ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
For years and years, Sam O’Flannagan thought that Baby Boomers where the natural predator of his future happiness.
Owning a home, he says, underpins your worth as a young person in this country. As time marches on, the line between the have’s and the have not’s is growing thicker each day.
The 29-year-old explained to The Advocate that he never thought he was that different to his friends. There are some he’s more like than others.
“But I’ve noticed some friends, who just last years were in a similar financial situation to me, magically gain the ability to buy a home,” he said.
“Which makes you think. Are you the same as your friends?”
Sam went on to explain that his parents are perfectly normal people. They still work, despite being in their 60s. His mother is a registered nurse at The Whooton School for Boys in Betoota Grove. One of the most expensive and exclusive private schools in the Eromanga Basin. His father runs his own garage in the French Quarter.
“They’re normal people. They own their own home. Mum has her Captiva and Dad has his Prado. We get a unit in Mooloolaba in January for a week. That’s about it.”
Earlier in the year, the first of his friends bought a home.
“He got a unit in the French Quarter. To get it, it would’ve needed about a hundred grand in liquid cash to throw down as a deposit. As it turns out, he got it from his parents,” he said.
“Which is fine. He shouldn’t be punished for having rich parents. What I’m trying to say is that it’s not good for people like that to pretend that they’re the same as everyone else. They’re not,”
“There’s nothing normal about having family who can peel off hundreds of thousands of dollars to help you into the property market,”
“I used to think I was just like my mates. But some of my mates are different. As I get older, it’s becoming more and more apparent to me that Baby Boomers aren’t my enemy, it’s the Upper Middle Class. Broke Boomers are my uncles and aunts in the struggle. I’m surrounded by Young Boomers. People who will grow into the people I hate so, so much. Which is terrifying,”
“And that makes me sad. I’m not Upper Middle Class. I’m just normal.”
More to come.
