Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Young White America Is Haunted by a Crisis of Despair

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 329 posts

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

#51

Post by jlarocco »

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…

> a workplace full of only entry-level opportunities

I agree with the rest of your post, except this part. Entry level jobs are what people should be getting straight out of college. Senior positions and management jobs go to the people with the experience to do them, and that's almost certainly not a person with a year of experience and a new bachelor's degree.

I kind of wonder if these weird expectations aren't part of the problem. If the definition of success is to graduate college and move straight to senior management, things might not work out so well...

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

#53

Post by cookiecaper »

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…

My grandfather was dyslexic and in his 92 years, he never could learn to read. He started his own garbage disposal business and became wealthy from it, eventually getting contracts with several significant municipalities in the Northwest before he sold it off. He surrounded himself with intelligent, well-educated people who would read the contracts to him and advise him (primarily his sons and wives, but also trusted employees and confidants).

Of course, this was a different time, but I believe the principle is valid. If you have confidence, charm, and enterprising spirit, the world is open despite any particular individual limitations.

The white-collar career path of collegiate education is not the only option, and as many upset Millennials are discovering, it's often not even a good option anymore.

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

#54

Post by stinkytaco »

CPLX wrote: post #34
stinkytaco wrote: post #20

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…

That is nonsense. Things got horrible for average workers at the dawn of the industrial revolution. Then they improved markedly due to progressive reforms, and are now rolling back in the face of regressive policies and rising inequality. It's not really that complicated. Progressive policies, regulation, and tax policy have better outcomes. There are just powerful and wealthy forces with vested interests working har…

I'm not talking about working conditions. I'm referring to employment. We need less people to do stuff. Thousands of years ago everyone was involved in subsistance. Pretty soon we developed technologies (the wheel, the plow) that meant we needed fewer people to do that. So people were able to move on to doing other things (like making pots or clothing). Pretty soon we automated those things as well (potters wheel, the loom, etc.) and people needed to start making other things. Over time not making anything at all, but doing service work became more common. But automation means we don't need service work as much either. We're running out of places to move people who's jobs were automated out of existence. I don't deny that life is much better for all this technology, but we need to acknowledge the other problem.

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

#55

Post by posguy »

throwanem wrote: post #31
posguy wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Not highly regarded by some in the US.

True true, and we should ignore the worthless opinion of those stuck up people. Who can't value a day of labor?

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

#56

Post by rdiddly »

gambiting wrote: post #25

"America is not a great place for people [....]" It seems to be true in general, unless you have a boatload of money, but then I would argue you would be ok pretty much anywhere. HN has been bombarded with such grim news of the US that I honestly feel bad for Americans(maybe I shouldn't, I don't know), but at least on paper, the world's greatest country doesn't look that great to live in anymore(UK is looking worse a…

"America is not a great place [....]"

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

#57

Post by rubidium »

analyst74 wrote: post #27
pjmorris wrote: post #9

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

An interesting thing I noticed after moving to America, is that race is such a big deal here that many issues have to be labeled by race, even if they apply universally. Canadian medias on the other hand, seem to be much less interested in playing the race card.

Canada has US is 60% white roughly.

It's a bigger deal because it's a more noticeable issue.

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

#58

Post by kalmari »

analyst74 wrote: post #27
pjmorris wrote: post #9

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

An interesting thing I noticed after moving to America, is that race is such a big deal here that many issues have to be labeled by race, even if they apply universally. Canadian medias on the other hand, seem to be much less interested in playing the race card.

its very strange to. i never saw it as a child nor expeirienced it but when i got older in america every one seems to be about race and other things that can differentiate in one way or another.

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

#59

Post by shortimer »

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…

Being another person giving you advice may be irritating, but on the off-chance it helps, in my area (Northeast USA) there are places where people who need help "living" can do just that. They get a room, food, help with transportation, and "recovery" (life) planning assistance, and it is "free" (their Medicare/Medicaid). They are free to get jobs, and some do, either at partner facilities where they do small repetitive tasks, or in a traditional job in the community.

The #1 challenge is quality - as a parent, you'd have to be and stay involved, as even within a single organization, the quality of each "house" can vary really significantly based on the people who work there, and further, can drift over time as the staff evolves.

Anyway, here's to you; parenting is never easy.

edit: grammar

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

#60

Post by hsitz »

posguy wrote: post #16
cryptarch wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

On a related note, here's a blog post with suggestions of jobs a person can do without a degree: Part I, http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/07/25/50-jobs-over-50000... and part II, which includes some more "manual labor" type jobs: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/08/05/50-jobs-over-50000...

Many require some sort of apprenticeship. The post is on the Mr. Money Mustache website, which is site dedicated to helping people lead happier lives that are less dependent on having lots of money and lots of "things". This idea runs pretty much against everything in a capitalist society, where consumption is encouraged and status is largely based on how much money you have. But you can live a good life with much less if you work to rid yourself of some of the harmful ideas that become ingrained in us as we grow up and live in this sort of society.

Post reply on HN