opinion
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Panther Prowler • Dec. 6, 2019
“OK Boomer” claps back? Prasheetha Karthikayen Features Editor
Sarena Kabir Features Editor
The rhetoric “ok boomer” is a joking way to clap back at baby boomers from younger generations for the years of ridicule for fighting against climate change, gender inequality, and for how our youth is incompetent. The viral phrase emerged after a video of an older man criticizing the younger generation surfaced on the newest social media app, Tik Tok. “Millennials and Generation Z have the Peter Pan syndrome, they don’t ever want to grow up; they think that the Utopian ideals that they have in their youth are somehow going to translate into adulthood,” the man said. Numerous people have remixed this audio and added the simple phrase: “ok boomer” to fire back. The phrase “ok boomer” is not always directed at the older generations. It is often used as a joke towards other friends and the people in our own generation. Honestly, it really is not something to take much offense towards--it is just kids being kids. For several years, the baby boomers have insulted Gen Z for their over usage of phones, for not being smart or old enough to have our voices heard, and asserting that we are doing more harm than good, and accusing us of being lazy and having everything
handed to us. While the insult can be reflected in some Gen millenials and Gen Zers, that does not apply to all of us. Our generation has made a cultural impact on our society, which should not be looked down upon. The #MeToo Movement has started to destigmatize sexual assault for men and women alike, creating a safer community. We have collectively become more accepting, making safe places for LGBTQ+ persons to express their true selves without backlash, releasing the strain on many people’s mental health. While the older generations have not paid much attention to how this Earth is slowly crumbling as time goes on, we are raising awareness surrounding climate change, marching in cities around the world.. In the video, the man mentions that the younger generations “don’t ever want to grow up; (and they) think that the Utopian ideals that they have in their youth are somehow going to translate into adulthood.” But many of our youth have to face stress, family issues, discrimination, and more. How does this embody “Utopian ideals?” We know that life is not perfect and we take time out of our daily lives to cope and deal with
these problems. Battling these struggles one on one, instead of running away from them, is a true sign of growing up. Some baby boomers have gone as far as to call “ok boomer” a slur. Bob Lonsberry, a radio host, referred to it as the “n-word of ageism.” While a ton of baby boomers continuously comment on how Gen Z-ers are “too Politically Correct” or turning into “special snowflakes who get offended over everything,” it is ridiculously ironic how many of those same people are getting offended over this phrase. As if baby boomers did not ridicule us, calling us out as walking zombies who are glued to their cell phones and unable to make actual human connections. But apparently saying “ok boomer,” crosses a line. This is not to say that millennials and Gen Z-ers are flawless. However, taking matters into our own hands is something that has been long overdue, and our retort: OK BOOMER. Emily Augustine/Prowler
Thanksgiving before Christmas Reese Kelem Photographer
Clarissa Shin Sports Editor
The United States struggles with over-commercialization of Each year, it seems as though Christmas is approaching earlier and earlier, knocking out other holidays like Halloween Christmas, using the Mall Santa, Elf on the Shelf and all sorts and Thanksgiving. The haunting sounds of Jingle Bells ring of presents as their platform to exploit the holiday for profit. sooner and sooner every passing year and commercial companies By selling earlier every year, it only encourages this commercial have decided to “celebrate” this holiday as early as October by business and diminishes the holiday even further. Christmas bringing their Christmas deals and decorations to the stores. loses a large amount of its value when it becomes normalized in This push to selling Christmas themed items overour society and not looked at as a special holiday. commercializes the holiday and leads to other As a result of the push for commercializing Christmas earlier, other holidays are losing importance or are holidays being forgotten. flat out being forgotten. Many people ignore the One prime example is Costco Wholesale. meaning of Thanksgiving as they prepare for Black Costco usually starts putting Christmas trees Friday to buy all their presents. According to Adobe and other decorations up for sale beginning in October, before Halloween has even passed. Clarissa Shin/Prowler Analytics, between Nov. 1 – Nov. 30, $98.8 billion has Additionally, the Oaks Mall hangs up their large wreaths in early already been spent online during the holiday season. In addition, November. Radios and music apps started playing Christmas 40% of total holiday spending happens over Thanksgiving tunes WHEN. Spotify has “Christmas Hits” on their popular weekend. playlist list early on in November. According to the Washington Post, many store franchises
like CVS, Michael’s and Bed Bath and Beyond carried little to no Hanukkah decorations in 2018, but had plenty of Christmas Decorations. Moreover, the fact that Hanukkah came before Christmas that year but there were no decorations even furthers this Christmas corruption.for it even furtherMany retailers forget the date and order Hanukkah decorations too late. With all the Christmas presence in stores, holidays such as Thanksgiving and Hanukkah don’t get equal recognition and appreciation. Businesses have a perfect window to sell all their toys and decor: the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas, while still keeping Hanukkah in mind. Thus, people have time to appreciate Thanksgiving and Hanukkah before franchises bring up the big decorations. Retailers should take into consideration the importance and significance of these special holidays instead of jumping to Christmas sales, to increase profit.
Bloomberg is out of touch with the Democratic Party Carter Castillo Opinion Editor Former New York City mayor Micheal Bloomberg is just another power hungry billionaire who wants to become president. The Democratic party needs to make a statement that they are the party of the people if they wish to beat Donald Trump and to have a billionaire as their nomination would undermine their message. Bloomberg is the latest candidate to enter the Democratic nomination process for president. However, Bloomberg represents the old Democratic party, one that like the republican party favored rich elitists who had their political careers served on a silver platter. Micheal Bloomberg is like the stereotypical superrich supervillain that wears a monocle, and swoops down and attacks when he senses a power vacuum. The reason so many fellow Democratic front runners are upset over the Bloomberg bid is not just who he is, but how Bloomberg is trying to win. Bloomberg is suspected to skip the early contests
and resort immediately toward a brokered convention, a scenario in which no candidate has received a majority of the delegates. This means that the delegates for lower tier candidates become unpledged, and the candidates contesting will try and persuade as many delegates to come support themself. Therefore, the whole nomination would be decided by only a handful of delegates, which undermines the Democratic process set in place for elections. Based on those undemocratic principles alone, the Democrats must come together to resoundly defeat Bloomberg. Bloomberg is out of touch with the Democratic party’s younger and more left-leaning wing, and as Carter Castillo/Prowler
young voters are once again expected to be a key voter bloc with an expected high voter turnout, the Democrats need a candidate who can excite the younger voting base. Put simply, Bloomberg is not that person. The Democrats should not elect somebody out of fear. One of the more controversial stances that Bloomberg has taken was the stop and frisk policy that he implemented during his tenure as mayor of New York, which disproportionately affected Black americans. Moreover, Bloomberg was endorsed by another entitled mayor during his run for mayor of New York, Rudy Guiliani. It is important to remember that Bloomberg’s party affiliation change frequently, he was a Democrat, then ran as a Republican, and then last year he switched back to the Democratic party. Bloomberg is another wishy-washy elitist moderate who does not stand a chance in today’s politics.
