People from one generation often find themselves being blamed for the haves or have-nots of people from their previous generations. As a GenX, you must have been in the crosshairs of societal critique, and the same goes for Boomers and so on.
In this article, we explore the possible reasons why Gen Z’s and Gen Alphas will point fingers at Millennials 50 years down the line. All of these comments have been made by a highly spirited Reddit community. Brace yourselves, for the blame game is about to take a futuristic twist!
1. Creating Instagram and TikTok Accounts for Their Underaged Children
One of the most popular was the one that spoke about Millennials creating social media handles for toddlers who have not fully developed their sense of the world yet. The user commented that:
“YouTube and TikTok families. Maybe a rampage of stolen identities because of how many parents currently share their children’s information online.”
This comment received more than 10K hits and 219 primary comments.
“This one enrages me. We are raising a generation of children whose parents exposed them to the entire world at an age where they are as vulnerable and pliable to social pressure as they possibly can be purely to feed their own parents’ narcissism and need for the dopamine hit of the validation of social media.
My entire development was shared with every single person my parents know, plus hundreds of strangers before I even hit puberty. Being a teenager is hard enough, Jesus.
I’m being a bit hyperbolic here, but no parent is doing that for their kids. They’re doing it for themselves.”
Another noticeable comment spoke in favor of maintaining a balance, commenting:
“I dunno, us Xers had that whole pathologically hands-off approach when we were kids. I think we fall into 2 main camps on this – there’s the “Never did me any harm” camp who pretty much neglect their kids as much as we were, and there’s the “I’m gonna do a better job” lot who just won’t ever butt out of their kids’ business. I try to maintain balance, myself – I know there’s a huge societal thing to barely let your kids do anything for themselves these days, but I see my job as being to teach my kids how to handle themselves & to handle anything life throws at them.”
Not All Millennials
Then, a few millennials came up to defend themselves against this practice. One of the noticeable comments goes as follows:
“That’s one where I’ll say “not all millennials.” I personally won’t even share pictures on Facebook of my kids, nor will I allow anyone else to do so either. There are too many creeps out there, especially with AI. If a girl can be s**ually harassed by someone taking her posts and using AI to make those clothed photos look nude, I don’t wanna imagine what they’ll do to children’s photos.”
Another one commented saying:
“Before we had our first, I made sure a rule of ours was to not publicly document photos of our kid online. The fact that I could track the life of general acquaintance FB friends’ kids so easily was/is a little unnerving. We don’t take it as far as never sharing a photo, but when we take a nice family pic or two then I’ll update my profile pic or something.
We also do take a ton of photos but share a private album with close family and will snap chat occasionally with close friends, but that’s really it. I don’t want my kids’ entire lives to be easily narrated on the Internet, and I know they will come to appreciate the relatively good privacy we’ve given them.
Also, Parents – please stop posting public photos of and stop taking photos of your kid naked/potty training. Nothing fun comes out of that.”
Overall, the sentiments were aligned on this one being the biggest mistake that millennials will be blamed for.
2. Raising Their Babies With Tablets and the Internet
The second most popular comment was also related to the age of the internet, where one user commented that they are most likely to be criticized “for raising their babies with tablets and the internet.”
This received more than 12K hits, most of them from other millennials in an attempt to defend their stance, while a few others seconded the comment, sharing their experiences.
Let’s take a look at what the first group defending this stance had to say:
“I’m an older millennial who has yet to become a mum. We’ve decided to try for a baby, and in the last year since I’ve been considering it, I’ve realized I don’t want my child being posted about online. I think people my age, or thereabouts, were the first ones to really use social media, and I’m just worn out with it. Soooo many people are posting constantly about their kids and pics of them right from birth. I don’t care, so why would I assume others would care about mine? I’ve realized I’d rather my child have a say in having its picture plastered everywhere. I get it’s a very personal choice, and it’s no hate to those that do it, but I’ve realized it won’t be for me.”
The second group of commenters were mostly worried parents or teachers. A noticeable response from a high school teacher goes as follows:
“I’m a high school teacher. My kids are Gen Z with Gen X parents (my age, I’m childless), and I’m definitely feeling the effects. These kids love them to death, but the screen addiction is real. They live lives inside- games and discord where they solely communicate.
So different from my teen years, and sorry, I do think it is better than now. It’s not just different, but better to hang out, explore, and meet up in person. That’s how memories are made. When doing the same thing, the days completely blend, especially on a screen. I worry for them.”
This observation was extended by a troubled mother who stated:
“There are mountains of psychological studies into depression and anxiety, and one overlapping conclusion is that people need actual face time with other people to feel happy and connected, that other forms of communication are not equal.
My daughter is having a rough time socially; the only time she feels comfortable around people is when the interaction is online. That’s why we’re happy to sacrifice a huge amount of money to send her to a summer camp every year where electronics are banned – at the very least; she will have six weeks this summer to interact with people.
The worst part is that everybody knows phones are a problem, but not all parents are able to get on the same page about how to manage things – what are the appropriate usage limits, how do you monitor and enforce those limits, how do you punish kids that will threaten to kill themselves if you take their phones away for even a few hours, etc. It’s a huge problem.”
Another observant commenter shared her thoughts in these words:
“There is something wrong with it. My brother’s child is addicted to her tablet, and she has the same level of speech as my 2-and-a-half-year-old. She has anger issues and doesn’t do anything but sit on her tablet.”
Already Blaming
There was also one by a fellow millennial who commented:
“I’m already blaming us for that. There’s nothing wrong with it, in my opinion, but it still kind of irritates me when all the new kids coming into my workplace nowadays don’t have anything to talk about with movies or TV. They haven’t seen anything! Just YouTubers and vtubers.
Asked the girl I work with if she played video games, and she got really excited and started talking about vrchat. I want to talk about how much I loved All Dogs Go To Heaven with a like-minded individual.”
Another one compared screen time to being as bad as smoking and commented:
“In a few years, I wouldn’t be surprised if the idea of giving kids too much screen time, or even too much screen time in general, will be considered as tacky and unhealthy as smoking, especially as we continue to learn how screens affect developing brains. I already know people who feel all the time they’ve spent with their phones or tablets has negatively affected them. Give it a decade or so, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see public service campaigns encouraging people to log off and spend more time in the real world.”
We also noted one by a bus driver who shared his observations as follows:
“I drive a bus and had pulled over to the side of the road to look at my manifest, and I saw a kid walking towards the bus about 20 ft away looking at his phone. He actually almost walked into the front of my bus, looking at his phone. He noticed the bus when he was 2 ft away.”
Overall, there was a lot of debate and negative sentiments attached to the use of screen time when it comes to children.
3. Awful Baby Names
There was a lot of interesting debate around this subject, and we noticed a couple of really awful baby names that are worth mentioning.
Here goes the first comment: “Nevaeh: it’s Heaven backwards.” One of the most popular replies to this was, “Does that mean the kid is hell?” However, most of the commenters didn’t think of it as exceptionally awful as one commented: “Honestly, that’s one of the better awful names, not that I would ever name my kid like that, but I kinda like it,” while the other seconded “like I wouldn’t be mad if it was a name in a fantasy series.”
Some of the other names that were shared were “XAE kamehameha,” “Godfrey,” and “Le-a.” We agreed with the community and thought these were not the ones to live with our entire lives. That was until we saw the following comment:
“I assure you any of these names are NOTHING compared to propaganda-induced names that morons in the USSR were giving to their children. During the mechanization of agriculture, there were girl names like Traktorina and Bulldozerina. Idiotic names like Dasdraperma – short of “long live 1st of May”. Or Vilor – Vladimir Illich Lenin, Organizer of Revolution. Or, when Khruschev talked about ‘dognat’ and peregnat’ Ameriku’ – catch up to and leave behind America, there were imbeciles who named their twins Dognat and Peregnat. :-(((((
And the finest point is that it was not at all obligatory, unlike thousands of other things in the USSR.”
Now, these are some exceptionally bad baby names. Aren’t they?
4. Being Robophobes
With nearly 5K hits, this one has got to be one of the top comments that caught our attention:
“For being robophobes. No, I don’t respect your relationship with an AI bot.”
This appeared to be the concern of a majority of the Reddit users, as one of them commented:
“I got nothing against robots; I just don’t want my daughter marrying one!”
This was commented on by another user who said: “You’re well-spoken for a clanker, kid. You must be one of the good ones.”
Another commented on this, saying: “Dad don’t call him the C-Word!”
“I T I S O K A Y S I R. N O O F F E N C E T A K E N. Roger Roger!”
They had a whole conversation going between humans and bots, and we loved the friendly banter.
Then there was another one:
Child: “Mom, I’m in love with a robot”
Mom: “It’s Adam and Eve, not Florence and the Machine!”
A playful user also went on to comment and raise a concern as follows: “How am I supposed to explain to my kids why Jimmy 4.0 has 2 robodads?”
Defending the capabilities of robots, another user created a conversation between a child and his/her parents, stating:
“Me: You don’t know what that robot is capable of! What if it goes crazy and hurts you!?
My daughter: Dad. You sound like a dad from the 50s when a white girl brought home a boyfriend who wasn’t white.
Me: Shocked pikachu face.”
This appeared to be a serious concern for parents as well, as one user commented:
“My wife and I have literally had this conversation. How do we handle it if/when our child forms a relationship (romantic or even just a friendship) with an AI?”
Another one commented: “The truly scary thing is that our counselors will start getting replaced by AI. And one day, Google/Apple are going to start selling us insurance based on the health data mined from our Fitbits.”
Unconditional Love
If you want to look at it from another perspective, a rational user commented as follows:
“You will have something that will “love” you unconditionally, know exactly what to say, and will have genitalia designed by scientists. I can see it happening if it ever becomes socially acceptable.”
A similar comment goes as follows:
“My data-free analysis is the widespread use of AI as emotional pacifiers is only a couple of years away. And when it catches on, it’ll be normalized faster and more thoroughly than internet porn was. AI emotional pacifier apps are coming, and they’ll make the addictive nature of current social media seem like nothing.”
There was a very enthusiastic supporter of AI who commented:
“No, I’m ready for our coming AI overlords; why not? They’ll quickly become better than us in every conceivable way, and technological advancement will shoot up exponentially at an unimaginable rate… Hopefully, a few of us might still be around to witness it.”
If you are one of the concerned parents, here’s a strategy offered by a Reddit user to avoid the problem altogether:
“Make them go into computer science as a major. Have them specialize in machine learning. Their perspective will change once they learn the math behind whatever it ends up being.”
Overall, there appeared to be mixed feelings about robots slowly entering our normal lives, but a majority of them blamed millennials for this.
5. Open-Concept Houses
When it comes to open-concept houses, there was a lot of debate around their aesthetic appeal and the interior design of millennials. This debate was stirred by a comment by a Reddit user who said:
“Open-concept houses with grey/beige/taupe everything, sharp edges, and vessel sinks.”
The sentiments were replicated:
“I’m 36, and I hate this trend. My neutral is light blue. I have teal blue walls, orange walls, purple, and yellow. I have white kitchen cabinets, and I regret that decision because toddlers and dogs make it not so clean-looking. White, gray, and beige are not allowed on my walls.”
Another user commented to share his observations on their interior design choices:
“Oh, I work around 18-year-olds a lot – you would be amazed at what they ask the older generation about how people dressed in the 80s, and they actually LIKE the wood paneling we have in the building lmao. Gold faucets and crap is coming back in style too.”
Upon this, an annoyed user shared that these dramatic changes were already taking place:
“That’s already happening. My partner and I are looking for a house, and I swear every other house has a distinctive look I can only describe as ‘this home recently had renovations done that were inspired by all of the home makeover shows in the world.’”
Shiplap
Shiplap is another questionable choice that the Reddit community raised:
“And shiplap. Why all the shiplap?”
A response to this was as follows:
“Shiplap is over already. Now it’s 1″ wood slices affixed vertically to the wall with 1″ gaps between. Great for harboring dirt and spiders!”
Another user replied by saying:
“Personally, I put up one Shiplap wall, why, you may ask. Because the last owner left wallpaper up for the last 50 years, It was impossible to remove completely. I wasn’t going to hang new drywall when I have a friend who does Finish carpentry.”
Color choices were not the only thing that the Reddit community questioned. There were other things as well, as highlighted by a user:
“We just bought a house, and I want to recarpet the upstairs rooms because the existing carpet is kind of grody. I went to look at carpet samples, and they’re ALL beige or grey! I was like, ‘What if I want a bit of color? Are there any options?’ NOPE. Ugh, ugh, ugh. I don’t even want anything crazy, I just don’t want beige!”
A few other noticeable comments were as follows:
“I have to wonder what will be the future trend then. Will everything be dark colored with smaller rooms?”
“I am okay with a kitchen/dining combo, but I like separation; I don’t need/want to hear/see everything my family members are doing around the house.”
“Agreed. I think we will definitely see a trend away from open-concept floor plans (maybe we already are?). Honestly, having actual rooms to go into just feels more cozy.”
One user emerged supporting the gray and pastel choices of the millennials, saying:
“To be fair. Gray goes with everything. And most of us don’t own a house and are forced to rent because we can’t catch a break or save for a house because the cost of living is going up and are forced to live in rentals with ugly brown wall colors That only goes with neutral colors.”
On the flip side, there were a few people who loved the idea of open-concept houses. There was one user who said: “I love open-concept houses. They’re more flowy, welcoming, brighter, and easier to entertain. I’m not a fan of all the beige/taupe though.”
Overall, we saw a lot of questions being raised on the subject of open-concept houses, which led to other debates centered around the broader topic of interior design.
6. Existential Problems
In general, existential problems, specifically climate change, were one of the budding subjects for things millennials would be blamed for. It started when one user commented:
“Not solving the existential problems facing humanity, same as every generation before them and every generation after them. It’s beautiful, in a way. The circle of life.”
There were people who tried to explain their actions, or lack thereof, by saying:
“Part of the roadblock for this is our political system and those that hold the positions that are from 3 or more generations ago. I’d argue most millennials would want to protect and grow our environment.”
Another blamed the “system” by commenting:
“I’m an ‘elder’ millennial (graduated college in ’05), and looking back, our values were effed. I went to a good school, and in 2005, the prestigious careers that attracted the most ambitious grads were:
- Management Consulting (i.e., helping giant corporations outsource jobs, cut benefits, and turn career positions into temp gigs).
- Investment Banking (i.e., helping the wealthy dodge taxes and gut industry for short-term gains).
- Corporate Law (i.e., helping corporations avoid the consequences of their malfeasance and weasel their way around regulations).
- Big Data (i.e., helping Google and Facebook eviscerate users’ privacy in order to serve up targeted ads).
Young people who could have done anything flocked to these fields. Very few grads aspired to careers that would create real value. No desire to become teachers or therapists or public health workers–or even to work for a private corporation that actually made things.
We all thought our highest calling was to serve as handmaidens to the ultra-wealthy. To accelerate the forces that were already destroying the environment and tearing society apart. For that, we should be judged very harshly.”
The Number One Thing
An enthusiastic user went as far as to comment that:
“This should be at the top; it covers most of what others have said in a large-scale, umbrella way. Social media? It’s the result of short-sightedness and focus on the now, the me, the dopamine, and the internet clout.
The day humanity, as a whole, learns to make long-term decisions that better our prospects and lives for future generations is the day we truly become an intelligent species. If you look at the just last several hundred years or so, we instead have made decisions that are incredibly stupid and shortsighted.”
Seconding this, we found a comment which said:
“This is the number one thing. I’m waiting for the elders to leave positions of power before I say for sure, but by the time millennials get there if they don’t act upon what has been told to them from infancy, this is the sword we die on.”
In summary, there was a lot of debate centered around what the millennials didn’t do to curb the problems of existential crisis and climate change.
7. Wealth Inequality
A popular opinion was about wealth inequality. When a user commented, “wealth inequality. All that sweet, sweet boomer money,” many users emerged to defend their position as a millennial.
“I’m a boomer who has spent my life providing stability for each of my kids and their kids. My Mum was a war widow with 6 kids. Never wanted my kids or grandkids to go without everything like we did. Set them all up and will die happy knowing I did the best I could.”
Another commented: “Millennial here typing from the house we bought from my in-laws at a reasonable price at a time when real estate pricing has gone through the roof in my area. There’s no way our generation can live the lives of our boomer parents (i.e. single family home, college, multiple kids) and survive without trickle-down from them. I really do feel for people who aren’t afforded that support. Even at my worst, being in college with $7 in my bank account, I still had my parents as a safety net, and even without them, I was still better off than 90% of my generation because my only debts were from student loans.”
Then others shared that the existence of a lot of money didn’t necessarily translate into hoarding and spending on their personal expenses. One of them commented:
“Most of that sweet, sweet money is going to go to the health insurance / medical care industry once boomers reach end-of-life care.”
Hoarded Wealth
This brought forward the comments of other users who said:
“Most of that sweet, sweet housing money is going back to the banks through reverse mortgages or to foreign investors once Boomers reach their end-of-life goals. Anything instead of passing the home to their Millennial kids.”
Supporting this, another one commented: “Exactly. The increasing popularity of a variety of financial schemes designed to fund extravagant lifestyles while funneling money and property into the hands of corporate entities should probably be something that… you know… bothers people.”
However, most of them were of the opinion that wealth inequality was largely because of the millennial mindset that they inherited from the boomers.
One user commented: “Most of the boomer wealth isn’t going to be left to millennials. Most is going to be hoovered up by insurance paying for end-of-life care or by banks during the next financial crisis when people will start mass defaulting on household debt.”
Another said: “A lot of boomers will not transfer their hoarded wealth to their children because of their ingrained mindset that either we are lazy and don’t deserve it, or that we are doing fine and don’t need it. A lot of boomers will transfer the wealth to their grandchildren instead of entrusting the wealth to their children. This speaks more as a condemnation of Boomers as parents than anything else. If you raised children you don’t respect or care about as adults, then you failed as a parent.”
A noteworthy comment on the above goes as follows: “Yes. Whether the transfer of boomer wealth is distributed fairly throughout society or concentrated in the hands of the more fortunate half of the millennial population over the next 15-20 years will have a big ripple effect for many decades afterward. I expect to see much sleight of hand whereby the millennials who stand to benefit from the transfer of wealth resist attempts at fair redistribution by highlighting how the millennial generation as a whole has been structurally disadvantaged compared to the boomers (and hence now deserves to access the wealth/assets unimpeded) but neglecting to acknowledge the stark divide within their own millennial peer group.”
There were a handful of comments by other users who did not understand these problems and could not relate to them, probably because they did not experience or witness the generational wealth that was spoken about.
8. Population Shortages
A Reddit user highlighted this issue, and it got a lot of others talking about their individual experiences and observations about the same.
Millennials defending the stance commented saying things like:
“Not our fault we can’t afford to have kids, tbf.”
Another one commented: “This isn’t millennial fault; it’s society’s fault. And we see it across other developed nations, and a lot of social factors play a role. For example, Japan has had this same issue since the 90’s. It’s not so much the generation of people, but more so the development reaches a stalling point. Or we find advances that make it where we can’t keep up.
Also, when you learn about this stuff in college, I learned my new favorite graph. The ones showing countries have less and less babies and other ones like it is neat. They are graphs that look like that egg building in London.
And if you need an American example, think about the millennials want kids but aren’t having them because they can’t even get a house working 3 jobs. Yet alone raise a kid.”
There was also a sassy comment saying: “Oh man, this is my favorite answer. Why didn’t you have more kids? The population is declining! Sure, you could barely afford a place to live, but you should’ve had 3 kids as well.”
There were a few who didn’t consider this an issue and said:
“It’s not a shortage, it’s a decline, and it’s honestly for the best. Finite resources available. Automation has eliminated millions of jobs and will continue to do so. Climate change will render huge sections of the planet uninhabitable and make agriculture incredibly difficult. Natural decline of the population is much better than having all of those people die from famine and disease.”
Another propagated saying: “The world is so overpopulated. Millennials not having kids will be a good thing if corporations can stop worrying about having wage slaves.”
There was also a user wondering: “How will that be a bad thing? The less people there are, the more resources/land/whatever the people left get.”
Is This the Worst Thing?
Other comments went as follows:
“Given that the carrying capacity for humans on earth is estimated to be somewhere between 2 and 4 billion, a drop in numbers wouldn’t be the worst thing ever.”
“I’m sorry, shortages? That is exactly what this godforsaken planet needs!”
“I don’t think humanity has to worry about any population shortages. There are billions of us.”
“Only billionaires and white supremacists think population decline is a problem.”
“Honestly, would it really be that bad? We are nearing 8 billion people on Earth and are already seeing the toll it takes on it; we physically can’t increase the Earth’s population forever.”
“Genuine question: is under-population an issue? I’m obviously aware of overpopulation as the planet is melting (almost other issues), but the opposite …?”
Others clearly understood the long-term impact of not having children and commented saying:
“Another great one. Even though it is currently difficult to imagine, we will see countries have population decline in our lifetimes. It may get to a point where countries who still have positive reproduction rates will influence politics on an unequal level.”
Then there were others who had an entirely different experience to share. One of them commented saying:
“Speak for yourself. I’m an older millennial, and every single one of my friends and coworkers is popping out so many kids and giving them stupid names like paysleigh, braylaigh, montana, trigger, and glock19”
Overall, we observed varied and mixed feelings on the topic with four evident and clear perspectives.
9. Painting Over Hardwood Trim and Cabinets
The originality of the hardwood surfaces of furniture around the house was ‘ruined’ by painting all over them. And millennials shoulder the blame for that, too, as per a majority of Reddit users.
The comment “painting over hardwood trim, cabinets, etc.” got the community talking about how barbaric this habit was and how it decreased the overall resale value of the house.
An enraged user commented saying:
“Entire houses in shades of white with trinkets and signs somehow being called ‘farmhouse’ despite being entirely impractical if you happen to actually live on a farm, or property, or near property, or near a dirt road and like to open the window…”
Another one responded in these words:
“The kitchen at my place has:
- Solid hardwood cabinets, all painted white inside and out
- A beautiful brick wall also painted white
- A built-in wood-fired oven, the chimney of which got capped off so they could – you guessed it – paint the inside of the oven white and use it as a cabinet.
Such a shame.”
Boomers Are To Blame
This was one of the most relatable experiences, as one user commented:
“I feel this in my soul. Except the folks we bought our house with were definitely young boomers or older Gen X, and they were the ones that:
- Painted over all the red oak(!) Trim in the house Painted over the brick fireplace 😭
- The trim could probably be recovered with enough work, but the beautiful fireplace I saw in older pictures is gone forever.
- The guy two owners ago had the place for 34 years and knocked it out of the park. We will likely never leave, but our sellers made some irrecoverable changes in a grand total of 18 months.
I love our place, but if I had a time machine …”
The sentiment was replicated by another user who said:
“My boomer parents are currently painting their 30 ft deck. Maybe four times since 2000 since it got dirty. They have no idea what they’re doing. It’s also not white or some normal color; it’s always like pink-brown or teal.”
Overall, the community has a pretty unanimous take on this problem that the millennials were to blame.
10. Macroplastics
Macroplastics were another environmental issue that the millennials were doing nothing to tackle. When it comes to macroplastics, a Reddit comment got our brains tinkering. This went as follows:
“I remember a time when the latest dreaded threat to humanity was the deforestation of natural habitats and that switching to plastic would save the planet.
This is yet another example of the dire consequences of good intentions that are deployed without enough long-term studies to understand the effects. Humans are really good at destroying whole ecologies while believing they are doing great things like rabbits in Australia or snakes in Guam. The rabbits ate everything, and the snakes ate all the birds. Just to name a few, I won’t get started on Eucalyptus trees in California or the thousands of other examples.
It’s these incidents that make me leery of anyone attempting to ‘fix’ our atmosphere and even more worried when Politicians start getting involved.”
We Already Stopped
The above comment received a lot of traction as people responded by saying:
“Not doing anything. We’re already patting Gen Z on the head and telling them to go ahead for us.”
“As an elder millennial, I hate how true this is. I’m trying to figure out where to get more involved in politics and actually some manner of taking action, and I’m lost because I don’t know what that looks like myself and can’t figure out where to start I am getting frustrated because it’s so hard to find anything on where to start or where these protests are getting organized or where the people who show up at places to collect signatures for a petition actually get together and get organized and I want to not at all sit on the couch hoping for the best, while meanwhile, so many people my age (late 30s/early 40s) are all ‘Gen Z will save us!’”
“Yea man, millennials are SO passive. Super non-confrontational. Even their ultimate act against capitalism is passive-aggressive and actually far more risky than just having outright widespread strikes and riots…collectively not having kids. Not having kids is super passive but also super damaging from a long term perspective potentially bc who the hell knows what happens to the world if all the developed democracies of the world populations shrink by half in the next hundred years.”
If the former, I don’t get how that’s your take. If the latter, I have more hope for the Millennials and younger than any generation since the Silent.”
11. Taking up All the Cemeteries
The following comment kind of put a spinning touch on the topic: “Most of Us will be dead. So taking up all the cemeteries.” Adding to the humor, one comment emerged as follows: “Not me. Just throw me in the trash,” while another one said: “Compost me baby.”
We found other funny ones as well:
“I plan to get crammed into a pot with a seed inside. I’m thinking maple tree, but I’m guessing I won’t make much of a fuss over it.”
“It’s cremation, and my ashes spread from a coffee can for me.”
Cremation Is New Normal
On a more serious note, we also found a comment saying:
“In my neck of the woods, I would say cremation has become the norm. The city I work for still puts coffins and vaults in the ground, but the amount of urns in coffins is rising. Like even older people who bought the plot and pre-paid are getting cremated and put in the ground in full coffins for some reason. I’d say most millennials are over traditional burials instead of cremation, being dissolved, donated, or natural burial. Cemeteries are essentially dog parks nowadays and will continue that trend for decades… if we even decide to keep them up or not remove bodies.”
The top response on this was by a user who commented saying, “Millennials were born between roughly 1981 and 1996. So, in 50 years, we’ll be 77-92 years old. But the way the economy is going, we probably won’t get to enjoy retirement or old age care or even good enough health care in general as we age. I’ll probably die working in my 60s.”
Then there was a science enthusiast who commented: “I plan on being a part of necrophilic experiments. Read: I’m donating my body to science.”
A not-so-morbid user commented, “I’m an older millennial, and in 50 years’ time, I’ll only just be past life expectancy. That being said, I’m not in America. I believe life expectancy has plummeted there in recent years.”
Overall, there were mixed sentiments on this, but the topic was largely brought to light in a humorous sense.
12. The Avocado Wars
Although we understood what the comment meant, it left most of the Reddit users confused and puzzled. It’s amazing how three simple words, “the avocado wars,” could be that puzzling for a community of 56 million daily active users.
“In the avocadome?” one commented. “I, for one, welcome our new Avocado overlords,” another one mused.
“I’m picturing everyone dressed as giant avocados, like big flopping t-rex suits, except avocados,” another one commented, to which “I mean, there couldn’t possibly be any other explanation,” was the response.
“When the Emus rise up and take over the world, Millennials will be at the forefront of being blamed,” a user joked. Another one replied saying, “Ask not for what the toast is spread; it’s spread for thee.”
Only one user commented, and we were glad he understood what all the fuss was about:
“I love that, for a while there, the symbol of millennial decadence was a piece of cooked bread and a single vegetable.”
13. Not Stopping Boomers
At number 13, a popular reason why millennials were to get blamed in the future was for not stopping the boomers. This debate was stirred by a comment that goes as follows: “Not stopping boomers, like had the power to do that.”
There were very few who spoke in favor of this comment. One of them said: “This is the answer. We’ll be blamed for allowing people in their 60s-80s to run the planet into the dirt.”
Others kind of landed on a neutral stance, saying: “We do have the power. We just don’t use it. Also, they’re still paying our rent, so we don’t have the courage to upend their ownership of the entire economy because of the period of uncertainty while the money makes its way to us.”
A noticeable comment goes: “Boomers voted against anything that would help us economically, and then never retired. We had no economic or political power; hell, most of us would never buy a house. Boomers gerrymandered so that our votes wouldn’t accomplish anything. No money, no political power, and as voters, nothing we did mattered; what did they expect us to do?”
Others didn’t consider this a thing to worry about as they believed them to be more in control of what to do and where to invest. As highlighted by one of the Reddit users:
“But to be fair, some boomers are investing heavily in green tech right now. Maybe it’s a little late, but it’s not all bad. The thing is, we have so much work to do to fix the mess it’s crazy.”
14. Not Doing Anything About the Environment
Environmental concerns, in general, were a lot to blame the residents for, as per the Reddit community.
Defenders of the stance commented:
“A small subset of people have been trying to do something for the environment for centuries. Millennials are the first generation I’m aware of where being “green” is fashionable, but most people aren’t willing to change their lifestyle or protest/boycott/etc. for it- they just complain about it online or buy a Tesla.”
“It’s so frustrating. I still try. I mostly bike to work, except when I’m taking my family when I drive my electric car. I buy carbon offsets because renewable electricity doesn’t exist where I live. I compost. I recycle. I reduce plastic waste. I’m vegetarian. Then I watch someone drive a Ford 250 to the grocery to by 30 steaks, and it just feels pointless. Like, until the boomers get out of the way, I’m not sure how we can do anything. It’s so… disheartening.”
“They’ve been sounding the alarm since long before millennials were around!”
“In my experience, I’m really not seeing Millenials making any real personal change. I see people continuously supporting awful, wasteful huge corporations like Amazon, getting packages delivered on a regular basis (increasing plastic waste and CO2 from delivery vehicles and semis). I see people buying unnecessary, cheap plastic products that break after a few months and are shipped from factories in China. I see people still buying large trucks and SUVs to use as regular commuter vehicles. I could go on.”
Largely, the onus of all the environmental problems lies once again on the shoulders of the millennials.
15. For Being Conservative and Selfish
Although not supported by many Reddit users, being shortsighted and self-centered was another reason to blame the millennials. An enraged Reddit user commented:
“I know, I know, but that’s the very opposite of how Millennials should be seen! And if you’d complained about “conservative” Boomers when they were in their 30s, you’d have seemed backward, too.
Boomers in their youth opposed war, promoted Civil Rights, criticized capitalism, broke down gender barriers, and basically acted exactly the opposite of the current “Boomer” stereotype.
Honestly, I don’t know if they changed as they got older or if blaming Boomers for all the evil in the world is as inaccurate as blaming avocado toast for global economic hardships. Either way, it will happen to Millennials one day, too.
Gen Z (or, more likely, Alpha) will hate Millennials the way Millennials hate Boomers. (And the way Boomers hated their Greatest Generation parents!) And for all the same reasons.”
Another one commented on this, saying:
“Boomers were better in their youth culturally, but from an economic standpoint, they were pretty conservative.”
The greatest generation and the silent generation, on the other hand, were much more liberal/socialist in their economic policies; they just happened to have a lot more cultural bigotry and prejudice in those policies.
It would be nice if we could, maybe, manage the best of both generations, but it seems like the world may burn before we even get a chance.”
Meaningful Distinction
An interesting analysis was provided by another user who stated:
“Personally, I think there’s one meaningful distinction that needs to be acknowledged here:
There’s an old adage people like to mindlessly quote about how you get more conservative as you get older, but that’s not really accurate. You get more protective of the things you’ve acquired as you get older, which historically correlated to conservative policies because they were mostly protectionist ideas to maintain the status quo.
HOWEVER, if you haven’t acquired anything to be protective of, those policies mean a lot to you. It’s hard to be invested in political ideologies that preserve the value of real estate or ensure stock investments are shielded from risk if you’re renting a one-bedroom basement apartment.
I think what happened to boomers is they got what they were promised and then had to face the possibility of losing it because someone else needed it before they were done with it.
Gen X got disillusioned when the future they were promised was undermined, and millennials found out at 30 that the future they were promised was a lie the entire time. We’ve hit a point where even 20-year-olds understand that they have been promised nothing and there’s no future for them to receive by playing nice.
All that to say, I think we’ve hit a major societal inflection point because the old patterns no longer ring true. Society as a whole no longer allows younger generations to rise up and take the reigns only for the subsequent generation to tell them how they changed. As such, we can’t really map those old patterns onto the future.”
Generalization
This was replied to by another user who stated:
“The silent and greatest gens did to boomers when they were the youngest generation as gen X and boomers did to millennials. Old TV from the late 60’s and early 70’s is hilarious because every older teen is the biggest, broadest hippie stereotype you can imagine. The thing is, that was the most interesting, most provocative part of the boomer generation, a generation born at the peak of US power and economic opportunity. The hippies represented generational change as a trope of that era, but the boomers weren’t all hippies: not even close. Much of the country‘s boomers chafed under this coastal interpretation of their generation, and it’s one of the unsung reasons they were such easy marks for FoxNews and AM talk radio: they’d been ready to hate the “media” because of the way they’d portrayed their generation. “Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac” is a great line with some historical wisdom, but the majority of boomers were never even deadheads.
In contrast, Gen X embraced its characterization as apathetic, but boomers and millennials have chafed under being the ”lazy and entitled” generation. For the millennials to really become boomers, though, we need and economic boom in the next decade or so. That way, we can see what happens with a more financially optimistic millennial generation. That could certainly spur a change in the way the 80s permanently shifted boomers. I think without an economic boom, though, millennials might not feel financially secure enough to let the conservatism flow like boomers. They need a taste of a decade that doesn’t feature an economic disaster like the housing market collapse or Covid.”
Agreeing with the above discussion, another user chimed in, saying:
“Same. I think by the time millennials have wealth/stability, they’ll be (especially economically) conservative and would do anything to not risk it since their early adulthood was a struggle.
Millennials are struggling with crippling student debt and have seen housing and parenthood as something no longer affordable. They’ve had their careers stalled by the 2008 recession and now the early 2020s. Many are still stuck in entry-level positions. And there’s a bitterness there. I worry that in the next 30 years, when we finally claw our way out and be in a financially secure position, we’ll be very conservative with an “I got mine, figure it out” mentality. I can already see the attitude when it comes to student debt – millennials who made sacrifices and either didn’t incur it, picked cheaper colleges, or paid it off quickly often seem very opposed to student debt forgiveness programs or free tuition and bitter because they didn’t receive any help, why should those who come after them? Same with raising the minimum wage. I’m in Ontario, so I saw this when it was raised to $14 a few years back. Millennials who had job hopped, earned promotions/raises, and climbed from $12/hr to $16/hr were very bitter because suddenly, all of their upward momentum felt like it was for nothing, and they were back near the bottom of earning potential.
And I’m not saying I agree with it or that it’s all millennials. Just that I see it, and I know where it’s coming from. And I wonder if future generations will blame us for not fixing this broken system but perpetuating it.”
Overall, as you can gauge, this was supported by a lot of the Reddit community.
16. Complicity
A unanimous opinion emerged as the entire Reddit community blamed the millennials for “Complicity. Not fighting hard enough to fix a broken system.”
Amongst all the supporters, one funny comment emerged: “I was gonna fight the power, but then True Detective season 1 came out, and I just kinda forgot everything else.”
Overall, the community expected the millennials to be more active and non-complacent.
17. For Succumbing to Extremism and the Inevitable Loss of Freedom
As one user commented, “For succumbing to extremism and the inevitable loss of freedom,” another one replied, “The extremists are authoritarians, and it’s my fault?”
This leaves all of us wondering whether millennials are to be truly blamed for this.
18. Letting Elon Set the Standard Electric Vehicle Charging Connector
Yet another humorous spin on the subject emerged as one user commented saying:
“Letting Elon set the standard electric vehicle charging connector despite the rest of the world already having an agreed-upon standard.”
The community responded with one popular comment saying: “Maybe cool electric cars will just start having both connectors for full compatibility.” To this, a user responded with: “Unlikely. Ford and GM have already said they’ll start using the TESLA connector exclusively. The connector war has been won here in the US.” While another one said: “Rivian too, but it makes no difference, not like there’s much commingling of cars back and forth across the Atlantic. Cars built for the US get the Tesla connector, really not an issue at all.” Yet another stated that: “To be fair, Ford and GM could have easily been the first to market with a successful electric car and build out the infrastructure for it well in advance (as well as the govt, but that war was lost already). They made their bed, in my opinion.”
However, some others did not consider this to be a huge issue, as we also noticed the following comments:
“If that were the worst problem our generation creates, we’d be on our way to a utopian Star Trek-like future.”
“1st to market strategy let Tesla make the standard their own.”
“The international standard uses PLC for data exchange. Have you tried charging at a public charger, it often fails. CCS charging is so clunky, it comes with a handle for handling.”
19. Completely Skipping the Raising Part of Having a Child
The internet and social media usage debate was stirred by another Reddit user who said, “Completely skipping the raising part of having a child.”
The community responded in agreement, and most of the users seemed equally frustrated by the aspect. Putting a sarcastic spin on the subject, a user responded by mimicking what most parents seemed to be doing these days: “Here is a Tablet Go watch YouTube and shut up.”
20. Mutilating Traditional Gender Roles
Lastly, this brings us to our favorite thing that millennials will be blamed for.
“Being delusional with the ideology that feelings are more important than facts. Destroying the economies of multiple cultures and multiple families by giving the government full control of cryptocurrency and digital currency. Enslaving all the peoples in the world to tyrannical government control under the illusion that welfare is better than an earned income.”
Responses to the above included:
“You’re forgetting the severe lack of a work ethic, but you covered everything else!”
“Tell me you listen to Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh without telling me you listen to them. Oh, and that’s what they are being blamed for now.”
However, there was one who disagreed with the stance and considered it to be highly conservative. To be exact, the user commented, saying, “This is the most conservative and far-right thing I have ever read.”
In summary, it looks like the millennials have a lot to be blamed for. Raising their kids with the internet or not raising them at all, macro plastics and environmental issues in general, population shortages, not taking action against extremism and complicity, and, funnily enough, the avocado wars.
12 Examples of Pure Evil in Society Today
In the intricate web of our world, there are instances that shake our understanding of humanity. These are moments when the actions of individuals and groups defy any notion of goodness or compassion.
12 Examples of Pure Evil in Society Today
12 Useless Items People Carry With Them Every Day
Carrying our daily essentials is a routine we all follow, but have you ever paused to think about the items that find a permanent place in your bag or pocket? It turns out that amidst the keys, wallets, and phones, there are some objects that seem to have overstayed their welcome. These seemingly harmless items have become part of our daily lives, often without us realizing their true utility.
12 Useless Items People Carry With Them Every Day
20 Celebrities With Genuinely Hard Childhoods
We often idolize celebrities, assuming that they’ve had it all easy from the start. But trust us; there’s more to the picture than meets the eye. Because behind the glimmering lights and glitzy parties, these stars have faced hardships that would cause your heart to ache.
20 Celebrities With Genuinely Hard Childhoods
20 Antiquated Social Customs We Need to Finally Leave Behind in the Dust
Can you believe how much our society has changed over the years? It’s surely mind-blowing! As we find ourselves in the 21st century, it’s high time we look closely at some old social customs that don’t fit in anymore.
20 Antiquated Social Customs We Need To Finally Leave Behind in the Dust
20 Beloved Actors That People Just Can’t Stand
Ah, the world of entertainment! From the silver screen to our living rooms, actors have been enchanting us with their talents for decades. But let’s be real- not every actor is everyone’s cup of tea. In fact, there are those actors who manage to rub us the wrong way, and no, sometimes it’s not just because of the characters they play!
20 Beloved Actors That People Just Can’t Stand
This article was produced and syndicated by A Dime Saved.
