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> Life is hard, and it’s most certainly unfair… perhaps more so for our generation that any previous. Absolutely absurd. You really think you have it worse th
by ef4 14y ago
> Life is hard, and it’s most certainly unfair… perhaps more so for our generation that any previous.
Absolutely absurd.
You really think you have it worse than somebody born into slavery? Or worse than a medieval serf?
A large fraction of humans alive right now would look on your lifestyle as extremely privileged.
This kind of statement comes across as pitifully ignorant whining. You actually hurt the cause of fixing real injustices when you fly off into hyperbole like this.
- cbarnsdale 14y agoYou realize the article focuses on debt in regards to students and young people, right? Yeah, there's a bit of hyperbole, but I think my reference to "toughest... generation... evar..." makes sense in the context of "young people have it pretty shitty right now". Clearly you disagree, so fair enough. :)
- Millennium 14y agoAt the same time, this type of hyperbole makes it way too easy to dismiss arguments like these as whiny and lacking perspective. It's rhetorically unsound, and it doesn't do its side much in the way of favors.
- dkarl 14y agowhiny and lacking perspective Like everything else young people find persuasive? (That was whiny and hyperbolic, too, because young people like irony.)
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- dbecker 14y agoWe are one of the few generations that can expect to live past 50. According to Historian David McCullough, the functional literacy rate in 1900 was 11%. Sure, the article focus on students. But, by historical standards, you are extremely lucky TO BE ABLE to be a student into your early 20s. By historical standards, we are very privileged. This "toughest generation ever" bit is both naive and sad.
- ChrisLTD 14y agoYes, it should say "perhaps more so for our generation than the previous"
- youngerdryas 14y agoNot even that. The good old days are selective memory, it was not better 30 years ago. Period. We shouldn't concede to fantasy to make our own struggle seem more epic.
- ChrisLTD 14y agoAs always, it depends on what groups and measurements you want to go by. In the United States, median income has been stagnant for 30 years. Young people have been dealing with an awful job market since the recession in 2008.
- firefoxman1 14y ago> You really think you have it worse than somebody born into slavery? You really think we have it better than someone who owned a few dozen slaves, living leisurely on a huge plantation? History has treated some well, and some not so well.
- fr0sty 14y agoAbsolutely yes. Four reasons off the top of my head: 1. Dentistry 2. Antibiotics 3. Indoor plumbing 4. Central Air
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- rscale 14y agoA person who owned a few dozen slaves and a huge plantation was incredibly rich, high in the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution. Given the choice of being rich during the age of slavery, or being rich today, I'd prefer today.
- firefoxman1 14y agoRight, that's why "You really think you have it worse than somebody born into slavery?" is a ridiculous statement. Would being a slave in the past be any worse than being a slave today?
- dbecker 14y agoWould being a slave in the past be any worse than being a slave today? Historically, slaves could be (and were) raped or killed by their "owner." When you talk about "slaves" today, are you talking about someone with a low wage? That's not slavery. Unfortunately, there is still slavery in the 21st century, but that has nothing to do with the people discussed in this article.
- jiggy2011 14y agoI don't think the author is talking in an absolute sense like "our lives suck harder than ever before". More in a relative sense such as "it's harder to get a good job for life and afford a house than it was for our parents generation". I do think that "perhaps more so for our generation that any previous" is hyperbole though.