When Young People's High Hopes Create Despair

Reader Comments
Back to blog

A baby boomer.... I think good intentions pave the road to hell. We now have less freedom than ever before.... all the baby boomers know what I'm talking about. The younger people have no clue as to what I'm referring to.
EVERYTHING has become 'overdone' from putting a baby on his stomach - wait...back...wait stomach....wait back - to raising children - god forbid discipline, or spank. Abuse....!!!!! How about suing everyone for everything..... I remember climbing a tree, falling from it - and getting a 'pop' for 'being stupid'...... never once was it "someone else's fault" nor would my parents even THINK to sue....
Not to mention 'not being good in school' and being more afraid of dealing with the aftermath when I got home- more than by the teacher..... I don't think these - now today 'abusive' traits were anything that hurt me...not emotionally, not physcially. It created the BIG word "responsibility" - being responsible for yourself....it is really 'void' today as it's always 'someone else's' fault...whatever it is. We have become a coddled, non-disciplined, bunch of whiners. Taking music lessions for 24 years taught me discipline - real discipline - along with strict parents who expected a certain behavior.....never one day did I think I wasn't loved.....
All I know is that everything is overkill.....a good idea - run until it's ugly....like playing with a computer until you break it. We need to backwards to go forwards - back to parents raising their children without fear....and a little fear for a child - is not a bad thing.....have a tad fear that they might "get in trouuuuble"..... is not a bad thing....having a derrent is not a bad thing. How is this "My child doesn't do anything wrong" working for everyone?????

Frant of NJ 5:12PM December 20, 2010

Every age has its concerns. In the 60's I took a "National Defense Loan" from the government to go to school with the promise that, if I taught in a low socio-economic setting for 9 years the loan would be forgiven. I sent in the paperwork for meeting those requirements for many years and then, guess what--THEY CHANGED THE LAW!!! The government then took my tax refund for two years until the 'balance' of the loan was paid, which was actually more than I borrowed! (It was supposed to be an interest free loan!)
My state of Georgia then told me that if I worked to secure National Board Certification they would increase my salary by 10 percent. I did that and raised my standard of living with a better car, paid off debt, traveled a little and then, guess what--THEY CHANGED THE LAW!!!! Not only did they take away 10 percent of my salary they added a total of 19 furlough days and shortened my contract by another 10 days!!!! We wonder why so many people are going under???? Do tell!!! I'm a single head of household with a handicapped child--tell me what to do and I'll go looking for it!!! This is impossible!!!! The land of the free has become the land of the deprived, and unjustly so!!!!

Jan Hyatt of GA 8:23AM November 19, 2010

I think the most difficult about growing up as a slightly older Gen X'er is that our parents didn't talk to us about money. They never discussed the bills, how much they made, how or if they invested or what they were doing to plan for retirement. They just basically told us to study hard and get good grades, go to college and find a career you enjoy. That's all good until the credit card companies started sending free credit to us in college and so many of us thought we could "buy now, pay later." We didn't expect our lifestyle to change once we were on our own because we had no idea what our lifestyle cost. We were told to "dress for success" which can be expensive if you don't have much coming in. And, we were told that hard work pays off, but no one ever discussed the social networking aspect to getting a promotion. Back then we were too young to be paid much. And, now, we're being told our age is our "limiting factor" because a new graduate can get the job done for less money even if we have more experience. I am just wondering, if I was too inexperienced and young back then and I'm too outdated and expensive to hire now, when exactly was I supposed to be in the "prime" of my career? I wish someone would have told me.
If you are one of the lucky few who did make it to the upper level of corporate America, then do the rest of us a favor and don't screw anything else up, please. You have the future of a lot of Americans resting upon your good decisions and we would like to think you made it to your position today because you actually know what you are doing. Things are already messed up for us. Let's try to change the trend so our children will have something to look forward to. We're already offering them a world with education budget cuts, school closings and house foreclosures. We've let insurance companies take away the dignity once held by medical professionals. Attorneys spend their time suing anyone and everyone for anything. Social Security is predicted to fall apart. Investments have tanked.
No wonder there are the hockey Dads and Beauty Pagent Moms out there. We are all hurting to realize our own childhood dreams and we couldn't figure out how to do it the first time around, so our children are the only hope we have. Sadly, they are growing up faster than ever. I don't think that surprises any of us who are realizing the sad fact that we didn't grow up when we should have, expecting to just have things handed to us, and now we are paying the price.

Lynn Miller of GA 9:30AM October 26, 2010

This downward trend has being going on for a while. Being a GenX, I have lived through most of it, and trace the change to about 1983-85. That is when everything changed and the 60's boomer idealism was abandoned for corporate greed.
You noticed it in the way everything suddenly became "marketed" and prices for even the most average food or good became hyperinflated. A box of cereal used to cost about $1.99 (I should know, I lived on it back then and it was the cheapest) to now being over the $5.00 mark! My first new car cost $3,999 (a Ford Escort) with a monthly payment of $149. Where could you EVER get a car for less than $10K now? Nothing is affordable compared to wages.
Jobs have been outsourced, yet MORE and MORE education is REQUIRED. That education now costs $30-$100K for the degree and more units are needed than in the 80's (ever notice that?). I'm not even going into the cost of housing here. My parents built their house for $15K in 1976. Wow, you can't even buy a new car for that nowadays.
GenX is the FIRST American generation to NOT be better off than our parents, even though we ARE better educated. Many of us have never been able to find good paying careers, and now we are in our 30s and 40s. I feel even sorrier for GenY, who have been raised on the "plenty" their boomer parents gave them and are too young to remember when things were still cheap.

MissDisplaced of PA 7:59PM September 06, 2010

Back in A Baby-Boomers perspective's day our federal and state governments supported our colleges to a much greater degree than they do today. Even during the Republican Eisenhower, Nixon and Ford administrations, our tax rates were much more fair and made it possible for our government to pay for a substantial portion of our college educations, which in turn kept tuition low and more affordable.
Back then it was actually possible for someone to work full-time and pay for college themselves. Back then there were not only jobs for people, but good-paying jobs, many of them union, for highschool graduates and even highschool dropouts that it made it possible for people to earn money to pay for college.
Baby-Boomers perspective's comment that nothing is free and someone had to pay for it is on target. But it is sad that Baby-Boomers perspective does not acknowledge how a large part of his education was paid for by taxpayers and that he didn't really earn all of the money required to pay for his education.
Getting ahead nowadays is a crapshoot. Hard work is always necessary, but it is no longer a guarantee of getting ahead. Even "working smart" is a gamble. Too often it only benefits employers and stockholders and not hardworking employees.
The "free programs" of the 60s and 70s, paid for by tax dollars, were much more successful than many people give them credit for. They made it possible for many of the most desperately poor to attend college, get good middle-class jobs, buy homes, send their children to college and to become taxpayers who put money back into our economy.
When we got rid of those "free programs," a comparatively few rich people got lower taxes, but the country lost a lot of potentially educated people, a lot future productivity, and a lot of future tax revenue.
I disagree that we had so many programs going that now it seems that the majority of anyone under 40 feels "entitled" to free stuff. Since Reagan came into office more than 30 years ago (people who are 40 today would have been 10 then) there are fewer and fewer people who actually have any memory of when their taxpayer supported grants that paid for all of a student's college education. They don't know that the U.S. ever offered much free stuff, let alone feel "entitled" to it.

John Cosmo of CO 12:40AM August 26, 2010

I love that everyone thinks our generation is spoiled, but it seems as if many people haven't even done the research. When my eparents bought their first home 25 years ago, the average home price was typically 4 times the average, middle class income. Currently, home prices are 7-8 times the average home price of the average, middle class income. I don't think we expect alot- just the same opportunities our parents had.

Ashley of CO 7:59PM June 20, 2010

The banksters on Wall Street bankrupted the economy through selfish, short-sighted and breathtakingly reckless gambling with everyone's money...so the poster above who blames Obama has been brain-washed by right-wing talking heads on Fox. The downward spiral of the economy started under Bush Jr. Now because of the excesses of the financial elites (the top 1% in terms of wealth), the other 99% of us are going to have to continue struggling for who knows how many more years to get out of this mess. The truth is Obama isn't going far enough to repair the damage done by the banksters... we need another FDR.

Wes of CA 4:21PM June 19, 2010

I have to take responsibility for part of the problem...after all I supported all the "free" programs that got started in the late 60's & 70's.
I had to work full time & pay for college for myself and it sounded
good to help others less fortunate. We got so many programs going that now it seems that the majority of anyone under 40 feels "entitled" to free stuff.
It is a shame how expensive it is to get educated. Talked to a friend that says his kid's cost is $50,000 a year at Rhodes!
The only way to really get ahead is to work smart AND work hard
and remember NOTHING IS FREE, SOMEONE HAD TO PAY FOR IT.

Libby Woolbright of AR 9:34AM May 24, 2010

our life will be much worse that our parents no matter how you mesure it we will have to pay back all the money Obama spent for buying votes and favors. Our parents are in debt trying to help us grown children when they die we will be left with a home we can't afford.college cost a fortune if you want to attend a good school and get a degree that means something.so yeah life will be much differant for us it will not be a quarter as comfortable as we had it as children. I don;t even think I ;ll be able to afford having children.

chuck of NY 4:59PM January 23, 2010

this generation of 20 somethings is certaily not display a pattern of better bahaviour than previous generations.while crime rates might have been dropping since 1980(and i'm not sure i agree with that stat)way more crimes are being committed by preteeners and 20 somethings than ever before!

Dennis Teel of TX 3:26AM April 27, 2009