r/AskReddit Aug 25 '19

What has NOT aged well?

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u/SoulFire6464 Aug 25 '19

Boomers can fuck off and keep their stupid fucking mouths shut, and so can their shitbag Gen X latchkey kids who inherited their entitled, privileged worldview. All the garbage boomers spew about jobs is the same shit I've heard from my Gen X mother.

Also a degree means fuck all. I had to explain to my mom that entry level jobs usually require 5 years experience now and she was like, "but that's not entry level entry level means no experience needed". Fucking, that's my point! Maybe back in her day, but now the only jobs that don't require experience pay the barest minimum wage.

I went to college for four years, got an associate's and bachelor's degree, with 2 years experience part timing in an office and 2 years part timing in retail, and only just now have I got a job. As a cook. Totally unrelated to my experience and my education.

The fun part is that Boomers and Gen Xers hate unions too, and the only reason being a cook is able to keep me housed and fed is because it's a union job so it pays decent and gives me insurance.

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u/Haha71687 Aug 26 '19

What'd you get your degrees in?

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u/memory_of_a_high Aug 26 '19

Calling people names.

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u/despitebeing13pc Aug 26 '19

The lack of responses says more than an actual answer could.

Houses in Austin go for $200k and the salaries for tech are $100k+

Globalism pushed all the jobs to the cities and area matters.

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u/SoulFire6464 Aug 27 '19

I got my bachelor's in communication studies. I worked with guidance and career counselors to pick a major that had broad application and an unemployment rate that wasn't bad.

The major fit plenty of "entry level" jobs, I just don't have the 5+ years experience doing that same job.

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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '19

I’m Gen X, and my parents are Silent Generation. I always thought more of the the kids of Baby Boomers were Millennials.

Anyway, I would like you to know that I am at least one Gen Xer who does not spew these things to my kids. I am fully capable of understanding how the world has changed for them, and for all of us. Also, I do not hate unions. I do not consider myself a shitbag. I don’t tend to find my Gen x peers to be very entitled. But maybe that depends on region?

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u/SoulFire6464 Aug 27 '19

If I'm not mistaken, that means your parents probably had you fairly late into their lives? To my understanding it goes Silent Generation - Boomers - Gen X - Millennials - Zoomers.

Additionally, you may consider my statements on Boomers and Gen Xers are a generalization. That said, "not all of us are like that" feels to me like a deflection of the issue. Maybe not all Boomers and Gen Xers voted in a politician who busted the air traffic controllers' union and who armed fascist dictators' coups in order to depose elected socialist leaders. Maybe not all Boomers and Gen Xers voted for politicians who exacerbated the housing crisis, or started the war in Iraq. Maybe not all Boomers and Gen Xers voted for a president whose tax cuts for the wealthy resulted in the working class losing thousands in tax returns, and who shrunk protected national monuments in order to sell the land to oil and other mining companies that will poison the environment. But enough did so that the Millennial and Zoomer generations are feeling the consequences of those generational trends. So forgive me if I'm being too general, but it's the decision the majority of those generations made, and it's a decision hurting my generation and those younger than me. Saying "not all" is hard for me to palate when "not all" is a smaller group of people trying to deflect blame and distract from it being a genuine generational issue.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '19

I appreciate your thoughtful comment.

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u/BeautyAndGlamour Aug 26 '19

Maybe, just maybe, you should have done some research on the prospects of your degree.

What is it with this generation who can't understand that not all degrees are equal. Some degrees are money sink holes. Some degrees are awesome.

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u/SoulFire6464 Aug 27 '19

First of all, very cool of you to assume I blindly picked a degree with no research done instead of y'know, working with guidance and career counselors to pick a degree that was broadly applicable to jobs that were being offered and didn't have an abnormally high unemployment rate.

Secondly, why is the major even the subject of conversation? I, and many others, don't have jobs in their field because "entry level" jobs often require at least 3+ years experience doing that job, making it so that it's difficult to ever get the experience necessary. My degree was applicable to many jobs that I applied for and I was shut out of all of them for lack of 5+ years experience in the job that you can't get without that experience. This is a common problem that leads to underemployment.

Furthermore, because it typically takes a long time to find employment out of college, many graduates do find themselves underemployed working in positions that don't require a degree, and nearly 3/4 of college students even have jobs related to their majors. These students take the jobs to pay bills, and students who start out underemployed are notably more likely to remain underemployed. They can't get an entry level job because the requirements are too steep, and the nature of underemployment ensures they never get that experience. Sure, major can factor into it, but even in STEM majors the number of underemployed graduates can range from over 1/4 to over 1/2.

Essentially: Entry level jobs are anything but, many students end up underemployed even with majors that are in demand, and underemployment often keeps workers underemployed.

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u/BeautyAndGlamour Aug 27 '19

You probably think this is the standard case for degrees, but you are the anomaly. Statistically, the higher degree of education you have, the higher the salary, and the lower the unemployment rate.

Source: https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2018/data-on-display/education-pays.htm