Face it, our grandparents were right, we're a lazy buncha pricks

[HEyHEY]

I've been reading alot of online opinion about healthcare, the economy and such these days and i've come to the conclusion that we're really are a spoiled bunch of little shits. I see people whine and whine about healthcare and complain about how congress has to do it and all this, it's all just talk. In Canada they fought for it, death threats, minimal violence, the whole deal.

As for the economy; I got accosted by some DB on here the other day for leaving the country to sweat the crisis out working abroad and I was given some bullshit guilt trip. In the 30s people were resourceful and creative and made their way through the depression that way. Now, if someone does that they're an enemy of the people. We're all jumping on each other like bitter sharks.

There's a war going on still and, by comparisson to past conflicts, many people couldn't care less.

I read time after time people blaming the news for EVERYTHING.. never mind the responsibility they bear as news consumers dictating what papers report on as they try to gain readers...oh it's THEIR fault.

Sad state of affairs, a few years ago I thought it was just a phase. Guess not.

[Kali]

1. ...

:thumbsup:

[Orrex]

2. Sounds like your grandparents were assholes

Different times, different situations. The job market and economy are worse today than they've ever been during the lifetime of anyone who actually has to deal directly with current circumstances. And in many ways its worse than the first Great Depression because corporations have spent 80 years insulating themselves against the exact types of measures that were taken against them to fight the economic collapse the first time around.

I'd like to see what the venerable, mythical "can-do" attitudes of The Greatest Generation™ would do in our place.

Probably sit on their asses just like us, because most other responses have been rendered impossible. Sure, those Good Old Days™ saw a few activist outliers, just like today, but the huge majority simply struggled to get by and weather the storm, just like today.

[HEyHEY]

4. Granted, but is that the reason the average person gets bitter and does nothing?

[Orrex]

5. The average person has seen that courage and hard work tend to accomplish nothing

And after a decade or two of railing ineffectually against the power structure, even the most passionate fighter for justice tends to feel more than a bit dispirited.

[HEyHEY]

7. I think that between WW2 and such it was more desperate then

That's what I figure anyway. Just something I've noticed.

[Orrex]

11. In terms of civil rights, for instance, you are unquestionably correct

In other respects, it's not quite so clear.

[HEyHEY]

13. Yeah, I realized after posting this could be taken a number of ways

That said, I wasn't around in the 30s, so what the hell do I know? They coulda been the biggest bunch of bitchers ever, how are we gonna prove em wrong?

[Orrex]

16. I have an anecdotal answer to that

My neighborhood has a fair number of residents in the 65-and-up range, with quite a few in the upper 80s, and I've gotten to know a bunch of them in the time that I've lived here. With one notable exception, all of them have shaken their heads and said something to the effect of "I've never seen anything this bad" in reference to the economy et al.

The "one notable exception" instead simply howls about the end times being upon us, but he's apparently been doing that for 40 years or so.

I guess my point is that, of all the people I know who are in a position to comment on how bad the situation used to be, most say "it was better than this."

[HEyHEY]

17. That's interesting

At least some admit it. I've been in arguments with older people about how people my age (20-35) have it harder as we work hard for half as much and there's fewer government programs in place. In Canada, the tuition per capita for a student now comapred to 1970 is much higher. I've seen it go up in the eight years since I attended as well. At the same time, I've seen food, housing and such go up... minimum wage has been the same since college.

[Orrex]

18. I applied for an entry-level manufacturing job a few months ago

Forty-hour weeks on rotating shifts, with meager benefits kicking in after 120 days. The starting wage was $9.00 per hour, a small fraction of my salary at a previous job.

When I mentioned the job opportunity to a friend who's in his upper 60s, he nearly threw up. It seems that he'd worked at that very same company doing that exact same job in about 1972, and he made $9.50 per hour. In 1970's dollars, no less!

So if I took the job I'd be making about, say, 25% of what he made 40 years ago for doing the same thing.


It was all academic, though; I was told that the company was going with a candidate whose qualifications match the needs of the job. The entry level job @ de facto minimum wage.

[HEyHEY]

19. What does my head in is my industry....

I see so many entry level jobs at community newspapers in small towns that pay about a buck an hour more than minimum wage and want a college degree. talk about a bunch of moochers! So, not only do people have to pay their loans, they also are, in a sense, subsidizing these papers to have quality people. It's a joke.

Somedays I actually thank my lucky stars I got through that stage of the career and on to better things. I know many who never did. If I were still in a town of 5,000 people making 1,700 a month I'd fucking kill myself.

[Orrex]

20. Good point about college degrees

I've reviewed a great many job openings in the past couple of years, and the huge majority of those in my field require a college degree and five years experience, with a starting salary of $24K. And that's at the high end.

It's catastrophic and offensive.

[Electric Monk]

12. I'll drink to that

Noticed the DOW today?

http://money.cnn.com/data/markets/dow/

Down 200 points already, and the day has just begun.

Yep, that's all my fault, for having such a bad attitude, you betcha.

[Donnachaidh]

8. gets bitter and does nothing?

Wow -- this is a new angel of the *Fuck y'all, I've got mine* attitude. Yeah, those folks out of work for years are just lazy pricks, right? Those folks who lost their life savings because of banksters playing games are just dumbshits that should have known better, right? The families waiting on line for foodbanks to open brought this shit on themselves becuase they didn't go to the warehouse stores and stock up on cases of beans, right?

Talk about clueless and mean-spirited. :eyes:

[HEyHEY]

10. I certainly don't have mine

I've just noticed that there doesn't seem to be the kind of mobilization people have done in the past. Everyone seems to be looking at Obama to fix things....and it seems to end on his shoulders.

[Deep13]

3. Got any more room up there? nt

[RKP5637]

6. They voted FDR in... We voted Obama in... We need some of FDR's policies

back in play IMO.

[Donnachaidh]

9. we were promised FDR style governance, and got Hoover instead.

But hey -- it's OUR fault, isn't it? :sarcasm:

[RKP5637]

14. Yeah, isn't that the truth. KO said it so well last night, now it's your turn Mr. President,

something like that...

We're just nibbling around the edges rather than fixing the core problems. Frankly, IMO, we're still doing Reagen's voodoo economics. Too big to fail, too rich to fail, too corporate to fail, on and on ...

[Raineyb]

15. It's easier to threaten violence when a record doesn't bar you from a decent job.

Today? Not so much.