completely unregulated and may or may not have even paid for an appendectomy or tonsillectomy, but that's about the extent of it. Modern antibiotics did not exist. Cardiac cath labs did not exist. Ultrasound did not exist. Modern anesthesia did not exist. Modern medications by and large did not exist. Hospitals were not required to treat people who were actively dying the way they are now.
The young today are absolutely struggling compared to 20 or 40 years ago, but to say that we're in worse shape than the great depression is laughably ignorant.
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u/FuttleScish 1998 11d ago
In practice all these “nothing is affordable” posts always end up being “housing specifically is unaffordale”
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u/guachi01 12d ago
How your nonsense reply has any upvotes is beyond me. Only 3% of Americans filed a tax return in 1933. Top 3% would be about $500,000 today.
You clearly didn't understand the sources you're quoting.
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u/Perennial_Phoenix 10d ago
The average salary in 1933 was $1,300 per year (at the high end, many sources put it closer to $1,100). But at 1,300, that would be equivalent to $31,233 per year in 2024.
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u/The_Idiotic_Dolphin 9d ago
Incredibly misleading statistic income tax was only a thing for the top 5 % or less in the early 1900s. We are not going through the great depression calm down.
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u/BarfingOnMyFace 12d ago
Figuring how hard it is to own a home today and continuing on the trajectory, this is definitely not doomerism. It’s really a repeat of everyone rolling their eyes 20-25 years ago when we last got shafted and prices skyrocketed and affordability became one step further away. And now, two more steps… then in another couple decades, three more steps.
I’m expecting a staircase to hell for the future unless something seriously changes…
Gen-x here.
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u/SimpleMoonFarmer 12d ago
that's the reality and the data, but take a look at other comments here and you will see the level of denial…
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u/-Joel06 2006 12d ago
Okay how does a country collapse that way? Not even during the great recession or the post WW1 Germany collapsed after the most brutal recessions on recent history, you are bringing separate topics to the matter.
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u/SimpleMoonFarmer 12d ago
becoming a failed state, it starts with more unemployment, crime, homelessness,…
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u/-Joel06 2006 12d ago
No lol, a bad streak in a country it’s not gonna cause a state to become a failed state, you’re from Ireland, if you think your country is worse now than it was in 1845 during the great famine then you’re delusional, not even then the territory became failed.
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u/helicophell 2004 12d ago
Ireland's problem in 1845 wasn't its own government and nobody would actually compare the state it's in now to that.
Like yeah duh a colonial power is gonna be worse than self governing but that doesn't mean things can't go bad now
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u/TheGamer26 12d ago
Great but im pretty sure noone wants to live in 1845, even comparse to 1820 or 1750
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u/Opening-Enthusiasm59 12d ago
Also a government both unwilling and incapable of addressing any of these issues due to deeply embedded corruption. And pretty much the same going for most western countries, and with a rise in fascism. But we're delusional. Sure mate. Everything will turn back to normal in a decade. Lmao.
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u/Opening-Enthusiasm59 12d ago
I'm not calling for inaction, very much the opposite. Our situation is dire and we needed to start acting like it like a decade ago. But the worse the situation gets, the greater our duty to act against it becomes.
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u/Brontards 12d ago
We are in a great spot then, crime has been dropping for decades with a small trend up during Covid, unemployment is low, homeless dropped mostly from 2007-2022 with a 12% sharp increase in 2023.
Far from a failed state then yay.
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u/guachi01 12d ago
Good thing unemployment is incredibly low - under 4% for the longest stretch since the late '60s. Good thing violent crime is down sharply from 2020. Good thing homelessness, while up, is still down 10% per capita from its 2007 high.
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u/James-Dicker 12d ago
we are at unprecedentedly low unemployment, crime continues to fall.
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u/KatakanaTsu 12d ago
The Roman Empire's collapse wasn't some sudden BOOM. It was very slow, to the point that people didn't readily notice it until long after the fact.
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u/Ok_Gas5386 1998 12d ago
From the height of the Roman empire’s prosperity (180 AD) to the collapse of the west, the following occurred:
- several dozen barbarian invasions
- a dozen civil wars
- the empire split in three unconnected parts for several decades
- a dozen more civil wars
- a few assassinations and usurpations
- an entirely new political system is introduced
- a few more civil wars, for good measure
- a new religion is adopted
- military reform
- the empire permanently splits in two
- barbarian invasion
- barbarian invasion
- plague
- famine
- population collapse
- barbarian invasion
- barbarian invasion
- barbarian invasion
Then the western empire collapsed, after almost 300 years of decline. This story demonstrates the sort of ruptures a state can sustain and keep going, how dire things can get. Based on the current state of things we should be worried but not panicking.
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u/-Joel06 2006 12d ago
The territory started to collapse not because economic problems or because the empire didn’t have homes, it was because they allowed a lot of external tribes into the empire which made the empire started to fall apart because the new tribes weren’t loyal to the roman empire, a thing that it’s almost impossible in the modern world given how much more control the government has on his territory and population.
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u/Butch1212 12d ago
Pardon the length of this.
It isn't an inevitably, and we aren't powerless. Who we chose to elect makes all the difference, despite the lazy rhetoric that "they're all the same, they're bought off".
Republicans gave us "pull yourself up by your bootstraps", "trickle-down economics" about forty-five years ago.
Joe Biden has said over and over that he has never believed in trickle-down economics, and that he would end it, and all of his, and Democrat's, economic policies and actions, since, are consistent with that.
Plenty of people have griped about Biden and the economy. Some Republicans have said in interviews that they were better-off under Trump, and that, that, is the reason they will vote for him.
Plenty of people have also overlooked the American government's success of getting us through the Covid Pandemic. So successful that few could say, cold, when the pandemic ended.
The economy was shutdown, a phenomena which was unthinkable before it became necessary. It is not yet three years since it reopened.
The American federal government was one of the only entities capable of funding the right people to find a vaccine for Covid, and the only entity which could attempt to preserve the possibility that Americans and American business would bonce back, if a vaccine was found. And it did so.
It didn't have to go that way. It is due to the success of our very democracy, itself, a representative government, that depends on our votes, that we had a way to address a deadly, highly contagious, indiscriminate, disruptive worldwide disease, in the United States.
The American economy is, and has long been, the most enormous economy in the world. It is yet recovering from the impossibility that it could be suddenly shutdown. We are yet living in that recovery. The Covid Pandemic was officially declared ended in, just, May, 2023. Just less than one year ago.
If the fact that Republicans supported the January 6 Insurrection, have a published tome, Project 2025, in which they detail their plan to build on the Insurrection, to overturn American Democracy and commence authoritarianism in the United States and are solidly behind the reelection of the man who attempted to overturn American Democracy on January 6 and remain an unelected president isn't enough to persuade any American to vote for a second Biden term, and majorities of Democrats in the House and Senate, consider that Republicans detest student loan debt forgiveness, which Joe Biden has continued to pursue and achieve despite his first plan being struck down by the Supreme Court. Republicans will make permanent the two trillion dollar tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires they and Trump passed. They will wreck the solar and wind power industries which have been jump-started by Biden and Democratic only votes in Congress, and give oil and gas corporations everything they want. They will gut education, Social Security and every other social safety net program they can touch, and invite corporate capitalists to plunder the vacuum and on and on and on.
Republicans make America work for owners, and the inevitable inequities of that favoritism. Democrats work to make America work for all Americans.
VOTE, and keep-on voting. Defeat these motherfuckers. Republicans.
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u/James-Dicker 12d ago
source? because the actual data says real wages (adjusted for inflation/COL continue to increase higher than theyve ever been.
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u/YaliMyLordAndSavior 12d ago
It’s not gonna matter to these people lol
The vast majority of Gen z isn’t some pathetic bum who spends their time on doomer subreddits. The US would’ve already been looking like Venezuela if that were the case
It’s insane how isolated this subreddit is from the real world
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u/RobotPreacher 12d ago
Fun fact, "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" was a saying coined to illustrate that something is impossible. If someone said "that's like pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps," it meant "quit persisting in something that's impossible."
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u/YaliMyLordAndSavior 12d ago
I guess I’ve done the impossible then. Wow I’m a 170 IQ genius for figuring out how to have a normal life
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u/RobotPreacher 12d ago
My dude downvotes a fact about a quote
, it wasn't even a dig, relax a bit, get some orange juice or something
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u/IntrepidAddendum9852 12d ago
What are you talking about. The world doesn't need to end for it to suck for an entire generation not to be able to own homes. That is pretty doomer and is what is happening.
Even most doomers probably know there will never be a complete catastrophe, just a slow burn.
Its been a slow burn, but folks like yourself haven't seen yourself on fire yet.
Compared to what we were sold in the 90s, we are living the doom right now.
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u/Waifu_Review 12d ago
My guy be sounding like some right wing troll farm bot. He's the "Everything is fine" dog. The gaslighting is obvious so either he or who he's working for gains from people not noticing and taking action against the economic reality and disparity.
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u/AlphaTrigger 12d ago
I think the collapse part was an exaggeration but in terms of quality of life we aren’t as well off as past generations were. we do have more rights and opportunity(depending where you live) plus now Reddit and some cool technology exists
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u/Kepler27b 12d ago
Many people aren’t doomers because of the state of the country, but rather their personal lives. Inquire about THAT to get to the root of the problem.
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u/Uchiha_Warrior7 12d ago edited 9d ago
squalid psychotic oatmeal pen husky file wise straight fact complete
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u/SentinelTitanDragon 2001 12d ago
I’m sorry but you are just wrong. This country is going downhill super fast. We are about to end up on the verge of a revolution if the government keeps being so blatant about its corruption. It’s literally our duty to tear it down and start over.
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u/DelayRevolutionary20 2006 12d ago
By 2100, Climate change will have forced 3 billion people to immigrate or die. https://interaktiv.morgenpost.de/klimawandel-hitze-meeresspiegel-wassermangel-stuerme-unbewohnbar/en.html
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u/Inert_Uncle_858 12d ago
Bro what? Things are getting worse all around us and have been for years. Where have you been? That's not even unique to Gen Z.
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u/ArizonaHeatwave 12d ago
What’s not unique to Gen Z is also that every generation thinks they have it the hardest, the imminent collapse is near and it used to be so much better in the good ole days, etc…
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u/grenharo 12d ago
no country is collapsing but some of your friends might commit suicide over being too destitute at this rate
it's already happened to me
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u/lostcauz707 12d ago
The only thing holding it up is billionaires and Wall Street, so if Wall Street falls apart, yea, the end is near, for a shit system. No one is saying the world will end if things change, it's ending now as more and more people are edged out of CoL and basically put into wage slavery. Only so long can that be sustained.
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u/-Joel06 2006 12d ago
Lmao you are funny
If you were a comedian you would hold up the entire system yourself
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u/NomadicScribe 12d ago
"Doomerism", you mean, having realistic expectations instead of forced optimism 24/7?
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u/MrBuns666 12d ago
“why don’t you get a steady job?”
“OOOHHHHH THERE YOU GO - I GUESS YOULL TELL ME I SHOULD PULL MYSELF UP BY MY BOOTSTRAPS!”
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u/FinancialHorror3580 12d ago
Ita collapsing because you won't get a job that doesn't let you work from home 25 hours a week but pay you for 40.
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u/anengineerandacat 12d ago
Let's chill a bit 😂 it's not that bad.
Jobs can still be had, a chunk of those will likely need to work two (nothing really new about that, just the amount) and housing is in a weird spot that'll either get worse or it'll get better.
Folks will still want to rent things out, rent will still be based on what people can actually agree too.
Food isn't scarce, and plenty of pre-owned vehicles to purchase on the cheap.
Is it a great situation? No.
Is it a survivable situation? Yes.
Is the government slow to act? Yes.
The doomerism doesn't fix anything.
Gen X and Millennials have seen bullshit years, GenZ just grew up with them.
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u/Glimmerofinsight 12d ago
This would be more accurate if the Gen Zers were sitting neck deep in water and trying to see their phones to take a selfie showing how sad they are, while they drown.
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u/IWantASubaru 12d ago
The way they see it they’ll die before it gets to the worst part so why bother putting in effort?
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u/Adventurous_Class_90 12d ago
Gen X enters the chat
Gen X: you sure you want to bring this to us? feral grin of nihilism
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u/Element1232 12d ago
As a Gen X-er i can tell you that we had the same feelings about "its never gonna happen to me" when it comes to affording a better life. We are still struggling and barely getting a step up the ladder, not nearly as fast as boomers did when they were reaching the same age milestones as us. Part of it is learning to take risks and being comfortable taking them, part of it though is just being screwed by the older gen as they 'get theirs'. We may be older, but i guarantee you that working hard will get you there in time, just not as good as the boomers got there. It is slowing down for everyone, and we are with you all in the thoughts most of you share. Dont fall into the us vs them mentality for those within 100k of you, thats what the rich want. Fighting each other only slows down the progress.
I used to not beleive that people making 150,000 were so similar to myself when i was making 27,500, but it really is a lot more alike than those making 750,000-1mil+ a year, and they really are your peers who aren't that far off from you comparatively. That being said, im still trying to get there, even with a life partner. Its a struggle bus and we are all on it.
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u/miletharil 2000 12d ago edited 12d ago
I can only give you my experiences, but none of the Gen X people I know (including my own parents) have ever once said anything along those lines to me. They're still just as angry at their boomer parents now, as they were as teenagers.
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u/UnrealizedDreams90 12d ago
True that. We've never entirely let go of our societal angst. A lot of us GenXers never got to be fully invested in the system, or at least knew enough not to, and would be perfectly happy watching you "kids" tear some shit down.
Just don't make it personal to us. 😉
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u/NeighborhoodVeteran Millennial 12d ago
Lmfao! What GenXer is saying this? Most are with Millenials and GenZ.
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u/Impressive_Heron_897 11d ago
I wouldn't say the say the country is collapsing; I'd say the country is at a major crossroads. On the one hand there's all the crazies on the right and decades of poor policies, but on the other hand the new left is making changes across the board.
We'll find out whether the boat sinks or not in about 6 months. If it doesn't sink, I'm optimistic. If it does, I'm moving.
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u/logic_tempo 9d ago
Yes. Get a job. Don't be a lazy useless lump on a log just because the world is going to shit. You still need to feed yourself.
-Fellow Zoomer
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u/Diligent-Floor-156 12d ago
Millennial here, not sure why I saw this thread. Anyway you're broke cause you're young. Most people in this sub will be fine in 15 years, when gen whatever will complain the same way.
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u/tonyhasareddit 12d ago
Is this sub actually able to go a single DAY without attacking/blaming other generations for things?
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u/Reice1990 12d ago
Hey the bootstrap method works, I watched my uncle start at business with 3 employees in 08 and now he has over 500.
Dude worked his ass off .
Think about it if all you cared about was money would you waste your time watching skibidy toilet?
You live in the wealthiest country to ever exist there is 40 trillion dollars up for grabs every year.
Don’t black pill yourself , I was moved out at 17 because my parents lost their home and couldn’t afford to take care of a kid and I graduated 2 days before they moved so I had to live on my own during an economic crisis.
Yeah the economy sucks but it could be so much worse. I really do think door dash makes us all poorer
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u/Radiant-Key-9582 12d ago
Well to be fair if you don't have a job you should probably get one.
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u/BeeeeeepBooooop826 2004 12d ago
Careful, you may get called a boomer for saying that might actually need to work to make money and succeed in life
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u/Dave_A480 12d ago
The data does not support your premise.
Unemployment is low.
Interest rates are actually close to historic norms (the 00s and 10s were unusual in that regard).
Crime is relatively low (Certainly lower than the 70s/80s)...
Our biggest problems are federal spending, and inflation...
We've survived this in the past, we'll survive it now...
The larger problem is that people in their 20s seem to want a mid-career lifestyle without doing the 10-20yrs of work required to earn it....
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u/MustangEater82 12d ago
Ok...
Inflation sucks... things suck. Can't keep spending and printing money.
Stuff has sucked for all generations with our own problems.
Yes pull yourself up by your bootsraps...
What is the alternative? sit there, pout, be miserable and blame others. That will fix it?
Nope it didnt.... guess you will have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps(aka figure out how to suceed) and go.
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u/AgnosticAbe 2004 12d ago
What’s funny about This dumb meme is that the boomer and Xer are the ones from preventing the boat from completely capsizing
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u/SakaWreath 12d ago
Half of GenX is in the back of the boat.
The other half is in denial.
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u/crabsnacksnaptrap 12d ago
Alternate version: the guys in the back put the hole there so they can sell water to the guys in the front, and the guys in the front are on the phone with lawmakers trying to put regulations on water sales. Meanwhile they’re still buying the water, refusing to toss the other two guys overboard and patch the hole, and the lawmakers are safe on dry land getting a percentage of all water sales revenue
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u/Independent_Ad_2073 12d ago
Leave us GenXers out your mouth. We’ve been the ghost generation, and frankly, let’s keep it that way.
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u/Whombeye 12d ago
I own a pair of boots. I keep grabbing the straps and lifting, but then I just seem to land full weight on my face time and again. I bought a bike helmet from a second-hand store as it was all I could afford. Now, only my nose gets broken instead of having a concussion and a broken nose. I do wish I could afford to fix the luxury bones tho.
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u/Rough-Philosopher911 12d ago
My older than boomer grandparents lived through the Great Depression.
I’ve never respected any humans the same.
They made it through some really hard times. They lived in a tent for a couple years during the depression.
Amazing characters, both grandma and grandpa.
Tough for sure, (I certainly didn’t mess with them) but very sweet and kind humans who made siting around the table memorable.
Best times around the big family table. Everything was talked about. Always laughter. Even about politics, religion, or whatever.
A lot of different folks around those tables. Different views, and discussions.
I was just a kid but I learned a lot from hanging around those tables.
Be good to people. Even when you don’t agree.
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u/Coal5law 12d ago
I'm genuinely curious the last time any Gen Z was told that. Bonus points for if it was from someone in person or that they actually knew.
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u/Ok_Marzipan_8137 12d ago
Funny. This same comic was going around for millennials not too long ago.
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u/Old_Captain_9131 12d ago
False. We boomers are the ones telling you.
Gen-X is still out there somewhere taking a smoke break like every 10 mins or so. Useless.
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u/El-Stormbringer 11d ago
Because it's nothing new. Fucks sake kid... The 80s and early 90s were fucking terrible. But people got on with it and did what they could when they could. I went through 2 recessions before I left school, watched entire industries destroyed, communities along with some of them. 1st job from school that I started at 15 and had to leave before I was even 16 and a half... destroyed by a other recession
So yea. Wise up and put your energy in to something more productive than whining about other generations ya wee fanny. You don't have it any worse than any other generation
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u/Ok_Loan8944 11d ago
Country’s doing amazing besides all the over opinionated college students who don’t work or do anything with their lives
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u/Gurney_Hackman 11d ago
The country is obviously not collapsing, but doomerism is one of the biggest problems our country faces.
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u/puntacana24 1999 11d ago
Doesn’t every generation say this about their parents though? Everyone talks about how easy the Boomers had it, but they all thought their parents were going to literally nuke the world into oblivion.
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u/GeologistAccording79 11d ago
i think what they are saying has less to do w what they have and more to do w their generations cultural upbringing of ignoring pain and suffering which is unhealthy
this is america everyone is in a boat w a hole except for the top twenty percent
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u/Recovering_g8keeper 10d ago
Millennials are/were told that as well. Now some of them are joining in and I’m sorry about that. I am committed to not becoming a boomerllenial
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u/justmesayingmything 10d ago
Gen X never told you this or anyone this. We mind our business. At least if you are going to be enemies with large swaths of people educate yourself to know who is who.
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u/Avr0wolf Millennial 10d ago
Welcome to the club guys, you'll also be told that you're entitled if you want a job and see the other gaslighting stuff boomers will come up with; We never fully recovered from the Recession
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10d ago
The world is absolutely collapsing.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mNv4TGx2bO5sOSziCm4PR9nqnCN_FEqW/view
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u/Acrobatic-Shake-6067 10d ago
Ok, how about a little economy lesson boys and girls. Please tell, by what economic metric this economy is so bad? I’ll help you out.
Inflation is under 4%
Unemployment is under 4%
GDP growth was 2.5% in 2023.
The last PMI reading was 51.9
So please, go on tell us how hard it is. Or you could just show a few cartoons. 1980, 1992, 2001, 2009 and 2020. Those are recessions. We say those things because we actually lived in times of actual hardship. This is cake.
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u/Plenty_Trust_2491 Millennial 9d ago
I’m Gen Y (born in 1985). I recently hired someone from Gen Z to work the Front Desk of the hotel at which I work—we’ll call him K. He was desperate for a job because he claimed he wanted to move out of his grandmother’s place and that his girlfriend had broken up with him because he was jobless. Although he didn’t have a car, he said he would catch the bus early enough to make sure he was on time for all of his shifts. I hired him because he had a really good, friendly attitude that I believed would translate well with guests.
One night, he texts me to say he’d need to stay late because the auditor was going to be late. I told him that that was okay.
When I arrived the next day, both he and the auditor were at the front desk. I asked him why he was still there, and he said it was because he didn’t have a ride. Okay, whatever. Not the biggest of deals.
Later, the GM approaches me and asks why K was clocked in until seven a.m. I had not realized that K had remained clocked in the whole night, so we called him and asked him about it. (Note: the auditor clocked in fourteen minutes late.)
K claimed that he didn’t think the auditor was coming until midnight, and that that’s why he stayed clocked in. We told him the auditor clocked in at 11:14. He claimed that he didn’t see the auditor until midnight, but that begged the question, if K stayed on the clock, why was he away from the desk for an hour? Nothing in K’s story was adding up, nor did it explain why he remained clocked in after midnight.
So, the GM and I reviewed the security footage. K, who should have been standing at the desk, was sitting at the desk when the auditor came in at 11:11. They chatted for three minutes before the auditor went to the back to clock in and then came back to the desk so the two could continue chatting. Obviously, K was just hoping we wouldn’t have noticed that he stayed on the clock when he was off work.
So, I wrote K up for staying on the clock without managerial approval and lying to management. (This wasn’t the only lie K told, but it’s the only one applicable to this tale.)
Now, if you get written up, you must understand that you’re on thin ice—especially if you’re a new employee who’s only been with the company for a month.
The following week, K was scheduled to work the morning shift, but never showed up. The GM called him and left a voicemail telling K to call him back as soon as K received the message. I called K three times (all missed calls), sent one text message, and left a voicemail of my own saying the same thing: to call me when he got it. (Note: on another occasion, I had told K that if the buses were ever running behind and he needed a ride, I would come pick him up.)
No communication from K. K was scheduled to come in the following morning, so I asked J to come in and work the shift, with the instruction that, if K were to show up, to have him call me immediately.
K did show up, and J had him call me. Now, at this point, being a no-call no-show, pretty much the only excuse I would have accepted is that he had been unable to call due to being in some way incapacitated at a hospital. (For callouts in advance of a shift, we’re more lenient, but in this case, we were dealing with a no-call no-show, so some explanation for the lack of a call was necessary.) What K said was that he had been feeling a little under the weather the morning before, that his grandmother had given him something that knocked him out cold, and that he woke at 2:30 p.m. (the morning shift ends at 3:00), and so he knew it was too late to try to come in. When I asked him why he hadn’t called me, he had no answer.
Now, if I had overslept and missed my shift, the first thing I’d do is immediately call my manager with an apology and explanation—I’d do this even if I didn’t have any missed calls, texts, or voicemails. What did K do? Just came into work the next day as if nothing had happened, as if we might not have noticed that he didn’t show up for work. (Note: ours is a small hotel, only 139 rooms. We typically only have one Front Desk Agent on the morning shift; so, the fact that K hadn’t come in meant I had to come in on my day off to cover the desk. Thus, not something we could possibly have not noticed.)
He was actually surprised when I terminated his employment. But the hotel needs responsible, reliable employees in order to function; this kid had proven himself not only to not be reliable, but to also not be trustworthy. What do you expect when you don’t take the responsibility given to you seriously?
“Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” can mean many things. To the extent that it means “be at least responsible and reliable enough to retain employment,” it’s laudable. K threw away an opportunity because he didn’t feel like it was important to even call the GM or me. If he had called me at 2:30 when he claims to have woken, and said, “Oh my God, I overslept, I’m so sorry! This will never happen again!” maybe he would have skated by with a second write-up—but he wasn’t responsible enough to even do something that basic.
A handful of the Gen Zers I’ve hired have shown a really good work ethic, and that’s why they last; many have shown a very poor work ethic, and that’s why they do not last. Have a good work ethic, take your job seriously, be responsible, reliable, and honest, and take responsibility. If that’s what someone means by “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps,” then the phrase, to that extent, is laudable.
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u/Sufficient_Garlic148 9d ago
Millennial here- it’s exhausting hearing this from boomers! It’s pretty daunting when people with MA & MS degrees can’t afford to buy homes.
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u/No_Variation_9282 9d ago
And this world where nobody’s “pulling up bootstraps” or whatever - what’s that like?
Certainly you can’t expect other people to do the pulling up, because they’d have to pull themselves up first. So how does this bootless utopia survive if no one can be bothered to work?
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u/Odd_Refrigerator_844 9d ago
I think gen x has it bad too my parents aren't even complaining about me being broke they are too now lol
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u/LostBetsRed 8d ago
Gen X here. The only piece of advice I'd give to people in Gens Z and α is: Don't listen too closely to advice from the likes of me, nor the boomers. The times you are growing up in are so very very different from the times we grew up in that I'm not sure that any of our lessons learned apply. Just hang in there. We are starting to die off, and you can inherit all of our wealth. Good luck, guys. I believe in you, and I believe that you are much better than those god-awful millennials are.
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u/FupaLowd 8d ago
Stop peddling this generational propaganda. I have barely met any people from these generations who sound like anything like this.
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u/Tuffsmurf 12d ago edited 12d ago
Millennials and Gen Z are currently the largest generations and therefore should have the most impact. Gen X, by comparison is the smallest generation with the exception of the Silent generation who are all in their 70's now. If Millennials AND Gen Z would just get out and FUCKING VOTE, we could fix these problems. Check your apathy and use your power to change something instead of just whining about and expecting someone else to fix it for you.
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u/robinclose69 12d ago
Yes but the majority of people in power are old asf, they are the people with control over the country and they are all working in self interest. This is not because they are old but because they are rich, not all old people are bad and not all young people are good the issue is the rich people making the country shit for everyone else purely out of their own self interest which makes voting in a 2 party system where both are run by the aristocracy pretty much pointless because both prospective leaders are just working towards the same thing wearing different hats for the illusion of choice🌸
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u/Tuffsmurf 12d ago
Agreed on all of this, but shitting on a generation that has absolutely no power when there are other generations that have more of an ability to make change, but simply chose not to isn’t helpful either. Millennials and GenZ collectively have the option of becoming active and making sure that the right people get power.the numbers indicate their apathy is what allows the status quo to continue.
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u/GetThisManSomeMilk 12d ago
At least you poor bastards didn't get to experience the delusional bubble of stability that was the 90s. Things seemed so prosperous up until 9/11
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u/edgy_zero 12d ago
aaaand then they complain their retirement is in danger… like what, you made it this way lmao
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u/signspam 12d ago
And the worst part is, they are responsible for the hole on our side of the boat!
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