Coronavirus on social media: seniors under attack?
Observers note that the pandemic seems to be exacerbating the conflict between the generations. The coronavirus meme "boomer remover" - an allusion to the fact that older people are among the main risk groups - has been circulating on social networks, sparking outrage in the media.
Despicable talk of payback
The Tages-Anzeiger is shocked that young people are actually hoping senior citizens will die in the corona crisis:
“'Boomer remover' is what the coronavirus is being called on social media: Covid-19 as an eraser that is wiping out the older generation. A number of people are interpreting the pandemic as revenge on the elderly. The German rappers K.I.Z. announced at a concert that the virus only kills old white men. So it's not that bad, they say. ... And the satirist Schlecky Silberstein described coronavirus as fair because 'the 65+ generation has been driving this planet towards destruction for the last 50 years'. Anyone who says such things disqualifies himself. These statements are an expression of ageist discrimination, which is just as condemnable as racism and sexism.”
Revolution backfiring
The demands the pensioner generation made when it was young are now catching up with it, Die Presse says:
“The corona pandemic has updated the long-standing conflict between the generations. It can be followed on Twitter under the hashtag BoomerRemover. Here, great joy is expressed that the virus is doing a job that was done by hand in the senicides for thousands of years. There's something to it: a generation that once rebelled safely against its fathers and grandfathers with the slogan 'Don't trust anyone over 30' has itself become a target of generational hatred. It's the first generation that wanted to abolish the family, that considers abortion a right and euthanasia an acceptable 'silent senicide'.”