If I were president of China, I have memos sent to all my generals saying: WARM UP THOSE JETS, POLISH THOSE RIFLES, WERE HAVING KUNG PAO AND CHOW MEIN AT TRUMP TOWERS NEXT YEAR!
I especially loved the ones where they cook and clean for the first time. I actually saw this in my workplace. I hired a 23 year old, came from an affluent background according to his resume, me and the guys wanted to have fun so we asked the new guy, Richie Rich to sweep up and mop the office.
He had no idea what he was doing...
He also didn't know how to put on a pot of coffee, didn't know how to wash a window or a fridge, he was sweating and flabergasted when it was over.
We told him it was more of an initiation and a science experiment. We wanted to see for ourselves what the lifeskills of the better born were.
I mean we were well off but we didn't start out that way. One of my employees grew up in the Ghetto, the other came from the boondocks. Just about all of us had to learn to take care of ourselves by the time we were 13 or earlier.
Unfortunately, too many of these damned kids are spoiled and rotten as hell. Even Benjamin Spock would be appalled.
My eldest son is 7 he picks up after himself, cleans his room helps mom in the house and watching the baby ETC. they learn early about responsibility.
When they get older I'm taking them to some of these places like Bowery, Skid Row, Washington County Maine, Hanncock county Maine, parts of Boston and Providence, I will show them what happens when you feel entitleed and when you aske the government for a handout and that they need to be responsible and study hard at a young age.
I'm no strict disciplinarian, I hate Amy Chua, she's lucky her daughters aren't psychos, I wont put my kids through that but I'm not gonna spoil them I'm not gonna let up and I'm not gonna let them cling to my shirt tail forever. They're gonna learn when their older step by step to be men.
As for the rest of my generation, it'll probably take an economic collapse and maybe an internal war between immigrants and others to man them up. The great depression worked wonders for the lost generation to ready the for ww2, another one plus immigrant marauding will also work.
One of my favorite stories is the young man who got a flat tire and sat in his car for hours waiting for help. He was not aware that if he lifted the carpet in his trunk, that there was a compartment that held a spare tire and the tools for changing it.
Of course, that begs the question whether or not he would have known how to use the tools to change his tire.
My kids were a bit spoiled...but we put them on horses that they had to take care of, groom before and after riding, get back on when thrown off, love even if they didn’t get a ribbon in the show. I’m a big believer in putting kids on horses if possible.
Sand Hill, Ft Benning, GA
Since you are part of the millennial s I suggest your example is more typical
The children of the 60s were called lazy and irresponsible. Even Aristotle called out the youngsters of his time.
It is not new
Yeah, b/c this kind of thing is unique to the current generation.
I don’t hold it against them if they were brought up a certain way, but the true character will come out when they have the opportunity to step out of the bubble. Some show they have the right stuff, others just bitch about the bubble being too small.
Many of the people at Free Republic are unaware that white Millennials vote almost exactly like their parents, except about 5% of white Millennials vote Libertarian.
The only reason national politics are not completely dominated by the Democrat Party is because white Millennials have a much higher voter turnout than non-white Millennials.
By the way, I'm from the Vietnam era, and I've despised manual labor my entire life. Very few people, from any generation, CHOOSE to work a manual labor job, unless it's paying a union wage.
Since I've also been a long distance runner for more than 50 years, hating manual labor has nothing to do with being hot, sweaty, and tired.
Please take them to a National Cemetery a few times, preferably on a Holiday. Walking or driving slowly past stones of all the servicemen that died in the successive wars, battles and actions is also character building.
I think it’s great to give your kids better things and opportunities than you had (my parents were like this), but it has to be tempered with teaching real-life skills and responsibility. My parents did a lot for me, but I knew that making a dollar takes effort and not to be wasteful. I think it’s less about “things” and more about instilling good values.
Old Reader's Digest "Humor in Uniform" entry.
Army boot camp. Sarge tells one guy to grab a broom and sweep out the barracks. Guy whines "But, Sarge, I'm a college graduate." Sarge says, "Oh, then let me show you how."
When I was a teenager, working on your own car was the norm. Today’s kids probably don’t even know how to open the hood, let alone know how to do an oil change or even swap out windshield wipers.
I am so lucky that I grew up in my grandparents house whom took me as their own son and raised me. I was raised with the sensibilities that was instilled in them during the depression and WWII. They gave me home, food, and guidance.
I worked for money if I wanted to buy something for myself. At 16 years of age I worked on The River as a deckhand during the summers until I was 18. At 18 I roughnecked on the drilling rigs to earn money for college.
My beloved grandparents were retired and could not pay for my college and that was good! In 1966 there were no Federal Programs for tuition. Thus what I learned in university was all mine by my own dent. My grandparents gave me a great gift by only helping me grow up. Once when I was broke I did call and ask for a few dollars so I could eat. I was in college at the time. They sent some money.
My grandfather taught me to hunt and fish. I will never go hungry, as I now live in the countryside and will never live in a city.
Other parents of immense wealth have provided everything for their children. My grandparents provided me with far more than money can buy.
ps
When they were old my brother and I took care of them. They had done the same for him as they did for me.
My 18 year old daughter and her friend were at my house visiting for a weekend when I was recently divorced, I told them to heat up some Chinese food in the microwave...
The friend wanted to know where to move the “strange machine” in front of the microwave to, she had no clue what it was...a folded-up ironing board!..
China isn't that aggressively expansionist - but ISIS leaders already said something very much like this to their commanders about Europe.