OK, Boomer—it’s a comeback, it’s a meme, and it’s a signal of a deep and contentious generational divide.
Generational differences have been points of contention for years. When you have groups united by similar social and political values, they’re bound to butt heads with conflicting values. But relations have never seemed quite as dire as they are presently.
We’ve drawn lines in the sand delineating each generation, but those lines have become battlelines.
During the current pandemic, generational dissent has only been amplified. Boomers have been generalized as angry and unreasonable non-mask wearers; Millennials and Zoomers are stereotypically flouting public health guidelines and partying despite the risk to their health.
Niceties are never an excuse for impeding progress—young people shouldn’t be forced to be polite or compromise with older generations about their politics and beliefs. But when it comes to the current coronavirus crisis, we need to be moving forward together.
During a time when it’s vital that we cooperate in the name of saving lives, focusing on alienating whole generations of people isn’t the direction we should be taking. Targeting public health messaging at the demographics that are most at-risk for the virus is a useful tool, but there’s no need to shame people to encourage mask-wearing—it doesn’t work.
Generational differences mean that we’re not going to be on the same page for many things, but we must be on the same page about COVID-19. If we have to shelf OK, Boomer for the time being, then so be it.