4 ms·

Black kettles and pots come to mind. While I cannot be sure that Jeffrey Zaslow is a Boomer or Gen Xer (the fuzzy dates around those eras makes it difficult to

by wynand 16y ago

Black kettles and pots come to mind. While I cannot be sure that Jeffrey Zaslow is a Boomer or Gen Xer (the fuzzy dates around those eras makes it difficult to decide), this accusation of entitlement seems to be a Boomer message. We're talking about a generation that, although its members had much less material amenities than us, they had an easier time getting ahead. Try buying a house as a young person now. When my dad was my age, he could support a family on his salary. And given that the Boomers (and early Gen Xers) have just wrecked the world economy, I think there's more than a little hypocrisy here. If the later Gen Xers and Gen Yers have a sense of entitlement, it's because they do as their elders do.

TomOfTTB 16y ago
I'm sorry but this... We're talking about a generation that, although its members had much less material amenities than us, they had an easier time getting ahead. Try buying a house as a young person now. When my dad was my age, he could support a family on his salary. Is a myth. First, mortage rates haven't gone up they've been going down for 28 years (though in fairness they shot up before that): http://mortgage-x.com/trends.htm http://mortgage-x.com/trends.htm. If you're a Gen Xer your father was having to contend with rates double what you'd pay today. As for career you could probably move up the ranks faster but that's because it was a much steeper climb. Think about it. You're talking about an era where there was no Excel. There had to be people who actually did those calculations by hand. As for money the average income of an American household has not only gone up but has gone up sharply... http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/2006/08/15/average-income-in-the-united-states/ http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/2006/08/15/average-incom... (The graph is in inflation adjusted dollars) While the cost of goods has gone down due to technology improvements. The cost of a Gallon of Milk in 1967 was double what it is now (http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/007276.html http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/fa...) The average house size has doubled since 1950 (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5525283 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5525283). Yet the average price only went up about 60% (http://www.lesjones.com/2008/11/25/inflation-adjusted-us-house-prices-1975-2008/ http://www.lesjones.com/2008/11/25/inflation-adjusted-us-hou...) The reason most people have less money these days is because there's so much more to spend it on. VHS didn't even exist until 1976 much less computers, xboxes, iTunes, etc... U.S. population went up around 46% between 1967 and 2006 yet the number of new car registrations grew by 139% (http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/007276.html http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/fa...) Gen Xers and beyond have a much higher quality of life, even in a recession, than their grandparents did and to say otherwise is an example of the very self involvement that's being criticized here. Oh, and P.S., Jeffrey Zaslow was born in 1958 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Zaslow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Zaslow) so there's no chance he is a Gen Xer and it has nothing to do with fuzzy dates and everything to do with you being too lazy to do a simple Google Search
- philk 16y ago
  Gen Xers and beyond have a much higher quality of life, even in a recession, than their grandparents did and to say otherwise is an example of the very self involvement that's being criticized here. Humans readily adapt to changed circumstances [1]. It's not "self involvement", it's just human nature. Also, above a certain threshold[2] absolute wealth is less important to people than relative wealth in terms of happiness. Hence "having more stuff than their grandparents" doesn't make people feel any happier because their peers all also have more stuff. [1] For example, people who win the lottery are really happy at the time but six months later have reverted to the baseline level of happiness they had before the win. [2] ie: having enough to survive reasonably well.
  - TomOfTTB 16y ago
    Self involvement is human nature. It's our nature to be concerned with ourselves because it was an evolutionary imperative to our ancestors. That's why we, as evolved people living in a modern society, have to force ourselves to put things in perspective. The very existence of the phrase "put things in perspective" proves the point that our instinct is to over inflate those challenges that we face.

by wynand 16y ago

TomOfTTB 16y ago

I'm sorry but this... We're talking about a generation that, although its members had much less material amenities than us, they had an easier time getting ahead. Try buying a house as a young person now. When my dad was my age, he could support a family on his salary. Is a myth. First, mortage rates haven't gone up they've been going down for 28 years (though in fairness they shot up before that): http://mortgage-x.com/trends.htm http://mortgage-x.com/trends.htm. If you're a Gen Xer your father was having to contend with rates double what you'd pay today. As for career you could probably move up the ranks faster but that's because it was a much steeper climb. Think about it. You're talking about an era where there was no Excel. There had to be people who actually did those calculations by hand. As for money the average income of an American household has not only gone up but has gone up sharply... http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/2006/08/15/average-income-in-the-united-states/ http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/2006/08/15/average-incom... (The graph is in inflation adjusted dollars) While the cost of goods has gone down due to technology improvements. The cost of a Gallon of Milk in 1967 was double what it is now (http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/007276.html http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/fa...) The average house size has doubled since 1950 (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5525283 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5525283). Yet the average price only went up about 60% (http://www.lesjones.com/2008/11/25/inflation-adjusted-us-house-prices-1975-2008/ http://www.lesjones.com/2008/11/25/inflation-adjusted-us-hou...) The reason most people have less money these days is because there's so much more to spend it on. VHS didn't even exist until 1976 much less computers, xboxes, iTunes, etc... U.S. population went up around 46% between 1967 and 2006 yet the number of new car registrations grew by 139% (http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/007276.html http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/fa...) Gen Xers and beyond have a much higher quality of life, even in a recession, than their grandparents did and to say otherwise is an example of the very self involvement that's being criticized here. Oh, and P.S., Jeffrey Zaslow was born in 1958 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Zaslow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Zaslow) so there's no chance he is a Gen Xer and it has nothing to do with fuzzy dates and everything to do with you being too lazy to do a simple Google Search

philk 16y ago
Gen Xers and beyond have a much higher quality of life, even in a recession, than their grandparents did and to say otherwise is an example of the very self involvement that's being criticized here. Humans readily adapt to changed circumstances [1]. It's not "self involvement", it's just human nature. Also, above a certain threshold[2] absolute wealth is less important to people than relative wealth in terms of happiness. Hence "having more stuff than their grandparents" doesn't make people feel any happier because their peers all also have more stuff. [1] For example, people who win the lottery are really happy at the time but six months later have reverted to the baseline level of happiness they had before the win. [2] ie: having enough to survive reasonably well.
- TomOfTTB 16y ago
  Self involvement is human nature. It's our nature to be concerned with ourselves because it was an evolutionary imperative to our ancestors. That's why we, as evolved people living in a modern society, have to force ourselves to put things in perspective. The very existence of the phrase "put things in perspective" proves the point that our instinct is to over inflate those challenges that we face.