Actually I completely disagree. The older generation were the ones who revolted against the system, who wanted to lead lives of freedom, peacefully, and wanted to escape the rat race (which eventually sucked them back in, of course). We today, we do fuck all. We moan about the economy and our shit jobs yet we still carry on in the rat race, like sheep. And thats our problem, we want to escape but at the moment, as a generation, we are incapable. Modern technology has us hooked, we couldn't care less about what matters, its all about the newest gaming console or phone. Whenever we 'try' to revolt all we do is cause violent riots and end up getting ourselves in even more crap, thats NOT what we should be doing! They had a lot less distractions back then than we have now. If we all just turned off our electronics and joined together, we might get somewhere. If our generation want to make a difference then why don't we?? Like I said, instead of dwelling on the past, lets live now in the moment, lets live how we should, otherwise we will be stuck in this loop hole and it will only get worse for the future generations and our grandchildren will be hating us for what we did.
What revolts? Lol, sure this site may be filled with open minded boomers but let's all take into consideration that many of them voted for Reagan. The hippie movement didn't lead to anything but the polar opposite of escaping the system. Boomers took it as the fad and once it died only the true hippie pioneers stuck with it. The rest went back to their lives. Technology can be looked at as an attribute to the flaws in society but i don't even own a cellphone nor care for most of my beloved toys. Our generation tried, and you know what happened? Everyone laughed at Occupy Wall Street for being over entitled little brats. If they wanted to jump start a revolution then they could have, but instead they played the peace card and took the insults; now they are nothing but a socialist side group. The students in Montreal have been protesting for over 100 days and yet nobody has even glanced nor put them on top priority. The younger generations see their attempts rise and fall, like we don't amount to anything. Overgeneralizing and being sympathetic about how we can affect the future won't do us any good. "We just need to live in the present!" Sure, but that won't change how society works will it, The world is a messed up place. Being in a right state of mind is one thing but it won't really change the outcome when you don't have the power to do so.
But at least they joined in. They had the numbers back then, right now we don't, despite the fact such a huge amount of us are struggling! What they did then has had a massive effect on how a lot of people think today. My dad was one of them, living 'the dream' but got sucked back into 'reality', when I speak to him about it he felt he had no choice at the time. The reason we get laughed at for trying is because we act like stupid brats. Not everyone, but a lot of people in this generation are too spoilt and get everything handed to them on a platter. Why would they give us what we want when they think we have it already? I think, really, if we want any progress then everyone needs to come together, not just the younger generations but the older too. Then maybe we'd be heard.
when shit hits the fan, i sure as hell hope that all of those old retired people are still willing to teach us how to get by with hand tools and some land...
Yes, I see a lot of people talking while doing absolutely nothing. Attending protests, charity campaigns, and 'clean up the world' days is extremely counterproductive stuff by skipping over the cause and rubbing out the effect like the real problem doesn't exist. Since the 60s the establishment made 'revolting against the system' extremely unpopular through its portrayal of counter-culture in the media and advertising. So it's much more difficult for the young to do anything. What can they do? There's nothing they can do. The fear of becoming a burnt-out hippie is very real and embedded in the consciousness of virtually everyone, even if the stereotype doesn't (of course) exist in life. Any blame attributed to the youth of today is ridiculous.
And this is somehow the fault of the older workers? The same older workers that were fired when their job was out sourced to China, or when the company they worked for went belly up during the recession, the same older worker that watched their 401k vanish so some ass hat bankers could get richer. This is somehow the older workers fault? How is this their fault? I guess these older workers are just supposed to go live in a box down by the river and let the new kids have the jobs... If the new kids are even worth hiring in the first place.
You seem to get past the fact that there is a growing gap between generations and job opportunities. It leads to a huge hole, where kids who lack the job experience won't get the opportunity to gain the job experience. I'm not pointing it all on boomers, I'm just showing how the market is supposed to work and how it's not holding up in today's time, inevitably leading to more unemployment. Tell me again how social security isin't a ponzi scheme?
Tell me again how someone 66 or older is supposed to live on $850 a month and they have had to send a rather large chunk out of every paycheck they ever received to pay into this social security system... Look... The world is fucked. This whole shithouse is going to go up in flames, and very soon. Just as many older people are going to get burned as younger people will. Pointing fingers at each other isn't helping. Wouldn't it be better to point out the asshats that are causing this shit even if it's only to drag them down with the rest of us?
Exactly. And the asshats to point out are the bankers, the politicians, and the super wealthy. The people conspiring against humanity at large, scheming to increase the number they see when they check their bank account, with no regard for the well being of others. So many things are screwed up in the modern world. We have dug ourselves quite the hole, and almost no one seem concerned with getting back out and preserving the paradise we inhabit. The number one concern is profit; an endless effort to increase the amount of money earned, causing great suffering of both people and animals, leading to the extinction of throngs of animal species and misery for more and more humans. I am hopeful, because a lot more people seem clued in to this than only a couple of years ago, but I do not know if we can change our ways before our ways destroy us.
We could start something beautiful here. People need to believe and become dedicated. I look at people my age and all I see is laziness, complete blindness to the real problem. I'm 19 years old, I have a 13 month old daughter and I've been forced to live out of the hands of the government. Why? Because when I was pregnant at 17 I was made to leave the family home, made to get a taste of reality, and here I am living off pennies in some tiny ass flat that has no heating. I cant work, I've been trying for months, no one wants me despite the fact I'm qualified, even if someone took me I'd have to spend every penny of my earnings on childcare, £50 a day. This is everyday reality to me, sure I could have it worse but I don't want my daughter growing up this way either! This is a problem, whether its obvious to most or not, it needs to change. We live in an over populated world where on one side people are starving and dying in their thousands daily because they can't even get a drink of clean fucking water and on the otherside people are forced to live in this disgusting rat race, eating out of the hands of the rich whilst some lucky kid is jumping in his private heated swimming pool. It's an extremely unfair system and it doesn't just affect one country, it affects the whole world. The demand for more transport so people can travel further to work is creating more poverty elsewhere when another country has to suffer in order to please the minority. Were born into an accepted slavery system, only way out is if we all just come together. I couldnt give a crap if I became 'a burnt out hippie', I'd give anything to change this world and its unfair and disgusting system.
The world needs more people like you right now MamaPeace. You are wise beyond your years. Good luck to you. Keep fighting the fight, your determination will prevail.
Your heart is in the right place, though someone should point out that if you could get work, you too would be blind to what you see as the 'real problem'. Your predicament and dissatisfaction creates your determination to change something, and the fact the system is working for the rich generates the desire to keep it as it is. It can't be any other way - you didn't see the rich joining socialist parties in the 19th century and the workers supporting the bourgeoisie. This isn't a criticism, it's human behavior. This is why change is so difficult.
As a single woman I have worked very hard my entire life. I never made a lot of money. If I were married my income might have contributed to some man's higher income and made a more comfortable living situation. As a single person it was barely enough to just get by. I don't own a home and could see my "retired" income get totally gobbled up by increased rent and other costs. I saved as much as I possibly could and have to hope that it will be enough to last my lifetime but I do have fear and doubts about this. I don't have oodles of money. I could easily end up homeless. Making wide sweeping generalizations about boomers is hurtful to those of us who did work hard but didn't earn much. I did not get a college degree until I was 47. This was only because I worked at a university that allowed me to take two classes a semester as a benefit of working there. (this was on my own time, not work time) It took me seven years to get the degree. By the time I got that degree, I did not switch jobs because I would have to have started off in a different direction at the bottom rung of some other ladder. I intended to work until I was 70 but ended up taking an early retirement package that was offered. It was that or face the possibility of having my job eliminated in six months to a year with nothing. The financial losses of the university, created by those higher up, were going to be solved by just plain eliminating 25-30 positions of those in my pay level. We had already been in a pay freeze situation for over five years. We all were already doing our jobs along with those who had left and never been replaced for even more years. I may be old but I am certainly not living on easy street.
