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You missed the point that tuition and all other expenses have gone up 16x while minimum wage has gone up 6x.
I could pay off my tuition in half a semester of part-time work, or within the semester at minimum wage; there was nothing "lucky" about those numbers. That's not possible for a kid today.
Yes, I did have scholarships to pay my room and board, books and other fees...all of them, in fact. I had no need to take any loans. Not even scholarships have kept up with the increase of prices to that extent.
Exactly. I don't understand how so many miss that. I was a few years after you, but with a combination of working and scholarships, I also had no loans. My kids however, had to work full time in the summer, part time during the school year, and even with some scholarships and our help, still had about $60K in loans.
It's just one of those terms that make me "cringe". Boomer, gaslighting, epic, savage, and a few others I can't think about now are also terms that get overused today...lol
Exactly. I don't understand how so many miss that. I was a few years after you, but with a combination of working and scholarships, I also had no loans. My kids however, had to work full time in the summer, part time during the school year, and even with some scholarships and our help, still had about $60K in loans.
Yes, and then they blame it on the student for choosing an expensive out-of-state school or daring to choose a school that isn’t the school nearest to their house. They fail to take into account that not all parents want their kids living with them after age 18, or that many areas don’t have really good college options nearby. With gas prices what they are now, a person commuting 50 miles one way to school may end up spending $100 a week on commuting costs outside of any insurance, car payment, and maintenance costs. For many it may end up being a wash when compared to living on or near campus with no need to have a car.
Respectfully, I don't think general criticism of Baby Boomers is unfounded.. Boomers had unprecedented divorce rates, and were a generation that was unique for their (shameless) pride in drug use and so-called free love.
And I know this didn't apply to every Boomer, but.. they were generational trends that did a lot of damage to society in my opinion. I don't think subsequent generations are jealous of Boomers, but they find Boomers to be unawarely self-centered.. especially when Boomers congratulate themselves for (decadent) culural changes..
I have to agree with you, that Boomers were the start of a decline of society, along wtih good parental guidence ( and will admit, have thought about this very subject a lot and wondered why) ....but not all boomers are self-centered and unaware, understand, our parents were strict, which a lot of boomers resented, and went to the complete opposite end of the spectrum, wishing never to be as strict with their children. So now, its gotten to the point that if we'd have applied our parenting skills to todays children, it would never work...when you've lived a thing, it's hard to view another...
Me, during that time, wasn't into free love, nor drug use, while a whole lot of my friends smoked, drinking and smoking always made me feel uncomfortale, though a lot of my friends did.
Also believe it is difficult for us boomers to see the massive changes made in raising kids, some good, some not so good, and the cultural differences, is so extreme....
A lot of us (especially from small towns) were raised to believe our only purpose was to walk down the isle, and hang diapers on the cloths line...hence the reason for so many diviorces, b/c we started to learn that getting married so young, right out of high school, or younger, wasn't such a good idea, neither was it a good idea to stay together for the sake of the children, which did even more damage to them.
I'm not trying to make excuses for our bad behaviors and culteral beliefs, but trying to look at both sides...but I do believe a lot of what you've written here is correct, while it opens up questions as to why and hopefully some will understand...
Our parents and grand parents were the ones who came over on all those boats...hardle any schooling, and only knew hard times and hard work...and even cast out of certain circles due to their religions or cultural beliefs....I remember my foster mom telling me that they changed religion b/c people hated catholics, which as a child I found quit unreasonable...as difficult as it was to understand.
But boomers also did a lot of good and offered a lot of positive as well....one can only hope that somewhere along the line, one of the cultural trends gets it right.
There is positive and negative in every culture as in everything; just because someone happens to be writing about the bad they see at that particlar time doesn't necessarily mean they don't see any good...they are simply pointing out what they see, compared to how they were taught to do things and believe...b/c our parents were strict, some very strict, (of which I'm very glad of, in my case, I was a handful) and most of us were taught to get out there and work for what we wanted, to never take free handouts...to not yell and scream in public, and to be aware of others regarding how they think and believe...
I am a boomer, that doesn't mean there is no knowledge here in this old body, or that I refuse to understand, but it's so difficult to see such changes in society...and a lapse of parental structure, but it doesn't mean we see this in everyone and everything, we are not meaning to generalize as I know there are tons of good parents out there...it's just that we wish to share our experiences, and not have our self worth dismissed....
There is one thing I do see that is extremely troubling...that is, todays, high school kids and college kids have no socail skills, all they know is that screen in front of, and that's the only way they socialize...I don't believe this is healthy for humans, but they are being raised by a very small television screen....my son as a police officer says the same thing, there doesn't seem to be an ability to problem solve or to socialize.
does that make any sense?
Last edited by cremebrulee; 04-17-2022 at 09:42 AM..
Exactly. I don't understand how so many miss that. I was a few years after you, but with a combination of working and scholarships, I also had no loans. My kids however, had to work full time in the summer, part time during the school year, and even with some scholarships and our help, still had about $60K in loans.
I went to school at UCLA from 1964 to 1968 and commuted 20 minutes from our apartment in Hollywood where I lived with my Mom. Back then tuition was $300 a year and about $100 a year for books. I worked for $2.40 an hour. 12 hours a week during the school year and full time in the summer. That was 900 hours a year, taking time off for finals and midterms, at $2.40/hr. = $2160 which covered my school, used car, gas, clothes, and going out.
Today resident tuition and books at UCLA is about $16,000 per year. Working the same 900 hours at $15 an hour would be $13,500 a year for someone living at home. And about $4,000 a year for transportation, insurance, clothes and socializing and it can be covered with student loans of $6500 a year, leaving a student loan debt after 4 years of $26,000. Or the cost of a new Toyota Camry. Not as cheap as it was but quite doable.
It seems to me that people who complain about the cost of college are maybe the same ones who have a $1,000 i-Phone and a $40 a month mobile plan when I have a $100 Tracfone that costs me about $5 a month to use. They never learned arithmetic. And they don't realize a college degree anywhere will probably yield the same results for 95% of the students who have one. It's just a passport to a job interview. What happens when you start working is up to you.
As a boomer I'm not ignorant of the current situation. But I could think out of the box, then and now. Maybe all that sex, drugs, alcohol and rock and roll showed me what was real and what was BS.
I've got 6 grandkids from 10 to 20 years old. I think they are at least as savvy as we were. Many kids are sexually active in high school these days so they are not just looking at screens. The only sexual activity I and most of my guy friends saw in high school was looking at Playboy magazine.
It's just one of those terms that make me "cringe". Boomer, gaslighting, epic, savage, and a few others I can't think about now are also terms that get overused today...lol
And then there are those that are used incorrectly so often that the specific meaning gets watered down and comes to mean the erroneous usage...can you say "begs the question"? I read that all the time now meaning "raises the question", but that's not what question begging ever meant.
And now in the next generation, the original meaning of the phrase will be lost, but hopefully not the concept.
Yep, Gen X here too. All the drama over animosity of Boomers towards Millennials and snark of Millennials toward Boomers makes me want to break out the popcorn. Being ignored as a generation suits me just fine.
Yup- My wife and I are GenX and our kids GenZ. We be like-
If this is true, these are a couple of stunningly ignorant people. They don't believe the obvious data right in front of their eyes? They think Zillow and university bursars are lying to them?
Right - don't they actually live in the actual real world? I mean, I know I do.
It's a lack of understanding of today's costs coupled with the attitude that today's young people are fundamentally lazy and expect everything to be handed to them. "Well, if you just worked hard like I did when I was your age..."
I have to agree with you, that Boomers were the start of a decline of society, along wtih good parental guidence ( and will admit, have thought about this very subject a lot and wondered why) ....but not all boomers are self-centered and unaware, understand, our parents were strict, which a lot of boomers resented, and went to the complete opposite end of the spectrum, wishing never to be as strict with their children. So now, its gotten to the point that if we'd have applied our parenting skills to todays children, it would never work...when you've lived a thing, it's hard to view another...
Me, during that time, wasn't into free love, nor drug use, while a whole lot of my friends smoked, drinking and smoking always made me feel uncomfortale, though a lot of my friends did.
Also believe it is difficult for us boomers to see the massive changes made in raising kids, some good, some not so good, and the cultural differences, is so extreme....
A lot of us (especially from small towns) were raised to believe our only purpose was to walk down the isle, and hang diapers on the cloths line...hence the reason for so many diviorces, b/c we started to learn that getting married so young, right out of high school, or younger, wasn't such a good idea, neither was it a good idea to stay together for the sake of the children, which did even more damage to them.
I'm not trying to make excuses for our bad behaviors and culteral beliefs, but trying to look at both sides...but I do believe a lot of what you've written here is correct, while it opens up questions as to why and hopefully some will understand...
Our parents and grand parents were the ones who came over on all those boats...hardle any schooling, and only knew hard times and hard work...and even cast out of certain circles due to their religions or cultural beliefs....I remember my foster mom telling me that they changed religion b/c people hated catholics, which as a child I found quit unreasonable...as difficult as it was to understand.
But boomers also did a lot of good and offered a lot of positive as well....one can only hope that somewhere along the line, one of the cultural trends gets it right.
There is positive and negative in every culture as in everything; just because someone happens to be writing about the bad they see at that particlar time doesn't necessarily mean they don't see any good...they are simply pointing out what they see, compared to how they were taught to do things and believe...b/c our parents were strict, some very strict, (of which I'm very glad of, in my case, I was a handful) and most of us were taught to get out there and work for what we wanted, to never take free handouts...to not yell and scream in public, and to be aware of others regarding how they think and believe...
I am a boomer, that doesn't mean there is no knowledge here in this old body, or that I refuse to understand, but it's so difficult to see such changes in society...and a lapse of parental structure, but it doesn't mean we see this in everyone and everything, we are not meaning to generalize as I know there are tons of good parents out there...it's just that we wish to share our experiences, and not have our self worth dismissed....
There is one thing I do see that is extremely troubling...that is, todays, high school kids and college kids have no socail skills, all they know is that screen in front of, and that's the only way they socialize...I don't believe this is healthy for humans, but they are being raised by a very small television screen....my son as a police officer says the same thing, there doesn't seem to be an ability to problem solve or to socialize.
does that make any sense?
Please, this "baby momma" garbage has been recent and ghetto because of big govt replacing actual fathers. Nothing to do with "weddings". Welfare is replacing fathers.
You don't have to be married to be a man, you have to be a man to be a dad. Married or not.
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