Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Work and Employment
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-27-2016, 07:36 AM
 
1,160 posts, read 708,337 times
Reputation: 1346

Advertisements

yes, everyone does; however, few have what it takes...

It's a lesson lost on many of the new workers - their parents arent teaching them that, schools arent teaching them that, and college certainly isnt teaching them that.

Despite the interfering efforts of progressive regimes, we still live in a meritocracy which is being undermined by a "everyone's a winner" approach.

Mod cut.

Last edited by PJSaturn; 06-27-2016 at 06:02 PM.. Reason: Generation bashing is not permitted.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-27-2016, 07:53 AM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,180 posts, read 80,329,413 times
Reputation: 57054
This is nothing new. There have always been minimum wage workers, even college graduates, and there have always been unemployed people. Some of the differences now are:

1. More competition for jobs due to the increased immigration of professionals from other countries
2. The trend toward enhancing self-esteem for kids by reducing or eliminating competition (everyone gets a trophy, no tracking in schools)
3. Fewer high paying jobs as manufacturing is outsourced, and automation increases
4. The idea that everyone has to go to college, resulting in many graduates that have a degree but no passion for a particular field of work

All of that just makes it harder, but some people are still able to overcome it and get ahead. It takes a lot of ambition, self discipline, hard work, and patience.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-27-2016, 08:30 AM
 
Location: Chicago area
18,750 posts, read 11,725,695 times
Reputation: 64084
Moving up on the ladder wasn't on my radar. Being financially independent was.

I never wanted to be dependent on someone else's view of what my income should be, rather I preferred to focus on what I wanted it to be.

Jobs giveth, jobs taketh away. The best boss you'll ever have is yourself.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-27-2016, 09:14 AM
 
Location: Denver CO
24,204 posts, read 19,057,320 times
Reputation: 38266
Getting ahead of where you are isn't the same thing as getting ahead of everyone else.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-27-2016, 10:07 AM
 
6,922 posts, read 6,992,920 times
Reputation: 4335
Quote:
Originally Posted by KonaldDuth View Post
It seems everyone wants to move up the ladder, get a raise, a bonus, all that. You ask young people these days what they're doing in life and many say "I'm focusing on my career" -- whatever that means. But if you think about it, don't we need the majority of people to be worker beers? It's not possible to have an economy where everyone gets paid 6 figures to attend meetings and blast off emails. There are thousands and thousands of MBA grads every year and if they're all going to shuffle papers, then who's going to actually do productive work?
Exactly! That is what corporate American in general, and many people on this forum in particular, don't seem to understand.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-27-2016, 10:20 AM
 
Location: The analog world
17,077 posts, read 13,276,799 times
Reputation: 22904
Intellectual work IS work, and plenty of $200k tech workers write code, perform assessments to ensure the continuing effectiveness of essential infrastructure, and get up in the middle of the damn night to board a plane, so you can pull twenty dollars from the ATM or get your post-surgical lab results or stream a movie. This has been my life for the past twenty-five years, and you think it's just about writing emails.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-27-2016, 10:44 AM
 
Location: North Dakota
10,260 posts, read 13,774,819 times
Reputation: 18074
Quote:
Originally Posted by KonaldDuth View Post
It seems everyone wants to move up the ladder, get a raise, a bonus, all that. You ask young people these days what they're doing in life and many say "I'm focusing on my career" -- whatever that means. But if you think about it, don't we need the majority of people to be worker beers? It's not possible to have an economy where everyone gets paid 6 figures to attend meetings and blast off emails. There are thousands and thousands of MBA grads every year and if they're all going to shuffle papers, then who's going to actually do productive work?
Sounds like an excuse for not trying. Of course most people will be worker bees. And if you make no attempt to move up you will remain a worker bee.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-27-2016, 12:00 PM
 
Location: The Carolinas
2,511 posts, read 2,802,663 times
Reputation: 7972
Adapt or die: your survival is not required.

You've heard the academic expression "publish or perish". Either move forward or get fired.

My wife's company had a policy where every year the bottom 10% were terminated. People had to show forward-movement or be fired.

Military has same policy: move up steadily in rank or get booted.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-27-2016, 12:03 PM
 
10,075 posts, read 7,482,595 times
Reputation: 15498
Quote:
Originally Posted by Domitian View Post
Despite the interfering efforts of progressive regimes, we still live in a meritocracy which is being undermined by a "everyone's a winner" approach. [snip]
they should have learned this in school. not everyone was the team captain, not everyone was the class president, not everyone made the grade....

why would they later expect if they weren't one of the "top performers" in high school, that later on in life, they get to be a winner without changing how they do things? They couldn't compete when they played the same game as everyone else, why would it change in the work place? An average person is an average person through and through until they put the effort in to become above average in one aspect and capitalize on it

Last edited by PJSaturn; 06-27-2016 at 06:05 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-27-2016, 12:27 PM
 
191 posts, read 229,259 times
Reputation: 465
This is true, if "everyone" could make it to the top there wouldn't be so many poor people today I know soooooo many people who have gone from good paying jobs before 08'/Obama to now working part-time jobs and just scraping by. A number of dudes I know used to live alone, but now they need roommates just to cover rent. The number 1 thing I remember about pre-08' America is everyone I ran into was doing better than they are now, more people in actual detached houses and fewer people in apartments/poverty living.

I guess it's a good carrot on a stick to dangle in front of "the masses" though, keeps em' motivated and slaving away. That's the main carrot they dangle in front of the youth anyways: "just get this piece of paper/college degree and you'll have it made, don't worry about the student loans". Hope is a powerful force, however false it may be.

In reality, only a small % get ahead..... with connections, cronyism, the looks/attractiveness of the person, "right place at the right time", and family wealth all being KEY factors that determine whether someone "gets ahead" in the economy. That's the COLD, HARD TRUTH!!

It's a planet with finite resources, so the concept of "unlimited" economic growth is flawed. The reality is most people will end up on the losing/poverty side..... while all the "wrong" kinds of people (crooks, criminals, politicians, etc) end up at the "top" or rich.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Work and Employment

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top