Millenials to Boomers etc.

[monarch64]

Starting this call out thread is in such poor taste I’m rather surprised it wasn’t shut down by a mod as being against the community standards. Pretty appalling behavior from an adult.

LOL. Why would it be shut down for being against community standards? It was intended to continue a conversation that was hijacking the other one. News flash: having uncomfortable discussions and poor taste are not the same thing.

 

[Matata]

20 years ago I did a lot of reading about the effect millennials would have on traditional employment models in an effort to prepare my employer for change. I just remembered a statistic that was cited in the studies I read at the time -- although the millennial generation was expected to be the largest in history, generation Z was anticipated to be quite small. Our birth rate has been steadily declining. One assumption is that gen Z would have pick of the litter for jobs because there simply won't be enough bodies to fill positions. Recessions and other factors will affect that prediction but I am curious what the future holds for the children of millennials based on that 20 year old model.

 

[monarch64]

What comes after Gen Z...if we’ve run out of alphabet letters do we just start over in pig Latin? AFAF.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

20 years ago I did a lot of reading about the effect millennials would have on traditional employment models in an effort to prepare my employer for change. I just remembered a statistic that was cited in the studies I read at the time -- although the millennial generation was expected to be the largest in history, generation Z was anticipated to be quite small. Our birth rate has been steadily declining. One assumption is that gen Z would have pick of the litter for jobs because there simply won't be enough bodies to fill positions. Recessions and other factors will affect that prediction but I am curious what the future holds for the children of millennials based on that 20 year old model.

Here's hoping for my 2 year old! I can say one thing, among my group on friends, if they have kids at ALL, it's 1-2 MAX. I know the only way I'll have more than 2 is if I have twins.

 

[LLJsmom]

@lyra THANK YOU I'm 32, anyone born from 1980-2004 is generally considered a millennial. Let's not even get into lack of healthcare and maternity benefits, people would really lose their minds.

No one is saying that previous generations didn't have challenges, of course they did. But, things are bleak and not looking to improve anytime soon. Things are supposed to improve as time goes on, and yet they do not.

For everyone always referencing war and this generation not understanding, I was in high school and could visibly see the twin towers smoldering. We grew up in a world of terror attacks, it's not nothing. I have several family members serving in various parts of the US military.

I've been thinking about this, and I am not sure that this is always the case. Again, I ponder this because of my own children so I am not targeting anyone.
If you look at the history of how countries have developed, say if you consider modern world history, different countries have had their time of rise and eventual decline. Remember the time when the sun never set on the British Empire? Well, those days are long gone. France had it's time though I couldn't really say when. My history isn't so great. The U.S. had it's time too, not that its in total decline. But it's not as easy to find jobs and support oneself, and I'm speaking generally. Countries do well during the development stages, when wages are low. As wages increase, work moves to countries where it's cheaper. That is just how economics works. Now with the Internet and technology, it is so much easier to farm out labor to cheaper foreign labor, way more than just manufacturing. The cloud allows work to be done everywhere. The labor in India, Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, Eastern European countries is much cheaper. (wikipedia) Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about that. And certain technology has made traditional industries obsolete, worldwide. We can't rewind the clock. So it is harder for people in the U.S.. Developing skills that are transferable between industries and being adaptable will be key to staying relevant in the workforce. This will be a challenge my children will face in the coming years and will play a large role in what they choose for majors and how they develop their careers.
However, these are a certain kind of challenge. I would prefer this to my son being faced with the draft. I would prefer this to my daughter being a woman 20-30 years ago. So economically, it may be tougher, but in many other respects, it is a pretty good time to be alive.

 

[MissStepcut]

LOL. Why would it be shut down for being against community standards? It was intended to continue a conversation that was hijacking the other one. News flash: having uncomfortable discussions and poor taste are not the same thing.

Because it’s not merely an uncomfortable conversation. It’s an attack on a user now spread out across an additional thread. Both users said their piece in the other thread. This was gross.

 

[LLJsmom]

Because it’s not merely an uncomfortable conversation. It’s an attack on a user now spread out across an additional thread. Both users said their piece in the other thread. This was gross.

I'm sorry. My intention is not to attack anyone. I thought this was a discussion. I did not read any other thread.

 

[MissStepcut]

I'm sorry. My intention is not to attack anyone. I thought this was a discussion. I did not read any other thread.

Noo goodness not referring to you. Referring to this thread being spun off from the other in the first place.

 

[sunseeker101]

Here's an article you might find useful, ladies:

https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/teo-a0038960.pdf

It's a discussion of how neoliberal economic policy has changed social and individual psychology for the worse, and psychology's role in pathologizing normal personality aspects in relation to this new regime. One of the topics is 'positive psychology', a movement created by psychologists to infuse each child with a self-belief built not out of striving for competence, but in merely existing. The format of this is a mirror of neoliberal ideals: be self-sufficient in acquiring learning in order to thrive in a competitive world. We're all aware of the modern tendency in educational and child-related areas for all competitors to be winners and so on. I believe this to be one strong causal component of the snowflake or millennial phenomena.

As for the issues millennials are responding to: I think from a younger vantage point, and with your basic ideas of self and achievement bent away from traditional ideas, the vista of neoliberal modernity is likely less inviting and more dispiriting than for earlier generations. There is no clear path forward for youngsters today, given the fickleness of world market forces and their effects on the ground. Worker protections are necessarily reduced (the neoliberal deal), and competition is never-ending and so intense that it tends to the superficial.

Add to this the social effects of neoliberal policy, which are well-known and documented: relative alienation ('atomization', made worse by social media), lowered social cohesion, higher levels of opportunistic self-interest in all interactions -- this is the tip of the iceberg, but it's not hard to see why millennials may feel mightily discouraged in these conditions. Given that they were raised to take the universe over by barely raising a finger thanks to 'positive' psychology, it's also easy to see why they might give up with a relative sense of entitlement compared to earlier generations.

This is the kind of thing creating modern malaise in swathes of millennials today. A good indicator of what they've been lacking in upbringing is who they look to for help and support. At the moment, Jordan Peterson is filling this role, at least for a large number of young men in America.

 

[AGBF]

Yet many in this country won't let these people in, but that's a whole other topic.

It is a whole other topic, but one thing I have always admired about you (and about Kate) is your strong social conscience. As I said elsewhere, you think about others, not just about yourself. And those whom Trump would keep out are worth mentioning. (Thanks to Matata, too.)

Deb

 

[redwood66]

Here's an article you might find useful, ladies:

https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/teo-a0038960.pdf

It's a discussion of how neoliberal economic policy has changed social and individual psychology for the worse, and psychology's role in pathologizing normal personality aspects in relation to this new regime. One of the topics is 'positive psychology', a movement created by psychologists to infuse each child with a self-belief built not out of striving for competence, but in merely existing. The format of this is a mirror of neoliberal ideals: be self-sufficient in acquiring learning in order to thrive in a competitive world. We're all aware of the modern tendency in educational and child-related areas for all competitors to be winners and so on. I believe this to be one strong causal component of the snowflake or millennial phenomena.

As for the issues millennials are responding to: I think from a younger vantage point, and with your basic ideas of self and achievement bent away from traditional ideas, the vista of neoliberal modernity is likely less inviting and more dispiriting than for earlier generations. There is no clear path forward for youngsters today, given the fickleness of world market forces and their effects on the ground. Worker protections are necessarily reduced (the neoliberal deal), and competition is never-ending and so intense that it tends to the superficial.

Add to this the social effects of neoliberal policy, which are well-known and documented: relative alienation ('atomization', made worse by social media), lowered social cohesion, higher levels of opportunistic self-interest in all interactions -- this is the tip of the iceberg, but it's not hard to see why millennials may feel mightily discouraged in these conditions. Given that they were raised to take the universe over by barely raising a finger thanks to 'positive' psychology, it's also easy to see why they might give up with a relative sense of entitlement compared to earlier generations.

This is the kind of thing creating modern malaise in swathes of millennials today. A good indicator of what they've been lacking in upbringing is who they look to for help and support. At the moment, Jordan Peterson is filling this role, at least for a large number of young men in America.

Jordan Peterson is not just intriguing for young men in America. I find him fascinating and refreshing in his pragmatism, humor, and intelligence. Thanks for the link and I will take the time to read later.

What I have noticed with millennials I come in contact with on a regular basis is the inability to adapt or respond to uncomfortable or unfortunate circumstances that arise. I learned at a young age to roll with it and look ahead to what I could do to fix it. Did we not do enough to give them the tools to adapt?

 

[redwood66]

Young people in tons of other countries live at home until married, and some married couples live with parents. My daughter has already asked me if she can live at home. I said sure. I would love to have her a long as I can. Kids are a lot of work and super expensive.

This is something I have seen as well. We have several friends/families in other countries that the parent/s live with the adult children in the family home that may be 200 or more years old. They think nothing of it and that is the way it will be forever according to them. I would gladly park RVs on my property for my adult children if they need it or the country goes to hell and it is the Grapes of Wrath future. You do what you have to do.

 

[sunseeker101]

Hi Redwood. I hope you like the link, I think it makes pretty unexpected reading, or it was for me!

It's difficult to say exactly what could make for such in-adaptability, but I would guess that the entitlement issue caused by positive psychology (I can't understand how a bunch of psychologists could be so thoughtless in relation to overall outcomes) mixed with general frustration/malaise about the unfair nature of the challenge to thrive as they perceive it, could create this easily-provoked frustration.

As well, nobody can accuse Americans of doing this to their children. If psychologists can't get it right, who can. And if people are in unconscious agreement with neoliberal ideals (usually the case in the west), it might be especially difficult for parents to find any fault with the 'positive psychology' approach.

 

[Rhea]

So in general, do people simply not think that things are actually quite bleak for young people looking ahead? I take from all of this, that things are basically as they have always been, no worse, no harder. If that's the case, why do you think so many people are living at home, not having children, working in under employed jobs?

I don't think it's bleak, just different.

I'm a millennial, one of the first, and my parents are boomers. I do see a marked difference between my experience, having graduated before the economic crash and my younger sister's. I had time to finish college, get my first job and get some experience before the world changed. She did not, though I'm not sure how of that is down to her indecisiveness in what she wants to do and more flexible work ethic.

My parents bought their first home when interest rates where 13+%. Mine is 2%. Inflation was rampant in the 1980s. My mother lost her job right before she gave birth to me (hello women working in the 1980's and lack of rights!). That sounds fairly bleak as well to me. I'd be scared with 13% interest, rising inflation, no job and a new baby. The same way I am cautious with ever increasing student loan debts, rising house prices and difficulty in getting a job to support myself. I definitely do not live the same way my parents did when they were my age just as they didn't live how their parents did. It's not all doom and gloom, it's just different due to changing exceptions, pressures and realities.

I think the boomers made many decisions which impact and effect my generations, but that happens with every generation. Some of them good and some of them bad. For economic reasons I will not hit many milestones that the boomer generation seem to consider to be the norm and I think it's harder in that way, but it's also easier because diversity and the ability for our generation to stand up to previous ones means we can opt out of seeing it as a requirement and being bullied into social norms in the same way. I really don't believe my grandmother wanted all those children!

I am opting out of the white picket fence, 2.3 children, a dog, and staying in the same career for 40 years. I am gaining fairly cheap travel, more evenings out, and a focus on what makes me happy rather than what society expects. I will live in my 825 sq foot flat (not a real house ) where 2 of us must work full-time to pay the mortgage and I will be happy there. It's a Victorian conversion so there are now 3 families living in what was once a single family home. The conversion isn't recent either, it's 1940's. My my how times have changed from 150 years ago! I don't think that makes it bleak though.

 

[Tekate]

Your post was totally awesome! thank you thank you thank you.

You know, my sister and my brother they did not fare so well, he's been in and out of mental institution since 88. My sister, became a teacher then a big shot superintendant of schools, but she was hollow.. to survive abuse, hate, anger, fighting, drugs, drinking is something I akin to living in a war zone. 3x in my life over 45 years of going to counselors, shrinks, social workers (who did me the best good in a way).. I was diagnosed as having severe PTSD, before it was well known, I believe I have it and I don't believe it's that easy to just get rid of. I think people learn coping skills, that is why counseling helped SO MUCH. Understanding me.

I totally understand every generation has had trauma.. the Greatest, they had WWII, very tough time, my grandparents, WWI..so no one had it great..

I DID give my millenials more than they deserved truth be known, but you know what LLJsmom, it doesn't work, I was a terrible mother, I spent years worrying I was a sh$$$y mom, I can remember every time I hurt my son(s) but I think if you asked them, they would tell you" "my ma, she is the best".. only thing that makes me cry anymore is my sons. My world was so scary,I will give you one little funny story (I'm an Irish storyteller).. My father during the day was a bankguard in Manhattan, so he had a gun.. he always kept it in the city at his locker he said, BUT my mother would tell us every night that maybe Daddy will come home and shoot us with his gun.. so how do kids react to that? well I planned my escape.. I had a mapped out plan that if Dad would want to kill us that night that I would grab the baby boys and shoot out the window in my mom's room and down the side and run away, fast. It's funny now, at 10 it was serious. My father was a very kind and gentle, self absorbed man when he sobered up as was my mom, a sweet lady.. but their demons, not easy peasy. My dad never tried to kills us, my mom hmm she tied to kill me on my 13th bday. seriously.. its funny now. My mother felt oodles and tremendous guilt towards me.. all kids want is a mom/dad/somebody to make a safe place for them, to play etc. So I tried to do that for my boys. I believe I overcompensated, both son's had sort of an attitude of being 'upper middle class' youth, mommy had merc, we had a pool, vacate in st John's... cleaning service.. all the things I WANTED lol when I was a kid. But I learned, one has earn that stuff.. so that is where I failed my boys.. but both seem to be getting it, both were lucky that they are math/logic heads like their Dad and were drawn to math and comp sci, good fields for today.. all I wanted for them was choice, I had no choice.. My husband, he grew up in a home of 6 kids who played board games at night.. he's normal (ish okay)..

So in my vast array of knowledge in what kids need, I come to the conclusion, they don't need money so much as they need continuity, they need someone in their corner who tells them like it is.. they need stability. All the money in the world but mom and dad have zero time or whatever makes a somewhat unstable kid.

Thank you so very much for sharing your knowledge and your experience.. I understand more everytime I read a person's thought and experiences.

peace!! love.. and good vibes

kate

@Tekate and @Asscherhalo_lover
Your stories of survival move me to tears. How a parent does not cherish their children is unfathomable to me, yet it happens again and again. I do not know the beginning of the conversation as I only read this thread. However, speaking of millenials in general, I too have noticed their sense of entitlement. However, I also do understand why some of them have what the other generations perceive as a sense of entitlement. I am a gen x'er.

Many of my younger cousins grew up going to pre-school where project "self-esteem" was popular. Love everyone and accept everyone. Most importantly love yourself. All great ideas and definitely children should be taught that. However, you take that idea and apply it to everything? Voila! May I present the Millenial. (@Asscherhalo_lover Please don't take offense. From your stories, you worked hard for everything you had, including your survival.)

I'm sharing just what I've seen among my family and friends. In my social circle, many of the millenials I know have immigrant parents, who worked very hard in the 70s-80s, climbing whatever ladder to make a good income. Doctors, lawyers, corp heads, etc. However, they wanted more for their children than they had. They sacrificed many things to give their children the things they didn't have. This includes private school education, lessons, traveling opportunities, etc. These kids were much more coddled growing up. They received a lot without needing to work for much. So honestly, it's not that much of a surprise that the ones I know exhibit this attitude. It's only an attitude to me. To them, it's perfectly understandable and justifiable.
Many have seen their parents become very successful, yet have had very unhappy home lives. Mom and Dad were always at work. Then they "made it" and still got divorced. They decided that a traditional house with a picket fence is not for them. They work to save up enough for travel, and then travel until they run out of money and have to work again. I have several family members that have decided on that route. And they say they can't afford to buy a house anyway so why bother.
With the globalization of so many industries, the economic climate is just more challenging and everything is more competitive. Home buying, job hunting... Combine that with the rude "real world awakening" the millenials have been treated to, I can see why they are whining.
And not all families are made equal. That sucks and is unfair, but it just is. Look at what @Tekate and @Asscherhalo_lover had to go through. I was lucky. My parents did not have college educations, worked hard at blue collar jobs, and put me through good schools and really instilled in my the importance of an education, while colleges were relatively affordable. Now? $50K-$60K a year, easy, at an ok small private school. That is wrong and a whole other topic. My kids are also lucky. I am brutally practical and share with them the realities of our budget, and how much it costs to support a household. About going to college, how much you make working at a fast food chain compared to being an attorney? And after you earn money, how much does the federal and state take, how much does insurance cost and how much are you left with? I am just telling them that their choice of major affects the next step, which is finding a job, which affects the next step, which is to support themselves and potentially a family. At the very minimum, they are aware. Many decisions will lead back to having a roof over your head and putting bread on the table, and having some level of healthcare. But maybe some kids never got the practical speech from the parents. If the kid was naturally a practical person, then they are lucky. They will be able to survive. But for the dreamer whose parents did not prepare them for the realities of life, and said, be whatever major you want, things will work out - maybe things are a lot harder now.

I don't know if this helps at all, but this explains some of what I see from the people in my life. It helps me have some compassion for the Millenials, and inspires me to try not to the do the same thing to my kids. Although, I do admit to being guilty of coddling them. So I guess we will see.

 

[Tekate]

@WeeOui

Hey wee wee I'd trade your story for mine any day! Me I was pretty concerned about not getting shot, beat up, killed or fire! you on the other hand had little mice and squirrels and could sing! all day. Plus ya got one he$$ of a pair of shoes in the deal.

BUT I'm here! and Cinderella? she married prince charmer, but we don't know the rest do we?.

There was a good book I read in the 70s about how there ain't no Prince Charmer. BUT I learned as a Cinderella! in training that if I worked and worked hard I was my own Prince Charming.. Hope you did too!!! Hope all the women here realize no guy is gonna ride in and take care of it all.

LOL you are funny btw... but as I said I'll trade your story for mine ANY DAY.

You guys think you had it so bad? Well, after my father died, I was raised by my cruel stepmother. I was reduced to a scullery maid, scrubbing floors and cleaning stew pots, and ironing my stepsisters’ beautiful clothes while I had to dress myself in mouse dropping held together by cockroach wings. To fortify myself, I made porridge out of my own bowel movements. Every night, I went to my little bed, otherwise known as the FLOOR, and had baked potato kisees only in my sour cream dreams. Such was life.

 

[Tekate]

Hmm I don't feel owed anything, I feel like I worked hard for everything! very hard. I don't know where you got I feel owed.. ????????

It isn't tit for tat it's everyone has a story and all generations had their problems to overcome and no one generation had it harder than the other IMHO.

Your mileage may vary and all life experience is valid.

And why does it have to be a tit for tat? I didn't even want to reply to you in the other thread because you're just going to keep on going. Why is it so hard?

"The differences I see in your history and mine is, you seem to feel owed, you feel as though you were screwed."

Again, congrats to you, but I'm allowed to feel how I feel. Most of the kids I grew up with, we were all pushed into this. Pretty much told from childhood that we MUST go to college, and everything is so over saturated the degree becomes less competitive and worthless. We were fed LIES, and when it all came crashing down, ya, a lot of people are bitter as hell. Especially when we're made fun of for it.

I don't need to move to Texas for a teaching job, I've been at mine for over 9 years now, again, I'm one of the lucky ones.

 

[Tekate]

The median annual Public School Teacher salary in Austin, TX is $54,246, as of January 30, 2018, with a range usually between $47,358-$62,628 not including bonus and benefit information and other factors that impact base pay.

- - - - -

Rents in Austin are cheaper, I can say unequivocally that food is way cheaper than in the city. Gas is waaay cheaper.. taxes are waaaay cheaper. Now the downside is: it republican, it's hot, it's dry, of course MANY people like that.

My sister, b4 she died, said in her opinion after 40 years in teaching/school system was Charter Schools, they are low paying, there was no union, they start out new teachers very lowly paid.. all in the name of CHOICE she said, (which she said was redic but that is another chat fer sure). We are now in the wonderful free market economy (which will again be the ruin and hopefully we will Phoenix again).

here's a good read: http://www.businessinsider.com/ayn-rand-is-ruining-the-american-economy-2013-9

Austin/Dallas/Houston are millenial heaven!

Have youe checked teacher salaries in Texas? I would never have been able to pay anything making 25k. Fine for people with no debt, not realistic for most. I will never make more money anywhere other than where I am. I don't need 3200 square feet, I'd be happy with a two bedroom condo, but alas, doom and gloom, made up in my head.

 

[Tekate]

I wonder why you would say such a thing. My mother always said: people who live in glass houses should NOT throw stones, and Pot calling the kettle black.

SMH. This WAS NOT a call out thread if you had read the previous area. This was a try to understand thread. I am glad I started it, I am glad I read more of millenial morass, I read Annette's posting especially and it was very interesting.

SMH.

Starting this call out thread is in such poor taste I’m rather surprised it wasn’t shut down by a mod as being against the community standards. Pretty appalling behavior from an adult.

 

[Tekate]

yes! and I know who I am. I am proud I overcome much adversity. I am proud I put myself thru college. I am happy most of the time and content. I worry, I learn, I am tolerant, and if someone does not agree with me or thinks I'm wrong, I am happy to read why.

Peace. Love. Rock n' Roll!

Believe me I was pretty shocked to see my post quoted and torn apart, but I'm not one to not at least try and defend myself. People can think what they want, but I know who I am.

 

[Tekate]

@MissStepcut

Gotcha! so please tell me where I attacked anyone?

When does discussion become attack? I disagreed with said poster that the world for millenials is terrible, from my POV it isn't terrible, but others have said it is. I learned from that. If someone puts up information that supports their POV that isn't attack, that is discussion. So if someone puts out here that a said diamond is GREAT! but some think it isn't, is that attack? Seriously, hangout is for discussion.. There is no victim, there is difference of opinion.

I think I've been wonderful here..

Are you saying I am not allowed to disagree with posters? or millenials? I'm a mother of millenials.

Noo goodness not referring to you. Referring to this thread being spun off from the other in the first place.

 

[missy]

Whatever one thinks or doesn't think it comes down to making the best of your life no matter the hardships and challenges. We can all agree that most everyone has challenges and disadvantages in life. No one's life is easy and perfect. Well, almost no one. My dad has a saying that I often think of when I start feeling down about things..."no one gets out of this life alive" and yeah it's funny but it's true too. And no one escapes life free of the crap that happens in life. That is life.

So while some individuals have more challenges and some have less ultimately what you do with your life despite that and sometimes because of that is what matters. What we experience in life contributes to who we become as individuals. It can play a role in shaping us for better or worse.

Kudos to all the strong and wonderful women here who have made an amazing life for themselves and their families despite and because of the hardships and challenges they have and continue to go through. Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby boomers and anyone else I might have left out. You are all amazing IMO.

 

[monarch64]

So true, @missy
When the recession hit in 07-08, it really impacted my life in a negative way. And for quite some time I was resentful that I was getting screwed out of my American Dream. But years later, I started to realize that my choices, based on how I’d been raised and honestly pure greed and a healthy helping of insecurity, had contributed far more to my financial demise than any other circumstance. In other words, I had to take responsibility for my own actions and part in things and although I had also been sold the idea of college degree=life success, things did not work out that way. Now what was I going to do? Sit around and bitch about how hard I had it on the internet? No. I had to let go of a lot of things I thought made me happy, and stop thinking I deserved anything and everything my little heart desired. That maybe a fortune and expensive baby strollers were not in the cards for me in this life. But, that I could be happy no matter how little or how much I had and that some dollar amount goal or measurement of success would always be a moving target.

So, I’m not out poppin’ bottles at a VIP table in the club or joining every social occasion so I can spend a couple hundred bucks on drinks and canapés with friends who won’t matter to me in 10 years. I don’t have the means for extras right now in lieu of saving for real estate so I don’t buy much jewelry. Someone asked me once what was I doing on this site since I didn’t seem to post much about jewelry. LOL. I was kinda like sorry I’m not chasing after the perfect big enough center stone...not everyone here is in buying mode all the time. It’s a community of people who share love for bling.

Anyone not pretty grateful to have what they have, spend some time with a terminal cancer patient or small child. I doubt very much they think the worst thing in life is to have some debt or not be able to afford the house they think they should have.

 

[ksinger]

Here's an article you might find useful, ladies:

https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/teo-a0038960.pdf

Wowza. Where have YOU been all my (PS) life??

Nice chewy piece. Husband and I are reading it now.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

@monarch64 I know I asked you that question just out of sheer curiosity so I apologize if it offended you at all. I know there could be a plethora of reasons people come here, mine was friendship, well and to admire everyone else's pretty jewels of course!

 

[monarch64]

@StephanieLynn it wasn’t offensive and I knew it wasn’t intended to be. My reaction internally was one based on insecurity—sometimes I see all the fabulous jewels here and feel maybe I don’t fit in. Then I realize that many of the folks buying those things are living in areas where they’re making 5x what I do and a few grand is a drop in the bucket to them whereas for me (you can buy a house here, a nice one, for under $100k) that would be an investment I’d need to put into something that grows, not bling.

You were just asking a sincere question. I know that logically, but to be questioned at all was uncomfortable not because of you or your asking, though. It’s not you, it’s me! Lol.

 

[Gussie]

When my attitude gets less than sunny, I try very hard to focus on what I have, not what I don't have. A little gratitude goes a long way. It may not change the situation but when my outlook is positive, the whole world changes for the better. Sounds so simple when I write it but it is my truth.

 

[ksinger]

@lyra THANK YOU I'm 32, anyone born from 1980-2004 is generally considered a millennial. Let's not even get into lack of healthcare and maternity benefits, people would really lose their minds.

No one is saying that previous generations didn't have challenges, of course they did. But, things are bleak and not looking to improve anytime soon. Things are supposed to improve as time goes on, and yet they do not.

For everyone always referencing war and this generation not understanding, I was in high school and could visibly see the twin towers smoldering. We grew up in a world of terror attacks, it's not nothing. I have several family members serving in various parts of the US military.

Well, you may have been "called out", but this is an excellent thread, and a good discussion of important things. So many angles, so in no particular order, a few thoughts.

In case anyone didn't know, I'm 55, so hanging in the tail end of the boomer generation. I think '55 to '65 has also been called "generation jones". I pull this from Wikipedia just to show that turning around and pointing a finger backward - even within a generation - at what they got that you did not and ascribing blame is a time-honored tradition:

"The name "Generation Jones" has several connotations, including a large anonymous generation, a "keeping up with the Joneses" competitiveness and the slang word "jones" or "jonesing", meaning a yearning or craving.[8][9][10][11] It is said[by whom?] that Jonesers were given huge expectations as children in the 1960s, and then confronted with a different reality as they came of age during a long period of mass unemployment and when de-industrialization arrived full force in the mid-late 1970s and 1980s, leaving them with a certain unrequited "jonesing" quality for the more prosperous days of the past.

The generation is noted for coming of age after a huge swath of their older brothers and sisters in the earlier portion of the baby boomer population had come immediately preceding them; thus, many Generation Jones members complain that there was a paucity of resources and privileges available to them that were seemingly abundant to those older boomers born earlier. Therefore, there is a certain level of bitterness about and a "jonesing" for the level of freedom and affluence granted to older boomers but denied to their generation."

Next rambling observation:
One thing that you guys had that we did not, is instantaneous access to news about every event on the planet and other people's thoughts. ALL THE TIME. This is so not an unalloyed good. Kinda the opposite to great degree. If you want to lay some evil at the boomers feet, then the internet would be it. Pity we can't take it back. Basically, what I see is that millennials and everyone after, are going to be ingesting doom and gloom from a too young an age and increasing their own sense of bleakness. And telling each other that they should blame the generation before even more. Which may make you feel better or more righteous, but it doesn't accomplish much. We were born into a world created by others just as our parents were, and those before them. Being bitter and blaming people en masse for not being prescient about how the individual choices they would make, would turn the course of the country or the world, is unfair and pointless. And the author of the Huffpo piece tossing in little things like blaming boomers for the ice caps melting, well, that's just petty.

Next rambling thought:
"Things are supposed to improve as time goes on, and yet they do not. "

This one really got me. Read it to The History Teacher™, and he frothed a bit. We all were given this as a central component of our American mythos , but history does not bear it out. There has never been a time of uninterrupted "progress", not socially, not economically, not out there, and not in the US. (See Thomas Piketty: "Capital in The Twenty-first Century") And the whole "rugged self made man" trope, doesn't hold up too well under serious historical scrutiny.

There is no Great And Glorious Hand directing a never-ending upward trajectory, there is only us. Seems we're choosing to go backwards for a bit. Or churn in place.

Annnnd.....I had a several more rambles, but we had a power failure and I lost them. You guys just lucked out.

 

[Matata]

Annnnd.....I had a several more rambles, but we had a power failure and I lost them. You guys just lucked out.

You can poop on a pity parade better than anyone I know The frothing History Teacher™ image brought a smile to my face this morning. Thank you for your excellent as always prose @ksinger. What you wrote has been swirling in my mind for a couple days but I couldn't manage to corral it into cogency. I'm a boomer but managed to either miss, ignore, or forget the Generation Jones nomenclature. Although I do remember righteously blaming the generation that came before for destroying the world and leaving us scraps upon which to eke out an existence. The teeter totters but always moves in the same up/down direction.

 

[missy]

Well, you may have been "called out", but this is an excellent thread, and a good discussion of important things. So many angles, so in no particular order, a few thoughts.

In case anyone didn't know, I'm 55, so hanging in the tail end of the boomer generation. I think '55 to '65 has also been called "generation jones". I pull this from Wikipedia just to show that turning around and pointing a finger backward - even within a generation - at what they got that you did not and ascribing blame is a time-honored tradition:

"The name "Generation Jones" has several connotations, including a large anonymous generation, a "keeping up with the Joneses" competitiveness and the slang word "jones" or "jonesing", meaning a yearning or craving.[8][9][10][11] It is said[by whom?] that Jonesers were given huge expectations as children in the 1960s, and then confronted with a different reality as they came of age during a long period of mass unemployment and when de-industrialization arrived full force in the mid-late 1970s and 1980s, leaving them with a certain unrequited "jonesing" quality for the more prosperous days of the past.

The generation is noted for coming of age after a huge swath of their older brothers and sisters in the earlier portion of the baby boomer population had come immediately preceding them; thus, many Generation Jones members complain that there was a paucity of resources and privileges available to them that were seemingly abundant to those older boomers born earlier. Therefore, there is a certain level of bitterness about and a "jonesing" for the level of freedom and affluence granted to older boomers but denied to their generation."

Next rambling observation:
One thing that you guys had that we did not, is instantaneous access to news about every event on the planet and other people's thoughts. ALL THE TIME. This is so not an unalloyed good. Kinda the opposite to great degree. If you want to lay some evil at the boomers feet, then the internet would be it. Pity we can't take it back. Basically, what I see is that millennials and everyone after, are going to be ingesting doom and gloom from a too young an age and increasing their own sense of bleakness. And telling each other that they should blame the generation before even more. Which may make you feel better or more righteous, but it doesn't accomplish much. We were born into a world created by others just as our parents were, and those before them. Being bitter and blaming people en masse for not being prescient about how the individual choices they would make, would turn the course of the country or the world, is unfair and pointless. And the author of the Huffpo piece tossing in little things like blaming boomers for the ice caps melting, well, that's just petty.

Next rambling thought:
"Things are supposed to improve as time goes on, and yet they do not. "

This one really got me. Read it to The History Teacher™, and he frothed a bit. We all were given this as a central component of our American mythos , but history does not bear it out. There has never been a time of uninterrupted "progress", not socially, not economically, not out there, and not in the US. (See Thomas Piketty: "Capital in The Twenty-first Century") And the whole "rugged self made man" trope, doesn't hold up too well under serious historical scrutiny.

There is no Great And Glorious Hand directing a never-ending upward trajectory, there is only us. Seems we're choosing to go backwards for a bit. Or churn in place.

Annnnd.....I had a several more rambles, but we had a power failure and I lost them. You guys just lucked out.

You mean you had electricity back in those days.
JK. I’m also a baby boomer. Kaboom.

You can poop on a pity parade better than anyone I know The frothing History Teacher™ image brought a smile to my face this morning. Thank you for your excellent as always prose @kinsinger. What you wrote has been swirling in my mind for a couple days but I couldn't manage to corral it into cogency. I'm a boomer but managed to either miss, ignore, or forget the Generation Jones nomenclature. Although I do remember righteously blaming the generation that came before for destroying the world and leaving us scraps upon which to eke out an existence. The teeter totters but always moves in the same up/down direction.

Well the grass always greener and all that jazz. Except it really isn’t.