MELANIE'S BLOG
Jul 25, 2013
It’s time for generational jihadists to thank the elderly
Posted by Melanie Phillips
You can blame it on David Willetts. A while back, he published a book called The Pinch arguing that the older generation had swindled the young out of their rightful economic inheritance and should give it back. Baby boomers (those born soon after the war) had enjoyed free university tuition, affordable housing and a thriving economy.
Yet the legacy they have left to the young was a crash, eye-watering tuition fees and a gargantuan national debt. The book drew a new dividing line between the young and the old. It was a manifesto for generational jihad.
It was, of course, a fascinating and original thesis which has attracted many followers. But it was also deeply misleading and perverse, and grossly unfair to boomers. Indeed, one might even coin the term ‘boomophobe’ (or possibly even ‘self-hating boomer’, since he is of a certain age himself, as indeed am I) to describe Mr Willetts and his acolytes. And we can already see the social divisions which this thesis has provoked.
Heaven knows, the boomers have enough on their collective conscience, having been responsible for inventing sex, drugs and rock’n’roll, not to mention the destruction of the nuclear family, patriotism and the education system. These crimes, however, are all strangely absent from the Willetts roll of shame. Instead, the older generation is accused of dumping intolerable economic burdens upon the young, who are said to be carrying the boomers on their financial backs. Doubtless inspired by this call to generational arms, young people have cast themselves as yet another victim group in the miserable army of the oppressed.
To read the remainder of this article, please visit the Spectator website (£).
To hear me discussing this article with Shiv Malik of the Guardian, listen to this Spectator podcast. In addition, four minutes before the end of the podcast I was given the opportunity to recount the genesis of Diana's Baby and its exciting update this week.
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