I'm finding it's very true and probably my fault. I have suggested my kids get part time employment and pointed out the value. One of them is actually starting a job now and I wonder how she will do. We have in fact babied them to no enth. Driven them everywhere. Paid for everything. Put them in every stinkin thing we could afford.
Contrast that to my parents who said if I wanted a pair of jeans other than the ones they provided I could bloody well go out and get a job. Ditto if I wanted to get anywhere. Get a job--buy a car or walk you lazy dufus was what I heard.
So hey I got a job at Safeway when I was 15 by lying about my age. When I was sixteen I bought my first car. My father's only concession was he put my vehicle on his insurance saving me some cash. I quite literally was forced to strike out on my own and learn the ropes. I certainly had no idea whatsover that I deserved "whatever".
I've no doubt this generation will learn the same lessons but I suspect they will be older when then do so.
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I honestly thought you were talking about the Baby boomers. They are the most entitled generation by far. They've lived through the best economic times any society has ever seen and yet as a rule have demanded governments continue to borrow from the future to make their way comfortable. Today the United States is shoreing up banks and other businesses with massive loans to protect them from failure. What it is protecting is primarily Baby Boomers investments and retirement plans. What the States are protecting it with is again borrowed money the next generation will have to pay.
Soon in both America and Canada the workers and business enterprises will have to carry massive government pension debt because the money the Baby Boomers paid into the Pensions was actually spent by our governments on them in other areas. The Baby Boomers exploited the environment to create their massive wealth and now require stewardship and sacrifice from the next generation to protect what hasn't been touched. Health care is the number one expense in Canada's budget and if Obama has his way the States will soon be in the same vote. At the same time we see the quality of care go down hill and will continue to see this as our Baby Boomers age. This is because of the rise in the seniors needing care and a declining work force supporting them through their taxes.
The taxes hidden and above board that the Baby Boomers paid while acquiring their wealth was a pitance compared to the burden we now have. Soon that burden will have to get much higher to pay for the rising debt and pension/medical obligations.
They worked for 40 years, paid into pension plans, rrsps, bought investments, did everything they were supposed to to plan for their future. Some of them are very pissed when it all vanishes into thin air because of the mistakes of an extremely greedy minority. damn their sense of entitlement.
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To expand on that topic. Parents giving thier kids everything they wanted and not having to work for it. They enter the workplace and fall flat on thier face because they don't know how to work for something. They are so used to having everything handed to them on a silver platter.
I'm not suggesting the above is true for everyone in that age group. When i worked for Safeway i encountered too much of that attitude.
Well, as the parent of children within that age demographic, I see it just a bit differently. Certainly some of what you say is true.
I still see people with a good work attitude. But I see these same people delusioned...... I think partly because it is not as easy for them to get on the road to success as it was for their parents. Not saying that people my age had it easy, far from it, we worked damned hard to achieve our successes......
Certainly not because today's workers are not well educated.
But when people my age started out, there was a job waiting behind every door you knocked on, sometimes 2.....
sometimes 3.......
or more....
and you could pretty well name your starting wage, there would almost be bidding wars over your services.....
So what do I see today? I see people still working hard, but I also see them not preparing for the future as much as we did. I think that can partly be due to the fact that people my age had either parents or grandparents who lived through the Great Depression and it was preached to us to always be prepared.
How do I notice this unpreparedness if you wish to call it that?
Well, for instance, people today eat out far more than we ever did or probably do. And people my age quite often are thinking, geez, do they realize how many hours they have to put in to pay for all those meals eaten out? Because you are paying for those meals with after tax dollars.
And I see them living for today a lot more......not that I would say that is a bad thing, in many ways, it is good because you only go around once. So I see a lot more people today vacationing, afford it or not, that kind of thing.....
Now I think in regards to the article in Maclean's, what is going to happen in today's present economy, is people with an entitlement attitude are going to be weeded out in a big hurry through downsizing of the companies that they are presently employed by.
And unless they can dispose of that attitude, they will be the ones most impacted. I believe those who perhaps spent with an attitude of living for now in the most part will be ok.......as long as they are not mortgaged to the hilt. I don't see a problem with living for now as long as you can work to support that philosophy.
Youth these days are set up to fail. I read a great piece about a speech Bill Gates gave and it was about exactly that.
In our society no kids get cut from the team, everyone gets on the honor roll, nobody gets offended or hurt and everything is lollipops and rainbows.
The result of this treatment is youth that are not prepared for REAL life ups and downs and of course they feel entitled to anything they want because mommy and daddy just could not say NO.
There may be some truth to the article, but I think the same thing has been said about the younger generation for time immemorial.
Boomers said it about gen x, gen x about gen y, and so on.
Same thing with stuff like:
music - the decade you are in all ways sucks compared to the music of 10 or 15 years ago
Saturday Night Live - the current cast isn't funny, especially compared to the heyday of 5-8 years ago
As time passes people tend to try and forget the crap and only remember the good; and as a result the past always seems so much better than today.
In general, you're completely right. It's tied to the "Grass is greener" mentality as well, imo.
That said, the music argument is legit. The eighties killed music. It sorta came back for a few years in the nineties, but then quickly went bad again and hasn't shown any signs of recovering.
There is not a single band in mainstream* music that can hold a candle to what came out of the sixties.
*yes, there are indie bands that are awesome, but they are not in the same market for comparison.
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I'm of the 20-29 age bracket, but I don't consider myself a part of the entitled generation... infact, I'd even branch out and consider myself more part of the apathetic one.
I'm not sure I nessasarly agree with it either
How many of you are in marketing? How many of you are the ones that are promoting this so-called idea of "if you want it, you can have it" ?
Are you contributing to the problem - yet, critisizing your target customers who are making your careers for you?
Also: I know a lot of friends that have an expectation that they can have what they want. I've heard from my parents that there were roommates of some of the crazy/slacking they do, and I know alot of my friends who work a hell of a lot harder then my parents/parents friends.
As for the university bit, I guess it depends which university you study; I have seen far more amazing young students do some amazing young things then these so called "flops"
Depending on which segragation of the "young generation" you talk about, from most young people I know, we are more driven, hard working and quite frankly smarter then the 35+ group of people I know (including doctors, lawyers, engineers for both segments). You walk into work for half of my friends, most of the guys pulling 60+ hour shifts are under 30 years old.
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
Depending on which segragation of the "young generation" you talk about, from most young people I know, we are more driven, hard working and quite frankly smarter then the 35+ group of people I know (including doctors, lawyers, engineers for both segments).
"This is a generation, after all, in which seven out of 10 rank themselves “above average” in academic ability."
Just sayin...
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I think this entitlement complex in the youth is a hell of a lot more prevailent in Alberta than it is in the rest of the country. Being someone that actively recruits out of universities across the country, the level of arrogance displayed out of kids comming from the U of A and U of C is absolutely mindblowing. Most of the country, when you interview a kid coming out of school, they are just happy that you are giving them an interview and the interview is all about what they can do for your company. In Alberta, completely a 180. These kids sit there asking you what your company can do for them, and as much as tells you what they want for salary/benefits/etc. and where they could go work to receive such concessions if you aren't willing to give it to them. This attitude still hasn't changed even with the current recession because money and daddy are still lining these kids pockets and telling them they can work wherever they want.
At one point, my company, if given the choice, would prefer to stay away from locals because there was no point in hiring someone that was going to switch jobs the minute something didn't suit them, or once their practicum done was going hold you over the stove or leave.
The funniest thing about the entitlement out of these Universities was that, anywhere east of Saskatchewan, half these kids wouldn't even be getting interview let alone jobs with their marks.
Good talk from Mike Rowe (yes the Dirty Jobs guy, and Deadliest Catch narrator) at Ted last year in December. About work, the show dirty jobs, and other things.
How many of you are in marketing? How many of you are the ones that are promoting this so-called idea of "if you want it, you can have it" ?
Are you contributing to the problem - yet, critisizing your target customers who are making your careers for you?
Also: I know a lot of friends that have an expectation that they can have what they want. I've heard from my parents that there were roommates of some of the crazy/slacking they do, and I know alot of my friends who work a hell of a lot harder then my parents/parents friends.
As for the university bit, I guess it depends which university you study; I have seen far more amazing young students do some amazing young things then these so called "flops"
Depending on which segragation of the "young generation" you talk about, from most young people I know, we are more driven, hard working and quite frankly smarter then the 35+ group of people I know (including doctors, lawyers, engineers for both segments). You walk into work for half of my friends, most of the guys pulling 60+ hour shifts are under 30 years old.
I have yet to meet a 20 year old that doesn't think that he is smarter than anyone over 35.
I honestly thought you were talking about the Baby boomers. They are the most entitled generation by far. They've lived through the best economic times any society has ever seen and yet as a rule have demanded governments continue to borrow from the future to make their way comfortable. Today the United States is shoreing up banks and other businesses with massive loans to protect them from failure. What it is protecting is primarily Baby Boomers investments and retirement plans. What the States are protecting it with is again borrowed money the next generation will have to pay.
Soon in both America and Canada the workers and business enterprises will have to carry massive government pension debt because the money the Baby Boomers paid into the Pensions was actually spent by our governments on them in other areas. The Baby Boomers exploited the environment to create their massive wealth and now require stewardship and sacrifice from the next generation to protect what hasn't been touched. Health care is the number one expense in Canada's budget and if Obama has his way the States will soon be in the same vote. At the same time we see the quality of care go down hill and will continue to see this as our Baby Boomers age. This is because of the rise in the seniors needing care and a declining work force supporting them through their taxes.
The taxes hidden and above board that the Baby Boomers paid while acquiring their wealth was a pitance compared to the burden we now have. Soon that burden will have to get much higher to pay for the rising debt and pension/medical obligations.
Agree with everything except for this.
This generation expects alot and might feel entitled to a lot (i.e. not having to wash dishes or work at McDonalds) - but there's a reason why - because we are good. Young minds bring young ideas and young attitudes, and it is not always lazy. I love how 40+ year olds are whining about how lazy the younger generation is and how they feel they can just put in minimum hours at work - and are posting this from work. How ironic.
As for the situation... very much agreed. It is the generation from the 70's-now that have set the economy to where it is now; it will be future generations who will blame the past and our generation for our ginormous trucks and SUV's while they are driving energy efficient cars; it is the us that are destorying the world for our short term needs without a thought of the future. I know this article is talking about young and lazyness and this is a bit OK, but you want to talk about accountability, I think alot of the past generation should look in the mirror about their own accountability, work ethics and what effect they've had on the problems or the solutions.
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
I think this entitlement complex in the youth is a hell of a lot more prevailent in Alberta than it is in the rest of the country. Being someone that actively recruits out of universities across the country, the level of arrogance displayed out of kids comming from the U of A and U of C is absolutely mindblowing. Most of the country, when you interview a kid coming out of school, they are just happy that you are giving them an interview and the interview is all about what they can do for your company. In Alberta, completely a 180. These kids sit there asking you what your company can do for them, and as much as tells you what they want for salary/benefits/etc. and where they could go work to receive such concessions if you aren't willing to give it to them. This attitude still hasn't changed even with the current recession because money and daddy are still lining these kids pockets and telling them they can work wherever they want.
At one point, my company was actually preferring to stay away from locals because there was no point in hiring someone that was going to switch jobs the minute something didn't suit them, or once their practicum done was going hold you over the shove or leave.
I came out of UofA.
I don't know what industry you work it, but naming my 5 closest friends, not a single one would ever ask those questions. Of the 5, 3 of them pull 50+ hour weeks regularly and consistantly for the past year. 2 of them pull 60+ hour weeks regularly and consistantly, some weeks 70+ hours. How many people here do that?
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
I don't know what industry you work it, but naming my 5 closest friends, not a single one would ever ask those questions. Of the 5, 3 of them pull 50+ hour weeks regularly and consistantly for the past year. 2 of them pull 60+ hour weeks regularly and consistantly, some weeks 70+ hours. How many people here do that?
Raises hand, and I've been doing it for 20 some years.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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Raises hand, and I've been doing it for 20 some years.
Are you posting from work? What do you do?
As for the young adults being useless - who uses Google Finance? The group that works on the front end of Google Finance are mostly under 30. In fact, Google is mostly under 35 for a reason.
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
This article provides all the more reason for why I respect social workers, teachers and non-profit charity workers more than most people in finance, oil and gas, and any other lucrative industry.
And I especially respect those who enter the military and put their life on the line, even in the good times.
This recession just confirms it for me.
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