On Boomerism

The Hidden Moral Injury of Ok Boomer,

This post is based on a letter to the editor I wrote, commenting on the article linked above. One of the things I do regularly, is monitor right wing media. Not the ultra right wing sort of stuff like OAN or Fox. That is a hotbed of conspiracy theorist nonsense, and kremlin propaganda. And there is no sense to be had from listening to those sorts of places. What I do monitor however are centrist leaning and neoliberal outlets, and writers. Particularly those who were exiled off the popular right wing platforms, for not bending the knee to Donald Trump.

In addition to the inappropriate joy, I feel at the neoliberals realizing they caused Donald Trump in the first place. I get insight into what the right leaning "moderates", are thinking, and what they are likely to use as arguments against inclusivity and pluralism, so I can hopefully divert. Such people in my orbit from going full reactionary.

I don't enjoy this work, but there are a few bright spots such is the New York Times columnist David French who is oddly insightful for a neoliberal. He also does great commentary on american religion.

Again I will go out of my way to state that as a classical anarchist, and pacifist, who also happens to be multiply marginalized. I do not endorse his ideology. Indeed he has said several things, and linked several articles on his social media accounts which would indicate queer phobia.

Within the limitations of his ideology however, he is unusually self aware and prescient. I think if the world went fascist he would be climbing the barricades with us, for whatever that's worth.

I am making this post public because Mr French indulges in the common misconceptions that the younger generations dismissal of boomers is somehow rooted in ageism. Which perspective is of course wrong, but without a clear statement that being a boomer is more a mindset then anything else. And more importantly what this mindset consists of I can see the current dismissal of "boomer mindset", rapidly morphing into ageism. Over time.

As something of a Generational Mutt myself, I'm 35 so technically a Millenal, but most of my friends are Gen X or Z. I must say that once again Mr French, and some of his commentors miss the point of the entire mean. Being a boomer in the sense of okay boomer. Is less an age designation then it is a state of mind I know plenty of people born between 1945-1964 who are not boomers in the sense that we mean it.

A boomer is someone who believes that hard work and following all the "rules", still gets you a good life in this country. who consequently will blame typically younger people for their almost universally lower socioeconomic status. for perspective before the Biden student loan forgiveness, my loans were more than my parents mortgage way they got it in 1994. This was before I was diagnosed with bipolar and had my career cut short six months after it started. A boomer is a person to insists that if I just try harder, things will get better. boomers were the politicians that repeatedly and gleefully voted for the defunding of our public university system, in the name of tax cuts. So that adjusted for inflation the cost of a college education is nearly two hundred and twenty times what they paid for it in their day. who have also either defunded or not funded in the first place, decent mental health services for people living in poverty.

A boomer is someone who doesn't acknowledge the climate change will have and outsized impact on the economic and political situation of the next fifty years. In short anyone who benefited from the incredible work and accomplishments that our grandparents, and great grandparents did to build a better world after the depression and war, only too vote to pull the ladder up in the name of short term economic gain for themselves and those of a higher class. Yet still have the temerity and audacity to insist that that system still exists and still works. perhaps we should find a phrase with less ageist overtones to deploy against such people. Most of my elders are awesome and I'm sure that most of my friends would say the same.

Saldy Mr. French, in his attempts to riff off a dead meme. Without understanding what it means. By publishing it in the venue in which he does. Indulges in the precise sort of behavior, which the phrase was designed to dismiss.