I got in a fight with my parents today...

[minivan2]

For my job I'm going to get a little over $8,000 a year, which I think is too little for a college student. While my parents think that it's fine. My parents are both democrats but I'm more liberal than they are, so while I was complaining on how bad the minimum wage is and high tuition, they started calling me a socialist. Since when did my parents become part of the right?

I tried telling them how it was easier for them back in the day, but they still didn't understand. I'm just frustrated with what happened and I'm almost crying right now. I want to move to Canada.

[easychoice]

1. Buck Up! Anyone who pays income tax is a socialist.

Tell your parents not to use big words they don't understand.

[rock]

51. I have to agree

If the government helps you out, that's socialism!

[delrem]

2. $8,000 is way too little. Esp. for a college student.

Your parents are wrong.
Although I don't know the entire circumstances, IMO they ought not to have called you "political" names (socialist), because the issue wasn't about that.

I say, stand your ground but don't break with your family. Plan. You might well look at colleges in Canada, and at the myriad scholarships and subsidies available even to foreign students. To be sure, Canadian colleges and universities do tend to favor the very rich foreigners, the ones who can pay top dollar because it's nothing to their pocketbooks compared to securing their family a favored slot in Canada. But US citizens looking for opportunities are also very (and more deeply) favored because there's a long tradition of it and only good has ever come of it. So do look at Canadian colleges and universities and esp. scholarships etc. particular to each, and some of these can be pretty esoteric, not easily found (so more likely still available).

[newfie11]

19. Your parents are living in a past era

When I graduated college in 1968 my first job was $10.00 an hour (radiographer).

[BlueJazz]

3. I may be off a little on the numbers but I'd remind them that...

..back-in-their-day the minimum wage was equal to somewhere around 14-18 dollars now.
In any case it was, at least, a decent pay for a days work...now it's just slave pay.

[postulater]

4. I agree with you. And I'm probably your parents age.

My daughter graduated as a structural engineer and can't find an engineering job.

And what's wrong with being a socialist?

Just keep good relations with them. They're your biggest fans. Sometimes you have to overlook a a little bit of idiocy.

[seabeyond]

5. Who is paying your college cause I am paying my sons and I KNOW it is harder today

Than in my time. Now pay. Minimum wage back then was bogus too. Worse today. Cost of living higher. But wasn't easy back in the day either. But again, cost of living not as high.

[Rod Beauvex]

6. How old are your parents?

I've noticed more and more, that a large chunk of the baby boomer generation, and even some of the older Gen Xers really don't seem to understand the modern world they live in, and are still living in the 50's and 60's, or if they're slightly younger and/or more progressive, the seventies. A lot of them still think a simple job can pay for college, a handshake and a 'good attitude' is all you need to get a job, which they seem to think are plentiful, and you can buy a house on a job without a degree. And it's not just the rightwing crazies either.


Thank the FSM DU is is filled with more sensible people, from all the age groups.

[minivan2]

7. My dad just turned 55

Last edited Sat Jul 26, 2014, 11:59 PM - Edit history (1)

My mom will be 60 in 2 years. So their not terribly old, but from my age that seems like they're fossils.

[LWolf]

49. I'm 54. Not a fossil yet.

Thankfully, my grown children and my teenage grandson don't treat me that way.

That said, I hear some of the same kinds of things from my 75 yo mom, who is a Democrat and not a fossil.

She is a Democrat who has not grown out of her early conditioning.

[abelenkpe]

13. Feel like my parents don't understand how much more difficult

It is today. And I'm gen X. Trying to raise two young kids. Millenials have it worse. 8000 is no where near enough. My parents bought a home, raised three kids, sent them to college on one salary. And work was 9-5, not 9-6. They have pensions, social security, savings. They were both high school drop outs. My parents truly believe that a good attitude is all that is needed to live the American dream, that those out of work, unable to buy a home or struggling in any way to live a life less than they enjoyed are lazy bums. They just do not get it.

[laundry_queen]

21. My parents are the same way

I'm gen-x too. According to them, "kids these days" are simply lazy and expect the world to be handed to them on a silver platter and that's why you see such high unemployment. They don't get the issue at all either.

My parents were also really horrible at school...they didn't drop out but they barely passed, both having to repeat some classes. Yet, they were able to get good jobs. They bought a house when prices were only double what your annual salary was. Now, in in the same area, housing prices are close to 6 times annual salaries. Minimum wage is not quite double what it was when I made minimum wage 20 years ago even though prices of nearly everything have tripled except for houses which are through the roof! Who can afford a house now? It's ridiculous. Yet, people are 'lazy' according to my parents, the people who benefitted from the housing price increases.

I won't even get into the crap I got from them when I decided to go back to school after my divorce. They thought it was the dumbest idea on the planet and that I needed to 'join the real world' (ahem, divorcing, being a single parent to 4 and being in school full time is pretty 'real world' in my books) and 'work my way up' like THEY did. "*WE* never needed a degree." They said. So out of touch it's laughable. BTW, they didn't ever 'work their way up'. My dad held the same position for 35 years. My mom switched positions as her company got bought out over and over again and then landed in her current position by a total fucking fluke of good luck (which brought with it a lot of money which has made them WORSE with the right wing talking points). If not for that unbelievable stroke of good luck, my parents would've been unable to retire. Yet, they cannot see it. So frustrating.

[phylny]

25. I'm at the tail end of the baby boom, and I can tell you that I *know*

it's much worse today than it was when I was young.

We had no college loan debt, were able to buy a small home after being married for two years, we both worked, but I was able to stop work for a while and stay at home with my kids, my husband has a job with a pension and 401K, we put our kids through college and have no debt, having paid off modest loans we took out to cover those years when we had two in college at the same time.

With regard to going back to school, good for you! I went back when our youngest was 18 months old and got a second bachelor's degree and a master's degree to make myself more marketable, and lo and behold, have great job security and get job offers weekly from other companies.

Unfortunately, your parents have blinders on if they can't see the difference between then and now.

[TransitJohn]

41. Gen Xers weren't born in the 50s, and if born in the 60s, were infants

Gen Xers are stuck in the 90s. Your conflation of Baby Boomers and Gen Xers doesn't makes sense to me.

[Rod Beauvex]

47. I though I was clear..

I did mean some of the older Gen Xers. Not all agree when this began, but I usually mean people between 66-72, or such.

[TransitJohn]

48. People currently 66-72 are not Gen X

Thus, my (and possibly your) confusion.

[marions ghost]

50. BORN between 66 and 72

---duh

[JustAnotherGen]

54. Eh - More like 78

I'm born in 1973 - if you understand "Me You See I'm Nothing" without having to google it - you are Gen X.

[marions ghost]

58. or more like 1980?

I wasn't meaning the dates cover the whole gen X group--just referring to the period the previous poster mentioned.

So anyway I looked it up:

Gen X --1965 to 1980

1981-1995 is supposed to be the age range for Millennials...

[JustAnotherGen]

62. Most 32 year olds

I have to explain the relevance of The Cure and The Smiths too - and they have no idea that Ice T is a rapper - OG Original Gangstah! ditto the relevance of Reality Bites, Higher Learning, and School Daze.

Killing it! We are so money!

[TransitJohn]

63. That's not at all what he said

And if it were, how could such a person be stuck in the 50s?

[kcr]

56. I agree.

We're lumped in with them more and more. I don't get it.

[JEB]

8. If this deadbeat nation wanted to even approach exceptional

it would educate anyone interested, willing and able to do the work of studying, free of charge. So fuck yeah, I'm a Socialist and I'm 62.

[Warpy]

9. Inflation

Your parents think 8 grand would have been a princely amount for college when they went to school. It won't go far now, not with inflated student housing costs.

[Paulie]

10. Reverse calculating it comes out in 1975 dollars

Value: $1,781.59

Annual Inflation: 3.93%
Total Inflation: 349.03%

That's gross not take home pay.

[Warpy]

11. Like we trust the official number

after Greenscam pissed in the market basket and told us it was fine wine.

[JayhawkSD]

12. We have become a "minimum wage nation."

It wasn't long ago that the marches and demonstrations in the streets were about "union power" and about preserving the good, high paying jobs; about maintaining the power of the working class.

Today those marches and demonstrations in the streets are about the minimum wage.

It used to be that the minimum wage jobs were "entry level" jobs, held by people just beginning in the work force until they cold get real jobs. Not many people worked for minimum wage, and those who did did not do so for very long. The minimum wage was merely to prevent abuse, not intended to support families.

Today we are a nation that instead of aiming higher focuses on the minimum because most people today work for minimum wage. The minimum wage is now the American standard. Pathetic.

"I tried telling them how it was easier for them back in the day..."

Easier? Oh hell no. I stood at the factory gates with an axe handle in my hand, facing down a phalanx of armed policemen. You think that was easy? We didn't whine about moving to Canada, we fought for our rights and our dignity.

[xfundy]

14. Not enough to live on

[DEMTough]

15. I feel you, I'm 20, and made just over $14,000 last year.

This is CA too, so odds are, our differences in wage are most likely not that different, due to the cost of living. I made 10$ an hour for most of last year, up from 9.50$ in the first two months. I'm currently making 10.30$ an hour from last November. While part-time.

If I didn't live with my parents and have FAFSA for school, I'd be on the streets right now. And I make too much for welfare.

Don't move to Canada, to me, that's giving up, I need to stay and fight so my children have a better and more secure upbringing than I did.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

16. Were you looking to them for additional support?

If so, I'm not suggesting you were wrong for doing so but getting into a "fight" probably set back your cause.

[mwrguy]

17. They have a problem with socialism?

Great democrats you've got there.

[Gravitycollapse]

18. I'm 24, making 19,000 a year and barely getting by with student loan debt.

Fucking vultures.

Anyway, 8000 a year for a college student is probably not possible. I was barely getting by on 12,000 a year.

[malaise]

20. That was a great salary

40 years ago when you could buy a Corolla for $3,000.

[badtoworse]

22. Is it 40 hour per week job and what would you be doing?

Need more information to form an opinion.

[Travis_0004]

55. Its not 40 hours a week

If it was the hourly rate would be 3.84, well below minimum wage.

[Laelth]

23. k&r for the truth, however depressing it may be. n/t

-Laelth

[eridani]

24. Refer them to any online inflation calculator to teach them how privlleged they are

My $2.50/hr job in 1966 worked out to $19.23 in today's dollars. A lot of boomers are fucking clueless in this area.

[FSogol]

26. ^^^This^^^^

[sendero]

27. Exactly..

.... and that is probably based on official CPI numbers, which grossly understate inflation, hence the real number is probably in the mid 20s.

[Javaman]

45. +1000 nt

[snooper2]

46. ROFLMAO

tell your parents how "privileged" they are

you forgot to mention have fun with it

[B Calm]

28. Your parents are just happy your willing to work while in college, thus

helping them with your college expenses.

[JanMichael]

29. Wife is an academic librarian- here is what she thinks:

You are correct. Unfortunately, your folks are from "our generation," (wife is 50) and when we were your age, we did not have to pay for phones, internet- etc. It was much cheaper and easier to make it in college. However, the smart phones and access to a computer 24/7 in college is critical to student success now. Many of the professional journals used by students for papers/ research are online. While the libraries are doing a great job in trying to ensure availability, the most successful students will have their own internet devices for writing papers, etc.

It's a "new" world out there in academia, and not many of our "boomers" recognize it. They see the internet and computers as "perks." They are not; they are now mandatory in both school and business.

[G_j]

44. excellent points

[marions ghost]

52. Oh come on

Boomers in general know how much harder it is to get by on very little these days. Many that I know are helping their kids out financially as much as possible. The millenials are not having it easy, and I think we can point some fingers as to why that is true--but many boomer parents are still struggling...so at least point the fingers at corporate and conservative policies.

[JanMichael]

60. nope. My wife talks to these kids all day

Sorry. MANY (not all) of the parents that are in our generation do not realize the importance of having a good working internet device for school, nor do they realize that "an old laptop" doesn't work with the software the kids need in the evening to log onto school programs.

This OP is NOT about corporate and conservative policies- it's about the student's parents, and how they simply cannot see the costs associated with higher education today.

It's called "technostress," and frankly- there are some DUers on this thread that have not got a clue in the world either.

[marions ghost]

64. There are other factors in this

not only "technostress"....

[JanMichael]

66. yes, in the bigger picture- there are many other factors...however,

the OP is addressing this ONE issue.

[marions ghost]

68. I see the OP as a general statement

about the fact that her parents don't understand how expensive things are these days.

I'm saying I don't think that's the only problem here. Mkay?

[JanMichael]

69. Except that it's NOT. MKay?

If you wish to start a thread about all the problems with the expense associated with attending college today, please do. It's a worthy topic. However, the OP is about ONE problem, and that is what I was addressing.

[marions ghost]

70. How ridiculous

do you know what a conversation is? A thread is a conversation.

Nobody's starting another thread here...but I think some are trying to start an altercation.

[Tetris_Iguana]

30. 8k is four times more than I was making in school

And a lot more than zero. Got to count one's blessings where they can.

Anyways, If 8k is still too little, find a different employer who values your work more.

Or get some more roommates, break out the Raman and cheap beer, and chillax.

It's college after all, save worrying too much about money for after then.

Just my 2 cents.

[eShirl]

31. have you seen tuition rates recently?

[Tetris_Iguana]

34. As a recent graduate, yes.

And I'm paying for it now every month for the next several years.

Sorry but the OP hits me as the archetype for why older generations complain my generation.

College kids have always struggled; living with roommates, sleeping on second or third hand furniture, eating cheap pizza, and doing odd jobs to get by.

It's a hallowed part of the college experience that builds tenacity, and this (I assume) kid wants to jump ahead in line?

Sorry not buying it, and apparently his or her parents and the market aren't either, thank god.

[abelenkpe]

35. "I made it. If you didn't it's because you're a whiner."

I love it when the fortunate few like yourself chime in and crap all over everyone elses's struggle. You sound like a good little teabagger:"I got mine, why didn't you."

[Tetris_Iguana]

37. Oh BS abelenkpe

The kid's sad because they're learning the hard lesson that unless one has a reputation that makes money, one gets payed for what they do, not for what what their bills are.

That's a nonpartisan fact; aka reality.

The kid has trouble paying bills? Well step in line with the 99%. Either take out some more loans, or earn a grant/scholarship, take fewer classes, or cut costs elsewhere.

But definitely don't go looking for sympathy for being a special little snowflake.

[abelenkpe]

39. Great right wing talking points

The op is not a whiner. And I reject the notion everyone seeking a higher education should suffer in order to get it. Only in the us do we burden our best and brightest with massive debt for seeking higher education. As many have pointed out 8000 is a pathetic salary. The only struggle college kids should have is focusing on their studies. Not worrying about bills. Clearly you don't share the reality of millions of other hopelessly indebted students. Your compassion is noted. Enjoy your good fortune and superior attitude.

[Tetris_Iguana]

43. Assumptions assumptions

You don't know the first thing about me.

I paid my dues through college by working midnight shifts doing heavy physical labor. My back is permanently screwed up because of it and I'm not even 30.

I saved a lot of money by going to community college first because I knew I couldn't afford all four years at university. Then when I went to university, I still couldn't afford the one I wanted, so I picked the cheapest that loans would cover.

I'm still paying my dues by paying back 33 cents out of every dollar I make to repay my college debts.

That's not an exceptional story by any means. It's just doing what you have to, to survive.

I agree with you that tuition is outrageous, and something should be done at the federal level to make it more affordable. But I don't think that's the heart of the OP.

The heart of the OP is that a college kid thinks they should make X amount because they happen have bills, and because of that life is a black pit of despair.

Well la-di-freakin-da.

Apparently the (wiser) parents came to the same conclusion.

The kid still has many options to complete school. It may not be exactly as planned, but what is?

And yes, $8000 is pathetic. So kid, go out and prove you're worth more.

[tkmorris]

36. You are hilarious

I do love a good parody.

[d_r]

32. do you

Have to pay tuition, books, room and board out of that? If so you are screwed. If not you are fine. Is it work-study job? Are you paying car and insurance? Health insurance and costs?

[surrealAmerican]

33. There's nothing wrong with being a socialist.

It ought not be viewed as an insult. Wear it as a badge of pride.


Of course, if you were actually a socialist, the whole idea of paying tuition would be just wrong. Society as a whole benefits from you being educated, so the costs should be shared.

[ladjf]

38. I don't know how old you or your parents are or how well off your parents are.

But, from your brief op, I can conclude that you've got bigger problems that arguing with them. Assuming that you are in good health, your first goal should be to get a better job than you now have. There is no way you can afford to attend college and support yourself on 8K. That's barely minimum wage. There are available jobs in the food service industry paying more than that.

You are having a tough time. But, so is most other Americans. The rich have pulled the rug out from most of us. America is almost a third world Country.

Stop arguing with your parents. My guess is, they might be struggling themselves. If you could live with them without adding to their financial or personal problems, that would be a doable move.

Forget the Canadian move. Bad idea.

Do you have friends? If so, maybe some of them might point you toward better opportunities.

And, if you don't like any of my comments, just ignore them and chalk me up as just another unsympathetic old codger.

[raccoon]

40. I'm a boomer, no kids, but I know it's a heck of a lot tougher for young adults now than when I

was younger.

I've worked with 20-somethings, and seen first-hand how they often have degrees, are good workers, but have a really hard time getting a job with a living wage, much less benefits. They have to work two part-time jobs, have roommates, and/or live with parents to make ends meet.

Anybody who's been paying any attention should be aware that there are far fewer good jobs that pay a living wage than there
were in the '70's.

It was in the early '80s that I started to notice the proliferation of "temp" jobs....

[fredamae]

53. I agree with you

and I'm guessing I'm at least as old if not older than your parents...I see my own kids struggling. It's easy to "forget" how much easier it used to be. College was virtually "free" when I was young. It Is much harder now!

Hang in there.

[dilby]

57. Where are you going to be working?

I worked at the Front Desk of a hotel while in college and made $2 an hour more than minimum wage, it was great I worked full time, hours were 4PM to Midnight and there was very little foot traffic after 8 PM so I was able to do my homework at work. I did not have a social life but I was not starving either.

[Taitertots]

59. Some people are just stuck in the past

That $8,000 a year job wasn't a problem in the only time period they use as a frame of reference. In reality, $8,000 a year is basically dooming the worker to a life of extreme poverty.

If your parents start calling you a socialist just tell them to stop putting ideological purity before the well being of their children.

[taught_me_patience]

61. Most college students have an inflated idea of what their labor is worth

Looks like you just got a reality check.

[whistler162]

65. How many hours per week will you be

working.

If it is 4 hours that is about $38.46 per hour. Which isn't to bad.

[avebury]

67. At your age, consideration of moving to another country

is a real valid option.

If I were your age I wouldn't even think twice about it. The US is no longer the country is once will and it never will be again. Consider the migration of wealth away from the United States, the Corporate Welfare for the 1%ers and Corporation while the masses are more and more expected to live in abject poverty. Without a mighty military, the US is become just a shell. The time has come for young people to start to look elsewhere because the future is no longer here.