Whatever, I don’t care, f*** all y’all, I guess?
I tend to side with the kids on this. They were lied to. My daughter did the useless degree/student loans thing. The old boomers in my family walked her right into it too. All education is GOOD education!!! In their day - it was.
I screamed bloody murder of course, but the kid wanted to believe the pretty lies from her adoring grandparents and the college recruiters. So… sorry kids, but that is squarely on you. I will guaran-dam-tee you that for every young person getting crushed by student loans today - someone, somewhere in their family and friends - was telling them it was a bad idea. You probably knew it was when you signed on the dotted line for the loans, kid. Had you done a basic career study - but, that’s all hindsight, now, isn’t it?
Discussions with my mom convince me that the old Boomers (and I realize I am painting with a very wide brush, there are lots of exceptions) - the old boomers don’t want to face the reality of the world they created and left for their kids and grandkids. But the kids don’t want to see it either - much less live in it.
But… whadda I know?
I'll tell you what pisses me off about Boomers more than anything.
ReplyDeleteSo many of them got big fat pensions that they never paid a dime into and retired in their 50s and have had 20 - 30 years of retirement living it up having a good time.
Well THEY were the ones when in charge who ENDED pensions for the younger generations so their companies could make more money.
They now lecture younger people to save their money in 401k so they can have a great retirement like them !!
BUT that's impossible and most of them didn't save much for retirement rather they had pensions.
I'm in my mid 50s and have saved what I could in my 401k but unlike them I can't even THINK of retirement until I'm 67 and the truth is as inflation gets ever worse, many Gen Xers will never be able to retire.
Uggghhhh. I hear ya Jimmy. That’s my mom you just described. And I’ve come to think that many of us (definitely me for sure) - take this shit way too seriously. So badly, that it takes us off-mission. What matters is the path before us. My path and surroundings are what they are. They aren’t as food as those of my parents, but they’re better than those of my grand grandparents, and infinitely better than those of my great grandparents. It’s counter-intuitive that when we start comparing ourselves to each other, we start losing perspective. All that matters to me is focusing on the mission which is dealing with my path, my circumstances and my actions. That is a no-brainer for most but for me it was an epiphany of sorts. I have manually reset my psyche to think that way and it takes real effort. I wonder if doing that gets easier as time goes on? I really struggle with it sometimes…
DeleteI know and I'm not bitter and say "It is what it is" all of the time.
DeleteIt's upsetting because I see my nephews in their late 20s/early 30s and my kids who are in their early 20s and all of them went to school and got good jobs yet all of them are struggling mainly because of the high prices of everything.
The economy and the country is what it is and you do the best you can but you don't have to like it.
I enjoy your blog , I check it most days. I was told late Boomers were in class by themselves called "Generation Jones" . I was born in 63 and am definitely Gen X more than a Boomer . I grew up in the 70's and 80's (I'm still not grown up though). As I get older I find I have more in common with my Grandparents than my parents . I garden my own , and can , live rurally , save every dime I can . My parents were born in 35 and were lucky to raise kids when things were pretty good . I am mostly retired now , work some , got a little military pension , waiting till my wife retires in a few years with her pension . We still don't know where we are going to land , but we keep on keepin on . Still have my VA loan to use , but mortgage rates suck and cool places to retire are hard to find , thinking someplace warm and cheap , would have been easy a few years ago , even thought about going expat , but the world has gone a bit haywire . We'll survive , we've always spent our 35 years in marriage flying by the seat of our pants , why stop now ?
ReplyDeleteHA! Yeah, the wife and I are still flying by the seat of our pants. We're going on 49 years now. We're retired, almost comfortably. Couldn't have kids, so we missed out on TONS of maturing experiences that parents with grindstones and noses went through.
DeleteWe had plenty of nephews, nieces and friends kids we helped guide, BUT that is NOT the same.
I was uncommonly blessed with an uncommonly fine, big assed, wasp waisted, Viking, Slavic, wife.
She was SO hot and alluring, to me, I WOULD have mail ordered her!!! Lucky for me, she was a friends sister, so we knew each other before circumstances (simultaneous separations) allowed us to get together.
Been through some SHIT together and we actually, still like each other!
I'm thinkin' she's a keeper.
We have a couple of later boomers at work, all over 65. One says he is on the freedom 6 plan, as in he gets to reture when he is 6 feet under. Another did so many trips, new car every other year etc he has no savings. Another is retiring soon, he saved his whole life didn't do the wild travel and drove a sensible car. He can afford to retire and made his own savings. Its really a huge variation between boomers.
ReplyDeleteExile1981
Jimmy, you might want to calm down a little. I'm same as our host, born right on the divided line between Boomers and GenX. I doubt the majority of Boomers voted to destroy pensions, that was a mere handful of Wall Street types who fucked over multiple generations and continue to do so. Most boomers wanted their kids to be as successful as they were and most kids probably ignored the advice given. I know my kids wouldn't listen to a damn thing until circumstances forced one of them into trade school, from which he's never looked back. The second is still struggling and still won't listen even when the example is right there staring him in the face.
ReplyDeleteSo yeah, my retirement plans are still dependent on several factors, but I'm willing to work an extra year or two if the Trump plan to bring manufacturing back to the US is successful. It's the change I voted for and my 401K will just have to suffer until things turn around.
Yeah - i dont get that Don. I wasn’t ready to listen to my parents either and had to go back to school. Slow learner like your kids … but when I got hit by that clue-bat … I learned a thing or two. My kid - like yours…isn’t getting the message either. To hear her and her tribe tell it, the world is deeply flawed because there’s no real demand for gay artistes. I guess AI is now carving a swath through the commercial arts now too. Why put up with eccentric and erratic artists when any computer can crank out better material without the drama and histrionics?
DeleteX-er here. Wonderful place you have here , I visit a few times per day. Thank you .
ReplyDeletePlease allow the boomers and the X-ers enjoy their own opinions without your concern. Those folks can be as wrong about you as they want to be. There is no convincing them other wise. Don't waste your time, breath or life force. Just agree and amplify what ever they claim. when they go all crooked and blame you be sure to thank them for noticing. Our group was worried you wouldn't notice. Ill be sure to let them know... Eventually they will stop coming to you.
Everyone, I'm not angry or bitter at the Boomers who got a nice pension and retired at 55. Hell, both my parents and both of my in laws did so and I say "good for them". They all worked decades and earned that pension.
ReplyDeleteWhat ticks me off is that some of them (like my Mother in Law) don't get that the World has changed drastically and it isn't the same as when they were younger. This leads to things like Filthy said encouraging a grand child to take out student loans because "with a college degree you can pay those off easy" not realizing that that is no longer true. Or constantly bitching at their kids to "save every penny so you can have a great retirement like me" when their retirement is all pension and little to none of their savings.
That’s what riles me right up too, Jimmy. Or - it used to. As Anon above says - there’s a point where no one’s listening anymore.
DeleteI’m going to say this again. I was born in 1964 and I was Generation X for most of my life. My parents were Boomers. Their parents were the WW2 generation who fought the war. Originally the Boomers were named after the Baby Boom created by the WW2 Vets coming home and making lots of babies. They grew up in the 50s and into the 60s. Experienced “Happy Days” and got drafted into the Vietnam War here in America. They enjoyed the Mustang and muscle cars.
ReplyDeleteI grew up and went to high school during a period of no military draft. Experienced gas shortages, gas rationing and cars that were sad shadows of the earlier muscle cars. I enjoyed stagflation, high interest rates and high unemployment. Government jobs were nearly impossible to obtain because the Vietnam Vets were already holding them. I would repeatedly laid off as industry right sized and off shored their manufacturing.
I did enjoy things like MTV when they first went on air and killed the radio star. They actually played Rock n Roll videos most of the time and Martha Quinn was smokin hot. We had Atari and Pong to make up for the other crap we inherited from the Boomers. Video arcades with fun games like Pac-Man, Asteroids and Battlezone rather than pinball.
The final insult was in later years when they started insisting that we were Boomers. The final insult. Fuck em all.
For whatever it's worth, at 78 now, my partner and I worked (decent middle administration corporate jobs) for over 25 years without a vacation or buying non-essentials and now in 'retirement' are debt free operating a small cattle operation in New Mexico. Sometimes you give up 'stuff' early with an eye on the future. We have a good life, enough to eat and pay our overall small expenses ... who da thunk it?
ReplyDeleteBTW, this site is a daily stop - thanks for the work you put into it.
Worker
The old Boomers in the US want Social security to pay them "Their money" They get offended if it is called an "entitlement" . The fact its a ponzi scheme and "their money" was taken and given to someone else doesn't seem to phase them. The fact that the "surplus" from their very large generation was "invested" in government bonds that their kids now have to pay taxes to pay back - with interest, ON TOP OF paying a larger share of their income to Social Security, for a system that will be insolvent and paying- at best- 80% of its "benefits" after 2036 is also lost on them. They vow to hold a gun to politicians head to make them pay out - refusing to see the politician just holds a gun to someone else's head to make that happen. I am gen X. I turn 66 in 2036. How many payments am I going to get of "my money" and if I love my children, would I want them?
ReplyDeleteThe world is what it is when you make your decisions. Sometimes you are smart and work hard and things go well for you, Sometimes some random thing screws up your plans/life. The secret is that Its Nobody's Fault. You do your best and take your chances. Play stock market? Better figure on losing now and then (at least). Grab that GS-13 goobermint job? Better act like the gravey train wont be rolling forever.
ReplyDeleteAll I have to say to the whiners is: Suck it up, Cupcake.
Or just Suck It- I really dont care about the problems of whiners/losers.