Is hypocritical thinking common with age? (55, federal, 2015, state)
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What tuition is and what people pay are completely different. Most universities are pretty free with partial scholarships and they are not all need based. A poor student from a wealthy family pays full fare but few others do. My son has a 50% tuition scholarship at a private college that brings it in line with state schools (maybe; he would probably qualify for something there also). Here in NC, if your child lives at home and goes to a state school the cost is only about $8k/year with no scholarship.
Ah, the generation wars! Every once in a while there is one of these threads in the Economics Forum and sometimes the depth of the hatred (yes, I chose that word on purpose) on both sides is astounding. Don't get me wrong - the OP here is very reasonable and rational and his original post is free of invective. May all subsequent posts here remain so.
I can see a bit on both sides. I started college in 1962, and indeed costs were more reasonable and most of us graduated with no student debt. In that sense my generation had it easier. However, the other side of the coin is that there is less willingness now (on the part of students entering college) to live on a shoestring like we did in my day. Part of the admittedly atrocious student debt is usually living pretty well during college, is it not? With a car and all?
Another difference is that since fewer people went to college back then, the degree meant more in terms of getting a decent job with it.
There are always a certain number of very selfish people, of all ages. So the selfish oldsters who don't want any of their tax money going to schools because they no longer have school-age children were perhaps always basically selfish and that is simply how their selfishness gets expressed at this stage of their lives. I don't know what subset of older people that represents, really. Isn't that impossible to know?
I was talking with a woman whose son is attending Syracuse University. I have not seen the numbers myself, so what I heard is 2nd hand info and I do not know how truthful it is. But she told me for one year at SU the tuition was $68,000 ---- how the heck can they charge that much? And what is all that money for?
It spells just one word to me.....GREED
But at least part of the issue is that kids/parents don't consider the cost of going to the more expensive schools either because they "deserve" it or are "entitled" to it...yes, you SHOULD be able to go because mom and dad went there 20 years ago but NOW you have to go somewhere else that doesn't have the same cachet but will get you just as far in life without as much debt.
I noticed as I get older, (I'm 39) I tend to pass judgment on younger folks for some of the very same things I did when I was their age. Though now, I know better, I realize that the knowledge I have now derived only through wisdom and age.
Regarding hypocrisy, if you're referring to yourself, perhaps. If you're referring to me (I'm 69), no.
“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” -- Socrates
"There is nothing new under the sun." -- Ecclesiastes
EscortRider- I was thinking along the same lines as you. Yes we (baby boomers) did have a very strong work ethic and I think we had lower expectations as well, in terms of our standard of living and material goods. But it is also true that jobs were much easier to get and tuition was much cheaper. I was one of seven children from a single-income blue collar family. I started working when I was 12 or 13; through high school I supplied all my own clothes, cosmetics and school supplies. I put myself through college and law school while living on my own (not with my parents) working part time jobs and living in cheap apartments, alone or with a roommate. I thought I was doing fine if I could afford a pizza once in a while, but most of the time I cooked my meals at home. I didn't own a car until my last year of law school (and that one was a cast-off from a family member). My furniture and cookware were castoffs too. I didn't start buying my own stuff until I was working as a lawyer. I remember the thrill of buying a stereo set and a color TV. I had student loans, but they were minimal.
I think a lot of younger people these days grow up in two-income families where there is a higher standard of living and much more emphasis on material goods. Then they're sort of whipsawed when they go out and try to fend for themselves and find that they can't get a job or only a minimal wage job that won't provide any of the amenities they're used to living with. I think that's why so many end up living back with Mom and Dad. Nobody in my family did that. Ever.
OP What you have posted is a simplistic assessment of some complicated issues. First, yes I think old people become cheap, and forget the needs of kids, who do need technical schools and sports are good for kids.
However, our schools have, in many states become crazy expensive and are way over staffed, compared to years ago. For example, my 5th grade class had 32 kids, with no teachers aid and the one teacher handled it all. Compare that to today. That costs a lot of money, so you can't blame taxpayers of all ages complaining about school taxes.
College is a different story. The cost has skyrocketed, that's true, but its also true that these schools have spent lavishly on fancy dorms, fancy athletic facilities, and they have a bunch of staff, many who don't work much and teachers that may teach only one class or even no classes. That's going to jack up the cost. I'd reevaluate whether the college education is worth the money. Lots of people are reevaluating that expense. There are cheaper alternatives. Our local college, Texas Tech, has a lazy river, like at a water park. You can't blame elderly people, who have their own financial problems for not wanting to fund that kind of junk.
Who wrote the following, and when did they write it?
"I have lived some thirty years on this planet, and I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors."
It was the same guy who thought railroad and telegraph were folly, Thoreau. So it was mid 1800's, I suppose.
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Thoreau
