The 90s was the worst thing to ever happen to Baby Boomers.

Imagine a whole generation perpetually consumed by a tinnitus-like anxiety fueled by the prospect that they could die at any moment from nuclear war. Then suddenly, the wall comes down… (1/11)
...the Scorpions are singing about the Winds of Change.

They don’t know where to put this anxiety. Most of them don’t even know it’s there - this low-level hum that’s buried its way into their DNA.

The idea of hope feels so foreign, so they transfer that anxiety… (2/11)
...towards distractions like murderous football players, out-of-control celebrities, adulterous presidents, Mortal Kombat, MTV and so on.

They find comfort in the War in Iraq because it softly reignited their anxiety, but it’s fleeting. Not enough. (3/11)
Just when it seemed like they might finally recover, that the anxiety wouldn’t have to define them, September 11, 2001 happens. While all Americans were freaking out - and rightfully so - Baby Boomers rediscovered that feeling that had been missing for over a decade. (4/11)
That low-level ringing had returned, but now it was stronger and oddly satisfying. Generation X discovered fear with 9/11 while Baby Boomers rediscovered the comfort of that fear.

It was have been like coming up for air after having nearly drowned. (5/11)
And now they had a presidential administration and a 24-hour news network willing to fuel that fear indefinitely.

Baby Boomers were like addicts who stumbled onto a seemingly-infinite stash of drugs. (6/11)
So you can imagine what it must have felt like when a new president came along with a message of hope. You don’t have to imagine the anger - we all saw it.

They weren’t going to let go, not this time. (7/11)
In 2016, a miracle happened. They finally got what they wanted.

The physical manifestation of their worst impulses is now their leader.

And worse yet, they were finally able to transfer that fear into their own children, their own grandchildren: "Feel what we feel." (8/11)
We carried that fear for 4 long years, and yesterday, they saw us let go of it. Reject that fear.

Part of them will hate us because they can never understand what it feels like to unpack the weight of the fear, the cries of relief.

The joy of it all. (9/11)
It's easy to blame the 90s, Fox News, and Trump for what the Baby Boomers really are.

But here's what I'll never forget:

Instead of offering their hand to tell us that they knew what we were feeling these last 4 years, they reveled in our hopelessness. (10/11)
I hope that the 2020s are the worst thing to ever happen to Baby Boomers.

And by that, I mean, I hope that peace, social justice, and making the world better is so rampant that you never feel a moment’s comfort.
(11/11)
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