Okay, Boomers and Baby Boomers: we’re turning the tables on you — you’re the reason why we’re living in a hellhole right now. If it weren’t for your dated values and submissiveness, then we’d probably be living in a better world.
Well first off, how about we start with the fact that most of the leaders in the world are either from the Boomer Generation or from Gen X, the sneaky little generation who precedes millennials but are also to blame? Some of the powerful men ruling right now include United States’ Donald Trump, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and of course, the Philippines’ He-Who-Must-Be-Named (literally, because of the Anti-Terror Bill). What do they all have in common besides the fact that they’re men? They are all part of your generation.
If you live in one of those countries I mentioned and you do support your leader, then you really have no right to think lowly of the other ones. One is not better than the other, and trying to play that game is like deciding between eating cat piss or horse manure for lunch.
They shove their old-fashioned values down our throats where it’s actually become questionable if their decisions were actually made using a brain. And unfortunately, this has led to more chaos than anything. The only response they know are ad-hominem attacks, underhanded diversion tactics, and violence. All this while suppressing the voices of the minorities, critics, and dissenters.
There was this really heartbreaking Twitter video that I couldn’t finish because it hit too close to home. It shows a girl named Marissa, who couldn’t hold back her crying because her mother kept on telling her that it was hopeless to protest, and that she couldn’t change the world. Do you really think we’d want to spend our time fighting for basic human rights, when they should have been given to everyone in the first place? This is just one of many instances that shows how people from your generation are hammering us with the idea that we should just sit down and eat our food. Our idealism is being scoffed at for being unrealistic when history has shown that what we’re asking for is within reach.
As a Filipino, I actually don’t know where you get the audacity to tell me that collective action is useless when the most important we literally overthrew a dictator as a nation. Look, I get that for most of y’all, it’s your maternal instinct kicking in. You tell us these things because you’re looking out for us. But why not try a softer approach that doesn’t involve destroying what’s little left of our hope? Sometimes, whether or you hate it or not, we actually have a point. And speaking of…
The #HijaAko hashtag trended in the Philippines due to a controversy where 19-year old Frankie Pangilinan, or Kakie for short, spoke against an ill-advised, now-deleted Facebook post by the national police that told women to wear less revealing clothes unless they want to be raped. Kakie fought back by accurately saying that rapists should be to blame for rape, and not the survivors. Of course, heterosexual male boomer Ben Tulfo tells Kakie that she doesn’t know what she’s saying, as he condescendingly calls her hija: a term older Filipinos use to refer to a little girl.
Unfortunately, this is one of the annoying problems that we zoomers face every day. You don’t seem to treat us seriously just because we’re younger than you, and I say this as a working adult who has already graduated college. Sometimes, older people look at me and think that I’m crazy for opposing them even if I do bring up valid points. This is most likely a trait predominant in Asian families, but I can’t get one rebuttal in without being told that I’m fighting back (sumasagot ka na ngayon?). Like, no. I’m merely disagreeing with you and telling you why. Let me speak!
If there’s one thing I’ve learned though, it’s that when a boomer resorts to using age as an excuse to end the argument, it means you have won 💁♂️
Please retire the line of thinking that the way your generation perceives the world is how everybody else does too. The “issues” you regarded as taboo during your time are most likely just normal for us now. Just take a look at the shows being broadcasted in your television and streaming platforms, then you’ll see what I mean.
It’s normal for homosexuals to be in a public relationship. It’s normal for women to get abortions. It’s normal for teenagers to have sex. It’s normal for women to raise a baby by herself. It’s normal for people to smoke. It’s normal to get into open relationships. It’s normal to be atheist. It’s normal to get into an interracial relationship. It’s normal. And the only people making them abnormal is you!
The only reason why they get depressed is because of judgmental and pretentious members of society who think that their morals and virtues are spotless. If you’re a Catholic or a Christian, then even better! Can you stop using Bible verses to rationalize your hateful behavior? You’re not much different from the people who partook in Jesus’ suffering. Here’s a reality check for you: God told His people not to use His name in vain, which in simple terms, means that you should not use God in arguments to justify actions and words that go against His teachings of love.
Stop dragging God’s name through the mud, ya weirdo. I went to a Jesuit high school for twelve years, so I think I know what I’m talking about.
So I know my tone wasn’t particularly friendly here, but I grew up in an environment where I was discouraged to speak up. Regardless, I still do not feel comfortable saying my opinion in front of boomers and baby boomers, because time and time again, they wouldn’t listen. And that’s all I want you to do: listen. It just so happens that most of you don’t listen when we say it calmly.
If your kid or student isn’t telling you these things, then it’s probably because you’ve groomed them into submissive, obedient members of society. Is that something you should be proud of? I don’t know. But if the world is still alive (no thanks to climate change) in forty years, I don’t want my grandchildren thinking that we just went with the status quo.
And to all my fellow Gen Z folks & zoomers reading this, I hope you become better than me and continue standing your ground.
Featured Image: Alev Takil on Unsplash
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