Forum Post: If you had been educated to be self sufficient like older Americans do you think you would be happier?
Posted 12 years ago on Jan. 26, 2012, 11:51 a.m. EST by iwantfreemoneynow
(58)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I try to explain to my older relatives how we have been screwed and that the rich have to share with us and they look at me like I'm a blithering idiot. Then, I look at them and they have all the things I want, house, car, money and it bothers me that had to work to earn those things and the only way I'll ever get them is we are successful in our efforts. Are we going to succeed or should I bail and start a career?
What is the point of what you are doing? I mean for you personally, where do you see a totally successful OWS taking you? You also have to look at what you're giving up if OWS fails or is only slightly successful. A one year hole in your resume isn't a big deal, are you going to spend 3 or 5 years protesting?
Talking about the 99% makes for good slogans, but how many are actually with you, will you ever be able to convince a majority to join you? OWS doesn't seem interested in going through the system, but the successful movements in this country have all developed political influence.
You obviously have some doubt or you wouldn't be asking the question in the first place. OWS is big on the individual taking action, look at things, get some opinions from conflicting sources and decide what's best for you.
JPB may have a point, if your looking at being self sufficient, you have to think things through and decide for your self.
You would think the boomers who were born during the civil rights movement would understand OWS. Unless you're talking to the lazy Gen Xers- or even worse- Gen Yers. I wonder why the US has gone downhill since the civil rights movement. I suppose the corporates are trying to undo the age of the Boomers since they did a marvelous job of dumbing down the latest ages.
You should protest morally. If you aren't comfortable with long sit-ins and the bills are piling up, then it's time you did something about those bills. I don't see why one can't have a career and protest. Don't rely too much on OWS, you would want to be with the splinter anarchist group or anonops. OWS isn't clear on what it is doing yet.
there is a saying, be content with your wages, work hard, learn a skill or a trade, and if you do it well, you can eventually make a hundred bucks an hour like the rest of us. I dont even have a college degree, it was too boring, too hard, and all my attempts at finding financing for it got disapproved. oh and I havent even ever owned land for 3 generations in my family either until last year. Well I bought a foreclosed home, cant say I will really own it until im 78 but we'll see, i may only own it for 5 years, cause i refuse to pay the state tax on it. I say that cause its still kind of expensive, and if i lose the home, ill get to keep alot more of my money living in a camping trailer and moving from place to place anyways.
are you on crack?
To believe that any person, government or organization has your best interest in mind is a naive and severe mistake.
we all eat from the factory farms
Of course you have to work for the things you want.... OWS is no excuse to 'sacrifice' a career... OWS is about making sure everyone is given equitable opportunities... its up to YOU to seize those opportunities.
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Yes start a career. Your older relatives worked for what they have and you should too. That doesn't mean reform is not needed. It simply means take personal responsibility for yourself first and foremost.
So you are contemplating whether you should 'start a career' or wait for OWS to give you free money? Nice.
Well dear, your relatives are right, you are exactly what you think they think of you. Which is why I am not particularly optimistic about your career prospects but getting free money is even more out of the question. So my unsolicited advice would be that you get a job.
Learn a trade.
Just for clarification when you say "older Americans" are we to assume people over the age of 65?
The problem is todays younger generation who participate in "government schools" are taught to be "dependent" instead of "independent".
Look at how they changed the rules when it comes to competing in games. No one is a loser, everyone wins even if they don't participate.
Apply that analogy to going out on an "interview" for a job and see what happens - "dissapointment" takes over and then comes the "blame game".
They cry out that It's always someone elses fault because of their failures or their failure in being able to succede. It's never their own fault.
Older Americans do understand that you can't have "instant gratification" without understanding the consequenses of ones actions.
Ask any older American if they owned new cars when they were 25, along with owning a new house or were making above average incomes to be able to pay for these things.
Todays younger generation thinks they should have a new car, new house, all the latest greatest electronic devices and be able to go dining out at least two or three times a week.
I have posted this before - this younger friend that my wife and I know owned a 2005 Chevy Impala that she bought used three years ago. It was paid for by her "grandmother" and she drove it but never maintained it like she should have.
Whenever it needed something done she would give me a call and I would help her out by fixing the problem. She lived at home with her single mom and brother.
She didn't make very much as far as income was concerned but she wanted the lifestyle of a "rich" person.
Well fast forward to October of last year and she needs more repairs done to the car. But instead of having the repairs made, she decided it would be better to "buy a new car" which is what she did - $22,000 worth.
On the other hand the repairs to the car she owned would only amount to about $1,500.00.
I tried to talk her out buying the new car, but she would have none of that - she always came up with "multiple" excuses why she needed a new car.
Well, she is looking for another job because she can't afford the payments on the car and is whining about not being able to get a "decent job" even though she has a "college degree".
So there you have it, an example of how the younger generation thinks. It's all about wanting, and having and not about waiting until it is affordable.
No, the younger generations are taught to be self sufficient. Consider that the concept of a nuclear family is a rather recent invention. What has been taught in the United States is complete and total independence from your family. Not just financially but often emotionally.
Compare this to other cultures where this is not found.
Further, people either take responsibility for their actions or they do not. That is timeless.
Older Americans had the ability to graduate or not graduate high school and still be able to be independent and carve out a life for themselves. In my lifetime I have watched that change from it is necessary for a high school degree to necessary for an associates degree to necessary for a bachelor's degree and, now, to a Master's.
When you attend a university or college then you are automatically not seeking instant gratification. This is one of the things that employers recognize in an obtained degree. It signals the ability to delay instant gratification.
Also consider the changes in vehicles. All of the vehicles that I owned for a very long time were "classic" and that would have been great if I was into classic cars. I liked them because I could change my own spark plugs but they were horrifying on gas mileage. Now, you have to weigh the age of the car and problems and time and insurance and recognize that you cannot fix cars in the same manner as you could. You have to consider parking problems etc. When mass transit is available than most people opt to go with out vehicles. Specifically, those of the younger generation.
I, myself, found myself in a position where a decision needed to be made on an $800 repair. The problem was not that the repair was $800. The problem was that this repair was $800 every year. Things have changed. Once upon a time we could make an appointment and take vehicles into the shop and could make decisions from there. Now, we take or have vehicles towed and we will see those vehicles when we see them.
I find your attempts to degrade the younger generation worthless. There never was a time period when the world or the people were "better". There is nothing admirable to be found in false nostalgia.
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I am not saying one generation is "better" then the other - what I pointed out is that the attitude of younger people is a lot different when it comes to "being responsible" for their actions.
Look at the divorce rate or the teens having children in high school. Look at the young woman out of high school that are having children and who is raising them - not the father.
My wife just told me about a friend of ours whose daughter just got pregnant - her beloved boyfriend isn't going to marry her.
Further more they don't have two "nickles" to rub together let along get an apartment or for that matter have a job. Is that fair to the Mother or the child after it's born? I don't think so.
The guy needs to "man up" and be responsible for his actions instead of being a "cowardly wimp" and walking away. I see and hear this all the time from younger woman working in restraunts to support their child, living with their mother to help raise the child.
The younger generation places no "value" on what they own - and that includes getting women pregnant (her fault) and him walking away not wanting to marry.
It has nothing to do with "degradation" and all to do with "responsbility".
There is no difference in attitude.
The divorce rate and the teens having children is not recent either. You know this. In fact, it took Federal intervention to get men to pay child support. You know this too. So, your responsibility meme falls quite short.
So, what does that tell you when "the government has to "force men" to pay child support?
That tells me that historically men have been able to leave households without paying child support. In fact, we know this to be true. So, this men were responsible at some other time is wrong.
Does that not prove the "irresponsibility" of these people who think it's ok to "knock" a woman up and it's alright to "shun their responsibility and duty to society"
It proves that there was never a time period that men ever paid child support and remained involved. Sure there were small amounts but historically never. Nor should this imply that women were saints. Just the facts. If you want to get technical I can go back further into history at least until 15th century. They have always packed up and left. They packed up and left if they had 13 kids or one kid. Always.
Sorry but you are wrong - the government forcing men to pay "child support" "without going to court" came into law in 2002. Not so prior to that other then by a "court order".
That isn't different from what I said. There isn't anything wrong about what I said. Though that is a .......oh never mind, it wasn't even a nice try.
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Go door to door and tell everyone to give you some of their labor. Let them know you aren't sure if you want to start a career yet, or just mooch and take whatever you feel. Let them know your true feelings about the elderly, and that you just want the shit they worked their entire lives for. I'm sure you will get many to give, as most agree with your notion of how the young generation is so abused.