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Laelth

(32,017 posts)
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:25 AM Dec 2013

This, my friends, is far too typical for my generation.



Not to exacerbate any generational warfare which, I agree, is counterproductive, but to educate my Boomer and Millennial friends, today's Doonesbury explains the frustrations and life experiences of many GenXers. Would those Ph.D holding, hard-working, and intelligent people be waiting tables or working as nannies 20 years ago? Somehow, I doubt it. It's not like we Xers don't work hard. We do. It's not that we lack ambition. We don't. Our world is simply much worse, economically, than the one into which our parents were born.

I don't blame Boomers for giving us Ronald Reagan and supply-side economics. I do blame Boomers for their apparent lack of concern and action on this subject. In their defense, I suspect that Boomers lack a frame of reference to understand how much harder it is to live in this world now. The United States was at its richest in 1973, and it has been getting poorer ever since. Boomers came of age when we were at our richest, and they don't seem to understand why their children and grandchildren are struggling. The lack of sympathy and concern many of us get from some boomers (especially our family members) is disconcerting and depressing.

Thus, I post this strip as a friendly and poignant reminder. Take care of your children and grand-children, Boomers. We've had plenty of "tough love." Many of us now need some real love.

-GenX Laelth

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This, my friends, is far too typical for my generation. (Original Post) Laelth Dec 2013 OP
As a boomer, I can appreciate what you're writing. Too many of us don't get it .... Scuba Dec 2013 #1
Thanks, Scuba. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #5
used to be, you could have a single breadwinner in a family with just a high school eucation, and be dionysus Dec 2013 #6
I remember a US Savings Bond commercial from the early '70s Art_from_Ark Dec 2013 #10
What happened to the American dream? WHEN CRABS ROAR Dec 2013 #234
There ya go. truebluegreen Dec 2013 #250
It started with deregulation under Nixon. merrily Dec 2013 #260
I don't recall much deregulation under Nixon truebluegreen Dec 2013 #303
+1...nt Jesus Malverde Dec 2013 #307
it was a rhetorical question... dionysus Dec 2013 #252
Reagan! Need I say more? n/t aggiesal Dec 2013 #253
What happened to the American Dream? They destroyed the union movement! B Calm Dec 2013 #289
some define me as a Boomer too hfojvt Dec 2013 #151
There are plenty of we boomers who DO get it 2naSalit Dec 2013 #220
I'm in this category, too. Silver Gaia Dec 2013 #258
Yup. 2naSalit Dec 2013 #277
You have to remember Boomers are a generation split down the middle brush Dec 2013 #238
Not to worry. I'm clearly not uncaring nor a fat cat. Scuba Dec 2013 #246
That's how I remember it, too Lydia Leftcoast Dec 2013 #278
Not just the Boomer generation ... JustABozoOnThisBus Dec 2013 #311
Good point about the anti-draft motivation brush Dec 2013 #364
You're preaching to the wrong folk, cuz most of us here despised Reagan struggle4progress Dec 2013 #2
I appreciate that you read the post. Laelth Dec 2013 #4
you said what I THINK you said, young lady :wags finger: Schema Thing Dec 2013 #34
Thank you. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #49
OK. Where I come from, "I don't blame you for ..." means "I know you did that but I understand why" struggle4progress Dec 2013 #36
I certainly appreciate the fact that you fought against Reagan and supply-side economics. Laelth Dec 2013 #63
My experience of politics is that often one must choose between doing the work and struggle4progress Dec 2013 #75
That's really interesting. Laelth Dec 2013 #92
See, RobinA Dec 2013 #133
Better? Laelth Dec 2013 #137
You have a lot of 2naSalit Dec 2013 #254
Ah, I see. Laelth Dec 2013 #292
Really? 2naSalit Dec 2013 #333
Sorry you feel that way. Laelth Dec 2013 #336
It's just advice about a certain style of political work, that "choose between doing the work struggle4progress Dec 2013 #194
I think I see what you mean. Laelth Dec 2013 #294
Are you sure you're a boomer? beerandjesus Dec 2013 #105
I earned my PhD in math years ago, then taught for years, so I guess I've met lots of 13ers. struggle4progress Dec 2013 #132
Did you also spend the Carter years and the Clinton years fighting supply side economics? merrily Dec 2013 #255
IIRC I spent some of the Carter years blaming everybody older than me for fucking everything up struggle4progress Dec 2013 #256
This has been going on since Nixon. Some dismantling of the New Deal merrily Dec 2013 #261
I agree. Reagan was just a harder turn right. I remember during the 80's discussing how long it adirondacker Dec 2013 #312
Thinking back, I remember giving Reagan the benefit of the doubt Ace Acme Dec 2013 #418
Correct. I would never vote for Reagan, and btw, my greatest generation parents HATED him! whathehell Dec 2013 #83
Boomers were about 30% "Hippie", 40% "Nixon Youth", 30% "Centrist" in the late 60s. jeff47 Dec 2013 #174
Yep, but even then, what was considered "centrist" was a lot more liberal than what it is now.. whathehell Dec 2013 #200
In 1984, I was teaching at a college that had an ROTC program, Lydia Leftcoast Dec 2013 #279
Yep, I believe it...As I recall, a number of universities would not whathehell Dec 2013 #295
ROTC saw a resurgence after most other sources of Federal financial aid Lydia Leftcoast Dec 2013 #327
Oh wow.. whathehell Dec 2013 #329
He threw so many Viet Nam vets out on the street! NCarolinawoman Dec 2013 #257
so true nt Tumbulu Dec 2013 #269
PhD in engineering and no job? GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #3
you should be ashamed of yourself. moxybug Dec 2013 #7
Because I spoke truth from experience GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #9
Anecdotally RobinA Dec 2013 #21
Telling a story about your husband isn't "first hand experience". It's second hand. JBoy Dec 2013 #67
Doubtful GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #71
LOL. Oh, OK. JBoy Dec 2013 #77
Your whole story is what is doubtful. There is a SURPLUS of computer scientists pnwmom Dec 2013 #267
Sorry But I Can't Agree ProfessorGAC Dec 2013 #97
I think the real question is, what kind of salary is he offering? beerandjesus Dec 2013 #117
I'll give you some first hand experience philosslayer Dec 2013 #209
Why don't you come back and brag when he actually has a job? pnwmom Dec 2013 #270
I'm a civil engineer... Blanks Dec 2013 #233
I have six engineers in my extended family in different sub-areas pnwmom Dec 2013 #265
depends on the area. a college friend of mine had a degree in mechanical engineering but ended up dionysus Dec 2013 #8
where are you and how is he recruiting elehhhhna Dec 2013 #16
Your compassion and sensitivity are a beacon to those of us lost in the wilderness. Orrex Dec 2013 #18
LOL, quite literally. Well said. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #24
You read that poster's sig, didn't you? cyberswede Dec 2013 #219
I think you're honing in on a detail and missing the point Ian_rd Dec 2013 #23
Gee, I wonder why that is. Aerows Dec 2013 #28
That's not true GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #30
"Entry level" Aerows Dec 2013 #33
What do you want with a bachelor's degree? GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #40
I have a job Aerows Dec 2013 #46
Just out of curiousity, what do you do for a living? Marr Dec 2013 #127
Maybe for clarity you could post the specifics of the job your husband is offering? Maedhros Dec 2013 #237
Entry level is fine. Laelth Dec 2013 #299
I think you may have hit on a leftynyc Dec 2013 #42
Not really Aerows Dec 2013 #53
Disagree leftynyc Dec 2013 #61
Ask anyone in the IT field Aerows Dec 2013 #121
He's in the business school at UT leftynyc Dec 2013 #125
Those ridiculous expectations usually come from their parents Mariana Dec 2013 #147
You've stated it very well Orrex Dec 2013 #120
Bingo GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #73
That doesn't apply to GenXers as they aren't "right out of school" gollygee Dec 2013 #84
But they once were GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #89
20 years later? gollygee Dec 2013 #91
bored now GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #104
The problem is that you're thinking you're talking about basement dwellers gollygee Dec 2013 #106
My advise to you is to stop trying to reason with under the bridge dwellers. It'll Guy Whitey Corngood Dec 2013 #114
Ah yes....get called on bull, it's time to run away. jeff47 Dec 2013 #182
Maybe you should go give your husband some libertarian boot-strappy advice about AtheistCrusader Dec 2013 #286
early 90s GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #76
You must be speaking of MBAs/Wall Streeters. tosh Dec 2013 #119
I do live in NY leftynyc Dec 2013 #123
My ex-wife and I both graduated with IT degrees in 1984. ieoeja Dec 2013 #144
They were indeed getting leftynyc Dec 2013 #178
Are you speaking from personal experience? lumberjack_jeff Dec 2013 #215
Yes - very personal experience leftynyc Dec 2013 #217
Then he should put the job description here. pnwmom Dec 2013 #271
Why hasn't he spoken with a college campus? xmas74 Dec 2013 #420
So work as a nanny instead? lumberjack_jeff Dec 2013 #139
IT job availability is pretty localized. jeff47 Dec 2013 #183
Really? gollygee Dec 2013 #39
Then you guess wrong GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #45
So it's the first part gollygee Dec 2013 #48
HAHA I noticed that dodge too. laundry_queen Dec 2013 #80
So many personal anecdotes, so little analysis erronis Dec 2013 #158
So your world is a reflection of the entire nation? Rex Dec 2013 #47
The cartoon is no more a reflection of the entire nation GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #62
you gave YOUR anecdote… now others are giving theirs. and they do not jibe. nashville_brook Dec 2013 #81
Wow, now my strawman quota for the day is met <EOM> Colorado Liberal Dec 2013 #118
I don't know what fantasy world you are describing in your reply Rex Dec 2013 #201
Look to the signature line. Hissyspit Dec 2013 #284
Seriously, pokemon trading cards? Blanks Dec 2013 #235
Pokemon? kcr Dec 2013 #248
I 'm thinking your husband's experience is very much the exception fishwax Dec 2013 #79
Cool story bro! nt Guy Whitey Corngood Dec 2013 #85
There was a time... freebrew Dec 2013 #100
Buy that, it common uponit7771 Dec 2013 #109
Where are you located? DFW Dec 2013 #129
Zero applications - Something is seriously wrong with hedgehog Dec 2013 #161
Then he's doing it utterly wrong. jeff47 Dec 2013 #180
I would LOVE to see the job ad for that. I really would. Brickbat Dec 2013 #210
You want to know why? Post the details, we have a cadre of engineers that Egalitarian Thug Dec 2013 #214
Best answer yet! pnwmom Dec 2013 #263
I think it's quite telling a2liberal Dec 2013 #264
They never do. I went around with this nonsense in the late '90s Egalitarian Thug Dec 2013 #334
My husband works for a large engineering firm that is about to pnwmom Dec 2013 #262
I live in a college town. xmas74 Dec 2013 #421
Maybe he's not paying enough and is looking for an excuse to Lydia Leftcoast Dec 2013 #280
What salary is he offering? JoeyT Dec 2013 #287
Maybe if the pay was above minimum wage Blecht Dec 2013 #371
Engineering jobs tend to be centered in specific city areas. And engineering degrees are expensive. haele Dec 2013 #422
Yes, relocation may be necessary GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #11
Why should relocation be necessary? Laelth Dec 2013 #29
Yes -- harder, especially in some areas -- but GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #32
Oh so really this is about an emotional response. Rex Dec 2013 #51
+1. This is it. JBoy Dec 2013 #93
Pissed her hubby isn't allowed to have indentured servants instead of employees. Ikonoklast Dec 2013 #157
Boomer parent here who couldn't agree more! hedgehog Dec 2013 #164
Exactly. And I'll never understand why some people seem to think relocation is just no big deal kcr Dec 2013 #35
No, I won't concede that GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #50
Yeah, and it's not like anything has changed since the 60's kcr Dec 2013 #58
EVERYTHING has changed since the Sixties..Even the minimum wage was worth Three Dollars more in whathehell Dec 2013 #103
Three dollars more? Laelth Dec 2013 #128
Yes, three dollars more in SPENDING Power.. whathehell Dec 2013 #196
Admittedly, our VISA law is abused, and it hurts American labor. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #229
It certainly does, and this has been going on since the mid-nineties, at least. whathehell Dec 2013 #296
Another gift from Bill Clinton? Laelth Dec 2013 #297
You betcha...He didn't start it, but he continued it with no problems...As Michael Moore has said, whathehell Dec 2013 #330
What percentage of a person's income went to housing in the 60s? gollygee Dec 2013 #59
And then add to that you're likely moving to an area with a higher cost of living kcr Dec 2013 #65
And you are likely moving from an area where you had at least a bit of family Nay Dec 2013 #152
Additionally, assuming that you can sell your existing house in an economically depressed area... Blanks Dec 2013 #236
Wow. That's too bad. Laelth Dec 2013 #66
Twice? jeff47 Dec 2013 #184
My field assumes up front anyone entering it will move several times a year. It's a bit annoying. nt Posteritatis Dec 2013 #239
Relocation costs money gollygee Dec 2013 #41
Doesn't matter to someone that got pissed off over a cartoon. Rex Dec 2013 #54
They forget that GenXers gollygee Dec 2013 #57
I agree, we cannot just magically pick up and move for free! Rex Dec 2013 #116
It might not be such a good choice even for someone very young Art_from_Ark Dec 2013 #251
One need only look at her signature... Oilwellian Dec 2013 #155
Yep. Middle finger to everyone, right out front. Ikonoklast Dec 2013 #187
I'll bet GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #68
We're talking about GenXers, not 20-somethings gollygee Dec 2013 #74
Or they could just borrow $20,000 from mom and dad to start a business, right? last1standing Dec 2013 #99
We GenXers have elderly parents gollygee Dec 2013 #111
I'll go further to say that her language is right out of the "Entitled Republican" playbook. last1standing Dec 2013 #124
So, everything's just like the 60's kcr Dec 2013 #130
WOW tazkcmo Dec 2013 #363
It wasn't for my parents, thats HUGE for people. Family infrastructure makes SO Much of a difference uponit7771 Dec 2013 #112
I've been claiming that our kids won't be leaving our home... Pholus Dec 2013 #12
Been hearing alot about multi-generational housing this year ... SomeGuyInEagan Dec 2013 #177
I like the concept, but hate that it is implemented.... Pholus Dec 2013 #249
Definitely agree. SomeGuyInEagan Dec 2013 #331
I agree. The 1% is having a good laugh at our expense. Laelth Dec 2013 #300
While I acknowledge there are some Boomers chervilant Dec 2013 #13
I'd guess over half of the boomers have had their own careers decimated while elehhhhna Dec 2013 #26
I'll have to reserve judgment chervilant Dec 2013 #78
You are right Chervilant. dotymed Dec 2013 #82
I am with you 100%!!! blue14u Dec 2013 #272
Thanks blue14u. dotymed Dec 2013 #291
Thanks for reading the post. Laelth Dec 2013 #301
Actually, chervilant Dec 2013 #361
I Get Your Point RobinA Dec 2013 #14
amen. read my post just above yours? elehhhhna Dec 2013 #27
Talking in terms of generations is useful. Laelth Dec 2013 #304
There must be some kind of sympathy & awareness. Eleanors38 Dec 2013 #15
There are far too many of those, I agree. Laelth Dec 2013 #305
Have you read this article? Ian_rd Dec 2013 #17
No. I had not read that article. Laelth Dec 2013 #306
Not just us Boomers, but our parents too,,,, KarenS Dec 2013 #19
Many Boomers are parents and Aunts and Uncles so We know whats going on kmlisle Dec 2013 #171
Thank you. That was a lovely post. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #308
Thank You! Springslips Dec 2013 #20
Cheers, my friend. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #31
Hopefully this OP blue14u Dec 2013 #274
I hope so too, and thanks for the kind words. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #290
Not all of us Boomers are ignorant of the situation, we love our kids! Dustlawyer Dec 2013 #22
Thank you. Laelth Dec 2013 #298
"Many of us now need some real love" Hubert Flottz Dec 2013 #25
Thanks for callling attention to this quote from my OP. Laelth Dec 2013 #313
Most of we 98% are in that same boat! Hubert Flottz Dec 2013 #321
In my own time and on a few occasions, I have chosen love over money in my life. Laelth Dec 2013 #328
Well stated, Laelth. brer cat Dec 2013 #37
Thank you for the kind words. Laelth Dec 2013 #309
GenXer, born 1972, checking in ....... marmar Dec 2013 #38
Thanks. Laelth Dec 2013 #314
thank you G_j Dec 2013 #43
We are all, definitely, in the same boat. Laelth Dec 2013 #316
Part of the problem is how the educational system operates n2doc Dec 2013 #44
For many years, I was one of those graduate students. Laelth Dec 2013 #318
You should blame the Boomers ramapo Dec 2013 #52
Gen X wasn't old enough to vote for Reagan kcr Dec 2013 #60
Not true. Raine1967 Dec 2013 #160
No. kcr Dec 2013 #165
People born in '64 were able to vote for Reagan. Raine1967 Dec 2013 #176
For one thing, not that many of them did kcr Dec 2013 #192
Fine. I didn't state this: "Gen X wasn't old enough to vote for Reagan" Raine1967 Dec 2013 #205
You didn't state it. I did, because it's correct. kcr Dec 2013 #216
well those are the dates I like hfojvt Dec 2013 #168
Thanks for the info. Raine1967 Dec 2013 #181
but it was NOT Boomers hfojvt Dec 2013 #188
It was a combination of things that included Boomers. jeff47 Dec 2013 #191
but if only people under 30 got to vote hfojvt Dec 2013 #203
Because of that 44. jeff47 Dec 2013 #213
the end of the baby boom does not factor at all hfojvt Dec 2013 #273
Thank you for pointing this out kcr Dec 2013 #197
Understoood. eom. Raine1967 Dec 2013 #206
There were also Gen X'ers who may not have been old enough to RFKHumphreyObama Dec 2013 #242
Still a small portion of Gen X, and a very small portion of the voters over all kcr Dec 2013 #245
That is a pretty ridiculous claim eilen Dec 2013 #293
plenty of us did not fall for the Reagan con job Skittles Dec 2013 #223
Yup, and plenty of us are facing the same crap job-wise. GoCubsGo Dec 2013 #243
That makes a lot of sense. Laelth Dec 2013 #319
I am a Boomer who joined DU today (after lurking here daily for years) to reply to you.... zed nada Dec 2013 #55
Welcome to DU ~ zed nada In_The_Wind Dec 2013 #98
The good news jeff47 Dec 2013 #190
Welcome. Very thoughtful post. nt cry baby Dec 2013 #259
Welcome to DU zed nada blue14u Dec 2013 #275
I am honored. Thank you for the post. Laelth Dec 2013 #320
College mills and corporate America made a college degree worthless Rex Dec 2013 #56
My pleasure. Laelth Dec 2013 #322
Please stop with the boomer bashing Dyedinthewoolliberal Dec 2013 #64
No doubt, Wall Street is the real culprit, here. Laelth Dec 2013 #70
I understand the general point you're making thucythucy Dec 2013 #138
Excellent post. Thanks. I appreciate the thoughtful response. Laelth Dec 2013 #143
Interesting about George Will flamingdem Dec 2013 #347
Bingo! nt Demo_Chris Dec 2013 #69
I don't know if this is what you are talking about, but... CoffeeCat Dec 2013 #72
Relocation is essential if the jobs are elsewhere. randome Dec 2013 #90
On the college front jeff47 Dec 2013 #195
I can see you have thought about this a great deal. Laelth Dec 2013 #372
You are so very sweet... CoffeeCat Dec 2013 #397
I took my son to the doctor last week... meaculpa2011 Dec 2013 #86
Probably PasadenaTrudy Dec 2013 #101
I'm sure you're right. meaculpa2011 Dec 2013 #166
My brother PasadenaTrudy Dec 2013 #212
+1 KurtNYC Dec 2013 #179
Very true. meaculpa2011 Dec 2013 #189
Good post. Sounds about right to me. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #332
As an early boomer randr Dec 2013 #87
Excellent post. Laelth Dec 2013 #335
Oh, believe me I understand randr Dec 2013 #382
I am happy for your kids and your grands. Laelth Dec 2013 #383
Back at ya randr Dec 2013 #384
In the 80's I worked with guys that are now retired or were and have since passed away that brewens Dec 2013 #88
Very insightful post. Thanks. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #337
This late Boomer gets it PasadenaTrudy Dec 2013 #94
You're definitely on the border, generation-wise. Laelth Dec 2013 #338
Sorry but as a boomer LittleGirl Dec 2013 #95
Sorry you took the post as a personal attack. Laelth Dec 2013 #339
The exact opposite of what you posted is true. former9thward Dec 2013 #96
Good points but I think it can get better if government played a better role than that of bystander. randome Dec 2013 #149
You and former9thward make good points. Raine1967 Dec 2013 #186
I hear you about the infrastructure. Ours used to be the best. Now, not so much. Laelth Dec 2013 #342
Well, Laelth, I did my part. malthaussen Dec 2013 #102
That means I have fewer people to compete against for reasonably well-paying jobs. Laelth Dec 2013 #145
It would be inconsistent for a person with my nick to add to population. malthaussen Dec 2013 #153
Well said Tumbulu Dec 2013 #310
I'm SORRY ! penndragon69 Dec 2013 #107
I really don't blame you (or any other Boomer) for Reagan. Laelth Dec 2013 #175
AMEN!!! My wife and I talked about this very thing this week. That OUR generation has to do things.. uponit7771 Dec 2013 #108
Quite true. Laelth Dec 2013 #134
+1 Raine1967 Dec 2013 #172
My pleasure. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #230
too true justabob Dec 2013 #110
It's a colossal waste of human capital. Laelth Dec 2013 #343
Boomer checking in to say "I get it" Lifelong Protester Dec 2013 #113
Thank you. Laelth Dec 2013 #131
I would like to ask something of you, too, Laelth..... llmart Dec 2013 #244
I need to take some time to consider this post before I respond. Laelth Dec 2013 #345
i've had about as much "tough love" as i can stand. Sheri Dec 2013 #115
My pleasure, and thanks for the kind words. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #370
you're welcome, sweetie. nt Sheri Dec 2013 #419
It is quite true . . . Brigid Dec 2013 #122
Thanks for the response. Laelth Dec 2013 #348
People with disabilities have always faced this problem. thucythucy Dec 2013 #126
I appreciate your adding this perspective. Laelth Dec 2013 #353
The problem is the idea that simply creating a whole bunch more exotic degrees lumberjack_jeff Dec 2013 #135
my brother and his wife are on food stamps southmost Dec 2013 #136
The OP illustrates one of the many reasons why it DOES NOT MAKE SENSE to ... Martin Eden Dec 2013 #140
Hear, hear! n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #365
having been in the academic job market 20 yrs ago... mike_c Dec 2013 #141
I really can't accept "same as it ever was." Laelth Dec 2013 #368
I hear you.... mike_c Dec 2013 #379
My expectations are quite low. Laelth Dec 2013 #381
Boomer tomato dude weighs in..... NRaleighLiberal Dec 2013 #142
+1 CountAllVotes Dec 2013 #198
Lovely post, NRaleighLiberal. Laelth Dec 2013 #377
I can understand your feeling riverbendviewgal Dec 2013 #146
There's a reason GenX votes in record low numbers jeff47 Dec 2013 #211
I greatly admired OWS riverbendviewgal Dec 2013 #218
Excellent analysis, jeff47. Thanks. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #378
Real love CountAllVotes Dec 2013 #148
Lovely post and a great story. Thanks. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #352
You think all us hippies voted for Reagan? HomerRamone Dec 2013 #150
This message was self-deleted by its author CountAllVotes Dec 2013 #154
If the welcome was for me, thanks but HomerRamone Dec 2013 #159
This message was self-deleted by its author CountAllVotes Dec 2013 #162
Divide et impera: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose struggle4progress Dec 2013 #156
I thought I said the exact opposite. Laelth Dec 2013 #356
I saw that cartoon this morning. leftyladyfrommo Dec 2013 #163
I appreciate what you wrote. Laelth Dec 2013 #358
I saw this Doonsbury this morning, so was drawn to this OP mountain grammy Dec 2013 #167
What a beautiful post! Laelth Dec 2013 #366
Hang in there, kids! Times like this have happened before, just not as bad. raging moderate Dec 2013 #169
This time, it's lasting a lot longer. Laelth Dec 2013 #367
Strange. Larabee9898 Dec 2013 #170
You have been very fortunate, perhaps? n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #373
A tale of two cities (and two countries and two cultures) DFW Dec 2013 #173
You have done well by your children. Kudos to you. Laelth Dec 2013 #374
I'd be very foolish if I didn't acknlowledge that n/t DFW Dec 2013 #399
I also want to say, I think you are better than we were. raging moderate Dec 2013 #185
Interesting analysis. Laelth Dec 2013 #375
I always think back to when I was in college. Springslips Dec 2013 #193
+1. Well said. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #376
The US was in an abnormal position 1945-1975 happyfunball Dec 2013 #199
America begin declining in the 1980's during Reagan's terms in office. Rex Dec 2013 #202
No, the 1970's weren't all that happyfunball Dec 2013 #204
The problem I'm having with this is that there is an assumption Skidmore Dec 2013 #207
Thank you..... llmart Dec 2013 #349
This post deserves a response. Laelth Dec 2013 #385
An Engineering PhD has to wait tables?? philosslayer Dec 2013 #208
Heard you the first time.. SomethingFishy Dec 2013 #221
stop demonizing boomers Skittles Dec 2013 #222
Don't worry, Skittles. Laelth Dec 2013 #344
I'm Gen X (also with PhD) and almost everyone I know with a PhD has a decent job aikoaiko Dec 2013 #224
Well that was my first thought too, somewhat extreme. Rex Dec 2013 #225
Agreed. aikoaiko Dec 2013 #226
Are there lots of opportunities for people like you to hang out with waiters? Laelth Dec 2013 #380
My Ph.D. program tracks every graduate. aikoaiko Dec 2013 #391
Cool. Thanks for the response. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #392
What changed after Reagan? JDPriestly Dec 2013 #227
I am certainly no fan of "free" trade. Laelth Dec 2013 #387
As a boomer I do get it. Pakid Dec 2013 #228
I voted against Reagan twice. I hate Reagan's guts. Enthusiast Dec 2013 #231
My stepdaughter is just finishing up her degree in microbiology and immediately after is 1monster Dec 2013 #232
20 years ago was better than this, 30 years ago was just as bad (early boomer) diane in sf Dec 2013 #240
Alas, it was the Boomer's PARENTS that gave us Reagan. Demeter Dec 2013 #241
How dare you say that! CountAllVotes Dec 2013 #362
My father sent him money Demeter Dec 2013 #369
For someone who didn't want generational warfare, Curmudgeoness Dec 2013 #247
I am sorry you dislike the thread. Laelth Dec 2013 #393
I was intrigued by this discussion, Curmudgeoness Dec 2013 #395
Fair enough. Laelth Dec 2013 #396
Well, it seems a Boomer like Garry Trudeau understands. But then, I'm not sure most understand.... Moonwalk Dec 2013 #266
Good points. llmart Dec 2013 #351
Many of us late boomers went through this exactly in the early 80's Tumbulu Dec 2013 #268
Thanks for the response. Laelth Dec 2013 #402
Well, you raise a great question Tumbulu Dec 2013 #406
Thanks for the response. Laelth Dec 2013 #407
Yes, very true Tumbulu Dec 2013 #411
I just thought it was an interesting observation. Laelth Dec 2013 #412
I totally understand it Lydia Leftcoast Dec 2013 #276
The Millennials may save us all. Laelth Dec 2013 #390
As a late boomer, and a long time activist, I've been exhorting Luminous Animal Dec 2013 #281
k&r avaistheone1 Dec 2013 #285
when they killed our heroes, JFK, MLK, RFK....what happened? Chrom Dec 2013 #315
You really think the money people who run things care about demonstrations? djean111 Dec 2013 #326
Really? You need older people to fight? Do honestly believe that the majority of boomers have Luminous Animal Dec 2013 #389
I know some of these grads. TxDemChem Dec 2013 #282
I'd rather be lucky than good. Laelth Dec 2013 #394
"Boomers lack a frame of reference to understand how much harder it is to live in this world now." Spitfire of ATJ Dec 2013 #283
Most? Kaleva Dec 2013 #288
Boomer here - that not having a frame of reference? Bullshit. Born in 46, got one pair of shoes djean111 Dec 2013 #302
Jobs were scarce when we got out of school, too. leftyladyfrommo Dec 2013 #317
Meanwhile we have overpaid assholes on TV telling us we don't deserve what we have. Spitfire of ATJ Dec 2013 #341
Broad brush? divisive? Look at the post which I had responded to. Kaleva Dec 2013 #324
I am so sorry - I didn't mean to reply to your post - my life as a Boomer likely was djean111 Dec 2013 #325
A LOT of us boomers were the product of the flood of divorces in the 60s and 70s... Spitfire of ATJ Dec 2013 #340
No need to apologize! Kaleva Dec 2013 #346
I am pretty resourceful, can stretch a dollar a loooong way, djean111 Dec 2013 #354
You ought to check out the Frugal Living group here at DU Kaleva Dec 2013 #357
Thanks! I will check that out right now. djean111 Dec 2013 #360
"Money isn't everything." Spitfire of ATJ Dec 2013 #323
Precisely. Laelth Dec 2013 #350
In California apartments that used to go for $350 a month shoot up to $1,100 in 15 years.... Spitfire of ATJ Dec 2013 #359
The joblessness of those who have very good educations is very rarely discussed truedelphi Dec 2013 #355
This boomer graduated at in 1982. Multiple degrees. Yo_Mama Dec 2013 #386
. Laelth Dec 2013 #388
I don't rmember life ever being very easy. leftyladyfrommo Dec 2013 #400
You are not a boomer to this boomer.... Bennyboy Dec 2013 #403
The reason that shift happened was because the economy sucked so bad Yo_Mama Dec 2013 #404
My trade, Tilesetter/mason pays less, much less today Bennyboy Dec 2013 #405
All corrections go too far Yo_Mama Dec 2013 #410
Very informative post. Thanks. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #408
Uh huh... a whole generation of doctorate holders... That must be it... Decaffeinated Dec 2013 #398
Your scorn and derision are noted. Laelth Dec 2013 #401
For many people I know relocation is... meaculpa2011 Dec 2013 #409
LOT OF TIME BEING WASTED ON THIS..... Blus4u Dec 2013 #413
Welcome to DU. n/t Laelth Dec 2013 #414
You might as well be yelling this into a wishing well. If the Boomers were capable of jtuck004 Dec 2013 #415
Sadly, it feels that way sometimes. Laelth Dec 2013 #416
Just look around. We can't get enough debt, yet it is the very thing that is killing us. jtuck004 Dec 2013 #417
 

Scuba

(53,475 posts)
1. As a boomer, I can appreciate what you're writing. Too many of us don't get it ....
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:31 AM
Dec 2013

... and think the old rules still apply.

dionysus

(26,467 posts)
6. used to be, you could have a single breadwinner in a family with just a high school eucation, and be
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:37 AM
Dec 2013

able to afford a house, 2 cars, and a vacation or two. and when you retired you'd have a nice pension waiting for you. and if you went to college, you wouldn't be rich per se, but very well to do.

all of my contemporaries are college educated and for everyone that is married, both spouses need to work full time just to afford a halfway decent, house, student loans, and daycare since they both have to work.

what happened to the American Dream?

Art_from_Ark

(27,247 posts)
10. I remember a US Savings Bond commercial from the early '70s
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:43 AM
Dec 2013

It featured a mailman who proudly proclaimed, "Last year I was able to save 300 bucks with the US Savings Bond program" ($25/month X 12 months). In those days, a retirement nest egg of $40-50 grand was considered to be pretty decent.

WHEN CRABS ROAR

(3,813 posts)
234. What happened to the American dream?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 07:22 PM
Dec 2013

Corporations, banks and Wall Street, getting anything that they wanted from the government.

 

truebluegreen

(9,033 posts)
250. There ya go.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:36 PM
Dec 2013

Wage growth flatlined in the mid-70s but costs kept going up. The PTB wrote the tax code to benefit themselves, labor was de-valued and destroyed as a political force, business became openly all about greed being good...add 40 years and voila! Here we are.

merrily

(45,251 posts)
260. It started with deregulation under Nixon.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:35 PM
Dec 2013

Carter was quite the de-regulator, too. And of course, there was repeal of Glass Steagall and NAFTA.

 

truebluegreen

(9,033 posts)
303. I don't recall much deregulation under Nixon
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 10:33 AM
Dec 2013

--remember the wage and price controls?--although I think he did do some serious damage regarding health care (I have a vague recollection of him and Haldeman? deciding to allow profit-taking? I can't remember).

Edited to add: Here it is. It wasn't Haldeman, it was Ehrlichman: http://whitehousetapes.net/clip/richard-nixon-john-ehrlichman-all-incentives-are-toward-less-medical-care

All the Incentives are Toward Less Medical Care

In this conversation excerpt, domestic policy advisor John Ehrlichman? briefed President Nixon on what he viewed as the advantages of relying on Health Maintenance Organizations as a key component of the U.S. health care system, using Edgar Kaiser's Permanente as an example. True HMOs at the time had been devised by health care reformers who hoped to control costs, improve patient care, and facilitate coverage for the uninsured. For Ehrichman, however, the HMO idea represented an opportunity to develop a private sector-based, profit-driven alternative to a national health care proposal offered by Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy (D-MA).


But I definitely remember Carter starting the ball rolling on deregulation. After the oil shocks of the seventies and "stagflation" he and others no doubt felt new ideas were called for....I am not as fond of Carter as many are here.

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
151. some define me as a Boomer too
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:13 PM
Dec 2013

born in 1962. I have an MA and work as a janitor for the last 11 years. So I am supposed to be doing WHAT about the glut of people with advanced degrees.

The OP asks, 'would that have happened twenty years ago'? Well, yes, I graduated 23 years ago. So yes, it would.

But even beyond that, I got my BA 28 years ago, and it was so useless in the job market that I ended up going to graduate school.

Of course, that's what I get for majoring in an apparently useless subject for employers.

That subject? Math.

2naSalit

(85,638 posts)
220. There are plenty of we boomers who DO get it
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 04:03 PM
Dec 2013

and are holding advanced degrees that we got after a late "regrooving" only to come out of school with a mortgage and no house to show for it... and yes, we ARE waiting tables and cleaning motel rooms too, and competing for work with you GenXers. Try getting a professional position in your forties or fifties and have only a working background without having saved the world by the time we were twenty and competing with twenty-somethings who will work for less because they don't have as many financial obligations.

I think your generalization overlooks this cohort of boomers. The point does apply to us as well as everyone else who entered the workforce from 2000 on... and it sucks.

Silver Gaia

(4,504 posts)
258. I'm in this category, too.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:31 PM
Dec 2013

Last edited Fri Dec 6, 2013, 12:39 AM - Edit history (1)

I'm a Boomer, too, but wasn't able to go to college until I was in my early 50s. It took me from 2001 to 2010 to get my bachelor's and my MA. I have work related to my degree, but it's part-time contract work with no benefits, and this is the BEST thing I could find. I feel damn glad to have it, but it isn't what I had planned on. I was unable to get anyone around here to even consider me for retail, restaurant, or other similar jobs because they all said I'm "overeducated. So, I'm in the same boat. I'm actually nearing retirement age now, but I don't see ANY remote possibility of that happening anytime within the next 10 years... unless I win the Lotto or have some other fantastic stroke of luck. You're right. It sucks.

ETA: And I did not vote for Reagan. Ever. I remember trying to talk my grandmother out of it, but she was star-struck, and enthralled with the idea of a movie-star as president. Nothing I could say would have swayed her infatuation with this idea.

2naSalit

(85,638 posts)
277. Yup.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 02:27 AM
Dec 2013

I have never voted for a republican for president, ever. I remember the sixties and everything since that has come of having one flavor of government and the other. I lived in CA when Ronnie Raygun was Governor and again when Brown was Governor the last time too, it was a world of difference... essentially like going from a total police state to something far more palatable-but I still can't live there.

My current situation is much like yours, that is when I can get something relative to my education, which is rare. So I manage sandwich shops or run hotel desks, clean rooms, operate heavy equipment or whatever I can find down in tourist town for a paltry sum during the season and try to make it through the off seasons the best I can. Glad I don't live in a heavily populated area, don't think I'd have even half a chance of keeping a roof over my head or anything else.

Keep hanging in there though, it's about all we can do while trying to get the folks who should be representing us to notice that we are still here and teach those younger than us that things have been worse but not since we were really young and that we all have a stake in this thing... not that it was ever easy street at any time.

brush

(53,331 posts)
238. You have to remember Boomers are a generation split down the middle
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 07:52 PM
Dec 2013

I was on campus during late '60s - early '70 participating in civil rights and anti-war activities and I distinctly remember setting up our table at the student union with other campus groups. One of those other campus groups was the Young Republicans who were antithetical to everything we stood for.

It always been so amongst the Boomers — the dichotomy of the left vs the right — and it has been that divide that has marched along with us through the decades, through Nixon, Carter, certainly through campaigning against Reagan/for Reagan, through campaigning against Clinton/for Clinton, and certain the same split carried on thru W the disaster Bush and through to campaigning for President Obama.

Pls don't lump all Boomer together as uncaring, fat cats. We are the original protest generation and we many times have wondered what happened to the GenX and Millenial protestors?

JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,266 posts)
311. Not just the Boomer generation ...
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 11:16 AM
Dec 2013

... in the late eighteenth century, the population was similarly split: 1/3 for the revolution, 1/3 for the crown, 1/3 uninterested.

Or, so say some history books. None of my family were here at the time.



Are GenX and Millenials united in their political views? I work with a few GenXers who are not all liberals.

Boomer anti-war protesters were perhaps more motivated: there was a draft.

brush

(53,331 posts)
364. Good point about the anti-draft motivation
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 04:59 PM
Dec 2013

There were Bush's wars though. I myself march in NYC and Wash. DC demontrations against those wars. Doesn't seem like the torch was picked up.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
4. I appreciate that you read the post.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:36 AM
Dec 2013

That's enough for me, but I specifically stated that I do not blame Boomers for Reagan.



-Laelth

Schema Thing

(10,283 posts)
34. you said what I THINK you said, young lady :wags finger:
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:13 AM
Dec 2013

accuracy schmacuracy




I loved your OP, and as someone on the Boomer/Millennial age line, I'm going to share it. Accurately

struggle4progress

(117,949 posts)
36. OK. Where I come from, "I don't blame you for ..." means "I know you did that but I understand why"
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:14 AM
Dec 2013

You also say "I do blame Boomers for their apparent lack of concern and action on this subject"

I think that if you checked carefully, you'd also find many of us here spent the Reagan years fighting such bullshizz and have since then have continued to try all manner of ways to fight back

But the learning curve has been steep for me, and I think also for everyone else: whenever I finally learn one new piece of the puzzle well, explaining to other people exactly how such and such a tactic might work (under some circumstances) requires me to walk back down to the bottom of the little slope I've conquered and restart the uphill climb to demonstrate what I'm suggesting. And since IMO what's really required is a fully self-conscious mass movement, there's no way to insist on any point or demand anything from listeners -- and there's no way to avoid listening to their understandings either: in fact, that's essential

The bottom line is simply that progress always has been and always will be a real struggle, and much of the work is painfully slow, until enough people are engaged, at which point the dynamic changes, and one suddenly is forced up a new sleep learning curve, where one begins again learning one piece at a time of a new puzzle. And it can be psychologically exhausting if one insists on thinking optimistically or pessimistically -- quite a lot of intellectual and emotional habits simply must be abandoned, including the habit of trying to think things through too carefully, which must be replaced by a more scientific process of trying this than that than something else to see what works




Laelth

(32,017 posts)
63. I certainly appreciate the fact that you fought against Reagan and supply-side economics.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:33 AM
Dec 2013

Tragically, that effort has not yet led to any real progress on the issues of economic justice, wealth inequality, and income inequality. This, however, I can say. Americans under the age of 30 have a more favorable opinion of socialism than of capitalism. My generation's shock, anger, frustration, and, yes, resentment are causing us to bring up and educate the Millennials and the next generation to demand some economic justice. If this situation does change, it will be our doing, and we'll rightfully take credit for it.

-Laelth

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
92. That's really interesting.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:56 AM
Dec 2013

In my post above, I noted that GenX is actually doing the work. We're rearing the next generation(s) to demand economic justice, as well as being the most productive generation (i.e. hardest working) in the history of the planet. Undoubtedly, you've seen the evidence showing massive gains in productivity since GenX entered the workforce. That's me and my generation, working harder than any cohort ever recorded. In fact, the majority of the workforce is now comprised of members of Generation X. You can understand that we're a little ticked that we work harder than our parents and grand-parents did and yet have much less to show for it.

So, we're doing the work, and we'll rightly take the credit. We're producing those children who favor socialism over capitalism. That's how it looks from my perspective, in any event. Not exactly sure what you were trying to say ...



-Laelth

RobinA

(9,862 posts)
133. See,
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:40 AM
Dec 2013

here is where the trouble starts, when people (any people) start saying "we work harder." Your readers may agree with certain aspects of what you are saying, but the "we're better" meme just turns many members of non-we right off.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
137. Better?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:46 AM
Dec 2013

Where did I say that?

The fact is that we do work harder. All the evidence shows that. If that makes us "better" in your mind, so be it, but you said that, not me.



-Laelth

2naSalit

(85,638 posts)
254. You have a lot of
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:24 PM
Dec 2013

work to do to prove to me that you work harder than many of we boomers have for social justice and equality. And I think you have to work harder to understand that as well. Honestly, that's a pretty self-aggrandizing attitude there, and just where did you get your "evidence"? Exceptionalism much? Maybe a good hard look around you might help, a good hard look beyond your iphone monitor... might take you a couple decades but eventually you might understand that what you are implying is pretty selfish.

Yikes.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
292. Ah, I see.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 08:14 AM
Dec 2013

While I have participated in a civil rights march (1987, Forsyth County, Georgia), I can not say that GenX did as much "work" as the Boomers did advancing the causes of social justice and equality.

No, the "work" I was talking about is the kind you have to do to live. According to the data I've seen, GenX does more of that than any generation in recent history.

And we have less to show for it. Go figure.



-Laelth

2naSalit

(85,638 posts)
333. Really?
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:28 PM
Dec 2013

Your equivocation doesn't mean a thing without some backed up info. So you went to a march, how nice of you. It might interest you to study what WE did back in the 60s and 70s and 80s and 90s... getting teargassed in front of the white house and in the streets en masse, beaten by cops, arrested for no good reason, denied jobs because we had hair more than 1/2 an inch long, and for what we wore and if we were seen with certain people... Denied education, access to student loans wasn't a fact of life until the late 80s and early 90s for most of us so if you weren't born with a silver spoon up yer butt, forget college. And many of us had brothers, husbands and dads who were traumatized and physically damaged by our continuous wars of choice... if they lived through it. And then there are those of us who worked to change things from within the system at our workplaces, and sometimes one or two might even get elected and try to affect change from that angle.

Did you know that in many states that women were at fault for their rapes if they didn't have every window and door of their dwellings double locked? And trying to prove you didn't "lead him into" forcing himself on you was near to impossible and you could end up in jail for reporting sexual abuse? And that you were considered a "possession" of your parents such that what they chose to do with you (including incest and beatings and deprivation of human concern) was their business unless they actually killed you or visibly starved you? I think you have no idea what life was like for our generation and that you have been spoiled by the privileges you enjoy that have not always been there... and guess who fought to make them possible.

So, as far as I'm concerned, you have a long way to go to even start to think that you have it tough or have "done more" than we boomers. You can start by reading some history and then take a good hard look in the cosmic mirror and ask yourself what you're all haughty about. You have a long way to go before you can start taking credit for what we did to make it safe for you to do what you choose to do for yourself.

So you can take your haughty attitude and keep it to yourself and stop insulting those of us who worked and fought for your freedom to be a snob.



struggle4progress

(117,949 posts)
194. It's just advice about a certain style of political work, that "choose between doing the work
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:37 PM
Dec 2013

and taking the credit"

If that doesn't interest you, you don't sweat it: maybe it's wrong, or maybe it's just meaningless

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
294. I think I see what you mean.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 09:21 AM
Dec 2013

I was, in fact, trying to take some credit for the fact that Americans under thirty have a more favorable opinion of socialism than of capitalism. That made sense to me because it's my generation that reared those people under 30. If they're liberal and demanding economic justice, that's the product of GenX childrearing. For that I take credit, and for that we did the work. We reared those people under 30, not the Boomers.

Hope that explains where I was coming from. That said, I have to admit, I don't really understand the distinction you're making about "choosing" to do the work vs. taking the credit.



-Laelth

struggle4progress

(117,949 posts)
132. I earned my PhD in math years ago, then taught for years, so I guess I've met lots of 13ers.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:38 AM
Dec 2013

Nobody likes it when I tell them to choose between doing the work and getting the credit, but it often seems to me an essential distinction to make in political action: what frequently wins is great unglamorous heaps of nitty-gritty nuts-and-bolts work, that doesn't sound at all hard to do when you describe it to somebody else, but that is really key to the whole thing

I mean, for example, spending days and weeks and months or more, trying to get people to take an issue seriously, and collecting a name or ten names at a time and making sure somebody calls them to show up for something more every now and then, and finally getting together more than a handful of people, and suddenly you've got several hundred folk in a room all clamoring for real action, and they vote for somebody to coordinate stuff, and you make a suggestion, and everybody turns around with who-the-fuck-are-you expressions on their faces, and you realize, holy shit! yes! this is really going to work this time! But the dynamic changes, because before it wasn't a big deal to many folk, and now suddenly there are turf fights over who is in control? and a thousand variants of that, and not everybody is really here for the same reason: there are people who want to sound informed but aren't; there are people who would be really great at the task but are hypersensitive; there are people whose real interest is to be the center of attention; there are people who think nothing should be done until we resolve all of our philosophical differences; there are people who are only there to disrupt ... And every time I've ever gotten credit for anything in a context like that, it's only because there were a lot of hard-workers helping me, who should really be getting the credit: the lady (say) who came up with perhaps the most brilliant strategy I ever heard for this or that particular issue, but who never ever showed up in a group of more than five or six people, or the guy who studied the hell out of one particular aspect of the issue -- so the rest of us could utter an absolutely accurate sentence or two in reply to a minor question that was sometimes asked, because being able to answer questions like that really did help our credibility







struggle4progress

(117,949 posts)
256. IIRC I spent some of the Carter years blaming everybody older than me for fucking everything up
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:26 PM
Dec 2013

Oh, yeah: been there, done that

merrily

(45,251 posts)
261. This has been going on since Nixon. Some dismantling of the New Deal
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:37 PM
Dec 2013

actually began under FDR himself.

It is a meme that Reagan started it all.

adirondacker

(2,921 posts)
312. I agree. Reagan was just a harder turn right. I remember during the 80's discussing how long it
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 11:19 AM
Dec 2013

would take to catch up to Western European standards of democracy. Seems they took the 60's revolution and ran with it, and we , instead, elected Nixon.

 

Ace Acme

(1,464 posts)
418. Thinking back, I remember giving Reagan the benefit of the doubt
Wed Dec 11, 2013, 08:32 PM
Dec 2013

on his economic programs (even though the recession of 1982 was brutal) because, by God, he did actually whip inflation.

Inflation had really messed up the Carter years. There was no point in saving money, so unless you were going to buy a whole lot of stuff or spend your paychecks on cocaine, there was no point in making any money or any plans.

So Reagan seemed to know what he was doing, and that lent an undeserved and very damaging credibility to the voodoo economics that he instituted 30 years ago and which ideas are still considered conventional wisdom today.

And I can't help wondering if the Fed had the power to keep inflation burning as it did under Ford and then Carter and then to flip a switch and turn it off under Reagan--and none of us were sophisticated enough then to know it. (Is there a tinfoil smiley?)

whathehell

(28,941 posts)
83. Correct. I would never vote for Reagan, and btw, my greatest generation parents HATED him!
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:49 AM
Dec 2013

I was 30 when Ronnie Reagan ran for President and I don't know who voted for the jerk, but I DO recall

an interview with Abbie Hoffman in which he reversed his "Don't trust anyone over thirty" mantra to

"Don't trust anyone UNDER thirty now -- They're all for Reagan".

.Maybe the younger boomers?..I don't know, but it certainly wasn't the preponderance of people in my age group.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
174. Boomers were about 30% "Hippie", 40% "Nixon Youth", 30% "Centrist" in the late 60s.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:53 PM
Dec 2013

And political alignment actually tends to stay the same over the years.

So we got Reagan because your part of the Boomers happened to be outnumbered.

We don't tend to associate with the morons on the other side of the political fence (and they're morons no matter which side of the fence you are on). As a result, we get a skewed idea of what "our generation's" political beliefs are.

whathehell

(28,941 posts)
200. Yep, but even then, what was considered "centrist" was a lot more liberal than what it is now..
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:55 PM
Dec 2013

and as Abbie Hoffman mentioned, people 10 and twelve years younger than us at the time, tended to be for Reagan.

They were the very tail end of the Baby Boomers. In fact, Barack Obama. born 1961, would have been one of them.

Judging by the way he seemed to praise Reagan as a "transformational president", I wouldn't be surprised if he was

one of the "under 30's" at the time who voted for him, ESPECIALLY since he actually came out in the last election and revealed that

"In the mid-Eighties, I would have been considered a Republican".

It was also a considerable number of the older generation...I have a friend my age who told me her parents were stone

liberal until Reagan came along...Then they became "Reagan Democrats".

Lydia Leftcoast

(48,217 posts)
279. In 1984, I was teaching at a college that had an ROTC program,
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 02:37 AM
Dec 2013

and most of the ROTC students were Reagan bots. There were plenty of left students (although the majority of students were apolitical), but the ROTC gang was especially conspicuous due to the fact that they wore their uniforms on campus one day a week.

whathehell

(28,941 posts)
295. Yep, I believe it...As I recall, a number of universities would not
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 09:24 AM
Dec 2013

even allow ROTC on their campus, but that was, as I remember, in the 60's and 70's.

Thanks for your recollections, Lydia.

Lydia Leftcoast

(48,217 posts)
327. ROTC saw a resurgence after most other sources of Federal financial aid
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 12:53 PM
Dec 2013

were eliminated or reduced during the Reagan administration. ROTC gave the students free tuition and textbooks (the college bookstore had a special checkout line for them)--along with a dose of right-wing indoctrination.

One of the most radical professors I ever met thought this was deliberate, and she was almost certainly correct.

NCarolinawoman

(2,825 posts)
257. He threw so many Viet Nam vets out on the street!
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:31 PM
Dec 2013

....and don't get me started on the environment! You can't be a part of the original Earth Day , as I was, and like Ronald Reagan!

 

GladRagDahl

(237 posts)
3. PhD in engineering and no job?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:34 AM
Dec 2013

I don't buy that. My husband is trying to hire 4 people right now with a minimum of a bachelors in computer science or electrical engineering for a month now. Do you know how many applications he's gotten? Zero.

 

GladRagDahl

(237 posts)
9. Because I spoke truth from experience
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:42 AM
Dec 2013

I'm afraid I have to disagree. Anyone with a degree in engineering who doesn't smell bad on an interview and who doesn't have a criminal record can get a job. Microbiology? I have no idea but I know for a fact that engineers (both civil and electrical) are in huge demand. I know this from first hand experience.

RobinA

(9,862 posts)
21. Anecdotally
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:57 AM
Dec 2013

this isn't true. I have a relative, a recent graduate of a top engineering school, with a Bachelors and Masters in some aerospace type engineering who does not smell bad, had excellent grades and no criminal record. He has been unable to find a job. He was flown across the country to interview for one position, but there were several others, also flown across the country, also with good grades from a good school. He did not get the job. Even if he had gotten the job, a bunch of other engineers would not have. In this case, the demand was far less than the candidate pool.

JBoy

(8,021 posts)
67. Telling a story about your husband isn't "first hand experience". It's second hand.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:37 AM
Dec 2013

And as an engineer I can tell you from first hand experience that your statement about how easy it is to get a job is utter nonsense. I hire entry level engineers and I have dozens of good applicants to choose from. 10% might get an interview, one gets picked.

If your husband is actually getting zero applicants, then it sounds to me like he needs to learn how to advertise jobs.

pnwmom

(108,914 posts)
267. Your whole story is what is doubtful. There is a SURPLUS of computer scientists
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:34 AM
Dec 2013

and engineers. If you're husband isn't getting any applications, something is seriously wrong with his approach.

http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1319039

If US universities are pumping out high-tech college grads in numbers sufficient to fill job vacancies, why is industry saying that they need more? H-1B temporary worker programs that bring in more STEM workers seem to be heating up again -- why?

According to an Economic Policy Institute's comprehensive study concerned with the supply and demand of STEM graduates, findings indicate that for every two students graduating with STEM degrees from US colleges, only one is hired in a STEM job. That's quite a disconnect, especially if the training is rigorous.

The study was prepared by experts Hal Salzman, Rutgers, B. Lindsay Lowell, Georgetown, and Daniel Kuehn, Urban Institute and EPI, and concluded that: "in computer and information science and in engineering, U.S. colleges graduate 50 percent more students than are hired into those fields each year." It also concluded that there isn't a shortage of talent -- and if there was, wages would have risen rather than remaining flat over the period in question.

Looking at the future, the report indicates that there will be three new high-tech degree holders for every two high-tech jobs over the next decade. There are already millions of unemployed college grads.

SNIP


ProfessorGAC

(64,184 posts)
97. Sorry But I Can't Agree
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:01 AM
Dec 2013

We've had openings for Chem E's for more than year. We have filled 60% of the openings. In a year.

We've made offers, but the competition, at least for Chem E's is quite intense, so it becomes primarily a money bid. Someone else offers more.

We're not in a remote area. Just an hour or so south of Chicago. Big metro area, but far enough south that we get into the lower tax areas. (Property and sales.)

Company pays competitively, per the surveys. (Definitely not at the highest end, but above the median.)

We still only get probably 12 candidates for every 7 spots. And, we've been turned down over money 3x.

This is one year worth of experience, very recent, and coming from a multibillion dollar firm. Still anecdotal, but contrary to your comments.

beerandjesus

(1,301 posts)
117. I think the real question is, what kind of salary is he offering?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:12 AM
Dec 2013

Sure, anyone with a PhD in engineering can get a job--if they can support their family for the same amount of money the company would pay a single H1B living in a youth hostel.


If anyone thinks we 13ers are raising a generation of socialists, they're goddamn right.

 

philosslayer

(3,076 posts)
209. I'll give you some first hand experience
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:27 PM
Dec 2013

My son is a year away from getting a BS in Mechanical Engineering degree. He's 20. He's already getting cold calls for interviews.

pnwmom

(108,914 posts)
270. Why don't you come back and brag when he actually has a job?
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:40 AM
Dec 2013

And has kept it.

My nephew with a ME degree and a solid GPA from an highly regarded school got an offer and a job very quickly -- and then the whole division was laid off three months after he started. The next employment hunt was much harder. He took a non-engineering job to get by, and it was more than a year before he got a real mech E job. The pay was only about 80% of what graduates were getting in the year my nephew got his degree.

Blanks

(4,835 posts)
233. I'm a civil engineer...
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 06:49 PM
Dec 2013

Sent out a resume a year or so ago, called to follow up. They had received over 40 resumes (I wasn't even interviewed).

Sure there are jobs, and there is demand for civil engineers, but things are still a little slow.

There are public works projects, but there aren't as many as there need to be in order for all the good engineers to have good jobs.

I'm in my 50's, if I were in a position to hire I'd want someone with less experience than I have.

I'm working now, but I'm not making as much as I was before and it's difficult keeping busy. I'm kind of lucky because I'm also a professional surveyor and there seems to be more surveying work around than engineering. At least in the circles I'm in.

pnwmom

(108,914 posts)
265. I have six engineers in my extended family in different sub-areas
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:23 AM
Dec 2013

and all of them would say BULLSHIT!

That is, unless you're talking about a job that pays minimum wage . . . engineers probably aren't standing in line for those.

dionysus

(26,467 posts)
8. depends on the area. a college friend of mine had a degree in mechanical engineering but ended up
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:39 AM
Dec 2013

becoming a debt collector because there were no jobs in the area. of course, he was too stubborn to relocate to find work so it's partially his fault.

 

elehhhhna

(32,076 posts)
16. where are you and how is he recruiting
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:53 AM
Dec 2013


If he'll hire fresh grads he should have no problems

I'm a headhunter and place engineers. Does he need some advice? PM me.

Ian_rd

(2,124 posts)
23. I think you're honing in on a detail and missing the point
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:00 AM
Dec 2013

Instead of making a statement about the opportunities available to an engineering PhD, the toon is making a point about the diminished opportunities in general for young Americans to earn a good living, some of whom are highly educated and motivated.

 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
28. Gee, I wonder why that is.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:04 AM
Dec 2013

Every single person that I've heard complain that they can't hire people in the IT field (I'm in that field and I'm employed) is wanting someone that is a skilled in everything to work for $15/hr or something ridiculous like that. If you can't find someone to work for you, you are paying too little, the work environment completely sucks or both.

 

GladRagDahl

(237 posts)
30. That's not true
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:10 AM
Dec 2013

He's willing to hire entry level -- with a simple bachelor's degree. No one has even applied to find out salary. Not one resume has been submitted.

 

GladRagDahl

(237 posts)
40. What do you want with a bachelor's degree?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:15 AM
Dec 2013

Vice President of the company? Seriously...entry level is NOT a dirty word. Hell, interns for this company historically get paid better than medical professionals in most areas of the country. (I think that pisses me off more than anything... if you are a recent grad with an under-graduate degree you SHOULD be in an entry level position in a company. THAT is where the gen-xers lose THIS baby-boomer. You set your expectation levels WAY too high.)

 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
46. I have a job
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:20 AM
Dec 2013

and I'm damn good at it.

I lost you, miss Boomer, because you set your expectations for what you should pay people for their skills way too low. Like I said, if you have 4 job openings and can't hire a soul, either you pay too little, the work environment sucks or both.

It's just that simple.

 

Marr

(20,317 posts)
127. Just out of curiousity, what do you do for a living?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:26 AM
Dec 2013

I'm from "Gen X" myself and always thought my colleagues and former classmates were the hardest working people I'd ever met-- until these "millenials" came along. They work their asses off at least as hard as we ever did, and have even lower expectations.

I have to wonder what sort of intense professional experience makes you so comfortable labeling generations lazy or saying they have inflated expectations.

 

Maedhros

(10,007 posts)
237. Maybe for clarity you could post the specifics of the job your husband is offering?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 07:50 PM
Dec 2013

Requirements, duties, salary, benefits, location.

Then we could rule out some possible reasons he isn't receiving applications.

If he's wanting mechanical engineers to move to Attu Island, Alaska that might explain the dearth, for example.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
299. Entry level is fine.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 09:51 AM
Dec 2013

So long as we agree that minimum wage, right now, if it had kept up with inflation and increases in productivity would be $22.00/hr. if it was the same as the minimum wage in 1962. So, people with High School diplomas ought to get a little more than $22.00/hr. A college degree should be worth at least $30.00/hr. (i.e. $60K/year).

Is that what you're offering? If not, then you must concede that this work environment sux for GenX and for the Millennials.



-Laelth

 

leftynyc

(26,060 posts)
42. I think you may have hit on a
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:17 AM
Dec 2013

different kind of problem. During the 80s and 90s many people were coming right of school and walking into jobs that were paying 6 figure salaries for starters. Those were incredibly high salaries for new workers and perhaps the people graduating today are expecting the same thing.

 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
53. Not really
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:25 AM
Dec 2013

I don't think anyone expects six figures right out of school, but in a field where there is high demand, no one is going to take a job for $10/hr or a place where the work environment completely sucks when they can go right down the road and get $20/hr.

There is this expectation that companies can hire a young computer genius for $10/hr that can walk right in and do the job. You see it all the time.

 

leftynyc

(26,060 posts)
61. Disagree
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:32 AM
Dec 2013

Me nephew is graduating UT-Austin in May and he I hear he and his friends talking. Many are not going to grad school and their expectations for jobs are ridiculous. 6 figures, 6 weeks vacation, yearly bonuses and this is with just a BS. Thankfully nephew has parents who set him straight and are trying to get him to think about law school - that degree would never go to waste.

 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
121. Ask anyone in the IT field
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:17 AM
Dec 2013

I'm in the IT field, and I was just relating my experiences, and others can tell you the same thing. Inevitably, there are companies that have an expectation that they can hire someone young with a plethora of skills and pay them next to nothing.

Why on earth would someone with in-demand skills take a job that pays next to nothing or has a horrible work environment if they can take their skills elsewhere? That's why someone with 4 job openings can't find anyone to hire. That was the only point I was making.

Your nephew certainly has some unrealistic expectations. I have no idea what he majored in, but if he is thinking about law school, it probably wasn't science, engineering or technology. I agree that would be a good idea and wouldn't go to waste.

 

leftynyc

(26,060 posts)
125. He's in the business school at UT
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:24 AM
Dec 2013

They really aren't his expectations as sister and her husband have made sure that while he grew up pretty privleged, he's under no illusions about how lucky he is. His friends, on the other hand, (not all but many) have been told their whole lives they are the crown princes and deserve whatever they want. Graduation is going to be quite the kick in the ass for them.

Mariana

(14,830 posts)
147. Those ridiculous expectations usually come from their parents
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:07 PM
Dec 2013

or other older relatives. In my own family, it was her two grandfathers and an uncle who told my daughter over and over and over again that she'd be making six figures fresh out of school. Even after she graduated and had a good entry level job, my father told her she was getting ripped off and should be making a lot more.

Orrex

(63,057 posts)
120. You've stated it very well
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:15 AM
Dec 2013

When I was unemployed for an embarrassingly extended period (2+ years), I sent out well over a thousand resumes. I'm not a fuck-up, either; I have experience, employable skills, and I interview well, even if the jobs aren't at the six-figure level. Of the few companies that called back, most offered about half of what I'd been making at my previous job, but their expectation were preposterous. $10/hour, must have at least six years experience in the field, etc.

It was definitely a buyer's market, and it still is, as far as I can tell.

gollygee

(22,336 posts)
84. That doesn't apply to GenXers as they aren't "right out of school"
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:50 AM
Dec 2013

I'm a GenXer. I'm in my mid-40s. GenXers aren't just getting out of school and expecting high salaries. They've been out of school and working in their fields for a long time.

 

GladRagDahl

(237 posts)
89. But they once were
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:54 AM
Dec 2013

and many are still in the same position that they were upon graduation. Until they get a bit of entry level job experience under their belt they are still "right out of school"

gollygee

(22,336 posts)
91. 20 years later?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:56 AM
Dec 2013

In the 90s, it was easy to get a job, and the unemployment rate was very low. These people got out of school, got jobs, got married, bought houses, started families, and then the economy changed and they lost their jobs but still had all the expenses of grownups who had been working for a decade or two in their fields. They aren't entry-level. These are my friends and neighbors. They aren't 20-somethings in their parents' basements who have never been able to find jobs because the economy has been bad since they graduated. They had jobs during a better economic period.

 

GladRagDahl

(237 posts)
104. bored now
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:03 AM
Dec 2013

I'm not going to convince you that most of the problems of the basement dwellers are caused by their own decisions and attitudes and you aren't going to convince me that none of it's their fault. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

gollygee

(22,336 posts)
106. The problem is that you're thinking you're talking about basement dwellers
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:06 AM
Dec 2013

You're still stuck thinking it's kids who haven't left their parents' basement. People my age - GenXers - have elderly parents, often elderly parents we are helping out, and often parents who are no longer with us. My father passed away in his 70s, and my husband and I pay my mom's rent. I'm not living in her basement. What if my husband lost his job and couldn't find another one? I wouldn't be able to help my mom and she'd be on just social security without that apartment. She'd be worse off too.

Guy Whitey Corngood

(26,474 posts)
114. My advise to you is to stop trying to reason with under the bridge dwellers. It'll
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:10 AM
Dec 2013

only make your brain hurt.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
182. Ah yes....get called on bull, it's time to run away.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:03 PM
Dec 2013

So...can't even give us a state where these jobs are? How weird. Almost like you realize your anecdote isn't going to hold up.

AtheistCrusader

(33,982 posts)
286. Maybe you should go give your husband some libertarian boot-strappy advice about
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 05:50 AM
Dec 2013

how to be successful at finding good employees.

tosh

(4,422 posts)
119. You must be speaking of MBAs/Wall Streeters.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:13 AM
Dec 2013

My memory of the 80s for the "rest of the country" is nothing like you describe.

 

leftynyc

(26,060 posts)
123. I do live in NY
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:20 AM
Dec 2013

so that would make sense. But I seriously don't remember anyone being unemployed that had a college degree and I remember nobody complaining about low wages. What I do remember were bidding wars for people. It was insane and merely the other side of the coin. After the 2008 crash, everybody has cut back and seem determined to do the same or more with less personnel.

 

ieoeja

(9,748 posts)
144. My ex-wife and I both graduated with IT degrees in 1984.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:00 PM
Dec 2013

I started out just over $14K. She started just under $14K.

I knew a lot of people in college who thought they were going to get huge salaries straight out of college back then. And I spoke to a lot of interviewers who had no idea where those idiots were getting that idea.


 

leftynyc

(26,060 posts)
178. They were indeed getting
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:56 PM
Dec 2013

those huge salaries right here in NYC. Right up until 2008 when the markets crashed.

 

lumberjack_jeff

(33,224 posts)
215. Are you speaking from personal experience?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:44 PM
Dec 2013

Because I graduated HS in 1980 and I am not familiar with any of these "many people".

 

leftynyc

(26,060 posts)
217. Yes - very personal experience
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:47 PM
Dec 2013

I graduated in 1983 and I live in NY (and work in Manhattan). The salaries, benefits and bonuses had employers having bidding wars to get the best candidates. This company would agree to pay your moving expenses, that company would give you an apartment for 6 months until you found your own....it was madness and except for the dip in 1987 (which really didn't effect jobs on Wall Street at all), it was like that right up until 2008.

pnwmom

(108,914 posts)
271. Then he should put the job description here.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:43 AM
Dec 2013

People will tell him why he's not getting responses. Maybe someone will even apply.

But you are wrong about a surplus of jobs. There is actually a surplus of computer scientists and engineers.

From an industry publication:

http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1319039

If US universities are pumping out high-tech college grads in numbers sufficient to fill job vacancies, why is industry saying that they need more? H-1B temporary worker programs that bring in more STEM workers seem to be heating up again -- why?

According to an Economic Policy Institute's comprehensive study concerned with the supply and demand of STEM graduates, findings indicate that for every two students graduating with STEM degrees from US colleges, only one is hired in a STEM job. That's quite a disconnect, especially if the training is rigorous.

The study was prepared by experts Hal Salzman, Rutgers, B. Lindsay Lowell, Georgetown, and Daniel Kuehn, Urban Institute and EPI, and concluded that: "in computer and information science and in engineering, U.S. colleges graduate 50 percent more students than are hired into those fields each year." It also concluded that there isn't a shortage of talent -- and if there was, wages would have risen rather than remaining flat over the period in question.

Looking at the future, the report indicates that there will be three new high-tech degree holders for every two high-tech jobs over the next decade. There are already millions of unemployed college grads.


xmas74

(29,635 posts)
420. Why hasn't he spoken with a college campus?
Sun Dec 15, 2013, 11:15 AM
Dec 2013

I live in a college town and I work for the school. Talk to someone in the engineering department-I'm sure they would be able to make referrals for those about to graduate.

Right now, IT and comp sci grads are a dime a dozen. Get them right out of school and you'll be fine.

 

lumberjack_jeff

(33,224 posts)
139. So work as a nanny instead?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:50 AM
Dec 2013

I doubt that there are nearly as many job openings for IT or engineering as would be required to absorb all the qualified applicants, but if the choice is between $15/hour in your field of education or $15/hour waiting tables, I would think most people would choose the IT job.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
183. IT job availability is pretty localized.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:09 PM
Dec 2013

When looking for my current job, I started looking in Colorado to move closer to some family. My search included all of Denver, it's suburbs and Colorado Springs and it's suburbs - the area where about 80% of the people live in Colorado. I'd get around around 10 job listings a day. Most of those weren't actually good fits.

With nothing lining up well, I started looking in North Carolina to move closer to a different branch of the family. Search area only included Raleigh and it's suburbs. About 100 job listings a day.

So it's quite possible for an IT person in Colorado to work waiting tables while openings go unfilled in Raleigh.

gollygee

(22,336 posts)
39. Really?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:15 AM
Dec 2013

Where, what benefits, how much is he paying, what are the responsibilities? My guess is he either is paying less than someone would make working retail while expecting them to work harder/worse hours, and/or he isn't advertising the opening enough so no one knows about it.

 

GladRagDahl

(237 posts)
45. Then you guess wrong
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:19 AM
Dec 2013

He definitely is expecting hard work and he's advertising big time. THIS Is exactly why so many professional visas are being sought int he engineering field. My husband was hoping to hire engineers in this country, but I suspect he'll end up having to employ from India or China. That seems to be par for the course in this area of the country when it comes to the computer sciences.

gollygee

(22,336 posts)
48. So it's the first part
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:20 AM
Dec 2013

He is paying very little and expecting really hard work for that small pay. People might as well work at McDonald's or the mall.

laundry_queen

(8,646 posts)
80. HAHA I noticed that dodge too.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:46 AM
Dec 2013

If that person's husband isn't getting any applicants it means he's paying less than some crappy retail job, or he's expecting 80 hours a week for a $30,000 salary.

erronis

(14,853 posts)
158. So many personal anecdotes, so little analysis
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:25 PM
Dec 2013

I don't mean to say this just to GladRagDahl but to everyone who is commenting in this thread.

We all know people who have great jobs without fancy degrees (me and Billy Gates), and people who have incredible degrees (PhDs in hard sciences) without jobs.

@GladRagDahl - could you post an example of your husband's job offerings? There must be something about it that is turning applicants away. I believe you said that the pay level wasn't mentioned in the adverts so it must be something else.

@everyone - we've all seen Bureau of Labor Statistics (or whatever they're called now) numbers. Does anyone have a sample of some meaningful aggregates of how we are doing (US citizens) in getting jobs - broken down by age, sector, and education level?

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
47. So your world is a reflection of the entire nation?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:20 AM
Dec 2013

Think about it, no it is not and you miss the point of the cartoon and the OP imo.

 

GladRagDahl

(237 posts)
62. The cartoon is no more a reflection of the entire nation
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:33 AM
Dec 2013

than my experience is. And no, I did NOT miss the "poor pitiful, over educated me" point of the article. Life isn't perfect and if you don't want to relocate, or accept an entry level position in order to work your way up but would rather live in mom and dad's basement until something perfect falls into your lap -- that's on you and your parents. I know I'll never convince someone in this position that their own decisions have put them where they are. I see enough of my own friends supporting their adult children into their 30s and 40s -- some because their degree in performing arts didn't pan out and make them a star or because they are too good to work entry level.

I simply don't buy many of the excuses. And this is a great way to vent -- when I have to bite my tongue whenever my friends wail on about how little Casey can't find a job with his Bachelors in psychology so he's spending his time trying to be a pokemon champion in mom's basement until that perfect job finds him. BS on that! Little Casey (or Susan or whatever) should be working part time in a nursing home or a school system or whatever building up some experience. He doesn't have any expenses. He can afford to do entry level, even if it IS beneath him. I know it's all fun and games trading pokemon cards for fun and profit -- and traveling around the country for pokemon competitions but come on, you are in your 30s. Grow up already!

nashville_brook

(20,958 posts)
81. you gave YOUR anecdote… now others are giving theirs. and they do not jibe.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:47 AM
Dec 2013

so then it's b/c of arts degrees. and then it's b/c you imagine people think that "working is beneath them."

I had a very similar discussion with Chamber of Commerce official who was touting ALEC-sponsored legislation in Tally. Just saying.



 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
201. I don't know what fantasy world you are describing in your reply
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:57 PM
Dec 2013

but you sound clueless as to how hard it is for people to find jobs. I've never met a single person in my life that turned down a job to go play pokemon OR lives in their mom and dad's basement...but carry on, I guess someone somewhere will identify with your post.

Blanks

(4,835 posts)
235. Seriously, pokemon trading cards?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 07:28 PM
Dec 2013

It sounds like you're taking one personal experience and projecting it across an entire generation.

fishwax

(29,146 posts)
79. I 'm thinking your husband's experience is very much the exception
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:46 AM
Dec 2013

I taught at a university w/ some of the best engineering programs in the country. I knew several engineering students who were smart andbalance even had some good internship experience, but were competing against hundreds for jobs and had tremendous trouble finding them.

freebrew

(1,917 posts)
100. There was a time...
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:02 AM
Dec 2013

when an engineer didn't have to have a degree. I worked for over 20 years as a mechanical engineer.
I had to correct many mistakes made by engineers with masters degrees.

As I told the guy that fired me,(downsizing) a degree isn't a guaratee of intelligence.

You also didn't state the starting salary. Many companies are not paying professionals well.

Maybe your husband should try changing his qualifications required for the job.

As far as boomers, there are a lot of us. The term covers a large swath, many more folk than GenXers, yuppies, millennials individually. We don't all think alike.

This didn't start with Reagan, he wasn't smart enough to do anything on his own. It started with Nixon's defeat in 1960.
The general populace became too intelligent for their own good.

Their biggest accomplishments: co-opting the media and keeping the left fighting amongst themselves.

Why on earth would the gop still be alive otherwise?

DFW

(53,930 posts)
129. Where are you located?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:30 AM
Dec 2013

My nephew graduated from Stanford Engineering and is finishing up his PhD, has interned with NASA, but has no big job prospects on the horizon. He is still in Palo Alto, probably will be for the (very) short term, until his PhD comes through, but that is probably in the VERY near future, and he doesn't know what's next. He just turned 30 this year.

hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
161. Zero applications - Something is seriously wrong with
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:28 PM
Dec 2013

either the way your husband is letting people know he wants to hire and/or the jobs he's looking to fill.

Check the offered wage vs required hours.

Check to see if the company has a reputation for bad working conditions.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
180. Then he's doing it utterly wrong.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:01 PM
Dec 2013

And the fact that you won't provide details like location or starting salary indicates you know that, but don't want to admit it.

There's a fair number of out-of-work DUers. How 'bout posting a link to the Monster or Dice posting for these jobs?

 

Egalitarian Thug

(12,448 posts)
214. You want to know why? Post the details, we have a cadre of engineers that
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:43 PM
Dec 2013

will be happy to tell your husband why he can't find anyone.

a2liberal

(1,524 posts)
264. I think it's quite telling
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:20 AM
Dec 2013

that she's refused to post any links to a position that is supposedly being widely advertised.

 

Egalitarian Thug

(12,448 posts)
334. They never do. I went around with this nonsense in the late '90s
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:30 PM
Dec 2013

when they were selling everyone on the "tech worker shortage". Just as now, there was never a shortage of qualified people, merely a shortage of qualified people that had no options and could be coerced into accepting whatever employers were willing to trade for their skills.

pnwmom

(108,914 posts)
262. My husband works for a large engineering firm that is about to
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:15 AM
Dec 2013

lay off many experienced electrical engineers.

You're living in a bubble if you don't believe that there are unemployed STEM PhD's right now.

I personally know of a newly minted PHD chemist from a top school who's still looking for a job one year later, and another guy with a bachelor's degree in ME who needed more than a year.

I don't know how your husband is advertising those positions, but he needs to change his tactics. There are plenty of job-seekers out there for jobs whose pay/benefits meet industry standards. One problem is that the computer screening so many employers use these days screens out many people would be perfectly capable of doing the advertised jobs. (For example, someone who has worked in the food processing industry producing vegetable products is perfectly capable of transferring those skills to fruit or other food products.) Or maybe your husband has written such a restricted job description that, on the surface, no one would seem to be qualified. This is what employers sometimes do when their real aim is to hire cheaper foreign engineers.

xmas74

(29,635 posts)
421. I live in a college town.
Sun Dec 15, 2013, 11:28 AM
Dec 2013

We don't have an engineering degree at the local university but we do have IT. IT grads are currently a dime a dozen, at least around here.

College graduation was yesterday. What are many of the students doing, come next semester? Attending grad school because they know there are no jobs. The few I've heard of having jobs waiting for them were in radiology, nursing, med tech, construction management (every single one had a job months in advance) and safety. Oh, and the ROTC kids. The others? Good luck.

The only kids I've heard of in IT with jobs right out of school were, strangely enough, the international students. The others? Good luck. And I'd bet it's no different with engineering.

Lydia Leftcoast

(48,217 posts)
280. Maybe he's not paying enough and is looking for an excuse to
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 02:39 AM
Dec 2013

hire an H1B who thinks $30,000 a year is a fortune.

JoeyT

(6,785 posts)
287. What salary is he offering?
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 06:17 AM
Dec 2013

I find that 99% of the time "I'm trying to hire people but they don't want to work!!!" complaints can easily be explained by that question. "What are you offering?". Usually they're trying to pay a third the going rate. Half if they're "generous".

If your husband isn't getting applicants, there's a damned good reason. And the reason isn't that there aren't workers. Either he needs to advertise the position, or he needs to up the pay.

haele

(12,566 posts)
422. Engineering jobs tend to be centered in specific city areas. And engineering degrees are expensive.
Sun Dec 15, 2013, 12:03 PM
Dec 2013

I live in San Diego where there's a shitload of engineering companies that cater to either the military, the universities, or telecom. However, being in the process of finally getting my own degree, I know that the's an additional "engineering college fee" on the upper level courses that kick a $36K BS degree into the $75K level if the student wants to get a degree that actually means more than a technical certification.

Also, (anecdotally) people tend to apply for work within two/three week seasonal periods; Mid-January, May/June and September. I know that when I've applied during those periods, I've gotten jobs.
Don't know why, but that's the application trend I've seen over the past 30 years I've been working. I suspect it has to do with when most people get out of school or the military, finish their vacations, and start looking for work, and these periods are also at the one-month point before most contracts and projects are scheduled to begin, so companies are looking to fill in worker gaps with new people.

Another thing I've noticed is that rhere's always job openings around here at companies that aren't competitive with their wages and benefits; most of them are entry jobs requiring either a technical cert "with experience" or a BS and start at $14.50 - $16 an hour and are usually temporary or linked to a specific contract or project that usually lasts only a year or two.
A high percentage of the advertised openings are also resume collection drives for companies to use to bid on a contract, so applicants are not really serious about the resumes or applications they send in.

Very few engineers with a degree above a BS around here get hired for a permanent position on a blind hire or job fair.
The good jobs that require advanced degrees or experience, the ones that start at $25 an hour, require the applicant know someone or worked on a project the people that have the final say on who hires knows. The idea that "everyone has a chance" at the position is usually a polite lie. If the company doesn't already have someone in mind and has to advertise because that's the law, one's reputation and network is far more important than education or experience in the field.

Now, this is in San Diego, where the people getting jobs here already live within a 60 mile radius. Go over the mountains almost a hundred miles to El Centro, or Brawley, and that BS or MS in engineering that can be a foot in the door at Qualcomm or Sony is not going to find you much more than perhaps a Dish or Cable installer or as buyer or materials handling position at a local construction company or as a member of the Geek Squad at the nearest Best Buy.

I'm sorry your husband can't find any applicants right now. If he started advertising early November, he would have missed the September/October job seeker's rush.
However, if ya'll are in/near a college or military town, or a high-tech hub, he should be seeing some applications starting the second week of January.
If you aren't located near an engineering job hub, it might be a bit harder; you'd be looking at the majority of your qualified applicants who are still working in the field being re-locators that can afford to move and/or feel they can take the chance that your business will need them for more than a year or two, and it would be a good investment to move.

Over the years, I've passed on applying for quite a few jobs that looked like they were project jobs that, while good paying, would require that I pick up and move quite a distance from my "home base", and would then leave me stuck in the middle of BFE when they were over.


Good luck to your husband on his applicant's search. I hate to say it, but LinkedIn might be a cheap way to spread out the net a little wider and find people in your area or people willing to move to your area.

Haele


 

GladRagDahl

(237 posts)
11. Yes, relocation may be necessary
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:43 AM
Dec 2013

There are tons of dead areas across the country. I'll agree with you there!

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
29. Why should relocation be necessary?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:10 AM
Dec 2013

I agree with you that people have to do what they have to do to survive. Many of us have relocated. I have relocated a couple of times in search of better economic opportunities.

Will you, at least, concede that it's harder for GenX and the Millennials? Is it not true that we have to move more often in search of economic justice and opportunity than previous generations did?



 

GladRagDahl

(237 posts)
32. Yes -- harder, especially in some areas -- but
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:11 AM
Dec 2013

the whole "PhD in Engineering" and waiting tables just ticked me off.

Ikonoklast

(23,973 posts)
157. Pissed her hubby isn't allowed to have indentured servants instead of employees.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:22 PM
Dec 2013

There is good reason his crap job offers go unfilled, people aren't willing to work for starvation wages in crappy work environments for idiots who think paying 24KK a year for 78 hours work a week is a fortune.

kcr

(15,295 posts)
35. Exactly. And I'll never understand why some people seem to think relocation is just no big deal
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:13 AM
Dec 2013

Just wave the free relocation wand, and *poof* instant new home in your new location! Easy peasy.

 

GladRagDahl

(237 posts)
50. No, I won't concede that
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:21 AM
Dec 2013

My father had to relocate twice in the 60s in order to find work. It's why I ended up in the Washington DC area.

kcr

(15,295 posts)
58. Yeah, and it's not like anything has changed since the 60's
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:29 AM
Dec 2013

Everything is exactly the same today. Be sure to stay strong on that opinion.

whathehell

(28,941 posts)
103. EVERYTHING has changed since the Sixties..Even the minimum wage was worth Three Dollars more in
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:03 AM
Dec 2013

buying power than it is now...Even Morning Joke admitted this today.

Check this out: Since 1978, the pay for the average CEO went up OVER 750 times,

while pay for the average WORKER has gone up just 5.7 times!

This is a TRAVESTY of injustice!

I began working in the late Sixties, and I'm working now, and I can testify to the fact

that this is a HORRIBLE era -- NOTHING is the same -- It's a whole different country.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
128. Three dollars more?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:30 AM
Dec 2013

Elizabeth Warren says that if the minimum wage were adjusted for inflation and for gains in productivity it would be $22.00/hr. today instead of $7.25.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/elizabeth-warren-minimum-wage_n_2900984.html

As you can imagine, GenXers feel like they're getting ripped off ... hard.

-Laelth

whathehell

(28,941 posts)
196. Yes, three dollars more in SPENDING Power..
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:42 PM
Dec 2013

Warren is right but she's making a different argument.

Yes, I can imagine how they feel they're getting ripped off -- millennials too...That being said, older workers are ALSO being

ripped off, since even with all their experience, they're frequently passed over for younger, often, foreign workers.

We didn't have the H1-B visa thing back in the day..In fact, that just started in Poppy Bush's administrations, although

Bill Clinton, to his shame, had no trouble keeping it going.

whathehell

(28,941 posts)
296. It certainly does, and this has been going on since the mid-nineties, at least.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 09:27 AM
Dec 2013

You would think that, with a recession on, especially, they'd show just a BIT more loyalty to American workers,

wouldn't you?

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
297. Another gift from Bill Clinton?
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 09:34 AM
Dec 2013

Frankly, I think it's treasonous for any American politician to advance the interests of foreign labor over that of the American worker, but I am rather biased in favor of labor.



-Laelth

whathehell

(28,941 posts)
330. You betcha...He didn't start it, but he continued it with no problems...As Michael Moore has said,
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:08 PM
Dec 2013

"Bill Clinton was the best Republican President we ever had".

I AGREE that it's treasonous, or something like it, to advance the interests of foreign labor over American workers,

and yes, I too am very biased in favor of labor, but then again, I really don't think you have to be...Who's country

is this, anyway?.....Read up on the TPP if you want to be FURTHER outraged on the "unpatriotic", anti-worker, anti-sovereignty stuff.

gollygee

(22,336 posts)
59. What percentage of a person's income went to housing in the 60s?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:32 AM
Dec 2013

Housing costs more. It is really expensive to relocate, and difficult to do with kids, and risky to do if you don't have a job already lined up and are moving with the hope that you might find a job when you get there.

People I know who are job hunting are happy to relocate if they have a job to relocate to, but people keep suggesting that they up and move their families, and sell their houses that they still have a mortgage on, with the hope that they might find something after they move. It is not realistic.

kcr

(15,295 posts)
65. And then add to that you're likely moving to an area with a higher cost of living
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:35 AM
Dec 2013

if you're going to where the jobs are. It more than likely makes it an impossible barrier if you don't have a job. I just recently did this. I don't know how anyone can afford to do it if they don't have a job lined up. It's incredibly expensive. And even if you do. If they aren't paying for your relo, and many companies aren't doing this anymore, then it's still a barrier that many can't overcome.

Nay

(12,051 posts)
152. And you are likely moving from an area where you had at least a bit of family
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:17 PM
Dec 2013

help (babysitting, cheaper place to stay, etc.) to a place where you have no one. Anyone who picks up and moves without a firm job to move for is only going to go deeper in the hole.

We moved twice to follow jobs, but we sure as hell didn't do it hoping to find a job. We were hired already. And it was still insanely expensive and disruptive.

Blanks

(4,835 posts)
236. Additionally, assuming that you can sell your existing house in an economically depressed area...
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 07:37 PM
Dec 2013

May not be a realistic assumption.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
66. Wow. That's too bad.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:35 AM
Dec 2013

It appears we have nothing left to discuss if this particular fact (from my point of view) can not be agreed upon.



-Laelth

Posteritatis

(18,807 posts)
239. My field assumes up front anyone entering it will move several times a year. It's a bit annoying. nt
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 08:01 PM
Dec 2013
 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
54. Doesn't matter to someone that got pissed off over a cartoon.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:25 AM
Dec 2013

I have zero sympathy for people that are clueless to how hard it is for my generation to get a job that can take care of all our needs.

gollygee

(22,336 posts)
57. They forget that GenXers
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:29 AM
Dec 2013

Probably have a house and kids. Relocation in the hopes that you might find a job where you relocate isn't really a realistic thing for people our age. It would be a good choice for someone very young without kids.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
116. I agree, we cannot just magically pick up and move for free!
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:10 AM
Dec 2013

Moving requires money! I think some just don't understand, because they are living comfortably without a care in the world. To them, we are a bothersome eyesore. A reminder of cold reality and not the comfy bubble they place themselves in.

Art_from_Ark

(27,247 posts)
251. It might not be such a good choice even for someone very young
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:46 PM
Dec 2013

I tried "voting with my feet" and "moving to where the jobs were" (Los Angeles) when I was much younger, but got the runaround from nearly everyone, found that lots of "jobs" listed in newspapers weren't really jobs at all but merely calls for resumes, and heard tons of phony-baloney excuses for why people wouldn't hire me. The most "promising" job was working as a telemarketer selling magazines-- minimum wage to start, then mostly commission after that.

Ikonoklast

(23,973 posts)
187. Yep. Middle finger to everyone, right out front.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:15 PM
Dec 2013

Typical Libertarian who thinks everyone *but them* needs to work for free, then goes through every fallacy in the book in order to justify that position.


gollygee

(22,336 posts)
74. We're talking about GenXers, not 20-somethings
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:38 AM
Dec 2013

We're talking about people with houses and mortgages and kids in school. Who still owe money on their houses and can't afford to move with the hope that they might find a job when they get somewhere.

last1standing

(11,709 posts)
99. Or they could just borrow $20,000 from mom and dad to start a business, right?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:01 AM
Dec 2013

I seem to remember someone else making a similar statement to yours. I forget who it might be, though. Something recent, like last year....

gollygee

(22,336 posts)
111. We GenXers have elderly parents
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:07 AM
Dec 2013

Or our parents have passed away. She keeps talking about "basement dwellers" like we're in our 20s and haven't left home. She doesn't understand the age of the people she's talking about.

last1standing

(11,709 posts)
124. I'll go further to say that her language is right out of the "Entitled Republican" playbook.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:24 AM
Dec 2013

Most 20 somethings don't have parents who can fund their relocation or make other substantial investments in their children's lives. This belief that these young ( 20 or 40 year old "kids&quot can turn to their parents who apparently have pots of money they're waiting to give away is a dream for the vast majority of America.

There is a sense of entitlement and a lack of understanding or compassion that runs deep in her posts.

kcr

(15,295 posts)
130. So, everything's just like the 60's
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:35 AM
Dec 2013

and everyone's parent's has tens of thousands of dollars to dole out!

Your misconceptions explain your posts in this thread. If you had even a tenth of a clue about the reality of how most people live, regardless of what generation they belong to, you'd think differently.

tazkcmo

(7,280 posts)
363. WOW
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 04:37 PM
Dec 2013

Do you read the responses you get? Or do you just choose to ignore them? Post the ad. Simple. No that might show you're full of crud.

Why don't YOU relocate? Obviously you live in a place that has nothing but 40 year old Gen Xers living in their parent's basement. You're so full of your poutrage that you ignore the fact that many Gen Xers have baby boomer parents in THEIR basements. This baby boomer will be in that situation very soon.

Move to Somalia. It's your cup of tea. And I'm sure you love you some tea bags.

Pholus

(4,062 posts)
12. I've been claiming that our kids won't be leaving our home...
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:45 AM
Dec 2013

it seems the new normal is that jobs cannot support you. I've got two friends buying multi-dwelling attached housing to take care of their aging parents right now. I applaud it from a family point of view, but financial realities were that elder-care costs are ruinious these days and despite their shockingly impressive-sounding job titles, it required multi-generational support to buy a house.

So things are changing. Certainly, for my X'er generation, the concept of a single income household was as far-fetched as flying cars -- technically possible but too much to expect in practice. For you guys, the concept of a single job being enough for a single person seems the same.

And somewhere, a 1%'er is laughing at all of us...

SomeGuyInEagan

(1,515 posts)
177. Been hearing alot about multi-generational housing this year ...
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:55 PM
Dec 2013

Lennar (national builder) launched a new product line of house designs last year for multiple generations:

http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/future-housing-us-multigenerational-home-lennar

Pholus

(4,062 posts)
249. I like the concept, but hate that it is implemented....
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:03 PM
Dec 2013

through the pressures on a generation being deliberately underemployed because it is profitable to a few.

SomeGuyInEagan

(1,515 posts)
331. Definitely agree.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:20 PM
Dec 2013

As an option, wonderful.

But under- and unemployment plays a big role in this occurring for more than a few, who would otherwise not be.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
300. I agree. The 1% is having a good laugh at our expense.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 10:09 AM
Dec 2013

And they're richer than ever. Why shouldn't they laugh?

I applaud the concept and the practice of multi-generational housing, but I still don't like being poor.

If we agree that minimum wage, right now, if it had kept up with inflation and increases in productivity, would be $22.00/hr. had it remained the same as the minimum wage in 1962, then people without High School diplomas would be earning $22.00/hr. People with High School diplomas should be getting more than $22.00/hr. A college degree should be worth at least $30.00/hr. (i.e. $60K/year), and that's for an entry-level position. People with experience should make more than that.

Is that what the 2013 job market looks like? If not, then everyone should concede that this job market sux for GenX and for the Millennials.

-Laelth

chervilant

(8,267 posts)
13. While I acknowledge there are some Boomers
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:46 AM
Dec 2013

who don't "get" how difficult is the current job market -- and why -- I am hopeful that more of us will realize who are primarily responsible for radical income inequity (and the commensurate lack of jobs, particularly ones with reasonable remuneration). When we, as a majority, address the corporate megalomaniacs who've usurped our media, our politics AND our global economy; we will have taken the first crucial step towards changing this reality.

 

elehhhhna

(32,076 posts)
26. I'd guess over half of the boomers have had their own careers decimated while
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:03 AM
Dec 2013

entering their "peak earning years" (after 40 LOl!). We have watched our wages stagnate for 25 years and cost of living more than double over that time. We are not ignorant of the economic realities.

Like to point out that some traditionally decent jobs for HS educated women have disappeared, too -- secretary/admin asst/ receptionist) and those remaining positions now generally require a "degree".

Sales? You can be a good producer and you're still over when you reach ~45 years old.

Been brutal out there. BUT it's turning into a candidates market in some industries and the pendulum is swinging toward labor...

chervilant

(8,267 posts)
78. I'll have to reserve judgment
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:46 AM
Dec 2013

on whether " the pendulum is swinging toward labor..." I am heartened by the increasing number of strikes, but I want to see measurable change (higher minimum wage, banking regulations, elimination of corporate personhood, etc) before I'll be comfortable with that assessment.

dotymed

(5,610 posts)
82. You are right Chervilant.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:49 AM
Dec 2013

That is why I wholeheartedly believe that IF the majority of Americans will work together and elect a Proven Progressive as POTUS, who fights hard for economic (and other) justice. A politician who has repeatedly proven his willingness and dedication to
" address the corporate megalomaniacs who've usurped our media, our politics AND our global economy; we will have taken the first crucial step towards changing this reality.
I realize that "party first" zealots reject Senator Bernie Sanders, mainly due to his "pedigree."
It will take a willingness to be open-minded. Not a "spoiler" mentality, which IMO is a corporatist ideology meant to scare us,
just like most of their declarations are. I KNOW how important it is to be able to replace justices in the SCOTUS as the old ones leave.
IMO, there is no other politician who has proven his/her willingness to fight TPTB for average Americans.
If this happens, America will usher in a "New Deal" era of the magnitude of FDR. Hopefully, like Reagan, we can have a bloodless coup
in the opposite direction.
It will be a fight, especially among party purists. It is a fight that I welcome.
The naysayers are legion and this post may be deleted, in actuality I am attempting to return our country to the values and pro-people
days of the Democratic party's best period.
The letter behind someone's name no longer indicates how they will govern. Their track record over decades, is the best indicator. Along with Senator Sanders continued outspokenness for the people, his long term actions speak for themselves.

blue14u

(575 posts)
272. I am with you 100%!!!
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:47 AM
Dec 2013

We need to rock this joint and get back to being Democrats, not republican lite anymore..

Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, or any real progressive.. I will stand with you!!

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
301. Thanks for reading the post.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 10:13 AM
Dec 2013

That's as much as I can ask for. I share your hopes, but I note that Americans under 30 have a more favorable impression of socialism than of capitalism. If that's so, the "first steps" you describe have already been made, and we, Generation X, did it. We reared those children (most of them, anyway). Credit where it is due.



-Laelth

chervilant

(8,267 posts)
361. Actually,
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 04:13 PM
Dec 2013

#Occupy has given me much hope, and I remain optimistic that we can forge a multicultural, multi-generational opposition to the corporate megs who've inflicted upon us this destructive radical income inequity.

RobinA

(9,862 posts)
14. I Get Your Point
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:51 AM
Dec 2013

about the economics, but for the love of god, can we stop making this about generations??? I, and my friends, graduated from college in 1980 into 10% unemployment as the steel industry collapsed and took down the economy around it as it fell. Although we do OK now, I, and many of the people I graduated with, will never completely recover the ground we lost. So be it. My point is not boo-hoo me, it's that I would find it easier to feel your pain if you would stop the generational stuff. In addition to graduating into a suck ass economy, you've got some hurdles we didn't. We had some you don't.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
304. Talking in terms of generations is useful.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 10:38 AM
Dec 2013

That's why people do it. You see equivalence ("you've got some hurdles we didn't. We had some you don't.&quot I think that's a false equivalence. My purpose, here, was to attack that false equivalence.

If we agree that minimum wage, right now, had it kept up with inflation and increases in productivity, would be $22.00/hr. if it had remained the same as the minimum wage in 1962, then people without High School diplomas would now be earning $22.00/hr. People with High School diplomas would be earning more than $22.00/hr. A college degree would be worth at least $30.00/hr. (i.e. $60K/year), and that's for an entry-level position. People with experience should make more than that.

Is that what the 2013 job market looks like? If not, then everyone should concede that this economic climate sux for GenX and for the Millennials. It is nothing like the world into which the Boomers were born.

All I am asking is for Boomers to acknowledge this fact and then respond accordingly ... by taking care of their children and grand-children. Is that too much to ask?



-Laelth

 

Eleanors38

(18,318 posts)
15. There must be some kind of sympathy & awareness.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:51 AM
Dec 2013

There is a big percentage of adults below the
age of 35 who live with their folks, including many college grads with huge debts.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
305. There are far too many of those, I agree.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 10:50 AM
Dec 2013

And, clearly, there is some sympathy and awareness. That said, having been one of those people at one time (a post-grad resident at my parents' house), I can assure you that it was no picnic. The pressure to get me out of the house was significant, and the presumption that my poverty was the result of my own failings was immense and painful.

As I said in the OP, I think the Boomers lack a frame of reference to understand how much harder it is to survive now. How else can I explain the behavior and attitudes of my own family members?



-Laelth

Ian_rd

(2,124 posts)
17. Have you read this article?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:54 AM
Dec 2013

The Rise of the New Left by Peter Beinart.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/12/the-rise-of-the-new-new-left.html

It's speaks exactly to the sentiment that toon expresses and gives a convincing argument for some optimism about where we're headed.

KarenS

(3,993 posts)
19. Not just us Boomers, but our parents too,,,,
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:56 AM
Dec 2013

I don't let anyone get away with disparaging comments about 'the young people'.
Things ARE different.

I love my Gen-Xers and my Step-Millennials and my GrandKids.

We are watching them struggle,,, they're working hard and are just barely scraping by.
There's no job mobility and low pay in current jobs.
We step in when we need to with assistance for the big stuff,,, tires, car batteries or just whenever we see a need.
We've beefed up Birthdays and Christmas and even made up some reasons to send a card & a check ~ like "Christmas in July".

It's breaking my heart. We're trying to get ready for retirement BUT cannot and will not let our children go without the basics.

on edit:

While we can and do help financially what we cannot do is alleviate their stress related to financial insecurity.
Like I said, it's breaking my heart and it keeps me awake at night.

kmlisle

(276 posts)
171. Many Boomers are parents and Aunts and Uncles so We know whats going on
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:46 PM
Dec 2013

I have children and nephews and nieces in their late 20s who work 3 jobs to keep up. The assumption that we are oblivious as a generation also assumes we have no family with younger members. Every generation has its challenges and I would agree that this one with the combination of college debt and a terrible economy with narrowing opportunities and income inequality in many ways is especially difficult and stressful for young people.

On the other hand there are always opportunities that your parents did not have, if you can only see them and seize the day. The old Chinese proverb about Danger and Opportunity comes to mind. We brought our children up with the idea that they should look for a career that really satisfies them in ways more than making money. One where they could give back and enjoy and take pride in the work they did no matter what. My daughter, though poor in money, is very rich in these other qualities in her work and I am very proud of her.

My generation had its own challenges including lack of opportunities for women that have improved a lot over the years and blessings in that the jobs were there when we graduated. I would wish for all our next generations a job that lets you give back that you can take pride in and also that is sufficient to pay the bills and plan for the future. That last part is the tragedy of today's young workers. That is being taken from them slowly and surely.

blue14u

(575 posts)
274. Hopefully this OP
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:56 AM
Dec 2013

will help with the understanding and compassion needed to move

this country in a direction that will help your generation, and really all of

us who still struggle with the current market.

its hard, really hard to make it now...

Best of luck to you Laelth. Great post...

Dustlawyer

(10,489 posts)
22. Not all of us Boomers are ignorant of the situation, we love our kids!
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:59 AM
Dec 2013

I was for Carter, not Reagan. The US Chamber of Commerce and the Republicans switched tactics and no one realized at the time the significance and scope of what they were doing. Clinton seemed our guy until NAFTA.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
298. Thank you.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 09:39 AM
Dec 2013

GenX's expectations are so low that some sympathy and understanding is all many of us require. That said, some of us need more than that. Sadly, what we need most of all is cash. We're broke and hopeless, many of us, and we feel bad that we can't give our children the standard of living our parents gave us.

-Laelth

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
313. Thanks for callling attention to this quote from my OP.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 11:23 AM
Dec 2013

To be honest, I have been shocked by how few people responded to that line. Nobody really asked what I meant by "real love" in this context.

For better or for worse, "real love" in a capitalist society means one thing and one thing only ... money. The truth of this assertion can be seen in our aphorisms.

"Put your money where your mouth is."
"Money talks, BS walks."

etc.

What GenXers need from their parents and grandparents is money. We're mostly broke, and we feel very bad, generally speaking, about the fact that we can't give our children the same lifestyle that our parents gave us. I'm not blaming anyone for this sorry state of affairs, but I do ask for some sympathy and understanding.

That said, plenty of Boomers are struggling and need more money too. Good luck trying to squeeze it out of my generation. Wish we could help. Most of us can not.

Thanks for the response.



-Laelth

Hubert Flottz

(37,726 posts)
321. Most of we 98% are in that same boat!
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 12:17 PM
Dec 2013

Up that same creek.

I wish you lots of luck and that's about all I have left to freely give. We old boomers tried to make Love free in the 60s...we always felt there wasn't enough in our world back then to go around. Looks like money still trumps love, here in the real world.

Edited for boo-boos.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
328. In my own time and on a few occasions, I have chosen love over money in my life.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 12:58 PM
Dec 2013

Now, I wonder whether that was a mistake. I hate even having to wonder about that.



Sadly, that's where we are. Thanks for the response.

-Laelth

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
309. Thank you for the kind words.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 11:09 AM
Dec 2013

We are, after all, in this boat together.

I appreciate the support.



-Laelth

G_j

(40,366 posts)
43. thank you
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:18 AM
Dec 2013

As a boomer, I very much appreciate your post. Unfortunately, we experienced a prosperity which appears to be long gone.
I, for the most part, have lived the life of a "poor artist" by choice, but even a low wage job back then allowed someone to pay rent and feel relatively secure. I was able to be a rather free living "hippie" for most of my life. Some of my peers became "yuppified" and lived a wealthier life style than I. But there was more of a choice of ways to go. Ironically, we all now face frightening issues surrounding our retirements and twilight years.
I am sorry if many in our generation seem insensitive to your situation. Certainly now,
we are all finding ourselves in the same boat.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
316. We are all, definitely, in the same boat.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 11:39 AM
Dec 2013

Even the wealthy among us are in this same boat, though they like to ignore this fact. And many people from the Boomer cohort are feeling the squeeze just like the rest of us.

I definitely appreciate your sympathy and understanding. There is hope for the future, however. I take some pride in the fact that Americans under the age of 30 have a more favorable impression of socialism than of capitalism. We are making progress. For many of us, however, some real economic justice may arrive too late to improve our lives.



-Laelth

n2doc

(47,953 posts)
44. Part of the problem is how the educational system operates
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:19 AM
Dec 2013

For 50 years the higher ed system was predicated on a model where professors at universities were expected to raise a lot of money through grants, and in turn train a bunch of new scientists. The 'best' would have tens of postdocs, dozens of students, and lots of new Ph.D.'s per year. In the beginning, we started from a small base and so this was relatively easy and the new scientists found jobs in the growing Universitys. But beginning in the 80's, and steadily getting worse, the sources of federal and state research funding failed to keep up with the steady growth in new students/professors. At the same time the Universities were squeezed by state funding cuts so they stopped growing permanent faculty much, if at all. Yet the model of churning out newly minted Ph. D.s after using them for cheap labor still wasn't changed. Now we have reached the point where Professors in science specialties (and bio, biotech, etc)spend large amounts of their time writing grant proposals that only have a small chance of being funded. And their students see very few job opportunities because the slots just aren't there. And the focus of research has shifted to more immediate gratification topics that require fewer people, or can be outsourced.

It used to be (pre wwII) that the science system in this country was small, with professors doing much of their own research. We may end up going back to that model. But the profession needs to stop imagining that we are still in the 'glory days' where funding was easy and building an empire that churned out lots of new Ph. D.'s was the ideal goal.

Or we could pull our collective heads out and actually fund science and research at a higher priority than death. I won't hold my breath on that one.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
318. For many years, I was one of those graduate students.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 11:44 AM
Dec 2013

I made wages that were exploitative, at best, while still teaching more students than tenured professors and bringing more money into the school's coffers. Our collective decision to de-fund education was a tragic one, and it has had lasting results.

Thanks for the response.



-Laelth

ramapo

(4,584 posts)
52. You should blame the Boomers
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:24 AM
Dec 2013

The Boomers (yes I am one of them), along with those following close behind (GenXers) bought into the Reagan supply-side, morning-in-america nonsense. It has all been downhill ever since. Basically what happened is that once the Vietnam War and then Nixon were out of the way, Boomers were 'tired' and needed to focus on the self rather than the big picture.

Raine1967

(11,589 posts)
160. Not true.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:26 PM
Dec 2013

GenX is largely accepted as being born between 1961–1981.

Was born in 1967.

There are people in this generation that could have voted for/against Reagan.

kcr

(15,295 posts)
165. No.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:33 PM
Dec 2013

Gen X is not largely accepted to have been born starting in 1961. 1961 is tail end boomer. 1946-1964

Raine1967

(11,589 posts)
176. People born in '64 were able to vote for Reagan.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:55 PM
Dec 2013

Even by the standards you present, GXrs could have voted for Reagan.

I didn't -- I wasn't able to vote in a presidential election in 1980. was born in 67.







kcr

(15,295 posts)
192. For one thing, not that many of them did
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:32 PM
Dec 2013

And for another, a majority of Gen X was born later. Most of them weren't old enough.

Raine1967

(11,589 posts)
205. Fine. I didn't state this: "Gen X wasn't old enough to vote for Reagan"
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:10 PM
Dec 2013

I just wanted to make it clear that Gen X people could and did vote for Reagan. See my comments below, and you will see that I am not trying to allude to what you seem to think I am saying.

kcr

(15,295 posts)
216. You didn't state it. I did, because it's correct.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:47 PM
Dec 2013

To begin with, I was responding to someone who was blaming Reagan on Gen X.

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
168. well those are the dates I like
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:39 PM
Dec 2013

but other widely accepted dates are 1944-1964 for Boomers and 1965-1985 for GenX.

But really ALMOST ALL of Reagan's victory margin in 1980 came from voters over age 30. That is, voters who were born before 1950. Voters born after 1950 were evenly split about 44-44-11, and were also only 23% of the electorate. Apparently many of us stayed home. http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/elections/how_groups_voted/voted_80.html

Even if you use the 1941-1961, many Boomers were born after 1950.

Raine1967

(11,589 posts)
181. Thanks for the info.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:02 PM
Dec 2013

I wasn't old enough to vote in 1980. I do accept that Boomers probably did vote in the largest margins for Reagan, but like the OP -- it's OP like I don't hold a great resentment about that.

I generally think a lot pf people were fooled or mislead about what reaganomics were actually offering to America.

I;m sure you and many others remember Morning in America?

30+ years later it's Mourning in America.

I blame politicians more than generations.

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
188. but it was NOT Boomers
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:16 PM
Dec 2013

in 1980, voters over age 45 were 41% of the electorate and they voted for Reagan by about 55-40. Those are people born before 1935. Not Boomers. Voters age 18-21 were 6% of the electorate and voted for Carter 45-44.

It was the parents of Boomers who gave us Reagan.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
191. It was a combination of things that included Boomers.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:27 PM
Dec 2013

The Boomer generation was roughly 30% "Hippie", 40% "Nixon Youth" and 30% "Centrist".

Part of Reagan's victory came from that 10% difference. Part of it came from attracting more "centrists" of any age. And part of it came from older voters.

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
203. but if only people under 30 got to vote
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:02 PM
Dec 2013

then Carter wins 45-44. So how is ANY of it due to Boomers?

There is another factor, if I compare it to 1976 I get what I expected. In 1976, voters under 30 voted for Carter over Ford by 54-46. So for Reagan to only lose that demographic by 44-45 was a significant gain. Either that or Anderson pulled a lot of votes from Carter, but since Anderson was a Republican, I am not sure why he would get more votes from Carter than from Reagan.

Another thing is, that voters under age 30 were 32% of the electorate in 1976 and only 23% of the electorate in 1980. So it seems that many young people in 1980 just stayed home and let their parents decide their future.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
213. Because of that 44.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:39 PM
Dec 2013

Carter needed a larger margin among young voters to overcome Reagan's margin among older voters.

30% Nixon Youth instead of 40% Nixon youth and Carter wins.

Another thing is, that voters under age 30 were 32% of the electorate in 1976 and only 23% of the electorate in 1980. So it seems that many young people in 1980 just stayed home and let their parents decide their future.

Possibly. But you are talking about the end of the baby boom, so I don't know if the total population of under-30 went down too. Probably not enough to account for the entire drop, but it may have been a factor.

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
273. the end of the baby boom does not factor at all
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:53 AM
Dec 2013

in fact, it should go the other way

going from 1976 to 1980 means you lose the people born from 1946-1949 and you gain the people born from 1959 to 1962

what I get from birth numbers is

1945 - 2.858 million
1950 - 3.63 million
1959 - 4.295 million
1960 - 4.258
1961 - 4.268
1962 - 4.167

that source does not give me numbers for 1946, 1947, 1948 or 1949 but the birthrate peaked at 27 in 1946 and was 24 (per 1,000) in 1950. So the number for 1950 at 27 would be only 4.08 million - less than any year of the 1959-1962 period. The voting pool of under 30 potential voters should have GROWN from 1976 to 1980.

kcr

(15,295 posts)
197. Thank you for pointing this out
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:43 PM
Dec 2013

It's wrong to put the blame on boomers. It's utter nonsense to put it on Gen X

RFKHumphreyObama

(15,164 posts)
242. There were also Gen X'ers who may not have been old enough to
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 08:23 PM
Dec 2013

vote for him for the first time around but could (and in some cases did) vote for him the second time around in 1984

kcr

(15,295 posts)
245. Still a small portion of Gen X, and a very small portion of the voters over all
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 08:42 PM
Dec 2013

my point about blaming Reagan on Gen X remains. Besides, it's rather hard to re-elect a president that wasn't elected in the first place. I'm not the youngest of Gen X and I was 12 during re-election.

eilen

(4,950 posts)
293. That is a pretty ridiculous claim
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 08:44 AM
Dec 2013

I was born 1965. I graduated H.S. 1983 at 17. 1984 was the first election I was old enough to vote in and that was by 1 year. Gen X starts in 1965. Our generation to start with had Silent parents and were not significant in numbers --not like the monolith size of the Boomer generation. The parental influence on their kids politically may have made many of my cohort vote for Reagan's second term but our numbers were very small. I voted for Mondale as did most of my friends. We lived in NY which was more liberal than other states.

GoCubsGo

(32,053 posts)
243. Yup, and plenty of us are facing the same crap job-wise.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 08:28 PM
Dec 2013

I'm a tail-end Boomer. I got laid off so long ago, I can't stand to think about it. I have a graduate degree, but that doesn't mean squat, given my age. Most of the few jobs available have been the $15/hr type, and they want you to have every fucking skill on the goddamn planet. At least the GenXers and those younger have some chance of eventually being employed if and when things ever get better. Me, and those of my age that are in the same boat, not so much.

And, FWIW, my first vote ever was for Carter, and I have never voted for any goddamn republicans in my live, other than the local coroner. And, that's only because his Democratic predecessor's dying wish was that he succeeded her.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
319. That makes a lot of sense.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 11:54 AM
Dec 2013

I must concede, in opposition to a poster above, that many GenXers did, in fact, buy into Reaganism. Although we were too young to vote for Reagan, we all came of age during "Reaganism" and have been affected by it. Some of us bought it. Some did not, but I still take some pride in the fact that Americans under the age of 30 have a more favorable impression of socialism than of capitalism. We, Xers, did that. It's the children we reared who have had enough of Reaganism and who are demanding some economic justice.

Let us hope our children and grand-children succeed where we have failed.



-Laelth

zed nada

(60 posts)
55. I am a Boomer who joined DU today (after lurking here daily for years) to reply to you....
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:28 AM
Dec 2013

I think about you younger people daily and the progressively more deplorable state of this country in the last several decades. I want to live long enough to see things better for subsequent generations. It seems that just recently talk has turned to the glaring atrophy of wealth distribution in the economy. The problem was that many of us who feel as I do were shouted over for years by an oligarchy of the Enfranchised, who did, and are still attempting, to maintain that their capital-backed ignorance trumps other reasoned opinions. We all have to now continue to re-validate that light of reason, now that we have have stood at the abyss of greed and smug, uninformed certitude. Hopefully, we will continue to steer away. I look for things to improve because they must. It is not only good and reasonable, it is vital to the future of the culture. The best of that future for all of you. Indeed, for all of US.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
190. The good news
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:24 PM
Dec 2013

(such as it is) is historically this level of inequality is unsustainable. It results in massive corrections via government or via revolution.

So the future will be brighter, but it could be ugly getting there.

And welcome to DU!

blue14u

(575 posts)
275. Welcome to DU zed nada
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 02:15 AM
Dec 2013

Good first post... It took me a while to actually sign up too. No regrets so far...

Du has many personalities... have fun...

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
320. I am honored. Thank you for the post.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 12:04 PM
Dec 2013

I do not believe that your hope is misguided. Americans under the age of 30 have a more favorable impression of socialism than of capitalism. We are making progress. For many of us, however, some real economic justice may arrive too late to improve our lives. Regardless, I do not despair. I love the Millennials, and the generation following them is even better, from what I can tell. Income inequality and wealth inequality must improve soon, or, so I hope. What I have seen of the two generations following mine leads me to believe that things will get better sooner rather than later.

Cheers!



-Laelth

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
56. College mills and corporate America made a college degree worthless
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:28 AM
Dec 2013

to THEM, unless you are overqualified which means they were never going to hire you in the first place. I agree with every word, thank you for the thread.

I blame REPUBLICANS for giving us Reagan. Worst thing they could have ever done to this country...up until the BFEE showed up.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
322. My pleasure.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 12:20 PM
Dec 2013

I also blame Republicans for giving us Reagan, but I don't think Reaganism was a strictly "Republican" phenomenon. More than once I have called Bill Clinton the best Republican President since Eisenhower. "Reaganism" was a national phenomenon, and it was not confined to the Republican Party. That said, most Democrats seem to have come to their senses and have abandoned Reaganism. Whether Hillary Clinton is one of them is a question that remains to be answered.

For my part, I want to see some economic justice, and I am merely hoping that the Democratic Party (as a whole) is smart enough to at least try to give it to us.



-Laelth

Dyedinthewoolliberal

(15,463 posts)
64. Please stop with the boomer bashing
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:34 AM
Dec 2013

the oldest boomers would have been 34 or so when Reagan was elected. What kind of political clout would that demographic have? It's time we all recognized the power of the 1%. By that I mean the system is designed to benefit them and the rest of us are left with crumbs......

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
70. No doubt, Wall Street is the real culprit, here.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:37 AM
Dec 2013

All I was asking for in the OP was some sympathy and understanding. All I asked you to do was to "take care of your children and grand-children."

Is that too much to ask?



-Laelth

thucythucy

(7,948 posts)
138. I understand the general point you're making
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:49 AM
Dec 2013

and I certainly sympathize with anyone today who finds it hard in these bone-crushing soul-destroying economic times. Personally, I'd be scared shitless if I was just starting out today, fresh out of college.

You should understand though that a lot of Boomers are also up against the wall. Many of them are taking care of their kids--trying to put them through college, trying to give them as much economic and personal support as they can as they start out in life--AND caring for their frail and aging parents in an era where elder services are being threatened all the time. AND trying--for those who are politically progressive--to make some impact politically. AND worrying about the time when they'll no longer be able to work--what with all this talk about "reforming" Social Security and Medicare. For folks like that, these last years have been a frustrating, exhausting, truly frightening time through which to live.

So for progressive Boomers, I don't know if it's lack of empathy so much as lack of resources, time, and energy.

Another factor in the backlash I sense you getting here is that, since the 1970s, Boomers have been blamed by conservatives for all the ills of the world. George Will has been I think the most active spreader of this media virus. This has been used as a way to denigrate, and undo, the various advances that have been made in terms of voting rights, reproductive rights, civil rights for people of color, GLBTs, people with disabilities. If we dismiss Boomers as trivial, self-absorbed, pie-in-the-sky hippies, it becomes easier to whittle away at all the progress made since 1960, progress many younger people seem often to take for granted.

So I think your attempt to elicit some empathy here might be seen by some as another one of these "the Boomers are to blame for everything" threads. I don't think, reading your OP, that that's at all what you intended, but it appears as though some folks at least are reading it like that.

The only way we'll change things now is to pull together for 2014. Sorry, but that's the only, and thus the best, advice I can offer. I wish I could be more helpful.

Anyway, gotta run!

Best wishes to you and yours.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
143. Excellent post. Thanks. I appreciate the thoughtful response.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:56 AM
Dec 2013

If you are taking care you your children and grandchildren, kudos to you. Many of us do not get the same level of sympathy and compassion from our elders. That, in fact, was the point I was trying to make. You, for your part, seem to be doing the best you can, and that's as much as anyone can ask.

Cheers!



-Laelth

flamingdem

(39,300 posts)
347. Interesting about George Will
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 02:53 PM
Dec 2013

I wondered where this meme was coming from.

It's very effective / divide and conquer

CoffeeCat

(24,411 posts)
72. I don't know if this is what you are talking about, but...
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:38 AM
Dec 2013

I am a mom with two teenage girls. I was born in 1964, so that puts me at the tail end of the Boomer category.

I look at the world in which my girls are growing up in, and economically it is like a different planet than the one I experienced.

So many things have changed. It's not horrible, but it's different and more challenging. I don't convey a sense of pessimism to my children. However, we have many, many discussions about the future, about life.

When I graduated from high school, I went to college and took out student loans and graduated with debt. Although many people try to continue this model, I can see that it's a model that is NOT working now. College costs have soared and kids graduate with six-figure student loan debt that enslaves them for the rest of their lives. If they run into financial trouble (which is terribly easy to do, because job prospects, the employment situation and a downward pressure on salaries--are real) they are completely screwed beyond repair. Those student loan companies default you and your credit rating is screwed and you have little chance of getting a good job because employers check credit ratings. Your life is a mess that is impossible to escape, as interest accrues and the debt grows. I don't want that for my kids.

We talk about alternative routes. We discuss options NOW. Our kids can take honors classes and get college credits in high school. Many of my friends' kids have graduated high school and entered college as sophomores. That helps financially. I also talk with my kids about working and attending college simultaneously. Pay for college as you go, taking a lighter load of classes but working internships and other entry-level jobs to help ease that loan burden. We also talk about attending community college, living at home for the first two years and other options. There's nothing wrong with doing this. It's a different world now. Tuition costs are CRAZY and unless you have 70k sitting around to pay for one child in college, you're put at the mercy of the student-loan mafia. I'm trying to teach my kids that we support alternative routes. We don't care if it takes them eight years to get a degree. Better to work, get financial support from us and get that degree slower--than to graduate with a mountain of debt and a degree in English Literature that leaves them strapped.

Pressure is on these kids to live in big houses, drive expensive cars (with $500+ monthly payments) and have oodles of material possessions purchased with credit cards. We teach our kids that this lifestyle turns you into a hamster on a wheel. We teach them to work hard and be smart with money and to realize that much of what they see around them in the suburbs is hot air. I think many GenX/Milllennials look at everything their parents have--and they see the lavish lifestyle and they feel inferior. Why can't I obtain this? Why is it so damn hard? They feel like failures. We teach them that this is not true. People overextending themselves and living lives slaves to their creditors--is how many people do it, but I think it's time that we teach our kids that this is untenable and foolish. We teach them to focus on inner happiness, kindness and living within their means--as signals of success--not a BMW in the garage and a McMansion.

I support my kids no matter what their choices are. No matter what their incomes are. However, I do sense that the bottom has dropped out on so much. I see my friends kids graduating from college and working as waitresses or in lower level jobs, and the pay is terrible. These are smart kids with straight A's in college, graduating from Big Ten Universities. If this is the reality for many, then we owe it to these kids to help them adjust to this new reality and support them as they grow up and figure it out.

I also think the old model, "You're 18! You're on your own now" is cruel. There was a new study which defined adolescence as ending in the mid 20's. I remember being that age. It's scary to have such heavy adult expectations foisted upon you, when you're still maturing. I think we need to be kinder. We need to adjust our expectations. We need to understand that our kids may not go to college, because it's just not feasible for some. Maybe they'll go to community college or learn a trade. If they do go to college, they might not graduate in four years and obtain a $70,000k job with a primo corporation with a primo corporation in Chicago. This was the norm, when I was in college.

It happens for some, but not all. We need to educate ourselves on what is happening in the world and help these kids adjust to it. It's a different world out there now.

Sorry for the long post, but this subject is close to my heart and your OP sparked lots of thought!

 

randome

(34,845 posts)
90. Relocation is essential if the jobs are elsewhere.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:54 AM
Dec 2013

That's what I tell my daughters, who are high school juniors. They are looking forward to college but I have no idea how I'm going to pay for it. But they understand that being willing to relocate is a big part of finding the right job when they do have a degree.

Different city, different state, different country. Whatever it takes and we'll work out the rest later.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.
[/center][/font][hr]

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
195. On the college front
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:40 PM
Dec 2013

One thing we plan for our kids is to try and steer towards "state" schools.

I went to a small private college, and so paid a ton of money for my degree. But because nobody has heard of the school beyond the local area, paying that extra money resulted in no financial benefit - my degree is "generic degree". Not "degree from impressive school". You could argue I got a better education out of it, but frankly I've learned more on my own over the last 20 years than I ever did in school.

If the kids happen to get into somewhere famous enough to justify the extra cost (MIT, Yale, etc) then sure. But otherwise the degree from my alma mater is working out to be as beneficial in the job market as a degree from a UC that would come with 1/10th the cost.

But we're also going to not "talk down" the trades. There's nothing wrong about being a plumber or carpenter. Heck, it isn't outsource-able. Which may result in no degree, but a nice, relatively stable career.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
372. I can see you have thought about this a great deal.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 06:52 PM
Dec 2013

You're right to note that I was specifically talking about the "You're 18! You're on your own now" model. That is cruel, but I was also talking about the "You're forty now, but you still can't pay your bills? What's wrong with you?" model. In fact, that latter one is the one that affects our generation, and it's the one I intended to address. Boomers just don't get it when their forty-year-old children can't make it, but it's happening ... a lot.

Thanks for the thoughtful post.

-Laelth



CoffeeCat

(24,411 posts)
397. You are so very sweet...
Sat Dec 7, 2013, 10:53 AM
Dec 2013

My post went off point from your post, and I appreciate your kind thoughts. I agree with you about some Boomers
failing to understand why their younger children are experiencing tougher times. The economic reality of this country
has been turned on its head since 2008. Everything has changed. There's been a downward pressure on salaries, for sure.

We took a 30 percent paycut and my husband is a network engineer--a professional. Our benefits have been drastically
cut and we pay $500+ a month when we used to pay $0. Food and gas have skyrocketed.

Many boomers had it easy, especially the older boomers. They worked hard and excelled in a booming economy. Many of them made out like bandits in the stock market. Yes, there are many people who are succeeding, but it's not as easy as it used to be.

I'm in the suburbs, and your point is well taken. People have buckled down. I know many parents who are working extra jobs in the evening--at Home Depot, Kohl's, etc., because costs and the cost of college have made it nearly impossible to afford everything that used to be affordable.

Thank you for the interesting OP and conversation.

meaculpa2011

(918 posts)
86. I took my son to the doctor last week...
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:51 AM
Dec 2013

and saw a brand new BMW 650 in his driveway.

When the doc walked into the reception room I congratulated him on his new car.

"That's not mine, the plumber is here to give me an estimate on a new boiler."

Absolutely true story.

PasadenaTrudy

(3,998 posts)
101. Probably
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:02 AM
Dec 2013

the owner of the plumbing company. My bro has been a plumber for over 30 yrs here in SoCal and I know most of them don't do THAT well.

meaculpa2011

(918 posts)
166. I'm sure you're right.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:35 PM
Dec 2013

But I have a friend here on Long Island who is a one-man operation (kinda) and he does very well.

It's just himself and a truck, plus a helper or two when needed.

He doesn't drive a BMW, but he did put two kids through Ivy League Schools without loans.

PasadenaTrudy

(3,998 posts)
212. My brother
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:36 PM
Dec 2013

works for a big school district here, so less pay but a good pension..He lives with his teacher wife in an apt near the beach. They are childfree like me, so they travel the world

KurtNYC

(14,549 posts)
179. +1
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:56 PM
Dec 2013

I think the generational aspect of this issue is way over blown. And there is a general expectation that the economy will eventually go "back to normal." Some have been waiting for back to normal since the early 1980s.

Most of my customers are contractors. They may or may not have some college but they know their trade and they know how to do business for themselves. They range from calm to jovial. Most will never be a "slave to the man." You can't outsource plumbing, heating, electrical, car repair, police and fire, and many other blue collar jobs.

I see a disconnect between jobs and colleges. There is a lemming-like push to put EVERY kid into college when the real goal should be to align every kid with an income. Kids are being lied to every day. Being told just stay in school, rack up more debt and get that next degree and everything will be fine. That is a 1950s mindset. We would do well to balance book learnin' with some real options from the real world IMHO.

meaculpa2011

(918 posts)
189. Very true.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:20 PM
Dec 2013

My daughter dropped out of high school at 17. Broke my heart.

She is fiercely independent. Now at 20, she's working for a growing plumbing/HVAC company and learning the business. Her ambition is to go out on her own before long. I won't be surprised at all if she's running her own company by age 30.

I've been a free-lance speechwriter for more than 30 years. I left a job that I loved with a Fortune 50 Company to work for myself.
Even the best job doesn't compare.

Part of the problem is that federal law has severely restricted the use of aptitude tests since the 60s. To get around the regulations companies simply require college degrees from all applicants. Every job I ever had required college even though the actual work did not.

Law of unintended consequences.

randr

(12,408 posts)
87. As an early boomer
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:53 AM
Dec 2013

I know how far our Nation has fallen. I do remember the 50's as a decade of prosperity. I remember the 60's as an era of change and expansion of freedoms. This was the turning point where the far right drew the line. They branded protestors and environmentalists in negative terms. They proceeded to destroy the unions that had begun the changes that created the prosperity of the 50's. In the 70's they took control and pulled the carpet out from under all efforts to regulate and control the corporate take over we had been warned of. The 80's were the implementation of their world plans. The 90's saw how well the media could control a slight move to the left. Even in the face of increased prosperity the decade was smeared with shame. We all know what has happened after the millennium as the MIC basically usurped all control of our economy and foreign policy. Again, a move to the left is met with more shame and slander, this time with the participation of bigoted racists who do not know who to blame for their misfortune.
This four decade long slide backwards was the result of only a few million votes in each election cycle, orchestrated by a media owned by the 1%ers, and exacerbated by the, now, poor people looking to blame someone.
It is not a situation of one generation against another. It is not a situation of one race against another. It is not the result of terrorist threats to our way of life.
It is a result of the greed of the 1% and how easily it was for them to divide and conquer a minority of voters with issues that have nothing to do with actual responsibilities of governance.
I wonder what our world would be like if only we had an electorate that showed up to vote and the prosperous path we started out on was allowed to continue.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
335. Excellent post.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:35 PM
Dec 2013

There would be no Republican Party if 95% of eligible voters showed up at the polls. In such a utopia, I would welcome the split of the Democratic Party and would happily align myself with its liberal branch.

I don't object to your history of the nation's demise, and I do agree that this isn't really a generational issue, except to the extent I have framed it as such. Too many Boomers seem to just not "get" how hard it is for their children and grand-children to survive these days.

Either way, I thank you for your response.

-Laelth

randr

(12,408 posts)
382. Oh, believe me I understand
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 08:19 PM
Dec 2013

We have two daughters and two sons, just hitting 40 with 9 grand children among them. They have just managed to get their lives somewhat secure in the last few years and we still have our fingers crossed. Between their health, educational, emotional, and spiritual needs we have been pushed to the limit. Remember, while we boomers may have enjoyed Americas' hay day, we are now all in the same environmental and economical situation at this time in history. For each victory we celebrated there are two more dire situations confronting us now to deal with.
I would love to say we are sailing off into some promised retirement but that is not the case for the vast majority of boomers.
Thanks for the post!

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
383. I am happy for your kids and your grands.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 08:26 PM
Dec 2013

Sounds like they have a good family-support system. I know a couple of Boomers who are struggling mightily right now--completely unemployable, mostly self-employed by necessity. I feel for them. That said, at least they had a chance to amass some wealth before the bottom fell out. They reared their children, at least, before they sank into economic misery. Many GenXers feel they've been denied that chance, and many of us are still rearing our children. It's positively depressing.

Thank you for kindly engaging me on this topic.



-Laelth

brewens

(13,349 posts)
88. In the 80's I worked with guys that are now retired or were and have since passed away that
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 10:53 AM
Dec 2013

would have a tough time getting or keeping any good job today. Of course they are exactly the type that consider themselves working class heroes and will tell you they built this country and want to take it back. Yeah right! The most many of them did was graduate from high school (barely in a few cases) and then take average Joe type jobs at the best time in history for guys like that.

Not that there was ever anything wrong with just an average guy showing up to work everyday, getting the job done acceptably and making it to a comfortable retirement. I kind of grew up expecting that's they way it should always be. My problem is all of those people like that who have done everything they could to go along with pulling up the ladder after them. Of course it's unwittingly for a lot of them. They were manipulated and lied to every step of the way for thirty or more years.

As long as they got theirs, had low taxes and cheap stuff, to hell with everyone else! If you expect to get the same deal they got, you have to be wanting to take what they have away. That's what they are led to believe or want to believe. Try and tell them any different and they react with anger.

I'd like to see some of these guys try and make it now. See how you do getting drunk at pool or bowling nights a few times a week and showing up hung-over at even their old job these days. A DUI used to just be a "boys will be boys" thing. Now even one can cost you your job. At our local mill, if something like that causes you to miss a shift, you're gone. A supervisor notices a problem and thinks your hung-over, you get tested for cause and fired. I knew guys that had numerous second chances in situations like that back in the 80's. I even know a retired beer driver that got a DUI driving his beer truck and didn't lose his job. Good luck out there today for those guys!

One example that is truly amazing is an elderly woman volunteer at the blood center where I work. If anyone should know better it should be her. Her husband was a retired union man who worked for years at our local paper mill. She herself finished her nursing career out there. She really has a heart of gold and will tell you she is pro-union to the bone. It's astonishing to me that she votes exclusively Republican, gets her news from Newsmax and hates Obama with a passion. I really think a lot of it is who she grew up being taught to trust. That would be older white authoritarian type men. Following that path did get her family raised and land her in a comfortable retirement after all. I don't think she is racist, at least not exactly, but I doubt she would really trust any minority in office, including women, if her leaders were telling her not to.

PasadenaTrudy

(3,998 posts)
94. This late Boomer gets it
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:00 AM
Dec 2013

Totally. Makes me angry! I have plenty of young friends in this position. For the record, I was born in '64, the last year of the boom and I'm 49. Lots of GenX friends.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
338. You're definitely on the border, generation-wise.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:59 PM
Dec 2013

Thanks for the sympathy, the understanding, and the post.



-Laelth

LittleGirl

(8,247 posts)
95. Sorry but as a boomer
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:01 AM
Dec 2013

this economic mess we're in is because of Nixon/Reagan and I did NOT vote for either of them. Reagan changed the rules on Pell grants when I was trying to get to college. Then he raised taxes on my waitress pay and they are still suffering from that insanely low pay. I take offense that you are pointing to boomers as the reason this country is a mess. I've done everything I could to overcome what those freaking bastards and the GOP did to this country and finished my degree when I was 45 yrs old. I also have a brother-in-law with a PhD that has not had a permanent job since '08 and he lives in silicon valley! I didn't have any kids so I can't be blamed for not raising them properly. And the fact that I haven't had a job in 7 yrs because of this economy is just a slap in the face from you. I would love to have a job right now but I'm one of the lucky ones. I married someone that can support me/us without me working but I've given up looking for a part time job because there are so many out there suffering to support their own families and I don't want to take one job away from them.

Who's side are you on? The liberals in this country are fed up with these republican talking points and for you post this drivel on this Democratic Underground makes me wonder how that happened?

flame away...

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
339. Sorry you took the post as a personal attack.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 02:11 PM
Dec 2013

I went out of my way to say that I did not blame Boomers for either Reagan or supply-side economics. I was just asking for some sympathy and understanding.

Was that too much to ask?



-Laelth

former9thward

(31,684 posts)
96. The exact opposite of what you posted is true.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:01 AM
Dec 2013

Our world is much better, economically, that the one into which our parents were born. And that is the problem. For the U.S.--- not the world. After WW II we were the only dog left standing. Europe's infrastructure and the most productive elements of its labor force had been decimated. There was little infrastructure and literary in Asia, Africa and S. America.

The U.S. with an intact educated labor force and good infrastructure produced goods for itself and the world. Now all of that has changed. Infrastructure is everywhere, although Africa lags, people are educated and can do everything that only the U.S. could do. That is why our growth is poor and our recovery is jobless. It is not going to get better.

 

randome

(34,845 posts)
149. Good points but I think it can get better if government played a better role than that of bystander.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:07 PM
Dec 2013

All that infrastructure needs refurbishment. All those tax breaks that go to oil companies could go, instead, to sustainable energy endeavors, thereby creating thousands, maybe millions, of new jobs.

We can make things better if we want to.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Precision and concision. That's the game.[/center][/font][hr]

Raine1967

(11,589 posts)
186. You and former9thward make good points.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:15 PM
Dec 2013

I like that you provide a solution.

I;m not willing to believe that all is lost. In the 80's government, didn't take the boomer generation into account. This is a multi-tier problem that has been kicked down the road for decades.

This didn't have to happen, and it's still not too late to fix it.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
342. I hear you about the infrastructure. Ours used to be the best. Now, not so much.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 02:20 PM
Dec 2013

In addition, I would note that I have argued that on social issues and in terms of democracy, the United States is better now, in 2013, than it has ever been.

But, my generation, Generation X, is not better off economically than the Boomers. The current job market is much worse than the one the Boomers enjoyed when they were my age. I can't tell whether you're actually denying this or not. It seems like a given to me. Trudeau, for his part, seems to agree.



-Laelth

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
145. That means I have fewer people to compete against for reasonably well-paying jobs.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:01 PM
Dec 2013

Needless to say, there are fewer and fewer of them available today.

On the other hand, had you sired any children, I suspect they would be joining us in our fight for a little economic justice in the United States. Either way, I appreciate what you have done and continue to do to create a more just society.



-Laelth

malthaussen

(17,024 posts)
153. It would be inconsistent for a person with my nick to add to population.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:17 PM
Dec 2013

I can understand where it would be frustrating to hear some variation of "you young people need to work hard like I did," which is such a common attack these days. Or a backhanded insult like the President harping over "some people have lost faith in the American Dream." Well, yeah, the American Dream turned out to be a big lie, so isn't it just terrible that the rising generation is smart enough to have figured that out? Unfortunately, nobody has yet figured out what to put in its place.

What worries me is the people who think we just need to re-enable the economics of Conspicuous Waste to promote economic well-being. One of the things some of us Boomers used to worry about was the environment, and how we were trashing the planet in our pursuit of More Stuff. Along with everything else, that concern was ignored as the country entered the doze of "Morning in America." It's funny to compare the early 70's and now, so many things that were Important then are starting to be Important now. Shame that in the interim we did fuck-all about them.

I think we need a radical rethinking of the idea that Everybody Must Work, Everybody Must Produce, Everybody Must Consume. Unfortunately, that's radical. And I am a pessimist, ultimately. I don't think we're going to change anything until it's too late. It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature. Mr Malthus believed that population would increase and use up resources until resources were insufficient to sustain the population, and then things were going to get... ugly. I am very afraid that things are going to get very ugly, and sooner rather than later.

-- Mal

 

penndragon69

(788 posts)
107. I'm SORRY !
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:06 AM
Dec 2013

I voted for saint ronnie in "80" when i turned 18.
After i saw what he did to America, i have NEVER voted repubLIEcon
again in my life.
Again, i apologize for my stupidity and ask your forgiveness.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
175. I really don't blame you (or any other Boomer) for Reagan.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:53 PM
Dec 2013

And I appreciate that you've done everything in your power to rectify the situation. Thanks for trying to be a part of the solution.



-Laelth

uponit7771

(90,193 posts)
108. AMEN!!! My wife and I talked about this very thing this week. That OUR generation has to do things..
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:06 AM
Dec 2013

...different than our parents

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
134. Quite true.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:42 AM
Dec 2013

We have every reason to be proud of our accomplishments, however. As I noted in a post above, GenX is rearing the next generation(s) to demand economic justice. Americans under the age of 30 have a more favorable opinion of socialism than of capitalism. GenX's shock, anger, frustration, and, yes, resentment over the current state of our economic system is causing us to bring up and educate the Millennials and the next generation to demand a more level playing field and a more just distribution of this nation's wealth. If this situation does change, it will be our doing, and we'll rightfully take credit for it.

As well we should.



-Laelth

Raine1967

(11,589 posts)
172. +1
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:46 PM
Dec 2013

This entire thread is so very educational.

I want to thank you for putting it up. Laelth.

I honestly love all the honest discussion and POV's here.

justabob

(3,069 posts)
110. too true
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:07 AM
Dec 2013

Gen Xer here and that is absolutely the way my friends and former classmates experience things. I worked in restaurants for damn near 20 years and the staffs I worked with were mostly all college educated people, many with advanced degrees.... including more than a couple of engineers/sciences. Bottom line... waiting tables pays better per hour and is more flexible than a lot of the jobs that are available in one's "field", and that is just wrong.

Lifelong Protester

(8,421 posts)
113. Boomer checking in to say "I get it"
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:08 AM
Dec 2013

I voted for Carter, too, and never bought the whole Reagan "program"-I knew that was going to end disastrously and it did.


As a person in education, I am finding it harder to keep repeating the mantra about "more education=great jobs" when I see a lot of very educated people working in minimum wage jobs (and no doubt trying to pay off student loans).


We are truly all in the same (leaky) boat right now. We need to band together.

I have no children nor grandchildren. But I try to be kind to those folks who are the age that they 'would be'.

I marvel at TV shows and movies that show folks living on a secretary's salary, let's say, and having an apartment and nice clothes! I realize it's TV/a movie, but I know when I was born, my folks could afford: me, a new car, a new house-on ONE salary. You can't really afford that on TWO salaries nowadays. Something is not right. I don't have to be an economist to figure that out.

Take care Laelth, and all GenX folks.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
131. Thank you.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:36 AM
Dec 2013

Some sympathy and understand is all I was really asking for. For better or for worse, my generation's expectations are so low that we expect little more than that, and we are grateful for whatever we can get.

Still, I thank you for what you have done and for what you continue to do.

Solidarity!



-Laelth

llmart

(15,476 posts)
244. I would like to ask something of you, too, Laelth.....
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 08:38 PM
Dec 2013

I would like some sympathy and understanding from you, too. I'm an older boomer - almost 65. I'm still working part time because I can't live on $1,002 a month Social Security. I have to pay for my own health insurance because as you know, part timers do not get benefits through work. I started working at the age of 17 right after I graduated from high school, in an office as a "Girl Friday" for $1.25 an hour. I raised two children and went to college full time while my children were in elementary school. I graduated summa cum laude, #2 in my college class at the age of 36. I still had to start out at a major corporation at somewhat of an entry level position in 1986 because I had been out of the work force. I understood and accepted that from the start. I did not vote for Reagan and have never in my life voted for a Republican. I now make $15 an hour with no benefits. I worked two part time jobs earlier this year, one of which was physically demanding, on my feet all day for $8 an hour on concrete floors, and I have bad feet, so I would practically be in tears by the time I got home from that job, but it was either that or not be able to pay my bills. I have no smartphone, no cable, no eating out or fancy coffee shop coffees. I cook from scratch and eat whatever I've made until it's gone so that I don't have to buy any more ingredients that week.

I have never once blamed a Gen-X'er or a Millenial for my woes. NEVER. It serves no purpose whatsoever for you to pose your post in terms of generations and constantly asking for sympathy makes some people think of it as whining.

Generations younger than mine were fed a crock of you-no-what about everyone needing a college education. When everyone or at least the majority has something, the value of it goes down, not up. I could tell you a thing or two about how and why higher education has gotten so expensive because I work at a university and prior to this have worked at another institution of higher learning. I have had conversations with professors who tell me that upper administration comes down on them really hard if they fail students, so they are told to revise their curriculum, give extra credit, whatever it takes to pass most of them so that they stay in school longer.

I am surrounded by young people every day I go to work and some of them work for me as student assistants. At both of these institutions of higher learning I have listened to the younger people talk about how they're going to make a lot of money when they graduate. When I try to talk to them about how that may not be reality, they don't want to hear it.

I don't really have any solutions, but keep in mind that some boomers (not me) are part of the sandwich generation who are taking care of aging parents and teenagers at the same time, and trying to make ends meet too.

If you want our party to end up like the Republicans of today - split in two - then just keep on posting these threads where one generation is pitted against another. As a liberal Democratic woman who came of age in the '60's, we should be working together for solutions.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
345. I need to take some time to consider this post before I respond.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 02:35 PM
Dec 2013

But, I did want you to know that I read it and am considering it.

Regards,

-Laelth

Brigid

(17,621 posts)
122. It is quite true . . .
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:17 AM
Dec 2013

That you millennials are in a tough spot, thanks to over 30 years of very poor decisions, mostly made by Republicans, that totally screwed the economy. It is also true that we boomers at least had an easier start in life. But with the U.S. no longer enjoying the "perfect storm" of little overseas competition, fairly strong unions, and blue-collar jobs that paid enough to raise a family on times are tough for everyone -- except the 1% that is. Those prosperous times are gone, not to return again -- but that doesn't mean we can't work to make things better. We have a common enemy: the 1%. They have just about finished sucking this country dry.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
348. Thanks for the response.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 03:23 PM
Dec 2013

I hope you noted the banner at the bottom of my posts. I agree that the 1% is the problem, and that's why I am encouraging Elizabeth Warren to run for President. We need change, and we need it fast.

I am an Xer, not a Millennial. In many ways, there's still hope for the Millennials and the generation that follows them, but hope is rapidly dwindling for Generation X. Many of us are in our 40s now, and we're still struggling. If we can't get a decent, good-paying job very soon that we can hold for ten or more years (so that we actually get something decent out of Social Security), we're done for. Many of us can't even buy used cars for our teen-aged children. The idea of putting them through college is enough to keep many of us up at night. If we were still young, there might be more hope. But we're not ... we're middle-aged and broke.

I still feel that many Boomers just don't get it.

-Laelth

thucythucy

(7,948 posts)
126. People with disabilities have always faced this problem.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:25 AM
Dec 2013

I had a very good friend, Ph.D in psychology with a specialization in rehabilitation counseling, near the top of his class from a decent school, who spent close to a DECADE looking for work--and this well before the current recession/depression, in fact at a time when the economy was booming. The reason why: he was blind. That's it. He was told, again and again, that a blind person couldn't be a therapist, that clients "wouldn't be comfortable." He finally got a job with the VA--because of Section 504--but nearly starved before that happened.

I have dozens of other anecdotes like this I could share. Even if workplaces are accessible (and many still aren't), even if there's reliable, affordable, accessible mass transit (and often there isn't), even if a person isn't working against disincentives that mean taking a job means losing his or her health insurance (which under O-care hopefully won't happen as often) folks with disabilities STILL can't find work, no matter how qualified they might be, and--truth be told--no matter how good the economy might be. Nowadays, with the job market in the toilet, it's even worse.

I applaud your post, and thank you for it. Anything that reaches out to people in an attempt to educate is, I think, generally a good thing. Besides which I almost always enjoy Doonesbury.

I just wanted to add this little footnote to your OP, so people can factor in this reality in as well.

Best wishes.

 

lumberjack_jeff

(33,224 posts)
135. The problem is the idea that simply creating a whole bunch more exotic degrees
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:44 AM
Dec 2013

will create a whole bunch more exotic jobs.

It's a bill of goods that the education industry has sold, especially to young women, that buying an education also purchases the matching career.

southmost

(759 posts)
136. my brother and his wife are on food stamps
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:45 AM
Dec 2013

both underemployed, both overeducated for their jobs.

One a business major, the other a PhD psychologist in a overcompetitive college city

microbiology is a tough field to land a steady job in as well

Martin Eden

(12,786 posts)
140. The OP illustrates one of the many reasons why it DOES NOT MAKE SENSE to ...
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:53 AM
Dec 2013

... raise the retirement age and cut Social Security ... both of which compel the Boomer generation to hold onto their jobs longer, when they would much rather retire and enjoy their free time while they're still young enough for many of the activities they seldom had enough time for during their working years.

I was born in 1957, and would dearly love to indulge my passion for hiking in the mountains after I retire.

Let's make early retirement EASIER not HARDER, and open up those good career positions for the younger generation!!!

mike_c

(36,191 posts)
141. having been in the academic job market 20 yrs ago...
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:54 AM
Dec 2013

...I can assure you that many of my colleagues were under employed or could not find work in their fields. There have ALWAYS been stories about cab drivers with PhDs. Those of us who got successful post-docs and tenure track faculty positions were extremely fortunate. Same as it ever was.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
368. I really can't accept "same as it ever was."
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 05:53 PM
Dec 2013

We will have to agree to disagree on that.

The economic outlook for Generation X is just terrible. Truth be told, there's still hope for the Millennials and the generation that follows them, if we can turn our politics around, but hope is rapidly fading for Generation X. Many of us are in our 40s now, and we're still struggling. Most of us can't amass any wealth. Most of us can't get any economic security. If we can't get a decent, good-paying job very soon that we can then hold for ten or more years (so that we actually get something decent out of Social Security), we're done for. Many of us can't even buy used cars for our teen-aged children. The idea of putting them through college is enough to keep many of us up at night. If we were still young, there might be more hope. But we're not ... we're middle-aged and broke. Our parents were much better off when they were our age.

Just for some perspective ...

-Laelth

mike_c

(36,191 posts)
379. I hear you....
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 07:43 PM
Dec 2013

Although I'm a certified baby boomer-- born in 1955-- I didn't begin college until I was 30 and I finished grad school at 40, so I was in the academic job market with Gen X colleagues too, in the late 1990s. Maybe that's why it seems to be "same as it ever was," because we're really talking about the same experience. But it really was the same 20 yrs ago, at least in the academic sciences.

When I look at the colleagues that my current cohort replaced, the difference in life style and expectations is shocking. They were SOLIDLY middle class, somewhat upper middle class in this community. They did well financially and retired comfortably. Few of us are doing so well these days, and those of us with huge student debt will likely retire to some form of homelessness, i.e. living in a camper. For example, I've never been able to buy a home in the community where I live and work. That was unheard of among the cohort we replaced, who worked here from the late 60's through the 90's, largely. It's normal, today.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
381. My expectations are quite low.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 08:02 PM
Dec 2013

I have been very fortunate, and I will survive, but I can't afford to put my children through college. It's quite distressing that I can't give my children what my parents gave me. It's tempting for GenXers to blame themselves, but here's the truth:

If Elizabeth Warren is right, and if wages had kept up with inflation and increases in productivity, then a burger-flipping job in 2013 would pay $22.00/hr. ($44K/year). Someone with a High School diploma would start at a wage scale above minimum wage, and people with college degrees would start at about $30.00/hr. ($60K/year). Of course, people with experience would get paid more.

I could live quite nicely with those kinds of wages ... just like the Boomers did when they were younger. We just don't live in that world any more.

-Laelth

NRaleighLiberal

(59,922 posts)
142. Boomer tomato dude weighs in.....
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 11:54 AM
Dec 2013

This is an incredibly complex and frustrating issue. We all know how politics works, so blaming a generation for a particular president or policy is too simplistic - and many others above said, the election of Raygun was one of the most depressing and confounding experiences of our lives...I remember drinking very heavily that night (with my graduate school friends) in disbelief. In broad terms, the country back then was just as gullible to propaganda as always....I don't think it went as deep as even understanding trickle down or supply side - many were hoodwinked by that damn "likability" thing. And of course there is the inevitable pendulum swing of culture - I was amazed at how many undergrads were becoming conservative holy rollers (as post-doc me, the left wing hippy, wondered what went wrong).

My wife and I both worked our butts off when in high school and college, just as our daughters did. The difference is that the pay we earned was relatively much greater and provided much more help. I was making 5.00 an hour working the deli in a grocery store - it was unionized - back when I was 20 (37 years ago)....and when I compare that to what my daughter makes (less than 8.00) working part time in a grocery store (because they won't give her full time), it is beyond ridiculous.

Both our daughters have bounced back into our houses and out again as adults. It is not for their hard work, or talent. The country's goal posts have moved, and the game is rigged. We help them both as much as we can....but it is tough to watch. Real love indeed, and understanding.

We need to move beyond generalities, labels, broad brush strokes and do something that recent culture finds difficult - take time to think things out, work with complex issues, and mostly, ensure that we elect those who understand and can make things better (which of course in these ad, TV, social media and Citizens United times is only becoming more difficult).

CountAllVotes

(20,849 posts)
198. +1
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:46 PM
Dec 2013

It is that good old divide and conquer crap going full blast with this whole discussion.

I believe you've nailed it and good for you for taking your kids back into the home!

riverbendviewgal

(4,244 posts)
146. I can understand your feeling
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:06 PM
Dec 2013

I am a boomer. I expected my sons to have a better life.

One is dead from a brain tumour at 26..(Yes, my American young generation, you can suddenly be struck by a terrible terminal illness, after never being sick a day of your life.) Luckily we live in Canada and we got the best of care and no medical bills.

One is a genius, with Mental problems...he does the best he can but there is a stigma to mental health problems, like Aspergers and Autism as well as Depression. This is in both Canada and the USA.

Things have deteriorated since
my generation . Ike was the last great Republican president.. The USA has succumbed to greed.
Ronald Reagan gave it a big, big push. The corporations got control.. Voting is rigged. Unions are dying.

You can not blame it on the boomers....Many of the young generation DO NOT VOTE. AND MANY OLDER ONES DON'T VOTE EITHER
There is plenty of apathy all around....

The corporations and elite 1 percent diverted the attention of most people with THINGS...Sports...Entertainment. American and much of western civilization has been diverted to the kind of Roman days of the coliseum. That is why Hunger Games is riveting. Much of the elite live in the Hunger Games city...while those have nots are in the districts destined to be slaves and send their people as gladiators to fight to the death and for the elites entertainment and profit.. How long will this last? It is uncertain but Big Brother is watching. I hope that someone can figure out how to get out of the mess that the Reaganites and tea partiers put us all in

In Canada we are watching...We are not going to not fight...We have a FATCA fight now going on. You can read my previous posts, that got 4 recs, 31 replies, some of mine and over 700 views...!!!!!!!!.
Remember in the 1930s many people viewed and did not speak up and look what happened.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
211. There's a reason GenX votes in record low numbers
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:32 PM
Dec 2013

We couldn't get people to even come out against our issues when we were in our 20s. If you can't even get political opposition, you sure as hell aren't going to get political support.

Smaller generation size meant we were not necessary for any political party, so we were basically ignored. Heck, marketing types labeled us as "GenX" because "We didn't bother to find out about what you like" is too long.

That leads to a big "why bother voting" problem.

Now that GenX can ally with newly-18 Millennials, more GenX is voting. But there's a lot of damage to undo.

riverbendviewgal

(4,244 posts)
218. I greatly admired OWS
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 03:25 PM
Dec 2013

and they have done much good things..Keep on perservering.

My generation worked on civil rights and the draft....It did not materialize over n ight.


Now I fight the FATCA fight...

Who knows Stephen Harper may quit before the IGA is signed.

CountAllVotes

(20,849 posts)
148. Real love
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:07 PM
Dec 2013

I had no "real" idea what that was growing up except I knew one thing, I had no "real" love for Ronald Reagun.

That is how it is when you have a disabled sibling sucking the family resources dry. There is no time for YOU, lowly YOU. Thank you for that Ronald Reagun.

I know of many young people that I think are fine young folks indeed and these sort of stigmas/stereotypes that are plain unfair!

I'll present the case of a young man that I hired recently to help my husband re-build a fence that he'd built himself about 10 years ago with no instructions, only some wood, nails and his bare hands.

This young man has a good recommendation from the local hardware store (said to be the hardest worker in the county). He was glad to get the job but he told me straight up that he charged $15.00 an hour and no less. He said he'd work as hard as he could and I believed him and gave him the job.

When time came to pay, he charged me in dollar and cents I'll have you know, no rip-off from him, not even a few cents!

I paid him and told him, "May the force be with you!. It is young folks like you that are a tribute to YOUR generation". He was very proud to hear my remarks and told me that if we ever needed any help, etc. to call him and he'd be right over (he lives close by luckily).

That is what you call being a decent, responsible PERSON. It has not a lot to do with his age IMO. Needless to say, I'd hire this young man (he has a B.A. in psychology mind you) again and told him I'd write him a letter of recommendation for any job should he need it.

He won't be needing it however. He is a hard worker and smart as a whip and I seriously doubt he'd ever need such a thing as the "force" is already with him I would say!

to young folks like this young man. They are our future after all and I thank god for each them.

HomerRamone

(1,112 posts)
150. You think all us hippies voted for Reagan?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:11 PM
Dec 2013

You don't think many of us are laid off at an age where no one will give us a chance anymore?

What a crock.

Response to HomerRamone (Reply #150)

HomerRamone

(1,112 posts)
159. If the welcome was for me, thanks but
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:25 PM
Dec 2013

I've been here for almost a decade. I don't know how others have such high post counts, I mostly read (and this ain't my only web site, let alone activity)...

Response to HomerRamone (Reply #159)

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
356. I thought I said the exact opposite.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 03:51 PM
Dec 2013

In fact, I'm pretty sure I said that I don't blame Boomers for Ronald Reagan and supply-side economics.

I will add this, however, I do know Boomers who are now too old to be hired. GenX is nearly in the same boat as many of us are in our 40s now. We're quite scared, generally speaking. Time is running out for us to make any real money, and the future is not looking bright.



-Laelth

leftyladyfrommo

(18,806 posts)
163. I saw that cartoon this morning.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:29 PM
Dec 2013

I'm a Boomer. I have two Master's degrees. I couldn't find work if my life depended on it. I'm too old Nobody wants to hire anyone over about 40 these days.

I don't think it's just about millinials. It's about all of us out here.

I still blame a lot of things on computers just doing all the work that people used to do. There just aren't nearly enough jobs to go around any more and we are all suffering for it.

I opted out of the corporate world because it was killing me. Corporations don't want people to work for them. They want robots with no personalities that just shut up and do what they are told. God forbid you have a personality. Or morals.

I just think the work situation is just awful for everyone. So I just started my own one person business. I don't make much but I can get by and I don't have to sell my soul to do it.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
358. I appreciate what you wrote.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 03:59 PM
Dec 2013

But I must note that I am not a millennial, and this thread isn't about millennials. It's about Generation X, and many of us can see the writing on the wall. We see where the less-fortunate Boomers are, and we know that we will be un-employable very, very soon, yet we lack any kind of economic security. Many of us are middle-aged and dead broke. Our parents, generally speaking, were much better off when they were our age.

Actually, there's still hope for the Millennials and the generation that follows them, if we can turn around our politics, but hope is rapidly fading for Generation X. Many of us are in our 40s now, and we're still struggling. If we can't get a decent, good-paying job very soon that we can then hold for ten or more years (so that we actually get something decent out of Social Security), we're done for. Many of us can't even buy used cars for our teen-aged children. The idea of putting them through college is enough to keep many of us up at night. If we were still young, there might be more hope. But we're not ... we're middle-aged and broke.

I still feel that many Boomers just don't get it. In fact, they tend to forget us entirely ... as you did in your response. I suspect that was not your intent. Peace.



-Laelth

mountain grammy

(26,553 posts)
167. I saw this Doonsbury this morning, so was drawn to this OP
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:36 PM
Dec 2013

I worked my way through the comments and recognized a few Republican talking points. Yeah, yeah, everyone's a lazy slug and responsible for their own lot in life.. blah, blah, blah, and bullshit.

I'm a certified boomer, born in 1947. You may not blame us boomers for giving us Ronald Reagan, but I sure as hell do. I used to think Americans could think for themselves and if they hear conflicting messages, would "look it up" and come to the truth. After all, we were the "just the facts, ma'am" generation. Then, Reagan elected in a landslide, WTF?

I've raised 3 children.. all have college degrees, none of their jobs are related to their degrees. We have an American story here; rising above and doing ok in spite of the bullshit, crappy government policies installed by Republicans and Democrats who are brainwashed to think like Republicans. We've been lucky! I wish everyone could be as lucky as we've been, but it just doesn't happen. We need a strong government to regulate out of control corporations and provide safe water, air and a future for my grandchildren.

Everything is political. My generation used to know that!

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
366. What a beautiful post!
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 05:07 PM
Dec 2013

I have nothing to add, but I do thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences. Cheers!



-Laelth

raging moderate

(4,276 posts)
169. Hang in there, kids! Times like this have happened before, just not as bad.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:41 PM
Dec 2013

We had some times like this back in the 80s. I was on WIC with a master's degree in a clinical field. We knew people with phDs who had to wait on tables. We also knew young rich pipsqueak partyboys who were being paid $70,000 to "work" in Daddy's auto sales business while their hardworking coevals who had worked their way through college mysteriously were not worth more than $6,000 on the so-called "free market." This time, it is worse, it is lasting longer, and the top 1% are even more bitterly determined to reduce the rest of us to the serf status they think we deserve. It is scarier this time. Of course, you you are right. You need love. We got through it, with some scars of course and a few of us with wounds that never healed. We all have to stick together and try to make things better for everybody. And loudly counter the propaganda that young people are expecting too much and the "job creators" are eager to create jobs for everybody if ONLY we would get the mean government to stop taxing them and regulating them! This is NOT what has happened when the voters fell for this malarkey before, and we MUST stand firm against this recent even more vicious form.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
367. This time, it's lasting a lot longer.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 05:15 PM
Dec 2013

And it's creating some serious problems. Actually, there's still hope for the Millennials and the generation that follows them, if we can turn our politics around, but hope is rapidly fading for Generation X. Many of us are in our 40s now, and we're still struggling. Most of us can't amass any wealth. Most of us can't get any economic security. If we can't get a decent, good-paying job very soon that we can then hold for ten or more years (so that we actually get something decent out of Social Security), we're done for. Many of us can't even buy used cars for our teen-aged children. The idea of putting them through college is enough to keep many of us up at night. If we were still young, there might be more hope. But we're not ... we're middle-aged and broke. Our parents were much better off when they were our age.

I still feel that many Boomers just don't get it. You did not have times like this in the 1980s. Pretending like this is a temporary problem that is anything like what the Boomers managed to endure seems calloused and ignorant to me. Things are much worse now, and I thank you for acknowledging that fact, but my generation is about to become un-employable (because we're too old). But we're still broke (many of us, anyway) ...

Sorry to take out a little frustration on you. You don't really deserve it. I think you meant well, and I do appreciate your post.



-Laelth

DFW

(53,930 posts)
173. A tale of two cities (and two countries and two cultures)
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:51 PM
Dec 2013

My wife and I are both boomers from completely different backgrounds. My father came back from World War II and went to Columbia Journalism. He got a job with a small newspaper in a one-horse town up north (as in Canadian border), became their one and only Washington correspondent, and stayed with them all his life. He still managed to make enough to put all three of his kids through Ivy League colleges. My wife's father came out of World War II barely alive and minus a leg he left in Stalingrad. He had been a farmer, but had to learn for a desk job after the war was over.

After college, I became a gypsy for a year, living off of music gigs and avoiding my mom's exhortations to go to business school to develop some aptitude she was sure I had. My wife, in her country, studied social work, knew America was "there," but never gave it much thought otherwise. I got lucky, workwise, invented a position that basically only I could do and found the right outfit to put it to use, and thus invented my own job security forever. That kind of thing CAN still be done today, but I think it is as much luck as anything else. I know a 30 year old guy in Dallas who makes a million dollars a year (!!) in a nitch job that he found. He could do it for maybe 5 companies on earth, and otherwise he'd be driving a bus from Irving to South Dallas and back (talk about luck).

My daughters both have jobs, and have both USA and EU citizenships.

One is now 30, chose to live in the USA (for now). She gets little vacation (9 or 10 paid days), works for near slave wages by the standards of her location (she lives in Manhattan by choice, and walks to work), and has a fabulous time. She is good at her job, which she convinced her employer to give her even though she didn't have the experience the job description said she required for it. She is jealous of her sister, but only for her sister's salary and vacation time. She wouldn't leave New York City for her sister's salary OR vacation time, though. Her choice.

The younger one is 28, went to college and law school (majored in international law) in the USA, but graduated in 2010, when even the good positions were put on hold for a year, and the others had evaporated into thin air. She saved up, and on her own initiative, went over to a job fair for legal positions in Germany. She interviewed with the German arm of a big British law firm who was looking for someone fluent in German with a US bar admission. My daughter liked them and said here I am. They took her, and she now makes a comfortable 6 figure salary, and gets 6 weeks paid vacation, which her firm makes their employees take to avoid burnout. She gets the German health care package that her firm offers. She also pays 50% in taxes and gets worked mercilessly when not on vacation. Her boyfriend goes nuts because he sometimes barely sees her even when she is not on foreign assignments, and they live together! She has to live in Frankfurt am Main, not exactly Germany's most exciting city. She likes her job and her firm, but is insanely jealous of her sister's fun-filled social life in Manhattan. She is also the object of aggressive head hunters from other (mostly US) law firms offering a LOT more money but less job security. She hasn't taken any of them--yet. The temptation drives her nuts, but the job insecurity is a big red danger flag. Again, her choice.

You can't have it all, it seems. After nearly 40 years with the same outfit (and in all that time never a dull moment), I'm quite ready to say I lucked out, and if my daughters don't think they have lucked out, at least they have jobs that are (for now) secure with employers they like. Neither of them got their jobs by snapping their fingers (or by any family connections). They went out and made their own luck. Not everyone can, and my heart goes out to those who don't have the solid family to fall back on that my wife and I made top priority for our girls. Like the OP said: "take care of your children." We did, and we like to think it paid off. We have no patience for those who have a "lack of sympathy and concern" for job seekers. You make a far better impression if you have the attitude of someone with some solid emotional pillow to fall back on if things don't work out. Not everyone with great qualifications or a solid work ethic gets a job they deserve, and not everyone can invent one that has no competition. I'd like to say to everyone looking for a job that somewhere out there, that to some employer somewhere, you are just what they're looking for. But it just isn't so for everyone. It wasn't so when I was in my gypsy phase after graduation, either.

I think that some of us, whatever the generation, will luck out, some will make their own luck, and some will never find what they're looking for, and due to nothing other than cruel fate. Not exactly encouraging, is it? The only thing I think I can offer in response is the fact that even today, you CAN still luck out. You DO have a shot at finding something that both pays a fair wage and offers you more than poverty and drudgery. That hope has to be what spurs you on, because the alternative sucks.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
374. You have done well by your children. Kudos to you.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 07:04 PM
Dec 2013

Just to pick up on something you mentioned ... I have never purchased a lottery ticket, and there was a time when I scoffed at people who did. In my mind, lottery tickets were for people who were bad at math, and it hurt my sensibilities to see poor people paying even more taxes through the purchase of those tickets. The poor are already taxed mercilessly. Now, however, I no longer have that attitude. What I finally decided was that the people who buy those lottery tickets are actually making a sound economic decision. What I realized is that winning the lottery is about the best chance most people will ever have to become rich.

I greatly appreciate that you acknowledge the role luck played in your life. Cheers!



-Laelth

raging moderate

(4,276 posts)
185. I also want to say, I think you are better than we were.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:14 PM
Dec 2013

I enjoy observing the young people around me. About ten years ago, I noticed that the young people appeared to be more sensible, more tolerant, more knowledgeable, more efficient, and more technically skilled than almost anybody in my generation. Hurry and grow up the rest of the way, and start running the world. Please! Pull on your faces to get a few wrinkles, and pretend to be older. Or something. Among baby boomers, something like this happened: Most of us at least dabbled and many of us waded right into the Counterculture. Those few goody two shoes who did not, who persisted in parroting right-wing talk and wearing the uptight conventional garb everywhere (girdles and ties with very short hair), were over-rewarded by our terrified parental generation, shoved into well-paid positions of responsibility, regardless of their actual mental capacity. Even today, these people show unmistakable signs of over-reinforcement. Look for your chance, and do not hesitate to take it. I think you guys are really going to save the world!

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
375. Interesting analysis.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 07:18 PM
Dec 2013

Your description of how the right-wingers in your cohort were given power and responsibility by your elders explains a whole lot about your generation. I had never considered that Boomers were actively selected to be led by conservatives, but that makes perfect sense given your parents' reactions to the Counterculture.

That said, and what you're missing, is that GenX isn't "young" any more. We're middle-aged, and we're still broke (many of us, anyway). It sounded like you were describing the Millennials in your post, and everything you say about them seems to match what I know about them, but they're still young. There's hope for them if we can turn our politics around.

Generation X ... not so much. For us, hope is running out, and it's hard to shake the feeling that we have been overlooked and forgotten.

-Laelth

Springslips

(533 posts)
193. I always think back to when I was in college.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:35 PM
Dec 2013

I was a journalism student. My advisor/ professor once shared how he got into journalism. He graduated with a History degree. After getting his degree he hit the street. He came to a building with a help wanted sign; it was a newspaper. He went in and they hired him on the spot for a reporter job. He told them he had no education or experience in reporting. They said, " just read a bunch of stories in the paper and write them like that." I would love to live in that world. A world where employers didn't make their jobs sound more difficult than it is.

No media company would ever hire a history major today. Everything is so damn specified, it is crazy. Back then, the mid-1990s, I couldn't even get a bookseller job because my only other experience was a high school McDonald job. I had to settle for another fast food position.

Not to bash on boomers, but you had a better world. A guy makes a career out if walking down the street and answering a help wanted sign; no plan to do it, no experience, amazing. What America was!

 

happyfunball

(80 posts)
199. The US was in an abnormal position 1945-1975
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 01:49 PM
Dec 2013

The US was basically the last man standing in 1945 and it took until 1975 for the rest of the industrial world to rebuild itself, and then the relative position of the US declined.

The Boomers came of age during abnormally good times for the US.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
202. America begin declining in the 1980's during Reagan's terms in office.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:01 PM
Dec 2013

Nothing abnormal about it. We were doing great until 'trickle down' economics and Voodoo economics became the mainstay. Republicans have destroyed this countries economy over and over, those are indisputable facts.

 

happyfunball

(80 posts)
204. No, the 1970's weren't all that
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:09 PM
Dec 2013

You had stagflation, and oil crises. Nixon ended convertability of the dollar to gold because other countries were catching up.

Skidmore

(37,364 posts)
207. The problem I'm having with this is that there is an assumption
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:21 PM
Dec 2013

that Boomers are all snowbirds flitting carefree in search of warm weather. Laelth, we living in that "simply much worse" world with you and not on some other planet or plain of existence. It also makes the assumption that Boomers are all college educated, middle class or above people. Boomers are also being characterized as negligent in the areas of social, civil, and economic justice.

I think some of the problem is that generational memory has not been passed. Children suddenly became delicate vessels not expected to understand the relationship of money to work or goods until they actually had to do it. My son used to complain about how much time that I (a single parent) spent at work while he held expectations for the expensive designers crap that got sold as essential during the 1980s. He learned long division by being asked to calculate the number of hours I would have to work to supply his wants over what I needed to work to supply our needs.

Many of us not only raised your parents or you, but have cared for our parents and some are now raising their grandchildren. We no longer retire in large numbers. We continue to work well into our seventies and beyond. Now if you are sitting behind a desk, you may be able to sustain working into your 70s or 80s. However, I know plenty people in those age groups who are still working in jobs that require physical labor and in spite of having the health problems that come with aging. We do not live forever but we do need to sustain ourselves and those we love while we can. Because of this economy and the way corporations have stripped rights from the workers, we have been forced to compete with the next two generations for jobs at a time when normally the next generations could have stepped into the breach left by the retiring one.

As far as how hard people work, unless you are born with a silver spoon in your mouth and wore trust fund documents for diapers, you have worked hard--in every generation. The nature of work has changed with technology, but our grand capitalist system has never stopped trying to wring every last bit of output from workers for the least amount of investment throughout our history. What also happened is that workers stopped fighting for their rights. That was a huge lapse. The Harlan County coal miner strikes took place when I was 18. There were large numbers of steelworker and autoworker strikes back in the day too. Whole industries would shut down while labor and management hammered out new contracts. And the effects of those strikes rippled through the economy as affiliated businesses felt the effects. Then this just ceased as the 1980s roared by and people absorbed the message that they too could live the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Reagan broke the back of the unions and Clinton nailed them into a coffin with NAFTA, something I will ever hold him in contempt for.

I am heartened when I see labor in the fast food restaurants take on companies. People are learning how to do this again. American labor will benefit more if the college educated, white collar worker join the service workers in their strikes. If the whole damned workforce just sat down and said "no", it would make a difference quickly. I have little respect for today's white collar worker because they do not seem to understand that their workplaces are the sweatshops of the electronic age. As willing as they are to ignore the shipping of manufacturing jobs to other lands for their workers to be exploited in jobs that America's best would refuse to do, they are equally unwilling to understand that standing up for themselves in the workplace would benefit all workers.

No, it's easy to blame and point fingers, but this is the world we live in and it is one that is vastly different on all fronts than the one I grew up in. I don't think that it is any harder but that the times are just different. Americans have been trained to sell their souls for material gain. I don't see that as having changed. Instead of engaging in a blame game, we need to be pushing back on the forces that shape the pit we have all come to--some of them are Boomers and some are Millenials/Xers. Creating the dynamics for current economic problems has been a multigenerational work and is still in progress.



llmart

(15,476 posts)
349. Thank you.....
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 03:26 PM
Dec 2013

Well said. I am really tired of the meme that the Boomers are all greedy. I know very few Boomers my age who have a pension any longer. Reagan and his administration allowed corporations to skirt their pension responsibilities by just filing Chapter 11 if their company wasn't profitable. It happened to many, many people who had worked at a place all their lives. (Think Pan Am airlines) I was personally affected by this and Reagan's mantra of deregulation. The 100+ year-old company that my husband worked for filed Chapter 11 in the early '80's and all of the employees were told good-bye; no pensions. The employees filed a class action lawsuit and eventually after 10 years employees received a payout check equal to a pittance of what they would have gotten if they had received a pension. Many people had worked there all their lives and were close to retirement age. Can you imagine working at a place for 40 years thinking you'll get a monthly check for life only to have to wait 10 years and then get something around $6,000 as a payout? Good luck living on that in 1994 when the checks were finally distributed.

My younger, boomer brother had a decent job as a Teamster, but after Reagan busted the air traffic controllers union, the handwriting was on the wall that other unions were next in line. All of the truck drivers took a cut in benefits and pay and to this day, some 30 years later, he's still having to drive a truck, nonunion, low pay at age 61.

We have all had to adjust to our expectations, hopes and dreams being turned topsy turvy, but some of us adjusted and just put one foot in front of another and did whatever was required.

A long time ago some older and wiser person said to me, "The greatest thing you can have in life is the ability to be flexible and adapt to change." You can still continue to fight and vote and hope for change, but it has to be done en masse.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
385. This post deserves a response.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 09:19 PM
Dec 2013

I appreciate the time and effort you put into this. Here's what I can say in response.

I do not accuse you or your generation of being negligent on social issues or civil issues. You have done quite well with those and I have said so, here and here. I do accuse you and your generation for negligence on economic issues. If you'd like to take issue with that, fair enough.

Indeed, you're living in this world too, but is it not possible that this world is still better now for most Boomers than it is for most Xers? Let's examine four, simple questions: Is your student loan debt paid off? Is your house paid off? Have your children already been reared and (often) put through college? Do you have some savings and economic security? Most Boomers I know can answer "yes" to many or all of those key questions. Most Xers I know would answer "no" to most of those questions. Boomers, generally speaking, are in a better position to handle the present economic downturn. Thus, I suggest, this world, which we all share, is worse for us, specifically. Many factors have contributed to this state of affairs, and, frankly, I don't care who's to blame, but I do expect liberals to see the world as it is and not as they wish it to be. That this world is harder on me and my generation than it was on my parents and their generation is such an apparent truth, from my point of view, that I can scarcely believe that some people have taken issue with this observation.

I suppose one learns something new every day. Perhaps I am wrong.

I agree that people have always worked hard, but GenX is now the dominant cohort in the workforce, and the productivity of American workers is greater than in any other nation on Earth, and productivity continues to rise. Thus, I assume, GenX is working harder. I suppose I could be wrong about that too. Undoubtedly, Boomers started this trend and worked harder than their parents, but the numbers seem to indicate that Xers are working even harder than Boomers. How else should we explain the increased (and ridiculous) productivity we have seen?

All I asked for in the OP was for Boomers to show some real love (as opposed to "tough love&quot to their children and grand-children. Sounds to me like you're doing that. Kudos to you. Actions speak louder than words.

Thank you for kindly engaging me on this topic.

-Laelth

 

philosslayer

(3,076 posts)
208. An Engineering PhD has to wait tables??
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:24 PM
Dec 2013

This is a bit hyperbolic. I have a son who's a year away from getting an Engineering BS, and he's already getting calls from companies.

Skittles

(152,918 posts)
222. stop demonizing boomers
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 04:55 PM
Dec 2013

the younger boomers especially know what is going on (and I did NOT vote for that greedy bastard Reagan)

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
344. Don't worry, Skittles.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 02:26 PM
Dec 2013

I will appreciate your sympathy, your understanding, and your concern for my struggles and those of my children ...

right after you kick my ...



-Laelth

aikoaiko

(34,113 posts)
224. I'm Gen X (also with PhD) and almost everyone I know with a PhD has a decent job
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 05:00 PM
Dec 2013

I don't think it is typical.
 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
225. Well that was my first thought too, somewhat extreme.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 05:06 PM
Dec 2013

But then again, you should never get an education with the hopes that it will land you a dream job. That is 'pie in the sky' propaganda, College mills sell to the masses.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
380. Are there lots of opportunities for people like you to hang out with waiters?
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 07:48 PM
Dec 2013

I don't mean to sound flippant, but academics hang out with other academics ... at school ... or at work ... with people who have good jobs. I wouldn't expect you to know too many waiters, or bartenders, or UPS packers and shippers, or truck drivers, or nannies for that matter. In other words, I suspect your exposure to persons who don't have good jobs is quite limited.

Of course, I could be wrong. Forgive me if I am being presumptuous.



-Laelth

aikoaiko

(34,113 posts)
391. My Ph.D. program tracks every graduate.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 10:26 PM
Dec 2013

Sure I mostly work with Ph.Ds, but I was referring to the PhDs from my program of study.

Those who came before me for 5 years and after me for 5 years all did well. A couple in recent years haven't reported discipline specific jobs but unemployment is rare -- not typical.

I know a diverse bunch of people -- mostly through my poker ring.

But I must admit there aren't any PhD granting institutions in my town. I could see things being different if this were a doctoral or research college town.

JDPriestly

(57,936 posts)
227. What changed after Reagan?
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 05:34 PM
Dec 2013

Trickle down economics? That theory alone did not push our economy into the shambles it is now in. The theory is just words.

Tax and welfare "reform"? They contributed.

But the big change, the change that sucked out our industry and our jobs was "free" trade. Is is the "free" trade that cost us our manufacturing base. The X generation needs to get its heads out of the clouds, forget about the cheap chique clothes and the I-phone craze and start buying American.

Buying American creates jobs in America. You can order American-made products on the internet. Buy foreign-made products only when absolutely necessary.

That is how you can improve the job market. That is how we all can improve the job market.

By the way, back in the 1970s, I was in a PhD program and dropped out because I could see even then that if I finished and got the PhD behind my name, I would be utterly unemployable. I was already over-educated. (One of the first things Nixon did when he took office after the 1968 election was to drastically cut funding for certain university programs. That eliminated college teaching and research jobs. Today, much of the university teaching is done by graduate students paid a pittance. It's a terrible shame, a scandal, truth be known. Nixon started the downhill slide.)

Even then, we had to move overseas to get a livable wage for our work.

If you can't get a job in the US, check on teaching English overseas. The money isn't great, but you can get experience and enrich your life in other ways.

I support Elizabeth Warren for president because she understands the economics that the middle class is struggling with -- the plight of PhDs in Microbiology is due to the fact that the Wall Street math whizzes are overpaid and too much of our energy is consumed by those who trade stocks and play with money.


We need to return our economy to the reality of providing clothes and cars and other things that fulfill the needs of our citizens.

International trade is great, but the cost of job losses should be shared by the wealthy as well as the former employees of the wealthy.



Laelth

(32,017 posts)
387. I am certainly no fan of "free" trade.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 09:44 PM
Dec 2013

And I concede that "free" trade has done a lot to make the United States poorer, but I don't think it's either the only or the primary cause of our current economic woes. Consider this: If Elizabeth Warren is right, and if 1962 wages had kept up with inflation and increases in productivity, then a burger-flipping job in 2013 would pay $22.00/hr. ($44K/year). Someone with a High School diploma would start at a wage scale above minimum wage (more than $44K/year), and people with college degrees would start at about $30.00/hr. ($60K/year). Of course, people with experience would get paid more.

I could live quite nicely with those kinds of wages ... just like the Boomers did when they were younger. We just don't live in that world any more, and I'm not sure "free trade" is the cause of that loss of income. On the other hand, as we see the wealth of the 1% grow astronomically, it becomes clear what happened to the fruits of our increased labor. The rich just took it, and they did so by suppressing wages and crippling organized labor. To me, it's that simple.

Thanks for the thoughtful response.

-Laelth

Pakid

(478 posts)
228. As a boomer I do get it.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 05:55 PM
Dec 2013

America has changed and not for the better. I have a 22 year old son who can't find a job and a 39 year old daughter who has to keep up grading her eduction in order to get a job and keep it her debt load is not pretty. Good job with pension were the norm when I got out of high school. Not today. Who is to blame? The Rich they have been after everything that they can get by hook or crook for a long time. They own the government and we have little say and until we can take it back and end the toxic influence of people like the Koch's it will only get worse. The blame for the mess is on everyone who has failed to vote or has vote against there own and our own best interest there is no good reason to vote for people and policy that only benefit the rich when you are not other than being stupid or to lazy to find the truth. To many people vote for there hate instead of with there brain!

1monster

(11,012 posts)
232. My stepdaughter is just finishing up her degree in microbiology and immediately after is
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 06:37 PM
Dec 2013

going back to school to become a Physician's Assistant...

diane in sf

(3,898 posts)
240. 20 years ago was better than this, 30 years ago was just as bad (early boomer)
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 08:03 PM
Dec 2013

There were very few jobs in the mid 70s and you might have 400 or more competitors for a job opening. Most of my college graduate friends didn't get a real job until the 80s. The 70s was when the war on the poor and middle class really started to get ramped up.

I remember some people 10 years younger than me and my friends telling us in the 80s that they only bought slip covers for their chairs because they were broke and couldn't afford good chairs. My friend and I looked at each other and said that when we were broke in the 70s we had to decide between buying groceries and paying the utility bill.

 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
241. Alas, it was the Boomer's PARENTS that gave us Reagan.
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 08:17 PM
Dec 2013

(If only because the Boomers wouldn't get out and vote...there was some election fraud going on then, too).

CountAllVotes

(20,849 posts)
362. How dare you say that!
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 04:18 PM
Dec 2013

That is simply not true. Neither of my WWII parents and WWII relatives (one is left) voted for Ronnie.

That is a disgusting thing to say IMO.

My late father had been on a trip abroad and they were having and anti-RR protest. I still have that flyer today that he picked up while at the protest (yes my father was at an anti-RR protest overseas!) and he was reamed over good. My father liked that A LOT because he disliked Raygun with an intense passion. He never voted for a puke, never!

I'm sure that my WWII relations were not the only ones that did not vote for him! Your statement is plain cruel to this "Greatest Generation" as they are now known.

Maybe they were the "Greatest Generation" and maybe they were not.

I could care less about this definition of who the WWII generation is/was.

I know what I saw and what I heard growing up and FYI my grandfather born in 1890 was also a Democrat and he too never voted for pukes. He was one of the first teamster's in America and if it weren't for the likes of him and other early union folks, the union movement may have never gotten off the ground and been as successful as it became. However, thanks to brave men like my grandfather, it became a reality.

My late mother recalled upon meeting my grandfather that he had a huge framed picture of FDR over their dining room table. He was truly a patriot, a veteran of WWI, and a Democrat without a doubt.

That picture of FDR was there hanging on the wall of his house the day he died. He worshiped President Roosevelt for if it weren't for FDR and what he did, America would not even resemble anything close to what it now is.







 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
369. My father sent him money
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 05:59 PM
Dec 2013

and so did a lot of his generation.

We didn't speak for quite a while after that.

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
247. For someone who didn't want generational warfare,
Thu Dec 5, 2013, 08:46 PM
Dec 2013

you certainly brought a lot of guns to this party.

I am really tired of this warfare between the generations. It is unproductive for one age group to piss on the other.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
393. I am sorry you dislike the thread.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 11:00 PM
Dec 2013

I think this has been a productive and enlightening discussion. It certainly generated a lot of interest and response.

-Laelth

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
395. I was intrigued by this discussion,
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 11:37 PM
Dec 2013

don't get me wrong. But I also hate it when it is a matter of pointing fingers at each other. We at DU are all on the same team, or I think we are. Old, young, in between....we all want the same things, and we have all worked for it. Problems are not the fault of one generation or another.

And yes, there is much interest and response. That is what prompted my comment....much of the response is due to people arguing about whether it is true or not that the boomers are at fault for Republican ideals and successes. Much less about the plight of the young people these days and how hard it is on them. Although I will say that this is not the first generation that has faced difficulty.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
396. Fair enough.
Sat Dec 7, 2013, 09:31 AM
Dec 2013

I concede that the thread did start some finger-pointing, even if that wasn't really my intent. I don't think this discussion is going to cause anybody to start voting for Republicans, but it's still a divisive topic in a sense. I wonder why that is?

Either way, I appreciate your response, and I thank you for your contribution to the discussion.



-Laelth

Moonwalk

(2,322 posts)
266. Well, it seems a Boomer like Garry Trudeau understands. But then, I'm not sure most understand....
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:28 AM
Dec 2013

—what Boomer really means. Not even Boomers. Do you know how many Boomers were born in the Boomer years between 1946-1964?

76 million. That's a lot of people to categorized under not only one name, but one personality. And not all grew up in the suburbs with the American dream. Remember LBJ's aim to end poverty. Meaning there was still a lot of it in 1964; so a lot of Boomers grew up poor and hungry with parents working low paying jobs—even during the economically prosperous 50's. I think those understand you perfectly. And then there were the Boomers born on the later end (like President Obama). They were about your age during the economic downturn of the 70's when the economy tanked and jobs were hard to come by. Again. I think they understand.

Of those of who did grow up in the suburbs, got that education, and found jobs...well. I think most on this website have, like me, spent the last thirty years frustrated, angry and fighting the slow destruction we've been seeing of America's position as a science and engineering leader (thus depriving all those ph.d's of jobs in *this* country), the outsourcing of American jobs and the destruction of small American businesses and the undermining of unions.

None of what has been left to you happened right away. It was slow, it was malicious, it was intentional, it was unrelenting, in many cases there was trickery, lies, deceit, sabotage (election of 2000 anyone?). Sometimes even those we voted for and trusted betrayed us. We here, of that generation and the next, did not want this for our country, please believe that. Finally, for all that Boomers are associated with the liberal hippie years, most are not so liberal. G.W. Bush was a Boomer. Which is to say: by all means, say to us what you need to say, we'll listen. But you need to understand that the Boomers who caused this situation, prospered from it, or voted for those who caused it and now vote for those who are making it worse...those Boomers, sadly, aren't on this website to hear or understand anything you have to say.

llmart

(15,476 posts)
351. Good points.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 03:41 PM
Dec 2013

I am one of those early Boomers who did not grow up in the suburbs in a middle class household. We were a very large family and very poor. Of the seven children in my family I was the one most determined to get out of the poverty cycle, and I was willing to work very, very hard to do that. I was also willing to do without an awful lot of things in the present to make sure my future was better. That entailed being willing to relocate three different times to three different states when my children were growing up so that we wouldn't keep falling behind whenever there was a recession. It entailed saving every last penny that was "extra" in a passbook savings account until we had enough to put a down payment on a "starter" home so that I could realize the dream of owning a home. My parents never owned a home, never had any of the things other middle class '50's families had. It also entailed being absolutely adamant that I would use birth control and limit my family size once I married.

My parents gave me values that I live by to this day and that is that things do not buy happiness and nothing is guaranteed in life. The best thing they drummed into my head is be yourself, think for yourself and do not buy into the hype you hear on TV. Question everything. Do not try to keep up with the Joneses.

Tumbulu

(6,267 posts)
268. Many of us late boomers went through this exactly in the early 80's
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:39 AM
Dec 2013

only to watch those lucky ones after us get high paying jobs that had passed us by. Most of my friends never cought up. There is a myth thay it was all good for boomers. Not us late boomers , it has been a bad ecomoic story for a long time and I am so so sorry to see this new group caught in the smae mess we were.

I have no good advice about how to survive it, either.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
402. Thanks for the response.
Sat Dec 7, 2013, 12:13 PM
Dec 2013

You make an interesting assertion that I have to challenge. Were there, in fact, in the early eighties, middle-aged people (late thirties/early forties) who had mortgages and were rearing young and teen-aged children who also had advanced degrees but who could not pay their bills or land a permanent, good-paying job? I understand that young people had this trouble in the 80s. The Millennials now face the kinds of issues you describe. But GenX is middle-aged at this point. There's hope for the Millennials. They're young, and if the economy turns around, they might eventually gain some economic security, but middle-aged GenXers are getting old. They're about to be un-employable, and yet many of them still have nothing to show for many years of labor. No savings. No security. No future.

I can't shake the feeling that things are worse for Generation X than they were for the Boomers. It's this "same as it ever was" attitude that bothers me most. That attitude, I think, is the primary cause of the Boomers' seeming disregard for the plight of their children.



-Laelth

Tumbulu

(6,267 posts)
406. Well, you raise a great question
Sun Dec 8, 2013, 02:33 AM
Dec 2013

See, most of the people that I knew where childless because no way did they have the money/income to have children. It seems to me as though people who remain childless simply don't get counted.... and another group are those who were trying to change the system and refused to join the capitalism/consumer culture. Most of these people had advanced degrees....a number of these folks went on to become subsistence homesteaders/farmers and figured out a lot of the organic farming practices that are utilized today.

There were so many people that never got a decent job in the first place and never caught up. Others never tried for philosophical reasons. Most folks in these camps also did not have children for ecological and financial reasons. Those who did have children give the younger generations of today the impression that all the boomers were like the boomers that had children. But a whole lot of boomers never fit into the stereotype.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
407. Thanks for the response.
Sun Dec 8, 2013, 07:51 AM
Dec 2013

By any chance, did you see raging moderate's post, above, in which he or she described how Boomers' parents actively sought out and selected conservative Boomers for promotion and for leadership roles?

raging moderate said:

Among baby boomers, something like this happened: Most of us at least dabbled and many of us waded right into the Counterculture. Those few goody two shoes who did not, who persisted in parroting right-wing talk and wearing the uptight conventional garb everywhere (girdles and ties with very short hair), were over-rewarded by our terrified parental generation, shoved into well-paid positions of responsibility, regardless of their actual mental capacity. Even today, these people show unmistakable signs of over-reinforcement.


I thought that was interesting. That might explain why counter-cultural Boomers weren't offered as many jobs, why counter-cultural Boomers were marginalized, and why Boomers, in general, became more conservative over time. Boomers knew that, in order to succeed, they had to become more conservative, or else be marginalized and impoverished ... if this theory is correct.

Does this match your experience?

-Laelth

Tumbulu

(6,267 posts)
411. Yes, very true
Mon Dec 9, 2013, 12:34 AM
Dec 2013

My friends were mostly counter culture childless folk endlessly punished financially for their unwillingness to suck upon the corporate cow. Lots of rather poor, getting older now poets, artists, gardeners, artisans of all sorts. None own a house, all effected by the high rents of today....Some of us have entered mainstream more than others. Some got quite good at the various non corporate crafts and businesses.

So yes, I agree with that observation.

Thanks for the interesting conversation.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
412. I just thought it was an interesting observation.
Mon Dec 9, 2013, 09:08 AM
Dec 2013

And I think GenX has been selected for power and prosperity in a similar manner. It's harder for those of us on the left.

I also appreciate your engagement on this topic. Cheers!



-Laelth

Lydia Leftcoast

(48,217 posts)
276. I totally understand it
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 02:25 AM
Dec 2013

One of the things about living in a city and attending a downtown church is that you meet all kinds of people.

I had it bad coming out of graduate school during the Reagan Recession--three years of part-time teaching supplemented by working as an industrial and clerical temp--but I think your situation has lasted longer. When you meet thirty-year-old college graduates who have NEVER found well-paying full-time work, then you know it's bad.

Maybe you guys can find ways to scare the Establishment into noticing you in your spare time.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
390. The Millennials may save us all.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 10:14 PM
Dec 2013

As you have probably seen, a recent study says Americans under 30 have a more favorable impression of socialism than of capitalism. That's the Millennials. GenX is regularly ignored by many Americans, and it has always been ignored by politicians.

I do appreciate your sympathy and understanding, however, and I thank you for your post.

-Laelth

Luminous Animal

(27,310 posts)
281. As a late boomer, and a long time activist, I've been exhorting
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 03:15 AM
Dec 2013

the generations that came after me to get off their fucking ass and fight to maintain that which we fought for.

They thought it was already won.

So get off your ass and fight to maintain and advance WHAT WE BOOMERS WON. CIVIL RIGHTS. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS. WOMEN'S RIGHTS. CONSUMER PROTECTIONS.

These are things that boomers advanced and where the next generations dropped the ball.

YOU CANNOT EXPECT ONE GENERATION FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES TO KEEP FIGHTING AND FIGHTING.

IT IS EXHAUSTING.

I am sorry that I am yelling. But I am so fucking sick of this. BOOMER YOUTH WAS HIPPY YOUTH AND CIVIL RIGHTS YOUTH WHO GOT BEATEN, JAILED, AND KILLED for protesting.

WHAT OTHER GENERATION HAS PUT SO MUCH ON THE LINE SINCE THEN?

WILL YOU RISK YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY TO ADVANCE CIVIL RIGHTS? BOOMER YOUTH DID.

WILL YOU RISK YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY TO STOP WARS? BOOMER YOUTH DID.

WILL YOU RISK YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY TO ADVANCE ECONOMIC JUSTICE? BOOMER YOUTH DID.

Go ahead. Fucking whine that more of us didn't get injured, jailed, or killed to make life better for you.

How many times have you put yourself at risk. How many times have you faced arrest, tear gas, or violence from a system that DOESN'T WANT YOU TO ADVANCE A MORE EQUITABLE SOCIETY.

Love indeed.

 

Chrom

(191 posts)
315. when they killed our heroes, JFK, MLK, RFK....what happened?
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 11:27 AM
Dec 2013


The government even killed unarmed students at Kent State.

Hardly anyone said or did anything, and the (some-yes I am generalizing) boomers crawled away and hid, content to focus on the monetary rather than expose the very real evil that had killed our great leaders in attempt to shut down the movement toward 'peace for all time'.

That was a very important time, and when everyone just backed down an accepted this coup, this theft of our greatest minds and hearts that were going to lead our nation to a new era....the entire nation went into denial and we have been stuck ever since.


They killed our leaders and slowly ruined our nation, and the only way we are going to get it back if for boomers now, the ones who remember what happened and how our nation use to be....stand up and fight for their children and grandchildren.

Instead I see defensiveness and denial.

Gen Xers are suffering and fighting just to survive, we need the older generations who have money and security to fight.

You all did not finish the fight back in your day, you all failed as evidenced by what has happened since.

Time to finish the fight, and smart liberal boomers need to take the argument to their older republican sociopathic friends and win.

Enough of this 'we can't talk about politics'....because that is what has ruined our nation. Republicans do whatever they want to screw stuff up. and Democrats are too nice to talk about it.

We have to get in the faces of these mindless lemmings:
What liberal media?
Letting people starve is not pro life!
The cold war is over-stop spending all our money on the military

Expose the hypocrisy, greed and evil of their party policies.

It's not too late, but boomers need to snap out of the denial and face facts.

WE need help here, and boomers have the money and the power to get results.



The one thing we can all do is fight this new trade agreement which will no doubt make things worse:

Here it comes: The Fast Track (TPA) freight train to shove the TPP down our throats
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024140701#post45
 

djean111

(14,255 posts)
326. You really think the money people who run things care about demonstrations?
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 12:46 PM
Dec 2013

And not that many older boomers have money and security. What little we have looks like a target for the GOP and for those who smugly say we all failed.

Luminous Animal

(27,310 posts)
389. Really? You need older people to fight? Do honestly believe that the majority of boomers have
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 10:05 PM
Dec 2013

money and power? Did youth boomers have money and power when they fought?

Do you know how exhausting it is to keep fighting? Do you understand the risks? Over 4000 people were arrested during the the Occupy protests.

Its crazy that you think that only older boomers are Republican sociopaths. There are millions of young Republican and libertarian sociopaths.

How about YOU take the argument to them. How about YOU risk your life and liberty to expose the hypocrisy and greed of ALL party politics.

I am well aware of TPP... I was at this protest a month ago: http://m.facebook.com/events/544454115636919?_ft_

What protests have you attended?

TxDemChem

(1,918 posts)
282. I know some of these grads.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 04:10 AM
Dec 2013

An Xer myself, I know I got off lucky. I wouldn't have gotten my job if I hadn't known somebody who knew somebody.
It's quite depressing.

 

Spitfire of ATJ

(32,723 posts)
283. "Boomers lack a frame of reference to understand how much harder it is to live in this world now."
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 04:31 AM
Dec 2013

Bingo. Most act like "A Job" as in "ANY JOB" will pay for a house and a stay at home wife and still put you kids through college.

When they hear of someone with a degree flipping burgers they picture his college years like this:



It never even OCCURRED to them that the whole "a fair days work for a fair days pay" thing was replaced by "just how much of MY MONEY do you feel you are entitled to?"

Kaleva

(36,093 posts)
288. Most?
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 06:54 AM
Dec 2013

Most of the people I knew while growing up didn't go to college mainly because it was unaffordable. Few parents had the means to pay or help in paying for their children's college education.

My frame of reference is that only the well off drove new cars, had more then one tv and were able to send their kids to grade school in the fall with all new clothes and not mostly wearing hand me downs.

Having grown up poor, I have no problem with living on less then $15k a year I get for disability now and I'm generally considered to be a very happy and cheerful person. Money isn't everything.

 

djean111

(14,255 posts)
302. Boomer here - that not having a frame of reference? Bullshit. Born in 46, got one pair of shoes
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 10:31 AM
Dec 2013

when each school year started, and one or two outfits from Korvette's. Brother had juvenile diabetes, Dad's insurance from Sun Ship did not cover it, so we were always always broke. Plus any eggs, orange juice, etc. that we could afford went to my brother for his diet. ......fast forward to divorce, could not afford to heat Illinois house past 62 degrees in winter, son and I sat on registers with blankets to catch the heat. To this day, heated air makes me feel anxious or something, unable to breathe.
I had some great years, my jobs all went to India, I could live okay on my social security if I was not taking care of other family.
Always always voted Dem - my dad worked for the local committee and i remember seeing JFK give a stump speech in Chester, Pa - cold and windy and bright sunny day.

Stop flinging that broad brush around, it is divisive and does not really work, except to embolden those who want to cut safety nets.

leftyladyfrommo

(18,806 posts)
317. Jobs were scarce when we got out of school, too.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 11:43 AM
Dec 2013

In college I made it on a part-time jobe making $1.75 and hour. I lived in a tiny, crummy apt. that cost $50 a month. I ate a whole lot of mac and cheese. Didn't have any money left over. Walked everywhere.

I just didn't think too much about it. All of my friends lived the same way.

Strange. Now that I'm 65 I'm living the same way. There are no jobs for older people at all. Cannot even get an interview anywhere. And all my friends are living the same way again.

Kaleva

(36,093 posts)
324. Broad brush? divisive? Look at the post which I had responded to.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 12:33 PM
Dec 2013

Here is the statement which the poster agreed with:

"Boomers lack a frame of reference to understand how much harder it is to live in this world now"

Pretty darn broad brush and divisive wouldn't you agree?

Btw, my thermostat is set at 55 and has been set at that temp since the heating season started. Occasionally I've turned up the heat to 62 just for the evening when I'm feeling sick and run down. I am wearing a jacket and a cap as I type this on the laptop in the upstairs bedroom where it's about 3-5 degrees warmer then it is downstairs. I have no car as I can't afford one but I do have a scooter which is parked in a storage shed for the winter. I get around in the winter by walking or catching a ride with a friend.

My reply was that my frame of reference was that I and many people I knew grew up poor and because of that, living on SSDI of $1119 a month plus Snap benefits of $15 isn't a problem for me.







 

djean111

(14,255 posts)
325. I am so sorry - I didn't mean to reply to your post - my life as a Boomer likely was
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 12:42 PM
Dec 2013

very similar to yours. First job, State Farm, $60 a week and bad working conditions for women.
Since I live in Florida, I do not use the heat - or air conditioning either, for four years now. When I was newly divorced, in the '70's, I lived in Bloomington Illinois, and could not heat my house past 62 at the most - to this day, hearing a furnace or feeling hot air from a vent makes me feel stuffy and uncomfortable.
I get more than you do with social security, but am supporting son and grandson, son has PTSD. We did not qualify for food stamps, this is Florida.
Again, sorry!

 

Spitfire of ATJ

(32,723 posts)
340. A LOT of us boomers were the product of the flood of divorces in the 60s and 70s...
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 02:12 PM
Dec 2013

Raised by underpaid mothers. This was during a time when all you had to do to escape child support payments was to cross the state line.

Kaleva

(36,093 posts)
346. No need to apologize!
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 02:48 PM
Dec 2013

I get a sense when reading this thread that some think boomers have and continue to be well off but their greed or lack of empathy has wrecked it for the follow on generations.

It's got to be tough to not only live on SS for yourself but to support two others! Kudos to you for being able to do so.

 

djean111

(14,255 posts)
354. I am pretty resourceful, can stretch a dollar a loooong way,
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 03:48 PM
Dec 2013

am astonished sometimes at what things I thought it necessary to have or do - and I am lucky in that I get some help from a couple of truly wondrous friends. Actually, mostly one angelic friend.
Pretty stressful, all the time, tho. And my shopping habits, food and "stuff", are forever changed. On the other hand, if I ever have only myself to support, I will feel rich indeed!

 

Spitfire of ATJ

(32,723 posts)
323. "Money isn't everything."
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 12:29 PM
Dec 2013

I love to drive Right Wingers crazy by saying "It's only money."

Then I point to the Pentagon.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
350. Precisely.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 03:41 PM
Dec 2013

Consider this. If Elizabeth Warren is right, and if wages had kept up with inflation and increases in productivity, then that burger-flipping job would pay $22.00/hr. ($44K/year). Someone with a High School diploma would start at a wage scale above minimum wage, and people with college degrees would start at about $30.00/hr. ($60K/year). Of course, people with experience would get paid more.

I could live quite nicely with those kinds of wages ... just like the Boomers did when they were younger. Many of them just don't get it.



-Laelth

 

Spitfire of ATJ

(32,723 posts)
359. In California apartments that used to go for $350 a month shoot up to $1,100 in 15 years....
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 04:01 PM
Dec 2013

Wages are about the same.

Under Bush the price of gas tripled.

Meanwhile, Republicans don their super capes and claim to be the heroes that will save America from,....take your pick.

Commies? Welfare Queens? Terrorists? Mexicans? Blacks?

Women?

truedelphi

(32,324 posts)
355. The joblessness of those who have very good educations is very rarely discussed
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 03:48 PM
Dec 2013

How can we persuade another generation of young people to attend college if word gets out that a degree without connections is merely a more expensive way to go through life?

And irony upon irony - someone with such a degree can't even get a job doing collections for Student loan agency - those debt collectors are all in third world countries, these days. (Our own friggin' government doesn't hire Americans, yet expects us to make good on our student debts!)

Yo_Mama

(8,303 posts)
386. This boomer graduated at in 1982. Multiple degrees.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 09:22 PM
Dec 2013

My reality was exactly that of the strip. It's not true that most of us don't get it. A few years earlier I would have been golden.

I have known multiple advanced degree holders over the course of my life who committed suicide - the contrast between their qualifications and expectations and the reality was too great.

You misunderstand the environment in which a lot of boomers grew up. A lot of people have been struggling with economic difficulties for decades - there are people out there who have been back to school three times, and are now paying student loans from their SS checks.

I have only the deepest, heartfelt sympathy with all you young sprats, except for your belief that life was always easy for preceding generations. It wasn't.

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
388. .
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 10:02 PM
Dec 2013

If I were young, I wouldn't be so upset. GenX is middle-aged now. Many of us are about to be un-employable. Many of us have no savings, whatsoever, are still not making good money, nor is there much hope that we ever will.

There's still hope for the Millennials and the generation that follows them. They're young. If we can turn around our politics, we can make their futures much brighter, but time is running out for my generation.

-Laelth

leftyladyfrommo

(18,806 posts)
400. I don't rmember life ever being very easy.
Sat Dec 7, 2013, 11:43 AM
Dec 2013

We were middle class in the 50's. Both my parents had to work in order to make the bills. We had what we needed but we didn't have a lot of luxuries. We had 1 car and everybody shared. We rode the bus most of the time. Or walked. I didn't mind.

But the really bad thing about the 50's was living under the constant threat of nuclear attack. Our world was a very, dangerous place. People were all building bomb shelters. I had nightmares about nuclear bombs falling from the sky for years.

 

Bennyboy

(10,440 posts)
403. You are not a boomer to this boomer....
Sat Dec 7, 2013, 12:30 PM
Dec 2013

82 graduated from College? High School? By then, the world had already made the shift from Hippies and idealism to the Reagan and the selfish generation, the ones that are about 4 years younger than I am (my brother) and younger that have NOTHING AT ALL IN COMMON WITH ME. Then, everything started to suck. Unions. Gone. JOURNEY! The radio, RUSH Limbaugh. All of that. the TV< McDonald's, Star wars generation.


But the blame for the shit we are in falls squarely on the Greatest Generation. THEY voted Reagan in, My parents. They owned the business that crushed the unions. They cheered when the flight controllers lost their jobs and hate Gov't employees. They also had a strong belief in Christianity. Worst of all they fell for the propaganda on the TELEVISION. They believed that McDonald's made food, and that TIDE could clean better than anything and that Coke was good for you and if they add more chemicals to something it makes it healthier than if they had left in the natural ingredients.

Those people were in there 40's and fiftes when Reagan came down. The depression era people who did not like to spend money, especially on Gubmint workers, but worshiped it.

Those people are dying now and I think that we will see in the next ten years a strong shift away from religious anything and a more purposeful existence. A more art based world. More back to the land, less selfish. Now we are working toward something better. Burningman.(really you cannot count the influence this has had on people) All of the music festivals that happen all the time. Of course there will always be the 1% who are insulated from the world and the people that want to be them.They will never change, but the people who are in the world will be looking to do creative things.

Yo_Mama

(8,303 posts)
404. The reason that shift happened was because the economy sucked so bad
Sat Dec 7, 2013, 02:07 PM
Dec 2013

People had a very hard time of it.

I don't agree with most of the Reagan era (or with most of the Clinton era) thinking, but I do realize why that happened. People were hard broke, jobs were hard to come by, and living standards were abysmal and declining for all too many.

The change happened before Reagan, and it produced Reaganism. People were so broke they desperately needed tax cuts to be able to buy food. And God help the older people.

Look at real retail sales from the 72/73 peak to 1984 (the recovery from the early 80's recessions):


People literally couldn't buy the basics. By comparison to our current era, it was a worse trajectory:


Since the GD, though, jobs have never been worse:


And from the point of view of the individual living standard, our current era is terrible:

 

Bennyboy

(10,440 posts)
405. My trade, Tilesetter/mason pays less, much less today
Sat Dec 7, 2013, 02:26 PM
Dec 2013

in non union jobs. (Around 15-20 an hour average) Same way with most of construction. Now they piece work it out, treat the employees as contractors and offer nothing other than a payment. 1099 ers all.... And anyone who don't like it can go away cuz they will hire some other fool to take your place.....

What is funny though is that the union shops around here are all very healthy. The non union shops, with the housing scale back and retreat, are not able to do all kinds of work and are being shut out of the schools, gov't work that the union shops do all the time. Pay there remains very high, around 40 an hour with benes etc. All of my union pals are all retiring in the next couple of years.

Yo_Mama

(8,303 posts)
410. All corrections go too far
Sun Dec 8, 2013, 11:12 AM
Dec 2013

Union labor may be expensive, but it is worth it to me to have it done well for such jobs. The additional cost with the guarantee of the job being done right is very definitely worth it. I'd rather pay the true cost than get it done cheap and have to do the job three times and pay thousands to mitigate the damage that lack of skill caused.

But the governments of the world have adopted the philosophy that driving labor costs down is the key to having a good economy, It's the Chinese model, but the Chinese model isn't even working for the Chinese. And the corporations have taken over and are telling the government that what they need is an influx of very cheap labor.

When we valued skilled labor and paid it well, we got skilled labor, pride in workmanship and good quality work. Now our society is fraying a bit at the seams.

meaculpa2011

(918 posts)
409. For many people I know relocation is...
Sun Dec 8, 2013, 08:35 AM
Dec 2013

very difficult, regardless of generational labels.

My grandparents left Sicily to find a better life. My parents won't move off the block.

For me, whenever an opportunity arose--London, Lima, Singapore--I jumped at it. Thankfully, my wife loves adventure as much as I.

For the past twenty years I've tried to stay close to home because of the children, with the occasional few weeks to a few months of travel. However, I know parents with young kids who bounce around periodically and the children are doing just fine.

Our kids are now almost independent and I'm awaiting a decision on a two-year assignment in Southeast Asia. Got my fingers crossed.

Giving people advice about moving here or there makes no sense if they are not equipped to live that kind of life.

Blus4u

(608 posts)
413. LOT OF TIME BEING WASTED ON THIS.....
Mon Dec 9, 2013, 04:30 PM
Dec 2013
RAG DOLL PERSON,.....
(by some pretty intelligent folks, too)
Ya'll getting played.
eom


Peace
 

jtuck004

(15,882 posts)
415. You might as well be yelling this into a wishing well. If the Boomers were capable of
Wed Dec 11, 2013, 05:19 PM
Dec 2013

helping anyone they would help themselves. But we, apparently, aren't

You are on your own. Best get busy.

 

jtuck004

(15,882 posts)
417. Just look around. We can't get enough debt, yet it is the very thing that is killing us.
Wed Dec 11, 2013, 05:50 PM
Dec 2013

We keep electing people that are bad for us. We refuse to see the future for what it really is.

"I saved a thousand slaves. I could have saved a thousand more if only they knew they were slave." H. Tubman <-people living under the thumb of the rentiers todahy can't seem to realize that she is talking about them.

I think the Boomers are lost, and many are going to die in tragic and miserable ways that didn't need to be.

But people after us should start living like it was WWI, and there is no one to get anything from. Many will die, but they can either die free of this or in servitude. They are on the losing side right now, and haven't even figured out war was declared on them many years ago.
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