Smile When Your Heart Is Breaking…. Yeah, Right.
Whatever you want to call it - recession, depression, major economic clusterf*ck - there are very few people anywhere that haven’t been affected, and not in a good way. I’ve been writing and selling novels for over two decades, just had my seventh novel out last year. It’s been increasing tough for mid-list writers for quite some time, and I sold my seventh novel for about a third of the advance as I earned on my very first – to add insult to injury, I was told by my agent that I’m actually one of the ‘lucky’ writers – I’m still selling books when so many of my fellow novelists, all talented and seasoned professionals, have seen their careers disintegrate into oblivion. But this year, pitching a new novel to my agent and editors has been far harder than ever before, and I’m wondering if I’ve now joined the ranks of these erstwhile colleagues.
My books have always been kinda dark. The current novel nearly completed is a black comedy about domestic violence. ‘Nobody wants dark books,’ my agent admonished me in our last conversation. ‘It’s not a good time for gloomy stories. People are struggling with their own lives, they don’t want to read about other people in the same sinking boat. Readers want to escape from their miserable existence right now – they want upbeat escapism and happy endings, they want fairytale historical romance, they want lightweight fluff to read on the beach – think you can write that?’
‘Guess this means the murder mystery with the Neo-Nazi serial killer paedophile as a pharmaceutical lobbyist anti-hero is out of the question.’
‘Quite.’
This insistence on promulgating the ‘feel-good’ factor despite the realities of life seems to be endemic. Catchy little upbeat messages on over a thousand billboards are popping up across the States, dubbed ‘Recession 101’, designed by Charles Robb, founder of Charchin Creative in Florida, on behalf of an anonymous East Coast ‘donor’ – although with Members of the Outdoor Advertising Agency of America donating the space, printing materials and labour needed for the campaign, what exactly the anonymous donor is paying for is unclear.
‘Interesting fact about recessions,’ says one billboard in Rhode Island. ‘They end.’
My, how profound. Most things do. Eventually. It’s that ‘eventually’ that is killing us. So these billboards better have a long shelf life, because Rhode Island’s 12.1 per cent unemployment rate in May tied with South Carolina for third-highest in the country, behind only Michigan and Oregon.
It’s also doubtful these cheery little Pollyanna proverbs are making that much of an impact. Gail Robnett, 53, from Exeter, said she did not know anyone unaffected by the recession. ‘You're not paying attention to stuff like that when you're trying to put groceries on the table.’
‘Bill Gates started Microsoft in a recession’, another billboard reminds us.
Which didn’t do much to cheer up 24-year-old Ryan Korsak, who works for a Providence software company. ‘I appreciate the sentiment,’ he said, ‘but I'm kind of not Bill Gates.’ Exactly. Not many of us are. Or have any hope of ever being – we’re not dreaming of becoming fabulously wealthy anymore; we’re just hoping to hang on to what little we have left.
‘Stop obsessing about the economy, you're scaring the children,’ says another big billboard.
‘That's the overriding concept of the thing,’ says Robb, the brainchild behind the ‘God Speaks’ billboards in 1999 that threatened, ‘Keep using my name in vain and I'll make rush hour longer’. As if it's all our fault for not being Christian enough rather than driving hundreds of thousands of SUVs and not being willing to adequately fund public transport. Yup, why take any personal responsibility when it’s so much easier to blame the ‘godless’.
And why should Americans expect any different? We’ve raised an entire Generation Y of selfish, manipulative, consumer-driven, arrogant children to respect nothing - not teachers, not parents, not crushing debt, not bosses, not global warming.
Kids enter university after a lifetime of ‘esteem passing’ unable to write a coherent sentence or spell in anything other than text – 'trophy' kids rewarded for participation rather than any accomplishment, shuttled through the educational system regardless of ability or effort because not passing the little darlings might hurt their self-esteem.
Oh, wait, Robb has a billboard for that – ‘Self worth is greater than net worth.’ Good thing, then, because we’ve produced a whole lot of people with nothing but self worth and no ability to produce any net worth, believing themselves ‘entitled’ to the world being handed to them on a silver platter.
It is changing, which is good for those of us teaching English at universities, as the smarter of these trophy kids realise real life ain't so kind, and that to compete for the diminishing number of available musical chairs they need real skills. Debbie Bougdanos of the renowned advertising firm Leo Burnett, in charge of recruiting for the creative department, has seen a multitude of portfolios crossing her desk. Many of these Entitlement Generation applicants think they are ready for and deserving of the best jobs at the highest salaries straight out of college, but she’s equally adamant that the most definitely are not. ‘If I sense any of that attitude that arrogance, that expectation, that entitlement, that is an immediate turnoff.’
In a tight job market, getting the most out of your work force is increasingly critical, which ironically enough is starting to benefit the aging Boomer generation as savvy employers are starting to hire older workers over the Generation Y’s. The stereotype of older workers is changing fast - ‘That they're more reliable, sick less often, and have a work ethic bar none? Is that what you mean?" said Stephanie FallCreek, president and CEO of Fairhill Partners.
‘Mature age staff not only bring valuable experience to the workplace but also are more flexible with working hours,’ says an optometrist who replaced two of her younger staff members with two mature women. ‘We find that mature aged staff often have a better work ethic and body of experience,’ says a café owner. ‘This translates into better service for our customers and a better team dynamic.’
‘Peek into the cockpit as you board your next commercial flight. Chances are you are putting your life in the hands of one of the 70,000 airline pilots that are over 50 years old,’ says Steve W. Martin.
Mark Bauerlein of Emory University has written a book, ‘The Dumbest Generation - How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future’, objectively assessing the data to identify that slice of the population that, compared to every other generation, has performed the worst on standardized exams, acquired the fewest educational degrees and been the least attracted to professional careers. Not young college kids in their twenties, much as all too many have exhibited an inherited sense of entitlement. Not those raising families and starting out in careers in their thirties, although too many are learning far too late the dangers of overstretched credit. Not us boomers with fond memories of Woodstock in our fifties and sixties.
It’s far too many of those in their mid-forties - the truly ‘lost’ generation that entered the workforce in the heady feeding frenzy days of Bonfire of the Vanities and embraced the pervasive ‘Me First, F*@k You’ attitude that in very large part contributed to the downfall of the American economy and have shown no shame in flaunting their unwarranted bonuses and flying private jets to Washington to demand government bail-outs in true arrogantly entitlement style. But back in Pollyanna’s billboard paradise, another billboard has been erected. ‘This will end long before those who caused it are paroled’… as if all that many who deserve to be bunking with Bernie Maddoff will ever see the inside of a courtroom never mind a jail cell.Stop obsessing about the economy, you're scaring the children??
I should bloody well hope so. I hope we’re scaring the holy crap out of the next generation of kids, because we will not survive one more generation of MFFY’s.
Cross-posted at Mouse Musings
What would Buk do? Keep writing what you feel. Screw the marketing mf's, even if they pay your bills. I's rather work in a grocery store than be forced to write the pap that you described.
... I may end up having to work in a grocery store, since no one's buying the sort of thing I write these days...
Nobody's buying your stuff?
SHOCKING!!!!
"I can't keep doing this on my own with these...people."
I was enjoying the read until it devolved into a bitter generational rant about youth and their failures. Christ! When did you become your parents?
(God damn hippies!)
thanks for spending 21 paragraphs explaining in such great detail why you think I'm an undeucated, crappy employee.
So at least you've got someone to blame for it. ;D
Unless, of course, you're addressing this:
In which ms. mouse completely loses sight of the fact that those of us late Boomers or early Gen Xers (me, 44 next week), actually aren't the ones flying in the corporate jets, because we're the ones who had a hard time finding good jobs. Perhaps she confuses us with the peak Boomers, born in the mid '50's, who had all of those jobs, who attended college when the tuitions were much lower, who were in the job market during the "Reagan Recovery" when we were still in school.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
... but I'm guessing that the majority of the C&L team is in their mid-forties. There might be a few whippersnappers in their thirties. I'm at the far end of the age scale, being early 50's, which apparently makes me a 'peak Boomer'. (Although, sadly, I seemed to have missed out on all that low-cost college tuition and the plethora of good jobs during the Reagan era, must have missed that memo...)
But no one in C&L, none of them, are MFFYers. Far from it. Most of the people I've met in their early 20's are more clueless than heartless, which isn't really that big a slur, since most people of any generation are pretty clueless in their early 20's. It is heartening, however, how many of them are more aware that the imperative to Help Thy Neighbour isn't just an optional moral nicety - it's becoming a basic survival strategy.
But that is the problem of speaking in generalities without constant self-interruption to list all the exceptions. It may not be YOU - but I know far too many kids in their teens and pre-teens with the attitude why should they bother? Mum and Dad will pay for everything, that's what they're for.
And I'll bet, you know a few, too.
Didn't you mean dearth?
... according to Andy above, there were loads of jobs around during the Reagan Recovery in the 1980's. He's about a decade younger than I am, so that might account for the difference in memory.
Personally, I seem to remember a fairly hard recession, gas shortages, college tuition that was a bit out of reach for someone like me, working nights as a key-punch operator (yikes, does that date me!), from which I was fired when the ex-Marine boss took exception to me applying for a computer operator position reserved soley for male applicants(you could still discriminate against women with near-impunity back then as well), and stood in line for food stamps and my Unemployment check for far too many months before I got a new job at minimum wage, working nights as a nurse's aide mopping floors and cleaning up vomit and piss.
Man, those were the glory days of milk and honey, weren't they?
...is that my aunts, uncles and cousins who are your age, while they might have benn underemployed during the recession of the late '70's and early '80's, all had jobs again by the time my frieds and I were turning 21-22. And people my age (HS class of '83) didn't walk out of high school into union manufacturing jobs that those a decade older did.
That generation ahead of me was so large that it caused us to be stuck in the low paying, dead end jobs. And when we got those better jobs it was because a Boomer had been promoted after someone a generation older than them had retired. And there we sat- and many of us remain stuck there- waiting for the generation barely older than us to retire, at which time it will be the younger, less expensive part of the workforce that will be promoted above us.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
we both got screwed, Andy. Now we could sit around and argue about who got screwed worse, but I kinda leave that sort of thing up to fishermen and ex-lovers.
‘Peek into the cockpit as you board your next commercial flight. Chances are you are putting your life in the hands of one of the 70,000 airline pilots that are over 50 years old,’
Why is it, exactly, that there are so many airline pilots who are over 50 years old? Is it because they're better pilots than those who are under 40? Was there something in baby food produced before 1959 that makes them better pilots? Or is it because that once they established themselves, they hung on to their jobs by being capable enough, thus keeping younger people from taking their places? Are there so many of them because they simply got there first? Is there something there that I'm just missing?
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Since this is a subject a bit near to my heart. But I said nothing about pilots over 50 being better than pilots under 40. The reason for so many older pilots is a bit more prosaic - many of them got into the profession at a time when it was a great job, and seemed like it had a secure future. Many of them spent many thousands of dollars as well as thousands of air hours to qualify, and many, many of them have no other particular skills. Why did they need to know how to do anything else?
Then the industry changed on them - captains downgraded to F/O's, a lot of F/O's furloughed without pay, the loss of pensions, the cutbacks in salaries. These older pilots actually have less options open to them than anyone coming into the field, including chosing not to. It was once one of those elite jobs everyone envied. Now nobody in their right mind wants to fly commercial airlines - it's a crap job. You can work less strenuous hours for better pay driving a Greyhound bus, and there are qualified pilots who have chosen to do just that.
It isn't older pilots selfishly 'keeping' younger people out by not having the courtesy to either retire or die. It's the economy and the systematic gutting of the airline industry since Reagan that has discouraged the new blood. There's going to be a severe drain on the resource pool in the not too distant future as all those pilots with a lifetime of skills begin to retire... and there's no one who wants the job to take their place.
Colgan Air mean anything to you?
47, iirc? Three years would have made the difference?
And I didn't say you claimed that older pilots are better, I just asked if you think they might be. :P :D
I'm also not claiming selfishness, just pointing out the choke point created by the sheer number of baby boomers.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
and neither she nor the captain had the training or qualification to be flying in those weather conditions. They were both tired, and trying to sleep on sofas in the crew lounge because they weren't making enough to pay for hotel rooms to rest before flying. To be honest, we should all be thanking all those older pilots who chose to stay in the job - we need them.
As for the choke point from all us Boomers - my parents had four kids. I had none (of my own body, anyway). You can blame our parents for causing the 'choke point', but maybe you should thank so many of us Boomers who chose to have less children, meaning less competition for your generation.
My generation is like Edward VII, who was the Prince of Wales forever, but the King/Emperor for a fraction of the time his mother sat on the throne.
And she was 32 years older than her heir.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
... I wouldn't mind seeing abolished. Talk about a sense of entitlement!
...tout a republican government to replace the UK any longer, now that he's a US citizen.
We'll consider this a brief aside so as not to derail the thread, huh?
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
...undeucated?
Obama to correct this economical problem where Americans have lost their jobs by this Global Empires outsourcing to other country , when Obama makes the statement that we will become a nation of exporting consulting , planners and advisers.
A country which does not manufacture it's own food and products is a nation that will expire and fall to a third world country and we are just about there..
We have become a warehouse for foreign countries like China , India , etc to sell their goods...
The only win here is the American Global Empire which has join in partership with them..
AS far as I am concern the whole policy of outsourcing our manufacturing plants/jobs , transferring our wealth and power to this Global Empire , the destruction of our constitution / laws / democracy , the criminal economical destruction ,,,,, was a deliberate plan to destroy the power of our unions , workers and citizens from having any power to stop this complete takeover of our country..
None
and I am in the top 1% of the top 1% on most of our species' standardized measures of intelligence. I have been trying for the past three years to become a certified teacher through an accelerated program, but I keep running up against an administrative wall called "I can't handle the idea that you are smarter than me, so get lost." Apparently, even educators denigrate exceptional intelligence rather than use it to their best advantage.
I have two other friends who are in their fifties who've recently lost their jobs for reasons manufactured out of thin air and not based in fact. In fact, one of them was told flat out, "we just don't want you here." (Texas, the proverbial "right to work" state...)
If I don't have a new position by August 17, I will be homeless and on the streets. One of my aforementioned friends has been lucky enough to get another position. The other has not. She and I may have to be homeless and on the streets together.
And, it's going to get much, much worse. Keep your fingers crossed for me, folks. I'm sure that will be just as effective as me sending out my resume again next week...
BUT you should recognize that IQ is a very, very strong index of social and marital compatibility. It's just a fact that the numbers are not on the side of the average primary and secondary school teacher. I remember taking the Miller Analogies Test when it was still popular for graduate school admission. 100 questions. Your score is the raw score of the number correct. Someone admitted to a PhD psychology program would have literally double the number right compared to someone admitted to a Masters in Education program.
If you have a science major, consider pushing your communication skills in sales. Liberal arts, there's the holding pattern of ESL until you can figure an angle. I was _amazed_ the other year to find out how many young people have done the stint in Asia although I do wonder whether it is a good match for older people away from First World medical care and sanitation.
Incidentally, Triple Nine Society here too and slightly older, so I'm inclined to take your side. But a word about attitude. Hopefully, you understand that if you _stress_ your IQ instead of your compassion, commitment, and vision for teaching you're digging your grave, right? IQ really isn't high on the selling points for teachers. It isn't how great _you_ are. It's how great you can make your _students_, so IQ isn't how you should define yourself. If you've gone this far in the program and it's what you think you really want to do, make some effort in social engineering trying to fit in even if it does "seem dumb."
See? I just mention a basic factoid about myself and you assume that I flaunt my intellect like it's akin to a double D cup or naturally curly hair. I have worked very hard over my fifty plus years on this planet to disguise my intellect, because I've learned that those around me (whose fragile egos are directly affronted by something over which I have no control) will close down or reject me if I let on that I'm 'intelligent.' Isn't that sad?
The administrator who strong-armed me into resigning was torqued at me because I used a word in front of her that she didn't understand. That word is "uber." Now, usually, I avoid words that I think others won't recognize, but many of my students had been using this word, and it wasn't on my radar screen. Still, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up when she looked at me like I was something she had just scraped off the bottom of her shoe. Again, isn't that sad?
Now, before you think I'm sitting on my pity pot, please at least recognize that I'm discussing this reality in a venue wherein I hoped I would not be diminished because I have a rare intellect. I didn't ask to be smart, I just am. And, I am sooo jaded about having to disguise that fact for those around me who mistake my intellect as a personal judgment call on their own self-perceived lack thereof.
nonny mouse posted her observations under the rubric "economy" and my post was specifically in response to that topic. You see, even teachers are feeling the effects of the now crumbling Ponzi scheme we blithely call 'capitalism,' and age is a huge factor when administrators are RIFing their staff. So, my chances of gaining a new position are quite slim--not necessarily because of my (coming to a theater near you!!!) intellect, but because of my age.
If you are 53, then you are by no means in the top 1% of 1%. Your IQ points are based on the normal distribution of test results for people in your own age group. At best, you are 1% of 1% of quinquagenarians, but the problem for you is that every younger generation has been becoming significantly more intelligent. My IQ is 155 and I am 29 years old, which means that even if your IQ is 155 as well, you're still not in the same percentile as me if it comes down to raw intelligence. You would have to be one of the smartest quinquagenarians alive in order to improve on a younger person.
The economy aside, I am always weary about hiring boomers because so many of the ones who have worked for me or with me thus far have had a superiority complex. They have been climbing the career ladder for so long that it seems alien to them that they should have to learn something from or get along with someone who is younger than they are.
Strangely enough, I don't have this problem with septuagenarians. They are some of my favorite coworkers and the best engineers around. It seems that something happened to the Boomer generation that turned a vast majority of them into a bunch of self serving narcissists, with G.W.Bush leading the way. Notice the gradual reversal of New Deal Progressive ideals as the Baby Boomers took charge of our political and economic systems. Hate to have to be the one to burst your bubble, but Baby Boomers have all but destroyed our planet. They have a lot to prove if they want the younger generations to ever trust them in a position of authority.
My suggestion to you would be to be careful about confusing your seniority and experience with your intelligence. Your experience could be a huge plus to you if you marketed it for what it is - experience. Not intellect. In other words, try to be willing to listen to others and learn. I wish you luck in your job search.
Why is it that when someone mentions an exceptional intellect, all the naysayers come crawling out of the woodwork to lambast that person?
One recent study proved that when time constraints are removed from IQ tests, almost all test takers in the study scored in the "near genius" range.
This bias our species shows towards its own intelligence is sad...
I have grown quite adept at hiding my intellect in most public venues, bbk. You get unadulterated me here on the net, because you will never meet me. However, I am never disappointed when I play the "intellect" card. So many of us have to stomp on that, don't we?
Those of my friends I personally consider erudite would never be considered so by those who've designed and promoted IQ tests, so don't mistake my discourse herein for some sort of elitist self-aggrandizement. And, please recall that I said "on most of our species' standardized measures" -- as a methodology geek, I find these standardized measures biased and fundamentally flawed.
Thanks for your kind words about my job search.
I dunno...We can talk about how brilliant Newton or Einstein were, I don't think anyone blinks.
However, when we mention our own intelligence we tend to come across as braggarts. I'm a bit surprised that someone who's so smart hasn't been able to figure that out on his or her own.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
and 'being smart' are two completely different animals. I've taken the test put out by MENSA and it's just a shade over the wire to join if I wanted. Our Kid's IQ is off the charts, she is most definitely within the easily recognisable geek genius stratosphere. (Neither of us is interested in MENSA - we just like doing quizzes for fun, which is all an IQ test is).
But are we smart? I'm not so sure. My 15-year marriage was an utter disaster, my love life before and since has been pretty dismal. My job choices have not all been based on the most sensible criteria to which my bank account will testify, and I certainly can't blame all the failures in my life on a bad economy or just bad luck. I've made some pretty stupid choices in my life that having a high IQ has done nothing to ameliorate.
So while it's lovely to find someone with whom I can have a lively discussion about the impact of Arabic poetry on the 12th century Andalusian troubadours, I still go home and sleep alone at night. Go figure.
Not IQ,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intell...
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all
Is there one for a F*cked Up Life In General indicator? LOL
Actually, despite the bad marriage and disastrous job choices, my life is pretty good, all things considered. Having one's life blasted to Ground Zero has certainly focused my attention on what is really important and what is not, and what I used to hold precious that I can now live quite happily without.
There are worse things than going home to sleep alone, and one of them is sleeping with someone you don't even like anymore. Making do, second best, taking what you can get and being grateful - those are all defeatest strategies for unhappiness. Both in your personal life and in the political arena. I've had enough of both to hold out for better.
It doesn't mean screw everyone else and clawing your way up the pile of bodies reaching for the golden ring, however. It just means weighing what is vital against what is merely important, and hoping you're 'smart' enough to know the difference.
is no cakewalk, Andy. I find it interesting that just by making an observation about my scores on a bunch of IQ tests, you think that I come across as a 'braggart.' You have made my point for me, I hope you realize. I would encourage you to consider that "we're all bozos on this bus" and "high intelligence" does not elevate any one of us over anyone else. As for Einstein and Newton--well, I can only presume that they represent some of your heroes. Are you saying that these two men were 'better than' all the rest of us poor slobs because they were so bright?
Ironically, for the very longest time, I failed to perceive how intimidating can be someone who is gifted with an intelligence that processes rapidly and efficiently (by our species' standardized measures). Who got to decide that such "intelligence" imposes hierarchy?! Frankly, I find hierarchy anathema. Oh, and heroes equal hierarchy, Andy.
Over my fifty plus years on this planet, I've learned that we humans all learn at our own paces and manifest our intelligences in various rich and enriching ways. I have said elsewhere on this thread that some of my most erudite friends would not be considered so by society's standardized measures. Perhaps you might consider that.
Consider, too, a knee-jerk need to call someone a 'braggart' simply because that person observed that her intelligence has proven to be intimidating for certain mid-level school administrators. Don't you even see the irony?!?
I was pointing out that some people- a large percentage of people, actually- will perceive you that way if you start whipping out your Stanford-Binet results at the drop of a hat.
You must have never been punched when you were a kid. Either that or you just couldn't figure out the cause-and-effect nature of such an incident. Some of us were and did. I believe the process is referred to as socialization.
And as for Einstein and Newton...They're more recognizable to the hoi polloi than, say, Jacques Barzun and Bucky Fuller.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
You are now arguing semantics, and you continue with feeble attempts to denigrate.
Your sarcasm is unwarranted and unattractive.
No, I've been through it before. Luckily I went through it as a child and learned something from it.
Here's the lesson:
[vernacular intended]
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Should I genuflect as I receive the gift of your profound 'lesson'?
First, I encourage you to reframe your arguments to avoid blaming and shaming. We might be "responsible" for communicating effectively, but why waste energy and foster resentment by assigning "fault"?
Second, no duh that your vernacular was intended.
Third, please think a wee bit more about what you've posted herein above. Why conflict intelligence with hierarchy? Why react with sarcasm and negativity to my shared thoughts regarding my IQ? Why does it even matter to you?
but you can name the abuse and I've survived it. I have been given the opportunity to use what I've learned from these experiences to become an effective advocate for survivors of relationship violence. I can assure you, I get back a thousandfold the help I provide to survivors, so it's strictly selfish on my part.
Trust me, I have never whipped out any of my IQ test scores. I refuse to join MENSA, and I avoid snobs of any ilk.
"Exceptional" does not mean "better than," Andy. It means uncommon. On measures of central tendency, I am an outlier, a 'deviant,' if you will. Perhaps the fact that so many of my peers process in ways that are similar and familiar for the vast majority of them, my way of processing is just too different.
For the folks of all ages who haven't seen it, I recommend Sullivan's Travels as an excellent example of the realities people meet when times go bad IF they are wise enough to open their eyes and look around.
My Man Godfrey lately (here at YouTube).
Buit I do love Sullivan's Travels, too.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Modern Times and Sullivan's Travels were in an undergrad class I took some years back. Loved 'em both.
I'm going to simply have to stay in grad school (and keep running up my loan) until I actually get a job. An ideal situation would be to teach in an underserved (in my area, anything rural) school. In five years I can have my whole loan forgiven. And I'm a Boomer...
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
Capra's You Can't Take It With You...(or any Capra movie, for that matter)
Capra's good- great, even- but the credit for that one should go to George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart who wrote the play and won the Pulitzer Prize for their efforts!
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
...but how many people would have seen it if it hadn't been made into a movie?
How many people would have seen it if they hadn't written it?
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
That really burned....
I also noticed that I appear to be the only Y'r regularly commenting that I know of.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
There seems to be a pretty strong mix of generations here. I do think there are more Boomers commenting than anyone else, though, but that's natural because there were more Boomers born than there were Xers or Yers.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
*
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
What is happening in the USA these days makes me very depressed and angry.
The bad times are going to get worse, I'm afraid ....
What kills us old Generation Xers is the disdain we get from the 'Me' generation. We were never given the guarantee of job security (go ahead and tell me that anyone of us will ever see a pension, and Social Security is just a pipe dream), but we are supposed to sweat it out while those above us disburse the gifts that they earn just upon themselves, pillaging the company as they do so. I bust my hump week in and week out, and get told that 'keeping your job is the new raise', and you know what? I am grateful for this.
As usual, the 'me' generation loves to point the finger at everyone else (see: the man, religion, etc) and forget that they raised this generation. MFFY? I have seen one balanced budget in my entire life. One. That's it. And you call us selfish and greedy?
Pot, meet kettle.
They voted Reagan into office when we weren't old enough to vote. They decertified the unions. We were the last hired and the first fired.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Has it occurred to you that this post is just as ridiculous as the "motivational" posters you mentioned..?
Not that I'm knocking the current economic sitch, but saying that we can't just ignore the problem by retreating into "feel-good" fantasy is just as bad as trying to look on the bright side of life.
And frankly, all you've done is said something that hasn't already been said a dozen times. The least you can do is try a different angle than this, because it's coming off as pretentious pap...
Sullivan's Travels is an excellent movie for depressing times.
The message of the movie is that during dark times, people need laughter. It tells the story of a fictional director who wants the studio to back his new movie, which is a dark story about how awful life is. The studio wants another comedy. Through the course of the movie, which is only a little longer than the above post, the director learns that in times of trouble people relay on art (movies) to provide them with escape and laughter.
The movie itself is very funny and still manages to have much to say about life in America. Everyone should see it.
;-)
I'm really fucking sick of these Republican Mullahs
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090718/pl...
Reagan came into office with exports and manufacturing at an all time high. Now his trickle down theory has left us a third world coal exporting country.
It has always been thus. you can't chalk up the inadequacies of the current economy to one generation. I have worked with a lot of 50 and 60 year old professionals who cannot write and don't read. Every generation produces flawed people. While i agree that the 'don't worry, be happy' billboards are pointless, i have to say that Mouse's screed on my lazy assed generation got my knickers in a twist. I've been working since I was 12 and so have most of my 40 something friends. We read and write and teach and commit art. We buy books and music. We go to shows. We pay for political campaigns and were a major block of the voters who put Obama in office. Sheesh Nonnie, you're harshing my mellow!
You pulled that comment out of your but" I have worked with a lot of 50 and 60 year old professionals who can not write and don't read'thats a bold face story you made up.
...Mark Bauerlein. I didn't do the study.
But if Generation A has 8 college graduates and 2 deadbeats, Generation B has 7 college graduates and 3 deadbeats, and Generation C has nine college graduates and one deadbeat, then Generation B - even with the vast majority being college graduates - has the most deadbeats.
I'm more interested in why there's more deadbeats in one generation than another, than harshing anyone's mellow. And in very large part, the fault for Generation B (yours) having more deadbeats can be lain at the door of Generation A (mine, thank you) for encouraging it.
Which kinda harshes my mellow...
"I have worked with a lot of 50 and 60 year old professionals who cannot write and don't read." Science doesn't particularly sweat some anecdotal exceptions. "There are always exceptions" (as my Freshman physics prof said looking at my plot of radiation through a material in a strain gauge setup). Science looks for the norms and the confidence levels we can give to central tendency and deviations.
There _are_ cultural differences in place and time. When I worked for a large "gifted" program on the coast I mentioned that Minnesota (in my time of the 50s and 60s -- not now) was recognized for good public education. My boss pointed me to an article that compared primary student progress in Taiwan, Japan and St. Paul, Minnesota. It was one of those where the kids start out about the same and the U.S. kids progressively fall behind. The difference was _not_ Japanese cram classes. The most striking difference was that the U.S. school couldn't tell the researcher WHERE A PARTICULAR DAMN KID _WAS_ AT A PARTICULAR TIME. That was in stark contrast to Taiwan and Japan, and my personal experiences from an earlier time, where the kids sat in rows and shut the f*ck up and listened unless they were asked a question.
The kids in that study were raised in the "Me" generation, so the idea of trophy kids, group socializing, and self esteem building instead of learning really strikes a cord with me. In my class of 1969 I was one of 10 honor students among 81 graduates. In the class of 2009 my home town school graduated 41 honor students among 62. Really? Either teaching expertise or student IQ has jumped astronomically in 40 years. You believe either of those explanations kid? Or is every kid average and above today given a trophy for his or her unique "specialness"? Which is it? Oh, and before you answer, my high school alma mater has flunked No Child Left Behind for the second year. So, no. I'm here to tell you there _are_ differences among places and times and I've enough distance between then/now and here/there to see them.
to a rejection of the entire blame and shame paradigm? To quote one of my fave comedy troupes, "We're all bozos on this bus!"
The most important outcome from this and myriad other instances of mental masturbation online and in other venues is the realization that our species' economic behavior has reached critical mass. What we can do to 'fix' this morass remains to be seen, but the MOST important first step is to work TOGETHER (which is why the Corporatists' bipartisan red herrings are so frustrating!).
We cannot exit this bus at the next galaxy. And, we cannot expect to remain a viable species if we continue to overuse and abuse our one most vital economic resource: Planet Earth. Why do so few of us acknowledge overpopulation, now some forty plus years since Rachel Carson so eloquently pointed out the imminent pitfalls of this, our penultimate hubris?
At some point, Gaia may simply give a massive shudder and bring us back to relative stasis. Who knows? If it is meant to be, our species will continue to evolve, and will remain a viable asset to Earth's entire ecosystem. If not, then we will go the way of all other extinct species, and all of this brouhaha will be moot.
The macro level possible outcomes are beyond human control, and I think that's what drives our species' most primitive fears. Still, I am fascinated by our apparent inability to see our own forest for the trees. In other words, now that change is happening exponentially, our puny little minds seem to be struggling to adapt. Too bad we seem destined to denigrate one another as we make this amazing journey together.
Silly me, I still hope to see that fact changed during my lifetime...
to a rejection of the entire blame and shame paradigm? To quote one of my fave comedy troupes, "We're all bozos on this bus!"
The most important outcome from this and myriad other instances of mental masturbation online and in other venues is the realization that our species' economic behavior has reached critical mass. What we can do to 'fix' this morass remains to be seen, but the MOST important first step is to work TOGETHER (which is why the Corporatists' bipartisan red herrings are so frustrating!).
We cannot exit this bus at the next galaxy. And, we cannot expect to remain a viable species if we continue to overuse and abuse our one most vital economic resource: Planet Earth. Why do so few of us acknowledge overpopulation, now some forty plus years since Rachel Carson so eloquently pointed out the imminent pitfalls of this, our penultimate hubris?
At some point, Gaia may simply give a massive shudder and bring us back to relative stasis. Who knows? If it is meant to be, our species will continue to evolve, and will remain a viable asset to Earth's entire ecosystem. If not, then we will go the way of all other extinct species, and all of this brouhaha will be moot.
The macro level possible outcomes are beyond human control, and I think that's what drives our species' most primitive fears. Still, I am fascinated by our apparent inability to see our own forest for the trees. In other words, now that change is happening exponentially, our puny little minds seem to be struggling to adapt. Too bad we seem destined to denigrate one another as we make this amazing journey together.
Silly me, I still hope to see that fact changed during my lifetime...
...and we've had to listen to your "I was at Woodstock" bullshit for 30+ years. Your generation, despite your collective chest-beating and accalaimations that you've "redefined" everything from mating to aging (your prostates and constipation are simply NOT that interesting) gave us little more than an AIDS epidemic and Jane Fonda exercise videos (hint: heedless f*cking an drug abuse wasn't adventurous and culturally groundbreaking, it was dangerous narcissism that we'll be paying off for a long, long time).
In my field, your boomer generation parasitized the creativity of old school biophysicists to sieze the claim to the biotechnology revolution. You grabbed all that "war on cancer' money (paid for by the next most obnoxious group, the "greatest generation"). Cruising to your (mostly faked) acid-tinged best in the '60s and '70s, your crowd grabbed all the sweet faculty spots, tenure, and grant money, then didn't have the decency to f*cking retire in time for my generation to find decent jobs. The average age of my classmates getting their first post-DOCTORAL jobs (screw you and your pseudo-intellectual degree elitism) is now 42 years old.
Maybe gen Y are the smart ones? Maybe they've learned how to play on the egos of you, the snottiest generation? Maybe they know how to take you for the fools you collectively are. Maybe they can see that it was your greed and avaricce that made Gordon Gecko a hero and ran the country into the sh*tpile?
It's time for your generation to STFU and get on with your responsibilities to the future. For once.
crooks & liars needs more long rambling front page posts complaining about stuff! it's like andy rooney in blogtopia! and yes, i coined that phrase!
Just for the record, I've never been to Woodstock, although I did march in a few anti-Viet Nam war protests as a teenager, my dad made me stop after one turned rather violent and people got hurt. I don't have a prostate and I don't suffer from constipation. I didn't get any sweet faculty spots, tenure or grant money, and now in my 50's I'm doing a doctoral degree (which may be pseudo-intellectual, depends on how much stock you put into postgrad degrees).
No plans to STFU any time soon, or die, and if it gets people mad enough to come argue, then my long rambling grumbling post has done its job. More to come...
"Not us boomers with fond memories of Woodstock in our fifties and sixties."
then
"Just for the record, I've never been to Woodstock..."
hint: pray I'm not on your thesis committee.
tossing and turning in dread.
I'm sorry Nonny, but that post was incredibly insulting. Not to me, but my daughter. She worked her ass off to get through college (2 degrees) and has a "decent" job at The League of Women Voters. She NEVER exhibited the type of mind set you described. She never felt entitled to anything. I know a lot of her friends who are the same way. I wonder what young people you know or hang out with.
You sound bitter to me. I usually like your posts, but that one was over the top.
how old your daughter is.
But the young people I hang out with are all undergraduates and sound a lot like her, intelligent and hardworking and becoming more politically aware. They're also the first to tell me how selfish and gormless they've been, raised in households where their parents gave them anything and everything they wanted, and they learned to expect it as their due. They didn't believe anything would ever change. This economic collapse has been a harsh wake-up call for a lot of them. Thankfully, they've still got that energy and optimism of youth, as well as being bright.
So if you feel insulted, I'm sorry. But I'm not really bitter - I'm just aware that there ARE a lot of MFFYers still out there, in every generation.
I was a single mother. My daughter understood right away that things would not be handed to her because that's what I taught her and she was well aware of our circumstances. I think it's disingenuous to lump all kids of a certain age in the group you described. And a bit elitist as well.
She's 23.
yet, but I've never had an "esteem passing." In fact I had to claw my way to my high school diploma while dealing with chronic illness and disability, and I've had to claw my way through community college, and God willing, I will make it to the end. In the meantime I'm working on a career in fashion design, and believe no matter what disability I have, I still need to be a beneficial, productive member of our society, so I do whatever I can.
I don't know very many people my age in real life who have it the way Nonny suggested we've had it. What I see are young people who have a lot on their plates. None of us have grown up with much money, many have raised their siblings due to parental non-involvement, many have had children too soon (One friend clawed her way through her Education degree with a child she had at 15, a deadweight, deadbeat husband, and not much support from those who really counted. I have another friend who was kicked out of her home at 13 years old and pregnant. She clawed her way through high school and college, and the only help she got was from her grandmother and uncle).
What I also see are people like Paris Hilton and such monopolizing all the signifcant media attention thrown our generation's way. It's no wonder some may have a skewed perception.
I do like Nonny and her posts normally, but I felt this one really went for the juggular and was unfair.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
you and two friends who indeed sound like hardworking students. One deadbeat husband, a couple parents who kicked out a 13 year old, and an undisclosed number of people who weren't of much support. Then a grannie and uncle balanced against Paris Hilton set. I'd say there were a few MFFYers in that list, wouldn't you?
Yup, I may have gone for the jugular, and don't retract a thing. We're in this economic mess because of a psychology that glorified greed to a cult status. That wasn't something beamed down from aliens on Mars. We did this. Not all of us, but enough to devastate our economy for many, many years to come.
I take part of the responsibility myself - because I'm part of that culture and society that's brought it about. You can stand back with your hands thrown up saying 'not me' and 'not mine'...
...but it didn't happen in a vacuum.
'Yup, I may have gone for the jugular, and don't retract a thing.'
-Brought to you by the generation that gave us 'The Decider!'
A huge and unfair comparison, but here to rattle cages...
But saving the brunt of your generational disdain for Generation Y doesn't accomplish anything. Yes, there are some spoiled brats amongst us, and we do have problem areas, but there are hardworking youth too, and the last thing we need is more Baby Boomers looking down their noses at us. Honestly, I tend to expect that of Baby Boomers, so I'm not surprised, but it is always surprising and refreshing to find a Baby Boomer that does not dismiss us right off the bat and is willing to listen.
Generation Y is too nuanced to pin down with blanket statements, just as it is with the Baby Boomers. Someone brought up George W. Bush in here. I thought of that, but didn't want to because I didn't think it was fair or charitable to hold him up as representative of all baby boomers. However, it is fair to point out that GWB is *all* of the negative things that you pin on Generation Y, *and* he is 63 years old. He has had 40 years to get his act together but failed, whereas Generation Y is just getting started; we are just starting to find our places in the world. GWB reflects poorly on the Baby Boomers, and is an important reminder that when you point your finger at someone, there are four fingers pointing back at you.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
You've created quite a 'rift' hear, m'dear- and you should be worried!
"Smile, though you're heart is acking-
Smile, though you're heart is breaking...."
Such a lovely song.....
Since I predate everybody and don't have a letter attached to me, I'm not about to stick my two cents worth in here. I'll have the Xs AND the Ys beating me about the head and shoulders.
I just wanted to point out the name of the guy who runs the marketing firm responsible for all the billboards telling us to buck up and enjoy the recession and suck it up and get used to the fact that we're never going to get back what we've lost thanks in great measure to people like him.
Could it be that I'm the only one old enough to wonder if that Charles Robb is the same Charles Robb who, back in the dark ages of the Nixon administration.... Nah. Can't be him. Can it?
... I don't think it's the same guy. http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Robb_Charlie_5...
The Nixon era Robb you're thinking of married President Johnson's daughter, I believe...
It was Johnson, not Nixon. It's been so long ago and so many brain cells have fled. And I was thinking it might possibly be a son. Anyway, thanks for the quick answer.
I was born while the country was still recovering from the Great Depression and it looks like I'm gonna get to die during the worst downturn since then. Life does go full circle, doesn't it?
... I was born in one of the best economic booms in American history. If I'm lucky, I may live long enough to see the sunshine return after the storm.
Don't you all still live with your parents? Woodstock really wasn't that many people either I wasn't there.
They all live down the hall from me in my building, which, while not one, they treat like a dormitory anyway.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
... you have my instant sympathy, Andy.
Well, other than the noise they make when their coming home after closing the bar? It's the fact that they have absolutely no etiquette when it comes to using their cell phones: Loudly in the halls and elevators.
Hey, kids, end the call when you leave the apartment at 7:30am, and call back once you're out of the building. Please.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
I read nonny's post, and yes it struck a nerve. Wasn't that the point, to shock us out of our everyday sensibilities? So, I took an hour or so to let her words percolate a little, and then came back to read the comments. I am looking at some defensive sounding, victim-type mentality here, and I have reading threads at C&L long enough to know that you people are better than this.
Each of us has a unique story, and no one person ever fits a generalization or stereotypical description. To those insulted, have you considered that you may be the exception that proves the rule? In any case, without presuming to put words in nonny's mouth, I believe I am safe in saying that when she wrote this piece, nonny was not doing so with you or I personally in mind.
Sidenote: A professor mentioned to me the other day that his son (17) did not know what cursive writing was. I was shocked, my youngest child is 22 and she had writing/penmanship in elementary school. What happened?
Thanks for the kick in the butt, nonny mouse. It was needed.
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all
I don't write light fluffy novels for the beach, and I would hope I don't write light fluffy feel-good pap for C&L, either. I don't mind shaking a few cages now and then.
I was helping a 12-year-old not too long ago with maths homework, and I could not for the life of me understand his textbook - all some wonky incomprehensible theory with no actual instructions. I asked him if he knew how to do long division. 'What's that?' he said.
I couldn't believe it. So I showed him how to divide 12,345,678 by 6. It was as if I'd shown him how to do a magic trick. Now keep in mind that in MY day, students were the victims of something called New Math parodied in fine style by Tom Lehrer, which meant that by the time I was in college, I had to sneak to night school in the next county to take bonehead math.
There's been 'esteem' passing in far too many generations. And, as I said, the smart trophy kids will realise just how badly the educational system has let them down and do whatever is necessary to get those skills they need to compete. It isn't that the MAJORITY of people are MFFYers - it's that there are far too many who have screwed things up for everyone, including ultimately themselves.
I was educated in New England (through high school) and we did not do the 'new' math. It was introduced as one section in regular math class in about 4th grade, then it was gone. (something about 10 = 1 unit???)
I enrolled in community college in 2003, got an Associates in 2006, transferred to a 4-year university, got a BS in 2008, and am now in law school. I firmly believe education is a life-long process, and your brain needs regular workouts to stay fit.
;o}
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all
I was a pretty good math student as a kid (top student in my 8th grade honors algebra class, over the protestations of the very competitive Adam P), and if my son had the same books I used, I could have helped him out with his homework, but I didn't understand a damned thing in his books.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
doesn't resolve anything...opinions, discussions, using our brains fully should be what matters, as nothing less will lead to moving forward.
I do, however, have to wonder how pointing out the faults of one generation, even as the 'result' of the previous generation's behaviour, does not do more harm than good in 'enlightening' us, so we can better ourselves and our society.
Just the few comments so far on this blog, which is generally attended by seemingly intelligent & thoughtful people of many ages, shows that this 'fault finding' is doing more to create discord than any attempt at resolution.
There are indeed, issues & trends that seemingly permeate every generation...but we are not only 'generations', we are people, individuals...and that is what 'I believe' should be the focus.
I do agree that today's society in North America is 'generally' far too focused on material goods, physical looks, and instant gratification...but in my experience, this is certainly not limited to any age group. I am constantly thrilled with the intellect, creativity, logic, work ethics, and open-mindedness of the young people I've worked with the last few years...so much more than I came into the game expecting.
I just have to wonder how much this negative point of view really helps in this age of needing all the help we can get.
Not to single you out... you were just at the right place at the right time! As I troll and scroll this thread. ;)
Study the symptoms not the virus...
Get off my lawn!
Beat me to it!
Now, excuse me while I tell the grandkids how I used to walk 10 miles to school and back, uphill both ways! In the snow!
"Younger Generation" by John Sebastian is as relevent today as it was in 1969
Why must every generation think their folks are square?
And no matter where their heads are, they know mom's ain't there.
'Cause I swore when I was small that I'd remember when,
I knew what's wrong with them that I was smaller than.
Determined to remember all the cardinal rules.
Like, sunshowers are legal grounds for cutting school.
I know I have forgotten maybe one or two.
And I hope that I recall them all before the baby's due.
And I'll know he'll have a question or two.
Like, hey pop. Can I go ride my zoom?
It goes two hundred miles an hour, suspended on baloons.
And can I put a droplet of this new stuff on my tounge?
And imagine frothing dragons, while you sit and wreck your lungs.
And I must me permissive, understanding of the younger generation.
And then I know that all I've learned, my kid assumes.
And all my deepest worries must be his cartoons.
And still I'll try to tell him all the things I've done,
relating to what he can do when he becomes a man.
And still he'll stick his fingers in the fan.
And hey pop, my girlfriend's only three.
She's got her own videophone and she's a-taking LSD.
And now that we're best friends, she wants to give a taste to me.
Now whats the matter daddy? How come your'e turning green?
Can it be that you can't live up to your dreams?
Lets not lose focus on what caused this recession. The immediate cause was a massive fraud whereby mortgage backed securities were graded "AAA", which allowed them to be sold for more than they were worth. A couple of items aggravated this, one being the end of Glass-Steagall, which created the "too big to fail" corporation, and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which created the "derivatives" against the fraudulently graded mortgage backed securities.
That's what caused the meltdown. What the recession does is expose the other deficiencies, of which MFFY is only a part. A much larger part is lack of criminal enforcement against the grading of these securities as "AAA". Best reason to engage in conspiracy to defraud investors is lack of criminal enforcement against this. There was leverage of 33 to 1 at Bear Sterns and elswhere. Thanks to free trade, we don't produce as much as we consume, and because of this, there has been an explosion of borrowing to make up the difference. Our health care system cost way too much. As the health care reform effort shows, our government is comprised of influence peddlers dealing with corporate lobbyists. Our 5th estate now acts as a go-between, selling access to decision makers, as shown by the Washington Post. We fight a war on drugs that doesn't focus on eliminating black market cash flows, wasting about $100B/year. We pay too much for defense, in order to be the world's policeman. We ran up the national debt for the last 8 years to finance tax cuts for the rich and fight the Iraq war on credit.
This list can go on and on. The point is, the MFFY aspect is only a part of the problem, and probably a small part. I don't think it is the major part. However, I do see one thing currently, which is that the average person is following the untimely demise of Michael Jackson more than the health care reform debate. Of course, the corporate media is facilitating this, but the public at large need to not be so pliant, and adapt a bit more critical thinking. We're not going to fix the problems until we methodically identify them.
however, when you talk of Bear Sterns and leverage, the lack of criminal enforcement against fraudulent investors, the imbalance created by free trade, the true expense of health care under corporate lobbyists and intransigent politicians, etc., you're mostly speaking about the mechanics of disaster.
MFFY is more the psychology behind why it flourishes. People defraud investors and run for office and lobby against health care. It is the underlying selfishness and greed that has been not only unchecked but actually rewarded - all those CEOs of failing companies getting their millions in bonuses - that has feuled the machinery. And there's two parts in this equation as well - the minority of MFFYers who did the damage and the vast majority of us who stood back and did nothing to stop them.
“vast majority of us who stood back and did nothing to stop them.”
I want to have the rating agencies prosecuted for conspiracy to defraud investors in connection with the mortgage backed securities that was graded "AAA". Treasury secretary Geithner said there was massive fraud in association with the economic collapse, yet I think I saw President Obama on 60 minutes stating that no crime was committed.
A wide majority of Americans want prosecutions, I think. How do we get this banana republic, this oligarchy to do that?
...other than to be loud, and vocal, and persistent, and annoying. Sometimes the object of doing the right thing is not to win - sometimes the object of doing the right thing is because it's the right thing even if you can't win.
The answer is to meet the corporate owned influence peddling politicians in the primaries. The deck is stacked in the general election, with a choice between the corporate owned democrat versus republican. Miss out on the primaries and miss the boat.
:)
The details are in organizing. The corporate media isn't about to facilitate any organizing. We have about 6 months to get our s#it together before primary season for the 2010 election commences.
“It’s far too many of those in their mid-forties - the truly ‘lost’ generation that entered the workforce in the heady feeding frenzy days of Bonfire of the Vanities and embraced the pervasive ‘Me First, F*@k You’ attitude that in very large part contributed to the downfall of the American economy ...”
I just don't think that MFFY is a condition of those in their mid-forties in any greater proportion than any other generation. And, by way of disclosure, I'm not in the mid-forties.
Only a novelist would write such a long post that could have been easily said, "Damn kids! Get off my lawn!"
Stacey
http://lafirst.org
... only if I could afford a lawn anymore...
It states a legitimate issue. The part I would question is whether MFFY by mid 40s people "in very large part contributed to the downfall of the American economy". In other words, did MFFY appear in mid 40s people disproportionate to other age groups.
Rush Limbaugh is most instructive here. "Today on his radio show Rush Limbaugh said that Michael Jackson, “flourished under Reagan, languished under Clinton and Bush, and died under Obama.”"
This kind of rationale has been the crux of Fox News, namely, to force fit the agenda onto the facts, after the fact. It's obvious that whoever was President during Michael Jackson's lifetime had little to do with his rise and decline. But yet, coincidentally, it so happens Michael did best under Reagan. Maybe Reagan had an intern named "Billy Jean" that provide inspiration? I don't know.
In the case of the mid 40s person being responsible for the economic collapse, the question for me would be, if the collapse occurred in the 1990s or 1980s, would most of the Wall Street culprits still be in their 40s? Absent that little piece of the puzzle, I'm hesitant to paint with a broad brush a particular generation.
I think it states a legitimate issue. The part I would disagree is the "large part" versus the "small part". I think the whole issue of the economic collapse is far more complicated.
Yeah, it might have been a few people now in their mid '40's who came up with those derivatives schemes, but it was older people like Paulson and Rubin who pushed for them.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Well, wasn't it that economic genius, Phil Gramm, that pushed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act that got the derivatives going? I don't know how old the guy is, but, anytime I see him, I see Strom Thurmond reincarnated.
And I think it was that mid 40s guy there, Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926), who said he “made a mistake” in trusting that free markets could regulate themselves. Somehow, I think the reasons for the economic meltdown extend beyond because of mid-40s people.
Thank you very much.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Young man: "You don't understand us. We were raised with the internet as our wallpaper, and digital media and gaming technology at every corner of our existence! Our lives are different and YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND."
Old geezer: "Well, I was raised in a world where we didn't have the internet, or digital media or gaming technology. So you know what we did?"
Young man: "I dunno - WHAT DID YO DO???"
Old geezer: "We invented it all you stupid ass. Now what are YOU doing for the generations to come after you???"
It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.
-George Carlin
thanks for sharing that.
The breadth of your consideration and literary talent is commendable.
Your descriptive prose, as structured, leave little room, for just retort. It's my opinion... life is not precise, as your description so eloquently reveals.
Where our thoughts dwell, our minds are nourished...(T_C 2009)
Hunches can be productive and destructive at the same time.(IMO)
"A collection of good books, with a soul to it in the shape of a librarian, becomes a vitalized power among the impulses by which the world goes on to improvement."
--Justin Winsor
Billboards vs internet... communication is crucial :)
PS. My Brother... a welder, has all the work he can handle. He lives in Exeter and fabricates the skeleton(s) for many of these staircases...
[ http://www.hardwoodesign.com/ ] Remember when I said I'd worked for UNFI? The founder haled from East Greenwich, a well to do village in that mini-state. A work of literary art nonny... Bravo ♥
Study the symptoms not the virus...
Lovely staircases. I love the idea that utility does not exclude the possibility of elegant art.
Nonny, you're a lazy and unoriginal thinker. Variations on this post were tired before any of us were born, but this is especially bad coming from a self-styled progressive.
The economy is in the toilet, unemployment is at 9.5% and rising, and your concern is that the 23-year-olds aren't behaving properly?
Generational politics like this is a pointless distraction. You have more in common with a poor 23-year-old than a rich 45-year-old. Grow up, develop a sense of solidarity, and quit lecturing the only age group in which Kerry had a majority about what brats they are.
Or keep stirring up pointless hate with broad, unfounded, and cliched slurs. But post those at RedState where they belong.
You maybe should re-read the post, I don't see 'stirring up of pointless hate'. I see a call for cross-generational accountability for the mess we are ALL in.
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all
You aren't ignoring it, because you made it the title of your passive-aggressive reply.
You could have prefaced your remarks with something like, "This post struck such a nerve, I had to register to respond". Then at least readers would be aware of emotion behind the opinion.
I usually try to avoid engaging any commenter until I have seen enough comments from them to determine, as far as possible, where they are coming from. It certainly appears that your comment was solely intended to insult, as you felt it necessary to begin with name-calling and a personal attack. Without a history to rely on, your post is a stand-alone reflection of you.
Odd that you ignored the substance of my reply. Thankfully though, I provided a strawman for you knock over instead.
You say "passive-aggressive", I say "smart-ass".
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all
Well, apparently the breadth of my consideration and literary talent is commendable, for a lazy and unoriginal thinker.
It's always interesting to see what bits what people focus on in a post, to the exclusion of all else, to bolster their denigration... or praise, to be fair. I'm not quite sure where I said I thought 23-year-olds weren't behaving properly - since I didn't behave all that 'properly' at 23 myself, that sort of being a perogative of 23-year-olds to behave like, well, 23-year-olds.
Sad news - the world's oldest man has died, Henry Allingham, at the age of 113 in the UK. He used to regularly go talk to school kids about the danger of war, having served in the first and lived through the next umpteen. The kids loved him. Now there's some true trans-generational cooperation. So what would we have called Henry's generation?
You are also, apparently, dishonest. You devote paragraphs to complaining about the moral failings of Generation Y (which you call the Entitlement Generation) before you entertain the hope that the recession will teach us better:
We’ve raised an entire Generation Y of selfish, manipulative, consumer-driven, arrogant children to respect nothing - not teachers, not parents, not crushing debt, not bosses, not global warming.
Kids enter university after a lifetime of ‘esteem passing’ unable to write a coherent sentence or spell in anything other than text – 'trophy' kids rewarded for participation rather than any accomplishment, shuttled through the educational system regardless of ability or effort because not passing the little darlings might hurt their self-esteem.
Oh, wait, Robb has a billboard for that – ‘Self worth is greater than net worth.’ Good thing, then, because we’ve produced a whole lot of people with nothing but self worth and no ability to produce any net worth, believing themselves ‘entitled’ to the world being handed to them on a silver platter.
And now you pretend that complaining about your misplaced concern over the propriety of the behavior of 23-year-olds is a selective and baseless summary of your argument. At least own up to your own argument.
And yes, it is an unoriginal and lazy argument. This is a retreaded complaint from moral scolds who were dead before either of us were born, and the modern details aren't even plausibly true. (Generation Y isn't concerned about global warming? Have you seen any opinion polls? As the kids say, "WTF?").
Well, I think I'll just passive-aggressively ignore you now.
You’re blaming an entire generation for your failure to get a book published? That's what this is about, isn't it?
That’s quite a healthy sense of entitlement you have.
By the way, much of the current financial meltdown was brought on by the greed of bankers and CEO’s from your generation, you know, the ME generation. Bernie Madoff is 71.
This post comes down to whining and blaming others for your misfortune, nothing very original or constructive here.
... always interesting to see what bits what people focus on in a post, to the exclusion of all else, to bolster their denigration.
Yeah, sure, my failure to get a book published is what this is all about, you just keep that thought if it comforts you.
about intelligent people falling in to the trap of scape-goating. This practice has never yielded positive results, at any point in history.
If this was a cathartic rant, great, good for the soul, but pinning the blame on a generation is ridiculous. The MFFY exists in every generation and, at weaker moments, in most individuals.
about a very similar situation the last time ordinary folks got kicked ass-backwards hard out of society...
"I hate a song a song that makes you think you are not any good. I hate a song that makes you think you are just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to anybody. No good for nothing. Because you are too old or too young too fat or too slim too ugly or too this or too that. Songs that run you down or poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or hard traveling. I am out to fight those songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood. I am out to sing songs that wil prove to you that this is your world and it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built, I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work. And the songs that I sing are made up for the most part by all sorts of folks just about like you. I could hire out to the other side, the big money side, and get several dollars every week just to quit singing my own kind of songs and to sing the kind that knock you down still farther and the ones that poke fun at you even more and the ones that make you think you've not got any sense at all. But I decided a long time ago that I'd starve to death before I'd sing any such songs as that. The radio waves and your movies and your jukeboxes and your songbooks are loaded down and running over with such no good songs as that anyhow." --- Woody Guthrie
Here was a man that realized the stupidity of the people fighting amongst themselves and putting down each other over age or race or whatever plays right into the hands of a relative handful of cross-generational crooks who have orchestrated the off shoring of our jobs, the weakening of our constitution, the melt down of the world's financial system and are attempting to turn the world into a giant plantation for the benefit of a very few.
No matter how many degrees you possess, you are uneducated if you can't see that. The main mistake all of us have made is to not pay enough attention as this has been happening. Focus, people, focus...this is Crooks and Liars, not scapegoating 101. I see this crap happen with my co-workers as well, and it just makes me sick.
... and give the publishers something more mainstream, at least until the market improves.
I know that sounds like selling out, but it's more about making a living.
Think about it, the worse that will happen is that you get some new readers. Try writing under a pseudonym.
I'm not saying that you should give up working on your old subject matter, I'm just saying that you might have to go down some new roads, and then travel down the old ones when the economic climate has improved.
On a related subject, I'm trying to get a newspaper comic strip published. Even though I'm sure my strip will sell (since my art and writing style are much better than most on the market now) I'm also aware that the newspaper industry is dying a slow death.
However, I made a business plan. There are on-line and cell phone markets I can pitch my work to in addition to the periodical market. Also, since I made the work attractive enough for people to want in a compilation, I'm hoping that I can make some money by putting out my work in bound form as well.
In other words: When faced with a dying market, I looked into new mediums in which to publish my work, and am trying to find new ways to monetize my efforts.
I'm not just crying about it, I'm doing something about it. And... if that fails for some reason, I'll try to find other ways to be successful.
I know it's hard out there, but there are people less talented than you getting by.
Right now, I've got about 4 and a half months of unemployment left, and that's due to the 3 month extension given to people currently on unemployment in New York. I've been interviewing, and had two tentative offers fall through, which was a huge emotional blow. I've never found it this difficult to get employed. I'm waiting on a decision about one position, and I've sent out my resume to many more companies. Later today, I'll send out my resume again.
Personally, the market has me frightened, but I'm not letting fear control me, or prevent me from trying to improve my situation.
In my last position, and for nearly the past decade, I've been working in social services, I may have to do something else for a living if I can't find work in that field. Before that, I worked in the newspaper and magazine industry, so a change in career is nothing new to me.
I don't want to do it, but I might have to.
At least I have that option. Some people have to pack up and leave their towns to find new jobs.
Personally, I want to eventually make a living as freelance writer and artist, but I'll have to do something to pay the bills until I can be successful in my goals.
Just something to think about.
"the brainchild behind the ‘God Speaks’ billboards in 1999..."
As a writer, you should care a bit more about words. "Brainchild" means the product of his brain, so the billboards are the brainchild (or brainchildren) of Charles Robb; you could say that he's the brain behind them, but not the brainchild.
interesting point. Thanks.
I have with " larning ' all of the higher branches of education is , most of them fail in teaching the roots .
In the US it is doubtful if you could find a dozen people that could build a car hood or fender from a sheet of metal BY HAND , the youngsters i have worked with in the last 20 years have trouble reading a tape measure , blue prints forget it , layout whad dat , multiconic or parabolic projection huh ? , all of them knew how to " twitter " thou .
To sad that the " brains " sold out our mfg. ind. , sorry i meant outsourced so now all of us " old hands " who are retiring and dieing off , if ( huge if , doubtful of course ) mfg. should ever come back who is going to teach your kids how to build things . Let me guess you will take a class on that . To sad indeed i have helped at least 50 youngins better themselfs ( on the job ) so that they too could have a better life , now whats the point the only jobs left are at the big box ( or flipping burgers ) THE GOLDEN BURGER .
Oh happy days , if only it was so ! . So this is my sunday morning rant , Gen Y , Gen X , new age , bommers its all bs dont blame me for your short commings and i wont blame you for your kids .
every time you throw a little mud , you lose a little ground .
I dunno, Nonny. I get your point about the 'MFFY' Generation - I've met young people like that.
But I think if you apply a broader historical perspective to your argument, even you would admit that the current cohort of entry-level workers has no monopoly on selfishness or entitlement. The recession/depression, now 2 years old (already long in the tooth compared to the average length of cyclical pullbacks, and still likely to continue for the foreseeable future), is fast winnowing out the self-esteem-fed entitlement brats you speak of.
You would have to be truly an egotist and an idiot not to have your attitude shaken up in the current working environment.
Earlier periods in the history of America (and other countries with market economies) had their own myths of entitlement and self-worth. All those kids in the sixties who dropped out and rebelled against consumer culture only had the choice to do so because of the incredible prosperity created by post-war economic growth. Today, their condescension for "The Establishment" and the suburban rat race, while a reflection of honest misgivings about the consequences of prosperity, appears somewhat naive and pompous. How easy it must have been to scorn capitalist culture at the highest tide of American success.
These days, 'dropping out' solves nothing. 'Rebelling against the establishment' means probable homelessness.
In the 19th century, the Horatio Alger model prevailed: self-sacrifice and hard work enabled prosperity and the achievement of one's dreams. But the flip side of that myth is not unlike your complaint - Alger's parables of poor boys making good are full of naked ambition, kissing up to useful mentors, using up the environment, accepting the social, gender and racial inequities of capitalism, and compromising values for wealth even as advancement is revered as an expression of God's will. The flaws in that way of thinking are now readily apparent. And the self-made bootstrappers of that age had children, many of whom felt entitled and collided with the real world. Ever thus.
Boomers can call a generation lazy, etc. at a time in our history when a largely Baby Boomer administration has lied us into a war that is being fought and suffered by the exact younger generation they insult?
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
The biggest cohort of "Me First, F*ck You" people isn't the Boomers, or the X'ers or the Y's.
It's the parents of the Boomers - the generation who benefited from the 30-year postwar boom in jobs and income, then retired with fully funded Medicare and Social Security. To top it off, Bush43 handed them the most expensive entitlement program in 40 years, the seniors' drug benefit (this alone added a $4 Trillion unfunded liability to America's balance sheet).
Granted, they suffered through the Depression. They fought WW2. They have also taken a massive amount of wealth from their grandchildren and great-grandkids. They were the base of Reagan's support and voted overwhelmingly for tax cuts even as federal deficits exploded.
There are MFFYers in every generation still breathing, and probably were in every previous generation that's not. There were certain times in our collective near history when the pursuit of money and greed as a virtue did have cult status, and judging by the number of Get Rich Quick Without Working spam in my email inbox, it's hardly dead yet.
These greed peaks were easier to spot in times of economic boom, and everyone was of some age or other at the time. Some were Boomers. Some were the parents of Boomers, some were the children of Boomers, and grandchildren of Boomers. I'll let the great-grandchildren here off the hook, since most of them are still in primary school. But COLLECTIVELY, those who bought into the culture of greed and screw anyone who was too weak, too ill, too old, too unskilled, too outside the comfortable parameters of social inclusion are to blame. They're MFFYrs
And by some of the voices on this thread, it's still alive and well. Loved the backlash from the 20-something who would hire a 70-year-old because they were grateful even to get a job, but never a Boomer, because we're ALL arrogant and full of ourselves... and the vast statistics I've put up links to proving otherwise be damned.
... thus proving there are those of the Generation Y who can be as divisive, dismissive and vindictive as any Boomer, or Me Generation or whatever silly connotation one wants to slap on any age group.
So hey, you kids in the sandbox? The economy is f*cked, big time, be scared, be very scared. And you can either listen to your parents blame it on the Boomers, or your grandparents blaming on the Me Generation, and buy into that whole MFFY attitude that goes with it, or you can bury your head in the sand and read billboards that tell you the recession will end, just feel good about yourself rather than your empty pockets, you too could be the next Bill Gates or any other Pollyanna fairy tale that keeps you from being scared enough to actually DO anything about it. Or... you can come work with all those of ANY generation who are more interested in making sure we actually have anything left to squabble over whose fault it is for breaking. Your choice, kiddies.
worse than any other generation around today. We do have severe problems and Generation Y is part of that problem and also can be part of that solution.
But apparently I, and any other Generation Y'er here is just another kid in the sandbox, which is sad.
I'll retire from this thread now, and I'd advise any other "kids in the sandbox" to reconsider trying to get that point across either.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
... the kids in the sandbox haven't even hit puberty yet. I'm sure someone will think up some clever label to slap on them at some point, but as far as I'm aware, most Generation Y's aren't still playing with Betsy-Wetsy dollies and Tonka Toy dumptrucks in the grade school playground... although maybe a few are.
But you seem to be enjoying that affronted sense of victimization, and it would be churlish of me to try and deny it for you. So if you want to take your bat and ball and go home with your knickers in a twist, have at it.
It's not a generational thing nonny, and I think at heart you know this well. The generation born around the time of the Great War gave us both Richard Nixon and John Kennedy. The generation born just after the Second World War gave us both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
I'm in the UK, so I can't really comment on this in the same way that a US citizen of my age (30) can, but the fact is that no one generation has a monopoly on MFFY behaviour. I got a schooling in how hard finding work was when I graduated in 2001, just in time for the first "tech crunch", where management started the outsourcing craze that seems only now to be levelling out slightly in the industry I work in. It saddens me no end that my generation contains just as many "I'm alright, Jack" types as any other and it saddens me more that the way the culture has gone rewards that kind of behaviour.
However, I am incensed with rage at the fuckers in charge of the banking system who are trying to return to "business as usual" regarding bonuses and corporate back-slapping elitism when everyone else is struggling to get by. In my darker moments I'd be inclined to see them first against the wall.
What we need to do, as people of any generation who *do* care about the whole of humanity is to band together and stop sniping over ideological points before we really do ourselves an injury as a species.
Nonny mouse, I think there is something here that you are missing. Tom Brokaw didn't write The Greatest Generation until 1998. Maybe you're jumping the gun here?
I understand that the economy isn't just in crisis, but also undergoing significant structural adjustments. One of these adjustments is that employers are ditching baby boomers with cushy jobs in favor of young people who have been struggling just to get their foot in the door. Resentment is sure to abound among the older set, but maybe it's time for a reality check. You got what you paid for, so to speak. This is what that tax cut that everyone voted for looks like.
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