Oso planning to go pro
Ah so we haven't sacrificed financially as long as it fits your narrative?
My narrative is one of experience that stretches back far longer than yours. That is what age, wisdom and experience are. You live in a blessed time, with relatively low crime, tremendous opportunity, full employment, never having to wait hours to fuel your car, not worrying about being drafted to go to war, technology at your finger tips that we would only dream of.Yes, my narrative is one of being alive much longer than you have. I was you long ago, and one day you will be me. Your experiences may be different, but as I tell my kids, you cannot believe how good you have it relative to other generations the last 50 to 75 years. Things are pretty damn great right now and have been for quite some time. You should appreciate it because you have missed out on a lot of the crap.
My starting salary was less than $10K. When I say you haven't sacrificed financially I'm talking about in comparison to others before you. The liquidity today, the ability to gain capital, didn't exist back in the day at the levels today. You have never experienced interest rates at 8% in your life, try dealing with 14% to 17% as the norm for several years and then being grateful when it dropped to 12% four 3 or 4 years straight. Inflation rates double digits late '70s, early 80's. We haven't seen it above 4% since 1991.You don't have the lens of experience because you haven't been alive long enough to go through the ups and downs. You will, and then you can pass on the cranky wisdom to the next group that tells you how bad they have it.
For all your wisdom you still know nothing about the financial sacrifice of being in your 20s or even early 30s in this era. You're right, I live in a time where I haven't had to wait in lines for ages for gas, you claim I live in a time of full employment but forget that starting salaries have not increased in years to keep up with increasing cost of living.
Unless you were active duty or family of one in the Vietnam era what did one have to sacrifice?And to answer your question directly, things like the oil embargo, spending on cold war programs instead of local programs, etc.had generational impacts.
My generation had it tougher than your generation arguments never get old.
YMMV, but I don't feel those things required the slightest bit of sacrifice of me. A few more cents for gas vs. getting shot and killed? Not remotely in the same ballpark.The draft was still in place for Vietnam, unlike for the Gulf War, so the sacrifice was not voluntary. And WW II had ration books, victory gardens, etc. Sacrifice was shared by all.
My contention is that my generation, GenX, had it very easy. First of all, Vietnam was the Boomers, not GenX; we didn't come of age until it was well over. The Cold War? Mostly before our time, too, and the extent to which is wasn't, I don't see the big impact. Gas shortages? Mostly before our time and quite a brief period.Personally, I don't consider any of things you listed-- public expenditures, brief inflationary periods, etc. to be anything other than brief inconveniences, and certainly not generational challenges. Heck, even the horrors of Disco were mostly before the time of any except the oldest of GenX. Again YMMV or hwo they impacted you.But I take exceptional to you implying that I somewhere said GenXers or GenYers are soft. I didn't say or imply that. My contention is limited to saying that we GenXers faced little real adversity at a generational level.EDIT: Sorry, I see you are pointing out that Chicos, not I, called them soft.
What time period are you defining Gen Xers? If I'm bounding it you are saying anyone born at best 1965 up to what 1980? I mean if you are saying anyone that was a young adult or an adult in the 80s, there was the AIDs crisis, Iran-Contra, Black Monday, the emergence of terrorism as a global issue (Pan-AM, Beirut, etc) and the Cold War carried on for the entire decade of the 80s. Inflation at the start of the 80s peaked at almost 15% which denied millions the ability to access credit and/or affordable housing in the late 70s/early 80s.
There was stuff, sure. But I think largely, Boomers had it easier than the greatest generation. Gen X ers had it easier than Boomers, and Millennials have it easier than gen x ers. And you could continue that trend back probably to the middle ages.
High interest rates? GenX was too young to be buying houses during that time. Maybe it affected us by having to live in apartments, but I hardly consider that a huge negative.
Useta trap around bearfoot in da snow at 5 am deliverin' da fookin' Sentinel befour school in da winter and den sweat and roast my jewels loadin' 40 ft. semis bye hand all sommer long. Chit, y'all don't no watt hard work is. Kids taday are two soft and cuddled, hey?
Our kids now grow up knowing that any day could be their last because that is what they are taught.When I was a kid, we never had to worry about any of that. At 15, the only worries were what park is the next ball game at, and girls.
danger lurks around every corner.
When I was a kid, we never had to worry about any of that. At 15, the only worries were what park is the next ball game at, and girls.
Politics rachets up fear. People want hope and change, but there is too much money political gain to be made in the fear business.
Wow, I'm very concerned for Benny. Being able to mimic Myron Medcalf's writing so closely implies an oncoming case of dementia.