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Generation has little to do with one's success or shortcomings. Most people are about as successful—or not—as they make up their minds to be. Skewering one generation is pointless when many have contributed. I’d rather find a solution than whine about who caused the problem.
Of course it's easy to say work hard... and you'll be successful if you've already gone through it and have had the "time" to accumulate wealth. I'm sure those in the workforce during the Great "D" - Lost Generation - worked hard but still wasn't able to get anywhere (that's if they were able to get a job). The fact still remains that current and future generations already have it harder at the same age than those of generations past.... you can't argue with statistics.
Although a few of us Xers and Yers will undoubtedly succeed and thrive as all generations before us have thrived regardless of economy... more of us will face higher and larger hardships than the past generation has ever had.
Never the less, I agree. There's no point arguing about who or what caused this mess. We will have to work together to get us out and provide a better future for the generations ahead of us. We can start by getting rid of social security or progressively get rid of social security income taxes.
Secondly... if the boomers and the "greatest" generation can finally move on and retire... incomes will also increase for the generations after them... as the workforce would dramatically decrease (labor shortage). As a result median incomes would most likely rise allowing wages to match costs of living preventing defaults, repayment of debt, and more jobs vs. labor pool (fewer people more resources = living/working in surplus).
Otherwise... the less painful option for Boomers, like I've mentioned elsewhere is for mass injections of capital into the household sectors to dilute debt, increase export power, decrease imports, and make American labor more comparable/competitive to foreign labor. This would dilute savings... but it really depends on how the injections take place. Equitable injection would keep the castes in place but still allow folks to get rid of debt.
This isn't my fight, since I don't even remember the 60s. But I don't see the point in arguing with close-minded people and poor-poor-me whiners, and I'm really sorry I bothered. Complaining and feeling bitter never solved anything. Stick that in your history book.
Yes, you can, so go right ahead, but no, I won't. Life's too short, and I still believe it is what you make of it. Or don't.
So goodbye and good luck to you all.
Last edited by goodbyehollywood; 11-18-2008 at 06:55 PM..
All us boomers have some similarities mainly due to the era we grew up in and those expectations our parents and society in general had of us. I don't know many yuppies and the like; we don't travel in the same circles. Most of the people I know my age (53) are pretty humble and are concerned about the economy, taxes, schools, etc. Yes some have grandchildren but I don't really know of many that are into material wealth. Maybe I'm living a sheltered life down here in the swamps (rumoured to be poor), but just being employed, fortunate enough to own a home, and raising a family is good enough for me. I don't have any more needs than the basic ones, well just a little more, not much. Life certainly can be enjoyed without all the fancy gold packages and pretty ribbons. If it takes that to make one happy, then OMG where is your self-esteem?
Learning how to be content with what one does have is a big challenge for so many people. I wasn't trying to make this into a sunday school lesson because many don't believe in that stuff (I do), but happiness is fully obtained once a person recognizes who they aren't and accepts who they are. Learn to love yourself no matter what generation. One day when you are in the cold ground, it won't matter what you owned, what you did, who you knew. In a few years, no one living will remember you for that anyway. Keep this in your back pocket in case you ever need to be uplifted and reminded of YOU.
I'm not involved in Yankee affairs, but your **** there is blowing onto our FTSE. What happens in England is not your country or fight.
Completely inaccurate. England is actually in worse shape than the US, you guys did the same thing with housing, debt etc that we did and then you added some whipped cream and cherries on top of it.
We are in worse shape, but only after the US started it.
What did the US start exactly? This crisis has been years in the making, it simply hit the US before some other countries. UK households have more debt than any other country in the G7, in fact they have debt loads (in terms of income) that have never been seen in ANY G7 country ever. What does this have to do with the US? Nothing.
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