NYT profiles an example of 24-year-old entitlement FAIL

Agree. I did community college for a year and it was cinch to pay off.

You lose an aspect of student life, but you can have a little bit of a life after college.

 

If I would have graduated in the last 18 months and entered this job market, I would've strongly, strongly considered the military.

My cousin is 37 years old. Joined the Army at 18. He's set to retire from the Army next year and will receive a pension, 50 percent of his peak pay, for the rest of his life. And free, albeit shitty, health care. And he never once went into combat.

I didn't consider it when I graduated from school a decade ago. But I would now.

 

I am considering the military now. But really hoping it doesn't come to that. I think it's hard to enlist unless that's what you actually want to do.

 

No, I'm sorry, this really is a trend and an infuriating one, and you can see it all around you. From the Times story, in addition to the 14 percent unemployment among young adults, there are another 23 percent who aren't even bothering to look for a job. Why should they? Everything's taken care of and Mom still makes dinner, too. It is part of a great cultural shift that extends to the young who are employed too; I know managers in various industries who have attended seminars about relating to the younger worker.

Used to be, parents felt obligated to see to their children's needs until they were 18. When I was growing up, it was more like do what you can about college (although that was hardly universal and my parents had me make good use of student loans that I then repaid by myself). From there, covering the cost of a bachelor's degree became the starting point, and there was a lot of pressure to take care of the graduate degrees; now the master's is generally assumed to be on the folks' tab. Many parents also consider it their duty to help with the down payment on a home, and of course the wedding must be at the best hotel in the city. And that's just the financial part; as for the emotional cord-cutting, talk to any college professor about the rise in the number of parents who call to complain about their kids' grades.

The douchebag says, “I am beginning to realize that refusal is going to have repercussions. My parents are subtly pointing out that beyond room and board, they are also paying other expenses for me, like my cellphone charges and the premiums on a life insurance policy.”

Beginning to realize? Subtly pointing out? The fuck? It's been two years! The parents, and there are millions like them, should have given him 30 days before he started paying market-rate rent for the room and utilities. They need to take a look in the mirror and realize what they've done to destroy their child's work ethic and sense of independence. "The Millionaire Next Door" spent many many words on this topic, and the conclusion was: Do not give your child one red cent because it destroys their willingness to work for it, or to save once they get it.

So, mock the Times all you want, but the world really has moved this way.

 

Not debating that.

If 'you can see it all around you,' and I have no doubt you can, why did the reporter manage to only find one elitist nitwit to feature? How much better would this story have been with a variety of young frustrated job-seekers, instead of just this one smarmy punk?

 

agree. what a pompous little prick. also got some news for him. i have a couple friends that went to ivy league schools and have been teaching for 10-12 years and they make about 60k. wtf is this douche looking for.

 

He wants a fun job.

He wants something interesting.

He wants something handed to him on a silver platter.

 

Standard (if cliche) storytelling technique. "Humanize," they've been calling it since I've been around. I'd bet 80 percent of Times (and other newspaper) feature stories follow this format.

 

This line from the piece struck me:

“They are better educated than previous generations and they were raised by baby boomers who lavished a lot of attention on their children,” said Andrew Kohut, the Pew Research Center’s director.

I don't know that's true. Maybe more have college diplomas than the previous generation, but I'm not so sure that grade/ego inflation hasn't delusioned an entire generation into thinking they're better educated than they really are.

 

You're have trouble finding a steady job, even with such a steady demeanor? Wow! It really is tough out there.

 

Why doesn't the guy just go to law school?

 

Sounds like the average 24-year-old to me. And while the baby boomers see themselves in a much-too-flattering light, the generations that followed them have been filled with even more whiny, entitled assholes. I can only hope that the struggles of recent years will prove to be beneficial in that the upcoming generations will have some sense of sacrifice.