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Tim Cook’s Message to 2019 Graduates: ‘My Generation Has Failed You’

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Re: Tim Cook’s Message to 2019 Graduates: ‘My Generation Has Failed You’

#131

Post by roenxi »

bumby wrote: post #117
roenxi wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the millennial generation wants a higher quality of life than their parents, they will need to gather and harvest more resources. The methods the boomers & prior generations used for that were a combination of investing in fossil fuel extraction infrastructure and sometimes waging war/extracting resources from other countries. Look at China - massive generational improvement in living standards, massive increase i…

I think this is a false dichotomy. The only way it's true is if we assume the quality of life desired by millennials is the same as conspicuous consumption previously portrayed by Madison Avenue. To that point, I see younger generations largely rejecting this definition of 'quality of life' in favor of alternate definitions. In regards to China, I don't know if this is a point that this is the only way to do things o…

> following a previously defined template

That was the interpretation I was going for. It is conspicuous - the only way we know how to rapidly increase living standards involves using fossil fuels. Solar and wind are only cost competitive at the moment after easily 30 years of pressure and research. They weren't an option to set the millenials up for success.

The alternatives are very tentatively proven at this stage, and not at the same scale as China from backwater to superpower in 60 years. They didn't do that with wind energy - they burned a lot of coal. We still don't have compelling evidence that a society can flourish without the internal combustion engine. Maybe it is about to hit, we can all hope.

> I suppose this shows how old and out of touch I am, but who are the 'thought-leaders' you refer towards? I'm not being snarky, I legitimately don't know who would be considered a millennial thought-leader and would like to find out.

I don't actually know who would be considered a thought leader for the millenials. Wouldn't even know where to start figuring that out, or even what the term means.

But there are a lot of very vocal individuals on the subject of environmentalism who clearly want people to think like them (the sort of people who lead protests and make up the activist core of the environmental movement). They were the ones I'm referring to.

Re: Tim Cook’s Message to 2019 Graduates: ‘My Generation Has Failed You’

#132

Post by rootoor »

mc32 wrote: post #125
rootoor wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never said anything about boomers enriching themselves at the expense of future generations. I think blaming younger generations for not taking responsibility for what was handed to them is unfair. We are trying to fix things, however it is difficult when the people in power (who happen to be boomers) will not allow progress. That resistance to change and the resulting resentment is what I was attempting to discuss…

When people say "boomers" do they mean "boomers" world-wide, or do they mean "boomers" as in American "boomers"? I ask because everyone is part of this thing, but some people may think only American boomers have partaken in the above ascribed behavior.

I am American and I generally am referring to Americans when I talk about boomers

Re: Tim Cook’s Message to 2019 Graduates: ‘My Generation Has Failed You’

#134

Post by bumby »

roenxi wrote: post #131
bumby wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is a false dichotomy. The only way it's true is if we assume the quality of life desired by millennials is the same as conspicuous consumption previously portrayed by Madison Avenue. To that point, I see younger generations largely rejecting this definition of 'quality of life' in favor of alternate definitions. In regards to China, I don't know if this is a point that this is the only way to do things o…

> following a previously defined template That was the interpretation I was going for. It is conspicuous - the only way we know how to rapidly increase living standards involves using fossil fuels. Solar and wind are only cost competitive at the moment after easily 30 years of pressure and research. They weren't an option to set the millenials up for success. The alternatives are very tentatively proven at this stage…

I fully grant your point that the rate at which Chinese were brought into the middle class is dependent on fossil fuels.

But similar to your point on the infancy of renewables, this is largely because ICE and other fossil fuel technology has been improved on for the last 150 years. It's unfair to compare renewables to this standard as they are still very much the new kid on the block.

What I think will be very disappointing is if we, as a society, decide to blindly continue focused on fossil fuels because we're optimizing in the short term, rather than the long term. In my opinion, we should be leveraging the last 150 years of fossil fuel technology as a stepping stone to something more sustainable.

I think there's a tendency to treat it as an overly simplified optimization problem, as in we need to maximize output at all costs. It's probably better to set it up as an optimization problem with the proper constraints. These constraints may be externalities that the government is involved in regulating. Yes, we may sacrifice some short term benefit for long-term success. But we (hopefully) won't have squandered an amazing resource like fossil fuels for an ill-advised myopic gain.

Re: Tim Cook’s Message to 2019 Graduates: ‘My Generation Has Failed You’

#136

Post by drugme »

NE2z2T9qi wrote: post #6

I guess I'm considered a millennial, but messages like this sound like misconceived pandering. Firstly, I don't think any generation necessarily "owes" anything to future generations. But, even if we accept the premise, I am the beneficiary of absolutely mind-boggling amounts of technological advancement, culture, progress, infrastructure, science, and on and on and on even just over the course of my own lifetime (ap…

Even when we think "the world is going to hell", it simply doesn't

Actually things are pretty much going to hell, as far as climate change (and its spillover effects) are foreseen to go.

Or what is your prognosis of that situation?

Re: Tim Cook’s Message to 2019 Graduates: ‘My Generation Has Failed You’

#137

Post by lordlimecat »

tedivm wrote: post #9
NE2z2T9qi wrote: post #6

I guess I'm considered a millennial, but messages like this sound like misconceived pandering. Firstly, I don't think any generation necessarily "owes" anything to future generations. But, even if we accept the premise, I am the beneficiary of absolutely mind-boggling amounts of technological advancement, culture, progress, infrastructure, science, and on and on and on even just over the course of my own lifetime (ap…

I think there are numerous ways in which Tim Cook's generation has failed the next generation (at least in the US). * Wages are flat, * Housing costs are up (in large part due to NIMBYism), * College is more expensive (in large part due to Cook's generation cutting subsidies that they got), * Environment is shot- that whole global warming thing isn't going away anytime soon. Generally speaking the baby boomers, as a…

>* College is more expensive (in large part due to Cook's generation cutting subsidies that they got),

College is more expensive because the government ensures that 18 year olds have uncapped credit cards for educational expenses and everyone tells them "dont worry about it right now". When you increase demand and defer all cost pressure by years, the cost will always skyrocket.

Blaming this on a lack of subsidies is actually backwards; providing guaranteed funding for education would further boost costs. As long as schools are setting the price, demand is high, and the money is flowing like water, that cost is going to continue to increase.

> * Environment is shot- that whole global warming thing isn't going away anytime soon.

But renewables use is also way up.

This is the parent's point: these claims utterly ignore the historical reality. We're greener than ever, we've stopped using CFCs and arsenic preservatives and lead paints and high particulate energy generation. We have more access to education than ever. And in the west, our wages are on average 5x that of the rest of the world.

So many of these complaints look ignorant and petty when you zoom out a tiny bit from one's personal circumstances. You have college debt? Cry more, you have access to more opportunity than the preceeding 99% of your ancestors and than 95% of your current peers.

Re: Tim Cook’s Message to 2019 Graduates: ‘My Generation Has Failed You’

#138

Post by ibeckermayer »

askafriend wrote: post #127
newfriend wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've decided your comment is toxic, you should be banned.

If you own the site, feel free to ban me. You have every right to. Apple doesn't want Gab on their platform? Well it's Apple's platform, so you have to play by their rules. If you don't like it, you can go create your own technology. That's how this works.

I never questioned if they can, I questioned if they should. "It's mine and I can do whatever I want" is the moral reasoning of a (low IQ) teenager.

Re: Tim Cook’s Message to 2019 Graduates: ‘My Generation Has Failed You’

#139

Post by jsnider3 »

skywhopper wrote: post #3

"the university’s president ... touted that the Apple CEO ... 'represents the kind of success we hope all of our graduates can attain.'" ... to become the CEO of one of the most profitable companies in the history of the world? I mean, aim high I guess.

Perhaps all of the students can fuse into a cyborg-hivemind? That would allow them to all be the CEO of a company, then it would just be a challenge of making it the most profitable in the world.

Re: Tim Cook’s Message to 2019 Graduates: ‘My Generation Has Failed You’

#140

Post by askafriend »

ibeckermayer wrote: post #138
askafriend wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you own the site, feel free to ban me. You have every right to. Apple doesn't want Gab on their platform? Well it's Apple's platform, so you have to play by their rules. If you don't like it, you can go create your own technology. That's how this works.

I never questioned if they can, I questioned if they should. "It's mine and I can do whatever I want" is the moral reasoning of a (low IQ) teenager.

I was responding to @newfriend who wanted me banned for my comment.

This is how free speech works. You can't come into my home and say whatever you want. I'll kick you out onto the streets, the same way Apple kicked Gab off their platform. You can say whatever you want in your own home, though.

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