That may be true of your Boomer acquaintances, but not of me or most of the Boomers I grew up with. Most of my friends, all of my first cousins, and I were brought up in lower middle class families and were first generation college graduates. A college education, debt free, at a state university was affordable back then, even for kids from modest backgrounds. My parents worked hard to provide what we had, and I am grateful to them for that, but it was definitely not a third-base upbringing. From them, I learned the value of hard work, education, and thrift. As a result, I expect to retire in the next two years at a comfort level that would be almost unimaginable to them. If that's being sanctimonious, so be it.
Your post is spot on. I, like you worked hard on my homework while my friends played Capture the Flag every evening. I did not realize it then but I was differentiating my future from theirs.
We all had bare subsistence housing back then but now I guess I am one of those who lives retired in a golfing community and working part time if I feel like it. BTW, paid for our son to get a degree without debt.