Kids these days

[drwex]

http://lancehaun.com/kids-these-days/

An interesting blog entry in which Lance Haun (who used to write the "Your HR Guy" blog) takes to task critics of millenials in general, and of Talia Jane in particular. ICYMI, Ms Jane used to work at Yelp (she got fired after publishing this piece and having it go semi-viral). She wrote a piece on Medium addressed to Yelp's CEO. It is indeed a cringe-worthy piece, full of the things that all-knowing 25-year-olds are so often very wrong about.

That is mostly Haun's point. We old fogeys were 25 once, thought we knew it all (and didn't), and made some of the same mistakes Ms Jane appears to have made. She's not uniquely bad, nor are her generation (millenials) uniquely bad. Haun points out that much of the criticism of Ms Jane includes classist and ageist privilege assumptions, and that though she might have been publicly wrong and foolish Ms Jane is far from alone in being an English major college graduate who cannot find a job that pays a living wage. Haun also takes the time to swipe at the techno-riche who expect there to be parking attendants and baristas and other service workers helping maintain their lifestyles in towns where there is no affordable housing, nor any of the other social supports that someone making barista or parking attendant wages would need to get by because they sure can't make it in Seattle or Portland or pretty much any city in CA on that income.

And yes, this is about politics because I think this exchange illustrates much of the frustration that is driving angry frightened people to vote for Trump and angry hopeful people to vote for Sanders.

Finally, it's about parenting because in a couple years my elder is going to decide about college and I can't figure out what I should tell him to do.

Comments

[fidgetmonster.livejournal.com]

Personally I think that college is a great place to continue your education while also getting to practice being an adult in a safety-net environment. Is your not knowing what to tell your eldest stem from concern about graduating with tons of debt and lowered employment prospects to pay down that debt? I still think there are plenty of options for reasonable education (e.g., state schools). Now they -are- saying that a Masters just for the hell of it, or for the slight increase in pay you will garner, won't pay off for you. But again, there are still programs with scholarships, for those truly intent. If he wants to be a doctor or lawyer then the debt seems to be part of the deal.

(My parents are great fans of Davidson College in NC, because they are dedicated to every student graduating with zero debt. )

It's kind of funny to see all the backlash against millennials with not too many people pointing out how they got that way. That it's the genXers fault for raising these self-entitled folks. And hopefully the younger genXers will learn from this and alter their parenting. Not that it is easy, not having a crystal ball or anything. My boyfriend's daughter just admitted to me that she "doesn't get [as in grok] money". She said she didn't understand how it worked really, so didn't understand why it affected our choices. And that's not a one-lesson type of wisdom to impart.

[dcltdw]

Out of curiosity, what of Jane's piece is cringe-worthy?

[ckd]

As noted in one of the comments on Haun's piece, Talia Jane was also starting from a place where she didn't have the support structure or role modeling that many of us got from our parents.

http://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-1374-7-things-i-learned-as-accomplice-to-mass-murder.html

[drwex]

For my kid to go to college means either he's going to continue living in the privilege bubble he's had all his life (and that he still thinks is invisible despite his parents' efforts) or he'll graduate with crushing debt. Or maybe he should skip college and just learn a trade directly? I dunno.

We've tried to teach the kids about money, at least.

[drwex]

As Haun points out, she appears to have made choices that a more reflective person would not have made. For example, who moves into a situation where rent will consume 80% of your income?

[drwex]

Wow, that's a WHOLE new level of weird.

[dcltdw]

Someone who's taking a risk and moving to a city with a lot of jobs? I'm not sure how moving to Topeka or North Dakota or West Slovenia will solve her problems. Be broke because of no jobs, or be broke because of living is outstripping her earnings.

My point is, I think you're skating near (if not over) the line of holding millenials to the standards of our youth, which is not valid. (Why, back in our day, we made good money clubbing baby dinosaurs over the head!) I'm just puzzled, because I think you agree that, hey now, don't do that.

I may be just having a reading comprehension fail, in which case, mea culpa.

[drwex]

I'm not holding her to any standards. I tend to agree with Haun that she made decisions an older and more wise/experienced/reflective person would not have made. I further agree with Haun that her choices don't mark her as particularly stupid or evil, nor do they serve as an exemplar of what's wrong with the millenials (imo nothing, but you wouldn't know it from the reactions to her piece).

[dcltdw]

Gotcha. Reading comprehension fail on my part, sorry about that.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Oh this is THAT piece. I missed that. (I had read the Cracked article earlier and had heard the follow-up that some money-related article was written by the same girl, but I didn't make the connection.)

[aelf.livejournal.com]

Aren't most of the older millenials children of the younger boomers, with some being children of the older Xers?

My husband and I are middle-of-the-age group Xers and we have a 12 year old. For where we live, we're pretty average in terms of parent age and child age.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

Plus a likely strong need to live alone in an apartment.