Hey folks, it’s Dan The Price Man. Recently, it’s come to my attention the utter vitriol between Gen Z (my generation) and Boomers.

The generational divide wasn’t just a topic for sociologists. It was a battleground on social media. It’s present in workplaces and at family dinners.

The tension between Generation Z and Baby Boomers has become one of the defining conflicts of our time.

It’s not just a clash of ages; it’s a collision of worldviews, economic realities, and cultural values. But what’s really driving this vitriol? Is it simply a generational gap?

Is there something deeper at play?

Nothing Left to Lose: Gen Z’s Breaking Point

Let’s paint a picture. A Gen Z’er—let’s call her Sarah—graduates with a marketing degree in 2023.

She’s $45,000 in debt, pays $1,200 a month for a shitty apartment, and works 50 hours a week between Uber Eats and a retail gig.

No benefits, no savings, no house in sight. Her Boomer dad? Bought his place for $50,000 in 1985, sold it for $400,000 last year, and brags about his stock gains.

Sarah’s not lazy. She did what she was told—got the degree, chased the dream.

But the jobs were outsourced, the trades were demonized, and the housing market’s a joke. She’s got nothing left to lose. And she’s not alone.

• Housing: Average home prices are 6.5 times median income, per Zillow’s 2024 data—double what Boomers faced.
  
  Rent’s no better; 50% of Gen Z spends over a third of their income on it.
  
  
• Wealth Gap: Boomers hold $70 trillion in wealth.
  
  Gen Z? Most can’t afford a $500 emergency, says a 2024 Fed survey.

When you’ve got nothing, you stop caring about the system…

You start rooting for it to crash.

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Who Are Gen Z and Baby Boomers?

Let’s start with the basics.

• Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are the post-World War II generation. They witnessed the moon landing, the civil rights movement, and the rise of rock ‘n’ roll.
  
  They shaped much of the world we live in today.
  
• Generation Z was born from the mid-1990s to the early 2010s. They grew up with smartphones and social media.
  
  Information is always at their fingertips.

These two groups couldn’t seem more different, and that’s where the trouble begins

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The Scene: Boomers Cry, Gen Z Smiles

Imagine a 60-something Boomer hunched over their laptop, refreshing their 401(k) balance, cursing Trump’s tariffs as the stock market dips 5%. “This is killing my retirement!”

They tweet, oblivious to the 25-year-old Gen Z’er scrolling past, smirking. That Gen Z’er?

They’re juggling two gig jobs, buried in $40,000 of student debt, and watching rent eat half their paycheck.

They don’t own stocks. They don’t have savings. And they sure as hell don’t feel sorry for the Boomer freaking out over “number go down.”

Why?

That Boomer spent decades chasing “number go up” in the stock market. Selling off entire industries, hollowing out the job market, and leaving Gen Z with scraps.

Now, when tariffs bite and the portfolio takes a hit, Boomers are panicking. For Gen Z, it’s not just funny—it’s cathartic.

After being screwed over by short-term thinking, watching the architects of their misery squirm feels like justice.

This isn’t a petty grudge. It’s a generational war rooted in economic betrayal.

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The Boomer Playbook: “Number Go Up” at All Costs

Boomers built their lives on a simple idea: make the numbers climb. Stock prices, home values, retirement accounts—everything had to go up, no matter what it took.

For a while, it worked. They bought houses for $30,000 that are worth $300,000 now.

They climbed corporate ladders with pensions waiting at the end.

They kicked the ladder while we were not even 10 years old.

But here’s the dirty secret: that “number go up” obsession came with a price, and Gen Z is paying it.

Selling the Country for a Quick Buck

In the 80s and 90s, Boomers ran the show—CEOs, politicians, investors. They saw a way to juice profits: ship jobs overseas.

Manufacturing plants in Ohio? Move ‘em to China. Tech support in California? India’s cheaper.

Why pay American workers when foreign labor costs a fraction?

The stock market loved it—corporate earnings soared, 401(k)s ballooned, and “number go up” became the gospel.

• The Damage: A 2023 Economic Policy Institute report shows outsourcing cost the U.S. 3.7 million jobs since 2000.
  
  Entire industries—steel, textiles, electronics—vanished. Towns that thrived on factories turned into ghost shells. Boomers didn’t care; their portfolios were fat.
  
  
• Tariffs Hit Back: Fast forward to 2025. Trump’s tariffs aim to bring some of that industry back, slapping costs on imports.
  
  The S&P 500 wobbles, and Boomers lose their minds. “My retirement!” they cry, as if a 5% dip erases their decades of gains.
  
  Meanwhile, those tariffs are a last-ditch effort to fix what Boomers broke—a hollowed-out economy.

For Gen Z, the irony is thick.

Boomers sacrificed the long-term health of the country for short-term stock spikes, and now they’re mad when the bill comes due.

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The College Lie: Gen Z Got Played

While Boomers were cashing out, they sold Gen Z a dream: go to college, get a white-collar job, live the good life.

It sounded great—except it was a setup.

The Debt Trap

Gen Z was told a degree was non-negotiable. Parents, teachers, guidance counselors—all preached the same sermon: “College is your ticket.”

So, they signed up, took out loans, and chased the white-collar dream. What did they get?
Nothing.

• Skyrocketing Costs: Tuition’s up 1,200% since 1980, adjusted for inflation.
  
  A 2024 Federal Reserve report pegs the average Gen Z grad’s debt at $38,000.
  Boomers paid closer to $5,000 back in the day.
  
  
• No Jobs Waiting: Foreign workers flooded the market, thanks to H-1B visas and outsourcing.
  
  Tech giants like Google and Amazon hire overseas coders for half the cost.
  
  A 2023 Pew Research study says 40% of Gen Z grads are underemployed—baristas with bachelor’s degrees.

Boomers got cheap college and stable jobs.

Gen Z got debt and a “good luck” pat on the back.

The Trade-Off: Foreign Workers Win

It wasn’t just white-collar work that got screwed. Trades—plumbing, welding, construction could’ve been a lifeline for Gen Z. But Boomers trashed them.

“Trades are for low-income losers,” the culture screamed. College was the only path worth taking. So, Gen Z skipped shop class and loaded up on student loans.

Meanwhile, foreign workers poured in. Construction sites? Full of immigrants on work visas. Plumbing gigs? Same deal.

Cost-effective for companies, sure—but it left Gen Z out in the cold.

• The Stats: The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 3 million worker shortage in skilled trades by 2028.
  
  Those are good jobs—$60,000+ a year, no degree needed. But Gen Z wasn’t trained for them, and foreign workers took the spots.

Now, Gen Z’s asking, “What the hell else do we have?” The answer’s brutal: not much.

COVID-19: Boomers’ Panic Screwed Gen Z

Let’s rewind to 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit like a sledgehammer.

Boomers, who held the reins of power—politicians, CEOs, policymakers—freaked out over a virus with a 99.7% survival rate for most age groups.

Their response wasn’t just overkill; it was a generational gut-punch that Gen Z and younger cohorts are still reeling from.

The fallout was catastrophic. Boomers’ knee-jerk reaction to “protect” society came at a steep cost.

Shutting down the world economy tanked small businesses—restaurants, gyms, local shops—where Gen Z often found entry-level work.

The $8 trillion in cash injections, meant to prop up the stock market (there’s that “number go up” obsession again), sparked mass inflation.

By 2022, retail prices were up 9%, and speculative markets like crypto and housing went haywire.

The (FHA) loan bubble ballooned as Boomers refused to let housing prices correct, pricing Gen Z out of the market entirely.

A 2024 Zillow report confirms the damage: average home prices are now 6.5 times the median Gen Z income, sextuple more what Boomers faced.

Then there’s the social toll. Colleges shut down for two years, leaving Gen Z students isolated, learning through glitchy Zoom calls, and missing out on critical networking.

The developmental damage to late Gen Z and early Gen Alpha—social skills, mental health, education—was permanent.

Boomers forced vaccines and created “COVID hotlines” to snitch on neighbors, turning communities into paranoid snitch-fests.

Meanwhile, Gen Z couldn’t even go outside without jumping through hoops. Boomers got to retire with their portfolios intact; Gen Z got a broken start to adulthood.

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The Catharsis: Watching Boomers Panic

Enter the tariffs.

They’re messy, sure—supply chains snag, prices spike, stocks dip. Boomers flood X with complaints: “My 401(k) is down 6%! This is a disaster!”

For Gen Z, it’s a show. After years of being told to “work harder” while their future was sold off, seeing Boomers sweat feels good.

• Why It Hits: It’s not just about money.
  “Number go down” isn’t a loss for Gen Z—they never had a stake. It’s a reckoning for Boomers.
  
• The Memes: “Boomer tears” trends on TikTok. Clips of CNBC pundits freaking out get remixed with laughing tracks.
  
  It’s cathartic because it’s the first time Gen Z feels like the universe is balancing the scales.
  
  It’s about watching the generation that outsourced their jobs, jacked up college costs, and priced them out of homes finally feel some pain.

Here’s The Thing, It’s Not Over Yet

Boomers chased “number go up,” sold off industries, and left Gen Z with a gutted economy.

College was a lie, trades were stolen, and now Gen Z’s got nothing to lose—so they cheer when Boomers panic over “number go down.” It’s raw, it’s messy, and it’s real.

Boomers: “Number Go Up” at All Costs

For Boomers, it’s always been about the short game. Post-war prosperity handed them a golden ticket, and they cashed it in, all for that sweet, sweet stock market bump.

Tariffs mess with that now, and they’re freaking out because their 401(k)s are taking a hit. But here’s the kicker: they built this mess.

They prioritized Wall Street over Main Street, betting everything on “number go up” while ignoring the rot setting in.

Now they’re acting like victims when the system they rigged starts to wobble.

Gen Z: Sold a Lie, Left with Nothing

Gen Z? They got the raw end of the deal. They were fed a fairy tale: go to college, rack up debt, land a cushy white-collar job.

Except those jobs vanished—outsourced to foreign workers because it was “cost-effective” in the short term.

The Boomers who made those calls didn’t care about the fallout; they’d already cashed out. And the trades?

Plumbing, carpentry, electrical work—solid, hands-on careers—were demonized as low-status, “dirty” jobs for the uneducated.

So, foreign workers filled those gaps too, leaving Gen Z staring at the wreckage, asking, “What the hell else do we have?”

Spoiler: not much. Stagnant wages, a housing market that’s a sick joke, and a gig economy that’s more trap than opportunity. They’re tapped out.

The Catharsis of “Number Go Down”

So when the stock market dips and Boomers start panicking, Gen Z doesn’t cry—they smirk. Hell, they laugh, and cheer.

It’s not just about tariffs or a bad trading day.
It’s about a system that’s been screwing them from the jump finally showing cracks.

Boomers spent years selling Gen Z’s future for their own gains. Now they’re sweating bullets over the very policies they cheered for.

Gen Z’s not here to save it—they’ve got no stake in this game. Watching the architects of their misery squirm feels like justice, even if it’s fleeting.

A Reckoning, Not a Spat

This isn’t just generational bitching. It’s a reckoning.

Boomers are clinging to their wealth, terrified of losing what they built by screwing over everyone else.

Gen Z is staring at a future with no jobs, no homes, and no safety net. Wondering why they should give a damn about a stock market that never gave a shit about them.

The tariffs sting now. They’re a symptom of a bigger disease. The economy is hooked on quick fixes and cheap labor.

Boomers gambled it all on “number go up,” and Gen Z is left holding the bag.

For Gen Z, “number go down” isn’t a crisis—it’s a wake-up call. A chance to say, “Enough.” Maybe even a shot to rebuild something better.

It should not just work for the privileged few who already got theirs and yanked the ladder up behind them. The Boomers can bitch all they want; Gen Z’s done caring.

They’ve got nothing left to lose, and that’s a hell of a place to start from.

Fixing the Mess: A Way Out for Both

This war doesn’t have to end in a stalemate;
If both generations drop the bullshit and get real.

Boomers: Stop Hoarding, Start Helping

• Mentor: You’ve got decades of know-how. Teach Gen Z trades, business, anything useful—not just “pull yourself up” platitudes.
  
  You messed up with COVID; make it right by sharing what you know.
  
  
• Invest: Put your money where your mouth is. Fund local startups or apprenticeships instead of dumping it all in index funds.
  
  Rebuild what you sold off. The economy needs it more than your 401(k) needs another 2%.

Gen Z: Build Your Own Future

• Trades Are Gold: Skip the degree. A welder makes $70,000 a year with no debt. Demand’s through the roof—jump in. The nation is yours to reclaim.
  
  
• Hustle Smart: Use what you’ve got—AI, crypto, e-commerce. The system’s broken, so make your own. COVID taught you resilience; use it.
  
  
• Example: Take Mike, a 23-year-old who ditched college, learned HVAC online, and now pulls $65,000 a year fixing AC units. No loans, no excuses.
  
  
  He’s not waiting for Boomers to fix it—he’s building his own path.

Together: Rebuild What’s Broken

• Intergenerational Collaboration: Imagine a Boomer teaching a Gen Z how to negotiate a contract, while the Gen Z shows the Boomer how to sell on TikTok.
  
  That’s how you rebuild.
  
  
• Policy Push: Both generations can demand better—end H-1B abuse, fund trade schools, cap tuition hikes.
  
  It’s not about “us vs. them”; it’s about fixing the system for everyone.

The Bottom Line: It’s Not Over Yet

Boomers chased “number go up,” sold off industries, botched the COVID response, and left Gen Z with a gutted economy.

College was a lie, trades were stolen, and the pandemic piled on more pain—shutting down colleges, inflating prices, and breaking Gen Z’s start.

Now, Gen Z’s got nothing to lose, so they cheer when Boomers panic over “number go down.” It’s raw, it’s messy, and it’s real.

But it’s not the end. Boomers can step up. Gen Z can fight back. The generational war’s heating up, but it doesn’t have to burn us all down.

Want more? Follow me on X at @DanThePriceMan or drop a comment.

Let’s figure this out together.