Do we not work hard enough than other generations did?

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chris1989
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14 Jan 2023, 11:00 am

I tend to hear from people like millennials and other younger generations blaming the older generations like baby boomers of having seemingly better lives and opportunities that they feel were arguably ''easier'' to achieve than they are today. I remember in a TV discussion I saw about the lack of respect for elders and a guy in his 20s or 30s was saying that ''We should have more respect for our elders and that people our age should get off our backsides, do a bit more work and earn our money to buy our own houses and I am concerned that people our age seem to think that so much is just completely unattainable and then become increasingly resentful or worse, they stop trying and we'll end up with a generation coming along who just don't bother to try to kick on in life because they think its impossible.''

I can't understand myself sometimes why I talk about these issues and at the same time don't feel the need right now to find my own place because I seem to think I'll end up in some flat with just one or two rooms. I don't really find myself resenting my parents for the things they achieved in life but it seems to concern me now as an adult that I'm not doing certain things that my parents did which includes having your own first property, your first child, etc and it seems to happening usually still at the ages we would sort of normally expect between the mid-20s and early 30s (the same ages my mum and dad had me and my sister) and seeing those people the same age as me, some of which I knew from school, doing all those things makes me me feel like life is passing me by while I'm still single and living with parents.



lostonearth35
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14 Jan 2023, 1:03 pm

I'm a Gen X. We have, or had, a reputation for being lazy unmotivated slackers.

But...*sighs, yawns*...what're ya gonna do?

But joking aside, every generation thinks younger people are all lazy, selfish snowflakes, and they love to blame kids and teenagers for everything. They're easy targets.

Almost every commercial I've seen for headache medication has the message that the headaches are always caused by kids. And then there's "You're the reason I have wrinkles, you 're the reason my hair is going grey and falling out". Well then, I guess you must have given the grandparents a lot of grief because they're all wrinkly, their hair is white or they're bald.

I think the real reason most people have kids is so they'll have someone to blame their problems on. I don't have kids, but I still have 8 billion other things to blame my misery and unhappiness on, at least.



MatchboxVagabond
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10 Apr 2023, 12:46 pm

chris1989 wrote:
I tend to hear from people like millennials and other younger generations blaming the older generations like baby boomers of having seemingly better lives and opportunities that they feel were arguably ''easier'' to achieve than they are today. I remember in a TV discussion I saw about the lack of respect for elders and a guy in his 20s or 30s was saying that ''We should have more respect for our elders and that people our age should get off our backsides, do a bit more work and earn our money to buy our own houses and I am concerned that people our age seem to think that so much is just completely unattainable and then become increasingly resentful or worse, they stop trying and we'll end up with a generation coming along who just don't bother to try to kick on in life because they think its impossible.''

I can't understand myself sometimes why I talk about these issues and at the same time don't feel the need right now to find my own place because I seem to think I'll end up in some flat with just one or two rooms. I don't really find myself resenting my parents for the things they achieved in life but it seems to concern me now as an adult that I'm not doing certain things that my parents did which includes having your own first property, your first child, etc and it seems to happening usually still at the ages we would sort of normally expect between the mid-20s and early 30s (the same ages my mum and dad had me and my sister) and seeing those people the same age as me, some of which I knew from school, doing all those things makes me me feel like life is passing me by while I'm still single and living with parents.


We definitely don't work as hard as they did several centuries ago. But, I do think the idea that people working less hard now is a bad thing is kind of ridiculous. The only way for people to continually be working as hard as they did in the past, is if there's either been no progress made on improving efficiency, or we've gotten to the point where it's a minor inconvenience. Otherwise, if younger people are still working as hard as the Boomers did, then something is very, very wrong as there's been decades of advances in efficiency and productivity in the mean time.



MatchboxVagabond
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10 Apr 2023, 12:46 pm

lostonearth35 wrote:
I'm a Gen X. We have, or had, a reputation for being lazy unmotivated slackers.

But...*sighs, yawns*...what're ya gonna do?

But joking aside, every generation thinks younger people are all lazy, selfish snowflakes, and they love to blame kids and teenagers for everything. They're easy targets.

Almost every commercial I've seen for headache medication has the message that the headaches are always caused by kids. And then there's "You're the reason I have wrinkles, you 're the reason my hair is going grey and falling out". Well then, I guess you must have given the grandparents a lot of grief because they're all wrinkly, their hair is white or they're bald.

I think the real reason most people have kids is so they'll have someone to blame their problems on. I don't have kids, but I still have 8 billion other things to blame my misery and unhappiness on, at least.


People still make fun of Gen X? I can't recall the last time anybody noticed us to even bother making the effort.



goldfish21
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10 Apr 2023, 6:25 pm

Simple math says it’s way harder for my generation and younger to “make it.”

My parents generation earned $50-60k and houses cost $89k. My generation earns $60-75k for similar work, and houses cost $1.7M and food and gas have gone up multiple times as well.

It’s not a matter of slacking or not trying hard enough. The math just doesn’t add up the way it used to.


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10 Apr 2023, 8:00 pm

The wages vs. cost of things has definitely skewed.

Lost on earth - you made me laugh. My mil prides herself on the fact that her hair has stayed dark (which I think is weird because she has no control over that, but whatever. One evening at a party she pointed out to someone “my daughter in laws have more gray hair than I do!” Without thinking, I snapped back “we’ve had your sons longer than you did.”



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11 Apr 2023, 3:26 am

If cavemen worked as hard as we do today then they would have invented Disney and iPhones


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11 Apr 2023, 10:58 am

I've worked hard in my life. I've also risked life and limb cycling through rush hour to get to work.


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11 Apr 2023, 11:36 am

SarahBea wrote:
If cavemen worked as hard as we do today then they would have invented Disney and iPhones

You mean if they worked smart enough?

If we’re talking work measured in force x distance = joules; guaranteed cavemen worked harder than most people alive today. Every bit of hunting and gathering to survive was physical work + self defence etc vs desk jobs lol


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13 Apr 2023, 7:39 am

Lots of parents want their kids to have a better life than the life the parents had but that's just not in the cards for lots of people today. The middle class in America is rapidly shrinking due to to income inequality. The federal minimum-wage has not risen in 15 years. Meanwhile the price of essentials like housing, utilities, food, medical care, & quality education never stops increasing. Lots of people these days are forced to work multiple jobs just to live paycheck to paycheck. Some retired people are re-entering the workforce because their retirement funds & Social Security is not keeping up with the real inflation & there's older people with major health problems that are delaying their retirement for similar reasons. The older generation grew up working one job at a time & was able to miss work when needed to take care of their health & their families.

The older generation blames the younger one for a couple reasons. One is that the politicians who worship big business & the big business leaders see the younger generation as easy scapegoats. The other reason is that the older generation can not fully grasp & relate to how the times have changed.

I believe that parents & older adults in general have a responsibility to try & make the word a better place for their kids & the younger generation in general. However I also believe that their kids & the younger generation in general has a responsibility to help their parents & older adults when able & necessary. People need to try working together to better things instead of pointing fingers & playing the blame game. Everyone is majorly screwing everyone else over.


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13 Apr 2023, 10:14 am

nick007 wrote:
Everyone is majorly screwing everyone else over.

Capitalism orgy!

It's not the older or younger generations' fault for the various systemic messes we're all in. It's those who create and control the system who are to blame. Banksters, politicians etc - the ruling class elite that pull everyone's strings and then point fingers at either side and get us blaming each other for what they made happen by design. Bunch of dinks deserve to have angry mobs with torches & pitchforks on their doorsteps.


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nick007
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15 Apr 2023, 6:45 am

^^^Well said GF.

Another thing I thought of is that I've known some older adults who did kinda have this attitude about the younger generation at least partly due to them having less technology & modern conveniences growing up & entering the workforce. Another factor for some of them is that a high percent of Americans fought in World War 2 compared to the wars we've had since. I'm sure fighting in war is extremely hard physical & mental work. Both my grandpas were in the army then. They also had to work hard when the war ended to get their lives going. About the only way the younger generation could catch up to that is by having a 3rd World War.

To cheer us up I'll post the Weird Al Yankovic song, When I Was Your Age :lol: I thought about posting it when I made my other post but I typed it on my phone :wink:


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