Generation Z and millennials are always trying to prove themselves to the older generations.
With nothing ever being good enough for baby boomers plus their constant negative energy, it has put a toll on younger generations.
“OK Boomer” has become the rebuttal of choice to snap back at any offensive or judgmental comments made by the older and wiser ones.
On the social media video app, TikTok, a user named linzrinzz posted a split screen video of her reaction to an old man talking about millennials and Gen Z.
“They think that the utopian ideals that they have in their youth, are somehow going to translate into adulthood,” the man said.
After his rant, linzrinzz holds up a sign that reads, “OK BOOMER.”
The expression has appeared in thousands of videos and on clothing as well.
It’s becoming a brand.
There are a lot of things that have changed since the baby boom generation were in our shoes and some of them are having a hard time adjusting.
Politics, climate crisis, unaffordable college tuition and inequality are among the issues that fuel millennials’ and Gen Z’s anger.
The man from the video said millennials and Gen Z have what’s called, “Peter Pan syndrome.” In other words, we never want to grow up.
Baby boomers expect us to be on our own and take full responsibility for the things life throws our way.
Some of us do live an independent life but others might not be ready to give up that childhood fairytale yet.
It all started from baby boomers, handing things to their children and giving them a life they might not have been able to live. This has led millennials and Gen Z to believe that their parents will always be there to support them.
According to a survey from the National Endowment for Financial Education, 59% of baby boomers who are parents are financially supporting their children ages 18-39.
Millenials and Gen Z are more open and willing to express their concerns. They are also more politically aware and tuned in to what is going on because of social media.
“The burden is on us. We have to do what we have to do in order to fix it or the next generation is going to have to fix it or the next, and things will never get resolved,” Kiley Decastro, a former student and millennial, said.
Issues like the climate crisis are falling into our laps now because baby boomers didn’t think it was as crucial years ago. Also things like unaffordable college tuition is making potential undergraduate students second guess a higher education.
Greta Thunberg, an environmental activist, has met with political leaders to tell them what changes need to be made in countries around the world. We are seeing more and more students pay for their own tuition by working while getting an education.
These are ways that millennials and Gen Z are proving baby boomers wrong. Not all of us are lazy and out of touch with reality.
“I think by older people saying these things about us, we might conform to it,” Decastro said. “We already have that stigmatized label.”
We might not be doing everything as quickly as baby boomers would like us to but we are making changes. We’re adjusting to the things that baby boomers refuse to because we don’t want to make it any harder for the generations in the future.
Attacks at other generations aren’t solving the problem, they’re hindering it.
OK, Boomer?
