#x-gen

Ageism.  Old people should not be scorned or viewed as a burden, nor should they be revered for ... being old.  Age alone does not grant wisdom.  But it does come with experience.  That experience comes with perspective, but, like all things, is filtered through bias.  Listen, learn, choose for yourself.

Granting old people discounts is not ageism, or reverse ageism, it’s the same a granting students a discount.  It’s a recognition that they’re probably live on a fixed lower income.  It’s no more ageism than preventing children from drinking alcohol until the age of 21.  There are reasons behind it, just stay sober around a bunch of drunks.  The fun does end, it’s not pretty.  If granting seniors a discount ageism, then movie ratings are ageism as well.  There’s a reason we don’t expose children to inappropriate content.

Not hiring someone because they are over 50, that’s ageism.  As the leading edge of the boomers are entering retirement, it’s been noted (I've read in a few finance magazines) that they take with them a lot of knowledge and companies are worried about this knowledge drain.  Bullshit.  Companies are worried about the bottom line.  They won’t hire people over 50 because they’ll retire soon, so they hire young guys who are cheaper, can be trained, and will stick around for years.

Those same executive boomers worry about the knowledge drain also bitch that x-gens aren’t loyal to the company the way they were, that we’re self-centered and only worry about ourselves, and that someone over 50 will be more loyal to the company than the follow-on generations.  We are less likely to be loyal because watching our parents get laid-off to increase the bottom line has made us realize you aren’t loyal to anyone but your fucking wallets.  We learned from you!  Fuckwits!