I am thankful that I didn't grow up in my parents time, mine was a breeze compared to theirs.
Life is definitely easier now.
That I agree with. What my parents had to deal with and what my parents had to go thru is real hardship - and they weren't unique
But that is really the argument that these kids have today with Boomer and Gen-X. The idea that every generation has it easier than the one before them - a strong argument can be made that isn't true for them.
A strong argument can be made that it's different. Easier for previous generations...not so much.
For us, keeping a vehicle running was a major part of life's challenges. For millennials, all that involves is basically not being stupid. Different times....different challenges. The mental mistake a lot of young folks make is gaging their success on that of their parents. The notion that economies and living conditions should always improve is a departure from reality.
The assumption that today's difficulties are the new and permanent normal is also a mistake. The late seventies and the eighties pretty much sucked for the idea of upward mobility for the average guy. But that didn't last. This current trend to blame a past generation for today's problems might have some legitimacy, but we all inherited some problem or other. Today's is lifestyle, but yesterday's were more life-threatening. Given a choice, I'd take today's package deal (minus the socialist and statist trends) over the seventies.
If millennials think it's all so bad, they should put their money where their mouth is and fix it. I'd even go along with the ride - so long as it adheres to the proven methods of forward progress.....ie personal liberty and managed capitalism.
you look at some big hitting issues for them - health care costs which affects all of us of course, housing and education
its not they don't have options, they just don't have as many options. Yea, they can join the military or go to a trade school, they can live in rural America in a 3/2 ranch if they are earning a professionals salary - but do they have the same options to get head at the same age we did?
I don't think its as clear cut as it may seem to some.
What I recall about health care as a boomer, is that unless we were bleeding or broken, we had none. No wonder it was cheaper.
As for options.....you have to be joking. There are more options now than ever before, and it's easier to find them - all due to technology. And education.....we are no longer bound to the old obsolete system. But yeah....it requires some personal initiative and willingness to step out of the comfort zone.
You think it's easier to make a living wage and provide for a family of 4 as a sole wage earner now than it was in decades past?
I'll respectfully disagree.
It's just as easy if you want to live the way a lot of Boomers and their parents did. If you were born about mid-way through the Baby Boom, you came of age around 1975. You wanted a three bedroom, two bath house in the suburbs on a half-acre lot. If you got out of college and got married and went to work in a good job, you might have that and have it paid for by 1995 or so. You wanted maybe a truck for yourself and a car for your wife. The truck in say, 1985 was a standard cab that maybe had four wheel drive if you needed it. The car was an actual car, not an SUV that cost more than your truck. But if it was an SUV it was just a Bronco or Blazer, again with two doors. These vehicles and this house didn't cost what subsequent generations' expectations are now in the same things. They want a five bedroom, four bath house on a minimum of five acres, outside the city making commuting more difficult and expensive. The replacement wants for vehicles are a new truck for $50,000 (vs. about $15000 for what I described) and a new SUV for a minimum of the same vs. a $10,000 Impala. Hell you could get a brand new Impala for $16000 back about 2010 unless I'm mistaken. Nobody wanted one though. I'm not getting on the younger generation for wanting these things. Why not? But it's the Boomer's fault that they don't just get them handed to them? Give me a break.
