The Boomer is an obese methane-filled boss that can either projectile vomit or explode, either way covering you with bile. I wish I could find where I first saw the use of the Left 4 Dead boomer as a comparison to the Baby Boomers, but I'm afraid I haven't been able to. (I'd be happy to post an update if anyone knows. In addition, the infected in Left 4 Dead aren't actually zombies, but give me some literary license here.)
In the diary that wound up kicking off Youth Kos 2.0, enemy of the people asked if the youth resent older people for screwing up their world. I wound up spending far more time than I should writing a reply that was fairly well received and the suggestion that I turn it into a diary. So here it is, with some modifications.
By the way, it's my first time. Please be gentle.
So, is there anger among the youth (which we'll consider anyone under 30 for the purposes of this diaryl)? Using a rough bracket of 1980 to 2000, that is about 80 million, ranging from those whose first Presidential vote was in 2000 to those who are still in elementary school. Of course, in this case we're interested in those old enough to either volunteer or vote in 2012, so let's call it from 1980 to 1994ish.
First, there is definitely something that needs to be understood about communication. The Internet is full of memes and most (though not all) of those memes go quite a long way through the Internet, hitting all sorts of areas. Many of them are image macros, and several that come to mind I routinely see on Fark.com, including any number of "Successories"-style image and text (the Despair.com Demotivational posters are the classic examples), Pedobear, television references (Futurama, Family Guy, and The Simpsons are common) the Ha! Ha! Guy, lolcats, and so on. Many seem to originate from either 4chan's b board or from Something Awful. Pictures from XKCD and other web comics tend to be fairly common as well. I highly suggest knowyourmeme.com if you have no idea what us younguns are talking about. In the same thread that spawned this diary was a good comment by Strange New World. An excerpt from his rather long comment:
I'm talking about memetic language. The same things get said all over the internet, DKOS exceptionalism aside, and the same meme is often appropriate every time you encounter those ideas. And no, the non-memetic form does not convey entirely the same meaning....Maybe I spend to much time hanging out with other technophiles, but most of my friends use that sort of idiom face to face as well as on the net. Why spend time reassuring someone that something really is just that simple when you can say "Push button, receive bacon." and be both understood and believed? Think it sounds too silly for a political discussion? Fine, but it won't keep people who express themselves in that form from voting. Refusing to take them seriously, may, however, lose your candidate those votes.
Beyond words, if I'm not supposed to post image macros (because they take sooooo long to load!), there are things I can't say, because detailing the intersection of several ideas, a pop culture reference, and the history of using all that together in a particular way is time consuming and causes digression for both writer and reader. Not only that, but if I want to tell someone that they are spewing redundant talking points originally crafted by the right wing, why waste time writing when I've got this Boston Terrier saying "Herp-A-Derp" already loaded on Photobucket? There's a whole internet full of trolls to slay, and I'm only one person!
Now, on to the diary:
First, why the rather provocative title of "Boomer Zombies"? Why did a comparison of an entire generation to one enemy in a video game seem both funny and slightly true? I'm 28 and in my experience there is definitely anger at the Boomers, at least online. It's generally not something I talk about with others my age in reality and of course you have to be careful drawing generalizations from online posting. However, I think there is an undercurrent. Fark.com, for instance, can be instructive. Not only do you get the sort of memetic conversation that Strange New World describes, you get a fairly standard assortment of trolls, people out to prove the Greater Internet F-Wad Theory, lots of images and image macros, and so on. So, for instance, here are several headlines found by searching "Boomers" greenlighted on Fark in 2010:
Good news, everyone. Baby-boomers won't be retiring from their jobs anytime in the near forever
You hate them, but your hatred is unfocused and this troubles you. So, here: four specific reasons to despise the baby boomers
Simultaneously taking care of their elderly parents and unemployable kids while also bearing responsibilty for destroying western civilization is getting Baby Boomers down
Baby Boomers on Social Security: "We must impose tough choices and hard sacrifices that will leave tomorrow's generation with a world they do not want to live in"
Now, most of these generate the same overall discussion every time. Remember, too, that all of these headlines link to an actual article somewhere on the Internet (the ones I listed go to CNBC, the WaPo, Time, and the WaPo again and the links take you to the discussion threads, which have the original links at the top of the page.)
You often see very similar comments about the Boomers from both GenX and GenY.
Similarly, there are often threads about "snowflakes" and "kids today" and similar topics. But about the Boomers, here's a quote from one of the threads that I think might have widespread agreement if you could somehow poll it:
As a generation (not all of them individually), they've spent their own wealth, squandered their parents' savings, and borrowed from their children's future, just to satisfy their never-ending desire to maintain their collectively opulent Boomer lifestyle.
Each person in the USA starts out life tens (hundreds now?) of thousands of dollars in debt, with a destroyed environment and uncertain future, almost entirely because of the Boomers' massive uncontrolled borrow/buy binge.
Now, why the "Zombie Battles"? Because it seems like we're stuck fighting the same fights over and over and over. That may be historically normal, but it doesn't make it any less aggravating.
What I, and I think a lot of other people my age--at least the ones I've talked to--are also tired of is the constant need to look at the 1960s and Vietnam. I have heard many times that it was the Boomers behind the Civil Rights Movement, that it was the Boomers that ended Vietnam, Boomer this and Boomer that and it's now been 40 years since 1968 and Boomer Boomer Boomer. It seemed like there were more stories in any issue of Newsweek in 2008 about the Boomers than the number of boomers in the US Navy. What I remember most about the 2004 election was that the media and the politicians were happy to spend all that time re-fighting Vietnam 35 years later instead of actually dealing with the problems of the day.
And now, what do we get? A replay of the politics of the 1990s but without the booming economy. I'm 28 years old and I'd like to buy a house, but while I was growing up and then in college and graduate school property values ballooned like crazy. Sure, now they've dropped, but how much harder would it be to get a loan? Now that I have a job, I'd like to be able to buy a house but I don't know if I'd be where I am long enough to make the hassle worth it over renting, or especially if I'd be able to get out easily if I had to. Or if I even want to deal with the market right now. I've survived several rounds of layoffs since I started working two years ago and I'm not sure how many more there will be or if I'm relatively protected or vulnerable. It stinks when it starts to feel like there's going to be a layoff every quarter to meet their quarterly projections or to try to pump up the stock price. I don't know how much longer I want to be in this current job. But I can't move jobs easily because the economy is still lousy and there still isn't a lot of hiring and there's a two-body problem (me and the fiancee) involved.
I want to have kids but I keep feeling like the intelligent couple in the intro of Idiocracy (another memetic favorite). I'm not convinced that Social Security and Medicare will be there for me, even though the fixes (especially for Social Security) are fairly simple, but I know I'll keep having to pay in, broken system or not. I'm looking at my current 401k withholding and Roth IRA contributions and wondering, 35 years out, will it really be enough? Especially if I can never contribute more than what I am now? Compound interest may be the most powerful force in the universe, but I'm screwed if the interest rate doesn't beat inflation.
So at times, yes, I'd say I definitely resent the Boomers. Iraq and Afghanistan, the War on Drugs, the constant social warfare, 30 years of Reaganomics and related bubbles, narcissism, and the list could go on. It may not be too rational, it definitely may not be productive, but there are definitely times I'm sick of them all.
I found something I wrote about six years ago on another message board, when Bush was talking about Social Security and I was 22. Here's what I wrote:
There was a short story in F&SF in July 2000, "Dave Dickel's Historic Interview With the Inventor of the Hart Cart" by Nancy Etchemendy, that had as part of its background that Social Security collapsed. At least, I think that was the implied backstory. I don't have a copy of it available at the moment. It was also somewhat implied that the younger generation allowed the older ones to take the consequences. And quite frankly, I believe that people my age would be more likely to allow Social Security to default if it came to that. After all, you guys have had decades now to figure out a solution. You guys knew this was coming at least as early as the 80s. I don't know anyone that truly believes they will get anything from Social Security 40 years from now. Anyone my age who has actually thought about it realizes that they need to start putting money away now. I, for one, find it almost inconceivable that people now are banking on Social Security to provide for their retirement. Why weren't they invested long ago? Even if stocks were difficult to get before the Internet, what's wrong with savings bonds, T-bonds, CDs, IRAs, and plain old savings accounts? Why this blind trust in Social Security? Similarly, I bet there's a clear majority of support in my age demographic for the idea of private accounts along the lines President Bush is proposing. I truly wonder if not long from now it'll come down to a generational war where the children of the Baby Boomers (and younger) have to either decide to cut Social Security out from under their parents and grandparents or to take on a huge tax burden.
I know I've changed, I don't agree with all of that today (I definitely wouldn't support Bush's proposal and I don't think there's widespread support for either that 2005 proposal or defaulting Social Security), but I can still see what I was thinking, even if I wouldn't support many things I said back then now. I think there is quite a large amount of ignorance in what I wrote. However, part of me still feels, at least at times, that "Well, they screwed up, let them take the consequences." It's just that now I realize that as satisfying as that may feel, it simply can't happen. Too much damage will be done. But that still doesn't mean I have to like it.