5 ms·

It is so perfectly stereotypical and dicorced from reality part of me thought it was a joke.

rustynails 10y ago
Life is far too simple to flippantly dismiss all those points. In some ways, life was simpler. The pace of life was slower. A good illustration of this is comparing the suicide rates of today. The pressure is much higher today and so are the suicide rates. I also see a lot more bullying and viciousness, especially in the media today. By comparison, newspapers of 50 years ago were much more relaxed and easy going (I studied a years worth of papers recently). There was also more social cohesion, albeit in smaller communities. That feeling of caring makes a huge difference to people's mental well being. I'm inclined to believe that life was generally easier for many boomers (at least from about 1960 onward) than it is today for younger people. When I run a search and find that almost all media outlets still insist that only males do domestic violence, or, boys are (in the last few decades) falling way behind in education because they're suddenly lazy and stupid, I recognise just how collectively nasty we've become. These appalling attitudes must wear the younger generation down. As an older guy, I'm inclined to agree the younger generation have a lot of issues that older people didn't need to worry about. Access to technology not withstanding. However, I totally accept my view is mostly anecdotal (except for suicide rates, domestic violence prejudice and snarky education comments directed at boys by many media outlets).
wozer 10y ago
Hey rustynails: you seem to be shadowbanned.
- dang 10y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13654730 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13654730
edblarney 10y ago
"It is so perfectly stereotypical and dicorced from reality " It is exactly reality - and that you don't grasp it only validates how utterly self-deluded Millenials are. By every measure Millenials are doing better. Millenials have: + Better healthcare, more coverage + Better access to education, information, more college grads than ever + More job opportunities, more diverse fields to apply knowlege + More opportunity for wealth creation + A life full of gadgets, toys and trifles that couldn't even be imagined + You have 'fast fashion' - just 20 years ago there was no suh thing. Clothes were expensive. + Your cars are pretty good, stereos are great, they are fun to drive. Drive a car from the 1970's - they are shit-boxes + You have access to unlimited entertainment and music. In the 1970s' you had 10 records. You wanted to listen to more you went to your friends house. + You have more mobility and access to jobs not only around America, but around the world. + Millenial girls can actually have careers and jobs - and not have to fight vicious stereotyping. It's basically disgusting that this generation should make existential complains. What are your beefs? That you don't bet to be CEO after 1 year? That you can't live in a baller apartment in SF and have to actually commute from the burbs? That you don't have job security? Well, you could, if you wanted a more boring job. That you have school debt? Every generation did. You could have gone to a state school, private school is a luxury. All of these gripes are really sad 'Oh the Boomers fed everything up' and 'life sucks'. Bullshit. Provide some facts. Other than University being a little more expensive - I don't see anything that is remotely more difficult. And FYU with interest rates so low compared to the 15% it was in the 1980s, I say in real dollars, maybe that's not so bad.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > By every measure Millenials are doing better. You cite no actual quantitative measures to support this claim, so rather than rebutting with such I'll just say this: by many economic measures, Millenials are worse off than boomers (by a few, they're also worse of than Gen X, though by more Gen X is in the worst position of the three, though it usually gets left out of comparisons.) > All of these gripes are really sad 'Oh the Boomers fed everything up' and 'life sucks'. Bullshit. It's true that the f-ing up (specifically, of the features in the politico-economic system that resulted in aggregate gains being widely distributed) mostly happened wat the end of the time when the "Greatest" Generation was running the show, the Boomers just were the last generation to have a substantial fraction of their working life before things were f-ed up.
- researcher11 10y ago
  What is stereotypical and divorced from reality are the things you are missing. The economy is structured as a ponzi scheme. The ponzi scheme will collapse and many unsympathetic boomers will go broke. To take your interest rate example. Prices are inversely correlated to interest rates. If you buy when interest rates are high (low prices) and sell when interest rates are low (high prices) then you benefit enormously. Since interest rates are pretty much as low as they can go then there is no upside left for millennials. Only downside. I, like many millennials, wish for much much higher interest rates. Low interest rates are another wealth transfer from those with earnings (millennials) to those with capital (boomers). I do not suggest that all millennial complaints are valid. I'm simply saying that they shouldn't be dismissed with technological handwaving. The hidden message in the complaints is that we're in this together. The ponzi scheme economy hurts all of us.

Life is far too simple to flippantly dismiss all those points. In some ways, life was simpler. The pace of life was slower. A good illustration of this is comparing the suicide rates of today. The pressure is much higher today and so are the suicide rates. I also see a lot more bullying and viciousness, especially in the media today. By comparison, newspapers of 50 years ago were much more relaxed and easy going (I studied a years worth of papers recently). There was also more social cohesion, albeit in smaller communities. That feeling of caring makes a huge difference to people's mental well being. I'm inclined to believe that life was generally easier for many boomers (at least from about 1960 onward) than it is today for younger people. When I run a search and find that almost all media outlets still insist that only males do domestic violence, or, boys are (in the last few decades) falling way behind in education because they're suddenly lazy and stupid, I recognise just how collectively nasty we've become. These appalling attitudes must wear the younger generation down. As an older guy, I'm inclined to agree the younger generation have a lot of issues that older people didn't need to worry about. Access to technology not withstanding. However, I totally accept my view is mostly anecdotal (except for suicide rates, domestic violence prejudice and snarky education comments directed at boys by many media outlets).

wozer 10y ago

Hey rustynails: you seem to be shadowbanned.

dang 10y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13654730 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13654730

edblarney 10y ago

"It is so perfectly stereotypical and dicorced from reality " It is exactly reality - and that you don't grasp it only validates how utterly self-deluded Millenials are. By every measure Millenials are doing better. Millenials have: + Better healthcare, more coverage + Better access to education, information, more college grads than ever + More job opportunities, more diverse fields to apply knowlege + More opportunity for wealth creation + A life full of gadgets, toys and trifles that couldn't even be imagined + You have 'fast fashion' - just 20 years ago there was no suh thing. Clothes were expensive. + Your cars are pretty good, stereos are great, they are fun to drive. Drive a car from the 1970's - they are shit-boxes + You have access to unlimited entertainment and music. In the 1970s' you had 10 records. You wanted to listen to more you went to your friends house. + You have more mobility and access to jobs not only around America, but around the world. + Millenial girls can actually have careers and jobs - and not have to fight vicious stereotyping. It's basically disgusting that this generation should make existential complains. What are your beefs? That you don't bet to be CEO after 1 year? That you can't live in a baller apartment in SF and have to actually commute from the burbs? That you don't have job security? Well, you could, if you wanted a more boring job. That you have school debt? Every generation did. You could have gone to a state school, private school is a luxury. All of these gripes are really sad 'Oh the Boomers fed everything up' and 'life sucks'. Bullshit. Provide some facts. Other than University being a little more expensive - I don't see anything that is remotely more difficult. And FYU with interest rates so low compared to the 15% it was in the 1980s, I say in real dollars, maybe that's not so bad.

dragonwriter 10y ago
> By every measure Millenials are doing better. You cite no actual quantitative measures to support this claim, so rather than rebutting with such I'll just say this: by many economic measures, Millenials are worse off than boomers (by a few, they're also worse of than Gen X, though by more Gen X is in the worst position of the three, though it usually gets left out of comparisons.) > All of these gripes are really sad 'Oh the Boomers fed everything up' and 'life sucks'. Bullshit. It's true that the f-ing up (specifically, of the features in the politico-economic system that resulted in aggregate gains being widely distributed) mostly happened wat the end of the time when the "Greatest" Generation was running the show, the Boomers just were the last generation to have a substantial fraction of their working life before things were f-ed up.
researcher11 10y ago
What is stereotypical and divorced from reality are the things you are missing. The economy is structured as a ponzi scheme. The ponzi scheme will collapse and many unsympathetic boomers will go broke. To take your interest rate example. Prices are inversely correlated to interest rates. If you buy when interest rates are high (low prices) and sell when interest rates are low (high prices) then you benefit enormously. Since interest rates are pretty much as low as they can go then there is no upside left for millennials. Only downside. I, like many millennials, wish for much much higher interest rates. Low interest rates are another wealth transfer from those with earnings (millennials) to those with capital (boomers). I do not suggest that all millennial complaints are valid. I'm simply saying that they shouldn't be dismissed with technological handwaving. The hidden message in the complaints is that we're in this together. The ponzi scheme economy hurts all of us.