OK Boomer: Class War Not Generation War
Channel: LuckyBlackCat
Date: 09/08/2021

Boomers, aka Baby Boomers, are the generation born 1946 to 1964. As a generation they’re often blamed for the awful state of the world, especially for destroying the housing market, job market, and environment. Boomers are also resented for their alleged privilege. And finally, judgmental attitudes towards those who have economic struggles are labeled as a boomer mentality. 

Meanwhile, Millennials and Gen Z are said to be victims of the Boomer generation.

There are at least five reasons why this discourse is both inaccurate and counterproductive. 

I don’t want to give too much of the video away by listing the five reasons here. But I’ll just say that blaming boomers diverts attention away from the real source of our environmental and economic woes, which I argue are primarily caused by capitalism. Also, the typical discourse casting boomers as privileged villains, and casting Millennials and Gen Z as their impoverished victims, as well as the discourage around generational conflict in general, all have the effect of stifling class consciousness.

If we want to spread awareness of the need to abolish capitalism, and if we want to build the organization and working class unity that will give us the power to abolish capitalism, then blaming boomers hurts our cause, and so does the typical discourse about Millennials and Gen Z. 

This video will go into all of this in more detail: discussing the five reasons we should stop blaming boomers.

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►►Check out some of my other videos◄◄

► Comrades Not Competitors | # BLM # AbolishICE https://youtu.be/xNQOq3EunfQ 

► Tax the Rich? Why More Is Not Enough | Response to PragerU https://youtu.be/SJaoDBJC8M0

► Tax the Rich? New Questions: A Socialist Perspective https://youtu.be/5q6j4Kh8LEA

► Police: Reform? Defund? Abolish? https://youtu.be/ik2xZEgoReE

► Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpgXZBN8fmc0t-rRGgKwDYfkBNSd8jYDS 

0:00 Introduction 
1:59 Part 1: Making the real problem invisible
5:51 Part 2: Working Class Boomers
10:29 Part 3: Rose-colored glasses
11:29 Part 4: Mislabeling the state of mind
14:47 Part 5: Stifling class consciousness 
16:17 Wrap-Up
17:42 Outro


Organizing learning resources  https://www.reddit.com/r/IWW/comments/h89e4n/a_list_of_learning_resources_on_workplace 


SOURCES

Recessions graph 1775-1943 (US)
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/business-booms-depressions-since-1775-145/fulltext

Comparing Millennials and Boomers at same age for poverty, unemployment, debt, wealth, income (US)
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/03/07/millennials-in-adulthood/

Age 65+ still working (OECD countries)  
https://data.oecd.org/emp/labour-force-participation-rate.htm

Reasons for not retiring (US) 
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/09/i-cant-afford-retirement-is-main-reason-seniors-continue-to-work.html 
https://www.provisionliving.com/news/survey-reveals-why-seniors-are-putting-retirement
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/01/theres-a-retirement-crisis-in-america-where-most-will-be-unable-to-afford-a-solid-life.html

Poverty rate for 65+ compared to general population (OECD countries)   
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/fb958d50-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/fb958d50-en

MUSIC CREDITS

Lacrimosa: Requiem (Mozart)
Sweet Lord (TW$) – I bought the license
Smoove Weekend (TW$) – I bought the license
Live Perc 128-04_128bpm (Wladymeer) samplefocus.com
Lil Skies Drum Loop (Jasx on da track) 

VISUAL CREDITS

Pictures from www.freepik.com by
dashu83
cookie_studio
asierromero
drobotdean
karlyukav

Wikimedia commons, Flickr Commons, Tracey Adams https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Avocado toast meme by Instagram user badtastebb

Know Your Meme page for avocado toast meme 


"At least that's what I think.... What about you?" inspired by T1J


KEYWORD SEARCH TERMS

Boomers, Baby Boomers, Millennials, Gen Z, Gen X, generation, generational conflict, class conflict, generation war, class war, class struggle, class consciousness, working class, capitalist class, bourgeoisie, bourgeois, bougie, boujee, capitalism, socialism, socialist, video essay, LuckyBlackCat, Lucky Black Cat 


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