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Just take a look at the Great Depression generation. They are/have been captains of industry, banking and any other business you can think of.
I think the outcome has more to do with relying on our own resources, being flexible and the necessity of hard work in order to succeed.
Sure it hurts, but the qualities that come out of a recession/depression are, well, priceless.
Exactly, and the "greatest generation" beat the Nazis and the Japanese, while ramping up domestic production to then unheard of levels. One key difference is that everyone pulled together to defeat our common enemy, and the country understood that it took individual success to achieve a common goal.
Today, we have a different society and a different political landscape. Entitlement has replaced hard work, and "gotcha politics" has replaced doing what's best for the country. We have politicians today who would rather win an election than a war, and citizens who just want to sit around and wait for the government to borrow money to give to them, while they whine at how life is unfair and their perceived victimhood.
Americans today are NOT the same as they were in 1933 or 1941.
Americans today are NOT the same as they were in 1933 or 1941.
Actually, according to some theories on generation the generational cycle is just about to start over. That is, the teenagers/kids today are of the same generational type as the "GI generation" that fought in the war and grew up during the depression. They are currently too young to see how they will behave, but they don't seem to have a major sense of entailment.
Also, the older generations in the 1930's and 1940's are pretty similar to the ones today. But most people do not have a living memory of these generations, only the GI generation (1900~1925) and silent generation (1925~1945).
But most people do not have a living memory of these generations, only the GI generation (1900~1925) and silent generation (1925~1945).
My mom is 82 and was born in 1927. My dad was born in 1925 and passed away from illness. He served in the army during WWII. I have heard the stories of growing up a child during the Great Depression, and I have heard the about the war and the shared sacrifices. These were the people who won WWII, rebuilt our world, and then won the cold war. The lessons I learned have tempered my thinking and actions. That's one of the reasons I'm not sitting around now in a fetal position like some of you.
I stick by my statements that Americans today are not the same (my own children included). Just look at our so-called leaders.
I stick by my statements that Americans today are not the same (my own children included). Just look at our so-called leaders.
The leaders today are not of your parents generational sort. Rather, their parents and grandparents. It is today's teenagers that are similar to the generations you are talking about, only time will tell if they follow a similar pattern.
Today is similar in generational terms to the early 1930's, when your parents were still kids.
My son is going on 18 and I worry about this. He wants to go to college. I'm not sure what he wants to persue other than music but he is a very talented musician. But whatever it is, he'll face a shrunken job market and competition I'm not sure he's going to be ready for since he's not the type a model. It would be ironic if music, which has been the hopeful goal could be the one that makes it.
All those kids in high school now face this. The ones that went to college still sold on the image are looking at a jungle but unless things get better very fast the kids in high school might not even get the chance to try.
We have only so many clerks at Walmart, or waiters or waitresses or pizza delivery people. The professional trades are difficult to get into. Some of us could not do sales to save our life. Where do the people left behind go?
The real question is how do we get clean of all this. Can we ever go back to the time where it took only one person to support a family and the second salary was the icing on the cake? My parent's generaton never had it so good way back when.
You can't put toothpaste back in the tube, once it's out it's out.
Stop worrying and complaining so damn much and come up with a personal solution. This big picture thinking won't help you.
So, no, you can never go back. But you do have your whole life ahead of you. What are you going to do about that to have the life you want? That's the only question you should be pondering.
"Electricians, plumbers, gardeners, housekeepers, truck drivers" many of the trade jobs are now being done by illegal (and legal) immigrants who can do the work for cheap and are non-union. Some work good - some work very bad... but they work cheap. We are squeezed from both sides - get your degree - you can't find a job - go to a tradeschool or an apprenticeship - your job gets taken by cheap labor.
But we can work at the big box stores - til there is no one left that can afford to buy stuff sold at them. I fear we are going to be a culture on welfare very very shortly.
The problem comes from the top, and smothers both innovation and competition. Endless lawsuits, ridiculous Government regulations, free flowing funny money to the well-connected but non-productive. These reasons are why we are all losing. Central planning and limited competition assure our descent and failure. It was very easy in 1900 to start and run just about any business. Now licensing and insurance requirements, zoning and overpriced real estate make the costs for real production prohibitively expensive. An inept and often corrupt legal system allows non-productive parasites such as attorneys/lawyers to suck the life out of whatever survives Governments onslaught. To fix the problem we have to remove the growing tumors called Government and the other parasites that have ruined this nation.
Who ever survives this cycle will become stronger. I can tell you from experience, most people in my generation, Generation Y, will not learn from this. Just hope new generation and a few others learn some responsibility from this crisis. I'm just hoping that there's a maximum of learning, and a minimum of suffering. It's awful that the two so often have to go together...
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