I am thinking about getting a t-shirt printed with 50 and soon to be a burden on society on it.

Why not? I am it seems technically part of the rule-breaking, hip-shaking, peacenik generation known as the baby-boomers – slogans and T-shirts are our thing.

When we were growing up, we were the unnecessarily rebellious generation. No decorum whatsoever. The rebels without cause – the bra-burning misfits who wanted to change the world in ways that then seemed impossibly extreme. For many of our seniors and therefore superiors at the time, it was quite plausible that our very existence and our insistence on change was some strange drug-fueled communist plot (they were tricky those Russians!).

But some 30 or 40 years on, how times have changed.

Along the way we have been labeled irresponsible hippies, selfish, indulged and self-indulgent and greedy, the had-it-too easy generation especially by those gen X types (mostly too old to be our kids and too young and hip or chic to be boomers).

They forget or just never knew the shadows that spurred our rebellious spirit, our yearning for freedom – the cold war; Vietnam; the looming threat of nuclear holocaust; the gender divide; the iron grip of convention; the pre-pill days of unwanted pregnancies, unholy adoptions or backyard abortions and shot-gun weddings; the double standards; the crushing responsibilities of the sole breadwinner and the crushing boredom of being sentenced to domestic bliss; and the stunning realisation that politicians and priests and doctors and mayors and teachers and policemen and world leaders lie…they tell great big fat ones.

Once we were brought up to believe in them like our folks did – with whole hearts – why else would they and their parents have trotted off into two massive world wars.

I think we paid our dues and as different as they might be to the problems of today’s young people, I think we made some changes that needed to be made.

I also admit that we were not perfect.

But down under and I suppose worldwide in developed nations we are about to be given a new mantle. With dizzying statistics set before us as proof positive of the continuing irritation that we are to society, we are being cast as a great big sack of burden.

By 2050 a full quarter of the Australian population will be …wait for it …old. This is devastating news for the nation ….good heavens what will we do with all those geriatrics?

Will grey be the new black? Will every bus and train finally have wheelchair access?  Will there be special traffic lanes for those personal mobility scooters that are technically banned on our roads? Will there be affirmative action for political representation in our parliament? Will we be considered wise and asked our opinion?

Well these are not the questions being asked. Oh no – the biggest question is how will our nation possibly afford us? Can you actually build that many nursing homes and who will pay for us to be tucked away in them? If you are an operator of one of these delightful facilities, put your thinking caps on now, because it is apparent that there may not be enough young people to pay for all the old people to be settled nicely into Les villages de gris, away from the real world where they are not wanted.

We are also being urged to work longer – the new retirement age may appropriately be set at 70 which is fine if people still want to hire you when you are 50 or 60 (ostensibly ones prime if you consider the changing demographics) – but they don’t.

It is fascinating stuff really, depending on how you look at it. Even if they are fighting fit, there are not that many 70 year olds who are up for a hard day’s yacka on a building site, or even a long flight air stewarding. What will it mean if we work until our 70s – do we get the thinking and sitting around jobs, while the young do the heavy lifting? Will all those call centre operators suddenly be less intelligible not because of their unfamiliar accents, but because the false teeth are a bit loose on the telephonist?

In all of this I must say I resent the burden tag – deeply.

It is not our generation who stayed at home until we were in our 30s so mum and dad could bear the cost of our partying and foot the bills while we saved for a dream home - no two bedroom renovator’s delight for this lot ..oh no.

We hightailed it out of home as soon as we could..we lived in appalling share houses, we sowed some wild oats or married too young and lived to regret it.

We had our kids before 30 and raised them as best we could even if we did have a few quiet ciggies while we were pregnant and ate creamy cheeses with our occasional glass of red – they were born and were OK.

We worked and paid loads of taxes in the days before governments gave you childcare subsidies and a large financial bonus for having babies. We struggled and still do with work life balance and our weight…we took our politics and our music seriously..we valued education and communication. We did what most people try to do – the very best we could within our lights.

So when they come knocking at my door to remind me I am old and frail and that perhaps I would like to give away all my responsibilities (baby boomers are actually quite good at responsibility) and move into a nice comfy subdivision designed specifically for the mature Australian. I am taking my superannuation and buying a combi van (it might just cover that) and heading up north to the bush or to the wild coast somewhere to see out my twilight days under the stars.