The Not-so-Greatest Generation
Hmm... Concern from one person that parents give their children everything they ask for. Concern from someone else that the younger generation lacks a work ethic.
I would have to guess that they are related. I will admit that I got many of the things I wanted when I was a kid. And if it was just that, I could have wound up as a spoiled little brat. But I did not get everything. More importantly I was taught the importance of a good work ethic (of course I learned to procrastinate all on my own, but that is for another discussion).
I know we always talk about how great it is to have an ever growing economy, but isn't there something missing by not seeing the other side? The great stories of frugality that got people through the Great Depression, and had a major impact on how they lived going forward. The stories of times of war when people saved and recycled their tin and string, and whatnot (long before the word recycle entered the general vocabulary). Perhaps more importantly during WWII, they rationed gasoline.
The younger generation does not have stories like this, and we are probably entering a time where it is the great grandparents that lived through these experiences.
So, now we are once again at war. Do we ration anything because of it? No we are essentially told to go on using more and more (of course some of it goes back to help those we are fighting against, but we aren't going to let that stop the people back home from keeping on keeping on)
But what else about the easy life has changed? Growing up I was instilled with the idea that gambling was bad. Sure there was a state lottery but the greater focus was on Shirley Jackson's short story (one lottery I would never want to be a part of). Most gambling was all in one state, and mainly in one city -- Las Vegas (AKA Sin City). Nowadays it seems that every state wants every boat (even those that will be in dry dock in perpetuity) to be home of gambling. Lotteries have grown to cover most states and the mega lottos get mega hyped. The dream is to get something for nothing, the reality is that they are not much better off than is Tessie Hutchinson.
For a while Day Trading became the gambling fixation of many in the country. The belief that free shipping for sending kitty litter across the country would turn a profit, along with the crooks of Enron et. al. sent many day traders sailing towards Bankrupt Sea, but the belief in something for nothing still lives on.
Real Estate picked up where many left off in the world of stocks. You didn't need money to buy a house. traditional loans were for the fuddy duddies that stuck with traditions. A nontraditional loan means someone can buy a house that they will never realistically be able to afford. The rates are much lower than what those fools with traditional mortgages pay, and much better than the rates on the maxed out credit cards.
Of course non-traditional loans have a way of catching up with all these people, and the pain is only more acute when they realize that there house is worth less than what they owe for it.
Of course, hard times are ahead. What happens when more people learn the true impact of their nontraditional mortgage? What happens when we go from clips on the nightly news with people standing next to their SUVs complaining about the price of gas, to clips on the news with people unable to fill up on gas? One summer of gas rationing similar to what we experienced in an earlier generation might provide the shock some people need.
Will hard times prove to be a positive? Will we come out better for it in the long run?
I sure hope so.
-- Andy
I would have to guess that they are related. I will admit that I got many of the things I wanted when I was a kid. And if it was just that, I could have wound up as a spoiled little brat. But I did not get everything. More importantly I was taught the importance of a good work ethic (of course I learned to procrastinate all on my own, but that is for another discussion).
I know we always talk about how great it is to have an ever growing economy, but isn't there something missing by not seeing the other side? The great stories of frugality that got people through the Great Depression, and had a major impact on how they lived going forward. The stories of times of war when people saved and recycled their tin and string, and whatnot (long before the word recycle entered the general vocabulary). Perhaps more importantly during WWII, they rationed gasoline.
The younger generation does not have stories like this, and we are probably entering a time where it is the great grandparents that lived through these experiences.
So, now we are once again at war. Do we ration anything because of it? No we are essentially told to go on using more and more (of course some of it goes back to help those we are fighting against, but we aren't going to let that stop the people back home from keeping on keeping on)
But what else about the easy life has changed? Growing up I was instilled with the idea that gambling was bad. Sure there was a state lottery but the greater focus was on Shirley Jackson's short story (one lottery I would never want to be a part of). Most gambling was all in one state, and mainly in one city -- Las Vegas (AKA Sin City). Nowadays it seems that every state wants every boat (even those that will be in dry dock in perpetuity) to be home of gambling. Lotteries have grown to cover most states and the mega lottos get mega hyped. The dream is to get something for nothing, the reality is that they are not much better off than is Tessie Hutchinson.
For a while Day Trading became the gambling fixation of many in the country. The belief that free shipping for sending kitty litter across the country would turn a profit, along with the crooks of Enron et. al. sent many day traders sailing towards Bankrupt Sea, but the belief in something for nothing still lives on.
Real Estate picked up where many left off in the world of stocks. You didn't need money to buy a house. traditional loans were for the fuddy duddies that stuck with traditions. A nontraditional loan means someone can buy a house that they will never realistically be able to afford. The rates are much lower than what those fools with traditional mortgages pay, and much better than the rates on the maxed out credit cards.
Of course non-traditional loans have a way of catching up with all these people, and the pain is only more acute when they realize that there house is worth less than what they owe for it.
Of course, hard times are ahead. What happens when more people learn the true impact of their nontraditional mortgage? What happens when we go from clips on the nightly news with people standing next to their SUVs complaining about the price of gas, to clips on the news with people unable to fill up on gas? One summer of gas rationing similar to what we experienced in an earlier generation might provide the shock some people need.
Will hard times prove to be a positive? Will we come out better for it in the long run?
I sure hope so.
-- Andy
posted by Andy Weaver at 08:04
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