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Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

1843magazine.com

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Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#191

Post by pravda »

edblarney wrote: post #175
alphonsegaston wrote: post #66

Every job I've worked in my adult life has involved being judged by standards the boomers doing the judging could never live up to, and then covering for their incompetence with technical skills(because I'm young, so I can just do that stuff). It would be such a sad joke if it weren't for the fact that they squat in every opportunity young people have for their futures (real estate, higher positions, etc) while the y…

Utter and complete rubbish. The 'boomers' invented most of the 'computer stuff' you use, most 'developers' today are hacks (granted, some are amazing). Boomers had difficult upbringing, brought real social change, lived through - and ended the Cold War. Female boomers were expected to be secretaries - and had to fight for the right just to do normal jobs in the workplace. Even the boys - were expected to do the same…

And let's think about what the boomers didn't have.

No cell phones.

No GPS.

No soft contact lenses.

No electronic fuel injection (carburetors! yay!)

No Google

I can keep on going with this for a long time

LIFE WAS A LIVING HELL FOR BOOMERS! BE SO HAPPY YOU WERE NOT ONE!

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#192

Post by [deleted] »

Declanomous wrote: post #142
alphonsegaston wrote: post #66

Every job I've worked in my adult life has involved being judged by standards the boomers doing the judging could never live up to, and then covering for their incompetence with technical skills(because I'm young, so I can just do that stuff). It would be such a sad joke if it weren't for the fact that they squat in every opportunity young people have for their futures (real estate, higher positions, etc) while the y…

It's even better when they don't like the fact that you are doing the job in a way they can't understand. I swear some people think they are paying you to suffer, and if you do something in a way that doesn't require enough suffering they feel ripped off.

[deleted]

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#193

Post by throwawaycanada »

deelowe wrote: post #118
ehnto wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also have the useful stuff, like property that was reasonably priced at the time of purchase.

I have more real estate than all of them combined actually, but that's not really what I meant. The stuff they have purchased and still own is baffling. It's all cheap, throw away, walmart crap. Compare this to the things I've saved from my grandparents and great grandparents which are mostly heirloom quality and the difference is striking. The wastefulness is simply depressing.

I've said for a long time that millenials have more in common with their grandparents than their parents from a values point of view. (I consider a millenial anyone born early 80's to 18-20 now fwiw).

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#194

Post by datatan »

yehi wrote: post #186
laughfactory wrote: post #150

It's not just video games either. Add Netflix and social media, and soon, VR, to the equation, and it's pretty clear that the game of life offers insufficient rewards relative to one's efforts. I don't believe we ended up here due to some grand conspiracy, but I do think that the top 1% have gotten so skilled at trapping wealth and therefore opportunity that it's really screwing over everyone else. Even as a relative…

I have to disagree. Apart from maybe post WW2 in America, the average person has always had to work much harder than the elite. There were sweatshops, Kings, slavery, and colonialism. If we look at American now, even with all of its issues, it is much better for the middle and lower class than it was 100 years ago.

Not sure how you come to that conclusion when the middle class is almost gone in this country.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#195

Post by laughfactory »

peteretep wrote: post #41
ocschwar wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what scares the shit of me regarding UBI. I don't mind paying for it even if it does keep young men immersed in a fantasy world. But I have a daughter. And she will be surrounded by men whose idea of women will be shaped by game characters that fail the Turing test but have big tits. I guess for her first birthday after puberty I'll have to get her a taser.

That's fine, the young men will much prefer sex robots anyway. Relationship dynamics, freed of men needing human women to fulfil their sexual urges, are gonna get weird.

Yep. And then the birth rate will fall off a cliff. Your sex robot will always be enthusiastic, and fulfill about 85% of what you want out of sex. Maybe not the human connection, but at least on par with a one night stand. Will we even develop romantic relationships then? It's going to get soooo weird!

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#196

Post by glangdale »

dvt wrote: post #163

Usually love the Economist -- and I read it regularly -- but I think this article is bullshit. It's the same kind of nonsense people were writing in the mid and late-90s: that violent games cause violent tendencies. Luckily, those claims ended up being completely debunked by dozens of studies. Now, we have a "gaming epidemic" that has gripped the unemployed, underemployed, and depressed? Give me a break. Gaming is si…

I kind of get what you're saying, but the phenomenon is new: this isn't the only source I've seen that discusses that there is a growing amount of un- or under-employment among young men that seems to be accepted comparatively happily, with the hypothesis that compelling computer games are part of the difference.

I'm pretty sure that the analogy with movies is weak, although probably the 80s equivalent was sitting around watching TV all day (the moral panic I remember from that period).

"Why is it bad to take some time off and decompress if you have a horrible job you hate? What's the alternative? Work yourself to the bone, fall in love with someone you hate, have some kids that hate you, get a divorce, and die alone? What is Mr. Avent's point here? Because I don't see one."

I think that if you're that annoyed about the idea of this article using strawmen to beat up on the idea of gaming, you should have a little more awareness of the phenomenon in your own writing/thinking... Yep, I'm pretty sure that it's either decompress or "work yourself to the bone and fall in love with someone you hate".

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#197

Post by alphonsegaston »

edblarney wrote: post #175
alphonsegaston wrote: post #66

Every job I've worked in my adult life has involved being judged by standards the boomers doing the judging could never live up to, and then covering for their incompetence with technical skills(because I'm young, so I can just do that stuff). It would be such a sad joke if it weren't for the fact that they squat in every opportunity young people have for their futures (real estate, higher positions, etc) while the y…

Utter and complete rubbish. The 'boomers' invented most of the 'computer stuff' you use, most 'developers' today are hacks (granted, some are amazing). Boomers had difficult upbringing, brought real social change, lived through - and ended the Cold War. Female boomers were expected to be secretaries - and had to fight for the right just to do normal jobs in the workplace. Even the boys - were expected to do the same…

This response is so stereotypical and contrary to the facts of the conditions of young people today, I have to thank you for demonstrating both my and the parent's points. Thanks for that!

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#198

Post by researcher11 »

alphonsegaston wrote: post #197
edblarney wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Utter and complete rubbish. The 'boomers' invented most of the 'computer stuff' you use, most 'developers' today are hacks (granted, some are amazing). Boomers had difficult upbringing, brought real social change, lived through - and ended the Cold War. Female boomers were expected to be secretaries - and had to fight for the right just to do normal jobs in the workplace. Even the boys - were expected to do the same…

This response is so stereotypical and contrary to the facts of the conditions of young people today, I have to thank you for demonstrating both my and the parent's points. Thanks for that!

It is so perfectly stereotypical and dicorced from reality part of me thought it was a joke.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#199

Post by vlunkr »

laughfactory wrote: post #150

It's not just video games either. Add Netflix and social media, and soon, VR, to the equation, and it's pretty clear that the game of life offers insufficient rewards relative to one's efforts. I don't believe we ended up here due to some grand conspiracy, but I do think that the top 1% have gotten so skilled at trapping wealth and therefore opportunity that it's really screwing over everyone else. Even as a relative…

The trick is to stop caring about the 1%. There isn't limited wealth or happiness. I promise if you plan it out it's completely possible to retire with dignity and people are doing it all the time.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#200

Post by ganfortran »

flashman wrote: post #174
ganfortran wrote: post #57

That is how you got alt-right. Bad job market and on the other hand portrayed as oppressor and reminded to check your own privilege. Video game is just the surface of the underlying illness. It is cheap(per hour), and accessible source of pleasure.

I think I see what you're saying here: This story is about young unemployed people who have many hours to spare and use them gaming. There are similar young people who use those hours on the alt-right parts of 4chan, Reddit or other online communities.

Not quite. Actually, it is not coincidence, 4chan is primarily a video game/anime forum while being the one of the online centers of alt-righters.

Unemployment stays as the center of all issues here. Or bad employment if we look from a higher perspective. With low income and bad job, video game, as a way of pleasure, it is cheap per hour, very little requirement for room, easy obtain of the feeling of achievement, make it the best option of entertainment for frustrated young males out there.

Bad job market creates video game addicts. It is quite logical this demographic will find alt-right philosophy appeal to them. What I disagree with the author, is that a lot of young men don't have the luxury to live a more 'normal' life, which is getting more and more expensive every year, as the society demands.

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