I don't know...I am a lot older than many of you here and I can see a slightly different aspect at play. I want to say from the outset that inequality is something that troubles me, and needs to be addressed, but putting that rather large issue aside I am bothered by the pervasive attitude that it's all the previous generations fault for being greedy.
NZ is home to many people who moved here from other countries to get ahead and invest for the future. My Parents did, arriving in the early 70's and working hard for 40 years to firstly pay off their mortgage and buy investment properties. Virtually all of their friends did the same.
They never took an overseas holiday, never went to a restaurant or cafe (not that there were many cafes) and never drove a car newer than 20 years old.
They drove me mental, but they friggin went without so they could have a comfortable life later down the track.
I don't see the instinct to get ahead as 'selfish'. It was never easy then, and it certainly isn't easy now. I had to move to Melbourne to be able to afford to buy my first home as even in 2003 we couldn't afford to buy a solid decent first home within an hours commute of Auckland city.
Most people in my generation (I'm 45) went to Australia or the UK and worked and saved to have money to bring home for their first house, as did lots of other people we know - but these days I see many clients who have returned from their OE with no savings.
My life has never been comfortable, my parents maybe are in that position but we are not. We moved back from Melbourne to Auckland as like many of my generation, we saw that Auckland had all of the big city problems looming but none of the big city opportunities compared to Melb/Sydney/London etc. So we went in a different direction and focused on having an affordable lifestyle.
We have a nice(ish) house in Christchurch that is badly EQ damaged, we lost all of our savings after the EQ trying to keep two new businesses afloat which we managed to do and have recovered through hard work and good luck...I am aiming to purchase two or three investment properties in the next 5 years but don't see myself as greedy. I support several charities, pay a lot of tax, and regularly volunteer in my community
Sorry for the long email, I just wanted to try to explain that although things are hard for first home buyers these days, it hasn't been easy for previous generations.