This generation and entitlement

[longsuffering]

Originally Posted by J pold

From my understanding, money only matters to a point, after that what gives people from this generation purpose is participating in meaningful work. We want a level of autonomy and the idea that we - weather you agree with it or not - are the leaders of our own destiny. If we work hard enough and apply our knowledge, we will be rewarded for our efforts.

The spelling mistake made your statement somewhat less inspiring.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

You mean as in, spending time/money on your family rather than earning a bonus?

I'm saying worrying about how you spend your time rather than your money.

Zuckerberg is a good example. While he could easily sell off Facebook and take a personal fortune worth a small country, he's choosing to stay in the game and devote time to his product, wanting to keep the integrity of his product in tact.

Obviously not everybody is a Zuckerberg, but it is about how you spend your time. Young professionals are increasingly moving away from the 9-5 corporate schedule and redefining the workspace and life preferences, blending home and work. Finding ways to be efficient so that there is more free time on a regular basis is a growing trend among Gen X and Y'ers, although many have difficulty finding that balance (ex. young lawyers, investment bankers, and others who have high-demanding jobs).

Bonues are nice, don't get me wrong and money is important, but there's definitely a significant number of people who just don't place the same credence in monetary wealth as free time.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by longsuffering

Are you suggesting that tech millionaires and billionaires are somehow representative of 'their generation'?

I think that's what he was going for. At least I hope so. If our society is going to survive long-term then the driving force of life has to shift from "the aquisiton of things" to "the bettering of ourselves, and the rest of humanity."

/Captain Picard from First Contact.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by longsuffering

I'm not sure I understand your point.

Are you suggesting that tech millionaires and billionaires are somehow representative of 'their generation'?

I'm saying what Jpold said here:

Originally Posted by J pold

From my understanding, money only matters to a point, after that what gives people from this generation purpose is participating in meaningful work. We want a level of autonomy and the idea that we - weather you agree with it or not - are the leaders of our own destiny. If we work hard enough and apply our knowledge, we will be rewarded for our efforts.

What I'm getting at is, I see its quite common for many older generations to say things like this generation is spoiled and so forth. I don't think thats true at all - at least not in the world of tech. Things like I-Banks might be a bit different, or maybe lawyers like to have nice cars and condo's, but I definately think tech - which is quite influential - is leading the charge of a life that means so much more than the car you drive.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Well, it's not entirely true. Half way through the 2nd year, my parents visited...were so horrified at the monk-like status of our apartment that that they bought me an air mattress. So I slept on that for about another year.

With college tuition and rent to pay, spending money on a bed and furniture didn't seem like the best use of moeny, and honestly, I didn't mind. It was great and I wouldn't change it for anything.

I do love my bed now though.

I did an air mattress for a week when i first moved to NYC while waiting for my furniture to arrive. It was hell. I can't even fathom doing it for over a year, let alone sleeping on the floor.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

I definately think tech - which is quite influential - is leading the charge of a life that means so much more than the car you drive.

But you're in Silicon Valley - that is an extraordinary tech area that isn't always representative of the larger IT industry worldwide. You can make a fortune there, and thus people's priorities shift when they have their basic needs met with significant disposable income. I'm a software consultant myself and I don't think any one industry is leading the 'charge' per say, but rather it's an overall generational thing due to societal upbringings.

[J pold]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

I'm saying what Jpold said here:

What I'm getting at is, I see its quite common for many older generations to say things like this generation is spoiled and so forth. I don't think thats true at all - at least not in the world of tech. Things like I-Banks might be a bit different, or maybe lawyers like to have nice cars and condo's, but I definately think tech - which is quite influential - is leading the charge of a life that means so much more than the car you drive.

There is a distinction to be made between spoiled and entitled, or more specifically the 'culture of entitlement'. I agree that this generation is less spoiled than than our parents would like to suggest. I do however think that there is a sense of entitlement among our and later generations. There is no doubt that the young and wealthy billionaires of silicon valley act very differently than their, also likely wealthy parents. I suspect they grew up seeing how little material items had an effect on their parents levels of happiness, how fruitless the pursuit of the country club or the Lexus is and chose a different path when it was their turn to have a large slice of the proverbial pie.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by longsuffering

The spelling mistake made your statement somewhat less inspiring.

I wouldn't recommend letting spelling get in your way of reading what Phanuthier has to say.. you'll be sorely disappointed.

I'd say that you see what you are. There are plenty of people who spend beyond their means and rack up incredible debt for no reason at all other than they can't seem to see that they're doing it.

[Phanuthier]

Good point. My vocab is crap, I shouldn't have used spoiled and entitled interchangably.

I do think that tech is providing pretty good leadership towards forgoing possessions for something different, whether it be social causes or something else.

I also know that outside of tech, I have my friends who aren't worried about money (granted, they make at least enough to cover their living) and forgoing extra money to achieve something greater in life - socially or personally.

[J pold]

I was the one that (and will continue to) committed the spell mistake.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by valo403

I did an air mattress for a week when i first moved to NYC while waiting for my furniture to arrive. It was hell. I can't even fathom doing it for over a year, let alone sleeping on the floor.

The air-mattress was pretty horrible, but you know what? Sleeping on the floor was actually pretty great. I feel like I had better posture, and it felt good for my back. I'm not saying I would go back to it, but it wasn't too bad....probably why I wasn't in too big of a hurry to change.

[Tinordi]

The most entitled generation is the baby boomers. No doubt about it.

[CaptainCrunch]

You know this one time, my maid didn't put clean sheets on the bed for two days in a row, and the cook actually made me a hamburger made out of beef instead of out of an endangered species.

But I had to work hard for that, at least 20 hours a week, now I assume that this jet has airconditioning right?

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

The most entitled generation is the baby boomers. No doubt about it.

They're definitely racking up quite the debt.

[longsuffering]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

I think that's what he was going for. At least I hope so. If our society is going to survive long-term then the driving force of life has to shift from "the aquisiton of things" to "the bettering of ourselves, and the rest of humanity."

/Captain Picard from First Contact.

Agree with the sentiment, but don't buy that 'this' generation is going to lead us from the wilderness. It's tempting and understandable to claim young tech billionaires are altruistic and representative of the best of the 20-something generation, but saying so, doesn't make it so.

I could just as easily claim that 20 something degen, internet poker playing 20 y/o millionaire gamblers represent everything that is wrong with the same generation.

I hope you're right and your generation re-prioritizes things for our society. It needs to happen soon.

[Phanuthier]

Well I wasn't campaigning or promising one nice, elegent fix for all the worlds worries. Of coarse thats not going to happen. But I do think you are seeing a big social shift in wealthy and powerful people doing big things, and its not just names in the article here - there are many other young successful people doing the same thing.

And this isn't just me promoting tech cause I'm in tech. I was a big campaigner of Warren Buffett / Bill Gates's crusade to have billionairs around the world give up >50% of their wealth - and many did follow suite. Sure, there's going to be the lazy X-Box of PS3 video gamer or the kid who thinks he can make a living off internet poker, but I think an article like this is really cool to see how people who could live the so-called dream live, forgo those for something else.

[bomba]

I can't wait till this social media fad is over and I never have to hear about Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn anymore..

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by bomba

I can't wait till this social media fad is over and I never have to hear about Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn anymore..

... so we can get back to the good old days of nice cars and big houses?

(trying to find the relevence to the topic)

[jammies]

Originally Posted by bomba

I can't wait till this social media fad is over and I never have to hear about Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn anymore..

That would be never. The names might change, but people are not going to stop using social media because people are, well - social.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

I do think that tech is providing pretty good leadership towards forgoing possessions for something different, whether it be social causes or something else.

Leadership for who though? Other than Zuckerberg, nobody outside of silicon valley has ever even heard of these people. I just don't see attitudes about materialism changing because some tech guys who designed accounting software drive cheap cars.

The "tech" industry and it's hero Steve Jobs are probably as guilty as anyone in convincing young people that they need expensive new stuff all the time.