Oh, the Suffering! [Young people want more than we did, and they want it now]

Taki's Magazine ^ | 10/03/2025 | John Stossel

[sauropod]

Read

[tumblindice]

They grouse about us boomers collecting things like kitsch (maybe not Hummel figurines) because “that stuff’s worthless, I’ll just throw it out, they’re squandering my inheritance!”
The little monsters ...

[marktwain]

“Once upon a time, a family who rarely ate out, or flew anywhere, could afford a smaller home, a lousy car, and they didn’t send their kids to college. All on one income.”

---

Yes. And a family who rarely eats out, doesn’t fly, keeps their car expenses low, can still afford a small home, even on one income.

College is not for everyone. Why pay to be indoctrinated in an evil philosophy? It is not clear even science and engineering degrees are a guarantee of a job in the near future.

[FLT-bird]

Yeah, this narrative isn’t going to fly. Education is vastly more expensive in real terms than it was 50 years ago. Houses were 2.5 times median annual earnings back then. They are 6 times median annual earnings now. Real wages have hardly risen since that time. Yes, things really are much much worse for younger people now than they were back in your day Boomers. Hate to break it to you but there’s no question that as a whole, its true.

[Mouton]

Wait a minute, my dad flew when he was young, circa 1943 and he did not have to pay for those flights. Alas both parents worked. My mom worked in a defense plant of some kind but without a vehicle, she took 3 busses each day each way to get there.

In my case my first flight was on world airways when I was 22. It was free!!

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Well, I’m a boomer myself and I grouse at my wife for buying useless kitsch. “Oh, that’s so cute!” “What do we need it for?” Has nothing to do with anyone’s inheritance, it’s all about cluttering up the place.

Of course, things like tools, guns, etc. are different. Those are likely to be useful even if I don’t need them this very moment.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Saw one that told his mom because she did not get him some sort of gaming system that she was "never going to have grandchildren".

On one hand, a certain amount of sympathy but on the other, you raise him.

[tumblindice]

Well, duh
Top 10 reasons a gun is better a woman

10. You can trade an old .44 for a new .22.

9. You can keep one gun at home and have another for when you’re on the road.

8. If you admire a friend’s gun and tell him so, he will probably let you try it out a few times.

7. Your primary gun doesn’t mind if you keep another gun for a backup.

6. Your gun will stay with you even if you run out of ammo.

5. A gun doesn’t take up a lot of closet space.

4. Guns function normally every day of the month.

3. A gun doesn’t ask, “Do these new grips make me look fat?”

2. A gun doesn’t mind if you go to sleep after handling it.

And the number one reason a gun is favored over a woman….

1. YOU CAN BUY A SILENCER FOR A GUN.

Tools, same

(From the He-man Woman Haters’ Credo)

[CFW]

Hubby and I got married in 1976. In the late 70s interest rates started rising, as did inflation, and jobs were scarce. We didn’t have it “easy” and what we have now wasn’t obtained by luck. We worked hard for all of it.

I remember looking for a job in 1982 and finding one by hard work and the grace of God....for $4.50 and hour. I was so excited. I left the job interview after closing time and my car wouldn’t start (it was an old Ford Fairlane I’d borrowed from my Mom for the interview). No one was around to help and the building had closed. I had to walk two miles to a garage where a friend of my husband worked. No cell phones then. Life wasn’t all roses but we all made do.

Now, young people want to leave college and go straight into a corner suite at 300 thousand a year.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Looking at houses is one of those things I do for fun.

If you are looking for a three bedroom, two bath with granite counter tops on two acres yeah, those are very expensive.

If you look for a two bedroom, one bath on a postage sized lot, much more affordable.

The problem for many is they have already gone deep in debt for a degree. So taking on even rather modest debt for a house is not on the table.

You have to decide what you want to go into debt for and if it is worth it.

[hinckley buzzard]

He also doesn’t mention that back in the day of the boomers, a two-car family was still a luxury. Now it is the norm.

[ClearCase_guy]

+1

[fruser1]

[Presbyterian Reporter]

When I was less than 25 years of age, I lived quite well with -—

1. A used car
2. No smart phone
3. No television
4. No computer
5. Sharing a house/apt with a friend
6. No college loans to payoff
8. Worked full time during summers and when in college also worked parttime

All to save money to eventually buy a house.

So if these 20 and 30 somethings have been living a similar life, then I will start being concerned.

[packagingguy]

You can see the decline in wealth (home ownership, student debt, etc.) is getting worse with each generation.

This is called the “wealth pump”. It extracts resources from the middle and working class, transferring it to the top 0.1%.

Among others, two mechanisms are used to fleece the public. One is to offshore manufacturing (causing the rust belt). The second one is to bring in hoards of legal and illegal immigrants to suppress wages.

This started in earnest in the late 1970s and really picked up in the 1980s as everything became financialized (remember the “me generation” and “greed is good”?)

We cannot expect this ends well.

[A_perfect_lady]

“Once upon a time, a family who rarely ate out, or flew anywhere, could afford a smaller home, a lousy car, and they didn’t send their kids to college. All on one income.”

The housing issue is particularly salient: young people are buying these new builds of 2,500 square feet and vaulted ceilings, attached two car garage... I bought a 1960s ranch of about 850 square feet, and guess what? It was pretty affordable!

[Sirius Lee]

“A family could own a home, a car and send their kids to college, all on one income.”

In the 1950's the average sized house was 1,000sf. The cars had very basic technology, not much more advanced than the 1930's, and they only lasted 100K miles at best. College attendance was much lower as a percentage of the population, and since most people who did go had to pay out of pocket - no student loans - the market price to attend was based on sound supply vs demand economics, that is, cheaper.

[Pollard]

On social media, many young people say things like, “Most people don’t live in houses because it’s too expensive.”

Yes, homes cost more now, but census data show more Americans own their homes now than when I was a kid.

He left something out. The age of the average home buyer now is 60 years old so it's the same people still buying homes as 30+ years ago. First time home buyers is almost 40 while 10 years ago it was 30. Average age of first time home buyer in the 60s was 23-24. The population has increased since Stossel was a kid. True that they were smaller and didn't have central AC.

Home prices have increased 10 fold as have car prices. Wages, quadrupled. Degree, increased 10 fold while the education quality has probably decreased 10 fold.

Can't imagine what the cause is

[tumblindice]

In 1965, the U.S. national debt was approximately $317 billion. This amount represented about 38.6% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) at that time.
Today, 124%.

Remember the debates over “guns or butter”? Or, Can we afford it?