Re the Comment piece “Baby boomers, your privileged time is up” (Opinion, November 21).
Kim Johnstone’s comment piece is nothing short of insulting.
As a child of the 50’s I have never been privileged. I grew up in a working class suburb and was educated through the great sacrifice of my parents. What educational scholarships helped in my education I earned through study, discipline and hard work. I had holiday jobs to provide for my own clothes and entertainment.
I worked for 32 years, paid taxes and contributed to my superannuation all those years even when my salary was low. When I had saved enough money for a deposit for a home, I entered the real estate market when interest rates were 11% and grew to 18%.
To furnish my home in the beginning I bought second-hand furniture, and had to make do for several years. In short, what I have now I worked damned hard for.
Should Baby Boomers be condemned for installing running water and sewerage in homes? After all, we all benefit from these improvements. Are Baby Boomers to be criticised for progressing the economic and social development of this country?
And who says we don’t care about issues such as the environment, refugees, climate change, homelessness,housing and other contemporary issues. I do!
Maybe Kim Johnstone should do her research more carefully and even TALK to Baby Boomers instead of insulting them with accusations of greed and self-interest.
And maybe the Millennials should take a leaf out of my Dad’s book. He said "If you can’t afford to pay cash for something (eg televisions) you save up until you can."
Colleen Boyd, Loftus
Good grief! Millennials run the risk of being the biggest wingers of all time. Everyone's life is tough between the ages of 25-35. That's when all the hard work is done with jobs, mortgages and kids. Times are changing but we had as many challenges as the next generation.
Born in 1969 we too had constantly rising house prices, high interest rates peaking at 17%, numerous major stock market crashes, a recession and the GFC, higher unemployment rates and global instability. So do your best and get on with it.
Cathy
I was sad to read Kim Johnstone’s comments regarding Baby Boomers. Her view of ‘the group I belong to’ is superior to ‘the group you belong to’ serves no purpose. I am a baby boomer. It is true I have had many advantages during my years. There were disadvantages as well. As an example, neither credit cards nor disposable income existed.
Hubby and I had an ironing board as our table, had no phone and did not own a TV for our first seven years. We lived with the disadvantages and embraced the advantages. The result of my parents growing up during the depression was high mortality rates, frugal lifestyle but stronger community connection. They too lived with the good and bad of their time.
Millennials are disadvantaged in several areas and reap benefits in others.
We are all on the same team. We all face the issue of our deteriorating planet, it is our common goals which unite us and make us stronger and call us to action.
Mary Ashton
I read with interest , or disgust, Ms Johnstone’s Opinion article.
I have a question.... What research avenues does Ms. Johnstone use? To claim that "Baby Boomers are the luckiest generation for various reasons, plus have never seen World Wars or Depression conditions" is typical of the attitude of someone of her age bracket.
Millenials being the poor hard done by generation due to Baby Boomers.
I am a Baby Boomer at 68 years of age so Ms. Johnstone, consider the following for our age period: 1). Vietnam War, 2) Conscription, 3) 17.5% home Loan Interest Rates, when average weekly wage was $90 per week gross. 4). House prices Cheap? Not when you consider those earnings.
Baby Boomers also had to contend with mental issues of many of their parents as a result of war trauma, with no support, only a statement of "It’s over. Go and forget what you have seen and get on with your life".
I am getting fed up with the attitude of people who have no appreciation of what Baby Boomers faced, only look at where they are today. Seems funny that the harder Baby Boomers worked the luckier they got.
There are plenty of Millenials out there who have a much better appreciation of the Baby Boomers than Ms Johnstone and appreciate that Baby Boomers also do care about the environment.
My father and many of his close relatives served in WWII and he, and they, would be disgusted in attitudes such as Ms Johnstone’s, as they set things in place for their children and the country, as are Baby Boomers.
I bet the Millenials won’t whinge when the inheritance benefits come through from their parent’s estates.
Geoff Thorpe, Loftus
Kim Johnstone you are misguided. I do not think we were privileged at all.
Most of us left school after year 10 and started working when we were 15 or 16. It was usually only the rich kids that got a university education. Families of 4 or 6 kids were common. When we bought our first homes we usually had sheets on the windows and second-hand furniture till we could afford something better. We did not have compulsory superannuation or paid maternity leave (unless you worked for the government) and baby bonuses and paternity leave were unheard of. If generation X and Y did not spend so much on eating out and going to pubs they could get on the property ladder - you don’t have to invest in Sydney. But I agree we did live in the best of times, before terrorism.
Christina, Heathcote
K Johnstone has called the “Baby Boomers”, “the greediest generation in Australian history”. Does she feel this way towards her own parents? Why is she putting all her eggs in the one basket? My husband went straight from school to uni, obtained a cadetship, and worked b....y hard all his adult life and still does so at 69. No body has given him a thing. Both of us worked hard and because of this, we will be self-funded when he eventually retires. We have never had handouts from the government in any form. I hope you realise your words are quite wrong. Not all your so called “baby boomers” have been greedy. We have just done what is considered the right and necessary thing to do for our families and our country.
Christine Lindner, Illawong
