I'd have to say we're the lazy generation. The generations of armchair protests and trying to change policy on Facebook and Reddit. I think we're going to see an end, or at least a massive downwards trend in real, honest-to-goodness protests. My economics teacher even commented on it, saying that when they started messing with student loans in his day, students were out there begin heard. Now there's not even a peep.
Protests are antiquated. They don't work any more, because they're strictly peaceful and government knows they're peaceful.
When the protest was originally use it was not strictly peaceful in intent - there was a very real undercurrent that the protest meant those same people were pretty much ready to resort to violence and uprising.
I'd have to say we're the lazy generation. The generations of armchair protests and trying to change policy on Facebook and Reddit. I think we're going to see an end, or at least a massive downwards trend in real, honest-to-goodness protests. My economics teacher even commented on it, saying that when they started messing with student loans in his day, students were out there begin heard. Now there's not even a peep.
Protests are antiquated. They don't work any more, because they're strictly peaceful and government knows they're peaceful.
When the protest was originally use it was not strictly peaceful in intent - there was a very real undercurrent that the protest meant those same people were pretty much ready to resort to violence and uprising.
And they didn't even work then.
True, Bill Ayers actually had to blow some things up.
It seems protests mostly only work when the government representatives in place to contain them decide to fire on the crowd. And then only if the movement the protest backs is already popular. Honestly fuck protests. I'm sure they make people participating in them feel like they're making a difference but then I hear PCP makes you think you're Superman until you hit the pavement.
Possibly also only when in fact they shoot a completely innocent passerby on her way to class.
Indeed. Until government officials gun someone down who the public doesn't think deserved to be gunned down on national television the protesters are the badguys in the public eye.
I'd have to say we're the lazy generation. The generations of armchair protests and trying to change policy on Facebook and Reddit. I think we're going to see an end, or at least a massive downwards trend in real, honest-to-goodness protests. My economics teacher even commented on it, saying that when they started messing with student loans in his day, students were out there begin heard. Now there's not even a peep.
Protesting is very possibly the most useless gesture ever. I mean, it was effective back when they'd shoot at you, or spray you with firehoses, but these days, they just protect you while you do it; it doesn't do anything, and it's actually harmful to whatever cause you're supporting when a bunch of dreadlocked hippies show up and hold a drum circle. It makes you look like a fucking idiot.
When the protest was originally use it was not strictly peaceful in intent - there was a very real undercurrent that the protest meant those same people were pretty much ready to resort to violence and uprising.
I think that's completely wrong.
Protests were meaningful in the past because often they conveyed clearly how the people involved were disenfranchised. Lunch counter sit-ins and bus boycotts demonstrated exactly how important blacks were while at the same time clearly having no resepcted voice other than civil disobedience. Same with union strikes. The protest often brought to the attention of an outsider the imbalance of contribution vs. power that necessitated the behavior.
Protests today are generally put on by spoiled brats with too much time on their hands who aren't interested in working towards real change but rather just giving meaning to their easy and cushioned lives by being obnoxious for a good cause. Strikes in the news are those being carried out by an infantile egotistical writer's guild of middle/upper-class professionals that, thankfully, got their asses handed to them in the recent guild board elections for being such idiots in the negotiations and the strike. The underlying situations that create these scenes are so much less one-sided, and so much less respectable to an outsider.
According to friends who teach high school now, one of the most striking things to them is how every student has a cell phone. Most people I know in the 25 year old range have cell phones now but it was pretty inconceivable to have a cell in high school. Only the richest/spoiled kids seemed to have them (at least in my high school). Now its pretty much a social requirement.
Wait, when did our generation stop protesting things? Just because it didn't get constant news coverage doesn't mean itneverhappened. It just means that they were ineffectual. Which is true of all protests with the exception of Civil Rights, Gandhi, and anti-apartheid. So even if our generation were abandoning the idiocy that is standing around with a placard and pretending it does something, which they sadly aren't, it wouldn't represent jack shit since standing around with a placard doesn't do anything. On the contrary, if more of our generation were to wise up to the uselessness of protests and start focusing on getting better Representatives elected we might actually see progress on the issues we care about.
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YamiNoSenshiA point called ZIn the complex planeRegistered Userregular
edited October 2008
Well, consider me corrected on the protest issue. So let me divert this to my other point.
It seems that a lot of people in the internet generation join some sort of "Students against x-y-z" Facebook group, and consider that a form of protest or speaking out. Or there's some sort of "Vote up if you x-y-z" on Reddit. Both of these, at least to me, probably have the same effect on the people who matter: zilch.
Protesting doesn't work anymore because people suck at it; we're still locked into the Vietnam war protests as the only thing a protest can look like.
Anyway, as someone born in 1983, I have always felt torn between GenX and whatever we decide came after. Those of us who have fond childhood memories of the 80s and yet managed to not be hideously jaded and apathetic really need our own category.
Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
it was the smallest on the list but
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
According to friends who teach high school now, one of the most striking things to them is how every student has a cell phone. Most people I know in the 25 year old range have cell phones now but it was pretty inconceivable to have a cell in high school. Only the richest/spoiled kids seemed to have them (at least in my high school). Now its pretty much a social requirement.
I remember everyone in high school getting cell phones in when I was about 15-16. But there definitely were 14 year olds that had them when I was still in high school but I did not myself when I was 14.
Protesting doesn't work anymore because people suck at it; we're still locked into the Vietnam war protests as the only thing a protest can look like.
Anyway, as someone born in 1983, I have always felt torn between GenX and whatever we decide came after. Those of us who have fond childhood memories of the 80s and yet managed to not be hideously jaded and apathetic really need our own category.
Wiki "Generation Cold Y", we were talking about it earlier and it seems a good fit for us 81-83'ers.
Armored Gorilla on
"I'm a mad god. The Mad God, actually. It's a family title. Gets passed down from me to myself every few thousand years."
I've noticed that too. None of my older friends care too much about drugs or are totally against them, while my younger Y friends are into experimenting and smoking it up. A few of them have warned me off of salvia (not that I was even remotely in danger of trying that) because they saw demons when they tried it.
Drugs are a hell of a drug, man.
Might be cause your older friends have more responsibilities? I don't think any generation has been particularly more or less open to soft drugs, I think usage peaked in the late 70s and has gone slightly down and back again since.
Don't quote me on that though that's just the impression I get. But environment obviously plays a huge role, you will perceive openness to drugs pretty dramatically differently depending on whether you go to a sports obsessed state school or a school like Northwestern. A late night pizza joint is going to have chefs and delivery boys toking it up out back at 2 AM but people that work at jobs they care about (or that drug test employees) tend to go to work blazed less.
Protesting doesn't work anymore because people suck at it; we're still locked into the Vietnam war protests as the only thing a protest can look like.
Anyway, as someone born in 1983, I have always felt torn between GenX and whatever we decide came after. Those of us who have fond childhood memories of the 80s and yet managed to not be hideously jaded and apathetic really need our own category.
I thought Gen X ended in 79/80. Or maybe I'm just thinking too much in terms of grungy artists who tended to be born in the late 60's.
I've noticed that too. None of my older friends care too much about drugs or are totally against them, while my younger Y friends are into experimenting and smoking it up. A few of them have warned me off of salvia (not that I was even remotely in danger of trying that) because they saw demons when they tried it.
Drugs are a hell of a drug, man.
Might be cause your older friends have more responsibilities?
This was true of them back when we were in high school 10 years ago, but yeah, that may be a part of it.
Armored Gorilla on
"I'm a mad god. The Mad God, actually. It's a family title. Gets passed down from me to myself every few thousand years."
Protesting doesn't work anymore because people suck at it; we're still locked into the Vietnam war protests as the only thing a protest can look like.
Anyway, as someone born in 1983, I have always felt torn between GenX and whatever we decide came after. Those of us who have fond childhood memories of the 80s and yet managed to not be hideously jaded and apathetic really need our own category.
I thought Gen X ended in 79/80. Or maybe I'm just thinking too much in terms of grungy artists who tended to be born in the late 60's.
I always thought it ended in 82 or 83. The baby boom started in 43 or 44 or something (after the first vets returned home), and generations are 20 years. Or maybe I'm putting too much thought into this, since they're cultural labels anyway.
Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
it was the smallest on the list but
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
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HedgethornAssociate Professor of Historical Hobby HorsesIn the Lions' DenRegistered Userregular
one of the most striking things to them is how every student has several cell phones.
Fixed.
I work with the high school group at my church. A lot of the kids there are upper-middle class, but I'm amazed how they basically get a new cell phone every 6 months.
One of the girls actually has two cell phones. And she will text on both of them at the same time.
one of the most striking things to them is how every student has several cell phones.
Fixed.
I work with the high school group at my church. A lot of the kids there are upper-middle class, but I'm amazed how they basically get a new cell phone every 6 months.
One of the girls actually has two cell phones. And she will text on both of them at the same time.
My whole family goes through them at that rate. The batteries die out really fast, so you can only fit one short call on a full charge after a while, with the RAZR being among the egregious offenders (my old Nokia/Verizon combo was also horrible, if not so widely owned, which is why I went with a Sony Ericson/ATT, which apparently has one of the longest lasting batteries around)
I've noticed that too. None of my older friends care too much about drugs or are totally against them, while my younger Y friends are into experimenting and smoking it up. A few of them have warned me off of salvia (not that I was even remotely in danger of trying that) because they saw demons when they tried it.
Drugs are a hell of a drug, man.
Well no, what I'm saying is that drug experimentation is down across the board among Y-ers - underage alcohol and pot use in particular have been declining for well over a decade, despite what the moral-panic merchants would have us believe. It appears to only be something more common with people currently over 25 or so, so only the very early Yers and late Xers.
@Kev*: Gen Debt are Gen Y, I'm pretty sure. The middle of this century is going to be unpleasant compared to the last few decades. This is why we're generally so pissed at the Boomers. I don't think the X-ers are nearly as bad with credit as Y-ers are either, but that could be just a moral-panic message I've picked up from accidentally watching Today Tonight once too often.
* because conversations with you are always so fun!
It seems to be pretty standard fare. These damn kids spend all their money and don't save it. These damn kids are selfish because of the previous (I don't get how they come to this conclusion, either they can somehow pay it off or they go bankrupt so who cares).
Man, its not like we of all people are going to find ourselves in trouble for buying too many toys, anyway. Its not like we'll be able to afford to buy large things like houses in the next thirty years, saving the possibility of bird flu wiping out a couple of billion people. May as well get that copy of Fallout 3.
Why do you think everyone's refurbishing their houses, can't extend their mortgage, the recessions on and they're still all going "well, we've got to spend the money some how".
Also, only people who have just come out of University or are in University now will not be able to afford houses. Or if you had savings in a bank that went bust, or if you worked for one of the banks that went bust (unless you were one of the CEO's, then you were given a couple of mil for your troubles so you're fine.)
Your post isn't super-clear, but ok: I graduated last year, and I work for the government (so my wages are shit, but that's what having principles gets you in my line of work). About all I have going for me is my current lack of dependants, but that's only good for another 5-8 years or so, because I may be Miss Modern but that doesn't necessitate birthing at 40. Meanwhile, house prices are predicted to rise a lot fucking faster than real wages, which have been dropping for a couple of decades. I may eventually be the proud owner of a shiny mortgage on a small flat, but it won't be a good deal and I doubt it will make me any happier than just giving up and treating my accommodation like a utility.
Your post isn't super-clear, but ok: I graduated last year, and I work for the government (so my wages are shit, but that's what having principles gets you in my line of work). About all I have going for me is my current lack of dependants, but that's only good for another 5-8 years or so, because I may be Miss Modern but that doesn't necessitate birthing at 40. Meanwhile, house prices are predicted to rise a lot fucking faster than real wages, which have been dropping for a couple of decades. I may eventually be the proud owner of a shiny mortgage on a small flat, but it won't be a good deal and I doubt it will make me any happier than just giving up and treating my accommodation like a utility.
Yeah I'm agreeing with you. I'm just out of Uni, working as a Research Assistant at the moment, on a low wage (Principles Activate!), and I know I won't be able to afford dip for the next three years at least. Thing is, I know people who graduated about 2 years ago who are still doing o.k and will be able to afford an o.k place if they time it right with their savings and the housing price fall.
The prices will go up like a rocket in a year or two, but for now it's like a brick in water, they're falling by more than the average annual pay (in Britain) at the moment.
I was just taking a shot at the banking system and how the boss's get huge payouts for being cunts.
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And they didn't even work then.
Indeed. Until government officials gun someone down who the public doesn't think deserved to be gunned down on national television the protesters are the badguys in the public eye.
Thank god for the death of the protest.
Protests were meaningful in the past because often they conveyed clearly how the people involved were disenfranchised. Lunch counter sit-ins and bus boycotts demonstrated exactly how important blacks were while at the same time clearly having no resepcted voice other than civil disobedience. Same with union strikes. The protest often brought to the attention of an outsider the imbalance of contribution vs. power that necessitated the behavior.
Protests today are generally put on by spoiled brats with too much time on their hands who aren't interested in working towards real change but rather just giving meaning to their easy and cushioned lives by being obnoxious for a good cause. Strikes in the news are those being carried out by an infantile egotistical writer's guild of middle/upper-class professionals that, thankfully, got their asses handed to them in the recent guild board elections for being such idiots in the negotiations and the strike. The underlying situations that create these scenes are so much less one-sided, and so much less respectable to an outsider.
According to friends who teach high school now, one of the most striking things to them is how every student has a cell phone. Most people I know in the 25 year old range have cell phones now but it was pretty inconceivable to have a cell in high school. Only the richest/spoiled kids seemed to have them (at least in my high school). Now its pretty much a social requirement.
It seems that a lot of people in the internet generation join some sort of "Students against x-y-z" Facebook group, and consider that a form of protest or speaking out. Or there's some sort of "Vote up if you x-y-z" on Reddit. Both of these, at least to me, probably have the same effect on the people who matter: zilch.
Anyway, as someone born in 1983, I have always felt torn between GenX and whatever we decide came after. Those of us who have fond childhood memories of the 80s and yet managed to not be hideously jaded and apathetic really need our own category.
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
I remember everyone in high school getting cell phones in when I was about 15-16. But there definitely were 14 year olds that had them when I was still in high school but I did not myself when I was 14.
Wiki "Generation Cold Y", we were talking about it earlier and it seems a good fit for us 81-83'ers.
Might be cause your older friends have more responsibilities? I don't think any generation has been particularly more or less open to soft drugs, I think usage peaked in the late 70s and has gone slightly down and back again since.
Don't quote me on that though that's just the impression I get. But environment obviously plays a huge role, you will perceive openness to drugs pretty dramatically differently depending on whether you go to a sports obsessed state school or a school like Northwestern. A late night pizza joint is going to have chefs and delivery boys toking it up out back at 2 AM but people that work at jobs they care about (or that drug test employees) tend to go to work blazed less.
I thought Gen X ended in 79/80. Or maybe I'm just thinking too much in terms of grungy artists who tended to be born in the late 60's.
This was true of them back when we were in high school 10 years ago, but yeah, that may be a part of it.
I always thought it ended in 82 or 83. The baby boom started in 43 or 44 or something (after the first vets returned home), and generations are 20 years. Or maybe I'm putting too much thought into this, since they're cultural labels anyway.
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
Fixed.
I work with the high school group at my church. A lot of the kids there are upper-middle class, but I'm amazed how they basically get a new cell phone every 6 months.
One of the girls actually has two cell phones. And she will text on both of them at the same time.
My whole family goes through them at that rate. The batteries die out really fast, so you can only fit one short call on a full charge after a while, with the RAZR being among the egregious offenders (my old Nokia/Verizon combo was also horrible, if not so widely owned, which is why I went with a Sony Ericson/ATT, which apparently has one of the longest lasting batteries around)
Well no, what I'm saying is that drug experimentation is down across the board among Y-ers - underage alcohol and pot use in particular have been declining for well over a decade, despite what the moral-panic merchants would have us believe. It appears to only be something more common with people currently over 25 or so, so only the very early Yers and late Xers.
Built our country
Correctly named because I don't know what you're talking about.
Spent all the money the GG Built.
Still spending money even though it's not there.
Spoiled fucking brats.
Gen Debt
They get to pay for all the stuff the Boomers, and GenX and Y decided they just had to have.
I thought Gen Y started with those born in 1980.
or part of the Gamer Generation
* because conversations with you are always so fun!
Also, only people who have just come out of University or are in University now will not be able to afford houses. Or if you had savings in a bank that went bust, or if you worked for one of the banks that went bust (unless you were one of the CEO's, then you were given a couple of mil for your troubles so you're fine.)
Yeah I'm agreeing with you. I'm just out of Uni, working as a Research Assistant at the moment, on a low wage (Principles Activate!), and I know I won't be able to afford dip for the next three years at least. Thing is, I know people who graduated about 2 years ago who are still doing o.k and will be able to afford an o.k place if they time it right with their savings and the housing price fall.
The prices will go up like a rocket in a year or two, but for now it's like a brick in water, they're falling by more than the average annual pay (in Britain) at the moment.
I was just taking a shot at the banking system and how the boss's get huge payouts for being cunts.