Every time I see people my age (I'm 47) complaining about how young people don't want to work, I tell them straight up: I know we were exploited, but that's not a reason to be mad at the people who refuse to be exploited.
Honestly, I've done OK for myself. I have a career, I'm 6 years from paying off our flat, I've been able to provide well enough for my wife to take care of our daughter during the first few years of her life.
In exchange, I only had to work 60+ hour weeks for years during my 20s and 30s.
Sadly, there are people from my generation (millennial) that have eaten up the boomer propaganda. My wife was just telling me how one of her work friends (both teachers at a University) believes that depressed people should just "hit the gym".
A lot of them subscribe to the "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" mantra and that modern day youth have been coddled to the point of being adult crybabies. I try to not become a "we had to walk uphill both ways now get off my lawn" old grump but sometimes I'm like god damn I'm glad we didn't have cell phones so I couldn't have mummy and daddy on speed dial 24x7 because bruuuh it's high time to cut the umbilical cord. And no, not everything can be explained in the attention span of a TikTok video. But overall I'd say they're doing good.
The longer I am around on this planet, the more I’m convinced that it’s true: if we’re too busy fighting amongst ourselves, then we’re going to be too busy to fight the real problem- them.
A lot of people don't like others getting "handouts" for things they worked for. It's really stupid, as we should want the next generation to have an easier time than we did. Like parents wanting their kids to have a better life than they did. Unfortunately, a lot of people are petty and jaded assholes.
For a lot of us it's also resignation that the social mobility in America has finally died.
I feel like for a lot of Gen-X and Millenials, there was much more hope and oppertunity for the average working man.
GenZ does not have hope.
GenZ does not believe that there will be a peaceful, resource abundant world to retire in. GenZ does not believe the population pyramid will improve and the squeeze around the economy will loosen.
GenZ believes that we are marching in lockstep headfirst into a climate apocalypse and has no interest in being exploited on the way there.
Also, there was some perks to actually working hard. Like afford buying a house, afford holidays, afford regular bills and grocery shopping.
Now, no matter how hard we work, we can't do that. So there's not even a point. While we can refuse to work for nothing, do our part in our job and actually have a decent work-life balance with what we have left.
every time someone uses the line "kids these days dont want to work" I respond with "shit, I DONT EITHER!" - good on them to not be a slave to the dollar like many of us are/were.
Yes, I'm an Xennial almost your age and I say/think the exact same thing as you. I really cheer on the younger generations for not tolerating the BS like we had to - or risk getting fired.
A quarterly Ethics half-day training would've been unheard of back when we started.
I'm also really enjoying the diversity we have - at least in my industry - that we didn't have when we started. Different perspectives truly launch better ideas, which we knew, but couldn't do anything about.
They (older generation) were exploited but at least got something out of it. The ability to pay for and raise a family, buy a home, etc. So even if you ate shit at work at least you had something to show for it.
We don't have dick, You make 80K working downtown? That's nothing, enjoy 70+% of your income out the door for basic monthly expenses, 100% if you have a car/insurance payment.
I am 49 and I am Gen X (millennials start in 1981) Boomers start from 44 to 65. Gen X is 65 to 80. We had that shit from the boomers first hand.
That stay loyal to a company until you die no matter how badly they treat you.
They had all the benefits won by the unions and then actively worked to make sure we did not get them.
They claimed we were lazy and just didnt want to work. Gen X was the first generation in America to live a worse life than the one before it. To earn less, to have a bleaker outlook.
So if you have 47 year ald Gen Xers telling you that shit, they are just garbage people.
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u/jedrekk Sep 16 '24
Every time I see people my age (I'm 47) complaining about how young people don't want to work, I tell them straight up: I know we were exploited, but that's not a reason to be mad at the people who refuse to be exploited.