Boomer anger

So the Baby Boomers are to blame for everything wrong today (‘‘How did the Boomers screw thee? Let me count the ways’’, Stacey Kirk, July 3), and because life was (supposedly) a bowl of cherries for us we all have gazillions salted away while the poor young people today face a lifetime of misery. And how dare we want to retire at 65 (even though we have worked and paid taxes all our lives.)

Try living like this: buying all your worldly goods from op-shops, saving leftovers for future meals, taking the bus or biking everywhere, making your own clothes.

My husband has just retired at 65 after more than 40 years in the meat industry. His body is completely worn out and he now requires surgeries to repair the ravages of a lifetime of hard, physical work. Yes, we own our own home, and have a modest superannuation. We have earned every cent the hard way. D.E. Waldron, Invercargill Kirk’s article is offensive to me.

What will she say when the generation being born today complain and whine in her older years?

When we were her age, travelling overseas was not thought of as we had to find work at 15 and stay for the rest of our days. Sometimes there was not enough to eat, and houses were cold. William Stronach, Invercargill As I worked fulltime from when I was 16 until my 60s, paid tax and never needed a single Government handout, I felt I had earned my superannuation which, coupled with the income from my rental property, allows me to enjoy more free time. And, to address her other rants against us, I wanted Britain to remain in the EU and I voted for a change of New Zealand flag. Kirk appears to belong to the ‘‘blame’’ generation, choosing apathy over responsibility. Liz French, Tauranga