Yeah, unfortunately there are some people using it to straight up be a jerk rather than in response to any dismissive behavior. And like you suggest, “Boomer” isn’t even needed for someone to manage that — just a rude attitude.

The current zeitgeist is, “I am virtuous because I’m a victim of → somebody else.” That had better change quick because there are no solutions there.

I think that is a narrative you’ll hear some places, but I wouldn’t call it the cultural zeitgeist. My impression is that a lot of people, particularly younger generations, are trying to figure out exactly what you mention. Every generation has its own problems to deal with, which are partly carried down from the generation before them. The irony (or tragedy?) is that because of how this often pans out, there is sometimes little time or opportunity left to work on building a better future for one’s children. Or in some cases the future people try to secure for their kids is not the future their kids actually want. It’s partly a tricky thing to work out because the best chance for it to happen would be if older and younger generations somehow managed to come together and work towards solutions that matter to both.

If I were to make a suggestion about where the “victim” mentality comes from, it would be that it comes from this vicious circle and others that hand down discrimination and disadvantage generation after generation. Even when some of us do know that our own parents did their best, the sad fact of the matter is that doing your best doesn’t always result in achieving a solution. There are also always those members of each generation — be they politicians, businessmen, or what have you — that are doing their best to look out for their own needs first, and they’ll pass the burden on to the young without an ounce of remorse. I think facing the uncomfortable reality of this gets confused with adopting a victim mindset because it sounds like blame to some ears, though there are also some well-meaning young people who would rather play the victim than deal with that reality.

So where you’re pessimistic about finding solutions in a mindset that says “I’m the victim,” imagine the pessimism some of us are feeling when we look at the broad lack of solutions all around, including even the increasing lack of resources available to us for finding those solutions.