The Next President is...

[dream big]

On 6/18/2022 at 4:37 AM, Danger41 said:

I’d take W as a CC. Probably would have pretty wild roll calls and a good party atmosphere.

He did a gala for my wife’s company, he was a total bro. Politics aside I love how committed he is to wounded veterans and helping them rehabilitate. 

[nsplayr]

22 hours ago, ecugringo said:

All that money Germany invested in Green energy appears to be wasted.  Going back to coal!

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/20/ukraine-war-germany-turns-to-coal-as-russia-throttles-gas-supplies.html

More like they foolishly shut down half of their nuclear plants shortly before deciding to finally get off russian gas. Seems unwise! Meanwhile France gets 70% of its electricity from nuclear...all carbon-free!

FWIW while I'm a strong supporter of renewables (solar/wind/hydro/geothermal), I'm also a strong supporter of nuclear. Steady nuclear with peaky renewables are really an excellent pair if you wanted to design a sustainable fuel mix for electricity.

All until we crack the nut on fission, then it's game over for anything else. The power of the sun, in the palm of my hand!

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by nsplayr

[nsplayr]

21 hours ago, dream big said:

He did a gala for my wife’s company, he was a total bro. Politics aside I love how committed he is to wounded veterans and helping them rehabilitate. 

Agreed. I would 100% have a beer with him & his work with veterans is commendable.

[nsplayr]

On 6/17/2022 at 10:48 PM, M2 said:

Honestly, after 18 months in office, tell me one "success" the Biden Administration has achieved.  Just one.  I'll wait.

I'm not super into debating politics around here anymore (haha), but to help fill in the gap of the other ~50% of the country tends to think compared to what you typically read on BO.net:

1. Unemployment under Biden is down about 2.5% from when Trump left office, and is basically tied with the record low unemployment we saw under Trump in Jan 2020. More jobs is good!
2. The strong allied response re: sanctions & war materials supporting Ukraine and opposing the Russian invasion.
3. Going from 1.1% of the US population vaccinated against COVID to 67.4%. The vaccine development under Trump admin was a highlight for me and the distribution under Biden admin is similarly important. At this point everyone who wants one can get one and dying from COVID-19 is relatively optional for all but the most elderly and/or vulnerable.
4. Almost forgot, but the bipartisan infrastructure bill was good and long-overdue. Biden actually got this done where several previous admins had talked about it and failed to get something across the line.

Obviously there are counter-points to what I wrote above, different interpretations of what happened, and other prevailing factors that influenced those "successes" I mentioned. Copy, cool. I can understand why if you're a conservative you will never like a Dem administration much, fair point. No need to @ me and stir the pot on any of these points.

I do think the GOP will win seats in Congress in 2022 and the WH in 2024, which is utterly predictable given Dem congressional control since 2018 and the Dem presidential win last time. It would be unusual to have 2x 1-term Presidents in a row but I guess we'll see. The advanced age of both Trump and Biden is a factor there I think & will be even more so an issue in 2024 if it's those two facing off again. I am a big proponent of an age ceiling (70?) so long as we accept an age floor of 25 for Congress and 35 for being President.

Personally I'm rooting for DeSantis on the GOP side in a theoretical 2024 primary. I think he's the only one who might be able to be Trumpy enough to win but not actually be named Donald Trump. There are lots of Republicans I as a Democrat like better, but none of them can win, so I'll settle for him over Trump. I imagine some of y'all should have felt the same way about Biden vice someone like Sanders or Warren based on policies more than personalities.

Policies aside, Trump's negative personal characteristics and opposition to a peaceful & lawful transfer of power after taking a valid electoral loss is disqualifying to me beyond any policy disagreements.

IMHO Republicans can get all the policies of Trump with a more normal, less dangerous leader in DeSantis. DeSantis/Crenshaw or DeSantis/Haley or some such arrangement, the GOP has plenty of bench strength beyond one or two families.

I'm curious to see if that matters at all or if what GOP primary voters really want is the Trump id or "vibes" as the kids say now and perhaps they don't care one lick about policies...after everything I'm more and more in that camp TBH.

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by nsplayr

[dream big]

12 hours ago, nsplayr said:

I'm not super into debating politics around here anymore (haha), but to help fill in the gap of the other ~50% of the country tends to think compared to what you typically read on BO.net:

1. Unemployment under Biden is down about 2.5% from when Trump left office, and is basically tied with the record low unemployment we saw under Trump in Jan 2020. More jobs is good!
2. The strong allied response re: sanctions & war materials supporting Ukraine and opposing the Russian invasion.
3. Going from 1.1% of the US population vaccinated against COVID to 67.4%. The vaccine development under Trump admin was a highlight for me and the distribution under Biden admin is similarly important. At this point everyone who wants one can get one and dying from COVID-19 is relatively optional for all but the most elderly and/or vulnerable.
4. Almost forgot, but the bipartisan infrastructure bill was good and long-overdue. Biden actually got this done where several previous admins had talked about it and failed to get something across the line.

Obviously there are counter-points to what I wrote above, different interpretations of what happened, and other prevailing factors that influenced those "successes" I mentioned. Copy, cool. I can understand why if you're a conservative you will never like a Dem administration much, fair point. No need to @ me and stir the pot on any of these points.

I do think the GOP will win seats in Congress in 2022 and the WH in 2024, which is utterly predictable given Dem congressional control since 2018 and the Dem presidential win last time. It would be unusual to have 2x 1-term Presidents in a row but I guess we'll see. The advanced age of both Trump and Biden is a factor there I think & will be even more so an issue in 2024 if it's those two facing off again. I am a big proponent of an age ceiling (70?) so long as we accept an age floor of 25 for Congress and 35 for being President.

Personally I'm rooting for DeSantis on the GOP side in a theoretical 2024 primary. I think he's the only one who might be able to be Trumpy enough to win but not actually be named Donald Trump. There are lots of Republicans I as a Democrat like better, but none of them can win, so I'll settle for him over Trump. I imagine some of y'all should have felt the same way about Biden vice someone like Sanders or Warren based on policies more than personalities.

Policies aside, Trump's negative personal characteristics and opposition to a peaceful & lawful transfer of power after taking a valid electoral loss is disqualifying to me beyond any policy disagreements.

IMHO Republicans can get all the policies of Trump with a more normal, less dangerous leader in DeSantis. DeSantis/Crenshaw or DeSantis/Haley or some such arrangement, the GOP has plenty of bench strength beyond one or two families.

I'm curious to see if that matters at all or if what GOP primary voters really want is the Trump id or "vibes" as the kids say now and perhaps they don't care one lick about policies...after everything I'm more and more in that camp TBH.

 

1- Unemployment, these were jobs we got back from Covid losses so they aren’t specifically “new jobs”, crediting Biden with that is disingenuous.

2-Ukraine support- mostly NATO led, which isn’t a bad thing.  I’m sure Biden gets briefed when he’s awake.  There are still serious issues and way forward strategy in terms of our response that I won’t discuss here.

3- Biden had a mandatory vaccine policy for the GOV; if you are for the vaccine mandate for government workers  and are praising the rise in numbers, then sure I guess?… but not sure how much he affected the rest of the population? 

4- Devil is in the details and execution.  Let’s reevaluate in a year. 
 

100% agree with you with regards to DeSantis vis a vis Trump.  We get Trump’s policies without the drama, theoretically.  Trump’s behavior after the election was an embarrassment.  Had he walked away in grace he would still be held as an icon by half the population.  

[ClearedHot]

17 hours ago, nsplayr said:

Personally I'm rooting for DeSantis on the GOP side in a theoretical 2024 primary. I think he's the only one who might be able to be Trumpy enough to win but not actually be named Donald Trump. There are lots of Republicans I as a Democrat like better, but none of them can win, so I'll settle for him over Trump. I imagine some of y'all should have felt the same way about Biden vice someone like Sanders or Warren based on policies more than personalities.

Same here but the lead dog at this point rarely winds the race.  He has done some great things here and I think he can do the job without being a giant narcissistic douche canoe.  Sanders/Warren could have been catastrophic.  For the record, I don't want EITHER party to have so much power that they can pass straight party line legislation.  I prefer we stay in the middle and SLOWLY agree on change. 

 

17 hours ago, nsplayr said:

Policies aside, Trump's negative personal characteristics and opposition to a peaceful & lawful transfer of power after taking a valid electoral loss is disqualifying to me beyond any policy disagreements.

Concur, but his negative personality traits will likely prevent him from stepping to the side for the good of his party and the country.  I also think Biden should be disqualified.  The suppression of the Hunter Laptop is in my opinion hiding some corruption, but the bigger issue is his mental decline.  It is obvious and very concerning.

 

17 hours ago, nsplayr said:

IMHO Republicans can get all the policies of Trump with a more normal, less dangerous leader in DeSantis. DeSantis/Crenshaw or DeSantis/Haley or some such arrangement, the GOP has plenty of bench strength beyond one or two families.

DeSantis/Haley would seem the most powerful option and I think they would do good things.  Both are highly intelligent and seem to make choices that match their beliefs not their politics. 

 

17 hours ago, nsplayr said:

I'm curious to see if that matters at all or if what GOP primary voters really want is the Trump id or "vibes" as the kids say now and perhaps they don't care one lick about policies...after everything I'm more and more in that camp TBH.

We are seeing a new generational gap.  Think about the last 50 years where the WWII generation shaped politics as the boomers grew up.  Living through a world war gave folks great perspective.  The current generation has their face buried in a cell phone and is beyond entitled.  For them, war (GWOT/ISIS/Ukraine), is a normalized thing that is FAR away and does not impact their daily life.  They see occasional snippets but it doesn't interfere with their insta selfie while holding a venti vanilla sweet cream cold brew with three pumps of vanilla, three pumps of caramel syrup, one pump of cinnamon dolce syrup, three pumps of hazelnut, two pumps of toffee nut syrup, two pumps of mocha, two pumps of white mocha, eight pumps of pumpkin sauce, three pumps of maple pecan syrup, and five shots of espresso.

[slc]

1 hour ago, ClearedHot said:

They see occasional snippets but it doesn't interfere with their insta selfie while holding a venti vanilla sweet cream cold brew with three pumps of vanilla, three pumps of caramel syrup, one pump of cinnamon dolce syrup, three pumps of hazelnut, two pumps of toffee nut syrup, two pumps of mocha, two pumps of white mocha, eight pumps of pumpkin sauce, three pumps of maple pecan syrup, and five shots of espresso.

and can I have that about 115 degrees, no make that 120 degrees

[ecugringo]

21 hours ago, nsplayr said:

More like they foolishly shut down half of their nuclear plants shortly before deciding to finally get off russian gas. Seems unwise! Meanwhile France gets 70% of its electricity from nuclear...all carbon-free!

FWIW while I'm a strong supporter of renewables (solar/wind/hydro/geothermal), I'm also a strong supporter of nuclear. Steady nuclear with peaky renewables are really an excellent pair if you wanted to design a sustainable fuel mix for electricity.

All until we crack the nut on fission, then it's game over for anything else. The power of the sun, in the palm of my hand!

 

I think this just shows that an advanced country like Germany is still primarily dependent on Gas for their energy needs.  Even Nukes didn't supply 100% power.  The Nordstream Gas Line was to go directly to Germany to fill their energy needs.  Yeah they have Solar Panels everywhere and some wind farms but the reality is they still are dependent on Gas and were nowhere close to replacing it.

[pawnman]

3 hours ago, ecugringo said:

I think this just shows that an advanced country like Germany is still primarily dependent on Gas for their energy needs.  Even Nukes didn't supply 100% power.  The Nordstream Gas Line was to go directly to Germany to fill their energy needs.  Yeah they have Solar Panels everywhere and some wind farms but the reality is they still are dependent on Gas and were nowhere close to replacing it.

Nuclear power would have supplied a lot more if Germany hadn't closed a bunch of plants. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-01-25/what-the-u-s-can-learn-from-germany-s-nuclear-power-plant-shutdowns#:~:text=At the end of 2021,in the next few years.

[Prozac]

6 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

The current generation has their face buried in a cell phone and is beyond entitled.  For them, war (GWOT/ISIS/Ukraine), is a normalized thing that is FAR away and does not impact their daily life. 

Agree 100% but let’s not forget that, for the most part, the boomers have been equally ignorant and obtuse. The ultimate “me” generation’s attitude of “I got mine” has laid landmines for successive generations throughout their time in power. Is it any wonder that the millennials and younger gens feel disillusioned and shafted? Why should they care if they’ve been more or less shut out of participating in the economy and politics anyway? If we want them to look up from their phones and off of mom’s couch, we need to listen to their issues and take them seriously. Instead, they watch us fight over petty cultural issues and shake their heads as their future slides further and further out of reach. 

[Lord Ratner]

On 6/12/2022 at 8:33 AM, Negatory said:

The bottom line is that neoliberal economic policy, which both parties fully support, is driving us off a cliff. Unlimited economic growth in a limited society (actually approaching contracting) isn’t possible. It’s time to raise the interest rates to 6-9% and deal with our poor decisions we have made thinking we could avoid natural economic cycles. The real marker in failure economically was October 2019 when the government saw that quantitative tightening (the right call) made the stock market go down and abandoned all logic to maintain the illusion of a green DJIA. Then COVID happened and the whole of US government lost their collective minds.

Shack. 

[VMFA187]

7 hours ago, Prozac said:

Agree 100% but let’s not forget that, for the most part, the boomers have been equally ignorant and obtuse. The ultimate “me” generation’s attitude of “I got mine” has laid landmines for successive generations throughout their time in power. Is it any wonder that the millennials and younger gens feel disillusioned and shafted? Why should they care if they’ve been more or less shut out of participating in the economy and politics anyway? If we want them to look up from their phones and off of mom’s couch, we need to listen to their issues and take them seriously. Instead, they watch us fight over petty cultural issues and shake their heads as their future slides further and further out of reach. 

So the boomer generation is the root cause problem that this country faces? Is that what you're saying? 

"The ultimate 'me' generation..." Wow.

What are the millennials' issues? I'm one so I'd like to hear your thoughts. 

[artvandelay43201]

41 minutes ago, VMFA187 said:

So the boomer generation is the root cause problem that this country faces? Is that what you're saying? 

"The ultimate 'me' generation..." Wow.

What are the millennials' issues? I'm one so I'd like to hear your thoughts. 

Well to start while their parents were the greatest generation, the boomers wanted to party on a milk farm in upstate New York marketed as Woodstock rather than serve in their generations’ war. The millennials’ war however has been fought for over 20 years without a draft. 

[Prozac]

49 minutes ago, VMFA187 said:

So the boomer generation is the root cause problem that this country faces? Is that what you're saying? 

"The ultimate 'me' generation..." Wow.

What are the millennials' issues? I'm one so I'd like to hear your thoughts. 

This guy articulates many of the issues better than I can:

BL: Every generation is gonna act in its own best interest. The boomers are an outsized generation and have had an outsized effect that is causing challenges for later generations. 
 

Zeihan has some interesting takes as well:

 

[dream big]

3 hours ago, VMFA187 said:

So the boomer generation is the root cause problem that this country faces? Is that what you're saying? 

"The ultimate 'me' generation..." Wow.

What are the millennials' issues? I'm one so I'd like to hear your thoughts. 

His teacher won’t call him by his preferred pronoun of “Zee”.

[Negatory]

Recent statistic:

Millenials currently own 4% of real estate equity in America. Boomers at the same age owned 32% of the nations real estate equity.

[pawnman]

9 hours ago, VMFA187 said:

So the boomer generation is the root cause problem that this country faces? Is that what you're saying? 

"The ultimate 'me' generation..." Wow.

What are the millennials' issues? I'm one so I'd like to hear your thoughts. 

Inability to buy a home.

Wages that have not kept pace with inflation.

Working in an economy radically changed by technology, but led by senior leadership that doesn't understand that technology.

Boomers refusing to retire and relinquish power...most of our elected leadership are boomers.

An era where college costs have spiraled, but the value of that college education is declining.

[ClearedHot]

59 minutes ago, pawnman said:

Inability to buy a home.

Do you work with/around boomers?

Many don't want to buy a home.  In my experience in the tech industry many millennials are driven by a different definition of success.  I know several who were offered literally millions of dollars but they had to remain fully integrated with the company we were buying for a few years, they pushed back with a state goal of working three days a week and living in a tiny home.  Others have pushed back on coming to the office thinking they are just as effective being virtual and didn't want to make the 30 minute commute.

1 hour ago, pawnman said:

Wages that have not kept pace with inflation.

Depends on the sector, if you are millennial with a liberal arts degree working at McDonalds that is probably true, with a technical degree that is completely false.  We've started MANY kids right out of college at six figures and given them $30K spot raises (on top of annual raises), to keep them with our company on critical projects.

1 hour ago, pawnman said:

Working in an economy radically changed by technology, but led by senior leadership that doesn't understand that technology.

Disagree, in my experience the millennials often don't understand that their idea or pet project must exist within a viable business model.

1 hour ago, pawnman said:

 

Boomers refusing to retire and relinquish power...most of our elected leadership are boomers.

Don't lump everyone into the category of politicians...that just a different game.

1 hour ago, pawnman said:

An era where college costs have spiraled, but the value of that college education is declining.

Why have college costs spiraled?  Certainly not a correlation to inflation and the economy.  IMHO much of the conflict we see in our country today is the result of our education system run amok.  Universities are almost fully entrenched by the liberal thought police who transitioned the system from teaching to indoctrination, all while wrapping themselves in tenure and ever higher salaries.  I agree that the value of a college education has declined.  I have certainly seen self-taught tech folks become far more effective than those getting a tech degree.  There is also a perception problem in that the millennials don't seem interested in the trades which are critically short and paying BIG $ right out of high school.

[brabus]

I see millennials/Gen Z every day crushing life; the difference is they have values and an outlook on life that is contrasted with the entitled, lazy, shit work ethic, etc. that other millennials/Gen Z have. Not to say they aren’t facing “unfair” hurdles, but every generation has faced “unfair” hurdles. You can either adapt and overcome, or you can be a whiny little bitch - those are essentially the two options. Millennials generally seem to fall into one of those categories. Props to the ones who choose to not wallow in self pity.

Edited June 23, 2022 by brabus

[pawnman]

3 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

Do you work with/around boomers?

Many don't want to buy a home.  In my experience in the tech industry many millennials are driven by a different definition of success.  I know several who were offered literally millions of dollars but they had to remain fully integrated with the company we were buying for a few years, they pushed back with a state goal of working three days a week and living in a tiny home.  Others have pushed back on coming to the office thinking they are just as effective being virtual and didn't want to make the 30 minute commute.

Do you believe the tech industry represents the majority of millenials?  Millenials who, keep in mind, are in their 40s, likely with kids?

Quote

Depends on the sector, if you are millennial with a liberal arts degree working at McDonalds that is probably true, with a technical degree that is completely false.  We've started MANY kids right out of college at six figures and given them $30K spot raises (on top of annual raises), to keep them with our company on critical projects.

The tech industry isn't the majority of the economy.

In 1980, the US median income was $21,020.  Median home price was $47,200.  Just over two year's salary would buy a home.  Average cost of a 4-year degree for a student living on campus was about $9,500.

In 2020, the US median income was $67,521.  Median home price was $375,000.  So now we're up to 7 years of work.  Average cost of a 4-year degree at an in-state university is up to $101K for a student that lives on campus.  Off-campus, closer to $40K.  And many colleges are more expensive.

You can wave around the high-earning tech jobs, but those are the vast minority of the employment landscape.  The same jobs do not have the same earning power they used to.  Hell, when I was making minimum wage back in the 90's, I could buy a car, go to the movies, buy clothes, etc.  My daughter needed help buying a car, can barely afford to keep gas in it, and constantly has to make choices between going to the theater or getting fast food.

Quote

Disagree, in my experience the millennials often don't understand that their idea or pet project must exist within a viable business model.

And yet, we have senior leaders who can't recognize work-life balance, that working from home can be productive, or hell, even set up their own printers and monitors.

Quote

Don't lump everyone into the category of politicians...that just a different game.

OK...how many CEOs, VPs, or chairman positions are held by anyone under the age of 60?  Damned few.

Quote

Why have college costs spiraled?  Certainly not a correlation to inflation and the economy.  IMHO much of the conflict we see in our country today is the result of our education system run amok.  Universities are almost fully entrenched by the liberal thought police who transitioned the system from teaching to indoctrination, all while wrapping themselves in tenure and ever higher salaries.  I agree that the value of a college education has declined.  I have certainly seen self-taught tech folks become far more effective than those getting a tech degree.  There is also a perception problem in that the millennials don't seem interested in the trades which are critically short and paying BIG $ right out of high school.

I think we're in agreement about some of the causes of college tuition spiraling, but the fact remains that this entire generation was told, by boomers, all through their primary and high school education that they needed to go to college, all while the policies set by the same boomers placed college financially out of reach for them.  Regardless of the reason, that is still a major issue facing younger generations.

The millenials are the first generation to fare worse than their parents in terms of income growth, wealth accumulation, and quality of life.

[ecugringo]

1 hour ago, brabus said:

I see millennials/Gen Z every day crushing life; the difference is they have values and an outlook on life that is contrasted with the entitled, lazy, shit work ethic, etc. that other millennials/Gen Z have. Not to say they aren’t facing “unfair” hurdles, but every generation has faced “unfair” hurdles. You can either adapt and overcome, or you can be a whiny little bitch - those are essentially the two options. Millennials generally seem to fall into one of those categories. Props to the ones who choose to not wallow in self pity.

Agree 100%.  My Brother in law is early 30's super techy and educated.  He would not make a great sales guy or maybe even manager but he works in cyber security and does pretty well.  He has no interest in owning a large home with a fence, 2 kids and dog.  Him and his wife have a small city home, small cars and work from home.  They also want to be able to say it, pack up and move somewhere else and do hte same job.  Hell I did that myself.  

IMHO the corporate office culture has died and those managers that can't adapt and overcome will fail.  PPL realized there is value in getting an hour+ of your life back from your daily commute.

[FLEA]

22 minutes ago, ecugringo said:

Agree 100%.  My Brother in law is early 30's super techy and educated.  He would not make a great sales guy or maybe even manager but he works in cyber security and does pretty well.  He has no interest in owning a large home with a fence, 2 kids and dog.  Him and his wife have a small city home, small cars and work from home.  They also want to be able to say it, pack up and move somewhere else and do hte same job.  Hell I did that myself.  

IMHO the corporate office culture has died and those managers that can't adapt and overcome will fail.  PPL realized there is value in getting an hour+ of your life back from your daily commute.

There was a huge culture shift I think when millennials had their "come to Jesus moment" following the 2008 recession and started to carve their own rules into society. 

You had an entire generation raised to believe they could do anything, be anything and mean something to the world. Then the 2008 financial collapse happened, most couldn't role into the corporate world, and there was this sudden realization that 99.99% of people in the world are cogs and nothing else. 

I think this was hard to swallow for a lot of my generation. It certainly was for me and I "made it." (House, cars, 6 figure job, etc...) 

This prompted a change in the idea of success. Generally companies want employees with high engagement and motivation. But younger people see this as a wasted effort. It's not going to make them the next CEO in an industry they don't really care much about, and when companies talk about high engagement all millennials here is worker exploitation and people willing to pull weekends and holidays without bonus pay. So for younger people they changed the work bargaining position to one with a higher emphasis on self, and work life balance. They only have one life, why should they slave it at a job they hate to make the next Jeff Bezos rich. Jeff Bezos really believes in a Utopia where everyone works in a circular service industry and production is completely mechanized. But that doesn't drive engagement with today's society. Driving delivery vans without piss breaks is not going to make people feel valued to society. 

[brabus]

1 hour ago, FLEA said:

They only have one life, why should they slave it at a job they hate to make the next Jeff Bezos rich

That’s a very valid viewpoint and I don’t at all blame someone for having it. In fact, I subscribe to it within reason. The millennial problem manifests when they don’t want to work for “the man,” but then complain when they can’t buy a house, the car they want, fill in the blank. Well, either start your own business and be your own boss, or suck it up and join the not-min wage work force and work as much as you need to have the life you want. Every millennial has the opportunity to make enough money to live a good life, but many of them aren’t willing to put that work in and expect “the good life” to be handed to them. Those individuals are the definition of entitlement. 

[VMFA187]

22 hours ago, Prozac said:

This guy articulates many of the issues better than I can:

BL: Every generation is gonna act in its own best interest. The boomers are an outsized generation and have had an outsized effect that is causing challenges for later generations. 
 

Zeihan has some interesting takes as well:

 

I saw the first video several days ago one morning. I typically watch YouTube from 0445-0515 while I drink coffee before I workout prior to showing up to work at 0645-0700. It was educational and entertaining. Unfortunately millennials think they are owed something which is probably perpetuated by the media and social media - You aren't owed shit. Work hard, be dedicated, and generally things work out. Spend your money on vacations, double venti coffees, and it doesn't. 

20 hours ago, dream big said:

His teacher won’t call him by his preferred pronoun of “Zee”.

Nice. 

14 hours ago, pawnman said:

Inability to buy a home.

Wages that have not kept pace with inflation.

Working in an economy radically changed by technology, but led by senior leadership that doesn't understand that technology.

Boomers refusing to retire and relinquish power...most of our elected leadership are boomers.

An era where college costs have spiraled, but the value of that college education is declining.

Most people I know "could" buy a home, they are just unwilling to relocate. I live in San Diego where the median home price is over $1m. The same people who complain about home prices, I drink with fairly often, and our individual tabs are greater than $200.

Valid regarding wages and inflation - I just got a 3.5% raise when inflation is 8.6%. Sucks when for every $100k you make you are losing $4k just due to inflation. 

It is the responsibility of the individual to understand the technology if they want to benefit from it, not the government's responsibility to help people understand how it impacts them. We have forgotten the concept of "personal responsibility." Its unfortunate. 

Would you retire if you are crushing it? Human beings are inherently selfish. People now for some reason don't believe that and want to think that people are inherently "good" when they aren't. 

Sure, college costs have risen at a ridiculous rate. But many of those burdened by insane college loans pursued useless degrees AND used those loans to finance their living expenses for those four plus years. 

Millennials also have vastly different values than the baby boomers who wanted to start a family early and own property. Many millennials want freedom and to work as little as required in order to satisfy their expenses.

[Prozac]

25 minutes ago, VMFA187 said:

Unfortunately millennials think they are owed something which is probably perpetuated by the media and social media

I’ll go one better and say their parents likely played a large role in the entitlement attitude. I agree with you that there are some major disconnects between the younger and older generations when it comes to ambition, work ethic, and intestinal fortitude. The stereotypes are definitely grounded in reality. At the same time, there are some very real obstacles that have been placed in their way and most of us would rather bicker over pronouns, windmills, and purple teletubbies than address issues that will have huge and lasting effects on the future of this country. I don’t have all the solutions but here’s one to start with: Want your college loans forgiven? Done, but the catch is two years of national service. Sort of a neo-GI Bill to jumpstart the new generation.