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The Loneliest Generation: Americans, More Than Ever, Are Aging Alone (WSJ)
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It seems petty to be bigoted against somebody because of the time period they were born in. I think it's an issue that instead of wanting everybody to be better off he would rather just have them be worse off.
It's why I'm so thankful I have three great kids and a wife. Not to mention a sister and large family I see all the time. I can't imagine being alone all the time.
Stuff like this seems worrying but at the same time I have no desire to raise a kid and even less to get in a relationship with someone just so I might not be lonely decades from now
Like I said, I just take it as them targeting those that did this.
It's not like it's a small subsection of Baby Boomers. From the owners of companies, to labor leaders, to voters, and leaders. Baby Boomers had overwhelming control over U.S for decades... only now are they losing majority voting bloc to millennials and because they are dying.
I do want to reiterate for those that dont see my first post, that I think that post was unnecessary for the topic. I just understand the ire that poster is demonstrating towards a generation that ruined a lot of things and blame the youngins anyways. People tend to speak in generalities when impassioned, though it can be dangerous.
It is pretty if a person thinks people should be thrown to the wolves just because they were terrible to others, barring extreme circumstances.
Well that's entirely your decision to put your career above friends, family and relationships though.
i know hispanics families tend to stick together but wonder if after a couple of generations it will be the same for the majority. many millenials are still living with their parents so maybe the stigma of moving out no matter your financial situation is gonna go away.
I'm not sure it's fair to say they all don't understand. Regardless, it's not the point of the OP, and is honestly a different discussion. The consequences of this trend may be most observable with the Boomers right now, but it's coming for generation X, Y (millennials), etc. I've already told people I know that I can easily see a future for myself where I'm stuck/alone.
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Amazing how everyone proceeds to denigrate this guy but you hear the exact same sentiment or worse in "millenial struggle" or Trump threads and no one bats an eye.
The hypocrisy is real.
This guy gets it.
i get this. yours is a very personal reason as to why you'd feel this way towards your mother. i'm sorry you went through what you did. i guess my question was more towards someone wanting to despise their parents just based on being of the boomer age at all.
I wonder if the internet is something that helps me cope with loneliness or the thing causing it. Like if I decide to stop using the internet tomorrow, will that be enough of a motivation to try and go out and do something with myself, instead of browsing ERA and watching youtube videos about videogames. Kind of off-topic sorry
How do you know how much of that is a choice on his part? I'm making the "choice" to work 50-60 hours a week when I only have to work 40, but I don't have the choice of needing to work that much to make decent money and save up for things I need.
Anyways, as for the Boomers, they kind of made their own bed. As far as I can tell they started the trend of dumping their parents into nursing homes, and their children watched and learned.
what if we as society stopped shaming people for wanting or enjoying being single and being childless.
But also fuck most boomer for being selfish pricks and scorching the our schools and infrastructure to gain the wealth they did.
But also fuck most boomer for being selfish pricks and scorching the our schools and infrastructure to gain the wealth they did.
I do get where you are coming from, the boomers fucked it all up.
However, while the boomers as a group hogged the wealth for themselves and screwed it up for future generations there are of course also a lot of boomers for whom life just didn't work out.
I had an uncle that passed from supposed loneliness- the actual cause of death was a heart attack, he was in his mid-fourties)- I also know of an elderly man that died 6 months after his wife passed; I guess he was lonely and heartbroken afterward, he couldn't recover.
It really is a killer, take care. I'm lucky I got a big family
It really is a killer, take care. I'm lucky I got a big family
I don't want kids so I guess I'm intentionally planning my own downfall. /S.
There are other ways of social interaction beyond having a spouse and children. You could even get a roommate at older ages.
There are other ways of social interaction beyond having a spouse and children. You could even get a roommate at older ages.
I'm genuinely concerned for my father if my mother dies. I feel it's much more likely that my dad will die first (he's got some health issues), but he's much more attached to my mother than the other way around and has kind of a co-dependency problem, and everyone just kinda knows that he'd fall into a deep depression if he were suddenly alone. I'd seriously give him maybe six months if my mom died. None of my siblings nor I are in any position to be able to live with/care for them and won't be any time soon.
I'm cynical enough to believe that, over time, we're increasingly going to see more industries focus on selling panaceas for loneliness-- movies, TV shows, books, games, etc that try to make you feel like you're not alone, when in fact you are.
Perhaps we should take a lesson from the Okinawans and start forming moais. ...Hmm, but then someone's going to create a Moai Finder app that just works like Facebook, and we'll be back to where we started.
Perhaps we should take a lesson from the Okinawans and start forming moais. ...Hmm, but then someone's going to create a Moai Finder app that just works like Facebook, and we'll be back to where we started.
The fuck??? Every boomer alive is a piece of shit??
Kind lf crap is this
Me neither.
I dream of staying home from work by myself and gaming all day.
When it does happen......I dont like it. Hell My baby girl is 3, I usually keep her home with me lol.
I cant be alone. Ive told my wife I need to die first. I cant do it.
Especially as I get older. My wife is my lifeblood. Kids will grow up and move away. I hate being alone and luckily I never have been
Its true , especially as men get older.
Call it sexist or whatever but men as we age get dependant on our SO. We try and act tough but we arent. Many times when the wife dies and they are older 60+ the men are not long behind. We csnt handle it.
Women are just stronger that way. Women keep the family together and thus if the man dies the women are able to live longer because they still have a duty to the family but men just break down alot.
I need my wife amd im not afraid to admit it. I may be atlas trying to hold the world up but my wife is the world and without her Id be lost
Who said alone and lonely are the same thing?
I'm alone but I'm never lonely as I've always got things to do.
Those always going to parties, having lots social events to attend..those are the people the shrink should worry about being lonely. These are the people that will freak out if they don't receive any text in a single day
I'm alone but I'm never lonely as I've always got things to do.
Those always going to parties, having lots social events to attend..those are the people the shrink should worry about being lonely. These are the people that will freak out if they don't receive any text in a single day
The eventual passing of my remaining parent keeps me up at night as well.
I hope you find more life for yourself out there bro, if you want to.
This thread has me all sorts of fucked up. Need to call my grandparents and parents more.
There are some family members where I question why they're still together when they seem like they despise each other.
Hang on to your friends, too. Gonna be more work to keep those relationships going after you're 30, but it'll be worth it.
It's not just America. This is a major problem in Japan as well, especially with their aging population. The shrinking nuclear family is a phenomenon everywhere.
I don't think it's just based on age, it was just a (likely overly broad) generalization.
I will say, based on personal experience in Indiana, almost every single (white) Boomer I've ever interacted with was a real nasty piece of shit, with some seriously fucked up/toxic/antisocial views and values. That includes the vast majority of my own family. Again, the original post I think was overly generalized and unneeded in this exact topic, but I get what the poster was getting at. There's a very severe pile of cultural issues pervasive in Boomer aged people. It's not just a few bad apples, but obviously it's not all of their faults either.
I don't think we'll have this issue to be honest. Saying this assumes that everything will remain the same socially and technologically which simply isn't possible given what we've seen in the last decade alone.
I think they (the nerds) will come up with other forms of companionship that won't really require human interaction. They're already giving the elderly robot dogs and babies. The baby boomers are just caught in this lull where all of these things are now becoming a reality but aren't widely accessible.
Man, if only people as smart as you and I had been born in the 50s! Never mind that corporations, media, the government, and religion were all telling them lies that lead to a lot of the beliefs and policies that defined the 20th century. It seems like you have the slightly arrogant belief that you'd be part of the exceptional few we can look back to and say "well, they had it right".
I can't wait until I'm old and youngsters are blaming me for all the shit that's wrong in the 2060s
Aren't you a millennial? They're already blaming you for their tepid real estate investment growth, failing small businesses and eating too much avocado toast. There's an industry dedicated to it.
Oh and before they died the decided to kick us in the nuts twice, once with Brexit:
And again with Trump:
We'll be cleaning up behind them long after they're dead.
Oh and before they died the decided to kick us in the nuts twice, once with Brexit:
And again with Trump:
We'll be cleaning up behind them long after they're dead.
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Gen Xer's here (well, my wife is more an earlier millennial I guess). We really don't feel that way at all, even as child free types that moved for our jobs. All that money saved from not having kids will buy years in a luxury home in old age with activities and social events to make new friends there etc. Once you're bedridden, if you get to that point, it is what it is as that's just going to be lonely. Neither of us would want people coming and visiting us out of pity then anyway as it's boring as hell to sit next to someone bedridden for more than occasional visits.
Hell, my parents (baby boomers) have always been clear they never wanted any of us kids taking care of them if they got to that point and saved plenty for that type of home if they end up in that kind of shape. So it's not just kids failing to take care of old parents, lots of parents--at least in the US--find the idea of being cared for by their adult children as abhorrent. Especially in the upper middle class and above.
This too. Nursing homes are just viewed less negatively by some cultures than others for sure. It's not such a norm for kids to take care of aging parents in some cultures like the US--especially in the middle class and above.
Money plays a huge role too as there's a big difference between nice facilities for people with decent money and the worst of the worst for lower income elderly people who can barely afford any facility.
I think it's hyprocitical when people who don't like all the complaining about milennials are now complaining about baby boomers.
It's disturbing that so many people in the west believe that being alone means you'll end up being lonely.
If you've made it through your life without understanding that the only person who can make you happy is you, then you really haven't learned very much. Happiness absolutely exists within you. It can't be found in other people.
If you've made it through your life without understanding that the only person who can make you happy is you, then you really haven't learned very much. Happiness absolutely exists within you. It can't be found in other people.
This can be true to a point, but to state it as strongly as you did goes against mountains of evidence that social ties are vital to mental and even physical health.