Posted on 11/01/2011 11:47:42 AM PDT by Publius804
Frank Sinatra once crooned about having the world on a string. Generation Y has grown up believing that parents, teachers, and bosses would tie that string around our collective fingers. Now that adult realities are hitting home, the frenzy isn't pretty.
My generation -- those in their late teens, twenties, and early thirties -- is the most over-promised youthful cohort in American history. Our Boomer parents told us we could do and be anything, if we believed in ourselves. The government and higher-education establishment bolstered that misconception through excessive student loans, promising jobs, jobs, jobs if only we'd make passing grades and get that four-year degree.
As the narrative goes, Generation Y would graduate and immediately land a high-paying post that gives us plenty of time off to pursue a Bohemian lifestyle into our 30s. Forget marriage and childbearing -- at least for now. Those traditions cramp our style. Better to cohabit, and if birth control fails, there's always "dilation and evacuation."
We're optimistic, so we think that work and family life will go well. After all, we believe in ourselves. Isn't that enough?
In a word, no. Hard economic realities, instigated by toxic federal policies and a fascistic alliance between big government and big business, have ensured that no matter how hard Generation Y wants "the good life," defined as few responsibilities and lots of stuff, most of us won't have it.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Ping!
and we're living here in allentown...
As a Boomer I have to apologize to you in Generation Y who have it so bad because of my generation.
I apologize for not kicking your butt when you whined, showed disrespect to elders and women, flipped the bird at those who sacrificed everything for your freedom, and told God to shove it.
As for this article, I still believe there is hope for our world. I see it in many of your generation Y peers who are choosing to fight for freedom, faith, and family. To all you of Generation Y who are striving for a better world, and despite the pessimism of the day there are many, I applaud you and wish you God speed. And I thank God for your parents, who did kick your butts when they had to, or otherwise did something right in raising you despite the fact they may have been evil capitalist God fearing Boomers.
Optimism wins, pessimism destroys. Take your pick. Just quit whining.
There's the problem. I was raised to believe you take on responsibilities, take care of them without whining, and that life itself then becomes the good life. Part of my pride is responsibly taking care of family and career, and now helping my married children do likewise with theirs. My Gen Y kids are living the good life, without lots of stuff.
You write of a sense of entitlement. The ink on our 28 y/o d i l’s PhD is not yet dry. She snagged a well-paying job on the basis of a phone interview and now she’s complaining about having to buy business apparel. She: I’ve never had a job.
Well.
sd
Ah, the old Hope-a-Dope.
They forgot the "working hard" part.
No one in the thirties is in Generation Y. Generation X lasted from 1964 until the end of 1981. Generation Y began in 1982 and ended in 1999. The oldest members of Generation Y are 29.
Yeah, the ones I know complain a lot, but they really don’t have the work ethic that I grew up with. I’m just barely Gen X instead of Gen Y. I worked at crappy, low-paid jobs until I got out of college, and then have scrapped my way along ever since. Same with my husband, who also threw in a lot of military service along the way. We both completed higher education at night, while working. I’ve ended up sacrificing a lot of money in salary so that I can have a better family life and more time with my very young children. My family is worth it.
The Gen Yers I know...they’ve never held crappy jobs, or at least never held them for anything even CLOSE to full time, and...get this, they don’t work while they complete higher education. They think it’s brutal that anyone could work full time and go to school at night! They either don’t have kids, or they have kids out of wedlock - they do not get married on purpose because they know how much free $$$ are available for “single mothers.”
They all complain about money, but they ALL travel in what I would classify as “extensive” amounts. They travel abroad, some of them multiple times a year. Then they *itch that they have a small apartment or an “old” car. I do not have time or money for traveling. I am too busy working hard and trying to put money into paying down a house, decent vehicles, student loans, and medical bills.
Wages have been stagnant or dropping for a LONG time - pretty much my entire adult working life. That is not good, and it is getting increasingly harder to afford decent things. However, it also is hard to afford decent things when one has a poor work ethic and an inability to defer gratification.
I can honestly say I've always voted for the best long term results.....what would be good for my children and my grandchildren....
Exactly.
I am one of the boomers of which he speaks and to a certian extent, I blame my generation (as in my response above) for this situation although having been exposed to "the greatest generation" (my parents, etc.), they would tell you they didn't start out much better. The depression and WWII were the forges that forced them into that mold and I see parallels today.
I know quite a few "Y"ers who have their heads screwed on straight (talk to a veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan). The economy today, as in the 1930's is teaching hard lessons. So, I don't take these OWS hippies as typical. These OWS people won't amount to much - they'll eventually work for a war vet who got ahead because they learned how the world really works.
So, I don't worry about it too much. I think the kids are all right.
I work in a very liberal environment - everyone except myself voted for Zero, or will not admit to voting against him. This time...no one wants to vote for him. No one will commit to voting for someone else, but they are FED UP with the promises and lies. Most are embarrassed about how things are not working out and feels “had.” The young’uns do seem like they’re wising up a little bit in these hard times.
Totally agree with your comment.
I troll undercover on a forum with a lot of 20-somethings.
Their change of attitude over three years is almost complete.
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