Technically, I’m a Boomer, but I never felt like one. I grew up in the seventies, not the sixties. My attitudes were shaped by Watergate, inflation, and the Iran hostage crisis, not Woodstock, Vietnam, and the Summer of Love. It’s not the same thing at all.
As a result, I think I’m fairly well qualified to mediate between Gen Z and my own generation. Over the next several days, I will be evaluating the merits of the claims Gen Z makes against the Boomers, some of which have considerable merit. In the meantime, however, I’m going to have a “get off my lawn” moment and get my prejudices against millennials out of the way:
- OUR MUSIC WAS BETTER THAN YOURS: With a few very notable exceptions (Florence and the Machine; London Grammar), I find most popular millennial music to be thin, formulaic, and tiresome. A hundred years from now, people will be listening to our music, but not this stuff. I would bet the ranch on it.
- YOUR MOVIES ARE LOUSY, TOO: Aren’t you going to run out of Marvel characters anytime soon?
- GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF YOUR PHONE!: And stop texting naked pictures of yourself. That’s just stupid.
- YOU DIDN’T INVENT GAY RIGHTS, RIGHTS FOR RACIAL MINORITIES, AND FEMINISM: Boomers put these causes in the mainstream, not you. You’re just taking them to another level.
- TATTOOS ARE UGLY: Wait until you’re my age, and then you’ll understand.
There. I’ve done it. With that out of the way, I’ll start with climate change tomorrow.