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The Cheapest Generation

theatlantic.com

141–150 of 151 posts

Re: The Cheapest Generation

#141
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lesson is to keep voting and look at Congress next instead of focusing on the presidential election. It's possible to fix things; state government in California has gotten a lot better recently due to redistricting and primary reform.

Why vote in someone that doesn't represent you interests?

Because you should think about other people, not just yourself. You have the option of voting for someone who won't shut the government down and to some people that matters quite a lot.

Re: The Cheapest Generation

#142
post #10

I'm a Millenial and I enjoy owning a car, but I definitely don't care about it as an indicator of social status the way older generations did. I would much rather own a self-driving pod with a comfortable couch where I could work or relax without thinking about driving. Or even enjoying the view! Driving is fun, but for day-to-day stuff, I'd much rather get online as soon as possible to get my work done. I tend to th…

Driving is fun, but for day-to-day stuff, I'd much rather get online as soon as possible this statement makes me recoil. If I need anything, it is to be online less , and driving enforces that, if only for a little while.

Ah, my point wasn't that I want to be online a lot. My point was that I want to get online and get my work done. That way I can log off sooner and go do other stuff I enjoy doing.

Re: The Cheapest Generation

#143

Here are some scattered observations and opinions as somebody in this generation. I'm basically just dumping gut feelings here--don't expect a lot of well-written explanations. There is not a lot worth buying that is long-lasting. Most everything feels mass-produced and cheap, and the things that aren't are pretty obviously marketed at people trying to buck that trend. I don't want to pay 10x more for something witho…

Wonderful insights.

Re: The Cheapest Generation

#144
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sorry, I'm going to disagree here. My generation worked our asses off getting Obama elected, and was really the driving force behind his election (to my shame). Yet, as soon as he's in office, all his promises to us, all his soothing words, all his assurances of change, were out the window. Other than some lame alternative to single-payer health insurance, and (only after major prodding) some gay rights advances, h…

First, up to now, I never skipped non-Presidential elections. And for the record, and to assuage the concern of commenters elsewhere, I do still vote in local elections (and did yesterday, even). Second, I did pay close attention to what the candidates were actually saying. See my comment below for an excerpt from Obama's formal 2008 platform on civil liberties, which he explained repeatedly throughout the campaign (…

> See my comment below for an excerpt from Obama's formal 2008 platform on civil liberties, which he explained repeatedly throughout the campaign (and has now broken repeatedly).

"Below" is meaningless in a comment thread where posts swap places constantly. Can you be more specific?

Re: The Cheapest Generation

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people get divorced??

I always thought it came down to one of two reasons (or both). - Money and the lack of properly managing it. - Diminishing interest as a relationship matures as well as a lack of open communication that's needed to keep a healthy relationship. Part of that is also due to not communicating well enough before getting married so one knows exactly who they are marrying ("love is blind"). That generally leads to one spous…

s/matures/ages. Interest shouldn't diminish in a mature relationship.

Re: The Cheapest Generation

#146

Here are some scattered observations and opinions as somebody in this generation. I'm basically just dumping gut feelings here--don't expect a lot of well-written explanations. There is not a lot worth buying that is long-lasting. Most everything feels mass-produced and cheap, and the things that aren't are pretty obviously marketed at people trying to buck that trend. I don't want to pay 10x more for something witho…

There is not a lot worth buying that is long-lasting. Agreed. The economy went from making perennial goods to making consumable-like goods with planned obsolescence. Although it's more convenient to have subscriber-like clients than it is to have one-time buyers, in the end it's worse than having close to no clients at all. Cars and houses can be made long-lasting.

There is no reason to trust the banks. Yet, a lot of millennials fell for housing bubble and I bet they'll fall for other ones just as likely. In this regard there isn't some kind of inherited wisdom developed in our generation, unfortunately.

Credit rating is bogeyman. That's just American specific phenomenon, regardless how much resemblance carries globally the traits of millennial generation.

Cars are expensive and limited in utility. Cars always have been appreciated more in U.S., otherwise the utilitarian attitude toward cars was also shared by older generations outside America.

Our parents set our city planning up for failure. Yeah, the planning that would "actively discourage walking" is a trait that I've usually noticed in low demographic density areas, like Australia or Iceland. Other than touristic walking tracks, there aren't actually pedestrian access to get around much outside the city centers. That's therefore not so much because our parents' planning as it is a reflection of local population's habits.

Our government doesn't care about us. I am not sure if this is a trait not shared by previous generations in their prime. I hear that times were perceived rough in their days too, although it may be for different reasons. Older generations blame the government for not catering their needs enough as well.

Our government not only doesn't care about us, it schemes to make things worse. That's how a corrupted system feels like, and it doesn't take to be in a given generation for that.

Our companies don't care about us. I would say "yes, this may be something new", but I suspect that in the '30s, in America's Great Depression with the economy achieving overproduction and unemployment hitting high rates, the people felt the same. But, if we're about to compare our generation with only the last two before, then it may be true - nowadays it's worse.

We don't believe in advertising. That's tough. I don't think there ever existed an attitude for some commercial product like I've seen to be for Apple products, at least back a few years ago. Apple products may have brought some innovation, but so did other products that didn't enjoyed that much hype around them. What set apart Apple products was their commercial promotion. That, was like no other! And it caught, it caught big!

We don't believe in the police. You only notice that if you are in some disadvantaged social category, and it have been like this since the societies themselves. The novelty in this is that in America of our time the disadvantaged social category is becoming dominant.

We don't believe in the news. It's not so much as the older generations were more gullible as it is that the traditional news channels were often the only news they had. Access to some alternative media channels or the peer-to-peer sharing of information (news included) was very limited, unlike today. It's not a generation trait, it is being empowered by technological advancement.

We believe in each other. I am not sure about that. It's true that "the sheer amount of fakeness" made us more reticent to the known actors like traditional media, traditional advertising, and to traditional political play, but the stakes are high and the public belief is a high-sought currency. Influential bloggers, the ones that have an influence to trade are courted by whoever is interested, we all know that! Need to say more?

Re: The Cheapest Generation

#147
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you understand now why I didn't vote in the last election? It wasn't apathy; it was rage and contempt for the institution. Voting idealistically has gotten us less than zero as a generation.

Dude, I voted for the Socialist and Green Parties last election. The two-party system is not an excuse for throwing away what tiny democratic voice we have.

And someone has gone through and systematically downvoted all my recent comments. Was that your response to my request for civility?

Re: The Cheapest Generation

#148
post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First, up to now, I never skipped non-Presidential elections. And for the record, and to assuage the concern of commenters elsewhere, I do still vote in local elections (and did yesterday, even). Second, I did pay close attention to what the candidates were actually saying. See my comment below for an excerpt from Obama's formal 2008 platform on civil liberties, which he explained repeatedly throughout the campaign (…

> See my comment below for an excerpt from Obama's formal 2008 platform on civil liberties, which he explained repeatedly throughout the campaign (and has now broken repeatedly). "Below" is meaningless in a comment thread where posts swap places constantly. Can you be more specific?

Sorry, I meant this one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6682813

Re: The Cheapest Generation

#149
post #99
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, I'm going to disagree here. My generation worked our asses off getting Obama elected, and was really the driving force behind his election (to my shame). Yet, as soon as he's in office, all his promises to us, all his soothing words, all his assurances of change, were out the window. Other than some lame alternative to single-payer health insurance, and (only after major prodding) some gay rights advances, he'…

As much as I empathize with you in feeling that our vote is useless in the presidential elections, I would like to remind you that our votes still matter in local elections. I'm sick of people telling me they don't vote because our president hasn't made enough changes in our corporate-driven, polarized, two party system. I am just as disappointed in our government as you are, however, I know that when I vote for a ma…

I did (and do) vote in local elections. I even voted in our local election two days ago. I agree that local voting is still important, even if I disagree with some posters here who say that local voting has more of an impact on our daily lives than our national government.

Re: The Cheapest Generation

#150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sheltered, entitled and delayed adulthood. You give every indication of all three in these short comments. I suggest you put down the sociology book, forget your dreams of having the next (insert app clone) and get job at the nearest Wal-Mart. Life happens differently and faster when your opportunities are limited.

Would you care to elaborate on your assessment, or do you just want to bash people who want to live in a better world?

I think my assessment was dead on, get some life experience and some perspective. As for your original comments, I offer the same advice. Maybe pick one of the points you complain about and try to fix it.
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