Millennials are 18-34 and according to this they are a larger group than the Baby Boomers...I'm sort of shocked. I thought our generations were shrinking. The platform: https://medium.com/@dunn/the-millennial-party-b1ea1c6af8f9
As a boomer, do you remember how we were so upset when we were in our 20's and 30's that our leaders weren't of our generation? I don't either. But then were weren't as self-absorbed as the millennials. They missed out on the Freedom Rides and the marches on Selma so they came up with their own "Civil Rights" fight. It wasn't the same but it satisfied their need to climb the mountain. Their foreign policy adopts the contentment of the ostrich. But it's not just that they can't see the danger in the rest of the world, they can't see train platforms and fountains that they often fall into with their heads glued to their phones.
Many still live at home and our otherwise dependent on us old folks. They cannot spell or do much more than the most basic math problems. Most can count on one hand the number of times they wore a necktie and 99% of those who did had to have their dad's tie it for them. Their hot button issues are the legalization of drugs and narcotics, forgiveness of their student loans and a guarantee of $15.00 per hour to ask if you want fries with your Happy Meal. Most don't know anything about government at any level or the capital city of the state they live in. Their knowledge of current events is basically nill. A successful day is if they do not have to wake up before noon
I love this George guy! My 18yr old step-daughter got her voter card the other day... She belligerently announced she is a Dem. She couldn't really tell me why, although the abortion bit (it's my body) is a BIG part of it (which enrages her mother)... As George said... her knowledge of the real world is severely limited, and mostly based on what she sees on her phone. I can't wait for her to leave for school in 2 weeks. Although the support for students now is off the charts, she will undoubtedly call home wanting help with EVERYTHING. And we've already agreed that the answer to most of that will be: FIGURE IT OUT. :?
I refuse to paint the millenial generation with a broad brush. I recall how relatively uninformed I was as an 18-22 year old and how passionate I was about certain hot button issues of my day. I was a proud and avid Democrat for several reasons, none of which matter today. It wasn't until I grew older and more aware of how the issues of the day affected me and my beliefs that I began to change. I gradually evolved to the middle of the spectrum and eventually came to be an independent. To each his own. Right guys? Be patient, Scott. Your step-daughter eventually will get hit in the face with real life. At that point she might change or she might not. Until then, in her own mind she will know more than you and her mom. :wink:
I doubt if we've ever had a generation that had so little knowledge of our country's history and government. Students today are no longer learning to write with script. (after all, you just have to push the buttons on your phone.) And why spend much time learning how to multiply or divide? Hell you can do that on your phone. They have plenty of time to learn about climate change. Is there anything more important than alternative lifestyles? They might have learned about things such as the Revolution, Constitution, Civil War etc. but that would be spending too much time learning about white males who as we all know had little to do with the history of the US.
Whoa there......the generation who brought us the hippie movement. ******* Disco and the 80s isn't as self-absorbed as these whiny ass millennials. I'll give it to you, your generation has a lot more balls than these kids but the boomers were/are a generation of decadence, style and hypocrisy. We agree on a lot of your points, but as someone who is a member stuck right in between you two generations, this sucks. We're statistically insignificant. We're kinda like the boomers a bit with the conservatism, but we're also a bit like the millennials regarding social issues like marriage equality. We're just stuck here along for the ride wherever these two behemoth generations take us, praying for the big meteor to come correct the evolutionary mistake that is human beings. Seriously, my generation is basically the Jan Brady of planet Earth. While we've made tremendous strides towards engineering, computers, math, the arts, there just aren't a lot of us.
Corey, I'll plead to most of your counts but I'm not taking the rap for Disco...make that "******* Disco." Let's look at today's kids. We were nothing like this How the **** do they have time to tweet and post status updates?
What we have here is the age-old gripe session wherein the old folks criticize the younger generation. Yes, the millenials have their faults, but so did we. So does every generation, our parents and their parents before them. When the millenials reach our age, they will be complaining about the younger generation of the mid-century. Having said that, I will assert that no generation before or after can match our generation's most significant contribution to society......Rock & Roll!
Gip, Do not mistake me, sir. As I said, I agree with 99% of what you're saying. I just took exception to that one element, and yes, you guys are stuck with disco... god did I hate disco. Sid, I agree to an extent. Where I'm coming from, for my generation, is strictly numerical. They baby boomers are this massive group of people and they have impacted society in a variety of ways, mostly for the positive. I think the 'Greatest Generation' has only the cross to bare for how they finished the race of life. I believe it was too short sighted. Call it the legacy of a generation that endured too much struggle, so they went out of their way to create too Utopian of a society. Back to my original point, behind my rather small sized generation, is this other massive group of people who have been the product of BOTH the boomers (thanks Viagra) and Gen X. I fully understand the sociological phenomenon of blaming the older/younger generations. However, these kids are receiving a politicized education, or worse, a religiously indoctrinated education. They're human, they have potential, but collectively, they are dumber than a bag of hammers. My generation is statistically stuck in the middle. We will never be a political force. We will never have our true opinions reflected in policy barring a revolution of some sorts. So, we're here and along for the ride. That leads to a lot of great writers and cynics, which we've produced. My brother and others constantly beg me to write. I just don't think there'd be a market for anything I'd have to say. I will say, I'm not too sure the Boomers understand just how different the world of the Millennials is today. There just aren't the same opportunities. You could be an unskilled worker, but a good one, and learn a trade welding..make a damned fine living and raise a family. Those jobs are still out there, but nowhere near in the number they were when you guys were their age. Even most of those jobs require some knowledge of robotics which means they are being forced to go to college, which they can't afford, and the loan industry is there to make sure they are funded and then some, which creates a de facto debt slavery situation to the average American. At the same time, as Mike or George mentioned, a lot of these kids are just trained to be push button puppets behind a counter. My generation is full of people who not only think outside the paradigm, we'd like to blow it up. I freely admit to being one of these people. I would love to be able to save social security and medicare for my parents generation. I would love to be able to provide some glimmer of hope for the younger generation. I don't see how either are possible in our current, 2 party, corporate controlled system. You guys do get all the credit for rock and roll. God bless you for that. Seriously.
Corey One of the things you mentioned is really a crime....student loans. In 2008 and the years thereafter, just about every industry faced sever economic distress. Companies laid off workers, downsized, merged, cut costs any way that they could. One exception was education. I never once saw a college or university, cut tuition, lay off employees or freeze pay. They just kept upping the ante. Why? Because the normal laws of supply and demand didn't apply to them. Kids just increased the amount that they were borrowing to meet the increased costs. There no longer is a "loan industry." The feds took over student loans in 2010. http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/Feds-take-over-student-loan-program-from-banks-3193888.php It's not surprising then that some of the biggest donors to Obama's reelection campaign were colleges. U of Mich., U of Chicago, NYU, Columbia, Stanford, Harvard and Cal all gave over $350,000. Cal donated $1,350,000. They've loaded graduates down with oppressive debt. Having impoverished these kids it's time for the government handouts. Loan forgiveness could never have been possible of course if banks were still the lenders. I wondered why the administration took over the lending. Now it's obvious. And while were on the subject of college, just what do kids expect to do in life majoring in black studies, sociology, and urban studies? Kids in engineering, computer science, business, architecture, etc. are at least learning employable skills.
Sid We're impatient for her to go mainly because she does already know it all and we want her to share it with others for a while! :wink: I'm kinda curious about how kids are getting saddled with all this college debt? I'm going through the process right now and am very surprised at how it works. In our case, the student is only on the hook for a max of 35%. Her mother and I are responsible for 65%. The only way it goes differently is if my credit sucks. Then they would loan her more. We were planning to pay for her first 3 years and then let her take the rest. Still doable but its a little more complicated with this system...
:lol: :lol: Very funny, Scott. Sorry. Can't help you with the student loan information. That's far back in my rear view mirror when it was much different.
Re Student Loans. I've got a story for you. It's anecdotal but 100% true. If you'll remember, I used to coach college baseball and could take classes for free. There was never any rush, until my ex-wife declared we had to move ASAP to Alabama and we could resume my career once her father passed. That was a lie. Once I figured out it was a lie, I began the process of becoming a teacher. I had to take out SOME student loans, but I never borrowed more than I needed for a semester. I figured this would keep the overall debt down. I thought I'd be able to get over on the system by teaching/coaching in an area considered impoverished for a period of 5 years and have all my student loan debt forgiven (that was the program at the time). My divorce turned ugly fast and I was left only needing to complete my student teaching for one semester before I'd be granted my degree and license. The first shoe to fall was the new Dept Head they brought in. She immediately changed the rules of the game and literally added a year's worth of course work to what I had to take..just arbitrarily. There was no review or condemnation of our coursework. In fact, the little teacher's college I was attending is/was considered exemplary and has for decades. The students protested, including myself. She said she'd hand us our degrees, but she would not submit our names for accreditation to be a teacher in the state of Alabama. A degree in secondary ed without a credential is about as useful as used toilet paper. Then second shoe was my ex wife began to use my son as a weapon, and she ramped up the crazy antics (calling in to report 'her' car stolen) so the police were out looking for me...eventually, they'd catch up with me and I had to explain the divorce and that she is supposed to sign the car over to me, she got the Mercedes. This always led to law enforcement doing nothing about her because they had all known her since they were in HS. ANYWAY, I found out roughly one year after I had to stop going to school and had filed the proper paperwork for deferment, I was somehow now in default. Not only that, but the amount was WAY more than I had taken out. It looks like at some point in time, they sent a piece of paper that needed to be signed and returned to my ex-wife's house instead of my current address. She either sat on it, or threw it away, thus ending my deferment. Additionally, I had found out that she had taken out several thousand (maybe even 10k) worth of student loans out in MY NAME. These were all filed electronically and since the filer had my mother's maiden name, SSN, DOB and place of birth, they could file the loan. I never saw a dime of any of that money as she stole all of it the day I said we were divorcing. She drained every account that we had and started new ones in her name. The real kicker here is now my debt should be about 20k after getting ripped off by Desiree. Since I went into default, my debt automatically doubled. I now owed 40k and all I had ever done was marry the wrong woman. I tried explaining to everyone what happened and no one would listen. They didn't care. Eventually, they began seizing my tax returns and have done so every year since 2007. I don't qualify for any of these new 'capped' programs that kids today have. When they'd call to collect student loan payments from me, at the time, they were demanding up to 75% of my income. Not disposable... all of it. I've consulted several lawyers and the only thing I am going to be able to do is sue the Federal Government and the other lenders....and hope for a settlement. To top this all off, she never refinanced the house after the divorce, even though it was in the divorce. I had a foreclosure that is absolutely killing me on my credit. Best of all, she took about 25k in loans out against equity in the home and never made one single payment to either lender for 2 years. The even crueler twist was that she was one of those people that they foreclosed on (it was in the news about 3 years ago). She made an additional 10 to 15k on that and guess what, I never saw a dime of it but I did owe the taxes on it... The entire system is just one big ball of red tape where no one listens, or gives a ****. Anyone who sits down, listens to my story and then looks at the mountain of evidence that I have to support it would agree something needs to be done. None of those people are involved in the Student Loan industry. The final kick in the nuts, after my ex offed herself, (which she did so because her family finally realized they could no longer protect her against the abuse my boy was enduring. They joined sides with me in the custody battle.) I received a court document saying the judge had dismissed my case. I went down to the courthouse and politely asked why. They said her passing now gives you sole custody so it is a moot point. You don't go through what I've been through and only walk away with a handshake agreement. I made them re-open my case and I wanted an official ruling from a judge and the state of Alabama granting sole custody to me, Corey Stephen O'Connor. I don't care how insensitive it may seem, I want it. While I was spending one of my many days at the courthouse during this time, I established a cordial relationship with the ladies working there. One of them said to me one day "Oh, Mr. O'Connor, would you like the original copy of your divorce papers?!" It turns out that we're finally going digital here in Morgan County and they are mailing back or shredding the old hard copies once they've entered them into the system. I said 'sure' for shits and giggles. When I finished reading it, I was enraged. The divorce document we had been using for 10 years was a forgery that was notarized. I have no idea how she got that done. The reason I had to stop going to school was to start making my massive child support payments that she was allegedly awarded. It turns out, the court had actually ruled that I only owed maybe 50 bucks until I finished my education and at that time, it would bump up to just 250. In case anyone misses why that's important... that means I wasted 10 years of my life, destroyed my credit while she made 10s of thousands of dollars off of me and am now forever in debt (I'll never get out unless they forgive it with the interest that's been rolling on it) and it was all ********.. a forgery..
I don't know how you can change the future unless you have a solid knowledge of past events. The almost complete lack of historical knowledge in this generation is stunning. Gipper touches on another shortcoming: communication skills. This group really struggles with verbal communication. I interview a lot of millenials and it is sobering. From seated poosture, eye contact, handshake style, verbal skills to just an ability to hold a spoken conversation; I leave most interview sessions saying a silent prayer that they can make it to the end of the day without hurting themselves.
Corey, That story is a "WOW"... sorry to hear it. We knew some of that stuff from what you'd related before, but yikes on the rest. Makes me realize how lucky I was that my divorce was so simple. So since they have now qualified you as "in default" is there no chance to get it forgiven if you finish up and then teach at a "title 1" school for 3 years? That carrot is still in effect in Texas I just don't know about how the default would stir the pot...
George, Oddly enough, a great many millennials seem to take pride in those things that you and I cringe about in terms of communication skills. Scott, Last I spoke with them, I think it was 6 months of payments that I can't afford to get out of default. At that point in time, I could resume school and even possibly get financial aid to finish the whole thing... then work for one of those schools. The problem is the payment. I'm not sure how these kids are getting these capped rates, but when I call, they're demanding everything. I've found that when you're dealing with the federal government, the only person who is accountable is you. They don't even deny that they sent the initial letter to the wrong address. It is what it is though and it's just a matter of moving forward to make sure my kids have a good life.
From George's description of millenials: "Many still live at home and our otherwise dependent on us old folks. They cannot spell or do much more than the most basic math problems. Most can count on one hand the number of times they wore a necktie and 99% of those who did had to have their dad's tie it for them. Their hot button issues are the legalization of drugs and narcotics, forgiveness of their student loans and a guarantee of $15.00 per hour to ask if you want fries with your Happy Meal. Most don't know anything about government at any level or the capital city of the state they live in. Their knowledge of current events is basically nill. A successful day is if they do not have to wake up before noon" Damn.... sounds like every stripper I know ( except for the necktie part ).... and I know a few... :lol: 8)
:idea: :arrow: They just dumbed down the SAT test so far that many California school districts are refusing to administer it. Among the "improvements" that were made was to eliminate the written part of the test...