Picture life in the 60s for late teens and early 20s - the Baby Boomers of today. Consider the response of older generations to this group who appeared intent on turning life upside down.
Political, social and community change of a scale unheard of. Anti war protests, gender equality, sexual freedom and generally challenging the norms of a conservative post-war society.
Fast forward to 2016 and people in their teens and early 20s – Generation Y - challenging the now ageing Boomers and proposing significant economic change to enable their emerging generation to get a fair go and not be lumbered with the debt of the Boomers.
It seems what goes around, comes around. Boomers under threat from a demanding generation.
Generational mischief and conflict of the kind we are currently seeing delivers little. Too often driven by interest groups with other agendas, ambitious commentators or, in this age, those who feel free to hide behind the anonymity of social media.
Boomers have Gen Y children and overwhelmingly support them through their school and post school learning years. Support to enter the housing market (in whatever form) is common.
Gen Y benefits from the social changes driven by the Boomers and increasingly seek to build on that foundation through changes relevant to the current generation - gender and marriage equality being prime examples - and good on them for driving the change agenda further.
Boomers and Gen Y both need to remember that there is a wider, much more important debate about fairness and equality.
Put the generational card to one side and focus on the challenge of disadvantage created because of employment, disability, race, socio economic status and place of birth, regardless of age. These are the real issues of disadvantage.
We can argue till we are blue in the face or till Twitter goes into overload about housing or jobs or debt to the nation. They are issues of import but the future lies much more with the wider reforms that no generation, including Boomers, has ever been able to adequately influence.
Respecting other generations is a challenge for all - for mature and emerging generations.
Respect that employment is difficult for the old and the young and that public policy needs to do better to enable the young to progress through the experiences of the workplace whilst enabling mature workers to maintain their dignity with meaningful employment.
Policy solutions
Similarly public policy must tackle the forces that drive up the cost of housing for young people.
These include supply side impediments and ill-considered public policy that limits older Australians housing choices - short of dumping them in the outskirts of cities far from their family and community supports.
Attacking the cost and timeliness of housing approvals would be a good starting point to improving housing affordability.
And yes, reform of the excesses of negative gearing would send a signal. Understanding the impact of population trends has also been highlighted by demographer Bernard Salt as a critical issue.
There is also a need for common ground on the issue of entitlement to the public purse. It has become a way of life, a mantra for all generations to demand that government fixes everything. Again fertile ground for change that would provide a platform for supporting and encouraging those that are really disadvantaged.
In short, there is plenty of common ground where generations should be able to meet and drive change for the whole community. What a force for good Boomers and Gen Y could be collectively!
Patience, understanding and a commitment to broader social good would be far more productive than the current divisive hot air and commentariat-delivered agendas of self-interest.
Michael O'Neill is the Chief Executive of National Seniors Association of Australia.
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