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Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, it should say "perhaps more so for our generation than the previous"
Not even that. The good old days are selective memory, it was not better 30 years ago. Period. We shouldn't concede to fantasy to make our own struggle seem more epic.
> Life is hard, and it’s most certainly unfair… perhaps more so for our generation that any previous. Absolutely absurd. You really think you have it worse than somebody born into slavery? Or worse than a medieval serf? A large fraction of humans alive right now would look on your lifestyle as extremely privileged. This kind of statement comes across as pitifully ignorant whining. You actually hurt the cause of fixin…
You realize the article focuses on debt in regards to students and young people, right? Yeah, there's a bit of hyperbole, but I think my reference to "toughest... generation... evar..." makes sense in the context of "young people have it pretty shitty right now". Clearly you disagree, so fair enough. :)
According to Historian David McCullough, the functional literacy rate in 1900 was 11%.
Sure, the article focus on students. But, by historical standards, you are extremely lucky TO BE ABLE to be a student into your early 20s.
By historical standards, we are very privileged. This "toughest generation ever" bit is both naive and sad.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You really think you have it worse than somebody born into slavery? You really think we have it better than someone who owned a few dozen slaves, living leisurely on a huge plantation? History has treated some well, and some not so well.
Absolutely yes. Four reasons off the top of my head: 1. Dentistry 2. Antibiotics 3. Indoor plumbing 4. Central Air
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You really think you have it worse than somebody born into slavery? You really think we have it better than someone who owned a few dozen slaves, living leisurely on a huge plantation? History has treated some well, and some not so well.
Absolutely yes. Four reasons off the top of my head: 1. Dentistry 2. Antibiotics 3. Indoor plumbing 4. Central Air
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I considered pointing this out, and the great depression too. I can't say (and didn't say) that our generation is definitely harder off (I wasn't born during the previously stated time periods), however... from everything I've seen, youth today are in for a really, really shitty time. Perhaps saying "worse than its been in a long, long time" would have been more balanced.
At least if you died during WWII you were done. Now you can volunteer to rack up $200k+ in debt that will take you 10-20 (or more) years to pay off. It's not slavery in that it never ends but many students end up being very nearly indentured servants for a long time. Which is worse, death or debt "slavery?"
> Life is hard, and it’s most certainly unfair… perhaps more so for our generation that any previous. Absolutely absurd. You really think you have it worse than somebody born into slavery? Or worse than a medieval serf? A large fraction of humans alive right now would look on your lifestyle as extremely privileged. This kind of statement comes across as pitifully ignorant whining. You actually hurt the cause of fixin…
> You really think you have it worse than somebody born into slavery? You really think we have it better than someone who owned a few dozen slaves, living leisurely on a huge plantation? History has treated some well, and some not so well.
Given the choice of being rich during the age of slavery, or being rich today, I'd prefer today.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"But if people stop throwing rocks to break windows, how will the window makers make a living?"
In this case the window makers are probably web startups. If college kids weren't buying all these iphones what would be the value of geolocated picture dating services or whatever?
I recently finished reading John Brunner's "Shockwave Rider" and found the taxation proposal near the end intriguing, if a bit alien. Tax rates are adjusted based on scoring of profession on three axes: training/talent, drawbacks (like unpredictable hours and dirty working conditions), and social indispensability. On all three axes, advertisers would score a zero, thereby qualifying for a 90% tax rate. I wonder where people would score people who work in a lot of these startups? I suppose it would depend heavily on what the startup was doing.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You really think you have it worse than somebody born into slavery? You really think we have it better than someone who owned a few dozen slaves, living leisurely on a huge plantation? History has treated some well, and some not so well.
A person who owned a few dozen slaves and a huge plantation was incredibly rich, high in the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution. Given the choice of being rich during the age of slavery, or being rich today, I'd prefer today.
> Life is hard, and it’s most certainly unfair… perhaps more so for our generation that any previous. Absolutely absurd. You really think you have it worse than somebody born into slavery? Or worse than a medieval serf? A large fraction of humans alive right now would look on your lifestyle as extremely privileged. This kind of statement comes across as pitifully ignorant whining. You actually hurt the cause of fixin…
I do think that "perhaps more so for our generation that any previous" is hyperbole though.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In this case the window makers are probably web startups. If college kids weren't buying all these iphones what would be the value of geolocated picture dating services or whatever?
It's interesting to hear what people consider window breaking and window making. Even in the canonical example of lawyers (who only "split the pie"), some provide a social good by defending innocent people against what some people consider a corrupt body of laws. I recently finished reading John Brunner's "Shockwave Rider" and found the taxation proposal near the end intriguing, if a bit alien. Tax rates are adjusted…
In the case of web startups you can go from "college students all have smartphones so let's build a social network for them to share their most banal thoughts" to "almost everyone in the US will have a smartphone within 5 years and a social networking profile, how can we use this information to provide more efficient public services?". So frivolous spending can accidently create opportunity for much more valuable work.