Boomers, Blame, And The Price Of A House

A 66-year-old baby boomer, up late with a drink and a cigar on a South Florida patio, asks the question sitting under a lot of family dinners and comment sections: why do so many younger adults seem to resent boomers so intensely? We don’t tiptoe around it. We get into the raw emotions behind generational conflict, the fear that retirement programs like Social Security and Medicare could become political targets, and what it feels like to watch your entire generation turned into a meme-shaped villain online. 

From there, the conversation drills into the usual charges: boomers won’t babysit, boomers chased cruises and comfort, boomers fueled consumerism, and boomers “stole” affordable housing. We challenge the clean narratives and talk about incentives, responsibility, and the long arc of homeownership. We also talk about lifestyle choices that are more common now such as renting longer, traveling more, delaying marriage and kids and how those choices can be joyful and valid while still changing the math on buying a home in a high-rent, high-down-payment market. 

We also wrestle with culture shifts that are harder to quantify: the decline of the nuclear family, changing expectations of commitment, and what gets gained or lost when stability stops being the default goal. And we end with one place where boomers may genuinely share the blame: pushing college as the only path, helping create a student loan debt crisis while too many grads struggle to connect degrees to income. 

If you’ve ever argued about boomers vs Gen Z, housing affordability, student debt, or the meaning of “paying your dues,” this one will spark a reaction. Subscribe for more, share this with someone who’ll disagree, and leave a review with your take: what do older and younger generations realistically owe each other?

Transcript

A Late-Night Boomer Reflection

SPEAKER_00 0:02

So here I am, baby boomer, 66 years old. It's 1130 at night, Sunday night, Memorial Day is tomorrow. I got a Southern come from Manhattan, big old Stogie, sitting on my patio, South Florida, in the breeze, looking out over the water, feeling good, feeling fine. I made it. I did it. Right? Born in 60. 2026. I'm still standing, man. I'm still standing. But there's one thing that gnaws at me. And I don't know if it gnaws at you too. If you were born around the same time I was. First of all, I don't give a shit about a lot of stuff anymore. I couldn't care less about gays, transgenders, freaking uh rap. I just I don't care. I don't care what people think of me. This isn't the gift of age. You know, you just don't give a shit. When you were a kid, it was all about that you dressed right, belong to the same. The good crowd. We're cool, we're in the in crowd. The old song, I'm in with the out crowd. Well, everybody really wanted to be in with the in crowd. And it's universal when you're a teener, a teenager. So I'm sitting here tonight, nothing bugging me. I'm worried about, you know, friggin' Medicare. I'm worried about these gen, whatever ZY accidents. Anybody younger than me, I'm worried that they will cut Social Security that I've paid into for uh 50 years. I'm

Why The Resentment Feels Personal

SPEAKER_00 2:05

worried that they won't take care of me because they're so friggin' pissed off at us. And I'm trying to figure out why. I can't put my finger on it. So I watch it a lot of YouTube. I haven't really read a book on it, but I watch these younger people talk about us. And they talk with hate and vitriol. And they blame us for everything that's not right with their lives. And I think to myself, you know, I'm a pretty good guy. I really don't hate anybody, don't go out of my way to hurt people. I'm not sure what the fucking problem is. So I do a little research, I tune in, watch these dudes on YouTube, and it comes down to this weird kind of shit. It's like, why won't my baby boomer grandparents babysit my kids? They're out on cruises. I got three kids. Why aren't they babysitting them? Okay, I guess that would piss me off, but I didn't babysit my grandkids either. I did when I had to, but you know, it wasn't my thing. It w it wasn't my obligation. I mean, shit, you need a ride to the hospital, you need a kidney, you need some money, I'm here. But I'm living my life. And then it comes down to that we were the ultimate consumerism. We white flighted out of the city to the burbs. We bought up all the houses, all the homes when they were cheap, and now these kids can't afford homes because we're hanging on to them. Fuck it, they're paying off. Why would I cut the price of my home? You know, I'm living here. I like it. And I'm well aware that every generation has a beef with the generation ahead of them. I mean, it's it goes back in time. To the beginning of time. You know, I mean, really. But this now with social media is just so blown out of proportion and so unexpected and so difficult to get to the root of.

Babysitting, Housing, And Consumer Blame

SPEAKER_00 5:20

But I gotta tell you guys, I gotta tell you, these freaking kids hate us, man. They hate us. We were the ultimate consumers. We built up debt. We built up the national debt. I guess we kind of did. I mean it's still going on. But I guess we built up the national debt that, you know, they're gonna have to pay and we're paying for now. But we didn't do it buying fucking jaguars and Cadillacs. We built it up with Medicaid, Medicare. Well, Medicare is ours, yeah. We need that. Uh with social welfare programs. Stuff that happened in the forties and the early 60s. But there was a transition that happened with kids born in the eighties to late-era baby boomer parents.

Marriage, Family Breakdown, And Tradeoffs

SPEAKER_00 6:45

And the transition went something like this. The nuclear family started to break down. Now you can go whatever way you want to go with this, and my opinion may be based on the culture and the era and the time that I was brought up in. Oh, this is bullshit. It's it's just good to have a mother, father, and kid. It's better than having a single mother or a guy with three kids with three women. Our way was better. Mother, father, kid. I mean, it didn't always work out, but economically uh it worked out for the kids. It it made sense. I mean, we are human beings are one of the few species, even a higher level species, uh uh mammals, uh were one of the few that bond for life. And I wonder sometimes this this marriage, this bond for life, is it artificial? Did we invent it? But really we were made to be like the friggin' uh, you know, the uh the lion that just prowls the jungle and screws every lioness he can find, and it leaves him and sometimes eats the kids, the cubs, you know, to cut down on the competition when the kid grows up. And it might be artificial that we landed on this monogamy thing. But sometimes shit just works better. So these young kids, they don't marry. I got married young, twenty-five, and in my day twenty-five was old to get married. Yeah, people were starting to think I was gay because I didn't get married, because I was hanging at my dad's house, you know, and um all my friends were married, and it didn't always work out. But marriage now is really not that big of a deal. It's like it doesn't happen, you know. It's like under 50% of people over the age of 20, 25 are single, and a lot of the mothers are single raising their kids with an absentee dad or a part-time dad, or you know, no dad at all. And that's gotta suck, man. I mean, it's gotta suck. You know? First of all, you don't have the income of the dad, and a lot of women make a lot more money than men now, are a lot more educated than men. I don't even want to exit off into the whole idea of the uh male frailty that I see in younger generations, but you know, it's there. It's there, man. So I see a lot of kids. When I say kids, I'm talking about 30, 40 years old, you know. I see a lot of them that they like to um get careers, and then they like to travel, and they rent, and they travel the world. And I look at kids in my family. I'm just gonna say, you know, my daughter, several of her friends all who are not married, don't have kids, don't want kids. And they have a great life, man. They're educated, you know, MBA levels, you know, PhD, doctorates, BAs, whatever. A lot of them are doing all right. And when it comes down to Pusher Shub, they're in Costa Rica. They ain't in the maternity ward. They ain't in the champ or getting married.

Travel Culture Versus Buying A Home

SPEAKER_00 11:41

So I had a talk with a young woman, friend of mine that I know, who wanted to buy a home, who made good money, and she was telling me that she just can't afford a home unless she really stretches it. And I said, Well, I couldn't afford a home when I was 25. When I was 25, I married a woman with a kid, and within a year she was pregnant, I had another kid. I got a mortgage, I got car payments, utility. I got, you know, I got every day is fear. Every day is a struggle. I'm praying to God. I'm on I'm in churches on my knees praying that I can make the next mortgage payment. It ain't easy, right? It ain't easy. Last thing I'm doing is going to friggin' Costa Rica, right? It's a pipe dream. So I said to this young lady, I said, look, it you gotta make a choice. Cut out the travel. And she doesn't live exorbitantly or flamboyantly or waste money. But Italy, Portugal, Costa Rica, Paris, all within the last 18 months. Great, man. I wish I could have done it. I hope I can do it. Yeah, to this day I still hope I can do it. But she said, I gotta, you know, I want to buy a house. I'm sick of paying $2,500 a month for a rental. And I think that there is some uh financial security in owning a home. And I said, Yeah, there is. There really is. But you're having the time of your life. Do you really want to settle down, cut grass, rake leaves, shovel snow, fix the water heater, tank? And I didn't hear back from her, but apparently the answer is no because right now she is in New Zealand. So, you know, you made your choice, and that's alright. But then don't come back to me and blame me that you can't afford my friggin' house. Alright. It ain't my fault, and I'm not blaming you for having the time of your life. And renting might be a good strategy for you. But God darn it. That ain't my fault. And as for me, I'll never see New Zealand. No regrets. What I did see was the becoming of a boy growing into a man because he had a mortgage and kids and had to stand on his own two feet. I hope this doesn't sound like an indictment. I'm not calling them lazy. I'm not saying that they're coddled. I'm just saying we paid our dues, man. We paid our dues to get what we got. You know? We raised these kids. We worked hard to do this. And we gave up a lot. And so if my younger friends want to choose a much funner, broader life where they see the world, eh, go ahead. Do it. I wish I could have. Do it. And love every minute of it.

Work Ethic, Pride, And Not Apologizing

SPEAKER_00 16:18

I'm 66. Things are breaking down, right? My wife's got cancer. My parents are sick. You know, I'm doing good and everything. But yeah, do it while you're young. But don't come to me and say, I'll never own a home because baby boomers won't cut the price and are hanging on to their shit. And they are the ultimate consumers that built up all this debt. Listen, man, I'm gonna tell you something right now. Ultimate consumers, we did not invent the Kardashians. We didn't invent Paris Hilton. We didn't invent that shit. We wore t-shirts and jeans, man. We were anti-consumerism. You know, m my biggest worry at thirty and forty years old was how am I gonna pay back my student loans? How am I gonna um start a business? How am I gonna raise a family, make sure they go to college? How am I gonna make sure I can take care of everybody? And Mr. and Miss 30, 40-year-old, your biggest concern is am I gonna get an aisle seat on my trip to friggin' Berlin? So take your trip, man. Have your fun. It's great. I love it. I wish I could have done it. But I am so glad that I had these children in my life. And there is just something about having a two-year-old kid in the bathtub singing songs and playing with rubber duckies that just doesn't compare to Amsterdam. Right? So I got no problem with you, Gen Z, Y, whatever they, you know. I got no problem with you. But don't blame me. Don't blame us. You made a choice. And it's tough out there, man. It's tough out there, guys. We didn't get merit badges for showing up. Right? I did anything I could for a job. Anything. I shoveled snow, cut grass, worked in uh cement, steel plants. I sold tuxedos over the phone. I walked door to door selling cable TV for seven years to pay for my college after I went to school. I'm no friggin' hero. I'm just telling you, don't complain to me how hard it is for you to come up with uh $100,000 for a down payment on a house. You can do it. Cut out the lattes. Cut out the shit. God, I sound so bitter. I'm really not. I got what I got because I earned it. And I plan on keeping it. And I'm nobody scapegoat.

Aging Fears And Self-Reliance

SPEAKER_00 20:32

But I fear for us, baby boomers. I fear for us. Because these kids, young adults, resent us. And we're gonna die off. And we're gonna be the minority. Oh, that sounds horrible. The minority. There's gonna be a lot more younger kids than there are older people. And we have to rely on them to take care of us. And I don't know if they're gonna do it, but I'm talking money away. So I can make sure I can do it for myself. And I wish y'all a great life. See the world. Do things that I would have loved to have done, but couldn't because I chose to raise a family. And I don't know who won or lost in the happiness game of that whole scenario. But motherfucker. Don't bitch at me. Because your rent's too high.

College Debt And Career Choices

SPEAKER_00 22:03

I'll tell you one thing. One thing I do know that we fucked up. We've told all our kids to go to college. And now these kids got the student debt like crazy. And they get a frigging degree in like uh philosophy. I mean, what are you gonna do with that shit, right? I knew one thing when I was a kid. I got into college, I said, I gotta do something that can make money right away. Right away. And I wound up becoming a doctor because I like money. And I was able to pay off my student debt really quickly. Like 20 years. And um, these kids, if you get a friggin' degree in the sociology of European knitting needles, you're fucked, man. You're fucked. And you owe 80 grand to whatever school you learn in, you're fucked, man. You made some bad decisions. Go where the money is, listen to the boomers. We went for the money. Go for the money. Find a good man, find a good woman. Commit yourself to something in your life. Commit yourself to somebody or something. Take a few years. Have your fun. Come home. Settle down. Put some pressure on yourself. Have a kid. Find a good mate to marry. Save money for as long as you can. And we'll help you. Your parents will help you. Your grandparents, we will help. But we ain't helping you go to friggin' uh San Trope. I'll help you buy a friggin' uh uh single-family home in uh, you know, uh Pittsburgh. But I ain't paying for your flight to uh the Rich Carleton in San Trope. Is that even a place? I don't know. So I'm not sure how this one's gonna fly.

Memorial Day Sign-Off And Gratitude

SPEAKER_00 24:34

But people keep listening. I keep drinking Manhattan's. And uh I keep appreciating the support I get from you guys. I'm John, I'm a baby boomer, proud of it, and y'all have a great Memorial Day.