Gen Z does not dream of labor • Hacker News Board

Re: Gen Z does not dream of labor

#361

Post by swat535 » Mon, Apr 25, 2022, 2:22 AM UTC

teakettle42 wrote: post #350

ThePrankster wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, I had actually never considered "figuring something else". Thanks for this amazing insight. It's almost as useful as telling someone with depression to "just be happy". Rent in my town is one of the cheapest among bigger cities and I already live very frugally (public transit, only shop for groceries on sale and healthy food, don't go out to parties, don't drink, no addictions, no online subscriptions, only free…

> cheapest among bigger cities You’re not forced to live in a bigger city. You weren’t forced to uselessly over-educate yourself. You aren’t forced to stay where you are, in a dead-end, complaining about how it’s everyone’s fault but your own.

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic of you genuinely believe this..

Either way, telling people to pull themselves up by their bootstrap when a house costs over a million dollars and wages have stagnated for decades is very uncharitable.

I live in Canada, at this rate owning a house is a dream long gone for many people include me.

Re: Gen Z does not dream of labor

#362

Post by tonfreed » Mon, Apr 25, 2022, 2:26 AM UTC

bufferoverflow wrote: post #56

burlesona wrote: post #14

> “My dad got a job straight out of high school, saved up, and bought a house in his 20s,” said Anne Dakota, a 21-year-old receptionist from Asheville, North Carolina, who earns minimum wage. “I don’t even think that’s possible for me, at least with the current money I make.” I think this is pretty much the whole story. It’s very hard to be motivated to work when you could save your entire adult life and still strugg…

The problem with this narrative is that the job of the father isn't specified. He could've been a plumber/electrician/welder who would do really well in the current market. These jobs pay well above the minimum wage. The world has changed - simple labor that requires a few days of training doesn't pay much. Most jobs, with few exceptions, that require a decade of training, do pay well. That's why there's such a huge…

Even jobs that pay horribly expect you to subject yourself to 10s of thousands of dollars in debt to have a degree now. It's ridiculous.

Re: Gen Z does not dream of labor

#363

Post by NoThisIsMe » Mon, Apr 25, 2022, 2:29 AM UTC

bufferoverflow wrote: post #56

burlesona wrote: post #14

> “My dad got a job straight out of high school, saved up, and bought a house in his 20s,” said Anne Dakota, a 21-year-old receptionist from Asheville, North Carolina, who earns minimum wage. “I don’t even think that’s possible for me, at least with the current money I make.” I think this is pretty much the whole story. It’s very hard to be motivated to work when you could save your entire adult life and still strugg…

The problem with this narrative is that the job of the father isn't specified. He could've been a plumber/electrician/welder who would do really well in the current market. These jobs pay well above the minimum wage. The world has changed - simple labor that requires a few days of training doesn't pay much. Most jobs, with few exceptions, that require a decade of training, do pay well. That's why there's such a huge…

Yes, obviously there are still _some_ jobs with decent pay that do not require extensive higher ed. The point is there are far fewer. Demand for plumbers, etc has not grown to fill in the massive gaps left by deindustrialization.

Re: Gen Z does not dream of labor

#364

Post by saurik » Mon, Apr 25, 2022, 2:48 AM UTC

zdragnar wrote: post #190

bombcar wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people would consider a suggestion to live in the Midwest as about the same as a suggestion that they spend the rest of their life living in a decrepit sewer system.

Fine by me; there's plenty of natural beauty and life style that would be utterly ruined by a massive influx of tech bro outsiders. In the last year or two a locally-famous lighthouse went up for sale and was bought for cash by some guy from silicon valley. Instead of being turned into an attraction, or a house, or hell even an Airbnb spot, it remains untouched much to the chagrin of the locals. I guess the new owner…

I am confused: you are simultaneously complaining about the tech bros ruining the natural beauty and style but are then unhappy that this particular tech bro didn't do a bunch of development on this lighthouse?

Re: Gen Z does not dream of labor

#365

Post by hotpotamus » Mon, Apr 25, 2022, 2:49 AM UTC

mordymoop wrote: post #195

Jerred wrote: post #38

As a Gen Z it's not that our entire generation is lazy it's that we've seen our parents give their entire lives to a company or industry just counting down the years to retirement. That personally is my worst case scenario for my career. Sure some people my age just want to be famous and not do any hard work, but I'd say the majority just don't want to be a "good employee" for 40 years just increasing the number ever…

Your first paragraph is something that I, a middle-Millenial, could have written when I was 20. Fight Club , a film about young men broken by the dehumanizing nihilism of “working a job you hate to buy stuff you don’t need” (among other things) came out in 1999, and was something of a cultural bell-weather. (I think the main difference between now and 1999 is that simply working a job you hate no longer guarantees yo…

I think this is largely correct, but it seems that few realize those extraordinarily lucky boomers have children who they will bequeath their wealth to - mostly Millenials. I can't wait to go from being the lazy slacker generation to the wealth-hording one over the next decade or two. (To be clear I think the whole generational divide is as silly and artificial as most any other.)

Re: Gen Z does not dream of labor

#366

Post by mordymoop » Mon, Apr 25, 2022, 3:08 AM UTC

hotpotamus wrote: post #365

mordymoop wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your first paragraph is something that I, a middle-Millenial, could have written when I was 20. Fight Club , a film about young men broken by the dehumanizing nihilism of “working a job you hate to buy stuff you don’t need” (among other things) came out in 1999, and was something of a cultural bell-weather. (I think the main difference between now and 1999 is that simply working a job you hate no longer guarantees yo…

I think this is largely correct, but it seems that few realize those extraordinarily lucky boomers have children who they will bequeath their wealth to - mostly Millenials. I can't wait to go from being the lazy slacker generation to the wealth-hording one over the next decade or two. (To be clear I think the whole generational divide is as silly and artificial as most any other.)

I think you're right and agree that it will be interesting to see how this unfolds. I have seen the meme going around about Boomers choosing to spend all their wealth on vacations of luxury cars and leaving their kids almost nothing, but I personally haven't seen this in my own sphere, and it seems mostly like a campfire scary story for Millennials. My own parents refer to their wealth as if it is my money that they are stewarding for me, despite me not actually needing it.

Re: Gen Z does not dream of labor

#367

Post by hotpotamus » Mon, Apr 25, 2022, 3:33 AM UTC

mordymoop wrote: post #366

hotpotamus wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is largely correct, but it seems that few realize those extraordinarily lucky boomers have children who they will bequeath their wealth to - mostly Millenials. I can't wait to go from being the lazy slacker generation to the wealth-hording one over the next decade or two. (To be clear I think the whole generational divide is as silly and artificial as most any other.)

I think you're right and agree that it will be interesting to see how this unfolds. I have seen the meme going around about Boomers choosing to spend all their wealth on vacations of luxury cars and leaving their kids almost nothing, but I personally haven't seen this in my own sphere, and it seems mostly like a campfire scary story for Millennials. My own parents refer to their wealth as if it is my money that they…

Basically the same here. It's gotten to the point where I have to think about how much real estate my parents own, and they're just a pair of middle class people who never cracked six figure salaries but worked diligently at decent jobs and invested where possible. I hope to never need to inherit from them, but it would be a nice to have. I certainly don't envy Millenials or Gen Z who don't have family wealth - I don't think they'll have much chance to build the legacy our parents did.

Re: Gen Z does not dream of labor

#368

Post by teakettle42 » Mon, Apr 25, 2022, 3:54 AM UTC

swat535 wrote: post #361

teakettle42 wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> cheapest among bigger cities You’re not forced to live in a bigger city. You weren’t forced to uselessly over-educate yourself. You aren’t forced to stay where you are, in a dead-end, complaining about how it’s everyone’s fault but your own.

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic of you genuinely believe this.. Either way, telling people to pull themselves up by their bootstrap when a house costs over a million dollars and wages have stagnated for decades is very uncharitable. I live in Canada, at this rate owning a house is a dream long gone for many people include me.

No post body was provided.

Re: Gen Z does not dream of labor

#369

Post by robertlagrant » Mon, Apr 25, 2022, 4:20 AM UTC

endisneigh wrote: post #39

frankbreetz wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer is to build more housing, it is simple supply and demand

Housing is not free to build, though. I agree in general that more housing should be built, but it's not some sort of silver bullet.

It's fairly cheap to build if you're allowed to build, though. The issue is all the paperwork.

Re: Gen Z does not dream of labor

#370

Post by robertlagrant » Mon, Apr 25, 2022, 4:21 AM UTC

burlesona wrote: post #14

> “My dad got a job straight out of high school, saved up, and bought a house in his 20s,” said Anne Dakota, a 21-year-old receptionist from Asheville, North Carolina, who earns minimum wage. “I don’t even think that’s possible for me, at least with the current money I make.” I think this is pretty much the whole story. It’s very hard to be motivated to work when you could save your entire adult life and still strugg…

>> “My dad got a job straight out of high school, saved up, and bought a house in his 20s,” said Anne Dakota, a 21-year-old receptionist from Asheville, North Carolina, who earns minimum wage. “I don’t even think that’s possible for me, at least with the current money I make.”

> I think this is pretty much the whole story. It’s very hard to be motivated to work when you could save your entire adult life and still struggle be able to afford such “entry level” things as a house or even a new car.

This makes sense if the father were also a receptionist in a similar sized company.