Generation Pain

There is an interesting thread on the Property Pin about the welfare gap that has developed in many western countries between the generation in their forties and fifties and those in their thirties.
As the Ireland faces the consequences of the property bust it is clear that those most likely to have bought at peak prices are in their twenties and thirties while many of the older generation cashed in nicely during the boom years. I think that it is a mistake to try to apportion generational blame as economic circumstances are largely out of any individual's control and anybody with the right to vote can influence which politicians make decisions in his name. My observations from the outside are that Irish people of around my age should look at their own actions during the property boom. I know of many people who were engaged in property flipping or of gratuitously increasing the selling price of their house if they sniffed a greater profit. In my view many people smelt that something was amiss but ignored the obvious and joined in the collective madness.
One thing that I will say in relation to this is that a paradigm shift is needed in people's attitude to entitlement. For example, the Irish state gives a free travel pass to retired people so that they can travel without charge the length and breadth of the country. Of course this is a nice retirement perk but is it really necessary to give the rich older generation free travel while the poorer younger generation pays the full whack. The assumption that older people are poorer and need to make do on a state pension is just wrong. Clearly there is a sector of society that needs a helping hand but universal benefits are not the way to do this efficiently. Ireland will have a major challenge tackling this thorny issue because the main political parties are full of those with vested interests in maintaining the status quo. In the Euro elections Irish people made a move to the left to punish the government. If Ireland wants to get its house back in order a younger centre right party is needed. Perhaps Fine Gael can be that party but I very much doubt that it can be anything more than a replica of its larger revival.