Why do people think Boomers had it so good?
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Anonymous
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If Boomers even had a house they lived in one with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths (small). Kids shared bedrooms.
Many raised their families in trailers or apartments (small.) |
Anonymous
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My parents are a little older than Boomers, born in 1935 and 1944. My brother and I are GenX (1976 and 1979).
One thing I'm thankful for are the medical advances. I have major depressive episodes, which started at age 25 (year 2005). At that age, my dad was in the Navy in 1960 and there were only a few antidepressants available then, along with some barbituates, and maybe Valium. Also, lots of ineffective psychotherapy. I would likely be dead if that was all medicine could offer me. Also, I had testicular cancer at age 19 (year 1999). If my dad has testicular cancer at that age (year 1954), he would have been at the Naval Academy back then and there would be a 90% chance that he would die within a year. |
Anonymous
| Frankly I think all of these Boomers vs. whatever is a bunch of BS. I was born in late 1963 - so I am a Boomer, yes? I have much more in common with someone born in 1966 than anyone born in the late 1940s or the entire decade of the 1950s. And I was 18 in 1981/2 when inflation started slowing and mortgage rates were still at 16% - like I really had much in the bank at 18? and I sure didn't have a mortgage on a house. |
Anonymous
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Look at the age structure of the population.
Boomers "got there first" on good jobs during boom years and clung to those jobs and delayed retirement during the bad years. That has impacted Gen X all along. Looks like the Boomers' children, the Millennials, are doing the same thing to new college grads. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/08/26/five-generations-workforce-gen-z-challenge/ |
Anonymous
| The whole argument is stupid. But anyone is welcome to buy a house that the Boomers had available to them a high interest rates. Go forth with that 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 1200 sq foot abode. |
Anonymous
The oldest millennial is 40. Is that what you want? People hit 40 and all of a sudden it is out to pasture with you? |
Anonymous
I learned it from you, dad. |
Anonymous
Many of those homes don't exist anymore. You will likely be buying a condo instead, which is totally fine by me. I'm a young Gen X and bought my first home last year. It's a 2BR, 2BA condo. I'm not demanding that the government give me a SFH or kick our elders out of their SFH. |
Anonymous
Exactly. The standard of living now is so much higher. We (late-born Boomer here) were satisfied with many, many fewer brands of everything at the store, and fewer vacations. It takes more money to keep up with the Joneses now. What we Boomers had growing up was a feeling of security and faith in the system, even after Vietnam/Watergate, which is sadly lacking now. I never thought I would get shot at school. |
Anonymous
Wait, really? If only we millennials had known there were bountiful, affordable houses out there in the prime locations the boomers got to live and all we had to do was be ok with a little smaller house! No, wait, even a friggin' vacant lot costs a million bucks: https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/Rock-Spring-Rd-22207/home/22678434 So I guess it actually is that housing is completely unaffordable and not "millennials only want HGTV houses" after all. |
Anonymous
We did not fear being shot. Being blown up by a nuclear weapon, though . . . BUT we ghad desks to hide under! Times were good |
Anonymous
Boomers did not buy in the best neighborhood. Maybe start looking to live elsewhere and the DMV is a place to move to later in your career. |
Anonymous
They weren’t in prime locations at all. They might be good locations now but not then. The houses were “far out” with far far less amenities. You are looking at it with today’s goggles. |
Anonymous
Yep. I remember when Vienna was considered so far out it wasn't a practical commute. So police, fire, and trades people lived here. Houses were small (you can still see some). Reston was considered the other end of the world. Heck, even Falls Church was a commute for GS 9s and 10s only. |
Anonymous
I am loathe to get sucked into this discussion, but these weren't prime locations years ago. That's why there were 2 BR, 1 ba houses on them. The definition of a prime location changes over the years, and if you are lamenting that you can't buy in what was once a run-of-the-mill neighborhood but is not a prime location, you're really off base. |