2 ms·

No one had it easy. Millennials have a much better life all things considered. You can’t get drafted to go die in a war, you brush off 70s stagflation like it w

No one had it easy. Millennials have a much better life all things considered. You can’t get drafted to go die in a war, you brush off 70s stagflation like it was a non-event. Rascism is much less prevalent. It’s precisely this ease of living that is part of the problem. Why not rack up tens of thousands of college debt to get a useless degree when you’re historically more privileged than 99% of people that have ever lived? Reality is harsh and that seems to have escaped many millennials.

Apocryphon 9y ago
> Reality is harsh and that seems to have escaped many millennials. I think part of the disillusionment was having grown up in the prosperous, peaceful '90s, that Boomers hyped up as the End of History. And then the western world became immersed in a seeming unending war, with the security state overreach accordingly, and then the bottom fell out of the economy after. Can you blame them for being pissed off that the promises of their childhood were a lie? At least previous generations that dealt with hardships were not lied to first.
- malvosenior 9y ago
  I agree with your analysis and think we're very close to talking about the same thing. The difference between gen-x and millennials is that boomers told both groups the same lies, it's just that gen-x didn't believe them. Gen-x cynicism is a real thing. We're back to my original point of millennials not being close enough to boomers to know that they were lying (or ill informed).
  - Apocryphon 9y ago
    Gen X grew up during the Cold War, Reaganism, Thatcherism, Wall Street malfeasance, AIDS, the crack epidemic. This is a little biased generalization of the '80s, but I think overall you could say the '90s were much more hopeful and sunnier in comparison. It was easier to believe in lies back then. Could you blame them for believing in their helicopter parents with their self-esteem culture and dot-com money?
    - malvosenior 9y ago
      I blame them for not realizing their error and instead calling for state regulation and intervention. They'd probably get more support from gen x if they were listening to them instead of attacking their ideals (speaking in very broad generalities at this point).
      - Apocryphon 9y ago
        Are Gen X's really a bunch of Yuppies who are against regulation? Even after everything that Reagan, Thatcher, and the Chicago Boys have done?

Apocryphon 9y ago

> Reality is harsh and that seems to have escaped many millennials. I think part of the disillusionment was having grown up in the prosperous, peaceful '90s, that Boomers hyped up as the End of History. And then the western world became immersed in a seeming unending war, with the security state overreach accordingly, and then the bottom fell out of the economy after. Can you blame them for being pissed off that the promises of their childhood were a lie? At least previous generations that dealt with hardships were not lied to first.

malvosenior 9y ago
I agree with your analysis and think we're very close to talking about the same thing. The difference between gen-x and millennials is that boomers told both groups the same lies, it's just that gen-x didn't believe them. Gen-x cynicism is a real thing. We're back to my original point of millennials not being close enough to boomers to know that they were lying (or ill informed).
- Apocryphon 9y ago
  Gen X grew up during the Cold War, Reaganism, Thatcherism, Wall Street malfeasance, AIDS, the crack epidemic. This is a little biased generalization of the '80s, but I think overall you could say the '90s were much more hopeful and sunnier in comparison. It was easier to believe in lies back then. Could you blame them for believing in their helicopter parents with their self-esteem culture and dot-com money?
  - malvosenior 9y ago
    I blame them for not realizing their error and instead calling for state regulation and intervention. They'd probably get more support from gen x if they were listening to them instead of attacking their ideals (speaking in very broad generalities at this point).
    - Apocryphon 9y ago
      Are Gen X's really a bunch of Yuppies who are against regulation? Even after everything that Reagan, Thatcher, and the Chicago Boys have done?