Forum Post: generation fuX-ed and bully boomers: a sad overlooked reality
Posted 10 years ago on Oct. 22, 2014, 11:35 a.m. EST by elf3
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-gen x really is the forgotten generation...we skipped college altogether and most who went didn't finish because financial aid wasn't keeping up with inflation they would get approved one year for a certain amount and the next year they got told to go get stuffed and were dropped by the schools for lack of payment.
Now we are trying to get work competing with millenials who weren't daunted by the cost, because - they want what they want now- and don't think consequences plus by then their parents made out huge from the housing boom and had massive equity to borrow against and had seen genx failing to thrive from what they thought a lack of degrees (but was really outsourcing forging its takehold) we were getting laid off more often than boomers- in those days layoffs went bottum up. So...they put their eggs into the millenial basket knowing someone will have to help with their retirement cuz they knew they were going to spend it all on toys and remodeling their kitchens a tenth time ( want what they want now- ala cabbage patch dolls) and they assumed their gen x kids were sensitive slacker fuck ups and would instill greed and ruthlessness and if need be degrees into their millenial kids- by god!
Gen x didn't have college funds either because our parents thought we could get good paying factory jobs or work our way up company ladders like they did. We are stuck in our late thirties in dead end jobs: degreeless, childless, and trying to start from scratch. By the time I reach retirement age my kids will be going to college except I still don't have any retirement or a child college fund going (god know what it will be by the time my kids go if i can ever afford to have any) since I still can't get a foothold in this ever growing corporate give me meets government grab economy. Should I go to college now? Should I have kids now? By the time my loans are paid off I will supposed to be retiring and my kids will be going to college and yeah in the interim my spouse's and my parents (who never planned or saved as most boomers) will need our help living. What a fucking conundrum...huh? Oh yes at my age I'm not in any bracket or demographic that qualifies for government help or backing so my interest will be 10 percent if I can even qualify for a student loan because my income is so stagnated and small compared to the cost of living...I call it the get stuffed ratio. Not to mention most evening credit courses in community colleges went bye bye to make way for single mothers hours accomodations... Complete with on site daycare centers. The fed loves single mothers.
Worse by far boomers are all doing reverse mortgages to live...our generations are going to have to fund the largest retirement generation yet as well as bail out all the unpaid nursing bills. Instead of selling homes and opening up the market to the younger folks - they have sold them off to banks...where is all of that going to lead? That generation is taking our whole economy to the grave with themselves. Its really unfathomable ...a generation that could have changed the world...stole the ball, sold it to corporate america, and retired to the song 'lust for life' while watching the ensuing dodgeball game their kids will have to play...jeering at us that we don't have the smarts or gumption not to get slammed or too lazy to grab the ball and run away with it like they were able to. We are generation fucked! And have sacrificed our whole lives and productive years so boomers can have it all (and sell it to wallstreet for extra).
This may seem bitter but seriously gen x needs solutions! Stop blaming yourselves and come out of the shadows of disenfranchisement.
'The problem is, with adulthoods repeatedly shipwrecked by economic disasters, Xers might have neglected to track the crossing over. Susan Gregory Thomas, author of the resonant memoir ”In Spite of Everything,” says that many Xers “are always living in a state of triage, always in a survivalist mode. We’re not thinking long-term.”'
3 recessions and counting.
Everyone was sure happy days were here again when the Allied victory ended WWII. Little did we know a Capitalist’s conspiracy would create conditions that would bring the Great Depression back.
The government was expected to have known better. The irony is that Marxism predicted what has happened. For 60 years our government had been holding the world anti-Communist/anti-Marxist coalition together without fully understanding how to develop a sustainable national economy free from panics, crashes, and bubbles. The laissez-faire approach to governance allowed this to happen. As if accidentally the US Economy would keep chugging along great as the middleclass jobs were shipped to cheap labor markets abroad.
"If capital is not treated equally, political equality is an illusion, for capital buys political influence and power. Capital that can buy political power gains political protection of its extraordinary privileges to control rentier income streams, income which furthers its political power."
How can new capital accessible to middle class be created?
http://www.maxkeiser.com/2014/06/sorry-youre-not-allowed-capital-segregation-and-rising-inequality/
Every generation has its own peculiar challenges, pains, and triumphs. It is nearly impossible to convey the fears, the efforts, the despair, and the exhilaration to someone else of a different generation or even of the same generation. Let us not seek to divide but join together to seek common grounds to push forward together as one people - Americans.
Significant dates for me were: 11/22/1963, 09.11.1989, 9/11/2001, 8/29/2005, 10/29/2012. Knowing what my ancestors had gone through, I feel that I have been truly blessed that I have never had to hold a weapon to take another person's life, make a life-or-death choice in dispensing antidote, or be hit on the forehead by the police. I like the semblance of peace and the exhilaration of the triumph of freedom in my lifetime.
It is not true that an individual makes no difference. I have seen that certain strategically positioned individuals made huge differences, in certain circumstances. Often, it was the devastation of a forest fire that brought out the long dormant and most beautiful flowers - a baptism by fire.
I have to admit I went through a period where I absolutely HATED the Greatest Generation.I figured they had a chance to get rid of the Parasites and chose to get sucked into the MIC.Then I looked Deeper,and when I did.I found it harder to blame them for turning into Zombies after having endured the Depression and WW2.We don't live in those times.We don't know what we would do in their place.My parents came along after the War-married in 1947.I also bitterly blamed them for their selfishness and chickenhearted,chickenhawk political attitudes.My generation is the Boomtail.We came along just in time to miss out on affordable higher education.I was afraid to borrow to stay in college,and dropped out.I was afraid to have children because I felt Western Civiization was Doomed. Just in time for No Second Chance USA.The Boomers consumed everything.It was like following in the wake of a swarm of Locusts.My generation did nothing to put matters right.We suffered a very high Mortality from Drugs,Suicide,Alcoholism and AIDS.Looking for ways to excuse the Malfeasance of the Boomers is futile.What great Trauma rendered them into Emotional Cripples like their parents? None that I know of.My generation suffered the trauma of drastically reduced expectations.Instead of becoming Politically Aware & Active,they sank into the Abyss of Alcoholism,drug Abuse and Hedonism,some joining the Boomer's Ball,creating Debt instead of fighting the Debt Mentality and Economic System.I have tried to make the World a better place and failed.I have done a fwe good paintings-a feat so difficult I never thought I could do it.Looking back,events seem to correlate to the integration of African Americans into the mainstream in legal terms-the Voting Rights Act,Brown vs Board of Education,etc.These are things my White Parents never saw coming.I have come to believe that RACISM and MILITARISM are the driving forces behind what TPTB do.And the obsessional pursuit of Power and Wealth.Meanwhile,intergenerational recriminations will not help us now.I apologize for Us,The Poor Old Loser Boomtails.We let you guys down,without a doubt.
I think you hit the nail there: "no second chance usa". That above everything is the problem. A finite moment when you can catch that supposed piece of pie. If you miss it poof you just run the conveyor belt. A whole life defined by a missed step...a mistake...a miscalculation...a wrong step. In America that missed step begins a definitive downward spiral. Car won't pass inspection, no way to get to work, the boss grows impatient, replaces you and now you can't pay your rent, the landlord grows impatient. A quick step to homelessness. Credit cards get late landlord sues, credit ruined, can't get another apartment or job due to credit checks and late bills showing up. So many steps to get back up. A short slip down.
One missed step should not determine your fate. What kind of land of opportunity has so few you can catch that if you miss just one you may have missed the boat forever. The Film Pursuit of Happiness did a great job with this issue. Second chances are almost fiction. So much potential can more easily be thrown down a drain than catch the belt. Especially to say that between the ages of 14 and 18 will determine an entire life to come at such an underdeveloped stage of a dependent person who can't even make those decisions which will effect the outcomes of their lives on their own.
I know I'm generalizing but there is such extreme pushback of even suggesting the generational gaps I feel a need to challenge it to the extreme. There is intense propaganda placing blame on the individual as opposed to the circumstances and barriers to success right now. It feels oppressive and controlling ...societal gaslighting denying the circumstances and conditions surrounding our struggles.
It's inspiring to know that you can follow a different path and succeed still. That right now s considered a frivolous self indulgent pursuit. Thanks for proving otherwise!
"land of opportunity" not the land of plenty or support
Land of illusion...followed by regret, struggle, and shame ( plenty of support for those in the right bracket) ...mediocrity succeeding where greatness often can not based on a whole lot of luck.
It's almost like a Big Time Knockout Game.
we need ambitious public projects
Yes Matt Holck.I am going to go to the Left Forum to tell them that.I have some ideas but I need help.They have the Students.Maybe they know some people who are willing to try to think outside The Box.I sure Hope so.
When we entered the workforce boomers greeted us with folded arms, bullying, and outright rage and to this day still discriminate against gay employees. Stubbornly refusing to let us open minded xers have an inch or even show us where the bathrooms are forget job training or even kindness or sympathy for you just starting out.... They subserviated us in every way possible....(turned thoughtful, intelligent financially responsible intuitive, creative generation that had to show them how to turn on their computers....who bought up their hippy dreams and adopted their change the world bs) into their lapdogs and workhorses ala " working girl". They still think they did change the world...they think their success now is the fruits of their labor instead of realizing nothing changed and they just sold out...they congratulate themselves with entitlements and reward themselves by taking advantage of us in every way. They won't even let us have their crumbs. They use Millenials as their toadies. Who I'm sorry to say ( at least in all of my years of work experience)... do their bidding with glee. For all you millenial occupiers who can't get jobs ( wait til u see what it is like in the workforce). You think you are depressed now? Boomers are still in the workforce btw refusing to retire until they can afford their dream car Corvettes or Hawaiian retirements. And they just love being in charge really their favorite if only hobby (aside from shopping of course).
Another little known or at least little talked about tidbit is that many of us genexers helped our parents through rough spots or had parents who opened credit with their names when they turned 18. We carried credit debt not from ourselves but because boomers can't control spending even when they do it with their kids credit. This further added to the roadblocks they faced trying to establish themselves, get apartments, or get student loans. Sure you could prosecute your parents ( when living with them)? Plus they promised to pay us back...they all filed bankruptcy after their divorces...and then made it impossible for us when the bankruptcy laws were changed. We got stuck carrying the debt they created and the unscrupulous banks refused to help remedy the problem slapping on over the limit and jacking interest to over 30 percent...the sad part is a lot of the divorces happened because banks were mailing boomer wives credit cards in their husbands names without ever confirming consent. This broke up a lot of homes and caused a lot of financial hardship our generation grew up experiencing and wearing the fallout of it.
I'm not even going to mention the great housing horde ( rental and flipping markets) jesus we can't even buy cheap used furniture because the have to refurbish and flip it on ebay...greedy little paws and everything is a market mentality. Junk jewlery, yard sales and flea markets...they took the who dinnglers and took the who beast...and the last little who kernel from the last little who mouse and now there is no possibility for you to afford a house or even used couch.
There really is no way to know what any of us would have done were we in the Boomer's place.Would anyone have done things differently based on the information,technology and social mores of the time? I was wrong when I said the Boomers are not scarred by traumatic experiences.The First Cut was the Deepest-the Assassination,in Broad Daylight,on a Mellow Texas Morning,on the Public Streets of a Great American City,JFK was shot down like a Dog.He was Their Guy.They were looking forward to a bright future.And then it was Gone.And Oswald died publicly days later in the same way-public execution.And the Killings continued every time Anybody got their Hopes up.The horror of Vietnam-in those days the Media reported the whole thing and it was ON TELEVISION Every Single Night.And over 50,000 of them went into the Meat Grinder.We can play the Blame Game,or Study Revenge,or even just give up.All of that has been done and didn't help.Time for some SOLIDARITY,IMO.
I care what is happening now- the hording...the greed and wealth gap that is generational. I live in a lower income suburb...I walk my dog around and there are no children(not like when I was a kid) like no kids playing no neighborhood hide and seek no sounds of laughing or playful yelling. It is eerie ...there are really expensive vehicles in the driveways...paid landscapers manicure every lot...the people are home all day ( retired). All boomers....almost all. It is like some ghost town. Pretty old houses that could desperately use a lot of sprucing up...you'd expect to see young couples working on them painting up... and kids and dogs. Nope they are in there watching their flat screens all day. Small dogs who scarcely get walked yip out from the windows. Out of shape older people in track suits waddle out to their $ 50,000 cars. Probably headed off to the mall. While I have nothing against older people what I see is that younger generations have been segregated. Even so called lower income boomer houses are worth triple the beat up forclosures we can buy and in the cheapest place you can live their paper value is too high for younger gen incomes to afford... when we try to buy the cheapest properties some boomer old landlord steps in and outbids with a cash offering. They won't let us have any of it...not one inch...we can't get in even into the lower class areas. True story I bid on a house which was missing any walls inside and needed new everything. Excite because best I could afford. A decrepit old piece of shit scumbag pulled up in a brand new Corvette with a twenty something drugged out whore on his arm. He scared me and the realtor coming in no appt walking around like he was the owner. He said " I could rent this out real easy" ...he looked at me and my husband and said "nice and cozy my tennants could move right in." He said he would buy it outright with cash. Fha was a 300 page nightmare process anyway and because of peeling paint no less wouldn't approve our loan. With all the delays ...investor was able to bid. True story! Probably some drugee section 8 living in it now with state paying that landlord 1500 a month bringing down the neighborhood.
I want some young neighbors...I want to see you fixing up your house ...gardening...kids playing in the yard. The boomers are busily building row house condos that look like giant sheds on the sides of the highway almost 300k ( no joke on top of a landfill or worse some Cordovan properties overpriced with shitty carpeting)1500-2000 a month for you. But I want to get you in I want you to have some loopholes...a way in to something satisfying...something that is not a scam ! I got lucky...I jumped through so much crazy insane tape to have something I can call my own. It feels good..but....I want you to have it too only I know how hard it is. No more renting...no more being relegated to mass produced overpriced condos or apartments. That is not the American Dream!!!
Even if you manage to grab a corner of it...Enter the ones working for the state fining us and halting u at every curve...200 dollars parked too far from curb...500 bucks failure to pull homeowner fixer permit...car fails inspection yet again...need a new exhaust..taxes go up again....working hard to keep boomers getting fat on their state jobs. A constant triage. We have nothing spare to pay them...it is food from our table, it's a future that has not started...the baby we keep putting off....and they take and take and take.
And take some moar
Horrid.There are lots of Mansionlike Homes around here where you never see a living Soul.There is a Supernasty 1% Boomer couple who bought a House way Back in the Woods.We are their nearest Neighbor.They wasted NO TIME making sure we understood they are Better than Us.They live on 200 acres of woods 1&1/2 mi. from the road but they go BERSERK if you go anywhere near their House.So we figure they have a huge hoard of Gqld and Silver,and they are attempting to Hide from the Zombie Apocalypse.I am 100% certain that Signs directing Looters to their house will appear in the event of Civil Unrest.Because you really should NOT treat your neighbors like Shit.It's a Bad Policy.
Ha ...Depends on your neighbors...I guess ?personally I'm a fan of keeping to myself and leaving people alone...but I will help anyone who needs it.
Neighborliness is in short supply around here.People hassle us to buy our land because they know we are poor.I think they hate that Poors own the best piece of land around here.Vultures.Hoping to make out off somebody else's back.People around here are barely civil until they find out you own more land than them.A materialistic,greedy,grasping,dog-eat-dog attitude that works good now but in the future may cost them their lives.People are worth more than any amount of property or money.Treasure of the Sierra Madre?
I hope you own the note... I've hear stories where people can buy your note then if you are one day late on mortgage boom. Rich people are getting away with far too much. We need to bring back a fist full of justice...what can you do to protect yourself from them? Law isn't on our side...they need the threat of violence.
No Mortgage.The land is valuable-but the prices here are depressed.We probably would sell if we could get a high price.The most you can get here is 1200usd/acre.Ridiculous.
I agree that baby boomers are the biggest dicks, but Gen X'ers are dicks too. They never try to change the status quo. They just whine about not having it as good as the boomers. They will be screwing over us next generations just as bad . Gen X'ers have a death grip on the old boomer society that soon must be changed.
Do you think gen xers will lift a finger to help change things? No way. They're just going to hand off a broken boomer system for us next gen's to change.
Thanks alot Gen X.
Genexers never got to run in the race let alone hold any baton...we are still trying to get jobs and housing. We were the generation locked out of renting during the bubble rents doubled then tripled in one decade, jobs got outsourced and consolidated, and college aid was cut. I've seen rich bosses finance their kids college with sallie mae because they hide income in trusts and overseas...and apparently pay people to work the system. Meanwhile I kept plugging away as a secretary watching my tax dollars rise to almost a third of my pay ( no write offs or kids and my pay decreased below my starting out days fifteen years of stagflation actually deflation). I financed rich kids to get educations and become my boss and get ahead. Same goes with fannie you can qualify making like 400,00 as a couple on high end housing! The rich are dipping in ...working the system....not only inherently holding the baton...cock blocking the working joes and tripping them up. I'm pointing this out to you so you know what's coming. I don't think I should remain quiet...shining a light so you don't get the same surprises! Genexers are outnumbered like crazy there aren't enough of us to combat boomers. We have tried. We need you Millenials on our side not theirs. But that isn't what I see happening out there . Maybe in this niche...but we need more!!! Don't worry we aren't getting a piece of the economy its going to skip right over us. All we have left is to try to salvage our dignity and keep others from enduring the same fate. There are a good number of x ers for sure that went into high tech computers and are living just fine that's not going to last as they get replaced by Millenials and insourced labor as well as programs that replace them. They are in a bubble and just don't know it.
at least, they look for jobs for young people
or pay that lip service