3 ms·

Our parents generation went to school and got great jobs tho...

by behringer 8y ago

sosborn 8y ago
Do you think that was the case for everyone?
- behringer 8y ago
  I think the percentage was far higher than today.
- sanderjd 8y ago
  Statistically speaking, yes, I believe that my parents' generation (in the US) could assume that college degree + hard work = good job. That's how we got into this mess: it was such a clear equation that going to college became a no-brainer for people who could do it, which inflated the value and in turn the cost of a degree.
zaroth 8y ago
Mostly after going to war first, right?
- Broken_Hippo 8y ago
  No. When my dad gradutated high school in the mid 1970's, you could get a decent job with a high school diploma. Not having a HS diploma meant you were flipping burgers, but you could still find work. My uncle lived with my father (and mother) while working on his GED, which really didn't give him HS diploma status but was good enough to find slightly better work. College basically meant you could make sure you had a steady salary for life and could definitely find work. You had much more than the minimum schooling.
johnminter 8y ago
Go read The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. Things changed greatly from when I got out of grad school in 1982 and when I was laid off from my job at the end of 2017. I worked for a company that had 65,000 employees in our city when I started and about 2000 when I left. Many called Ross Perot a nutjob when he coined the phrase "The great sucking sound of jobs leaving the country." I watched it happen. We also watched the ratio of the highest paid employee/ lowest paid full time employee skyrocket. I understand that there are high performing employees, but economies need a large middle class who have income to buy products (without running up debt) for the economy to prosper. Now we see people trying to support families on what were after school jobs for high school students... Times changed when offshoring became easy...
- nemo846 8y ago
  Automation has eliminated a ton of jobs. Look at the steel mills of the early 20th century. They had groups of people hoisting around huge pieces of steel on chains. Look at a modern steel mills. All that hoisting is now done by heavy machinery control by one guy in an air conditioned operator cabin. By offshoring or just the advancement of technology, those jobs are gone. People just have to invent new ways to contribute to society - to say it’s “easier said than done” is understatement though; but there is really no other way.

Our parents generation went to school and got great jobs tho...

sosborn 8y ago

Do you think that was the case for everyone?

behringer 8y ago
I think the percentage was far higher than today.
sanderjd 8y ago
Statistically speaking, yes, I believe that my parents' generation (in the US) could assume that college degree + hard work = good job. That's how we got into this mess: it was such a clear equation that going to college became a no-brainer for people who could do it, which inflated the value and in turn the cost of a degree.

zaroth 8y ago

Mostly after going to war first, right?

Broken_Hippo 8y ago
No. When my dad gradutated high school in the mid 1970's, you could get a decent job with a high school diploma. Not having a HS diploma meant you were flipping burgers, but you could still find work. My uncle lived with my father (and mother) while working on his GED, which really didn't give him HS diploma status but was good enough to find slightly better work. College basically meant you could make sure you had a steady salary for life and could definitely find work. You had much more than the minimum schooling.

johnminter 8y ago

Go read The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. Things changed greatly from when I got out of grad school in 1982 and when I was laid off from my job at the end of 2017. I worked for a company that had 65,000 employees in our city when I started and about 2000 when I left. Many called Ross Perot a nutjob when he coined the phrase "The great sucking sound of jobs leaving the country." I watched it happen. We also watched the ratio of the highest paid employee/ lowest paid full time employee skyrocket. I understand that there are high performing employees, but economies need a large middle class who have income to buy products (without running up debt) for the economy to prosper. Now we see people trying to support families on what were after school jobs for high school students... Times changed when offshoring became easy...

nemo846 8y ago
Automation has eliminated a ton of jobs. Look at the steel mills of the early 20th century. They had groups of people hoisting around huge pieces of steel on chains. Look at a modern steel mills. All that hoisting is now done by heavy machinery control by one guy in an air conditioned operator cabin. By offshoring or just the advancement of technology, those jobs are gone. People just have to invent new ways to contribute to society - to say it’s “easier said than done” is understatement though; but there is really no other way.