31 votes

FML | Why millennials are facing the scariest financial future of any generation since the Great Depression

13 comments

  1. [9]
    CALICO
    Link
    So I read the whole thing, and it was a great read, but this bit from the beginning stuck with me throughout; that's a thesis statement if I've ever seen one. It rings true for more than just the...

    This is why the touchstone experience of millennials, the thing that truly defines us, is not helicopter parenting or unpaid internships or Pokémon Go. It is uncertainty.

    So I read the whole thing, and it was a great read, but this bit from the beginning stuck with me throughout; that's a thesis statement if I've ever seen one. It rings true for more than just the focus of this article.

    The economy has been destroyed for us, maybe beyond all repair. Automation is only going to make things worse, if we don't adapt for it starting yesterday. The Earth has a fever, and it's going to take us all out if the wealthy don't smarten the fuck up soon. There's something like a 40-year lag before we feel the effects of what we release. We can't rule out catastrophic tipping points that could be achieved based on the CO2 already in the atmosphere. It might already be too late for civilization to stay intact without massive, globally coordinated geoengineering. We're going to all work until we die, and old age won't be the end of all of us. For how many will it be stress? How many will die in the resource wars? On top of all that, the Nazi's are back.

    Nobody should be at all surprised Millennials have such a high-rate of mental illness. Nobody should wonder for a second why it's fashionable to casually joke about wanting to die.

    We can't be certain about anything.

    Allow me to enjoy my avocado toast.

    28 votes
    1. [5]
      EscReality
      Link Parent
      Explain all of this to my mother please. Seriously though, the disconnect between us and the baby boomers is unreal sometimes. I can't believe the amount of people that respond to articles like...

      Explain all of this to my mother please.

      Seriously though, the disconnect between us and the baby boomers is unreal sometimes. I can't believe the amount of people that respond to articles like this with 'back in my day' statements. Never mind the fact that you can easily show them statistics that prove that 'back in their day' they had it much easier. I have tried to engage in conversation and rational discussion about this with a few older peers and family members, almost all of the deny them situation entirely (or minimize it).

      10 votes
      1. [2]
        Gaywallet
        Link Parent
        It sounds to me the problem here is that any time you are trying to communicate with them, you're putting them on the defensive. If you open up with statistics, you're attacking their viewpoint,...

        Never mind the fact that you can easily show them statistics that prove that 'back in their day' they had it much easier.

        It sounds to me the problem here is that any time you are trying to communicate with them, you're putting them on the defensive.

        If you open up with statistics, you're attacking their viewpoint, which is a fundamental part of their identity (even more so because they very well remember what they did have to struggle for in their life).

        My suggestion is that instead you frame this through questioning. For example, you might start by asking them about what they had to do in order to pay for college - what challenges did they have to face? What did they have to give up?

        After they've spent some time explaining their situation, this can give you a plan of action. Perhaps they worked a minimum wage job to pay for a much cheaper education. Ask them if they think it's any different today - do they think a young adult with a single minimum wage job can pay for college? Maybe they picked up an even better job and started out with a management position. Ask them about what that application process looked like. How long did they wait to hear back? How many applicants were there? What kind of qualifications did they need?

        The key here is that you don't want to tell them how it is today. You want to question why they think it's the same today as it was then - let them come to their own conclusions by leading them to question their own beliefs.

        10 votes
        1. [2]
          Comment deleted by author
          Link Parent
          1. Gaywallet
            Link Parent
            To be fair, laws are often dictated by the old and imposed on the young. Especially since the young vote less often. Even more so in our generation with the boomers making up a very large slice of...

            I'm frankly waiting for all the things that we try to solve the problems caused by the boomers to have their own unintended consequences decades down the line, that the next few generations will be asking the same questions of us, why didn't we see the unintended effects? Why couldn't we see through the propaganda and realize the laws weren't as good for the people as they were sold to be?

            To be fair, laws are often dictated by the old and imposed on the young. Especially since the young vote less often. Even more so in our generation with the boomers making up a very large slice of the population as compared to newer generations.

            I also think it's a bit unfair to put this all on the boomers - it's not like they were the majority of the voting block when all of this started to happen. But they did get sold propaganda as they got older and were more likely to vote, so they continued to support it.

            The real question is whether the younger generations will start to reverse some of this as they age and start to vote more. It seems like we will, but who can really tell?

            1 vote
      2. CALICO
        Link Parent
        I've about given up trying to get it across in my daily life. I wouldn't have such a problem with Boomers being collectively terrible people if they would just give up the reigns of power already....

        I've about given up trying to get it across in my daily life. I wouldn't have such a problem with Boomers being collectively terrible people if they would just give up the reigns of power already. Gen-X never even got a turn in the front seat, we're starting to see Millennials get elected to Congress, and the Boomers still are a majority presence in the US Government, at least. If the people in the drivers seat would be around to see the consequences of their inaction I might be a little more confident about the future.

        5 votes
      3. KaosHeaven
        Link Parent
        the reason they have it easier is simple too, they are the ones that are causing all of our current issues.

        the reason they have it easier is simple too, they are the ones that are causing all of our current issues.

        2 votes
    2. [3]
      Pilgrim
      Link Parent
      Well heck, at least there isn't a draft this time around.

      Well heck, at least there isn't a draft this time around.

      1 vote
      1. [2]
        Diet_Coke
        Link Parent
        I wish there were, then we wouldn't still be fighting these pointless wars two decades, a million lives, and $7,000,000,000,000 later. Bring back the draft!

        I wish there were, then we wouldn't still be fighting these pointless wars two decades, a million lives, and $7,000,000,000,000 later. Bring back the draft!

        2 votes
  2. [2]
    kfwyre
    (edited )
    Link
    A while back I applied for a job. It didn't post a salary, which should have been my first red flag, but I figured that just meant it would be open to negotiation, which excited me. I was...

    A while back I applied for a job. It didn't post a salary, which should have been my first red flag, but I figured that just meant it would be open to negotiation, which excited me. I was qualified, had good work experience and great references. This was not an entry-level position and they were looking for, at minimum, a bachelor's degree as well as experience. I had both and figured I'd be a good fit for it.

    Upon arrival I was ushered into a waiting room with other well-dressed, nervous-but-politely-smiling applicants like myself. We all sat around in tense silence, waiting for them to start calling us in. I do remember thinking it was odd that there were so many of us there all at the same time, since they could have staggered the scheduling for efficiency. Maybe there were several different interviewers?

    Nope. It was quite the surprise when they called all of us into a conference room together. Nobody was told this would be a group interview.

    Two people proceeded to give us a brief overview of the facility, the position, and what our duties would be. They also peppered us with questions throughout, clearly vetting each of us in front of each other. I had done group interviews before, but those I had known about in advance, and they were structured to minimize individual one-upmanship and instead focus on interpersonal dynamics. I was already put off at this point, as I thought it was incredibly bad form to spring a Hunger Games-style group interview on everyone unannounced, but what really took the cake was when the subject of compensation came up: the pay was $12 an hour. Someone asked if that was negotiable based on experience or credentials.

    No, they said--it wasn't negotiable. However, they did offer raises based on degrees. Exact quote: "If you have a Master's degree, the pay goes up to $12.25 per hour." That was bad enough, but then they somehow they got through the following sentence with a straight face: "And if you have a Ph.D, it goes up to $12.50 per hour!" He even said it with the exclamation point too, as if that were some amazing perk they were offering.

    Another candidate was transparently floored by this. "You mean my doctorate is only worth an extra 50 cents an hour?," he shot back, clearly not caring if that ruined his chances at getting the job. I was also floored, but for a different reason: I was not expecting anyone else present to even have their master's, much less their doctorate. The interviewer, completely failing to read the mood of the room after this exchange, asked us to go around and state our highest level of schooling. Of the eight people in the room, two had doctorates and three had master's degrees. I could not believe that I was sitting in a room with so many people with such high credentials, all going for the same $12 an hour job.

    I don't remember much of the rest of the process, because at that point I pretty much checked out, knowing that I wouldn't take the job even if they offered it. I was lucky enough to land a much better position soon after that, but for a while the experience rattled me, as it made me worry about what I was up against. Was I only worth $12 an hour? I'd walked in there thinking I was potentially overqualified, only to find out that my bachelor's degree put me in the bottom half of the applicant pool. I was also one of the younger applicants, meaning I couldn't even make up the difference with my work experience!

    I have grown up a lot since that job hunt, and one of the things that has calcified for me in that time is the idea that there is something deeply, pervasively wrong with an economy that will pay so little to any of its workers. And $12 an hour is actually a relatively high wage in some states! I didn't take that job--but somebody did. Somebody stepped into that position, did everything they asked, and got pennies for it--and the odds are that person probably had a graduate degree.

    12 votes
    1. dont_panic
      Link Parent
      I heard that the context of developed countries had changed and now it’s not just the blue collar workers that need protection (aka unions or strict labor laws) but now the exploited masses are...

      I heard that the context of developed countries had changed and now it’s not just the blue collar workers that need protection (aka unions or strict labor laws) but now the exploited masses are white collar workers, and we need some sort of protection. As we have seen, going alone and trying to negotiate doesn’t work. We need a new lever

      4 votes
  3. EscReality
    (edited )
    Link
    I genuinely bursted out laughing at that (my dog thinks I am nuts). What a great statement, I can relate. I will be 30 after this upcoming winter, so I guess that makes me a Millennial in the...

    and my savings are dwindling faster than the ice caps the baby boomers melted.

    I genuinely bursted out laughing at that (my dog thinks I am nuts). What a great statement, I can relate.

    I will be 30 after this upcoming winter, so I guess that makes me a Millennial in the middle of the generation. I would say a large majority of the points he makes apply directly to me. It's almost depressing how many correlations I am able to make to what he is claiming.

    5 votes
  4. KaosHeaven
    Link
    I'm fairly new to this adult game but i can say i pay more on bills than anything else and i haven't had any money saved since i started working, its quite hard to even find high paying jobs or...

    I'm fairly new to this adult game but i can say i pay more on bills than anything else and i haven't had any money saved since i started working, its quite hard to even find high paying jobs or even get your foot in the door these days.

    2 votes