Brickbats for boomers in awful article

ruggedtoast

Its this article in the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/26/fair-older-people-better-off-young

I hate this article.

The comments are much better, heres a selection of some all copied and pasted together, I havent especially searched for the best ones:

Timak
26 June 2012 7:07PM
My parents and my aunt and uncle have all recently retired. 3 were teachers and one worked in insurance.

They all retired by 60 and taking home between £20k and £40k each in index linked final salary pensions.

The houses they bought as teachers are now out of the reach of anyone but £100k a year earners and they got free university.

I don't begrudge them these benefits but it is taking the !!!! to say they have earned it when my generation have worked just as hard for nowhere near the rewards.

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Link engagebrain
26 June 2012 7:07PM
How has the economic debate come to be framed as a choice between screwing the young or screwing the retired ?
An obvious alternative is to squeeze a little more out of the main beneficiaries of 21st century liberal economics, those whose combination of talent, luck, contacts and national infrastructure has brought them serious wealth. But they have just had their income tax rate reduced. Then there are the tax cheats and the tax evaders and the non domiciled workers who fly from their tax havens in on Monday and fly out on a Tuesday without having spend a day in the UK, at least for tax purposes.
But meanwhile we weigh up the pros and cons of further screwing the young, already fairly well screwed with university fees, house prices and unemployment, or the retired on, by European standards, low pensions.

Lets close down a few tax havens - and get something back for our expenditure on the armed forces.

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Link chunkylimey
26 June 2012 7:08PM
The simple truth is that the older generation DID NOT pay for they pensions. They paid for the pensions of the retirees at their age. They were selfish and didn't invest for the future and now expect the younger generation to carry more than their fair share.

The Baby Boomers have been the most parasitic selfish generation. They should pay more tax; get less pension and to be honest judging by their disgusting self interest probably lose the vote as well. The best thing anyone under 50 could do is refuse to work until the system is balanced so that it is fair.

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Link SoundMoney
26 June 2012 7:11PM
I retired early (I'm 58) and cost nobody anything: I and my family live on what I set aside when I was working in a well-paid career.

Of course I'm better off than I was in my youth.

But no, I really don't need a free bus pass in a year and a bit. Or a winter fuel allowance. Means testing is not that hard: we can it seems apply it when deciding to cut child benefit from the better off.

There are 11 million pensioners in the UK and I suspect a good number of them would live quite comfortably without these universal benefits if the money were needed for some more deserving cause. And there seem to be plenty of those causes around at the moment.

I fear we are letting the Daily Mail headline writers determine government policy on this one.

The comments are good, very good.

Mr._Pricklepants

It's a very sad society where just being old, having done well and wishing to enjoy a well deserved old age in relative comfort is being labeled as legalised theft (as someone commented)

The only blame that can be laid at the boomers' feet is raising a generation of spineless wussies with a bloated sense of entitlement.

FTBFun

I agree - the first thing I do when trying to make up my mind is listen to people who comment on newspaper articles.

Rinoa

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Its this article in the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/26/fair-older-people-better-off-young

I hate this article.

The comments are much better, heres a selection of some all copied and pasted together, I havent especially searched for the best ones:



The comments are good, very good.

They're all 30 something guardian readers. So comments not exactly surprising.

ILW

I don't get it, most of the "kids" of friends of mine have bought houses or flats in the last few years in their late twenties or early thirties. This is South London. Guess they are just the types which get on with things rather than constantly whinging.

the_flying_pig

to be fair it's only the 'comment is free' section, i.e. a glorified blog.

as such it hasn't been subject to any editorial scrutiny or whatever.

the author doesn't appear to be even casually acquainted with the basics of constructing an argument, which is very poor given her seeming credentials. it reads a bit like something tapped out on a smartphone on the train home after a boozy dinner.

although it doesn't say so i assume that the messages are:

1 - there's no question about who should cover the cost of carehomes. taxpayers in all instances; and
2 - of course even very rich pensioners shoudl get the full suite of state pensions, & benefits.

ho hum.

ruggedtoast

Rinoa wrote: »

They're all 30 something guardian readers. So comments not exactly surprising.

So the opinions of thousands of people on a national newspaper site arent valid, whereas the opinions of a dozen or so hardline boomers on this site are?

Rinoa

ruggedtoast wrote: »

So the opinions of thousands of people on a national newspaper site arent valid, whereas the opinions of a dozen or so hardline boomers on this site are?

This comment received 625 recommendations:

The Baby Boomers have been the most parasitic selfish generation.

Which tells you everything you need to know about Guardian readers.

Graham_Devon

Rinoa wrote: »

This comment received 625 recommendations:



Which tells you everything you need to know about Guardian readers.

Or, it tells you ther is a serious and growing divide in the country. One that could do damage to the country as a whole.

Maybe it tell syou this is worth looking at seriously, rather than prentending it's everyone elses problem?

ukcarper

I don't see that divide but if you and the others feel so strongly about it perhaps you should form a political party and try and do something about. But I suspect the vast majority of the younger generation do not blame boomers in general for the position we now find ourselves in.

Rinoa

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Or, it tells you ther is a serious and growing divide in the country. One that could do damage to the country as a whole.

It tells me a lot of ill educated people are attacking older people simply because some of them (and a lot aren't) are comfortably off.

Do you really want to encourage this? What damage will be done to the country when older people living in bugalows on nice estates start having their windows put through.