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To: Mr J
Already American society is re-organizing to cope with a declining standard of living. Young people are taking longer to leave home, if they ever do. Out of financial necessity, it will become common for multiple generations to live in the same house, reverting to the historical pre-World War II norm.

There's no evidence to support your underlying point here. Sure -- younger people are taking longer to leave home. But I attribute this primarily to our failure to make them accountable and responsible at a young age. For example, college (and now even graduate school) has become little more than a mechanism for deferring the onset of adulthood in this country.

At the other end of the spectrum you have the exact opposite occurring (and this is also a reason why younger people may have lower expectations in terms of their living standards) -- in which our tax system is structured so that our elderly enjoy a better standard of living in retirement (often including multiple homes) than they ever had while working.

Both of these factors (immaturity in young adults and unrealistic expectations in older adults) are major reasons why the U.S. has become increasingly uncompetitive in the global economy.

150 posted on 12/31/2006 9:27:40 AM PST by Alberta's Child (Can money pay for all the days I lived awake but half asleep?)
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To: Alberta's Child
There's no evidence to support your underlying point here. Sure -- younger people are taking longer to leave home. But I attribute this primarily to our failure to make them accountable and responsible at a young age. For example, college (and now even graduate school) has become little more than a mechanism for deferring the onset of adulthood in this country.

When I began working, minimum wage was $1.25 and rent on a 1 bedroom cottage was $65.00 a month. A young person could have an entry level job and live on his own. Today the same cottage rents for $1,200.

157 posted on 12/31/2006 9:48:02 AM PST by lucysmom
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To: Alberta's Child
Both of these factors (immaturity in young adults and unrealistic expectations in older adults) are major reasons why the U.S. has become increasingly uncompetitive in the global economy

Yep. Just wait until the Baby Boomers (or the majority of them) retire.

235 posted on 12/31/2006 12:53:07 PM PST by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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