Any theories?
My main one is they watch more TV, rely on cable news for their info. My buddy's 70 something mom is like this. Has CNN/MSNBC on all day long.
One of the comments was
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Boomers lived life on easy mode - better economy, interest rates, no DEI, low crime, high-trust society, good stock market, low house prices, etc. This made them soft, lazy.
You'll have a guy who bought his house for $60k in 1982 tell a guy today to pull himself up by his bootstraps when that same house now costs $300k to buy. It's an impossible task. Unless the housing market completely collapses - something boomer politicians will never allow - the way things shook out is the old mortgaged the future of the young and simply took the money and run. They're all on golf courses in Florida while we're out here cleaning off the backs of trucks for a few extra dollars."
Boomers didn't live life on easy mode. Their parents loved through the depression and 2 World Wars. Many of their parents were scarred by this, and they were raised with a scarcity mentality. Some worked jobs full-time from the age of 13 to support their family after losing parents to war and and its after effects. A lot of them built their own homes.
They served in the military, then worked 2-3 jobs to pay their bills, raise a family, and save for the ffuture. They lived through high mortgage rates and gas rationing, Vietnam, and the cold war with higher prices on everyday goods than this generation has ever dreamed of.
The late 50s thru very early 70s saw a boom in US manufacturing. Our production was sold worldwide. Then the unions took over and union wages (and costs) went through the roof. Manufacturers moved south, bought cheaper parts and machines from countries without the same wage scale, and the death of our manufacturing began.
By the time 1982 came around, the Midwest was a shell of its former self. Unemployment was high and stayed there for a while as manufacturing began to shift massively overseas. The real unemployment numbers were hidden because many just stopped looking for work or took service jobs to survive. Actual wages dropped for many people, while average wages for new employment rose.
Minimum wage in 1982 went up to $2.50hr. Yep. $2.50. (Some big cities were higher, but none above $3.35.) It did that because millions of people could no longer find real wages and career employment. It also did that because an increasing number of 16-20 yr olds didn't have a hs diploma (effects of the war on education started in the late 1800s) and many of the ones who did graduate couldn't get into or afford college. They went into the military or trade schools to find work.
So, sure, a home in 1982 could be $60k as minimum wage was between $2.50-2.75hr. That same home could be $300k NOW (especially after the false scarcity created by the banks driving prices up the last 8 years). But anyone who has actually gone to work knows minimum wage for a FT job out there is $10-15 depending on the job. With a little effort, you can work as a server at a restaurant and make a LOT more per hour than that. Easily $20-25 an hour at a busy place. Staying home and pouting isn't going to get it done, but minimum wage is still 5x what it was in 1982, just like a home is 5x what it was in '82.
Nurses (male and female) make $27-43hr in Lexington KY. Certified software techs make $22-45hr.
I was at one time between jobs fighting for a $7hr job in the mid 80s. $7hr.... My buddy worked a little retail 2nd job at the holidays 2 years ago and got about $12hr. Never btched about it, because it was easy and had really flexible hours.
The only asholes on "easy mode" are the ones who aren't even trying to work, living off of their parents without contributing to anything but their dopamine addiction. Go fkng work!
Edit.....
Neighbor just paid 2 guys $500 to clear a lot of weeds, brush and debri. Took them a solid 6 hours in 32° weather. They said neither one complained or asked for anything. They just worked and got paid. $40hr before expenses.
Life is what you make of it.