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I suspect everything the OP said was a lie. But even within the lie, there is an attitude that matches a certain generation, one that is lost between the greatest generation and the boomers (BTW, I dislike the common definition of boomer since it covers so many years there is basically no common culture between early and late boomers; should be separated into two generations). That missing generation is the most pampered, self adsorbed generation out there. Too young to know the depression and WWII. To old to know Vietnam. They came of age when the US was flying high. Among the first gen when college really started flourishing. Bought houses when they were cheap and paid them off early because income increased faster than inflation. Got overly generous pension plans, but had little debt their whole lives. Incredible stock options.
My FIL is an example of that pampered group. Literally had no clue on the cost of anything in today's world. Constantly lectured us on our "luxury" $60,000 2 bedroom fixer upper because his house had only cost $20,000 in 1964. Had a company car his entire working life which meant he never paid a car payment, car insurance, or anything else the rest of us do. All I could do was laugh when he retired and actually had to BUY a car. He actually called us to complain that the car cost more than his house did. Well freaking DUH!
Geez I cant believe all of you millenials took the bait from the OP
1. His generation never had to deal with a Moribund economy the likes of which we have not seen since the 1930s
2. His generation never had to deal with the super economies of China and India. China's impact on the global economic system is now well understood, ignoring obvious things like increased competition for resources, it lowered the median rate of inflation across the whole friggin planet!!
3. Linked to the above point is the outsourcing of both blue collar and white collar jobs. As Steve Jobs once remarked "those jobs are never coming back". Grandpa never had to deal with that. All I ever hear from old folks is how they could leave one well paid job one day and in the same day get another..
4. Real Estate prices have never been higher in real terms. From London to NYC, areas are now out of reach to all but those on the highest of incomes. This was rare for earlier generations as even middle class families had homes in places like Beverly Hills and the Upper East Side.
5. Given the Flynn effect our generation is measurably smarter and we are still having a harder time of it. Also recent studies have shown leaded fuels had a significant impact on mental development in earlier generations, there is a reason why the inner cities are only gentrifying now. Add to the fact that globally our generation and the ones following it, drink less, smoke less, are less violent and less prone to engaging in risky behaviours, I am not sure where the OP is getting his facts from??
6. As someone already pointed out, having a degree is no longer special. The cats out of the bag, most people around the world understand that education is the key to success. Not so in grandpa's time, when a family member getting a degree was a cause for celebration
Feel free to add any points I missed.
It is never lost on me that had I been born one generation before life would have been a lot easier. I met guys from older generations who got wealthy on just property, just buying in places like Greenwich village many moons ago..
Their inner feelings of inferiority and their belief they won't live up to our goals or accomplishments?
-Dr Gordon PhD Clinical Psychology Class of 1963.
No.
Financial Analyst. 30 years old (oldest of the millennial). High income. I believe the baby boomer generation destroyed the American economy for the middle class by breaking unions, outsourcing jobs, allowing companies to import products that were created with techniques (slave shops, fire hazards, pollution) that are absolutely illegal if done inside American borders.
The flow of capital to capital is reaching the highest rate it has ever achieved and the baby boomers are retiring on a ponzi scheme of social security that cannot be supported by the weak wages paid to the younger generation. Minimum wages have decreased substantially when adjusted for inflation, despite labor productivity being up by 80%.
While a PhD in psychology prepares you to recognize the thought processes, it did not prepare you to understand the real changes in the economy.
I agree. My nephew should never have been in college in the first place. He had zero interest in going, but my sister pushed for it and yes, he was a horrible student in high school. His friend was at the top of his class and my feeling is he couldn't handle being a small fish in a big pond and bailed. The high school they attended has this rabid obsession of wanting 100% of their graduates to go on to a university, whether or not they belong there is irrelevant.
I came from the northeast. In my graduating class if you didn't goto university you at least went to community college. Only one did something else and entered the armed forces. I think my brother's graduating class was different.In Arizona it is a bit different as a few more students don't do college right off the bat, mainly due to the insane costs which while inline with the northeast which has a higher COL. By comparison, AZ's COL is rather low.
I've done both and my first year and a half of college I just went through the motions and made a few mistakes here and there I'm not that proud of failing a few classes but it is what it is I still have my degree but I can't find good work because I'm either over-qualified, under-qualified or not a perfect fit. Back when the boomers and gen-X were entering, I would have likely been given a chance when now I am not because of a global economy, lean process, job applicant software, and most importantly shackled by debt that I "had to take on" because "you need a college degree."
Their inner feelings of inferiority and their belief they won't live up to our goals or accomplishments?
-Dr Gordon PhD Clinical Psychology Class of 1963.
Why do you feel the need to remind everybody you have a phd.
I do not see limited opportunities for today's younger generations. We are on the cusp of a change to a new energy revolution in alternative energy which will result in new cleaner, less fossil fuel-dependent power systems, distribution grids, innovative housing and development and transportation systems. This revolution will create númerous domestic and global opportunities to improve social and economic conditions and solve the challenges of human growth throughout the world. Healthy food, natural health alternatives and reconnectiveness of people to the natural world are also opportunities for improving people's lives. It is up to all of us to support our young people, listen to their concerns and encourage their passion to make the world a better place for them, their children and their children's children.
I agree that we have a possible energy renaissance that's if Big Oil (I mean Big Energy) allows it. However those jobs don't currently exist and instead we have a surplus of entry-level workers including those younger ones with just a high school degree, college students, college graduates and older workers who are working to off-set 401K loses or too low of a COL to live off of social security or "would die if they didn't work (not based on money.)" In Arizona I see a LOT of elderly cashiers in grocery stores in Walmarts. 20, 30, 40 years ago we didn't see that in the numbers we do today. With the energy renaissance, we may be a year off, two years off or more but without a better work economy, we are setting up structural issues that will come up when these jobs from alternative energy happen. Without a first job, how will people get that job? That's assuming Big Oil allows it because we all know how government bows to them like a god.
Geez I cant believe all of you millenials took the bait from the OP
1. His generation never had to deal with a Moribund economy the likes of which we have not seen since the 1930s
The tough times are over and unemployment is back down below 6%.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nograviti
2. His generation never had to deal with the super economies of China and India. China's impact on the global economic system is now well understood, ignoring obvious things like increased competition for resources, it lowered the median rate of inflation across the whole friggin planet!!
There is no such thing as the "median rate of inflation across the planet" because different currencies are incommensurate. Lumping them together is like averaging my height in feet with your height in meters and calling that our "average height".
Failure to apply conversion factors is nonsensical in both cases.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nograviti
3. Linked to the above point is the outsourcing of both blue collar and white collar jobs. As Steve Jobs once remarked "those jobs are never coming back". Grandpa never had to deal with that. All I ever hear from old folks is how they could leave one well paid job one day and in the same day get another..
Depends on the job and the area. At any given time, some jobs are in more demand than others, and more in demand in some areas than others. If you are an oil worker in North Dakota right now you have no problem with the job market.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nograviti
4. Real Estate prices have never been higher in real terms. From London to NYC, areas are now out of reach to all but those on the highest of incomes. This was rare for earlier generations as even middle class families had homes in places like Beverly Hills and the Upper East Side.
5. Given the Flynn effect our generation is measurably smarter and we are still having a harder time of it. Also recent studies have shown leaded fuels had a significant impact on mental development in earlier generations, there is a reason why the inner cities are only gentrifying now. Add to the fact that globally our generation and the ones following it, drink less, smoke less, are less violent and less prone to engaging in risky behaviours, I am not sure where the OP is getting his facts from??
There is so much controversy surrounding the causes and interpretations of the Flynn effect that I don't even know where to start except to say that standardized intelligence tests are not adjusted for inter-decadal shifts in education, economics, and childrearing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nograviti
6. As someone already pointed out, having a degree is no longer special. The cats out of the bag, most people around the world understand that education is the key to success. Not so in grandpa's time, when a family member getting a degree was a cause for celebration
Feel free to add any points I missed.
It is never lost on me that had I been born one generation before life would have been a lot easier. I met guys from older generations who got wealthy on just property, just buying in places like Greenwich village many moons ago..
Those were isolated cases. In the long run, real estate usually is no better than the stock market and often worse. Prices are typically higher relative to "earnings", even adjusted for 10-year return standard deviation, as Robert Shiller has aptly pointed out in his recent work.
The tough times are over and unemployment is back down below 6%.
There is no such thing as the "median rate of inflation across the planet" because different currencies are incommensurate. Lumping them together is like averaging my height in feet with your height in meters and calling that our "average height".
Failure to apply conversion factors is nonsensical in both cases.
Depends on the job and the area. At any given time, some jobs are in more demand than others, and more in demand in some areas than others. If you are an oil worker in North Dakota right now you have no problem with the job market.
There is so much controversy surrounding the causes and interpretations of the Flynn effect that I don't even know where to start except to say that standardized intelligence tests are not adjusted for inter-decadal shifts in education, economics, and childrearing.
Those were isolated cases. In the long run, real estate usually is no better than the stock market and often worse. Prices are typically higher relative to "earnings", even adjusted for 10-year return standard deviation, as Robert Shiller has aptly pointed out in his recent work.
6% is still higher than the unemployment rate in earlier economic periods and in real terms jobs pay less.
Sorry but Alan Greenspan's triumphalism espousing a new laissez-faire economic paradym (which was echoed by the then Bank of England governor in the UK), hailing a new era of lower long term rates of inflation is now understood to have been caused by China joining the world economic system. Different measures may apply, but across all developed economies the same pattern of a lower long term rate of inflation has been observed, China's rise is now understood to have been the primary cause of it.
Also, please dont pretend you haven't noticed that a DVD player, the equivalent of a VCR which cost 1000 dollars in today's money in the 1980s now can picked up in Walmart for a pittance..
Yes Yes, we all know about the North Dakota boom . But the numbers of Americans working there pale in comparison to the increased numbers of working poor across America. Hell even in LA living standards in South LA have actually fallen along with the South Side of Chicago in recent years.
As for Real Estate, please I am not talking about bumsville Idaho . We are talking about major cities where the jobs are like LA and NYC. House price growth in those cities has been quite frankly ridiculous..!!
Flynn effect stands and no amount of contorting will save you boomer from acknowledging a demonstable fact!!
Funny how you missed the improvement in behaviour and levels of education amongst our generation..
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That's assuming Big Oil allows it because we all know how government bows to them like a god.
. We are talking about major cities where the jobs are like LA and NYC. House price growth in those cities has been quite frankly ridiculous..!! 
