OK, Millennial, It's Time To Register To Vote In Hitherto Unseen Numbers!

It turns out that launching memes against a different generation, like the young sprats did with 'OK, Boomer' last year, is vastly easier than putting your own generational house in order.  That includes tossing your hat into the ring and getting politically involved-  thereby demonstrating you have the spunk,  moxie and insight to go to the mat when it counts.  That time is now, as we face the most critical election (and political crisis)  in U.S. history.  The question on everyone's mind is: 'What are the youthful potential voters going to do about it?'  

Are they going to sit back, pout, and express dismay at the candidate choice (in Joe Biden) and not vote, or even register? Or will they come to their senses and grasp that their own lives and futures are as much on the line as the rest of ours? And hence, we simply cannot afford the luxury of demanding some nebulous emotional rapport with a candidate before one deigns to cast a ballot.  Especially if the only option to take down Trump is to verily put on our big boy pants and VOTE - for Biden!  The issue then is existential, and I'd wager, especially for the millennial and Gen Z contingent.

The issue of millennial 'bad breaks' and likely hard futures came up in Gerald Seib's recent column - 'Young Voters Catch Another Bad Break', WSJ, April 21, p. A4).  Seib noted how the young fell into a terrible bit of back luck with "the worst recession since the Great Depression"  - which prevented having any chance getting the jobs originally promised. Not to mention being "loaded with student debt because the system encouraged you to do that." 

All of which is true, as well as dashing any hopes of buying a car, buying a house or having children along the way.  Yep, that sucks, big time! But as I see it, the youngsters have two choices: 1) Throw themselves a big pity party on how life and terrible luck dealt them a lousy hand, or 2) Get up and start fighting for a better future. And btw, that must be one in which the monster Trump is gone, if you are to have any remote chance at all. 

Hence, we in the older generations issue the challenge:  'OK, Millennial!'  

So what is the main way to start fighting back, owning your pain but vowing to do better?  Well, it starts with registering to vote, and then actually going out to vote for the coming November 3 election.  And for Joe Biden, not the moral reprobate Trump! Here's a first clue: staying home is not an option and neither is voting a 3rd party candidate,  especially as Justin Amash has graciously bowed  out.

What is disturbing so far is the lack of evident younger generation energy and  participation in the primaries.  As I wrote in my March 11 post:

"The lack of interest of the Young also contributed to Bernie's demise as he himself put it last night

"Let me tell you the bad news, to be honest with you, young people vote at much lower rates than older people. That is the facts. I hope all of the old people vote, that’s great, but I want young people to vote at the same rates.”

So what happened to all the young voters, the Millennials and Gen Z's who were supposed to turn out?  Well, they clearly believed the effort wasn't worth their time or energy, or perhaps there were too many hurdles - such as obtaining the  right IDs to be able to vote.  But what most of us (older voters) don't want to hear now is any more whining from the young uns about their student debt, oldsters getting all the benefits,  having to move back in with mom and dad, and so on.  

 But  if you don't vote, don't participate, you don't get to complain - or say "OK, Boomer."

A highly disturbing observation of Seib's regarding potential  youthful voters is the following:

"Before the coronavirus hit, the shocks millennials already had endured had left them feeling 'somewhat detached from the political system' says Democratic pollster Celinda Lake".

By contrast, despite the fact that Boomers in the 1960s endured the shocks of three major political assassinations (JFK, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr.) and the Vietnam War, we became more energized politically and registered to vote. 

Seib goes on (ibid.):

"Indeed, a report by the GQR  polling organization prepared early this year for NextGen America found that a majority of voters under the age of 35 were 'unenthusaistic' about voting in 2020.  Adding: 'A Basic dislike of politics keeps many from voting."

This is well nigh unbelievable to most Boomers, many of whom actually participated as "Freedom Riders" in the mid-60s:  going by rental bus into Klan-infested areas of Mississippi and Alabama to register black voters at great risk to themselves.   So to now learn that a major segment of the young voting block is "turned off" and "unenthusiastic" just doesn't cut it. It reeks of weakness or at least lack of any resilience.   In the more generous latter case, it echoes what I wrote in my November post 'OK, Boomer', quoting college psychologist Linda Bips:

"Many of today’s students lack resilience and at the first sign of difficulty are unable to summon strategies to cope. The hardship can be a failing grade on a test, a cut from the team, or a romantic  breakup. At the first sign of trouble many become unable to function and persevere. Often they even anticipate difficulties and their anxiety alone paralyzes them."

For his part, Seib recognizes that if the young demographic could awaken from their stupor and inertia (or lack of resilience) they could well be a force to be reckoned with, as he writes:

"If they do show to vote, it's clear they will be a force for the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden."

Pointing out that in a WSJ- NBC poll the young voters favored Biden over Trump by a "whopping 23 point margin". 

But that only translates into power if the votes are actually cast. Mere responses to polls don't count.   Millennials  now have a chance to show us Boomers they are much more than mere mouth, chutzpah and catchy memes. Also, that they have the resilience and pluck to stand up and be counted as genuine citizens as opposed to whiners, wimps and losers.  Besides, a generation seeking to change its fortunes - say reducing mounting student loan debt and having government work for you not against you - means voting. Not staying on the sidelines because you "dislike" politics.   As Democratic Pollster Celinda Lake told Seib:

"You can't see a big role for government if you don't take part in picking the government."

And as I wrote in my November, 'Ok, Boomer' post:

"Want to convince me you've "flipped the script"?  Then put down the cell phones and project your power in the real world. "

Projecting power now in this real world, means getting to the polls on Nov. 3rd (or using mail in ballots if that choice is available) and  playing a role in getting rid of Trump. Because if that doesn't happen, the pain and shocks Millennials experience now will be like a day at the beach compared to what will be in your future - hell, all our futures.

Sitting this election out is not an option. Voting for the Democratic candidate offers the chance to show the younger generations have finally become adults.

See Also:

2020 Elections | Donald Trump

Mission Imperative: Come November, Trump Must Go

by Michael Winship | May 13, 2020 - 5:50am | permalink

Excerpt:

"There must be one mission above all, one goal supreme: Vote this monster out of the White House. And along with him, tow to the nearest dump the clown car of malefactors who gave him license to cripple our republic.

Donald Trump’s defeat and the defeat of those in Congress who have enabled him with nary a word of protest are Priorities Number 1 through 100. Focus. Don’t be diverted by ideological hairsplitting and intraparty squabbling. Drive this creature and his army of creeps, leeches and miscreants back to the wet market from which they came."

Bernie's Primary Setbacks Show 'Muricans Aren't Ready For Socialism

Bernie campaigning in Michigan yesterday.

Trump made it clear from the opening bell of this 2020 primary campaign that he relished Sen. Bernie Sanders as his Dem opponent and would use his socialism against him.  I believe the fear of this among huge swaths of Democratic voters is what mainly led to Bernie Sanders' drubbing in at least 4 states yesterday, including Michigan,  which he desperately needed.  That drubbing has now given Joe Biden effectively an insurmountable lead no matter what transpires in the Dem debate Sunday.

Why would so many millions of voters fear that Trump would succeed in trashing Bernie to a far thee well? Mainly because Trump is a clown, an entertainer who thrives on roping in victims to daily episodes of his "Trump show".  In such shows - thanks to a clueless media (that pays him way too much respect) - he is usually able to paint targets in whatever way he desires and essentially converts them into political pinatas.  This is what he'd do to Bernie, because most Americans are totally, seriously ignorant about democratic socialism. 

Add that to the fact he'd have an eager capitalist propaganda machine (such as FOX News, but also mainstream pundits) doing his work for him and we know Bernie wouldn't  stand a chance.  And it wouldn't even necessarily be to paint Bernie as a commie socialist. Recall, for example, a majority of Americans are so desperately ignorant they still think Hitler's national socialism is a true form of socialism like the democratic socialism of Bernie. Hence back in 2010 Tea baggers portrayed Elaine Kagan as a raving Hitlerite National Socialist when she was being considered by Obama for a Supreme Court position, e.g.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

And who can forget how even mainstream pundits and cartoonists have come after socialism, i.e.

So this is the sort of crap Sen. Sanders would face in any presidential campaign vs. Trump.  (And why, if he had any chance of winning, he'd have to use TV ads similar to what Bill Maher imaginatively developed for his Real Time audience,  e.g.

https://lastnighton.com/2020/02/03/bill-maher-new-rule-democrats/

The fake ad, "There will be mud" was televised along with Maher's  advice that the Ds needed to play as dirty as the Reeps.  The fake ad itself included a terrific deep fake of the fat slug Trump in an imitation of what we envisage the notorious pee tape to be like.  Yeah, Sanders would need to use lots of ads like this if he had any chance to beat the Dotard.  He'd need to prove that having Trump again was vastly worse than having a democratic socialist.

But as I've pointed out in previous posts, what Bernie calls democratic socialism (for him) is actually closer to "Rhine Capitalism".  This is a market economy  but with high taxes and large redistribution component.  Indeed this is what most of those branded "Reds" by the Right, including Bernie  and AOC, aspire to, as opposed to outright democratic socialism.  (Which I embrace). To this end they have suggested using the tax commons to support such things as single payer health care, which the present system can't allow based as it is on Pareto capitalism, see e.g.

Brane Space: Is the U.S. Economic System Pareto-Compromised?

  

In truth,  a primary litmus test for whether U.S.  citizens are anywhere near actual democratic socialism would be their degree of happiness. We already know from The World Happiness Report ('Americans are becoming more miserable and data backs it up', Denver Post, p. 8A, March 24, 2019) the U.S. places at No. 17, down 6 places (probably coinciding with Trump's ascension).  Meanwhile, the Scandinavian nations that top the happiness list all practice democratic socialism - a point about which  even the great Oprah had to be educated.  See e.g.

Oprah got perfect response from Danish woman  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5izFoyZkTI

 What is instructive to see in this video is the transformation of Winfrey's visage to one near panic and disbelief, before the women straighten her out on socialism, and the more relaxed, rational countenance after.  Oprah appeared to have a mental readjustment in the wake of her brief  interview, but sadly such  an awakening would not apply to most Americans.  They've been conditioned by the Right's PR tanks to be virulently anti-tax and also suffer from the rampant commie paranoia and hysteria that's existed since the 1950s and McCarthy's "UnAmerican" activities crusade.  I've dealt with this in previous posts, e.g.

Skewering 'Muricans' Myths About "Commies"

Also, taking away their existing health insurance and replacing it with something they have no idea of (Medicare for All) would not have worked. 

The lack of interest of the Young also contributed to Bernie's demise as he himself put it last night:

"Let me tell you the bad news, to be honest with you, young people vote at much lower rates than older people. That is the facts. I hope all of the old people vote, that’s great, but I want young people to vote at the same rates.”

And further, as we learned from a post election NY Times article::

"Through Tuesday’s voting, his theory of the election has not proven true. The surge of new voters in the Democratic primaries has featured mostly older people, moderate suburbanites and African-Americans disinclined to support his campaign."

So what happened to all the young voters, the Millennials and Gen Z's who were supposed to turn out?  Well, they clearly believed the effort wasn't worth their time or energy, or perhaps there were too many hurdles - such as obtaining the  right IDs to be able to vote.  But what most of us (older voters) don't want to hear now is any more whining (whigning?) from the young uns about their student debt, oldsters getting all the benefits, and so on.  If you don't vote, don't participate, you don't get to complain - or say "OK, Boomer."

But maybe most of the young  were also not as enamored of socialism as Bernie led us to believe.  Or,  in  the most  benign take, maybe they believe Bernie is simply too old to be its standard bearer.

See  Also:

2020 Elections | Bernie Sanders | Joe Biden

Biden and Bernie, the Democrats' Binary Choice for Our Future

And:

Bill Blum

2020 Elections | Joe Biden

The Democratic Party Surrenders to Nostalgia

And:

2020 Elections | Bernie Sanders

'In a Dark Time, the Eye Begins to See': The 2020 Bernie Campaign Represents a Fight That Must Continue

• Biden tells gun nut that he’s 'full of shit.' America (objectively) agrees 

And:

2020 Elections | Joe Biden

Blowing in the Whirlwind: As Ye Sow, Joe Shall Ye Reap

Excerpt:

"So yes, I think it’s very possible for Biden to beat Trump. Because for so many people, it doesn’t matter what Biden says or doesn’t say, how incoherent he is, how many outright lies he tells, how atrocious his record is or how diligently he is serving the domineering elites who have blighted our society to such a degree. It doesn't matter that he has made it clear that he is not going to do anything about climate change, student debt, the healthcare crisis, rampant militarism, police brutality, economic injustice, low pay, ICE, and on and on. What matters that he is a fresh screen where our most unworthy fears and unrealistic hopes can be projected, for a time; where we can forget, for a time, the massive disasters that are looming ahead and pretend that things can somehow go back to “normal.”

With Dem Moderates United & The Youth Vote "AWOL" - No One Should Be Surprised By Biden's "Lazarus" - like Rise

Recall in my February 25th post, I'd written:

"Third Way Pooh- Bah (Jonathan Cowan) recently put it:  "The moderate wing needs to consolidate support behind a single moderate candidate, and quickly.  By April it's too late."

But have they? Hell no!

If they did the basic math they'd see - from their respective numbers, percentages - they are continuing to divide their moderate vote thereby enabling Bernie to have a free ride (in one single lane) to the D-nomination.  So, as they whine about Bernie's alleged threats they really are doing nothing to stop him given they are not allowing any one centrist standard bearer to take over.  Each is too prideful and egoistic to bow out, especially the low rankers like Amy Klobuchar, to really enable a DNC-brand moderate to prevail."

Well, the day before Super Tuesday and after Joe Biden's South Carolina win (after getting a critical endorsement from Rep. Jim Clyburn) all the afterthought moderate Dem candidates got the sense they were born with. They realized if they didn't finally bow out of the race and leave Biden as the lone moderate hope, Bernie would not be stopped.  Once Klobuchar, Buttigieg and Steyer left their votes had to go somewhere, and they went to Biden.  Hence, the huge Super Tuesday night for Joe.

Also helping him, and hurting Bernie, is the youth vote (the Millennials et al), did not turn out as they had in previous cycles.  This was reported last night by Intercept journalist Mehdi Hasan (on 'All In') and also by Rachel Maddow, in the course of her excellent interview with Sanders.    See e.g.

The reason for the lack of youthful turnout is troubling as well as incomprehensible.  This is given the young who are quick to chant "Ok, Boomer!" have a lot more to lose than us Boomers by failing to vote. As I had written in my November 18th post:

"Pew Research reports consistently that only 10 percent of likely voters are under 30.  Do you really want to change things so your agenda is dealt with and not ignored? Then you need to triple or quadruple that performance.

 Yet this is the age demographic most adversely affected by a plurality of federal resources being spent on seniors. So what exactly do these under 30s  (e.g. Millennials)  expect when the political class feels it can write them off each year as non-serious threats?

The voting percentages are even worse in the off year elections, which are often as important as general elections. The reason is that House seats are often up for grabs and it is in the House that budgets are made and where economic winners and losers determined. In the 2010 election, for example, barely 16% of 18-24 years olds voted compared to 28 % in 2008. 

My point is that if you really want to impress me and other Boomers, don't invoke a dumb meme and then wear it out. Get your butts out to vote - in every election- and change your lot in life by pushing the political class to recognize you instead of ignoring you.  Even more impressive, put down your cell phones and the incessant, vacuous search for 'likes'  and cut out the social media -instagram blabber.  Instead,  emulate the Parkland students' style of activism and maybe even voter enrollment instead. "

Have the young on whom Bernie depends done that? Evidently not in the Super Tuesday states, according to stats delivered by Mehdi Hasan and Rachel Maddow last night - from exit polls.  Also as we read in today's NY Times ( 'How Huge Voter Turnout Eluded Bernie Sanders On Super Tuesday')

"In state after state, there has been little evidence — at least outside California — that he has generated higher turnout among young voters. And though he has promised to deliver record turnout, it may in fact be Mr. Biden who is accomplishing that, lifted by his strong support among black voters.


In Texas, where Mr. Biden prevailed over Mr. Sanders, only 15 percent of voters were younger than 30, and nearly two-thirds were 45 or older, according to exit polls. ..  In no state did people younger than 30 account for more than 20 percent of the electorate, based on exit polls, and in most states they accounted for 15 percent or less.  Because so few young people voted, it did not matter that Mr. Sanders won them by huge margins, because Mr. Biden won the much more plentiful older voters."

 So maybe these youngsters - more invested in their smart phone texting than voting -are ok with the status quo of monstrous student loan debt,  marginal health care options and more attention to Boomers than to their own issues. But see,  the Boomers get out and vote in every election,  they don't slack off like these young, social media addicts. So politicos know they can't afford to ignore them or they get voted out.   

As for Bernie, with Bloomberg now backing Trump with his endorsement and money, there is little doubt unless he gets that youth vote turnout in the next 6 states he isn't going to get the nomination.  Especially if he's behind in delegates at the final bell in the Super Tuesday vote count. (California could still decide it).. The reason is that a  runnerup, even a few delegates behind, has a herculean task overtaking the front runner - because of only getting fractions of delegates in each subsequent primary. 

The question remaining is whether Biden can really beat Trump.  After all, he's not really been vetted under real heat from one opponent. A real vetting would be in the form of a head to head debate between Biden and Bernie early next week - before the next set of primaries. So voters can really see what they are getting.  In the meantime, Rachel Maddow had best resign herself she isn't going to get a one on one interview with Joe, like she had with Sanders last night.  

It might expose more weaknesses than his campaign team wants. Oh yeah, the DOW bounced back up yesterday on the Biden results. Businesses, investors had earlier been "petrified" of a Sanders' presidency  and what executive orders he might issue or policy changes.   But watch for markets to tank today, as the supply side threat of COVID-19 returns to take precedence in investor consciousness.

See also:

2020 Elections

The Super Tuesday Narrative

And:

2020 Elections | Bernie Sanders | Joe Biden

After Super Tuesday, Bernie Must Go All Out to Make the Case for Biden's Unelectability

And:

2020 Elections | Bernie Sanders | Elizabeth Warren

The Answer: Warren Ends Her Campaign and Sanders Makes Her His VP Choice

And:

2020 Elections | Joe Biden | Republicans

It's Going to Be Hillary's Emails All over Again

Excerpt:

"Being of unoriginal mind but keenly exploitative of whatever maliciousness worked before, congressional Republicans are now set on recreating Hillary Clinton's nonexistent email scandal in the evil-clown form of nonexistent Biden scandals.

They'll hold public hearings to humiliate and badger, issue subpoenas to intimidate and bankrupt, employ hundreds of fanged shysters to play Roy Cohn; and all the while their corrupt but unaccountable president will strong-arm the FBI to conduct illicit political investigations into Biden's innocent activities — the dark and phony proceedings of which will leak daily via the White House."

"OK, Boomer!" Really? Why This Laughable Meme Is Going Nowhere Beyond The Instagram-Twitter Bubble

Here we go again. Time to pound on the Baby Boomers, this time by an apparent "alliance" of twerps consisting of Millennials, Gen Z losers ("Zeds") , and other younger generation malcontents who feel compelled to blame Baby Boomers for their lot in life or state of the world. According to the relevant Denver Post op-ed (Perspective, Nov. 10. p.1D) by one Molly Roberts.

Okay, we know that in the era of Trump and his retinue of enabling, sycophantic Repukes the fetish of grievance and victimhood has attained new heights. One beheld it on 'Fox & Friends Weekend' yesterday a.m. as a trio of caterwauling muppets cried their eyes out at Adam Schiff appearing before California Dems in Long Beach on Saturday and vowing to "send the charlatan back to his golden throne".  "How he could he say that?" They whined in unison. "Isn't he supposed to be above partisanship as head of the House Intel committee?"  

Give me a break. What are you losers, crybabies or journalists?

Given the Reeps will always wear the victim and grievance badge, but one expects the younger generations to rise above that and in particular, cease conflating all Boomers and blaming an entire generation for their ills.

Anyway, Roberts informs us that "OK, Boomer" has now become the all purpose comeback or retort anytime a perceived Boomer offers a criticism, e.g. "your grandpa tells you kids these days have lost all sense of civility for yelling at Ellen Degeneres for going to a football game with George W. Bush"

As Roberts puts it (ibid.):

"It's glib. It's short, and its's not at all sweet but 'OK, Boomer' also reveals something about each of today's generations.  So does the response they wrought."

Fair enough, but again let's be clear that despite the media's laziness it is not okay to conflate entire generations, particularly one like the Boomers that's been singled out for opprobrium far more than any other.

How did the meme originate?    Well, we learn: "the mainstreaming of the meme was making its way onto $36 Redbubble style sweatshirts sold by entrepreneurial 17 -year olds."

The meme evidently then caught fire because a conservative talk radio host (Bob Lonsberry) took to the internet to publicly pout and - instead of ignoring the (then) minor memetic insult - whined that "boomer  was the n-word of ageism".   Well hey, I never said conservos were not whiners and wimps, did I?  After all they're the ones driving the GOP grievance, victimhood mission against impeachment.

In any case, the response of the right wing radio jock  Lonsberry circulated, went viral, and "OK, Boomer" was born. Again, spawned on the back end reaction to a 3rd rate conservative talk show host.

Roberts goes on to inform us:

"Millennials have allied with Gen Z and managed to vitiate the meme in the process by basically, overdoing it.  'OK, Boomer' was fun and funny, so we said it about a million times on Twitter in the space of one day, and now it has become unfunny and lame.  That's appropriate too for a generation that supposedly kills every good thing."

But, of course, as one Denver Post letter writer (Susan Cummings),  responding to the piece in yesterday's paper noted (Perspective, p. 3D)::

"Boomers created the internet, the personal computer,  synthetic skin, the artificial heart and the cell phone so beloved by the young- all of which are taken for granted. Being a Boomer is an honor. We protested for peace, the environment, the end of the Berlin Wall, LGBTQ rights, animal rights, etc. At this point, all a Boomer can say is, 'OK, Kid".

Another letter writer (Douglas Croot) sounded off (ibid.):

"Being universally dismissive and surly is probably not the surest path to the success and fulfillment you seek,"

So it's a bit off to say - or even suppose- that  the Boomers "killed every good thing" especially given "recycling and composting programs around the nation were started at the demand of Baby Boomers, same for fuel efficient cars" (Letter from Mandell S. Winter Jr.).

Then the kicker from the 'OK, Boomer' author:

"It makes sense that millennials are taking up arms with our Gen  Z comrades-  because we're the ones who've been maligned the most for the sin of our birth years."

In fact it's not the "sin of your birth years"  but your indolence and insufferable lack of pluck especially (for millennials) in getting your asses out to vote and away from the tiny screens!  What we're all about then is the evident lack of independence, autonomy, and resilience i.e. that most of us had to develop very quickly given there was next to zero hand -holding from parents.   As one commenter put it, in response to my March 16, 2017 post excoriating Bruce Cannon Gibney and his anti-Boomer book:

"Most of us were raised by people with massive and undiagnosed PTSD from WW2. Mr Gibney has no concept of how much those people scraped up their lives and bravely had children and encouraged them to be better, and no, most of us, did not have a golden ticket."

The generational differences in autonomy and resilience are most evident in the younger generations' dealing with the  environments of college and political representation (namely lackadaisical voting patterns for the Millennial brigade). 

Hara Estroff Marano, the author of A Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting,  put the issue in a nutshell in the case of the first:

"But in a real sense, students don't really leave their parents behind. Their parents go to college right along with them — in their front pockets. That is, the parents are a speed dial away by cellphone. And the evidence is clear that students call parents and parents call students at an alarmingly frequent rate. This, of course, significantly reduces independence.

A student gets a C on her first paper? Instead of absorbing the negative information and figuring out how to resolve the problem or how to do better, the call gets made to home, where Mom or Dad solves the problem, often by calling the school administration. This kind of behavior is, sadly, commonplace today and is a mark of the lack of coping skills among students because all the lumps and bumps have been taken out of life for them until now."

Protect the precious little dears so they undergo a minimum of pain or travail. Keep them in an artificial cocoon to sustain their dependence as long as possible. Don't allow them to have to negotiate their way in an unfamiliar college environment.  God forbid!

This take has also been confirmed by Linda Bips, a college psychologist:

"Many of today’s students lack resilience and at the first sign of difficulty are unable to summon strategies to cope. The hardship can be a failing grade on a test, a cut from the team, or a romantic  breakup. At the first sign of trouble many become unable to function and persevere. Often they even anticipate difficulties and their anxiety alone paralyzes them."

She then goes on to point out just how many incoming college students are on "meds" and writes:

"The number of students who arrive at college already medicated for unwanted emotions has increased dramatically in the past 10 years. We, as a society, don’t want to “feel” anything unpleasant and we certainly don’t want our children to “suffer.”

As Prof. Bips also observes:

 "The resulting problem is that by not experiencing negative emotions, one does not learn the necessary skills to tolerate and negotiate adversity.

The preceding observations are relevant if we (older Boomers especially)  are expected to take the young rebels' snark and memetic impudence seriously.  Particularly after Ms. Roberts writes:

"OK, Boomer' flips the script and is now telling old people that they're the one who don't  get it, and this 'despite countless chances to learn'"

But if she (and the OK, Boomer contingent) expect us to take that ""flipped script"   seriously - and not howl with laughter-  how about proving it. Showing us you have some moxie by being independent and not texting mommy and daddy every minute while at university, or expecting them to run interference with your college instructors. 

In the 60s, in our college days then, we took our lumps like the adults we one day wanted to be - whether from our profs or fellow students (including for 'Hell Week' orientation). The lumps taken helped us build character, personal authenticity (not just being part of a crowd) as well as reinforced critical thinking skills, i.e. when we engaged in sometimes animated 'bull sessions' in the dorms..

So the issue is not decrying Gen Zs or Millennials as "profligate"  or being "basement dwellers" but rather the consistent failure to evince pluck and autonomy,   to project their own authentic power and exercise it - whether in university or the political arena. You may be a "basement dweller" but (if a Millennial) you can still vote, and in so doing affect the arc of your life and that of your generation.

What one would like to see- certainly in my Boomer demographic - is more of the "OK, Boomer" lot not merely churning out snarky memes but emulating the courageous Parkland students, like David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez. and Delaney Tarr.  They not only mounted a credible and effective move for more gun control in Florida after the Feb. 14, 2018 Parkland massacre, but actively went out to sign up young prospective voters.  What are the rest of you doing? Will you even vote next year?

I ask this because it turns out that seniors, e.g. Boomers,  are the most reliable voters with nearly 70 percent counted on to cast ballots as in the 2020 election. Compare that to the 18-24 year demographic  who've only exceeded a 40 percent turnout twice since 1996. Pew Research reports consistently that only 10 percent of likely voters are under 30.  Do you really want to change things so your agenda is dealt with and not ignored? Then you need to triple or quadruple that performance.

 Yet this is the age demographic most adversely affected by a plurality of federal resources being spent on seniors. So what exactly do these under 30s  (e.g. Millennials)  expect when the political class feels it can write them off each year as non-serious threats?

The voting percentages are even worse in the off year elections, which are often as important as general elections. The reason is that House seats are often up for grabs and it is in the House that budgets are made and where economic winners and losers determined. In the 2010 election, for example, barely 16% of 18-24 years olds voted compared to 28 % in 2008. 

My point is that if you really want to impress me and other Boomers, don't invoke a dumb meme and then wear it out. Get your butts out to vote - in every election- and change your lot in life by pushing the political class to recognize you instead of ignoring you.  Even more impressive, put down your cell phones and the incessant, vacuous search for 'likes'  and cut out the social media -instagram blabber.  Instead,  emulate the Parkland students' style of activism and maybe even voter enrollment instead. 

Thus, we want to see action - again, voting is a start- as opposed to reading this malarkey from Roberts:

"'OK, Boomer' indicts not an individual but an entire generation, or entire generation's attitude- and it does so with two words dripping with dismissal. "

Adding:

 "OK, Boomer sends the message that grown-ups have screwed up  totally, and are veering so speedily into irrelevance that convincing them of anything is a waste of keyboard characters."

But you don't get to be "dismissive" unless and until you make your own marks on the world, and not merely as petulant victims of older generations' perceived attitudes.  As Post letter writer Mandell Winter Jr. went on to point out (ibid.)

"The dismissive 'OK, Boomer' is the same as saying the classic, disrespectful  'whatever' - when you don't have a constructive response.  

Not happy with the world you got? Neither were we. So start fixing it and stop blaming."

Want to convince me you've "flipped the script"?  Then put down the cell phones and project your power in the real world.  Tired of all the "long endless Middle east wars"? Then take to the streets and protest like we did against the Vietnam war, playing a huge role in its more rapid ending. Do more than we did in our era and I will grant that you've truly "flipped the script".

 In other words, start acting more like the Parkland students in the wake of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas school massacre, and not like the grievance -filled twerps who spawned the 'OK, Boomer' meme misfire.

See also:

• Another Clueless Dimwit - Bruce Cannon Gibney - ...