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American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals

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Re: American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals

#101

Post by greenyoda »

bmmayer1 wrote: post #68
bmmayer1 wrote: post #22

As a member of Generation Y, it is hard to have much sympathy for the "plight" of GenY compared to pretty much any other generation in world history. We haven't been drafted into foreign wars or had to suffer through a real depression. A third of us didn't die in an influenza epidemic. Our women and minorities haven't had to face entrenched and legally immovable workplace discrimination. We have had to face no real l…

Another thing occurred to me, which is that the identifier of "GenY" usually comes with the implied notion that we are the children of GenX--in other words, that our parents were boomers, a very specific socioeconomic group that is mostly made up of the white, educated, middle class of the 60's and 70's and excludes large swaths of the American populace: both those who immigrated post-1970 and those whose ascendence…

the identifier of "GenY" usually comes with the implied notion that we are the children of GenX -- in other words, that our parents were boomers...

GenX were not the boomers, they were the children of the boomers.[1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X

Re: American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals

#102

Post by bmmayer1 »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #91
bmmayer1 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know. There have been a lot of stories how young people are just a lot less willing to take risks than they used to be. I can tell you for a fact there are wide open $120k jobs in North Dakota and they are desperate for young up-and-comers, but no one wants to move to North Dakota. Older generations just didn't have that privilege. A generation ago, Gen Xers would leave home and move across the country just t…

One wouldn't doubt that there are well-paying jobs in North Dakota, but with a total of 700K people living in the whole state one immediately ask just how many $120K jobs there are, and how many applicants there are for each such job.

Lots. The fracking boom makes it the fastest growing economy in the country.

Re: American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals

#103

Post by bmmayer1 »

greenyoda wrote: post #101
bmmayer1 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another thing occurred to me, which is that the identifier of "GenY" usually comes with the implied notion that we are the children of GenX--in other words, that our parents were boomers, a very specific socioeconomic group that is mostly made up of the white, educated, middle class of the 60's and 70's and excludes large swaths of the American populace: both those who immigrated post-1970 and those whose ascendence…

the identifier of "GenY" usually comes with the implied notion that we are the children of GenX -- in other words, that our parents were boomers... GenX were not the boomers, they were the children of the boomers.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X

Sorry, my bad. Semantics aside the point still stands.

Re: American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals

#104

Post by bmmayer1 »

bmmayer1 wrote: post #68
bmmayer1 wrote: post #22

As a member of Generation Y, it is hard to have much sympathy for the "plight" of GenY compared to pretty much any other generation in world history. We haven't been drafted into foreign wars or had to suffer through a real depression. A third of us didn't die in an influenza epidemic. Our women and minorities haven't had to face entrenched and legally immovable workplace discrimination. We have had to face no real l…

Another thing occurred to me, which is that the identifier of "GenY" usually comes with the implied notion that we are the children of GenX--in other words, that our parents were boomers, a very specific socioeconomic group that is mostly made up of the white, educated, middle class of the 60's and 70's and excludes large swaths of the American populace: both those who immigrated post-1970 and those whose ascendence…

Correction: in this post when I said GenX I meant Baby Boomers.

Re: American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals

#105

Post by sagacityhappens »

angersock wrote: post #51

I'm so sick of hearing about how bad we--us poor, lost kids from Generation Y--have it. I'm so sick of hearing about the odds, about the unemployment rate, about how everything's our fault because we're too entitled, or about how nothing's our fault because the economy you see. I live in a rented house with several other young folks trying to get by in our industry. I'm working today instead of taking a bus home to s…

You nailed it. Dont buy the hype

Re: American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals

#106

Post by MaysonL »

w1ntermute wrote: post #19
yummyfajitas wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And without the well-off students as their peers in the public schools, the poorer students won't improve, no matter how much money you throw at the situation. I'm curious - are you postulating that the only way to cause poorer students to improve their educational outcomes is via peer effects with richer students? I'd love to see data on this one way or the other. While most people don't mind if their children assoc…

> I'm curious - are you postulating that the only way to cause poorer students to improve their educational outcomes is via peer effects with richer students? What I'm really postulating that the only way to improve the educational outcomes of students that come from families who don't emphasize education is to surround them with students who come from families that do emphasize education. So my initial statement ass…

What I'm really postulating that the only way to improve the educational outcomes of students that come from families who don't emphasize education is to surround them with students who come from families that do emphasize education.

The other way is to turn the family that doesn't emphasize education into one that does.

Example: Harlem Children's Zone. http://www.hcz.org/

Re: American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals

#107

Post by jf271 »

_delirium wrote: post #34
hnhg wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've picked on the worst-off countries in western Europe, but tell me about the best-off like Germany or Scandinavian countries. As far as I can tell, they have pretty generous social welfare schemes but are pretty sound economically. How does that factor into your model? Could it be that other cultural factors are at play?

I think that may be a hint that he's blaming the wrong things: it's pretty strange to blame the U.S.'s social-welfare system for the country's disparities, when the U.S.'s social-welfare system is so stingy. Social Security is not why the older generation has so much more money, because it's pretty impossible to get rich off a social-security check in the first place (I know elderly who live off social security, and…

Just look at the US tax code to figure out why most of the money in the hands of old white people. The tax benefits of IRA/401K accounts really favor people who have the guts to cut back on consumption and save over the years.That is all money that didn't get spent. Some say it increased the savings rate but did the increased savings really help the country?

Re: American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals

#108

Post by Matti »

w1ntermute wrote: post #24
ronnier wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What I'm really postulating that the only way to improve the educational outcomes of students that come from families who don't emphasize education is to surround them with students who come from families that do emphasize education. I was the product of one of these experiments. The school district I lived in was the result of a redistricting to pull in us white students into a large neighboring nonwhite school. I…

> The school district I lived in was the result of a redistricting to pull in us white students into a large neighboring nonwhite school. Sounds like this was done the wrong way around. What percentage of the students at your school were white? You got your ass beat because you were in the minority, and you were in their school. The best way to change behavior is to intimidate the students through intense peer pressu…

"In perhaps the biggest surprise, Armor's studies found that black elementary students who go to magnet schools (which have the highest percentages of whites) score no better on standardized tests than do blacks who go to all-black nonmagnet schools.(97) In short, Armor found that, contrary to the notion on which the whole desegregation plan was founded--that going to school with middle-class whites would increase blacks' achievement--the Kansas City experiment showed that "integration has no effect."(98)"

http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-298.html

Re: American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals

#109

Post by philwelch »

w1ntermute wrote: post #79
tsotha wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Why not? People are healthier than ever before... There's no evidence this is true. You realize in the US 30% of the population is obese and almost 10% of us have diabetes, right? >...and are working jobs that require much less physical endurance. Right, because sitting at a desk for forty years is the key to good health. >Again, if you're living longer, your usefulness is decaying at a slower rate. And again, there…

> You realize in the US 30% of the population is obese and almost 10% of us have diabetes, right? Those people are probably going to die at 60-70 y/o anyway. And besides, that's self-inflicted. Once people realize that it's preventing them from reaching their full lifespan, they'll change if they want to. And if they don't, well, I'm not gonna complain if I get better retirement benefits as a result. > Right, because…

It's not illegal to work after age 65, and Social Security is barely a pittance so it's even encouraged.

Re: American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals

#110

Post by philwelch »

michaelochurch wrote: post #99
Jimmy wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>academia's a non-concern by this point. Could you expand on what you mean by this? I'm just curious what your viewpoint is.

The academic career and the "life of the mind" are done-for in this society. The US has already decided that it doesn't care about these things, and there really isn't an option to turn back. There will be demand for teaching, for sure, but basic research is gone and the academic career no longer has the resources to create enough decent positions that would entice the top people to stay. What's happening now is that…

We're employing more academics than ever. The problem is that we're producing even more grad students than we have academic positions, because academia's self-replication behaviors have metastasized.
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