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Society, baby boomers to millennials - and beyond?

Started by Dave, January 08, 2018, 12:15:59 PM

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Dave

Since we were getting off thread with a very discussable subject I thought a new thread might be helpful.

Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on January 08, 2018, 11:20:28 AM
Quote from: Dave on January 08, 2018, 07:43:46 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on January 08, 2018, 03:11:00 AM

Hmm...it's an exaggerated caricature but that seems to be how many previous generations see millennials -- a cellphone attached, self absorbed, entitled and basically idiotic generation. ::)

Um, you mean, um, they're not!?


To be fair, the Boomer generation pretty much screwed the Millennials over but good.  Sure, some of us were out on the streets protesting and trying to better the world but way too many of us where just grubbing for money, using up everything other generations had built up and not replacing it, as if it would all re-generate magically.

You are very correct there, Books! As a baby boomer myself, though not a greedy money grabber, I am still very aware that even my modest glorified bedsitter and comfortable standard of living is beyond some of the youngsters I know in decent jobs. The single ones being the worst off in some ways, those with both working and no kids, two incomes and no dependants seems to be the requiredcstatus for homevownership these dsys for the majority.

My exfriend's son, working in a decent job in Royal Mail, and his wife, a social worker, rent a one bedroom flat, plus a large walk-in cupboard, costing them about £700/month in Cheltenham. I gave them £1k as a wedding present and have forgiven the £3k I "loaned" to replace their car - on the understanding that they put the money they would have psid me back into a "house deposit account". I also support two kids charities with monthly donations.

I do not exactly feel "guilty" that my, fairly modest (compared to whst I would be earning were I still working), income exceeds my essential outgoings considerably, but it does prompt me to hrlp where I feel that I can make a difference.

Youth has probably had its pressures in most ages, especially amongst the "entitled", or, at keast, those with aspirations to that status. I never felt "entitled" as a kid but the pressures of every aspect of fashion, clothes, technology, body shape etc, on a generation that has much more "aspirations to/entitlement" is a dangerous trend I think.

Maybe we baby boomers are greedy, but are we also the last generation, as a whole, in the first world that felt we had to fight for and earn our luxuries? The things which we thought off as luxuries now seem to be essentials to the status of many more kids.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: Dave on January 08, 2018, 07:43:46 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on January 08, 2018, 03:11:00 AM
Quote from: Icarus on January 08, 2018, 02:20:35 AM
Not so funny vid.  I was an employer for almost 40 years and have done a lot of interviews.  In fairness this one is a spoof.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo0KjdDJr1c

Hmm...it's an exaggerated caricature but that seems to be how many previous generations see millennials -- a cellphone attached, self absorbed, entitled and basically idiotic generation. ::)

Um, you mean, um, they're not!?

Ok, not the millennials, entirely, maybe the next generation, oh, 95% ? What you said about the effects of excessive screentime is worrying. Thpugh we previously worried about excessive TV, then excessive gaming, neither of those had the social impact of (anti)social media and "fake news"' - if only because there was not the "any time, anywhere, 24/'7-global" pervasive access currently available in our povkets or bags. It takes a degree of msturity to ignore such things, let's hope the coming generations have a chance to achieve that, the instability of puberty is bad enough without such influences!

Excessive screentime might not have a considerable social impact, but it may be acting on developing brains in which the reward pathway (involving the pleasure neurotransmitter dopamine) is almost constantly activated, generating addiction in young children. Such children also do not have the opportunities to acquire important skills such as tolerance for boredom, and developing healthy mechanisms to cope with boredom.

I base these observations on my 8 year old niece, who spends upwards of 5 hours per day on the computer -- playing games and watching youtube -- besides another good number of hours watching TV now that it's the holidays. She is already addicted, and I worry that could result in unwanted tendencies such as the tendency to get addicted to things, seeking that dopamine rush. I think this current generation of children will be the I WANT IT NOW! generation...technologically savvy but impatient and with little focus if environmental conditions allow it.

I know that there was always a talk of "too much of this and that is bad", but nowadays with advances in neuroscience techniques the impacts excessive screentime can have on still immature, developing brains can be better investigated.   

Of course there are good aspects to children being exposed to technology for such lengthy periods of time, my niece was a poor reader until she felt really motivated to read the words appearing on the screen, for instance. 
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


xSilverPhinx

Quote from: Dave on January 08, 2018, 12:15:59 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on January 08, 2018, 03:11:00 AM

Hmm...it's an exaggerated caricature but that seems to be how many previous generations see millennials -- a cellphone attached, self absorbed, entitled and basically idiotic generation. ::)

Um, you mean, um, they're not!?

As an older millennial myself, I resent that question! :P

By the time I was 21-22 years old (2007 -2008), an age when most are finishing their university degrees and joining the workforce, the world went into economic crisis. I think to this day the lack of good prospects coupled with rising prices really influence behaviour. Many younger millennials these days seem in general to be rather aimless. What's the point of going to university, for instance, when these are no adequate jobs for you when you finish?   
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Dave

Quote from: xSilverPhinx on January 08, 2018, 01:19:06 PM
Quote from: Dave on January 08, 2018, 12:15:59 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on January 08, 2018, 03:11:00 AM

Hmm...it's an exaggerated caricature but that seems to be how many previous generations see millennials -- a cellphone attached, self absorbed, entitled and basically idiotic generation. ::)

Um, you mean, um, they're not!?

As an older millennial myself, I resent that question! :P

By the time I was 21-22 years old (2007 -2008), an age when most are finishing their university degrees and joining the workforce, the world went into economic crisis. I think to this day the lack of good prospects coupled with rising prices really influence behaviour. Many younger millennials these days seem in general to be rather aimless. What's the point of going to university, for instance, when these are no adequate jobs for you when you finish?   

Perhsps I am thinking of the "true millenials", 17 - 18yos!

Regarding screentime, and including texting etc, I am still looking for that picture of a Spanish uni student "social club" where only two out of the fifty odd were actually talking, every other student was staring at a screen. OK, it is still a form of socialising but, I wonder how many were taking part in erudite discussion (like wot this am)  am how many checking the latest pop-video or what their friends are up to or . . .

We are talking quality here, folks!

On the financial side: I recognise the impact that the Crash of '88 had, a crash that can be, effectively, blamed on baby boomers and the generation that followed them, the one's in positions to effect and authorise those deals at the time - as an expression of human greed. And there is still a fesr that regulation and controls are sufficiently lax for it to hsppy agsin - if a major computer virus or glitch does not crash it in, in microseconds, first.

If the millennisls hate us baby booners much of that hate is probably justified - the trick is, how to train them not to foul it up for their own future. On the other side I very often hear of parents and grandparents helping the youngsters out.

On the subject of university education: many of the polytechnic colleges in the UK became unis and several new ones were opened. There are now so many students at "low grade" unis now whose degrees are going to be little better than the old vocational certs and diplomas those old colleges taught for. Unless those degrees have a practical work experience element of a year, not just the summer hols, some engineering employers tend to be not so impressed. Not sure how many unis involve potential employers with course structure design.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: Dave on January 08, 2018, 02:23:54 PM
On the subject of university education: many of the polytechnic colleges in the UK became unis and several new ones were opened. There are now so many students at "low grade" unis now whose degrees are going to be little better than the old vocational certs and diplomas those old colleges taught for. Unless those degrees have a practical work experience element of a year, not just the summer hols, some engineering employers tend to be not so impressed. Not sure how many unis involve potential employers with course structure design.

Looks like another bubble...even in Brazil the number of second or third rate colleges and universities that offer higher education seems to have tripled or more, but there are no jobs for everybody with a tertiary degree. Why on Earth go to university so you can flip burgers at McDonald's?

I am reminded of a postdoc fellow at the lab who had to waitress in a café because she didn't reapply for government funding (postdoc grants last for only a year at a time) for some reason. She's a woman who is extremely qualified...working as a waitress to make ends meet. And that's the current reality. What happens is qualified, productive people go live abroad, and that's extremely bad for the country. 
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Dave

Quote from: xSilverPhinx on January 08, 2018, 02:46:28 PM
Quote from: Dave on January 08, 2018, 02:23:54 PM
On the subject of university education: many of the polytechnic colleges in the UK became unis and several new ones were opened. There are now so many students at "low grade" unis now whose degrees are going to be little better than the old vocational certs and diplomas those old colleges taught for. Unless those degrees have a practical work experience element of a year, not just the summer hols, some engineering employers tend to be not so impressed. Not sure how many unis involve potential employers with course structure design.

Looks like another bubble...even in Brazil the number of second or third rate colleges and universities that offer higher education seems to have tripled or more, but there are no jobs for everybody with a tertiary degree. Why on Earth go to university so you can flip burgers at McDonald's?

I am reminded of a postdoc fellow at the lab who had to waitress in a café because she didn't reapply for government funding (postdoc grants last for only a year at a time) for some reason. She's a woman who is extremely qualified...working as a waitress to make ends meet. And that's the current reality. What happens is qualified, productive people go live abroad, and that's extremely bad for the country.

Yup, like exporting the future.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Davin

Baby boomers were born right in the sweet spot after a hard working generation built everything up from the last time people forgot that things have to be paid for. So they grow up with all this stuff (great and stable economy, roads, highways, job prospects, upward mobility, safety nets, education, houses), and don't really have to build anything yet. Then they spend the next 50 or so years systematically dismantling all the things that pay for all those things acting like everything should "pay for itself" because they refuse to look at the whole of history and instead cherry picked their favorite parts of everything.

Then here comes the Millennials, they look around and see chaotic economy where everything is risky, shitty roads, tolled highways, "entry level" jobs asking for 5 years experience, a job ladder with rungs so far apart that climbing up is near impossible, more limited safety nets, education that leaves them in debt for most of their life, houses that are growing farther and farther away from affordability... etc. A crumbling world because no one is paying for anything because taxes are now bad for some irrational reasons.

The economy was getting better and better when the Boomers started taking control. People were able to take risks, small businesses were booming and staying alive and productive for years. Money was flowing around from the top to the bottom. And then the Boomers happened. They looked at a great economy, then supported and voted away all the things that helped keep it going like that. They got rid of one of the Glass-Steagle acts but only the one limiting risky bank practices, they kept the one where the Federal Government would still back the banks. So what happened? The bank risked shitloads of money, lost, and the government bailed them out. There are many other things, but they all fall along those lines.

For over three decades, the infrastructure budget has been inadequate to meet the demands, and keeps getting cut. But they don't want to pay for the roads they use, they just want to complain about all the potholes.

Boomers grew up and gained a job market that helped protect worker's rights. They took that and eroded the worker's rights back to people working 80+ hours a week and still living in poverty. And don't even try to talk about moving up the ladder. With the inequality levels getting close to pre-Great Depression levels, the ladder is so spread out that getting up to the next rung is proving to be mush less likely. In the Boomers generation, jobs cycled around, and flowed. Today the flow is almost stopped. There are a lot of causes for this, but all the causes trace back to policies supported and enacted by Boomers.

And then there are the safety nets for when a person falls down on their luck. Boomers would be able to bounce back up because they wouldn't lose out too much and then get right back into working again. Somehow, Boomers think that shouldn't happen anymore and have supported and voted the net away. There is hardly any bouncing back all anymore and it's more like letting the people down to poverty slower than it is bouncing them back into working.

Boomers were able to save up for a year of college by working a summer job, and still have enough left over to by a car. But since the Boomers had taken over, College costs have increased more than almost any other market. Converting the costs of college that most Boomers had to pay into inflated 2017 dollars, a Boomer could pay for ALL FOUR years of college for the low low price of less than $4000. That would barely pay for half of one year at a cheap college today. And yet the Boomers refuse to think that there is a problem there.

And there there are houses and rent. Increased so much over the years. When I moved into college, I got a place for $260/month. That same place now just 15 years later, even though it's still shitty, is going for $800/month. If you convert $260 in 2003 into 2017 dollars it comes to $357, less than half the monthly rent. Is the place suddenly in a great neighborhood? Crime is about the same but the average income of the area has gone down. And while this isn't a problem directly caused by Boomers, Boomers have refused to do anything about it and have instead turned to complaining that the Millennials are just whiners.

In short: Boomers don't get to complain that any other generation is lazy, entitled, self absorbed, idiotic, or pretty much anything else until they stop being five times worse in all respects.
Always question all authorities because the authority you don't question is the most dangerous... except me, never question me.

Pasta Chick


Dave

In the UK the baby boomers came after the loss of life and the destruction caused by WW2. There were lots of jobs going, lots of rebuilding of homes and infrastructure.

Industry had been almost revolutionised by manufacturing techniques and technologies developed as part of the war effort. Lots of minds, attitudes, rules and philosophies were changing. It all made for a fairly booming work environment by the late 40s - 60s, unlike the aftermath of WW1 (graph does not want to load, see here).

So, yes, the "wealth" of the 1970s onwards were built on the high employment status of the preceding 20 odd years, combination of technology, need, attitude and availability? I should add that we also suffered a large number of strikes, some possibly encoyrages by the rise of Communism, some by greed but some because of employment practices that were going out of date (but are creeping back in agsin as "zero hours contracts" etc,)
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Dave

Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Davin

If history is used as an example, as long as the Millennials and beyond fight against the Baby Boomers, everything will get much better. Then the generation after those two will look around at how great everything is, take all the hard work of the previous generations, ignore large parts of history, and slowly destroy everything again. They will be the new Baby Boomers.

Unless the current Baby Boomers keep fucking everything up even more.

And I know that not all of them are bad. But their generation as a whole is the worst we've had since the generation that caused the Great Depression.
Always question all authorities because the authority you don't question is the most dangerous... except me, never question me.

Dave

Quote from: Davin on January 08, 2018, 04:33:26 PM
If history is used as an example, as long as the Millennials and beyond fight against the Baby Boomers, everything will get much better. Then the generation after those two will look around at how great everything is, take all the hard work of the previous generations, ignore large parts of history, and slowly destroy everything again. They will be the new Baby Boomers.

Unless the current Baby Boomers keep fucking everything up even more.

And I know that not all of them are bad. But their generation as a whole is the worst we've had since the generation that caused the Great Depression.

Hmm, baby boomers - if we are going to use that term strictly - seem to be born between 1940 something up to the mid 1960s, that leaves some to continue working until, say, 2030ish, assuming  retiring at about 65 (though in the UK the retirement age is creeping later). That is a time when most early millennials should be hitting in the latter part of their peak performance years; education, experience plus physical ability. But, of course, they have to get those jobs first to get the experience . . . And the movers and shakers, the very top men, tend to stretch their work or influence out until they drop of their perches - or get pushed.

And there is not exactly an industrial industry boom in the West at the moment, China has taken a lot of that work. Though that might be slowly changing. We need to work more on the modern physical technologies, new materials etc, but automated manufacturing may be built into many of those.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Ecurb Noselrub

Geez, attacking a whole generation is painting with a pretty broad brush.  We were born 1946 to 1963, so we didn't start reaching voting until 1964, and that was just the first group of us.  I got there in 1970, and the youngest of us could vote in 1981.  The first Boomer President was Clinton.   I'm not seeing how we screwed everything up.  We split fairly evenly along party lines, so when we were voting we were largely canceling ourselves out, and the difference in elections could have been made up by other generations, who were voting, too.  I don't think you can lay everything at the feet of one generation.

xSilverPhinx

Came across this quote:

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint."

- Hesiod, 8th Century BCE

Sounds like it could have been out of the mouth of a baby boomer right? It seems generational discord is one common thread throughout history.
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


xSilverPhinx

I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey