Boomers Didn’t Ruin Everything. Really.

About this episode

The episode challenges the narrative that baby boomers are solely responsible for economic disparities, highlighting the complexities of wealth distribution and policy impacts.

The popular narrative is that baby boomers rode cheap houses and 401(k)s to wealth, dismantled the welfare state behind them, and left everyone else to fight over scraps. But conflating boomers and conservatives lets the latter off the hook for 25 years of tax cuts and disinvestment in children. It erases the Black boomers, poor boomers, and pensionless workers who never got a slice of that wealth. And it lays the groundwork for the one policy outcome its loudest advocates actually want: gutting Social Security. Who really benefits when you decide your parents' generation is the enemy? Support Optimist Economy by donating: https://optimisteconomy.com Video clips are on the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠ . Follow us on Instagram at ⁠⁠ @optimist_economy or TikTok at ⁠⁠ @optimist_economy . Or meet other Optimists on our Substack chat . Optimist merch provides great utility: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy Send your economic questions, concerns, or executive orders to optimist.economy@gmail.com

People in this episode

Hosts: Kathryn Anne Edwards, Robin Rauzi

Topics covered

• baby boomers
• wealth inequality
• tax cuts
• Social Security
• welfare state
• economic policy

Keywords

• boomers
• wealth
• tax cuts
• Social Security
• economic inequality
• welfare state
• disinvestment

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Optimist Economy, Social Security

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