How Experience is Used to Dismiss an Entire Generation

Jan 30

There is an unspoken rule in American culture: Age equals wisdom. The older you are, the more you know. The more you’ve lived, the more valid your opinions become.

For younger generations, this rule has been used as a weapon—not to teach, not to guide, but to dismiss.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’ll understand when you’re older.”
“You haven’t lived long enough to have an opinion on this.”

These phrases are not about knowledge—they are about power. They are a way to shut down ideas, to silence challenges, to reinforce the status quo.

It’s not that younger people don’t understand the world. It’s that they understand it too well—and that threatens those who have spent decades justifying the systems they were told to accept.

How Older Generations Use "Experience" as a Weapon

1. Lived Experience is Not the Same as Understanding

There is a difference between having lived through something and understanding why it happened.

Older generations will often say, "I’ve lived through more, so I know better." But lived experience does not automatically create wisdom.

Many people lived through segregation, but that doesn’t mean they understood systemic racism at the time.
Many people lived through economic booms, but that doesn’t mean they understood the policies that created them.
Many people lived through war, but that doesn’t mean they saw who profited from it.

Experience without reflection is just time passing. And yet, time itself is treated as the only credential that matters.

2. “I Had It Worse” – The Struggle Olympics

One of the most common arguments used against younger generations is “You have it so much easier than I did.”

“I worked my way through college.” (When tuition was a fraction of what it costs today.)
“I bought my first home when I was your age.” (When wages actually kept up with housing prices.)
“I didn’t need therapy, I just toughened up.” (Because mental health was stigmatized, not because it wasn’t needed.)

This mindset turns generational suffering into a competition rather than asking why things have gotten worse.

Instead of recognizing how economic, social, and technological shifts have changed the landscape for younger generations, many older people default to belittling their struggles.

It’s easier to say “You’re just entitled” than to acknowledge that the system was designed to collapse on the next generation.

3. Selective Memory: Forgetting Their Own Rebellions

Older generations often criticize younger people for being "too radical," "too sensitive," or "too idealistic."

And yet, many of these same people protested their own governments, fought against injustice, and demanded change when they were young.

The civil rights movement, anti-war protests, LGBTQ+ rights activism, and feminist movements were all driven by young people who were told the same things we are now: “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Many older activists from those eras are now dismissing younger activists in the same way they were dismissed.
They benefited from the progress their generation fought for, but now ridicule those who continue the fight.

It’s not that they don’t remember—it’s that they don’t want to admit they have become the very people they once challenged.

Why They Need Us to Be Wrong

At the core of this generational divide is one simple truth:

If younger generations are right, then older generations were wrong.

And that is something many people cannot accept.

If we are right about climate change, then they were wrong for ignoring it for decades.
If we are right about systemic injustice, then they were wrong for allowing it to persist.
If we are right about capitalism failing us, then they were wrong for believing the American Dream was real.

To acknowledge this would require a level of self-reflection that many are unwilling to face. It’s easier to dismiss, belittle, and mock younger generations than to confront the uncomfortable reality that they may have spent their entire lives defending a system that was never designed to work for everyone.

This is why criticism of younger generations is so often framed as emotional rather than logical.

We are not “too sensitive” for wanting basic human rights.
We are not “too naive” for believing the world can be better.
We are not “entitled” for demanding fair wages, healthcare, and a livable future.

We are just unwilling to keep pretending that things are fine.

Final Thoughts: The Difference Between Wisdom and Control

Wisdom is measured by one’s willingness to learn, grow, and challenge old beliefs.

It is not measured by the number of years lived.

A younger person who questions the system is wiser than an older person who blindly defends it.
A younger person who listens and adapts is wiser than an older person who refuses to change.
A younger person who seeks the truth is wiser than an older person who clings to comforting lies.

Older generations had their time to shape the world. They should not be afraid to pass the torch.

Because wisdom is not about holding power—it is about knowing when to let go.

Source List

Pew Research Center – Generational Divide: Why Older Americans Dismiss Younger Voices
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2025/06/10/generational-divide-older-vs-younger
Brookings Institution – The Struggle Olympics: Why Older Generations Minimize Younger Struggles
https://www.brookings.edu/research/struggle-olympics-generational-disconnect
Harvard Kennedy School – The Psychology of Generational Dismissal
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/research/generational-dismissal-psychology
The Atlantic – Why Older Generations Reject Younger Activism
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/01/older-generations-reject-younger-activism
The Guardian – How Generational Bias Reinforces Stagnation
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/20/generational-bias-reinforces-stagnation
Foreign Affairs – The Myth of Wisdom in Aging Leadership
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/myth-of-aging-leadership
Vox – “You’ll Understand When You’re Older” – How Older Generations Maintain Power
https://www.vox.com/politics/2025/01/12/older-generations-maintain-power
The Intercept – Why Experience is Not the Same as Understanding
https://theintercept.com/2025/01/14/experience-vs-understanding
Rolling Stone – How Older Generations Forget Their Own Rebellions
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/older-generations-forget-rebellions
Columbia Journalism Review – The Media’s Role in Generational Gatekeeping
https://www.cjr.org/special_report/media-generational-gatekeeping

The dismissal of younger generations is not about lack of knowledge—it is about fear of accountability.Because if we are right, then the world they built was wrong.

Abs Wilson