Milennials

[bush_cheney2004]

Millennials (aka Generation Y) in Canada are screwed just like any other millennials, because they think they can do it better than the greedy Boomers did it (wars, divorce, layoffs, recession, isms, etc.), all while wanting the same or better "fruit" reaped by the boomers.

So go ahead and save the earth, but don't bitch about being poorer than boomers.

[Bonam]

So go ahead and save the earth, but don't bitch about being poorer than boomers.

Or just be richer, if that's a priority. Plenty of opportunity around. More than ever.

[bush_cheney2004]

Or just be richer, if that's a priority. Plenty of opportunity around. More than ever.

Of course....sell lots of t-shirts to save sea turtles. Priceless....

[bush_cheney2004]

Another Canadian take on this....

Once dubbed “the hero generation,” Millennials were supposed to save us all with their idealism, tech-savvy and high levels of education. Then the recession hit, an employment logjam took hold, and they were re-christened “Generation Screwed” — most of us forgetting that even caped crusaders need the time, resources and proper conditions to transform.

http://o.canada.com/life/millennials-intro

[kimmy]

Millennials (aka Generation Y) in Canada are screwed just like any other millennials, because they think they can do it better than the greedy Boomers did it (wars, divorce, layoffs, recession, isms, etc.), all while wanting the same or better "fruit" reaped by the boomers.

So go ahead and save the earth, but don't bitch about being poorer than boomers.

Not exactly a new pattern... Boomers still reminisce about the idealism of the 1960s, but look how that turned out. If the Woodstock generation had known that they would turn into the worst collection of scumbags the world has ever suffered through, I imagine they'd have probably shot themselves in the face.

-k

[BC_chick]

If the Woodstock generation had known that they would turn into the worst collection of scumbags the world has ever suffered through, I imagine they'd have probably shot themselves in the face.

-k

Collection of scumbags??? Ok, let's have some tea and talk this over. What have boomers done to deserve such an awful sweeping generalization about such a massive group of people?

(See what I did there?)

Edited September 27, 2016 by BC_chick

[Guest]

I think you said that it's okay to describe people as scumbags when they are scumbags, as long as you don't explicitly state that the entire group are scumbags.

I have to say I agree.

That said, Kimmy can use my avatar if she wants.

[BC_chick]

No, unless I misunderstood (hence, the offer for some tea and clarifications), it sounded like she blasted an entire generation (a huge one at that) by referring to them as the 'worst collection of scumbags the world ever saw'. I want to ask her reasons for such a view.

I also wanted to point out the similarity between her view and the OP, just from the opposite end of things.

[eyeball]

I don't hate what Cum Laude wrote because I'm bitter, I just hate it because it's stupid and all-too-typical of the smug idiocy I hear all the time from Boomers.

Not all the time. I've certainly mentioned intergenerational theft before.

I'm knee deep in the lifetime of labor thing, as are most of my peers. The lifetime of labor part isn't what people are upset about, it's that it's going to bear much less "fruit" than previous generations.

-k

I worry as much about the squandering of social capital that's also undermined future prospects.

[bush_cheney2004]

Not exactly a new pattern... Boomers still reminisce about the idealism of the 1960s, but look how that turned out. If the Woodstock generation had known that they would turn into the worst collection of scumbags the world has ever suffered through, I imagine they'd have probably shot themselves in the face.

But they didn't....Boomers weathered and thrived after multiple economic and social shocks instead of whining about it like some Millennials do. The Hippies either burned out or sold out, most doing the latter to embrace the corporate bottom line, not sea turtles.

[kimmy]

No, unless I misunderstood (hence, the offer for some tea and clarifications), it sounded like she blasted an entire generation (a huge one at that) by referring to them as the 'worst collection of scumbags the world ever saw'. I want to ask her reasons for such a view.

I also wanted to point out the similarity between her view and the OP, just from the opposite end of things.

We're just rough-housing a little. It's all in fun. No need to worry!

-k

[Argus]

But they didn't....Boomers weathered and thrived after multiple economic and social shocks instead of whining about it like some Millennials do.

The flower children of the '60s became the greed is good generation of the '80s and the 'me generation' of the '90s. Their parents were 'the greatest generation', who actually accomplished amazing things. The boomers have accomplished little other than imbuing society with a sweeping adolescent sexuality and running up huge bills to stick their kids and grand-kids with.

Edited September 27, 2016 by Argus

[Argus]

Successful and happy seniors are not lucky - they earned their success.

Or they got a job as a teacher, where they could float along without care or worries due to tenure, with generous benefits including a rich pension they paid almost nothing for.

[Argus]

Boomer evidence and advice is backed up by their bank accounts and real estate.

Maybe if the boomers had paid for stuff instead of running up a big tab they dumped on their kids they'd have smaller bank accounts and the kids would be doing better.

Edited September 27, 2016 by Argus

[Smoke]

Maybe if the boomers had paid for stuff instead of running up a big tab they dumped on their kids they'd have smaller bank accounts and the kids would be doing better.

So everything I have right now was given to me for free. Riiiiight!

[DogOnPorch]

So everything I have right now was given to me for free. Riiiiight!

Credit today is a fact.

In the 1960s Canada, one might have had a gas charge card and then the Chargex card. Most everything was cash or 'on account'.

[Big Guy]

I'm not defending what they said and I don't agree with it. I just don't believe in using ageist insults.

It's stooping to their level.

Let us not allow the insult mongers to take over a thread that has potential for some serious and meaningful dialogue. Boomers and Milenials are not two warring camps looking to blame each other for anything. There are as many different views among the older generation as there are in a younger generation. I am a member of the older (plus 70) generation by survival, not choice.

I do not envy those in the younger generations. My time as a young adult had far fewer temptations, far fewer expectations for the future and far fewer choices to make for the future. You got a good job and you were probably safe for your working life.

I believe the milennials have two challenges; The expectation that they will do better and have more than the previous generation and there is no longer such a thing as job guarantee. The first is expected because that is the case for every generation. The second is the realization that there will never be an end to learning, adapting and keeping up with the technologies if they are to stay employed and an asset to their employer. The ability through the new technologies to be on the job and accessible 24/7 has made that an expected requirement for most upper end employment. That leaves very little down time.

I would suggest that as to philosophy of life and work, those in their 40's and 50's have far more experience and knowledge than do those in their 20's. I also suggest that those in their 70's have far more experience and knowledge then those in their 50's and younger.

I speak only for myself and certainly not for any age group.

I believe that wisdom is the combination of intelligence, education and experience. Milenials most certainly have the intelligence and education but still lack the experience of boomers. My views are based on personal observation of many others. Some of them live successful and happy lives, some live not very successful or very happy lives yet many others did not live long enough to find out.

My personal view is that we all have the same basic ability as children – it is the subsequent choices that one makes that will dictate your future. It is still the choice of any individual as to the extent of their education. Some have it easier than others but everyone has the opportunity for a University Degree or College Degree or College Specialist.

The amount of money you spend, what you spend it on and how much you save or invest is a choice. The person you choose as a girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse is a choice. The kind of career you desire is a choice as is the amount of effort you choose to put into that selection.

I have found that in the vast majority of life changing choices that one makes, the easier choice is not the most fruitful one. I do remember those with whom I started high school in the 1950's. I had the opportunity top keep track of most of them through most of the years and am privy to some of the choices that they made and the subsequent results. For that reason I believe I have a good idea of what it takes for success and happiness.

I will repeat: If you have developed a good work ethic, sought out an education, are honest and have self discipline then you have the basic building blocks. Understand that you are not entitled to anything except minimal social assistance if/when you hit bottom. Life sucks. You will encounter many people whose are not very nice, have distasteful views and may temporarily be your supervisors. Your sense of positive self worth, self discipline will carry you through the bumps.

There is no good or bad if you choose to compare the old against the young. Both groups contain lots of different personalities. There are fewer stupid, selfish, antagonistic, belligerent and angry people in the older group – The Darwin Awards and retaliatory actions have filtered out a number of them before they have had the opportunity to reach a ripe old age. I already suspect that a few of the antagonistic posters on this board will end up taking themselves out of the gene pool.

"Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art." - Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

PS And as to the legacy us boomers will leave:

Boomer Legacy

Edited September 27, 2016 by Big Guy

[Bonam]

Let us not allow the insult mongers to take over a thread that has potential for some serious and meaningful dialogue.

Serious and meaningful dialogue? Dialogue which consists of baseless generalizations about one group consisting of billions of people or another group consisting of billions of people, based on nothing more than the year in which they happened to be born? People are people whether they were born in the 1950s or the 1980s or at any other time. Most people in any generation eventually find their niche and do just fine in life, some few do not. Meanwhile technology and society advances and the exact nature of those niches changes accordingly. What else is there to say?

[Argus]

So everything I have right now was given to me for free. Riiiiight!

Didn't say that. But when the boomers parents found they suddenly had a lot of kids needing schools they built a lot of schools. And paid for them. They paid down the debt from world war two until there was almost none left. When the boomers found there was a shortage of schools they voted down tax increases to pay for new schools and their kids wound up stuffed into overcrowded schools with lots of portables. When the boomers felt they wanted neat things for themselves like universal pensions and health care and generous pogey they just voted for politicians who would give it to them by putting it on their credit card. The debt from the seventies is still unpaid, as is the debt from the eighties and nineties. Who's going to pay it? Their kids and grandkids, of course.

Edited September 27, 2016 by Argus

[bush_cheney2004]

Serious and meaningful dialogue? Dialogue which consists of baseless generalizations about one group consisting of billions of people or another group consisting of billions of people, based on nothing more than the year in which they happened to be born?

....What else is there to say?

Good point....millennials around the world will not have the same experiences...or opportunities. The millennial narrative in the U.S. is not necessarily applicable to other places where people are born and live.

[Benz]

The differences between generations is not a new phenomenon. Confucious said, your son is not your son, he is the son of his time. The technologies are increasing the gap though. I do not need to say more because I would only repeat what Big Guy already said.

[Moonlight Graham]

Maybe if the boomers had paid for stuff instead of running up a big tab they dumped on their kids they'd have smaller bank accounts and the kids would be doing better.

Well that's a great point Argus. The Boomers borrowed from their children and grandkids to pay for themselves...except that the children/grandchildren have to pay the interest payments, not the borrowers. That's pretty selfish and short-sighted. I think massive long-term debts are BS. Each generation should have to pay their own bills.

[msj]

This BS again.

Ok folks, new rule: if you are gonna bitch about debt and interest payments then the least you should do is consider the other side - the assets that we would not otherwise have had we not invested in them on the government side and the inheritances that so many Gen X and Millenials are going to get on the private side.

Simple accounting equation: Assets = Liabilities + Equity or Equity = Assets - Liabilities

To only focus on one part of the equation is a failing grade no matter what school you come from (well, ok, they would probably still push you through to the next grade in today's schools but in my day .... ).

[Smoke]

Didn't say that. But when the boomers parents found they suddenly had a lot of kids needing schools they built a lot of schools. And paid for them. They paid down the debt from world war two until there was almost none left. When the boomers found there was a shortage of schools they voted down tax increases to pay for new schools and their kids wound up stuffed into overcrowded schools with lots of portables. When the boomers felt they wanted neat things for themselves like universal pensions and health care and generous pogey they just voted for politicians who would give it to them by putting it on their credit card. The debt from the seventies is still unpaid, as is the debt from the eighties and nineties. Who's going to pay it? Their kids and grandkids, of course.

Two of your sentences don't make sense. First you say boomers built schools and paid for them and then you said they didn't want to pay for them so they didn't build them. Which is it?

So I guess the thing to do was to vote in Justin Trudeau who will push our deficit to $30B+. What the hell is it that Canadians really want? If everyone is so concerned about leaving our kids with debt, then why was Harper's proposed legislation limiting deficits to $3B ridiculed soundly by the left? Why do you think civil servants were dancing in the hallways after young Trudeau was elected? What a bunch of hypocrites.

Edited September 28, 2016 by Smoke

[Moonlight Graham]

This BS again.

Ok folks, new rule: if you are gonna bitch about debt and interest payments then the least you should do is consider the other side - the assets that we would not otherwise have had we not invested in them on the government side and the inheritances that so many Gen X and Millenials are going to get on the private side.

Simple accounting equation: Assets = Liabilities + Equity or Equity = Assets - Liabilities

To only focus on one part of the equation is a failing grade no matter what school you come from (well, ok, they would probably still push you through to the next grade in today's schools but in my day .... ).

Well yes millennials will inherit the assets and the cascading benefits that all that debt bought, but they also will have to pay off the debt and the interest payments while boomers will have to do neither. So somebody is getting a free lunch.

Maybe millenials will just pass it on to their kids/grandkids. But at some point sh!t will hit the fan and the debt will need to be paid off. Whichever generation(s) have to do that, well they're screwed.

Edited September 28, 2016 by Moonlight Graham