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The death of partying in the USA

derekthompson.org

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Re: The death of partying in the USA

#661

Post by 9rx »

janalsncm wrote: post #580
9rx wrote: post #540

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, given the real-world constraints schools are usually up against, pick the worst participants instead of the best. Those who are skilled in a given sport are almost certainly engaged in the sport outside of school, and thus are taking away from those who are much more likely looking to learn about a sport they otherwise don't have access to.

Interesting/amusing thought. How do you propose to determine the worst athletes? Maybe another approach would be to use a lottery among applicants.

> How do you propose to determine the worst athletes?

Given the aforementioned process to discover the best athletes (which, I assume, means tryouts, but the exact mechanism wasn't specified, granted), the worst athletes should be revealed in that.

Sure, there is room to game that, but:

1. Who wants to be known as a poor athlete where one is already playing at a high level outside of school?

2. Who wants to keep up the ruse of being a poor athlete throughout the year? If you are suddenly amazing at the sport after making it look like you've never seen the sport before, you won't be long for the team.

If someone who is skilled is able to play up that they are weak continuously, oh well. It need not be perfect. A best effort attempt to try and give those who don't have opportunities outside of school is good enough.

> Maybe another approach would be to use a lottery among applicants.

That seems reasonable as well.

Re: The death of partying in the USA

#662

Post by gilbetron »

parpfish wrote: post #25

I wonder whether housing plays a factor. Young people aren’t becoming homeowners at the same rate, so there’s a sense of transience to their living situations that make forming neighbor communities seem like a waste of time.

My 20s were full of partying, and I wasn't a homeowner a was really introverted at the time. You just cram into whoever's apartment was having that party and have fun. Our partying dropped off after becoming a homeowner, actually.

Re: The death of partying in the USA

#663

Post by gilbetron »

patrickthebold wrote: post #4

Reminds me of the Jonathan Richman classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Pg9IGgQpY

Holy crap, I've never seen a Janathan Richman recommendation on the Internet ever ;) I listened to him like crazy in college (1988ish) and saw him play once. My favorite still remains https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR6Ns3AcDco

I know two other people that know of Richman, four if you count my wife and son who I made listen to him!

edit: had to add Richman was a big influence on the Talking Heads :)

Re: The death of partying in the USA

#664

Post by 9rx »

kondu wrote: post #614
9rx wrote: post #545

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Forget the "bonfires" option. This right here is emblematic of the change in culture. When Gen X were young you weren't allowed to have bonfires (in most public places) either, but that never stopped anyone. Nowadays the kids are too afraid to do anything.

How much of that is because of the difference in how severely the legal/policing systems punish this kind of harmless activity now vs back then?

It is possible. How has the punishment for being caught with a bonfire in a place where it is not permitted changed over the last number of decades?

Or is it just the reduction in lead? That is what is oft cited as the reason for why crime rates have dropped substantially over a very similar period. Which may leave my framing of the kids being fearful to be a little off, rather the reduction in lead would suggest that they have better impulse control, but I am sure you can understand that the intent there is the same either way.

Re: The death of partying in the USA

#665

Post by 9rx »

JSteph22 wrote: post #576
RyanOD wrote: post #524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, there will always be edge cases. That's just how the world works. Let your kids go out and ride bikes and you may end up with one getting hit by a car. Those are the risks every parent has to manage. But if we let the edge cases dictate how we raise our kids, we end up with what we don't want - overly managed bubble-youth kids who can't think for themselves.

Unless you have some compelling evidence to the contrary, this cannot be dismissed as "edge cases" when cultural norms have changed across the board and all it takes is one complaint...

It is possible. But take a risk! Don't fall into the trap of allowing your children to be scared of everything like you are.

Re: The death of partying in the USA

#666

Post by foobarian »

Klonoar wrote: post #637
foobarian wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it because of less churchgoing? Church is basically one large standup (and sit down, and stand up, x a few times :-) ) for the community. Or maybe kidnapping paranoia fueled by years of crime news programs?

I dunno about you but I grew up Irish Catholic, had parents who very much lived by "GTFO and come back at dinner", and I never made any real friendships or relationships via church. It was a wholly useless avenue for anything - and this was in several different church communities over the years, too. IME while church might be a community, it's really a very stifled one.

> "GTFO and come back at dinner"

Right, this is what I am wondering, is the reason people were comfortable doing this the fact that there was a weekly touchpoint with the community? The church visits might be stifled but if they establish a relationship with that large group of people then that might enable more free roaming at other times.

Re: The death of partying in the USA

#667

Post by 9rx »

Apreche wrote: post #28

This article isn’t wrong, but it neglects to mention real estate, transportation, and lodging. A party needs a venue, and it needs guests. And the guests need a way to get to and from the venue. If they stay a long time, they need a place to sleep. People these days don’t own real estate. Wealthy people own it all. Normal people are renting apartments or portions of homes. It’s kind of hard to throw a big party witho…

> Wealthy people own it all.

Most homes in the US are mortgaged. More likely the banks, which ultimately means the depositors, who are just as likely to be everyday average people (the wealthy normally keep their wealth in things like businesses), own most of it.

Re: The death of partying in the USA

#668

Post by lisbbb »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #249

This was a post on the GenX subreddit (from a Gen Zer) from just a couple days ago asking about if parties as portrayed in late 90s/early 00s "teen movies" were actually a real thing: https://www.reddit.com/r/GenX/comments/1lu102v/were_parties_... The responses from the Gen Xers were a mix of bewilderment and sadness, stuff like "What do you mean parties like this, it's just a normal teenage party!? I feel so ancient…

That's pretty funny. I was a teen in the late '80s and only attended maybe 1 party as depicted in films and it was on a college campus where a couple of buddies and I scammed our way in by acting like we were college students (actually HS Juniors at the time). It was pretty epic. I know of a couple other notorious parties during that time that I didn't attend. I think the answer is a resounding "yes"--that crazy parties were actually a thing.

Re: The death of partying in the USA

#669

Post by lisbbb »

germinalphrase wrote: post #364
Auracle wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true. However, I worked as a photographer for about 10 years (quit about 2 years ago) and high school senior photos were one of my specialties, so I got to know a lot of teenagers. Overscheduling is, I think, the biggest issue. Most of the teens I worked with had something going on almost every night, to the point where rescheduling due to rain or heat was an absolute nightmare. Sports were the biggest offende…

I was a HS teacher for about a decade. The demands on kids and families around youth sports (especially private/club leagues) is out of control. I had students, 14/15-years-old, going to their school team practice then club team practice, not getting home until past 9 pm every night. Families from three states away would enroll their kids in my school half of the year to play on the hockey team (staying with local sp…

My son goes to what I call "the sports High School" but he is not particularly athletically gifted, which has caused a lot of friction. I personally believe to my very core that sports are over-emphasized and that we are raising a whole generation of idiots who won't be able to do math or anything particularly useful except guzzle booze and sell used cars to people.

Re: The death of partying in the USA

#670

Post by Projectiboga »

The enforcement on underage drinking has really altered the equation. And I'd guess the ubiquity of cell phones is another limit. The party culture of the 50s through the 90s-early 00s wasn't the norm it was the aberration from the times before. I think dancing it self has been in decline too. I tried to get the kids (teens and middle school) dancing at a small summer community and they just wanted to stand there and take turns playing their favorites from their own Spotify lists. They seem less open to just listing to unfamiliar music and maybe using Shazam to get some leads for new listening.
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