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From talking with people who grew up in the 60s and 70s, it seems like a lot of them spent years in early adulthood without a formal job, surfing, playing music in clubs in the city, drinking, renting a small room, etc. That does not seem possible anymore. For example, if you want to be a surfer bum then I doubt you'd be able to afford to live anywhere near a CA beach anymore. Nevermind the fact that if you take 1 year off work then you will have a tremendously hard time re-entering the workforce because recruiters will throw out your resume due to a gap in your job history.
I've thought the same thing before regarding the original post. In the old days cost of living and the job market wasn't so competitive and ruthless. You could afford to be a slacker here and there, having fun, and then when you decided to get serious and finally "grow up" then just get a job and move on. These days if you take your foot off the gas in your career goals then you'll quickly be left in the dust.
not impossible, but certainly more difficult than in earlier years.
Exactly!! I fondly recall in the early 80's, several of us jumped in my buddies car in WI, drove to Pacific Beach, CA with basically the clothes on our backs and $75 cash. We arrived on a Monday afternoon and by lunch Tuesday, we all had jobs at Newberry's Department store for a whopping $4.25 an hour. For the first month we "lived" in Balboa Park, and the beach. Then we got a decent apartment 2 blocks from the ocean! Good times!!!
Not really "bumming around", but in 1975 I drove from Ohio to Los Angeles with $ 600 to my name. Spent a few weeks seeing the sights, then got a job sufficient to pay my expenses within 1 day of job searching. I don't think I'd feel confident about doing that today.
I think COL is forcing people to be more creative in leeching off of others.
e.g. I rented a room from a drunk who paid house rent to his out-of-town buddy. The drunk lived in the house for free by renting out rooms at a price high enough to cover his house rent, plus a surplus. When I moved in he was collecting unemployment benefits. As a trade union member, he did not have to actively look for work because that was supposedly a responsibility of the union. He used his full 99 weeks of unemployment and then got a 50% VA disability benefit. Then he discovered he could get more money on SS disability and switched to that.
After that I rented a room from a guy who also pays house rent to an absentee landlord, and lives in the house for free by charging higher room rents.
I bummed around Europe ( mostly France) for 8 months last year. I surf maybe 3 to 4 times a week and... I live ( and own a home) about 4 blocks from the beach. Haven't had a job since November 2016.
I've thought the same thing before regarding the original post. In the old days cost of living and the job market wasn't so competitive and ruthless. You could afford to be a slacker here and there, having fun, and then when you decided to get serious and finally "grow up" then just get a job and move on. These days if you take your foot off the gas in your career goals then you'll quickly be left in the dust.
Is it any wonder why so many Americans are so heavily medicated? Is it any wonder that Americans are, on average, less happy than countries like Norway or Denmark, or even Canada? It should surprise no one the popularity Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump saw. America just isn't as good as it used to be. That's not to say some things aren't better; certainly they are. But as a whole, it's not better. America has become cruel and mechanical.
Is it any wonder why so many Americans are so heavily medicated? Is it any wonder that Americans are, on average, less happy than countries like Norway or Denmark, or even Canada? It should surprise no one the popularity Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump saw. America just isn't as good as it used to be. That's not to say some things aren't better; certainly they are. But as a whole, it's not better. America has become cruel and mechanical.
Exactly!! It's a shame because it doesn't have to be that way. One of many things I've noticed is the attitude of many Aussies is to help out those down on their luck, while in america it's more like "I've got mine so screw everyone else because I'm better" mindset.
I'll never understand why so many Americans look down on people who struggle. Not every poor person is a lazy, drug-addicted, dole bludger.
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