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Coming from a farm background and living in a predominantly rural area, I have never, ever heard that at all from anybody with even a smidgen of credibility. There are idiots around who loudly bray all kinds of BS that they have to deny scientific evidence and common sense to believe, but they do it anyways. If you want to cater to their fantasies by acting as if their claims are reasonable, then that's your problem.
What I have heard around here is concern about industrial/radioactive contamination of soil from both past industrial processes and from industrial/nuclear waste dumps. Most people concerned about agricultural pollution are concerned about the run-off of animal wastes and excess fertilizer into bodies of water which encourages weed growth and algae blooms in lakes.
..........."Coming from a farm background.................I have never,ever heard that at all from anybody with even a smidgen of credibility. There are idiots around who loudly bray all kinds of BS....
( bold was inserted by me )
Well, Linda if you ...........never , ever, ..... heard that BS , go to post #47 and read where the OP made the claim agriculture chemicals poisoning the land.
I'm not quite sure if I follow. You say "regular, old fashioned food is not enough" Well, considering GMO foods have only been on the market since the late '90s, GMO free food IS old fashioned.
And before WWII, almost all food was organic, because large scale pesticide and artificial fertilizer use was in its very early stages. .....
I am sure I did a poor job of expressing what I wanted to say. I have nothing against organic, or gluten free or GMO free food. What I marvel at is the huge growth in "boutique" grocery stores. Everything need to be high class, expensive and imported. Olive oil is marked as "gluten free" like it is something special. When did anyone make olive oil with wheat products in it? And we need 20 varieties of expensive oils from around the world?
I think your "problem" coincides with the success of feminism in giving many more women a wider assortment of choices than only between marriage or low pay/low status jobs, which is what existed previously. Women can now afford to be pickier, and they don't have to marry only for economic reasons.
Agreed, and agreed with Ohio_Peasant. While I am in full support the great advancements in equal opportunities for women, it has become anything but straightforward when it comes to dating/romance/marriage for men.
I do agree with Ohio Peasant that this issue more than anything else sets today apart differently.
I do have a girlfriend, but I feel like landing a relationship was far more work than my career and finances.
There will be lots of jobs for those people who have knowledge and ideas about implementing computers and robotics into the workplace.
Absolutely. I'm very well aware of that. If there is any field that will be immune to tech unemployment in the near term it will be this one. But this field will likely shrink as well in a couple decades.
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Sure we could all benefit from some political solutions and policy changes, but we live in a capitalistic society. What we do as individuals is more important in shaping the future than anything our government does.
I love capitalism. But it does have a tendency to concentrate power and wealth into a few hands if not constrained. Which is why every developed country constrains it a lot. And if our robotic capability stays on track, human work will become increasingly nonviable economically. When that happens, consumer capitalism will be dead.
We can pretend that it is each man for themselves, and ignore the bigger picture, but if we do that the future will not be bright for most people. You don't need to posit conspiracies, unless you think it is a conspiracy to propose that people with power and wealth will likely influence events to benefit themselves.
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I do agree with Ohio Peasant that this issue more than anything else sets today apart differently.
I do have a girlfriend, but I feel like landing a relationship was far more work than my career and finances.
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Originally Posted by jrkliny
There is nothing new about that.
Respectfully, I disagree (with jrkliny's observation).
In the "good old days", it took immense work to pursue one's education (except for the most privileged classes). It took work to secure an income-stream, to find investments, to prepare for one's retirement, to stay reasonably healthy and to attend to various other material and practical aspects of life. The Great Recession notwithstanding, most of these things are now easier. Tuition is expensive, but there are scholarships. In the 19th century, a university education was a rarity, and was generally reserved to those with the "right" pedigree. Health care is expensive, but we know so much more about good personal habits and health-maintenance. Retirement is dicey and lifespans are longer, but the very fact that we do have decades of life after concluding our careers is already a staggering achievement. And then there's Social Security - a revolutionary concept in its time. All of these things are substantial and laudable improvements.
But... in the "good old days", marriages were arranged by parents or other elders. There wasn't much reason to date. "Dating" was limited to parlor repartee in Bronte-sisters' novels. Divorce was next to unthinkable. Romance was secondary to the merging of family estates, and couples formed not because of chance glasses across a smoke-filled room, but careful crafting of alliances. At least that's how it went for the upper classes. The lower classes just married their neighbors. Now these things are vastly more complicated. Social skills are paramount. One's career and "mating value" is secondary. Relationships are contingent upon cuddly feeling of personal fulfillment, and fail on evanescent and trivial pretext. Instability reigns.
In the good old days, people worried about putting food on the table. Today we worry about how to find a companion to share our sumptuous tables.
In the good old days, ravage of disease was insidious and sudden. Disease was mysterious and imponderable. Life was fragile and fraught with potential aches and debilitation. Old age was dreaded for its infirmity. Today we have all sorts of exotic medicines. In the developed world, there's no serious threat of plague, tuberculosis, cholera or typhoid. Most people arrive in their 60s or 70s afflicted with no more than the travails of obesity or maybe diabetes. Instead we worry about a healthy old age spent in unalloyed isolation. We have calcium for our bones and special diets for lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. We will soon have 3D-printing for replacing worn joints and maybe even soft-tissue. But now we have all those decades to sit alone in our McMansions with our ipads and tablets and laptops to monitor in real-time our bulging stock-portfolios, wondering how our great-great-great-great grandparents were serfs in mudhuts, infested with lice, drinking putrid water pulled by hand from the brook, but nevertheless in the company of their spouses - and how we today are utterly impotent in parlaying our vast resources into even the pretense of a heartfelt embrace.
Respectfully, I disagree (with jrkliny's observation).
.....
But... in the "good old days", marriages were arranged by parents or other elders. There wasn't much reason to date. "Dating" was limited to parlor repartee in Bronte-sisters' novels. Divorce was next to unthinkable. Romance was secondary to the merging of family estates, and couples formed not because of chance glasses across a smoke-filled room, but careful crafting of alliances. At least that's how it went for the upper classes. The lower classes just married their neighbors. Now these things are vastly more complicated. Social skills are paramount. One's career and "mating value" is secondary. Relationships are contingent upon cuddly feeling of personal fulfillment, and fail on evanescent and trivial pretext. Instability reigns.
......
I thought the good old days was the period of time after WWII before the start of the Vietnam War. You are going back in time by centuries...before there even was a United States. My parents dated, picked mates, and married all on their own and often against the parents' wishes. Same with my grandparents. Before that I have no idea but that takes care of the past 100 years or so.
I had to read this book about the good old days in ancient Rome. It was very funny. Lots of complaining about the current youth in ancient Rome becoming so misguided, not following the old ways. Geezus, say it ain't so? Yeah, story about the past being better than the current period. After reading that single book, every other complaint I hear about this current period of history is a broken record. Yeah, the past was sooooo good and everything now sucks, right? Okay, whatever.
The book was The History of Rome by Livy. Seriously, pick it up for a laugh! Nothing ever changes.
So my degree is in exercise physiology. Looking back, I would have never chosen that. There are no jobs, as you either have to be a nationwide fitness model/expert or have to go back to school to become a nurse, physical therapist or athletic trainer. Anyway...
Here's my take on jobs in 2015 and the economy. Up here, it's 'take what you can get and be happy you got anything at all'. That seemed fine when I first got my current job. But the circumstances were as follows: the guy bought the business in 1969 (it's one of the only true Scandinavian Steam Bath/Saunas left) and individuals really would come in, pay for a private room, spend a couple hours taking a sauna/steam and that was their way of relaxing on their day off. These days, it's hard to get people in the door because the generation now doesn't really do that. Most people don't have a couple of spare hours during the day anymore, and a lot of them are always on call, so even if they get a few free hours they're often called back into work 45 minutes later. The guy who bought the business in '69 died last year - and this man - who died in his mid-80's - was incredibly creative. He made all the sauna benches himself. Did all the painting, carpeting, repair work, built the beds, built nearly everything. He had a boiler license so there were never any calls for fixing the boiler or anything. Most people today just don't have that skill set where they can 'do it all'. So now, his daughter - who is 50 and single - has had this responsibility fall into her lap, while still having a 60 hour work week on top of it. Not to mention that all these things her dad was able to do for nothing is costing her upwards of $3000 to get pipes fixed, boilers repaired, etc. She's a wreck. And her father told her to never sell the business.
How does this figure into the economy? Well, the last couple of generations have learned differently when it comes to business. Again, most 18-49 year olds didn't grow up learning how to build complicated things or repair boilers or know how to fix/tinker with things and save lots of money in the process. Most 18-49'ers aren't used to workdays that begin at 10am and last until 11pm. I have done it now for six months, and I'm used to it, but very few people have the endurance to keep going for that many hours while keeping up with the cleaning, washing/drying/folding linens, fixing stuff in a nearly 100 year old building and assisting customers - alone - the whole time. It's very hard work. I do a straight Fri/Sat/Sun; 12 hours each day. I get my workweek in 3 days.
And that's really what's changed with potential employees. They know that, at 36 hours, they're not getting any benefits or overtime. Usually if it's a small, family run business they know there's no possibility of advancement. So they're going into the job with this knowledge and saying 'well, there's nothing in this for me, so I'm not going to put much effort into it since this is either all I can find, or I need the money fast and will do this until I feel like quitting'. I don't blame that mentality because the way it's set up (no benefits, no security, no advancement) it's hard to develop any morale for a place that you'll never get anything out of. BUT - it's still a job that you have the potential to do your best, and get a damn good reference from if you play your cards right.
I have learned a tremendous amount since I have been working there. I never knew the ins and outs of a small business or a family owned business until now. I now know just how hard it is to single handedly run a small business that many people feel obligated to run especially after the death of a parent who put their life into it. I have never met anyone who works 50-60 hours somewhere else, then comes to the family business for 3-4 hours a day on top of that, and does all the books and other work there as well. I don't think I'd go into business for myself after seeing what I've seen. I think today's economy is...nothing is for certain. Be glad you're getting a paycheque, yes, but also be smart about what you do with it. Be ready to move. Be willing to learn as much as you can, even if the job isn't your thing - I've learned so much at this job and most of it has to do with having confidence to know that if something breaks, I have found a way to improvise until I get help. The world won't end because of a few small mishaps. You can learn all the theories you want in college, but once you're working a job like this you have t rely on your gut and personality and many people don't have that ability.
Working hard today may/may not get you a better job, but if you seize these opportunities to learn how you respond to stress, you have to look at these things as lessons learned that will make you stand out at your next job.
And that's just the opinion of a 23 year old from Northern Minnesota....
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12 hour days; 3 days/week.
