Response to Kenny's Gen Y article

[justginger]

The author states that he was perfectly aware the he would never get rich...but that doesn't mean he expected to be living at poverty-level either.

Journalism has many levels & therefore pay scales. Working for a small local paper will never pay a lot. Many of the entry jobs at big ones -- if you can get to the front of the application line -- such as fact-checking, copy editing, don't pay bundles either. Newspaper & magazine writing simply doesn't bring in big bucks; sometimes not even medium bucks. TV reporting is more lucrative, but by choosing print, he limits himself financially right away. Even a little investigation (he's supposed to be a reporter, after all ) would have shown him that. Plus, he has a child to help support, which at some time was also a choice.

The guy is young. LOTS of professions pay near-poverty until you work your way up. As far as I can see, he's mad that he's not making the money somebody in the profession longer would make. But he states that he loves the field. Everything he needed to know was there when he opted for it; he chose to disregard that or not find out at all. There are better-paying things he could do with his background, copy writing, book editing, advertising, etc. Maybe he'll do that sometime. But he doesn't get my sympathy complaining about a job he loves that doesn't pay him what he thinks he's worth. He chose the field.

Ginger -- it isn't fair but neither is the world. Athletes make multiple millions for playing baseball, hockey, football? Actors ditto for play-acting all day? General practitioners spend a decade in school & make fractions of what a baseball player does, even of what a specialist does. That's life on earth. There's no way to make everything fair for everyone. We could legislate every job's salary & it still wouldn't be fair because some would be better or work harder & not make more for it.

Ever since I can remember -- and that's a loooong time, lol -- media has been hammering a widening gap between rich & poor. If they were right & that gap were as wide as it should be after all this time, there would be no poor -- they'd be dead of starvation, and the rich would all be Caesars. I saw a study yesterday saying over 80% of U.S. poor have cell phones, A/C, and big tvs. The definition of poor changes with politics & prosperity.

There are choices. If someone doesn't want to take on debt for college that they won't make enough to repay, then change to a different profession. I'll bet 90% of workers end up in jobs very different from what they expected in youth. I know I did -- went where the opportunities were. That can be fun if you stop whining!

--- Laurie

If you look up the stats, which is too hard for me to do from my phone, there are dozens upon dozens of articles regarding how severely the gap has widened just in the last 10 years (I believe that was the period - one decade). During that time, the net wealth of the top 1% has tripled? Maybe it was even quadrupled? The figures were gobsmacking. There is no doubt that the richest of the rich are getting explosively richer. Check out "Rich Kids of Instagram" if you need that point driven home.

This is what I was referring to, in case anyone wants to see what these kids get up to. Half of me is disgusted, but 9/10ths of me can't look away! http://richkidsofinstagram.tumblr.com/ "They have more money than you and this is what they do." -- RKOI

I do appreciate that one of them paid a 17% gratuity, and then left ANOTHER $3000 tip as well. At least the kid that got Dad's black card that night decided to treat the wait staff.

 

[Sky56]

Looks like a shallow bunch. I came from a rich family and they drove average mid-range cars, shopped sales and didn't drink champagne. Looks like the way they're living, they'll eventually spend it all and end up not rich.