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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

#251

Post by MichaelGG »

wcummings wrote: post #98
MichaelGG wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So is it just the stigma that prevents people from getting 100K a year? I mean if it's as easy as it sounds in your comment, there should be loads of people signing up. And I'm guessing you don't end up with 80K+ in student loans?

No one said it was easy . All the trades mentioned are hard work.

Easy as in there's probably a lot of people that can handle it, if they decide to stick with it. Whereas becoming, say, an elite spy or soldier has harder requirements that most people won't meet. Or do a lot of people wash out of the trades?

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

#252

Post by dragonwriter »

jdmichal wrote: post #220
curveship wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US divorce rate is lower than it's been for 40 years.

You're discussing the derivative (rate of change) of the actual issue. The issue isn't how fast divorced households are growing; the issue is that they exist at all. Even if the divorce rate was zero, there would still be existent divorced households. And broken households don't do any favors for children, even if the parents do their best to make it seem amicable.

> You're discussing the derivative (rate of change) of the actual issue.

The rate of change is the rate of new divorces minus the rate at which divorcee households are ending (if the concern is divorced parents with children, by death of the parent, child, or the child leaving the household.)

> Even if the divorce rate was zero, there would still be existent divorced households.

A declining, eventually to zero, number of them.

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

#253

Post by Jtsummers »

humanrebar wrote: post #249
fasquoika wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>encounters with the police result in getting fatally shot or seriously injured Which absolutely enrages a large portion of the populace. The state can't just put down protests with violence and expect things to get better. Ruling through fear never works for long. History is littered with revolts that only became popular after everyone involved were slaughtered and normal people became sympathetic

> Ruling through fear never works for long. Define 'long'. North Korea has been a mess for a while.

This is a good point. In the US and (to varying degrees) other Western countries we have a stronger notion of free press and free speech. These are major structural characteristics that permit a balance of power between those given authority and those they have authority over. A reduction in free speech/assembly/press, means a reduction in the ability of the people to revolt (to any degree) effectively against those who abuse the authority they've been granted or taken.

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

#254

Post by tomjen3 »

nostrademons wrote: post #238
petra wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> big innovation deficit. >> not enough fundamental research going on to generate new technological opportunities. And on the other hand, the news is full of items about technologies with large market impact, in almost every industry, and a lot of new technological building blocks. Some of it is crap, but still. >> We see this in the returns to innovation .. rareness of those returns. Maybe this is because of more i…

I think we're seeing faster innovation in certain areas (software, mostly), but much slower in others (material science, medicine, sensors, transportation). Remember that line in The Graduate (1967) - "I want to say one word to you: Plastics." You get a new Javascript framework every 6 months, but the last major materials to gain consumer adoption were carbon fiber & titanium in the 80s. The post-war years saw rapid…

Counterpoint: it took less than 10 years for 77%[1] of the US to own a smartphone, which has made many new businesses viable, including arguably the entire IoTs.

Then you have the secondary effects: the chips that are used as sensors in the phones are now cheap enough to put into everything. I have an e-parking device that automatically stops and shows the time when I park (many parking spots here are free, but can only be used for a limited time). It is not connected to anything, it just measures when the car moves.

[1]: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/12/evolution-of...

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

#255

Post by will_brown »

curveship wrote: post #217
will_brown wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>And I find it at least questionable that parenting has gotten markedly less supportive in the past few decades. Look at the trends of the past few decades: divorce; single parent; and dual income households. There is in fact remarkedly less two parent, supported by single income households, meaning it's a rareity for a child to simply have a parent at home when they return from school to fix them a healthy snack, as…

US divorce rate is lower than it's been for 40 years.

HN never fails to disappoint in fundamentally unfair readings.

Yes if you ignore overall trends and use a simple snapshot today divorce rates are slightly lower than the alltime high in 1980. To my larger point, in 1960 9% of kids lived in single parent homes, that number today is 36% and as high as 72% in a certain demographic.

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

#256

Post by ryandrake »

nostrademons wrote: post #248
ryandrake wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "capital holders" are crying crocodile tears. Oh my god, my millions are only making a 4% return! The horror! My heart bleeds for those downtrodden folks, really it does. Tons of people make 0% return because they live paycheck to paycheck, are deep in debt, and have no savings and no investments. Almost half of Americans own no stock (either directly or indirectly through retirement funds, etc.) [1] and therefor…

If you substitute "retired parents" for "capital holders" and "$40K income" for "4% returns", would it change the tone of your comment? The problem with class-warfare explanations is that class distinctions are a lot more muddled than simple labels, and many people are both labor and capital at the same time. Or if not, one member of a family might easily be working class while another family member relies upon savin…

I would not change my tune that much. The ability to retire with a passive income is a luxury that my generation as a whole may not see in great numbers. I'm lucky enough to be part of the population who does have a little savings--not making even close to 4% obviously, but better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick. But it's not zero and every day I am grateful and thankful for even having a little. I really have a hard time getting worked up over people who are complaining that their pile of money is not making even more money while they sleep.

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

#257

Post by magic_beans »

cookiecaper wrote: post #192
magic_beans wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, that is the very definition of white privilege. This despairing young white America just doesn't realize they actually have it, unlike their truly hopeless minority counterparts.

First, you've presumed that my grandfather was white. Second, I'm not connecting the dots anyway. How does this involve race or privilege? One would assume that illiteracy is a substantial disadvantage regardless of one's family background or ethnicity.

Honestly, I assumed he was white because it was entirely unremarkable for a black person your grandfather's age to be illiterate or close to it. (I know your grandpa isn't black).

An illiterate black person had almost no chance to have a successful life.

> If you have confidence, charm, and enterprising spirit, the world is open despite any particular individual limitations.

THAT is white privilege. You must understand that the world is simply NOT open to black people this way. Not at all.

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

#258

Post by spoiledtechie »

anigbrowl wrote: post #148
analyst74 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

'Playing the race card' often comes off as code for saying 'racial issues aren't real.' Are you sure that you're not overlooking significant structural factors just because Canada has less racial tension than the USA does?

Canada also has less races and it's less diverse than America. The race card has been played way too much these past 8 years. It's disgusting.

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

#259

Post by poikniok »

cmahler7 wrote: post #130
andrewmcwatters wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lol, yeah like large corporations and investors (which includes many of us here) want to give away free cash or inflate wages without cause the answers to these problems are rarely simple

paying a fair tax rate would be a start Do you really think Google should be paying 3% tax?

No I think they should be paying 0% tax. Double taxation is fundamentally unfair.

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

#260

Post by str33t_punk »

I lived a a suburban, white, middle to upper middle class town in Connecticut until four years ago. There was a massive opioid problem in my high school. There were several overdoses a year. We even had a kid OD in the bathroom.

I am still Facebook friends with many of these kids -- none of whom really finished high school. I see them go in and out of rehab on social media all the time. More and more of my friends who did end up going to college are dropping out for various mental health issues. A lot of them are not rebounding.

It's all very surprising coming from a middle class suburban town in CT but it is the new normal I guess -- many friends of mine from other suburban / rural areas tell me their towns are facing the same issues.

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