21–30 of 35 posts
I think the core issue is the younger generation sees that the American Dream is bullshit and they aren't putting up with it anymore. We're told from a young age that if you get educated and work hard you will be successful. You will be able to buy a house. So, Gen Z gets a degree and is released into the hellscape that is the current state of American society. 40+ hour work weeks that are incredibly stressful, with…
What makes this Gen Z behavior acceptable? Chiding the next-older generation for their culture is akin to making fun of the accent of your coworker who was born in India. It's just rude.
I think the core issue is the younger generation sees that the American Dream is bullshit and they aren't putting up with it anymore. We're told from a young age that if you get educated and work hard you will be successful. You will be able to buy a house. So, Gen Z gets a degree and is released into the hellscape that is the current state of American society. 40+ hour work weeks that are incredibly stressful, with…
Is the American Dream dead though? You can learn the basics of coding in a few months, score your first dev job, invest in your career and live a rather lovely rest of your life in some of the nicest parts of the country, working from either a cushy air-conditioned office with a big monitor, or from the comfort of your home wearing PJs. You don't even have to be that good, to be fair, the industry is infinitely hungr…
For example:
I have a computer science degree and I am far from bad off but I am one serious medical illness away from having to blow my retirement fund on medical bills or lose my house. And I pay $14k a year for that shitty medical insurance.
Coding for 20 years, 12 since my college degree... still no Google job.
And for the privilege of being in the top 10% I get to work 70+ hours a week and haven't taken a vacation where I haven't been called by my boss... ever... not even my honey moon.
And I'm lucky, most of the people I know don't own a house or have a retirement fund or safety net.
My father is in his 70s, has millions in savings but medical bills for his cancer will eat through almost all of that before he passes.
I'm pretty sure the American dream was not to rent for the rest of your life, work 60+ hours a week, retire at 80, never take vacation, be called by your boss all hours of the day, and leave nothing to your kids because your entire life savings got wiped out in your last 5 years of life by medical expenses.
And that is the life of an upper middle class family! 75% of the country has it worse.
And that is buying a house 7 years ago. No way in hell could I do that today.. my house is now "worth" $750k... I paid half that 7 years ago but my pay is barely higher than it was then so no way in hell I could afford it now. When I bought $750k would have been a literal mansion.
I'm regularly working with people in "gen z" the past couple of years, that's never been my experience. I've also seen a bunch of people from any type of "generation" behave the same way that is described in the article.
Chuckles in Gen X...
I think the core issue is the younger generation sees that the American Dream is bullshit and they aren't putting up with it anymore. We're told from a young age that if you get educated and work hard you will be successful. You will be able to buy a house. So, Gen Z gets a degree and is released into the hellscape that is the current state of American society. 40+ hour work weeks that are incredibly stressful, with…
Has angst always been justification for unprofessionalism, or is this new?
When i told i was on a month-long vacation, the question was "oh, you're on sabbatical or in-bewteen jobs?". I just have 10 weeks a year plus two weeks of training of my choosing. It was a bit more than the bare minimum, but not having at least 7 weeks/year would be really harsh.
Chuckles in Gen X...
Every time I check which generation I’m supposedly a member of, the random source I check gives a different answer. I definitely identify more with X than any other though.
As someone right in between Millennials and Zoomers ('92), I find myself really empathizing more with gen Z. I really appreciate that our weird puritan-work-ethic-meets-corporate-capitalism economy has finally produced a generation that is just fucking done with how out of control it's gotten. People are finally realizing that "the hustle" is a fucking scam if you don't have enough equity in your "hustle" that you're…
I also appreciate the “f the hustle” mentality but it seems to come from a place of self entitlement, a lot of “and what about me?” less “what about us?”
The article is behind a paywall. What it argues instead of the two traditional mottos: "younger people don't have a family and work all nighters and weekends" and "if you don't work your ass off your boss will exchange you for somebody cheaper"?