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Timing is a big deal; the economic system favored those of earlier generations (also when fewer people lived), and now I think we basically have to wait for Boo
by dpflan 3y ago
Timing is a big deal; the economic system favored those of earlier generations (also when fewer people lived), and now I think we basically have to wait for Boomer generation to cede influence -- they were dealt a nice economic hand and capitalism thrived to where we are now, maybe a variant of "peak capitalism", which younger generations are rebelling against because they can't participate as much and the negative externalities of such a system are apparent (e.g. oligarchic control, regulatory capture, weakening of federal governments, and just plain classic corruption allowed within legal bounds...).
- pydry 3y agoThis isnt about generation vs generation. It's elite vs. the proletariat and the pain is just distributed unevenly across generations. Obviously theyre more than happy with millenials blaming their parents as it exculpates them for turning the crank on the dynastic, parasitic wealth extraction engine.
- TylerE 3y agoIt is generational. The boomers could afford a house in the suburbs (owned, not rented), a car, and steak for dinner for themselves, a wife, and a couple kids on a factory workers salary.
- dasil003 3y agoSorry, but this mentality is counter-productive and plays right into the hands of oligarchs. Instead of recognizing that wealth and power is increasingly accruing to a smaller and smaller set of uber-wealthy (who pass that wealth on and otherwise rig the game for their offspring), we allow ourselves to be distracted by culture wars and generation wars rather than recognizing it as a smokescreen from the concentration of wealth and power that is driving the bad outcomes.
- jstarfish 3y agoYeah...grandpa could afford a middle-class lifestyle working in the finger-cutting factory. Maybe even making Management one day--with training paid for by the parent company--if he worked hard enough! Jeff Bezos would have you working under the same conditions, pissing in bottles and living in his parking lot. Grandpa's earned wealth isn't why you can't afford a house.
- dpflan 3y agoWhat generational label are the oligarchs? Wealth compounds, does it not take timing and opportunity to achieve elite/oligarchic power?
- pydry 3y agoNo. Russia managed to create lots of oligarchs in between the years between 1989-1994 by following western advice on capitalist shock therapy. Many of the lucky winners passed the privatized and extracted wealth of the Soviet Union down to their children. Something similar is happening today in the west at a less accelerated rate. Asking which generational label applies is pretty strange. All of them do.
- dpflan 3y agoHm, sure, yes "labels" is better. But labels are just a way to group birthdates which then can be mapped backed to generational labels. So, oligarchs made in 1989-1994, when were they born? They seem to be older than the generations discussed in the article: how can one not use timing as a variable for this? Yes, indeed elite vs. non-elite, but still, who are the elite and when did they become the elite -- probably before the generations singled out in the article. And what environment allowed for their growth? One you've provided is economic period that allowed for oligarchs in Russia, therefore elite, to be forged. Elites will persist as a group because of the inertia of their wealth, which, agreed, means they transcend generational labels, but they have to start somewhere/sometime.