According to a YouGov survey, 75 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted for the UK to remain in the EU. Only 39 percent of those 65 and over voted to remain. Therefore, the young were, in the words of the Huffington Post headline, “screwed by older generations.”
In the Huffington Post article, “EU Referendum Results: Young ‘Screwed By Older Generations’ As Polls Suggest 75% Backed Remain,” assistant news editor Louise Ridley explained the plight of the youth.
“The average life expectancy of someone who voted Brexit is far lower than a Remain voter, according to a CNN journalist citing apparent YouGov and ONS data, meaning that ‘those who must live with the result of the EU Referendum the longest want to remain.’”
Perhaps HuffPost would like a “three-fifths” rule for senior citizens (à la the old rule that African American slaves count as three-fifths a vote each).
The only person HuffPost cites in favor of Brexit in this article is the political face of the Brexit referendum, politician Boris Johnson. Moreover, his quotation isn’t even an argument — just a bland statement that the young people shouldn’t feel bad about the Brexit. Why shouldn’t they feel bad? If he gave a reason, HuffPost doesn’t care to repeat it.
Everything else in the article is about how bad the Baby Boomers are. “Intercept journalist Murtaza Hussain said the age breakdown showed ‘Older generation voted for a future the younger don’t want.’”
The rest of the article was a list of 21 tweets, 20 of which range from moderately antagonistic to the elderly to outright vicious. There were no tweets or quotations (other than the Johnson one) defending Brexit or the right of the elderly to vote.
“Thanks, granny.” Tweeted Catherine Boyle, senior correspondent for CNBC.
Henry Pryor, “the BBC’s favourite property expert,” is quoted saying, “70% of youngsters voted to remain. Hope their parents remember that when they are dribbling in their retirement home.”
HuffPost included another tweet, reading, “The Majority Who has voted for #Brexit won’t see the consequences of his choice. For once, let the young ones decide. #uk #EuropeanUnion.”
Another one on the HuffPost article says, “YOU DAMN IDIOTS! YOU OLD PEOPLE WILL DIE IN 10 OR SO YEARS AND WE YOUNG PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO LIVE WITH YOUR BIGOTED DECISION. #eurefresult.”
HuffPost didn’t condemn any of these views.
Outside of the HuffPost article, some journalists expressed similarly anti-elderly sentiments. DealBook Managing Editor at The New York Times, Jeffrey Cane, quoted an article by fusion.net, tweeting, “This vote is also the grimmest of reminders of the power still held by the older generation, not only in the UK.” (Cane doesn’t look too young, himself.)
Bloomberg’s senior correspondent Marc Champion retweeted entrepreneur Carl Bildt’s tweet, which read, “This is it: Old England has deprived young Britain of its European future.”
BuzzFeed’s product support specialist Alp Ozcelik retweeted Evan DeSimone-Torres, a writer at Digiday Content Studio, saying, “It sure was generous of Britain to give baby boomers one more chance to wreck the global economy.”
The world certainly needs voting age caps, or euthanasia or something.
