I'm fed up with hearing the constant whingeing from the so-called 'younger generations' who complain that they're being done down by older people. They claim that older people have all the wealth and they, the younger ones, are having their futures stolen by these mean old folk who refuse to share their money and who, at the same time, are expecting the youngsters to pay for their upkeep in old age.
This is such rubbish that it's astonishing it's still put forward as an argument, but it is. The truth is surely very different and it's time someone stated it.
Not that many years ago, almost no one in our society had enough even to feed and clothe themselves and their families adequately. My own great grandparents were poor, to say the least, and lived in 2 rented rooms together with their 3 or 4 surviving children (out of 9 born), this being only about 100 years ago. To his enduring credit, my grandfather managed to escape from this state and, despite having little schooling, eventually saved enough to put down a deposit on a house. His children were brought up well, had better education and made further progress; they did not squander their money but all worked hard and saved. They all had their own homes and passed on their ethos and standards to their children, my generation.
I, in my turn, worked hard, saved and bought a property. I did not waste my money on fripperies such as fancy clothes, cars or holidays, when there were more important things to concentrate on. When I had spare money, I saved it for a 'rainy day' or for when there was a sensible reason to spend it on having 'fun'. All along, I paid my taxes and national insurance while never actually claiming a halfpenny of state support, unless you count my education at school and university; I have to admit that I did go to university before the days of student loans but, even then, I didn't take loads of cash from the state. I actually worked continuously throughout my course and received almost no grant.
Given this history, I feel, most strongly, that my grandparents, parents and I all paid more than enough into the system, while taking very little out. For me now to be assailed by the cries of today's profligate children, claiming that they should be allowed to share more 'fairly' in the wealth accumulated by previous generations is insulting as well as utterly ludicrous. Today's children are enormously better off than was my generation and my grandparents' generation would simply not understand how they can have any complaints. Today's children think nothing of wasting vast amounts of money on technological gadgets that serve no purpose other than self-aggrandisement; they have better health, education and housing services than have ever existed before and are supported by huge volumes of state welfare benefits. Many younger people never think of saving and, instead, spend every penny they have or can borrow on anything and everything, much of it simply what could be termed 'lifestyle' items. They have a whale of a time but still they whinge about how hard up they are, about how they can't afford to buy a house or a new car, having done absolutely nothing to help themselves.
When these ignorant, rude, foul-mouthed, profligate, promiscuous and egotistical people realise that there's 'owt-for-nowt', in this life, I'll be prepared to listen to them. When they've paid in as much as I have, I'll believe they're entitled to receive something back. Until then, hands off what I've managed to build in my life, from my efforts and those of my parents and grandparents.
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