Yesterday we had some elderly people over for our bday and at some point we talked about billionaires and how they should not exist
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@stux I am not sure *how* old these elderly people are but a good portion of elderly people aren't truly aware of "just how it is".
As just a surface example, I bought my home in 1999 for about $140k, and a home just like mine on my street recently sold for over $600k. My parents see this sort of thing on the news and are aware of it and will say things like "it must be hard for young people to buy a home if they are barely making $200k/year eh?" And I am like "oh mum they're lucky to make much more than half that" and they are just mind blown.
My parents were born before WW2 and grew up through the end of the depression and wartime rations so know hardship, but have lived their entire lives through fairly constant progress and prosperity. For older boomers they don't even know that pre war hardship, and comfortably retired they are all quite isolated from the experience of young adults. They cannot conceive of the concept 1st world society has unacceptably declined in recent years.
@msh Boomers?
The oldest "Boomer" is 80. WWII ended in August 1945.
People who think $200k is normal income for "young people" are not living in the same reality as most other people. -
@msh Boomers?
The oldest "Boomer" is 80. WWII ended in August 1945.
People who think $200k is normal income for "young people" are not living in the same reality as most other people.@Jestbill my parents were born in the late 1930s and the leading edge of the boomers have been retired for some time, and many of them are comfortably retired. That is exactly who I mean by early boomers...a specific subgroup of them who were born into postwar prosperity but retired for perhaps over a decade. Their own children may even be about to retire.
A good many of them do indeed live in a different reality from most other people.
People in this cohort are aware that these are..."trying times"...but really do not have a full awareness of what it is like for younger generations any more.
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@Jestbill my parents were born in the late 1930s and the leading edge of the boomers have been retired for some time, and many of them are comfortably retired. That is exactly who I mean by early boomers...a specific subgroup of them who were born into postwar prosperity but retired for perhaps over a decade. Their own children may even be about to retire.
A good many of them do indeed live in a different reality from most other people.
People in this cohort are aware that these are..."trying times"...but really do not have a full awareness of what it is like for younger generations any more.
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Yesterday we had some elderly people over for our bday and at some point we talked about billionaires and how they should not exist
I started about taxing the super rich and getting rid of loop holes but they kept repeating stuff like:
"It's just how it is, accept it" and "We can't do anything about it, it's just how it woks."
And it kinda triggered me a bit..
Why the F would you accept shit as is?!
These are the same people who allow fascists to take over and start another world war..
@stux please be assured that not all elderly (or any of the ones i know) share this opinion. In fact many of us have lived through some depraved times and definitely don’t want them repeating. There was a saying in the 60’s “don’t let the MFK’s drag you down” and so far they haven’t.
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@Jestbill AKA "the fortunate few", old enough to remember wartime hardship from a children's perspective, young enough not to be sent into battle, like my parents.
They share a lot of characteristics of early boomers, with the added dimension of knowing to some degree the hardship of pre ww2 life. They have long held the belief that prosperity came through hard work and merit.
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here?
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@Jestbill AKA "the fortunate few", old enough to remember wartime hardship from a children's perspective, young enough not to be sent into battle, like my parents.
They share a lot of characteristics of early boomers, with the added dimension of knowing to some degree the hardship of pre ww2 life. They have long held the belief that prosperity came through hard work and merit.
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here?
@msh My point was made several times. STOP BLAMING BOOMERS FOR YOUR STUPID POLITICAL DECISIONS.
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@msh My point was made several times. STOP BLAMING BOOMERS FOR YOUR STUPID POLITICAL DECISIONS.
@Jestbill OK it is clear you have missed the point of this whole thread so I will disengage now thanks.
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@paulc Someone has to stand up at some point
If it's popular or not, it shouldn't matter
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Yesterday we had some elderly people over for our bday and at some point we talked about billionaires and how they should not exist
I started about taxing the super rich and getting rid of loop holes but they kept repeating stuff like:
"It's just how it is, accept it" and "We can't do anything about it, it's just how it woks."
And it kinda triggered me a bit..
Why the F would you accept shit as is?!
These are the same people who allow fascists to take over and start another world war..
People who started out in the boom years before the Reagan/Thatcher reaction, when taxes on the rich prevented the emergence of billionaires and there was funding for social goods and services, have lost perspective. It's the baseline fallacy: they just assume what they had is normal.
And admitting things are different now would mean acknowledging that all the reactionary tax cuts and roll-backs of social benefits they voted for were at the expense of others. It would mean they were selfish. Not intentionally, of course: but they bought the BS.
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@jayflo I remeber my parents build a house a year before i was born, it was a pretty huge house and i estimate under half a million at the time
Currently it's almost 3 times that
(they dont own it anymore)A house we recently wanted to rent was on market for 450K and it was a relative simple house
We don't stand a chance
