unstabLized said:
What do you guys think? Did we have it better back then, or do we have it better now, even though there are way more options in our life?
In the United States, kids today have it worse. Here's a few facts that differ the Baby Boomers from Gen X or the Millenials:
-The worst economy in 70 years. Yeah, the Baby Boomers enjoyed some of the most rampant economic growth and real middle income gain in the last century. Today real gains for the middle class is almost nonexistent, and because of the most Conservative Congress in the last century (yes, this is true), there's absolutely no compromise when it comes to any bills. Thus, nothing gets done.
-Oh right, the worst use of the filibuster by Republicans in American history. Thanks to the inability to compromise (which EVERY Republican-dominated Congress/House has done in the past), the American citizens have had to suffer through a complete lack of legislation that might change things for several years now.
-Academic creep is the worst it's ever been. What's that, you ask? Well, ever heard anyone say "Bachelor's is the new High School Diploma"? Yeah, it's that. For the Boomers, an Associates (or any College at all) practically guaranteed a job and middle-class income. Today students are expected to do more and be better than their parents or grandparents ever were. It's why IQ scales have been continuously adjusted higher, it's why the SAT difficulty has been dramatically increased, and it's why current Pre-Professional students are not only expected to have Research, Volunteer, and Leadership experience - but also a 3.0+ GPA (and GPA-creep was only common for private schools with wealthy patrons). Fifty years ago a high GPA would have sufficed, and the rest - what is considered an "average" applicant these days - would have garnered several guaranteed acceptances at your top Universities. In addition to being expected to do more, in some fields the knowledge gained by Undergrads is OBSOLETE by the time they apply for Grad school (molecular genetics is one area that being out of date means not paying attention for about two years).
-Gen X / The Millenials are the first generations in United States History that cannot be expected to attain a higher level of quality of life than their parents. This is well documented, and is mostly due to the shitty amounts of middle class income rise over the past 30 years and rising prices.
-Prices for homes in the 1960's rarely broke $90k. The same home today can be bought for $250k. Note: Wages have not tripled. The same goes for cars, and electronics in general.
-So they want to ***** about Vietnam and Korea? Well, apparently they forgot the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the War On Terror in Afghanistan. The Iraq War - which was based on complete lies and continue for no apparent reason - lasted a decade. No, in terms of human life it didn't cost as much as Vietnam or Korea, but it cost the American public significantly in terms of economic stability. Neither of the last two wars were funded - they were all paid for by increasing the National Debt.
-The media corporations are fully allowed to lie, skew, and present completely biased views in lieu of traditional reporting. By law, prior to 2004, news organizations had to present balanced programming. Afterwards the corporations argued that there were enough outlets to offer the balanced views hollistically. The courts agreed, and FOX News jizzed its pants with Conservative fear-mongering and propaganda. Since the law's repeal was never really covered in the news (imagine that), everybody who trusted a single news source before just kept watching one - even as it churned out "infotainment" that offered a single-minded narrative.
-Corporations are now people, but only when it comes to political donations. This may not seem a particularly big burden to today's kids, but consider that most politicians spend time fundraising - not voting and reading bills. Unless you have hundreds of millions, most of which is going to be donated by various corporate sponsors, you cannot compete politically.
-The American Public is the least educated in science (or, at least seems to understand it the least) that it's been in a long time. Oddly enough, much of the bellyaching comes from the same Baby Boomer crowd that grew up in the Atomic Family era and saw the Moon Landing. They are perfectly willing to trust scientists when flying through a vacuum miles above our heads to our nearest celestial neighbor, but say that the burning of millions of gallons of oil a day causes global climate change (or argue that Evolution is real), and you have loads of skepticism. Because the public can't discern shitty science from good science, a lot more shitty science ("Complementary Medicine" and "Alternative Medicine") is happening.
-Because of the previously mentioned absolute bunk in terms of real income gain for the middle class over the last decade and nearly-complete assimilation of Feminism (a good thing), the most driven and capable people are having fewer children later in life. Where your parents/grandparents could expect to raise a family of 4 to 5 on a upper-middle-class salary with a decent quality of life, the same family size now requires triple the income.
-Obesity is an epidemic, and Type II Diabetes is following closely behind. The Baby Boomers are major contributors to this, but because most use Medicare/Medicaid (and simultaneously decry a single-payer health insurance option and/or "Socialist/Communist" taxes) it means the treatment burden is greater for every working person than ever before. Chronic conditions like those caused by obesity and Type II Diabetes cost significantly more than one-time acute conditions (like broken bones and gun wounds).
-Speaking of more "Socialist" programs, the Payers
ayee ratio for Social Security is the lowest in the history of the program. Whereas when the 50-60 year olds had jobs it was about a 23:1 ratio, it is now closer to 8:1. Paying in more to get out less.
So, at least in the United States, no. They didn't have it harder. What they mean is that the basic amenities (water, food, housing) was either harder to come by or of lower quality, or that their early life involved more physical activity. Whereas they might've walked to school two miles away and had to pump a well for water, now kids get bused to school and almost everybody has hot/cold taps. Maybe seatbelts and airbags, too?
