Baby Boomer defends generation against journalist’s cruel takedown

When it comes to the generational wars, it’s fair to say Baby Boomers have taken their fair share of punches. Whether being made fun of in the media or dealing with ageist attitudes, there’s not much Boomers haven’t heard before.

Now, a 69-year-old woman has come to the defence of Baby Boomers following a scathing article published in British publication the Eastern Daily Press. The cruel takedown, written by journalist Rachel Moore, savaged older members of society and labelled them “selfish” and “entitled”. 

Moore claimed Boomers were rude on the roads and in supermarkets and said they’ve had everything handed to them on a plate. She said she didn’t understand why Boomers were always in a rush at the supermarket when they didn’t have jobs to go to and took offence to them using their free seniors bus pass before declaring they were spoiling things for everyone.

“I know it’s not something they like to be said,” she wrote. “And of course I know they’ve worked hard for what they have. But so does everyone else – I just can’t help feeling that the Baby Boomers were merely lucky enough to be born at the right time to enjoy privileges and leg-ups that no generation after them, or before them, enjoyed.”

She also scolded Boomers, who hold 75 per cent of the UK’s wealth, for enjoying the spoils of life and “spending their kids’ inheritance on cruises, winter holidays and luxury breaks”.

However, Moore was quickly rebutted by reader Harriet Cockell, who submitted a rebuttal letter to the local paper and said she thought the Baby Boomer behaviour described by Moore was “strange”. Writing in defence of her generation, Cockell said the older people she knows are extremely caring, and spend their time looking after small children, driving hospital car services or filling in the gaps left empty by the rest of the society.

She acknowledged that many Boomers benefited from free education and were able to get on the property ladder earlier, but pointed out that life has been far from easy for many in her generation.

Read more: Denise Drysdale’s hilarious interview about being a Baby Boomer

“I also remember life in post war Britain when towns and cities had to be rebuilt, food rationing eventually came to an end and a mobile phone was something beyond anyone’s wildest thought,” she wrote.

“I don’t think I am alone in my relatively modest way of retirement life. I do think that Ms Moore’s article is a cheap and shallow potshot at a generation who will have grown up with a social conscience as part of their DNA.”

Read more: Funny or offensive? ABC millennials take aim at Boomers in ‘comedy’ skit

Do you think Boomers are often targeted by the younger generations? What would you say to those who think Boomers have had it easy?