Why Baby Boomers Don't Understand Occupy Wall Street

[mawilson 2,133]

Geez. Now you're dating me. I'm your parents age.

Alex is dating you?

[scandal 951]

Alex is dating you?

[Alex & Rachel 78]

At the same time, people don't work as hard as our parents' generation did.

Everyone wants a "get rich quick" shortcut and no-one wants to work for it.

Eh, I agree and disagree.

I know plenty of people my age who work very hard, often at multiple jobs and for long hours a day. I also know a few lazy butts, but fortunately they are not as numerous.

I do agree there are a few too many wanting a 'get rich quick' scheme.

I think it's rather disingenuous to tar a whole generation with the same brush.

And, judging by a few of my parents' stories, their generation wasn't chock-full of hard-workers, either.

Geez. Now you're dating me. I'm your parents age.

Edited October 24, 2011 by Alex & Rachel

[slim 1,530]

No, they're not mandatory. But the fact is, degrees and houses are things my parents' generation were able to obtain far, far more easily. Which is a point many of them miss.

And I'd argue about a degree being mandatory if you want to stand any chance of getting a half-decent paying job. Community college qualifications and work experience no longer have the same meaning they did for my parents' generation either.

Heck, even if you leave off tuition fees and mortgages, rent, utilities and healthcare costs are three things that have also increased at a far greater rate than salaries. High house prices don't just make it difficult to buy, they make it difficult to rent or lease, too.

Rent prices have been increasing by about 10% a year where I live. Healthcare costs for small businesses went up 35%. Utilities, I'm not actually sure (last year they were included in my rent), but in the UK they've been hiked by 40-60% in two years.

I disagree.

What I think is happening is people are saying it's harder because the trend is not to buy a house that's 50 years old and make kids share a bedroom. The trend is to buy a $250,000 custom-built home in the suburbs with enough garage space for dad's shiny sedan and mom's minivan she uses to take the kids to private school.

Things may be more expensive, but proportionally, they're not. We just buy and use way more stuff than we used to and that's where all that income goes. Can you imagine what our parents would've done with $40,000/year each?

We're in decline - degrees and houses are not the only things that are harder to obtain and will become even harder for future generations.

We can protest all day long, but there's no turning back.

I disagree.

We get what we work for in this country. Part of the problem with those occupiers is they're not working. They're sitting around doing nothing. More sitting around is not going to help them. In fact, that's what got them into this mess in the first place.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I disagree.

What I think is happening is people are saying it's harder because the trend is not to buy a house that's 50 years old and make kids share a bedroom. The trend is to buy a $250,000 custom-built home in the suburbs with enough garage space for dad's shiny sedan and mom's minivan she uses to take the kids to private school.

You're obviously speaking to different people, then.

The two people my age I know who do own houses (with the help of deposits from their parents) own 2-bedroom terraces over 100 years old.

Of people I know with kids, the kids all share rooms, and in a couple of cases share with the parents.

Growing up, I actually had my own room. And I'm one of six kids. Oh, and my mother never worked!

I don't know a single person with a brand new car or who is sending their kids to private school.

Things may be more expensive, but proportionally, they're not. We just buy and use way more stuff than we used to and that's where all that income goes. Can you imagine what our parents would've done with $40,000/year each?

Define 'things'. Because yes, things like electronic goods and certain food items are proportionately less expensive.

But my point was that basic needs, like rent, gas and electricity are proportionately more expensive. Really, salaries have increased at the same rate as those items? I don't think so.

$40,000 a year would've almost bought a house in my parents' town back in the 80s. Now houses are six times that price. My parents' first house cost something like 60,000 pounds in the early 90s. Three years later, they sold it for nearly 90,000. Bought a house for 130,000 in the late 90s; now that house is worth nearly half a million.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

At the same time, people don't work as hard as our parents' generation did.

Everyone wants a "get rich quick" shortcut and no-one wants to work for it.

Mark, that's BS. I put in about 50 hours a week at my regular job. And I still do the books at my old job, which adds another 3 hours or so a week.

So not "everybody" is sitting on their butt with their hand out.

Tea Party: does not shіt on police cars

#occupywallstreet: shіts on police cars

I like it. Reminds of social change in the 60's.

[mawilson 2,133]

Mark, that's BS. I put in about 50 hours a week at my regular job. And I still do the books at my old job, which adds another 3 hours or so a week.

So not "everybody" is sitting on their butt with their hand out.

You *are* my parents' generation.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

You *are* my parents' generation.

your that young?

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

You *are* my parents' generation.

I didn't have kids when I was 15.

[mawilson 2,133]

I didn't have kids when I was 15.

But you could have

You always talk about how things were back in the '70s or 60s - I wasn't even born yet.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

But you could have

You always talk about how things were back in the '70s or 60s - I wasn't even born yet.

You were born in the 80s?

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

But you could have

You always talk about how things were back in the '70s or 60s - I wasn't even born yet.

I could have. But I didn't.

I do talk about the 60's and 70's. I talk about that because of the way things have changed in the relatively short span of time since then. It's not a whine for the "good old days". It's me asking people to take a look at what Americans could expect of their hard work back then as opposed to now.

It's always good to look backward before going forward.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Yes but hardly any of it is solid.

[Ban Hammer 13,502]