Debt. Terror. Politics. To Seattle Millennials, the Future Looks Scary • Hacker News Board

Re: Debt. Terror. Politics. To Seattle Millennials, the Future Looks Scary

#21

Post by ilostmykeys » Fri, Aug 19, 2016, 4:01 PM UTC

nickbauman wrote: post #8

A "broken political system", please. Like Syria? Most of the Arab Spring? Even Brexit? There are people literally laying down their lives to get an opportunity to participate in such a "broken" system as ours in the US. If you don't like the system, work to change it. In the US at least you won't go to jail for doing that. Good grief!

Dude, that is an idiotic comparison. The world's richest nation conspires with Saudis and others in the region to change regime in Syria and in the process inadvertently (or covertly in the most twisted minds) fund ISIS, creating chaos in the Arab world, which the US, Britain, France (the colonial powers plus the new world superpower) have been doing for ages. You sound extremely arrogant if not ignorant.

Re: Debt. Terror. Politics. To Seattle Millennials, the Future Looks Scary

#22

Post by nickbauman » Fri, Aug 19, 2016, 4:01 PM UTC

MrZongle2 wrote: post #5

Another article that bemoans the fate of Millennials, compares them with the Baby Boomers....and somehow ignores the fact that there was a generation between them. Gen-Xers, anyone?

Gen-Xer here. We were the first generation since the end of the labor movement to find out that we were infinitely replaceable resources through our college educated parents' regular rounds of layoffs. I feel for the millennials, but it seems like they just woke up to the status quo of almost two generations ago.

Re: Debt. Terror. Politics. To Seattle Millennials, the Future Looks Scary

#23

Post by nickbauman » Fri, Aug 19, 2016, 4:03 PM UTC

s_q_b wrote: post #19

MrZongle2 wrote: post #5

Another article that bemoans the fate of Millennials, compares them with the Baby Boomers....and somehow ignores the fact that there was a generation between them. Gen-Xers, anyone?

They're the ones who mortgaged our future and blew up the global economy for short term gain. They're also the ones writing these articles.

Painting with much too broad a brush. I did no such thing.

Re: Debt. Terror. Politics. To Seattle Millennials, the Future Looks Scary

#24

Post by jseliger » Fri, Aug 19, 2016, 4:03 PM UTC

Having spent a lot of time in Seattle I'm skeptical of the article; that being said, to my mind the big issue is housing costs, as I describe in "Do millennials have a future in Seattle? Do millennials have a future in any superstar cities?" (http://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/24/do-millennials-have-a-futu...). If you lower costs enough, a lot of other things become possible, and a lot of issues become less important (http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2016/08/poverty-reduction-c...).

When I last lived in Seattle full time, the city was a relative bargain and was known for being cool and fun yet affordable. But it hasn't built enough housing to keep up with demand, and while it does better than CA (http://www.vox.com/2015/12/23/10657690/seattle-housing-crisi...), it's still not good enough. That's the crux of the issue, and it's why so many people are moving to Texas: Houston, Dallas, and Austin all have relatively liberal building regimes, which means housing is not a perpetual crisis.

Re: Debt. Terror. Politics. To Seattle Millennials, the Future Looks Scary

#25

Post by eronhp » Fri, Aug 19, 2016, 4:03 PM UTC

mkaziz wrote: post #14

waterphone wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Saving money to be able to survive when you can't work anymore is unethical?

You can save without putting that money in an IRA/401k and the like.

I am not american, could you explain why putting your money in a IRA/401k would be considered unethical? And what alternatives do you have?

Re: Debt. Terror. Politics. To Seattle Millennials, the Future Looks Scary

#26

Post by TeMPOraL » Fri, Aug 19, 2016, 4:04 PM UTC

Bartweiss wrote: post #15

FussyZeus wrote: post #4

The 70's were seen as stable because no American's knew anything about what was happening worldwide. Being connected to pretty much any human on the planet is a really new concept, what we call our "community" has grown exponentially in size, distance, and diversity in the last decade. The world has always been this scary, now we're just paying attention.

> The world has always been this scary, now we're just paying attention. I see this a lot, and I'm never convinced. Something like the "flash crash" was impossible a decade ago, much less a century. I wouldn't claim that the world has gotten worse , but the capacity for rapid, unpredictable change has never been higher.

Yeah, I think there are two factors at play here. One is definitely the near-realtime worldwide media coverage.

But the other is the fact that the same events you hear about living on the other side of the world can affect your life almost as fast as the news spread. If you had just the media of today in a world of 500 years ago, you'd worry only about your nearest neighbour cities and countries. Today, living in Europe, I hear that bankers in the US fucked something up again big time, and I start to wonder if I'll have my job - or any food - next week. That's how the global economy is interconnected. I also worry I may one day wake up and find my city in flames, with the Marines giving us practical workshops on how to run a democracy right.

(And to not single out US here - I was scared shitless when the whole Russia/Ukraine thing started, because I was afraid my country will be next, and "next" here means "at any time, under 24 hours from when someone makes a decision".)

Re: Debt. Terror. Politics. To Seattle Millennials, the Future Looks Scary

#27

Post by Erik816 » Fri, Aug 19, 2016, 4:04 PM UTC

codemac wrote: post #20

waterphone wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Saving money to be able to survive when you can't work anymore is unethical?

Oh I don't think it's unethical. I do think our bankers act unethically, but I still have a retirement account. My statement was that people feel so strongly about this that I know multiple people that don't save money in retirement accounts.

That sounds a lot like people that refused to get married until everyone could get married. That might explain 10% of their situation, but 90% was that they didn't want to get married. Saving is hard, and this is just a nice rationalization for their existing behavior.

Re: Debt. Terror. Politics. To Seattle Millennials, the Future Looks Scary

#28

Post by Bartweiss » Fri, Aug 19, 2016, 4:04 PM UTC

nostrebored wrote: post #13

I love how everyone thinks that issues were clear in the past. Racism, anti-war efforts -- we still have those going on today. And if you think that they're any less clear now than they were then, you have your head in the sand. If you think that we don't have issues that need action now -- police brutality, women's rights, etc. -- then you probably wouldn't have been a part of the desegregation movement in the early…

I think there's a level where this is true though - clarity of target, not issue.

When racism looked like Jim Crow, it was straightforward to say "repeal Jim Crow". Deciding on tactics was complicated, making it happen was hard, but there was a clear goal in mind. Taking on an issue like police accountability or pay inequity is much fuzzier - there's no law to change or villain to conquer.

None of which means there weren't fuzzy issues in the past, too. But I think the 'nostalgia' for the issues of the past is often for clear targets like suffrage and school integration.

Re: Debt. Terror. Politics. To Seattle Millennials, the Future Looks Scary

#29

Post by pnathan » Fri, Aug 19, 2016, 4:05 PM UTC

jseliger wrote: post #24

Having spent a lot of time in Seattle I'm skeptical of the article; that being said, to my mind the big issue is housing costs, as I describe in "Do millennials have a future in Seattle? Do millennials have a future in any superstar cities?" ( http://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/24/do-millennials-have-a-futu... ). If you lower costs enough, a lot of other things become possible, and a lot of issues become less important (…

hey, don't you write on Seattle housing periodically? Or is that someone else with a similar name?

Re: Debt. Terror. Politics. To Seattle Millennials, the Future Looks Scary

#30

Post by s_q_b » Fri, Aug 19, 2016, 4:06 PM UTC

grok2 wrote: post #17

MrZongle2 wrote: post #5

Another article that bemoans the fate of Millennials, compares them with the Baby Boomers....and somehow ignores the fact that there was a generation between them. Gen-Xers, anyone?

Also, the article kept mentioning the 90K salary number -- not sure why the article presented such great prospects and had a doom-and-gloom outlook for the people. To me it looked like the people profiled in the article seemed to have varied, fulfilling lives....maybe I am not getting something.

Yeah, I got that too.

How is a $90,000 starting salary for a javascript bootcamp grad a sign of the end of days?

It seems to me the problem is occurring as the "millennials" want to settle down in mid-life, buy a house, buy a car, have kids, and save for their college.

In short, the middle class baby boomer lifestyle seems completely out of reach for most in their twenties and thirties.