General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This, my friends, is far too typical for my generation. [View all]Laelth
(32,017 posts)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