The media has declared war on those born between 1946 and 1964 and makes up things to denigrate elders.
Imagine if the media ganged up on Gen Z, or racial groups, like they gang up on a group of elders. The outrage would be off scale. But journalist’ish cannot see that this is what they are doing – and making up false claims as well.
This might be nothing more than content mill click-bait churned out by freelance and creative writers, but some is written by people with the title “editor”.
Not member of any generation selected their own birth date, any more than one selects the color of their skin. Imagine if this bashing was directed at ethnic or racial groups instead of arbitrary groups based on age. (How we plan to report on generations moving forward | Pew Research Center)
Many of these “journalists” blame “boomers” for historical events that took place before “boomers” could even vote! Jared Gould, below, blames “Boomers” for the US going off the gold standard, the OPEC oil embargo of 1973-1974 and more.
Until 1971, the minimum voting age in the U.S. was 21 years old and only those born in 1950 or earlier were allowed to vote up through 1971. Which means the overwhelming majority of “boomers” could not exert political power and create the problems Gould claims they created!
Again, imagine if journalist’ish did this for ethnic or racial groups – we’d be outraged.
- Generation Can’t Let Go: Baby Boomers Still Working, Not Selling Homes – Business Insider (See below – 80% of those age 65 and up are no longer working, and just 12% are still working full time. See Search Results for “boomers home” – Coldstreams – for data.)
- Boomers and Their Consequences – American Reformer “Baby Boomers have brought little good and much woe.” (Other than the strongest economy and lowest poverty levels in the history of the world, the invention of the Internet, a life of modern luxury and travel, etc … other than that, what have the “boomers” ever done for us?)
- Reflections on What I Heard About Boomers at an Academic Summit — Minding The Campus “Gen X, Millennials (my cohort), Gen Z, and Gen Alpha have been handed a country in tatters.” Gen X, millennials and X inherited the greatest prosperity in US, history, the best educated group ever, and a collapse in poverty levels, low unemployment, mortgage rates below the long-term average, and an explosion in a life of luxury and global travel. The data proves this.
And then this: “in the late 1960s, then more sharply in the 1970s with the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the oil crisis of 1973, and the stock crash of 1973–74, the Boomers in power turned to the one lever they could still pull: borrowing” – most of the “boomers” who were supposedly creating the oil crisis and stock crash by the early 1970s, could not vote – the minimum age to vote in the U.S. was 21 to July of 1971, when it was lowered to 18. Until 1971, only the oldest “Boomers” born in 1950 or earlier could have voted. The next month, the U.S. abandoned the Bretton Woods gold standard. The youngest members of “Boomers” were 7 years old. Author Jared Gould is devoid of critical thinking skills. His “analysis” should be referring to The Greatest Generation, which was the generation in power in the ’50s and ’60s and could actually vote. Instead, Jared Gould, apparently a moron, blames children who could not vote. - Die, Boomer! Die! – American Reformer “he opens with a pivotal scar for the Boomers: the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.” (Some of this “generation” have not even been born yet and half are young children who don’t follow the news – but JFK’s assassination left them with a “pivotal scar” – really?)
- 8 outdated habits boomers mistake for “common sense” that actually just annoy everyone else – VegOut – “Refusing to adapt to new technology” – I have a BS in computer science, an MS in software engineering, a thesis on Android power management, I use AI every day, do CAD and 3D printing, I have a pilot’s license, an amateur radio license, drones and even a 14 foot homemade hovercraft – I build stuff with Arduino. In my career, I invented many products that today we take for granted. Literally, I invented some of the tech that writer and chef Adam Kelton takes for granted. But okay, I’m out of touch with tech! I am out of touch on tech merely because of my arbitrary age group membership! Fortunately, writer and chef Kelton is up on tech!
“I once overheard an older diner make fun of a plant-based menu, saying, “What’s next, air burgers?” – Adam, you know that per the 2023 Gallup survey, 4% of Americans are vegetarian, 1% are vegan, and this is down from 6% and 2%, 18 years ago. Up to half of self-described vegetarians admit to eating fish or meat periodically. See I ate vegetarian for 4 years (2020-2024). Unfortunately, I became seriously ill from vitamin B-12 deficiency, potentially threatening my life.
Surely, Kelton, as a chef, understands the small market reality of the vegan restaurant business and health consequences of not eating meat. Surely, as an expert on the elderly, he knows that as we get older, we absorb less B-12 from the foods we eat that do contain B-12 (which is almost exclusively meat products). And surely, he understands that it is only because of modern food technology, processing and transportation that people can consider vegetarian eating, year-round, throughout the entire world?
There is no well sourced estimate on how many vegan/vegetarian restaurants go out of business within 5 years, but it is believed to be higher than the industry as a whole. Once the novelty passed, repeat business declines. Many vegan/vegetarian restaurants remaining have switched to “flexitarian” – meaning they serve vegan, vegetarian and meat dishes. Yet hard core vegans have organized protests to shut down those restaurants too: Popular vegan restaurant chain closes after angry customers mercilessly attacked it for putting meat on the menu - 12 phrases your Boomer parents still use that belong in another decade – VegOut (Written by Adam Kelton, who spends a lot of his time bashing elders.)
- 7 conversations boomers keep bringing up that make their adult kids quietly lose it – VegOut (Another piece of nonsense from VegOut)
- The U.S. housing market is ‘starved’ for affordability: Boomers edge millennials and Gen Z out of homeownership in record numbers | Fortune (See Search Results for “boomers home” – Coldstreams)
- Baby Boomers Hang On: Working Longer, Not Downsizing Homes – South Florida Reporter (See Search Results for “boomers home” – Coldstreams) (As posted elsewhere on this blog, this is, in fact, false. In 2000, about 93% of the elderly lived in their own home or that of a family member. In 2025, this is estimated at 94%. A 1 percentile increase in 25 years!)
- Why should we have to downsize?’: How boomers became the victim generation (Here in the U.S., those age 65+ are already living in smaller homes – see chart at end of this post.)
- 15 quirky boomer habits that frustrate millennials to the core – Upworthy
- Reeves Budget: Pensioners Have UK and Europe in an Economic Death Grip – Bloomberg
- Are Boomers Really Retiring — or Just Getting Started? 42% of those age 60-65 have already left the workforce. https://coldstreams.com/?p=55573 The median retirement age in the U.S. is age 62 – meaning that 50% of workers have retired by age 62.
The oldest members of the “baby boom generation” are, in 2025, 79 years old – about 80% of those age 65 on are no longer working – and 40% of the 20% are working part time. Thus, just 12% of those age 65+ are still working full time, and this declines to 5% by age 70. Most of those working full time are in professions – like medicine or law or academic professors.
Yet we get this media journalism’ish: “Far from stepping aside, many continue to work, volunteer, and even launch new ventures….Younger workers often feel blocked from leadership opportunities or priced out of the housing market, where boomers remain dominant.” which paints a virtually non-existent picture of reality.
The media is run by and full of idiots who have no concern for truth.
For a diferent perspective: Opinion | Stop Blaming Boomers, and Do Something – The New York Times
The data shows those age 65+ are already living in smaller homes.
