21 August

Many boomers get very upset at the idea of intergenerational injustice. They seem incapable of understanding privilege, and how you can still be a nice person, but privileged. I think I’m a nice person, but I know I live a privileged life, compared to the rest of the world. It’s not hard to hold those two ideas at the same time. Here’s an example of boomer privilege. I’m 55 next year. Some boomers I know retired at 55, because their super schemes allowed them to retire at that age. It actually cost them money if they kept working. Their schemes were also extraordinarily generous, they retired pretty much on their final salary, for life. Nobody else gets super like that now, not even close. Who’d like to retire at 55, being paid your peak salary for the rest of your life? Yes please. The crowning glory of this injustice? They didn’t even fund these gold-plated schemes, they put no money aside for them at all. The taxpayer footed the bill at the last moment, through what is disingenuously called ‘The Future Fund’. Nearly $200 billion of taxpayers’ money, used to fund this largesse. Imagine what that money could do in schools, roads, hospitals etc. The same group now pushing for tax cuts targeted at themselves, costing $243 billion, on top of it. The country will not survive unless justice is begun. This is the Woodstock generation. Of peace and love. And plundering the public good. And very nice.