4 ms·

The real reason young people are the poorest generation in 25 years

13 points by danboarder 12y ago

MichaelCrawford 12y ago
Surely this is satire? "Too lazy to find jobs"? Most young people I know work like demons.
- mbubb 12y ago
  I agree and in general this article is out of touch: "Hand in hand with bootstrapping attitudes comes the belief that poverty should be a life of suffering—which leaves no room for owning computers and smartphones, setting up Facebook accounts, or Skyping with friends." Skype and Facebook as Millennial social networking apps?
  - MichaelCrawford 12y ago
    "poverty should be a life of suffering". If you don't own a computer, you have no hope of so much as _applying_ for a job, let alone actually obtaining one. Even McDonalds and Starbucks do all their hiring through their websites.
eliaspro 12y ago
Quoting the quote in the article: “Millennials are not willing to make work the central focus of their lives as Baby Boomers have.” As someone having worked 60-70h/week for the last 12 years: a sincere "fuck you". It's not like I wouldn't love to spend more time on things which are fun and not related to earning money, but as I don't want to end up knee-deep in debts I simply don't have another choice.
neuro_imager 12y ago
The boomers have fucked this generation so hard they should get an award from the porn industry. One of the best explanations of this dynamic I have read was in the following opinion piece: http://constitutionaldaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1153:throw-grandma-from-the-train&catid=49:the-philadelphia-lawyer&Itemid=65 http://constitutionaldaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&... To quote: "here's seventy-five percent of the reason the Fed, and Washington, are ignoring employment and focusing exclusively on asset inflation: If asset values fell as they should have in a true free market correction, which we were due, an enormous percentage of the old and elderly would be rendered insolvent. We would have a societal disaster on our hands. And so we decided to screw the the young - the more resilient group - to protect the old." "It can be argued, and should be, that the old are the weakest, and that we have a duty to protect them most. But a far more compelling point is that a nation fixated solely on subsidizing its old at cost of the futures of its young is a nation headed for a fall. The more we prop up housing, freezing out the young, the less we give youth a sense of equity in their communities, a "skin in the game," both literally and existentially. The more we funnel every economic fix through Wall Street, to protect the old and invested first, with scraps for Main Street, the fewer jobs we create for the kids. The more we spend on pointless health care for the near dead, the fewer options we have to control costs, and consequently, the less hiring we'll see." "But if there's a real battle out there, it's generational - between the young and the old. Between those we need to offer futures, and those we've more than adequately coddled. Grandma's ticket on the gravy train is up. It's time we start seriously discussing how and when her austerity starts - how we get her off to make room for the kids. Eased out at the next station, or shoved through the nearest exit door when the engine can no longer handle the overcrowded cars?"
m0llusk 12y ago
A lack of Millennials making work the central focus of their lives might indicate a lack of compelling and worthwhile opportunities. Blaming workers in this case is similar to blaming borrowers for irresponsible lending during the housing bubble.
cafard 12y ago
I am a boomer, and I find a lot of the criticism of millenials just flat stupid. However, the author writes "Boomers created a social, economic, and environmental mess that will take decades—if not centuries—to clean up, gifting millennials with war, climate change, a recession, runaway inflation, and an absurdly competitive job market." War: the millenials who write these articles are in small danger of going to war; the early boomers had a draft that actually could result in them cutting off your hair and sending you to Vietnam. AGW by no means began with the boomers. "A recession and runaway inflation" make odd bedfellows. Look at the 1970s if you want to see what high inflation looks like. Then ask Jimmy Carter about the recession brought on by Paul Volker's determination to bring inflation down. And finally, "an absurdly competitive job market." Isn't this like making gingivitis the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse? But someday perhaps her children will have the chance to compare her complaints about the boomers to her parents' complaints about the "Greatest Generation", and have a good laugh.

13 points by danboarder 12y ago

MichaelCrawford 12y ago

Surely this is satire? "Too lazy to find jobs"? Most young people I know work like demons.

mbubb 12y ago
I agree and in general this article is out of touch: "Hand in hand with bootstrapping attitudes comes the belief that poverty should be a life of suffering—which leaves no room for owning computers and smartphones, setting up Facebook accounts, or Skyping with friends." Skype and Facebook as Millennial social networking apps?
- MichaelCrawford 12y ago
  "poverty should be a life of suffering". If you don't own a computer, you have no hope of so much as _applying_ for a job, let alone actually obtaining one. Even McDonalds and Starbucks do all their hiring through their websites.

eliaspro 12y ago

Quoting the quote in the article: “Millennials are not willing to make work the central focus of their lives as Baby Boomers have.” As someone having worked 60-70h/week for the last 12 years: a sincere "fuck you". It's not like I wouldn't love to spend more time on things which are fun and not related to earning money, but as I don't want to end up knee-deep in debts I simply don't have another choice.

neuro_imager 12y ago

The boomers have fucked this generation so hard they should get an award from the porn industry. One of the best explanations of this dynamic I have read was in the following opinion piece: http://constitutionaldaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1153:throw-grandma-from-the-train&catid=49:the-philadelphia-lawyer&Itemid=65 http://constitutionaldaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&... To quote: "here's seventy-five percent of the reason the Fed, and Washington, are ignoring employment and focusing exclusively on asset inflation: If asset values fell as they should have in a true free market correction, which we were due, an enormous percentage of the old and elderly would be rendered insolvent. We would have a societal disaster on our hands. And so we decided to screw the the young - the more resilient group - to protect the old." "It can be argued, and should be, that the old are the weakest, and that we have a duty to protect them most. But a far more compelling point is that a nation fixated solely on subsidizing its old at cost of the futures of its young is a nation headed for a fall. The more we prop up housing, freezing out the young, the less we give youth a sense of equity in their communities, a "skin in the game," both literally and existentially. The more we funnel every economic fix through Wall Street, to protect the old and invested first, with scraps for Main Street, the fewer jobs we create for the kids. The more we spend on pointless health care for the near dead, the fewer options we have to control costs, and consequently, the less hiring we'll see." "But if there's a real battle out there, it's generational - between the young and the old. Between those we need to offer futures, and those we've more than adequately coddled. Grandma's ticket on the gravy train is up. It's time we start seriously discussing how and when her austerity starts - how we get her off to make room for the kids. Eased out at the next station, or shoved through the nearest exit door when the engine can no longer handle the overcrowded cars?"

m0llusk 12y ago

A lack of Millennials making work the central focus of their lives might indicate a lack of compelling and worthwhile opportunities. Blaming workers in this case is similar to blaming borrowers for irresponsible lending during the housing bubble.

cafard 12y ago

I am a boomer, and I find a lot of the criticism of millenials just flat stupid. However, the author writes "Boomers created a social, economic, and environmental mess that will take decades—if not centuries—to clean up, gifting millennials with war, climate change, a recession, runaway inflation, and an absurdly competitive job market." War: the millenials who write these articles are in small danger of going to war; the early boomers had a draft that actually could result in them cutting off your hair and sending you to Vietnam. AGW by no means began with the boomers. "A recession and runaway inflation" make odd bedfellows. Look at the 1970s if you want to see what high inflation looks like. Then ask Jimmy Carter about the recession brought on by Paul Volker's determination to bring inflation down. And finally, "an absurdly competitive job market." Isn't this like making gingivitis the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse? But someday perhaps her children will have the chance to compare her complaints about the boomers to her parents' complaints about the "Greatest Generation", and have a good laugh.