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Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

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Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#241

Post by 9erdelta »

dragonwriter wrote: post #230
9erdelta wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Millennials also have helicopter parents. This is a totally new hardship. Being raised in a way that is completely incompatible with reality. Then we get to the "real" world and are told we don't know anything. Well gee thanks dad. Judging by the American economy and the state of world affairs, doesn't seem like boomers are all they crack themselves up to be either.

> Millennials also have helicopter parents. Helicopter parenting is not new (except for the name), and is neither unique to nor universal among parents of Millenials. > Judging by the American economy and the state of world affairs, doesn't seem like boomers are all they crack themselves up to be either. To be fair to the Boomers, while they certainly failed to fix it, the damage was mostly done by the "Greatest Gene…

Sorry I am going to have to disagree. Parents used to be strict, far stricter, sure. But helicopter parents is just pure putting [kids in a bubble](http://www.businessinsider.com/the-rise-of-the-helicopter-pa...). I do agree that it isn't universal. Anecdotally, my friends who are doing best in life right now are the ones who have less helicoptery parents (obviously not scientific, this is just my observation and trying to make sense of what I'm seeing). One friend in particular, grew up in a rural area and had to work very hard. He's now a PhD and works at Bosch.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#242

Post by acover »

researcher11 wrote: post #135
bronz wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

whats the best country to retire in the way you have?

I'm in rual Panama. It's probably the best for tax and lifestyle reasons.

How do you deal with citizenship/visas?

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#243

Post by Endy »

zxcvvcxz wrote: post #225
laughfactory wrote: post #150

It's not just video games either. Add Netflix and social media, and soon, VR, to the equation, and it's pretty clear that the game of life offers insufficient rewards relative to one's efforts. I don't believe we ended up here due to some grand conspiracy, but I do think that the top 1% have gotten so skilled at trapping wealth and therefore opportunity that it's really screwing over everyone else. Even as a relative…

> I don't believe we ended up here due to some grand conspiracy, > but I do think that the top 1% have gotten so skilled at trapping wealth and therefore opportunity that it's really screwing over everyone else. I've got news people: the top 1% is not forcing you to watch Netflix, consume social media, or strap a VR headset on. We live in a generation absolutely devoid of personal responsibility. And it's why ideas t…

Marxism should never be "easily dismissed". It should be respected and fought for. The problem is that we're afraid to go out and actually fight the Permanent Revolution; because we've been cowed by those who currently hold the power.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#244

Post by chillacy »

dvt wrote: post #163

Usually love the Economist -- and I read it regularly -- but I think this article is bullshit. It's the same kind of nonsense people were writing in the mid and late-90s: that violent games cause violent tendencies. Luckily, those claims ended up being completely debunked by dozens of studies. Now, we have a "gaming epidemic" that has gripped the unemployed, underemployed, and depressed? Give me a break. Gaming is si…

I dunno, CS is one thing but I have played and know people who still play MMOs (EVE, WoW, FF, etc) and those tend to be a different beast. It's not hard to see why: the same desires and rewards that drive you forward in life can be instead applied in-game for a mere $15 a month. Actually in many regards WoW is more fun than real life, and when your friends are all playing the game.. yea that becomes life. I know what you mean by taking those in-game skills to real life... my success in real life comes somewhat from just applying the concept of grinding to a different domain ;)

As a thought experiment, what if we developed technology like the Matrix: full simulated reality you can plug into... you live in a simulated world that feels 100% real to you, except this simulated world is better than reality in various ways... I suspect it would be way more tempting than games are today, and certainly more tempting than movies to spent nearly all your time in the virtual world.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#246

Post by Endy »

marknutter wrote: post #168
diogenescynic wrote: post #79

Good paying jobs are scarce and video games are relatively cheap for the amount of time you can spend on them. It's escapism. They are confusing correlation with causation.

This is such bullshit . Right now you can walk into a long haul trucking job with zero years experience and be making $70k minimum with a $10-20k signing bonus after a short month long training. And that's one of myriad trades that are available today . The lie that has been sold to America's youth that everyone has a "right" to go to college and is entitled to a job upon graduation will go down as one of the greates…

That requires that you're able to drive, and get a CDL on top of that. There are some people out there who are not disabled enough to actually earn Disability from the government, but whose physical or psychological issues prevent them from passing a driving test.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#247

Post by zxcvvcxz »

Endy wrote: post #243
zxcvvcxz wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't believe we ended up here due to some grand conspiracy, > but I do think that the top 1% have gotten so skilled at trapping wealth and therefore opportunity that it's really screwing over everyone else. I've got news people: the top 1% is not forcing you to watch Netflix, consume social media, or strap a VR headset on. We live in a generation absolutely devoid of personal responsibility. And it's why ideas t…

Marxism should never be "easily dismissed". It should be respected and fought for. The problem is that we're afraid to go out and actually fight the Permanent Revolution; because we've been cowed by those who currently hold the power.

You're right, we've never had Real Marxism (TM), we just have to try a little harder next time.

> Capitalism (according to Marxist theory) can no longer sustain the living standards of the population due to its need to compensate for falling rates of profit by driving down wages, cutting social benefits and pursuing military aggression. The socialist system would succeed capitalism as humanity's mode of production through workers' revolution.

Do they mean that same capitalism that brings >1,000,000 Chinese people out poverty every month? Did Mao not try hard enough?

Newsflash, folks: we've had a few workers' revolutions. They're not all they're cracked up to be. Try talking to someone who lived through one of them.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#248

Post by warcher »

lkrubner wrote: post #239
curiousgeorgio wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "horribly stacked life" card is, in my experience, most often played by people trying to get by in the overly competitive environments of large cities. I know a lot of people don't like to hear it, but I'll let you in on a little secret: if you don't feel like you're getting anywhere trying to work and live in a major city, do yourself a favor and move to a less-populated area. Many cities have become extremely c…

If you go to rural Kentucky, you will see how wrong you are. Likewise, if you go to rural West Virginia, you will see that you are wrong. Visit the farms in rural Arkansas, spend a few days, engage some farmhands in conversation. If you talk to at least 4 such people, then at least 1 of them will be addicted to meth. You can often detect this simply by looking at them. Often their teeth give them away. Spend some tim…

Perhaps he's referring to one of the higher quality-of-life, lower rat-race cities in America, which have nearly all of the amenities of your megalopolis of choice without nearly the soul-crushing pressure. It's true, you'll never get famous living in flyover country, but you're more than able to live well.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#249

Post by researcher11 »

acover wrote: post #242
researcher11 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in rual Panama. It's probably the best for tax and lifestyle reasons.

How do you deal with citizenship/visas?

With lawyers. It cost me $8K and took 6 months. $3K of that was for a company and bank account.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#250

Post by petre »

datatan wrote: post #202
edblarney wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It doesn't matter how cheap the land/housing is if you can't get a job while living on it." B.S. Unemployment in the US is relatively low even on a long term basis. The average home prices in the US is $188K. Most people can afford that. There is more opportunity for mortgages and financial services than at any time in history. There is more opportunity for mobility than at any time in history. You have it easier th…

> Unemployment in the US is relatively low even on a long term basis. Dear God save me from whatever unemployment you deem to be high. Over a third of the people in this country don't work and another third work part time. Maybe you actually believe those numbers coming out of the gov on unemployment and don't pay attention to the people who have rolled off the unemployment benefits. I know people that have been look…

Would you rather get drafted and go to war? Because everything you say hints at politicians creating a war just to divert attention and offer the unemployed "a job": playing a first person shooter with real victims.
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