[Closed] I'm a self absorbed creative idiot who cares about the environment

“You want me to sum up the main issues facing an entire generation in an entire country? That sounds less scientific than a ****ing horoscope, you mad bastards.”

Which explains why so many spend their lives consuming comics, orc fantasy novels and space cowboy movies.

Doesn't every single generation just give the one coming after it a name, then write that exact same article about them being a bunch of pampered, ****less wasters?

Which explains why so many spend their lives consuming comics, orc fantasy novels and space cowboy movies.

As oppsoed to growing up when houses were cheaper in real terms, when the NHS was at it's best, when there were jobs for life and decent pensions - the same people who despite living for decades more than their expected retirement, continue to expect that they should be allowed to sponge off the state whilst the rest of our pensions get pushed back? The same generation that left us with this smouldering, litter infested planet and constant threat of nuclear ahnihaltion hanging over us?

Ever wondeed why we're apathetic narcissitsts? Maybe we don't like the world your cockwomble generation managed to create.

Be thankfull for the comics, they're probably distracting generation-y from burning society and your pensions down to the ground.

Ha, that first line sums it up for me:

Millennials are currently aged 20-35, or born between 1980 and the end of 1994 (with some more generous definitions taking in those born up to 2000).

having to explain to the reader how to work out the year people had to have been born in to be between 20 and 35!

constant threat of nuclear ahnihaltion hanging over us?

constant threat of nuclear annihilation hanging over us?

This one always makes me laugh, as though the science could just be shut back in a box and no one look at it ever again. WWII saw some massive technological acceleration and changes; some good (antibiotics, radar, jet engine, computers) and some less so (nuclear weapons). But ultimately all would have come about as the basic science & engineering was already know pre-war.

when the NHS was at it's best

Really when was this magic era? Breast cancer survival stats have improved year on year throughout the life of the NHS. And other things like keyhole surgery, IVF or an MRI scan weren't even available till the 80's.

cosseted?

that's the baby-boomers shirley?

(free education and health care / ludicrously cheap houses / massive, massive pensions, etc.)

Meh

I agree with ferrals.

Really when was this magic era? Breast cancer survival stats have improved year on year throughout the life of the NHS. And other things like keyhole surgery, IVF or an MRI scan weren't even available till the 80's.

I'm afraid you have medical science confused with the NHS, which has never been this close to being fully privatised since it's inception. Also, on the whole, MRI scanners and camcer tend to help/afflict old people. 😀 We are partly in this mess because we consider it more important to give expensive anti cancer drugs to some old person with alzheimers than a young homeless person.

You also got free or mostly free higher education, yes?

This one always makes me laugh, as though the science could just be shut back in a box and no one look at it ever again. WWII saw some massive technological acceleration and changes; some good (antibiotics, radar, jet engine, computers) and some less so (nuclear weapons). But ultimately all would have come about as the basic science & engineering was already know pre-war.

Still doesn't make it right. The boomers thought they could change the world by smoking dope and going to hippie fesitivals, it didn't work, so like the spoilt little brats they were, they gave up at the first sign of dicculty and settled into the same roles as their parents.

Generation-Y has more maturity than that - and understands that they can only change the world by working for think tanks and becoming opinion makers/trend setters. Hence their obsession with social media.

Generation-Y has more maturity than that - and understands that they can only change the world by woring for think tanks and becoming opinion makers/trend setters. Hence their obsession with social media.

Nah, once they win X-Factor they can make their voice heard about underlying social issues of the day. Certainly whilst appearing on Celebrity Big Brother.

Nah, once they win X-Factor they can make their voice heard about underlying social issues of the day. Certainly whilst appearing on Celebrity Big Brother.

.....

as opposed to watching and talking about Jimmy Saville on Top of the Pops.

That was sooooo much more intellectually stimulating than the x-factor. 😀

[i]The boomers thought they could change the world by smoking dope and going to hippie fesitivals, it didn't work[/i]

What do they teach instead of history at schools these days?

[i] Hence their obsession with social media. [/i]

Yeah, because "hitting like if you agree" will really change the world.

Gen X are a bit of a non-event aren't they? Apart from a few decent authors I can't think of any significant impacts, good or bad.

which has never been this close to being fully privatised since it's inception.

Blame the Tories 😆

Worked in Greece didn't it? 😆

What do they teach instead of history at schools these days?

Hit a nerve? The boomers are on the whole, cynical, fat, lazy ex hippies who expect to live off the state for another 20 years.

That's as good of a sweeping generalisation as some of you are making. 🙂

Blame the Tories

Who's major voting demographic is.....wait for it..... old people 😀

And don't hit me with the "you young people should vote more", theres more old people who consisently vote as a homogenous bloc for the tories. Even if we all voted, it wouldn't be a homogenous vote for a party that represented our interests....as one doesn't exist that is capable of winning.

The first Top of the Pops had the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Dusty Springfield on, compare and contrast with X-Factors winners such as Little Mix or Ben Haenow.

You're just jealous because Gen Y's music is so sh*t.

The first Top of the Pops had the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Dusty Springfield on, compare and contrast with X-Factors winners such as Little Mix or Ben Haenow.

You're just jealous because Gen Y's music is so sh*t.

Oh great, you brought us rock n roll. A derivative genre based on blues that was in turn appropriated from black music....the 1800's had Brahms....

Your generation was still a failure. 😆

[I]Hit a nerve? [/I]

Not really, I'm a bit too young to be a baby boomer.

And the most damning indictment of the boomers is that they, unlike their pre-war parents, were the generation that gave up trying to make tomorrow a better world for their children.

Gen X are a bit of a non-event aren't they? Apart from a few decent authors I can't think of any significant impacts, good or bad.

When I look at the opportunities/the world left to the Millennials by their parents I can't help but think of the irony of what their generation was saying to their own parents at the time:

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand

Plus ca change. Each older generation leaves the world a worse place for their own children... except maybe my grandparents' generation who got us through WW2 and created the prosperity that followed

I feel massive sympathy for the Millenials - when I graduated, it wasn't that hard to find a reasonably well-paid job with a good pension and an affordable place to live. I really don't know why they're not on the streets. Mates of mine with kids say they're head deep in social media and just trying to make do as best they can rather than getting angry...

There was a recent article in the FT where, if you read the comments, quite a few were simply saying the odds were so stacked against them, they're not even going to bother playing the game e.g. why save to buy a house and all the sacrifice that means if prices are continuously pushed out of your reach and leaving you with such a massive debt burden that you'll have a suppressed standard of living for your whole life.

That alone will bring the system crashing down - if they're not prepared to put money in at the bottom of the system then those at the top won't be able to take it out...

Gen X are a bit of a non-event aren't they? Apart from a few decent authors I can't think of any significant impacts, good or bad.

Thats a tad unfair. Their was some decent typography

Same as it ever was:

The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress."

That was from a sermon by Peter the Hermit in 1274, but you could paraphrase it and it'd look quite at home in a Daily Mail op-ed piece.

For reference I'm a 'millennial', work full time, pay a mortgage, married with 2 kids, have no facebook, twitter or instagram accounts, have a degree in political science and I only got a smart phone last year when Vodafone pretty much sent me one unprompted.

Sweeping generalizations in 'largely bollocks' shocker.

Pimp My Ride and Cribs on MTV are the crowning achievements.

Thats a tad unfair. Their was some decent typography

And britpop I suppose.

[i] Each older generation leaves the world a worse place for their own children[/i]

A bit of a generalization. In many ways the world is a better place now because of our parents and grandparents and in many ways its a worse place.

All I know is I'm glad to be alive now than in say, the 18th century.

Why not?

My wifes cousins live in pretty much 18th century conditions in Manila, but because that country is so devoid of any kind of regulation....now that it's economy is growing, it's fairly easy to forge your own destiny. Want a house? Find some cheap land (plenty) and build one, no planning permission invovled. Life there is fast and cheap, but there's a feeling among the youth that they are more in control of their own destiny.

Each older generation leaves the world a worse place for their own children

No they don't, both the life expectancy and standard of living has massively increase across the globe every decade.

Gen X includes the founders of Google and Jonathan Ives, plus bands such as Nirvana and Daft Punk.

No they don't, both the life expectancy and standard of living has massively increase across the globe every decade.

Thanks to the inexorable advancement of science, not a generations political ideology or philosphical/cultural leanings - which you can thank your enlightenment ancestors for.

Standard of living is also debatable.

Can't wait till Tom is 50 😆 😆 😆

Who do you think the scientists are and from what generation are they? Yoof is wasted on the young 😉

I was trying to explain what a party phone line was to a 19yr old at Christmas, they didn't believe me, I think there actual quote was "you have a hell of an imagination" 😯 😆

There was definitely more sunshine when I was in my 20's. And a lot less rain.

I can't work out what this means as a generational social commentary, but its probably something really important

A bit of a generalization. In many ways the world is a better place now because of our parents and grandparents and in many ways its a worse place.

You're right. After all 20th century saw two world wars centred around Europe, in which we lost literally millions of (mainly) men, so our grandparents and great-grandparents didn't do a great job either, really.

tbh the real problem is that the boomers grew up in a time of unprecedented increasing economic growth and living standards and mainly absence of war, but forgot it was unprecedented and didn't do enough to set aside some of the gains for the future. A bit like kids of rich self-made parents spanking the family wealth because they didn't appreciate it wasn't a never-ending flow of cash.

We (I'm 43, born 1973) saw what our parents have and expected the same and now we're finding we won't get it, we're upset - when actually it was a one-off time of plenty and we're just going back to trend in terms of wealth inequality and economic growth...

Maybe gains in automation and technology will simultaneously reduce the cost of living whilst providing higher standards of living. who knows

somewhatslightlydazed - Member
All I know is I'm glad to be alive now than in say, the 18th century

Why prolong the suffering when a person can die young if they are poor or poorly?

In 18th century perhaps dying young is a blessing to avoid prolong suffering.

The more people that survive the more the earth's limited resources will be consumed and the more suffering/stress it will create.

Human population is like parasite lurking on and they need to be culled from time to time.

I just hope the generation Y or whatever will degenerate further into full scale nuclear war to wipe each other out.

Yaaa ... that's my opinion on them. 😈

I feel sad for the youth of today.

They will never experience the unbridled joy of a two foot long Curly Wurly.

#wontanyonethinkofthechildren

We (I'm 43, born 1973) saw what our parents have and expected the same and now we're finding we won't get it, we're upset - when actually it was a one-off time of plenty and we're just going back to trend in terms of wealth inequality and economic growth...

I'm a couple of years older than you, and I think when most of us left school into the post-industrial wasteland that was 80's Britain, we were aware that the gig was up as far as jobs for life, and all that was concerned.

I still look at it in the respect that it could be a damn site worse. We live in a country that isn't war ravaged, and most of us have everything we could conceivably desire. As long as you're a realist, obviously, and don't think a Porsche is a basic human right.

Its all relative innit? 😀

Who do you think the scientists are and from what generation are they? Yoof is wasted on the young

Most scientists, apart from the paradigm shifters, are just monkeys that dance to the tune of science. 😛 1000 monkeys on 1000 typrewriters etc. They go into work because it's a job and they never really change anything massively that wouldn't be thought of by someone else.

It's almost as if you're asking me to thank older generations from planting crops, as opposed to the ancestors who thought of the idea in the first place.

[I]We (I'm 43, born 1973) saw what our parents have and expected the same and now we're finding we won't get it, we're upset - when actually it was a one-off time of plenty and we're just going back to trend in terms of wealth inequality and economic growth.[/I]

Yes, in a way, they were "lucky" to be born when they were but I don't begrudge them that.

But we are still pretty lucky to be alive in the UK at the beginning of the 21st century. We do have unprecedented physical, cultural and moral wealth. And (at least in northern Europe) we live in a time of unprecedented peace.

Admittedly the future looks pretty dark, but then it often looks pretty dark to those about to experience it.

not a generations political ideology

But the politicians set the frame work for science and engineering to progress.

I dunno what you want as no political ideology is going to work in a deterministic way, the world, people etc are far to complex. In fact we know from the maths that there is no way to even predict with any certainty the outcome of policy changes. Hence, smart politicians change their views based on the data (unfortunately people seem to not like this).

It's almost as if you're asking me to thank older generations from planting crops, as opposed to the ancestors who thought of the idea in the first place.

Well they did come up with things like the 4 course rotation, which is still used today, but hey you are right every generation that has gone before are a bunch of f wits who have just screwed it up for you. Soylent Green time I guess

In fact we know from the maths that there is no way to even predict with any certainty the outcome of policy changes. Hence, smart politicians change their views [b]based on the data[/b] (unfortunately people seem to not like this).

HAHA. If they did this, Ben Goldacre wouldn't be complaining. They change their views based on polling data, that is it.

Well they did come up with things like the 4 course rotation, which is still used today, but hey you are right every generation that has gone before are a bunch of f wits who have just screwed it up for you. Soylent Green time I guess

You mean the method that was in no way invented by baby boomers yes? But hundreds of years before they were born? 😀

and modified each generation since

As I said you are completely correct, slaughter everyone over the age of 35

Nahh

I think we should just privatise the NHS completely, for everyone....go further than the Americans. That will kill plenty of them, without having to gas them and use them for fuel :lol:. Cut social welfare for the benefit scrounging pensioners or at least hold them to some kind of means test like people of working age have to put up with. Completely cut the state pension for everyone and enact a massive state sponsored house building program, with no regard for retired NIMBYs.

Because, I like the Tories and the boomers, don't give a **** about anyone except myself. 🙂

And in today's paper:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/07/revealed-30-year-economic-betrayal-dragging-down-generation-y-income

Pigface - Member

and modified each generation since

As I said you are completely correct, slaughter everyone over the age of 35

Or better still nuke the world to leave only 1/4 of world population alive.

Why pussy footing in selecting who to nuke?

😈

No shotgun references, no ZM's oh dear you are slipping

Gen X here and I'm blinkin' marvellous me. I can put food on the table, roof over heads, bikes to ride and the odd snowy holiday.

My parents (war children) had the benefit of that mad economic growth, home ownership and pensions. But my mother can still remember the first time she saw a banana, had school friends asking for the cores of apples because that was the only fruit they could get (she was the greengrocer's daughter). She has a PhD in chemistry but gave up on science after being told that as a woman she could only ever be a lab assistant, never have charge of her own lab.

Life is pretty decent these days. And gen Y people are pretty much the same as baby boomers (human evolution ain't that quick) - but they are responding to a different context (ie life is good and staying that way, rather than life was not so good and it's getting better).

Edit - sadly my point is made.

Because, I like the Tories and the boomers, don't give a **** about anyone except myself

IGM, How can you say life is "good and staing better" for Gen Y if many of them have to live at home with their parents until they are 30's like Southern bloody Italy.

But lifes better cuz they gots ipads and mri scanners, yo? Shiney thing make it all better and those hospitals...they got scanners....just in case I get terminally ill at a young age, no matter how statistically unlikely....my life is so much better.

Because, I like the Tories and the boomers, don't give a **** about anyone except myself

Consider it the logical endpoint of boomer narcissism staring back at them in the mirror.

Re-read what I wrote. I've added some helpful tips.

life is good and staying that way (gen Y) rather than life was not so good and it's getting better (boomer)

I vaguely remember the 70s and clearly remember the 80s. I'd rather live now than then. Respect for folk with different coloured skin or people of a non-White Anglo-Saxon Male persuasion generally has improved greatly.
The ski & snowboard thread on here wouldn't exist, not because of the lack of an internet (though that would have been a problem) but because there wouldn't have been enough folk who could afford to ski (or found was of doing it cheap). I see some students at uni who have cars - no one had a car when I went.
The 90s were OK.

Downsides?
I do worry slightly about racism making a come back
And I agree that material goods (iPads, cars, clothes etc), of which people have vastly more now, do not make for happiness.
And I agree buying houses is more difficult than in the 1970-80s. But in the 1950s people didn't buy houses, and not do they in much of Europe. (OK cast generalisation)

And yes I agree with your point about the mirror. People are no different from their parents in many ways.

life is good and staying that way (gen Y) rather than life was not so good and it's getting better (boomer)

Not really. For a lot of gen Y life is not great and getting worse, and no big hope of it getting better - globalisation and immigration makes it harder for many of them to get real jobs, continued neglect of infrastructure and public services hit their chances of decent housing, education and health care, meanwhile global warming is starting to kick in causing real economic dislocation.

Steve Miller said he was a "Space Cowboy" in about 1970. Mind I think he was a Joker.

I blame the parents.

As an 'Xer' can I recommend getting off your tits and dancing in a field?

Pisses on economics.

Steve Miller said he was a "Space Cowboy" in about 1970. Mind I think he was a Joker.

Wasn't that Maurice?

also in a newspaper today:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2016/mar/07/whos-winning-find-out-how-your-income-compares-with-every-other-generation

But in the 1950s people didn't buy houses, and not do they in much of Europe. (OK cast generalisation)

In 1918 whilst 77 percent of people rented, just 1% of households socially rented and this reached a peak of 31% in 1981. Renting in 2011, was at 46 percent...london is in the 50s.

But yay for going back to the victorian period, the oiks shouldn't complain...they've never had it so good. Yay for Social progress!

Interesting.

Does seem to suggest that those in their twenties got particularly badly hit after Cameron gained power. Though they still do better than average now - whether they will when they retire is another question.

Generally though disposable income is trending towards the mean with a couple of exceptions.

Tom - look around. There's been plenty of social progress and not that much of it is going away soon. Houses ain't everything.

Now stop trying to wind me up - you might manage - and you're probably a very reasonable person that I could happily have this discussion with for hours over a pint or two. But this is my stop on the train.

IGM, in regards to more people renting before the 1950s kicked in....

http://www.victorianlondon.org/finance/money.htm

A sweage flusher could just about afford to rent an entire house in suburban Walthamstow during the victorian period.

How much do sewage flushers make now and could they afford to rent an entire house in Walthamstow on a single imcome?

I suspect that I am less financially well off than a sewage flusher in 19th century victorian England, and I'm working in the capacity of a scientist. Anyone care to explain to me how this is progress? I couldn't do that, even in some shitty part of Slough.

How much do sewage flushers make now

£45k based on a Google.

As an 'Xer' can I recommend getting off your tits and dancing in a field?

Pisses on economics.

Like.

Although not sure if I'm gen-x, early/mid 60's arrival here. Anyway, WGAF, where's the field?

How much do sewage flushers make now and could they afford to rent an entire house in Walthamstow on a single imcome?

Having a quick look at rightmove; renting a two bed house in Walthamstow starts from about £1.3k/month, so given the £45k figure above - yes they could probably afford to rent an entire house on a single income.

I'm a thirty something currently studying for a second degree with a bunch of early twenty somethings, and I reckon it's a fairly shit time to be a twenty something. The mountain of student debt awaiting them on graduation has sucked the joy out of being at university, which used to be about having more money and freedom than you could have conceived of even a few short years before. Now, with the exception of the private school / family money lot, they're all earnest and hard-working, hardly any of them take drugs and (judging from facebook) their idea of a night out seems to involve putting on make up and getting shit-faced in a flat, presumably because it's cheaper than going out.

As said in my first post , I'm 34 and feel caught right in the middle of the generation X and Y thing. I went to uny 3 years after the tuition fees came in , although they were much less than they are now. I also missed the boat with housing prices and so on. My old landlady , who was three years older than me , bought a house in hackney for nothing and has now knocked it down to build two houses on the same land and will make a million or so .i paid 800 quid a month to live there and that was 5 years ago.

I did however graduate in 2003 and walked into a job and have been employed ever since .

Thank god I also missed Facebook and Instagram when I was a teenager. looking at some teenagers Facebook pages now (that sounds creepy) it really is endless selfies and pouting . Not group photos, or bands or gigs or whatever . It's rough and probably has been done by all generations in some way or another , but it does strike me as being different to 'when I was a lad'

£45k based on a Google.

You mean a qualified sewage engineer right? As opposed to the victorian sewage flusher. Closest I can find on indeed is a Sewage technician which runs from 18-30k in London.