Fahrenheit 9/11

[tenguzero]

Look in the freaking newspaper its full of jobs. The problem is the young kids who want it all right away, the 50K car the 300K home while working at a 25K a year job. They want a 100K job knowing nothing and having no experience. Maybe they need to lay off the status symbols and live within their means.

Well yeah, of course they do, because that's what the older generation did, and is still doing! How many of these 40 somethings do you think can really afford their $45,000 SUV's, $350,000 homes, alimony/child support payments (because they're so damn divorce-crazy) and any other of the numerous things they love. The "younger" generation has had it DRILLED into their heads by the schools, the parents, the media, and the workforce that the ticket to success is a good education, a willingness to work, and a plan to manage finances. Well, they've got the education (to the tune of a massive loan hanging over their heads for many years to come,) the willingness to work (I don't know where a lot of people are getting these views of a "lazy" generation from -- most everyone I know is busting their ass trying to support themselves, AND DOING IT WHILE STILL TRYING TO GET GOOD GRADES FROM THEIR $40,000 INVESTMENT!) and the plans for future financial management (maybe it's just me, but there seems to be an awful lot of younger people talking about IRAs, stock options, 401Ks, etc.)

The "lazyness" thing is complete BS -- a vast chunk of the workforce is minimum/low-wage workers, MANY of which are young people. The current statistics show an alarmingly steady rise in on-the-job hours logged by American workers. I can guarantee you most of those hours are NOT shouldered by upper management/CEO types. It's shouldered by the working class, a large number of which are young people AS WELL as older people. If any problem on the part of these younger workers exists, it isn't lazyness, it's disillusionment. As stupid a move as it may be (a lot of us see no difference in whether or not we make $6 an hour or $11 an hour, it's still not enough to get by on) over-spending is almost inevitable, because one way or another you'll be in debt anyways. Sure there are a good deal of jobs out there but many of them aren't looking for new graduates with little/no experience, because in the crappy economy the way it is right now, there's almost always someone else job hunting who has the degree AND the experience, and they'll get the position every time. The corporate world is caught up in a (seemingly more so then ever) greedy game of maximizing profits any way possible, and if that means hiring someone who has more experience, and thus probably reguires less resources spent on training, they'll bite.

At any rate, I don't think this thread is the correct place for this debate (if it continues.) And I don't think it's going anyplace (save for off the topic.) Someone should open a new thread for this, and if no one's going to post anything else F 9/11 related, then just let it die out