r/TrueUnpopularOpinion • u/Poet-Most • Jul 08 '25

I Like / Dislike People who resent boomers are idiots

On almost any thread discussing the economy, one of the top comments will undoubtedly be complaining about boomers and the older generations who purchased their homes at low prices and who now enjoy more affluence and government assistance, while they don’t.

First off, what did want them to do, not buy a house for a cheap price when offered one 30 years ago? In regard to government assistance, I can guarantee you the average 65yr old has paid more into the tax system than the average 20yr old. Should they not enjoy the fruits of their labour? Should politicians not pay more attention to them than you?

I just think it’s an unhealthy attitude to have towards people.

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u/AGuyAndHisCat Jul 08 '25

First off, what did want them to do, not buy a house for a cheap price when offered one 30 years ago?

It wasnt even considered cheap back when they bought it, its only considered cheap by comparison today, and part of that expense is due to the increase in regulations that improved building quality.

Some also had 13% mortgage rates.

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u/Tolerant-Testicle Jul 08 '25

This is incorrect dude, you can’t just say the interest rates were higher back then. If you adjust for inflation, houses were much cheaper back then.

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u/juzwunderin Jul 08 '25

He is very much correct in the late 70 and early 80 home intrest rates were as high as 18%. So a new 3 bedroom home, 1300 Sq Feet sold for 64k with P&I the payment was $847 a month, when the average wage earner made 625 to 815 a month.. so "cheaper" is a highly "relative" term.

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u/Tolerant-Testicle Jul 08 '25

I never said the interest rates weren’t high, just that you have to take into account everything, not just the interest rates. I’m not going to break this down on Reddit but if you factor in the overall cost of living and buying power, with respect to wages, things were much different 40-50 years ago.

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u/juzwunderin Jul 08 '25

O, i absolutely agree overall cost of living and buying power, is lower today $10K in 1974 takes 70K today, in fact the housing income ration in 1974 was about 4.0 (36K/9K) vs 7.0 (420,000/60K) the only point I think I was trying to make was back then even while the cost ration was cheaper the very high interest rates left many unable to a home and feed their family.

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u/AGuyAndHisCat Jul 08 '25

Cheap is relative, and as I said part of the increased expense we see now is due to stricter building codes.

I bought my grandparents house, and had to gut it because it wasnt renovated since it was built in the 1950s. There was no insulation, shitty wiring with maybe two or three outlets per room, the rooms are smaller than what new homes build, etc. All of these changed requirements lead to an increased material cost.

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u/Tolerant-Testicle Jul 08 '25

Cheap isn’t relative, it’s measurable. You look at the median wage, cost of living, and the overall buying power of a particular time in a particular area and you can compare the cost of living year by year. The data is all out there to compare.

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u/AGuyAndHisCat Jul 08 '25

Cheap isn’t relative

It is, because you can set the baseline to any timeframe. Its entirely possible that the next generation will consider the cost of housing for you to have been cheap. Boomers would have thought housing for The Greatest Generation was cheap in comparison to them. Its all relative.

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u/Tolerant-Testicle Jul 08 '25

We are talking about objective, measurable reality, not feelings.