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Young White America Is Haunted by a Crisis of Despair

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Re: Young White America Is Haunted by a Crisis of Despair

#11

Post by vkou »

cryptarch wrote: post #8
irrational wrote: post #6

I worry about this for my oldest son. He has dyspraxia and apraxia. In practice that means he has difficulty with memory (at 15 he still doesn't know his multiplication tables) and putting things in order (such as speaking - you have to put phonemes, words, sentences together in order to speak). But, he doesn't look like he has a disability and he doesn't speak much so people don't readily realize he doesn't talk lik…

Maybe learning a craft could work for him? Woodworking, metalworking, glass-blowing, programming? An apprenticeship might just be right up his alley, but I'm not sure how available that is in the US.

Programming is extremely memory intensive.

Re: Young White America Is Haunted by a Crisis of Despair

#12

Post by temp246810 »

The sad thing that I've observed is that any mention that this gets in the media or any earnest attempt to address this gets met with:

"Oh now that it's white people dealing with drugs, it's a crisis. America is so racist".

That's a load of crap on so many levels. I hope we figure out our next chapter here as a society.

Re: Young White America Is Haunted by a Crisis of Despair

#14

Post by Jtsummers »

cryptarch wrote: post #8
irrational wrote: post #6

I worry about this for my oldest son. He has dyspraxia and apraxia. In practice that means he has difficulty with memory (at 15 he still doesn't know his multiplication tables) and putting things in order (such as speaking - you have to put phonemes, words, sentences together in order to speak). But, he doesn't look like he has a disability and he doesn't speak much so people don't readily realize he doesn't talk lik…

Maybe learning a craft could work for him? Woodworking, metalworking, glass-blowing, programming? An apprenticeship might just be right up his alley, but I'm not sure how available that is in the US.

Apprenticeships happen a fair amount with electricians and plumbers here still. And that's work that can't be readily outsourced (though it can be undercut with cheaper labor). The need to have work up to code ("need", some people don't care) does keep the rates higher than, say, carpentry work.

Re: Young White America Is Haunted by a Crisis of Despair

#15

Post by thesagan »

posguy wrote: post #10
ryandrake wrote: post #4

> The fates of the less-educated and those who graduate from universities diverge in dire ways. Middle-aged white Americans without four-year degrees are at increasing risk of dying, a well-documented trend driven not only by drug use but also by alcoholism, suicide, and slowing progress against heart disease and cancer. While that's pretty damn horrible, the fate of people with newly-minted bachelor's degrees isn't…

Its the power of capital over labor, whereby capital is extremely stratified in the hands of very few people, and they have shifted political power so as to avoid investment in the laborers (aka everyone below themselves) and ensure they do not become a threat. Additionally, they will usually influence monetary policy to ensure their status is never challenged, which is why rapidly rising housing prices aren't a majo…

Within capitalism itself, some economists also argue that wealth concentration tends to suppress investment opportunities, because there aren't as many "moneyed eyes" on economic events worthy of capital and management; investment gets tunnel vision.

I don't have any links on-hand but there's plenty of material out there (from reputable sources, and not-so-reputable ones) with a quick Google search.

https://www.google.com/search?q=wealth+concentration+suppres...

Re: Young White America Is Haunted by a Crisis of Despair

#16

Post by posguy »

cryptarch wrote: post #8
irrational wrote: post #6

I worry about this for my oldest son. He has dyspraxia and apraxia. In practice that means he has difficulty with memory (at 15 he still doesn't know his multiplication tables) and putting things in order (such as speaking - you have to put phonemes, words, sentences together in order to speak). But, he doesn't look like he has a disability and he doesn't speak much so people don't readily realize he doesn't talk lik…

Maybe learning a craft could work for him? Woodworking, metalworking, glass-blowing, programming? An apprenticeship might just be right up his alley, but I'm not sure how available that is in the US.

For plumbers, electricians and a few other trades you can become a journeyman apprentice in the US, and after a few years you can earn high 5 digits to low 6 digits with healthcare usually.

That being said, its a mature industry and not highly regarded in the US as it is a "blue collar" job. Stigmatizing & devaluing an honest days work is ridiculous to me, but that is what our society has done to these jobs.

Re: Young White America Is Haunted by a Crisis of Despair

#17

Post by Jtsummers »

pjmorris wrote: post #9

I think you could strike 'Young' and 'White' from the title, and it'd still be accurate.

Setting aside white, young is relevant as the numbers are showing a marked increase in some behaviors versus ~15-20 years ago among the same age group in particular. It's one thing (still bad) to see alcoholism and drug abuse amongst the middle aged following the termination of a career or something, it's quite another to see it increase amongst the youth before they even have a chance to start (or because they find they have no chance to start).

Re: Young White America Is Haunted by a Crisis of Despair

#18

Post by ams6110 »

“America is not a great place for people with only a high school degree, and I don’t think that’s going to get better anytime soon,” said Angus Deaton, a Nobel Prize-winning Princeton University economist.

Coming from a Princeton egghead that's not a surprising point of view. It seems very typical for those with education to look down upon the less-educated.

The truth is, US high schools miserably fail the non-college-bound student. I know people without college degrees who make six-figure incomes in the trades or as entrepreneurs. They did not get there with any help from high school guidance counselors or administrators (all college-educated), who basically write you off if you are not college-bound or come from an impoverished background.

The message from traditional education for anyone not going to college is "you have no future" rather than helping to explore the limitless expanse of possibilities that are open to anyone who has the motivation and encouragement to pursue them.

Re: Young White America Is Haunted by a Crisis of Despair

#19

Post by sbardle »

irrational wrote: post #6

I worry about this for my oldest son. He has dyspraxia and apraxia. In practice that means he has difficulty with memory (at 15 he still doesn't know his multiplication tables) and putting things in order (such as speaking - you have to put phonemes, words, sentences together in order to speak). But, he doesn't look like he has a disability and he doesn't speak much so people don't readily realize he doesn't talk lik…

I went to a school where a number of friends were not academic in the slightest. They left as soon as they could often with no qualifications but gradually learnt trades.

Many now have their own businesses (one is a plasterer, another a builder) and they earn good money, own their own homes, and have no student debt.

The reason? They had supportive parents. Many of the people who are falling into despair tragically come from very broken families.

Re: Young White America Is Haunted by a Crisis of Despair

#20

Post by stinkytaco »

We've been on a collision course with this since we left subsistence agriculture and started living in larger groups. Automation's rate has accelerated since the industrial revolution, but it's been happening for thousands of years, which is why I think more people don't see it as a problem. Society's increased consumerism and rising standards of living has allowed people to move into producing things other than food and eventually into service, but it's foolish to think this can continue indefinitely; automation will put more and more people out of work.
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