Crikey. And I thought that baby-boomers were self-obsessed and whiny... I guess their kids are even worse.
Welcome to Your Quarter Life Crisis
51–60 of 65 posts
Re: Welcome to Your Quarter Life Crisis
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
"- You can't get a decent job without a decent education. " Fibs. I have no "proper" or "decent" education and work as a tech lead. You just gotta work hard and find a way to stick out from the crowd. Thankfully with all the dossers in low rung jobs that isn't hard.
You just gotta work hard and find a way to stick out from the crowd. How can that possibly work for the majority of the population? We're not talking about the individual here, we're talking about changes in society.
There are many niches looking for different kinds of people. That is an easy way a majority can stick out. They don't all stick out to the same people.
Re: Welcome to Your Quarter Life Crisis
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You can't get a decent job without a decent education. So, what makes you think a decent job is a right, because it isn't. Most people don't go to college, most people get low paying and/or manual labor or service jobs. Welcome to the real world. > Kids these days are finishing school much later than their parents, and they don't have a choice. They have every choice, they can choose to not bury themselves in debt…
I think the point is comparison to parents/grandparents. Most of our parents never went to college - but could still have Dad work a blue-collar job - and still have a nice (small) house in the suburbs with a picket fence. I think part of the issue/trend is the fact that this generation might end up worse off than their parents.. that hasn't happened all that much historically (that I can think of at least)
...but could still have Dad work a blue-collar job - and still have a nice (small) house in the suburbs with a picket fence
Fallacy. Home ownership in the population has increased by ten percent since the 50's. Your dad had less of a chance at home ownership then than you do now.
Re: Welcome to Your Quarter Life Crisis
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm sorry but that is nothing but a bunch of ignorant hand-waving. Whenever something like the quarterlife crisis is brought up, there is a strong current of thinking that goes something like "These people should just get over themselves" Fact is, there are a number of huge factors working against young people these days. Consider the following: - You can't get a decent job without a decent education. It used to be t…
Not just that, but there is so much social pressure and expectation that pushes you along through highschool, through college without much promotion toward the alternatives. Never once did I think or hear that I didn't have to go to college, that I could learn some sort of trade or technical skill instead. I blindly followed my nicely laid out path with little objection, and in a way feel robbed, though realize it ul…
Welcome to the same life that everyone one of us has lived, all the way back to your parents. The particulars of your concerns, worries, feelings, and fears may be different, but the fact that you have them is not.
Re: Welcome to Your Quarter Life Crisis
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe that proves it has nothing to do with "You're special" meme OR debt. I'm 26 year old from central Europe. And these feelings are all to familiar with me - especially from observing what's going on with my peers. What I see is that generation of our parents - the boomers took all and everything they could - it feels like they didn't leave anything to us. Except the task of cleaning up leftovers of their broken d…
> my GF is one of those educated young people who cant get work. Can't get work, or won't accept work she considers beneath her, there's a big difference. I'm fairly sure finding a job as a waitress just about anywhere is rather easy.
I graduated in 2002 and got a "crappy" programming job for 38k. I mentioned I only made that to a friend who said she had worked for 30 years and never made that much money. A few years later I was unemployed for 6 months and I still made far more money that year than she did.
It's not that we can't get waitress just so much as it's a drop in the bucket. Heck, my unemployment check paid more than an entry level job for far less effort.
Re: Welcome to Your Quarter Life Crisis
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
You just gotta work hard and find a way to stick out from the crowd. How can that possibly work for the majority of the population? We're not talking about the individual here, we're talking about changes in society.
There are many niches looking for different kinds of people. That is an easy way a majority can stick out. They don't all stick out to the same people.
That's true, but are there enough niches to absorb the millions of people graduating from college every single year?
Re: Welcome to Your Quarter Life Crisis
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are many niches looking for different kinds of people. That is an easy way a majority can stick out. They don't all stick out to the same people.
That's true, but are there enough niches to absorb the millions of people graduating from college every single year?
No. Way too many people go to college. They'd be freed from the debt & infantilizing lifestyle and generally would better off if they didn't go to college.
"Everyone should go to college" is like a giant, farcical real-world existential play about the Lake Wobegon fallacy.
Re: Welcome to Your Quarter Life Crisis
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe that proves it has nothing to do with "You're special" meme OR debt. I'm 26 year old from central Europe. And these feelings are all to familiar with me - especially from observing what's going on with my peers. What I see is that generation of our parents - the boomers took all and everything they could - it feels like they didn't leave anything to us. Except the task of cleaning up leftovers of their broken d…
> my GF is one of those educated young people who cant get work. Can't get work, or won't accept work she considers beneath her, there's a big difference. I'm fairly sure finding a job as a waitress just about anywhere is rather easy.
I can't say that your statement has no merit.
However, it's still kinda weird how modern communities educate such vast numbers of people in fields where careers don't even exist (eg. liberal arts, biochemistry, biology,... for my country).
There is always a possibility of being a craftsman or entrepreneur - but that is not for everybody (it takes a special personality to have a go at that).
As for being a waitress - what she is doing currently is not far from that - but it is not something a person would aspire to do for whole life. Especially if you were a good girl/boy and studied hard - but then got shafted. :)
Re: Welcome to Your Quarter Life Crisis
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's true, but are there enough niches to absorb the millions of people graduating from college every single year?
No. Way too many people go to college. They'd be freed from the debt & infantilizing lifestyle and generally would better off if they didn't go to college. "Everyone should go to college" is like a giant, farcical real-world existential play about the Lake Wobegon fallacy.
And that brings us back to the article - you're left with countless college grads with a near-useless degree who are faced with three choices:
- somehow "rise above the rest" - which, by definition, not everyone can do
- wallow in a career and lifestyle which is unfulfilling and doesn't live up to their expectations (as described in the article)
- suck it up, cut their losses, "settle" for a "lesser" job, and live happily ever after (also see: Mike Rowe's opinion on the subject).
Re: Welcome to Your Quarter Life Crisis
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe that proves it has nothing to do with "You're special" meme OR debt. I'm 26 year old from central Europe. And these feelings are all to familiar with me - especially from observing what's going on with my peers. What I see is that generation of our parents - the boomers took all and everything they could - it feels like they didn't leave anything to us. Except the task of cleaning up leftovers of their broken d…
> my GF is one of those educated young people who cant get work. Can't get work, or won't accept work she considers beneath her, there's a big difference. I'm fairly sure finding a job as a waitress just about anywhere is rather easy.
Have you ever tried applying to somewhere considered 'low' when you have some questionably spectacular mentions on your resume? Most anywhere will at best consider you a joke and at worst suspect. You really have to dumb down your skills and experience if you're trying to move to a new location or get a temporary job for those with education/experience in a location that does not have the job areas your resume reflects. (against the rebuttal argument, 'you can always move' - no, you can't.)
There is always the charge leveled at the young and educated of being lazy and aloof when in the situation of not having a job yet with a nice resume but, well, it can still be hard. Even dropping items on a resume paints a picture of little experience and usually ends you up with a position that makes it more difficult to find a job elsewhere. Do you know how tired you get after a 16 hour manual labor job? You don't really feel that inclined to brush up on the latest ruby packages.
Yet someone almost always brings up the fact that they heard a story or they themselves found a job through some ingenious idea at marketing themselves or spectacular networking in an area that didn't know they needed their skills until they showed them and found a job. Well that doesn't work for everyone. Most places are just as boring and closed minded in their business practices as every one assumes, and never try something new unless forced (why do you think start-ups succeed so spectacularly otherwise?).