PHOENIX — Nick Lichtenberg wrote a column arguing that Baby Boomers are occupying disproportionate shares of housing, high-status jobs, and institutional power, which constrains economic opportunities for younger generations. He used the metaphor of “a python that swallowed a pig” to describe how the Baby Boomer generation created a demographic bulge that continues to affect the U.S. economy as it moves through housing and labor markets.
Lichtenberg’s column prompted a wave of critical responses from readers, many identifying as Baby Boomers. A reader who identified as a Boomer emailed: “Dear Nick, I apologize for not dying soon enough for you, so your generation can pick over my financial bones. Sincerely, a boomer who is in excellent health (sorry).” Another asked: “Are you suggesting putting boomers on ice floes or turning them into Soylent green?”
One correspondent wrote: “You and people like you should all be shot in the head and dumped in a ditch.” The writer added that this was “not a threat” but “a statement of fact” about what “ought to” happen. Lichtenberg’s legal team reviewed at least one reader’s correspondence that included violent language.
Other responses defended Boomers’ life choices and circumstances. A 73-year-old woman from Phoenix wrote: “If I was your mom, I would spank you!” and noted that her generation was lucky to have “play[ed] outside and had the best music and affordable homes and good jobs with no college.” A reader summarized their life as: “I bought a true fixer upper, worked 2 jobs through my 20s & 30s, went to night school to get a degree, raised my family, took care of my mom in her older years, started a business [and] employed young people,” and asked, “What exactly did I do wrong? What is it that you want me to do differently?”
Several readers cited financial barriers to downsizing. A Boomer born in 1961 wrote: “As a boomer born in ’61 it is now expected that I leave my home? I will leave it when I am good and ready to do so.” A 67-year-old reader stated: “I’m 67, worked all my life, still paying on my mortgage and can’t afford to move or quit – my medication I MUST take runs over $2,000 a month after insurance.” Another woman, whose Gen X husband died suddenly in 2017, explained that downsizing was not cost-effective because “smaller, not as nice houses were more expensive than the house I was living in.” She added that homes in a nearby subdivision that once sold for $100,000 are now worth more than she paid for her own house, and her husband’s insurance did not cover the mortgage.