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.
What I conclude from this is not that boomers are "egotistical and out of touch" (whether you meant that seriously or sarcastically). But rather they did not do a good job at teaching their children to be self-sufficient. I hold out hope for the 5 who are not yet 21 (they are all doing well in school). But some of the boomerangs graduated from college. It's not their education that seems to be holding them back from building independent lives.
I would guess that those boomerangers were raised to do just as their boomer parents were raised to do--but entered a very different young adult world than their parents entered.
I would say it's not that their parents didn't teach them to be self sufficient. It's that they didn't actively enable their kids to acquire the tools to be self sufficient. Mostly these kids do not possess trade skills, foreign language skills, and the ambitions.
There Boomer parents didn't need those things...they took after their parents.
My maternal grandparents (who were legal immigrants who came to the US after WWI) had three children. Those three members of the so-called "greatest generation" all left home fairly young, one at age 18 to join the service during WWII, one at age 21 for marriage, one went to college and never moved back to the home. From the time my grandparents were in their mid-forties, they never had any relatives living in their home.
Those three children (my mother and her sibs) had among them 10 children who all qualify as baby boomers. Not one of those 10 boomers still lived at home by the time they were 22-year-old college grads; the ones who didn't go to college all left home immediately after graduating high school. Those 10 have dispersed all over the country, from Washington State to Florida, but I keep in touch with them as they are my sibs and cousins.
Of those 10 baby boomers, 2 had no children. The remaining 8 have 16 offspring total. Five of them are still students under the age of 21, so they are still reasonably living at home. Of the 11 who are adults (I guess they count as Generation X?) ALL have boomeranged at one time or another. ALL 11. Some of these 11 adult children seem to have permanently settled in their parents' home. Some of my boomer sibs and cousins currently have grandchildren who are also living with them.
What I conclude from this is not that boomers are "egotistical and out of touch" (whether you meant that seriously or sarcastically). But rather they did not do a good job at teaching their children to be self-sufficient. I hold out hope for the 5 who are not yet 21 (they are all doing well in school). But some of the boomerangs graduated from college. It's not their education that seems to be holding them back from building independent lives.
Very interesting. In 1938 federal laws were passed that severely limited children's ability to gain employment till the age of 16-18. That is in-line with the incoming baby boomer generation and their children. From that time on, it became increasingly common for parents to not allow children to work with the excuse that they must focus on studies. Parents also taught them they could study whatever they wanted and there would always be a middle class white collar lifestyle waiting for them. I have also seen many recent graduates that have NEVER held a job in their entire life... ZERO. Makes me question two things... do they understand the value of hardwork? Do they have reasonable expectations post graduation? This seems all in line with some of the point the article made too.
No.. I'm not saying that the child labor laws in place do not protect our children. What I'm saying is that we are failing to teach our children the fundamentals of surviving in our society... the value of hard work, dollar, and reasonable expectations. A lesson to late learned if the kid's first job search begins post-graduation.
OMG... look at the size of those loans (featured in the article). Seriously a B.A for 90+k? Sounds like they've been living off student loans... without working to fund it.
PS> Its seems that labor laws for children are less strict for agriculture. WTF.. sounds slanted doesn't it? Lessons of hard work only apply to children on farms? Why not the family business or small business retail counter in urban areas? Yeh yeh.. I know... off topic. Sounds like that provision was added to maintain political support from agricultural communities.
Very interesting. In 1938 federal laws were passed that severely limited children's ability to gain employment till the age of 16-18. That is in-line with the incoming baby boomer generation and their children. From that time on, it became increasingly common for parents to not allow children to work with the excuse that they must focus on studies. Parents also taught them they could study whatever they wanted and there would always be a middle class white collar lifestyle waiting for them. I have also seen many recent graduates that have NEVER held a job in their entire life... ZERO. Makes me question two things... do they understand the value of hardwork? Do they have reasonable expectations post graduation? This seems all in line with some of the point the article made too.
No.. I'm not saying that the child labor laws in place do not protect our children. What I'm saying is that we are failing to teach our children the fundamentals of surviving in our society... the value of hard work, dollar, and reasonable expectations. A lesson to late learned if the kid's first job search begins post-graduation.
OMG... look at the size of those loans (featured in the article). Seriously a B.A for 90+k? Sounds like they've been living off student loans... without working to fund it.
PS> Its seems that labor laws for children are less strict for agriculture. WTF.. sounds slanted doesn't it? Lessons of hard work only apply to children on farms? why not the family business or small business retail counter in urban areas?
This is something that a lot of people on the left still don't realize. They are simply delaying the pain and it's going to be that much more painful.
This is something that a lot of people on the left still don't realize. They are simply delaying the pain and it's going to be that much more painful.
If we're still talking about middle class kids....
Conversely, you could argue that "people on the left" are indeed those folks who held jobs in high school, worked during college, and so on. First hand experience in low-paying, dead-end jobs does a lot to not only stimulate upward mobility (through education, for example) but also engenders empathy with the real world problems those "lower class" workers face every day.
If we're still talking about middle class kids....
Conversely, you could argue that "people on the left" are indeed those folks who held jobs in high school, worked during college, and so on. First hand experience in low-paying, dead-end jobs does a lot to not only stimulate upward mobility (through education, for example) but also engenders empathy with the real world problems those "lower class" workers face every day.
I was talking about how people on the left perceive these. Not equating them with middle class kids.
I don't think it's reasonable to assume that the left has empathy. The left and the right are just two political branches full of politicians who treat the ideals not as a cause but as a career.
Low paying dead end jobs do not lead to upward mobility, nor do unrealistic expectations driven by yesterday's wealth. Things are changing. Young people are studying what will get them a job and career. When they become parents, they will educate their kids differently. We are on a slope of decline and we will gradually adapt. The left doesn't want to truly lift the poor, and the poor know that. Only a small percent of occupy people surveyed identified with the left, while most were angry at both political wings.
In capitalist democracies, The left has always been a middle man, making a peace treaty with the rich, on behalf of the rich's interests, so that the poor won't make trouble. Humans make fundamental trouble and risk everything when they are desperate. It is not in anyone's interest to push people way over edge. The compromise, at least in pretentious Anglo American bipartisan systems, is to bribe the rich with a whole lot of money and bribe the poor with some. It is enough to create complacency, avoid real troubles, and blame the rest of that misery on the other party.
Ironically, it is the Chinese communist party that has lifted millions out of poverty. Their median income and net worth have grown tremendously. It is also very telling that India and Brazil, both of which are much more democratic than China, have done at best an un impressive job at tackling poverty.
Ironically, it is the Chinese communist party that has lifted millions out of poverty. Their median income and net worth have grown tremendously.
In China, "millions" doesn't mean much, and all the statistics I've seen indicating a rising middle class have been careful to confine the sample to those who live in major urban areas--not the masses in smaller cities or the rural areas.
In China, "millions" doesn't mean much, and all the statistics I've seen indicating a rising middle class have been careful to confine the sample to those who live in major urban areas--not the masses in smaller cities or the rural areas.
Yeah, I agree. China is really not a good example of a better system for the middle class. There's just too much corruption, housing is ridiculously unaffordable for the average household and the income inequality is much worse than here. Because their government aren't slowed down by the bipartisan deadlock and inefficiency of the democratic bureaucracy, they are able to increase GPD efficiently at all cost. However, there's many flows in their system that will come back and bite them hard in the behind pretty soon.
An 18-year-old listening to politicians and parents instead of friends and favorite teachers? Surely you left off the winking emoticon.
Teachers continue say major in anything and their friends are just as clueless as their parents maybe. The problem is there continues to be somewhat statistical truth that is lies like the average income of graduates (which includes all majors, even those include those who make 100K in the oil fields and graduates in over-saturated majors and have to make barely over minimum wages.) As of right now it stands at $45K overall with some majors making as little as $38K and others making up to $62K.
Isn't this what high school counselors are for? Do these colleges have any enrollment counselors helping kids pick out majors and classes? Do people really just run up a big student debt just taking anything they feel like studying without regard to marketability of their new found skills?
When I talked about college with a HS guidance counselor, they discussed stuff about applying early, apply for several reach schools, safety schools, don't apply to too many of them since application fees get expensive (those on scholarships or are otherwise attractive students can get this fee waived), research the majors you want, perhaps in-state vs. out-of-state tuition.
Nowhere did they ever go into any detail with real numbers about your ROI, why you may be homeless if you choose a theatre major, put stuff on a spreadsheet so you can see your debt figures, earnings, and such. Hell, I'm sure you're aware... a lot of HS students graduate without even knowing how credit cards work. In a sit com, they and otherwise adults will think a $4000 spending limit means $4K of free cash! Even if they know they have to pay it back, they're unaware of high interests, and only make the minimum payment. Hell, they've already screwed up their financials, all before even taking on large student loans.
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.
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.
Even if they know they have to pay it back, they're unaware of high interests, and only make the minimum payment. Hell, they've already screwed up their financials, all before even taking on large student loans.
