I feel sorry for the younger generation

Your Star said:

I call bull. My generation works just as hard as any American generation prior to us. The difference being is that we are less compensated than those previous generations. It's not a defeatist attitude, it's just plain reality. No one is quitting here, I sure as hell ain't. However, we must recognize the reality we are in if we ever want to navigate through it.

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And now I call bull. Today's generation does not know what its like to work in the fields starting at age 13. It does not know what its like to wade through thousands of chickens to pick up dead ones. And pray to god that you don't miss any because if you do and find it on the next go round its slimy as all **** due to the heat in the buildings being so hot that their bodies decomposes to the consistency of molasses. Your generation does not know what it means to work cement and lift it by hand or with a dolly and set it up to make that pretty bird bath or water fountain or picnic table. This generation does not know what its like to go out and gather wood just to stay warm. It does not know what its like to build a bar in a day with neighbors help. It does not know how to dig ditches or trenches with only shovels.

Now...Does this apply to ALL millennials? No. Never said or meant to imply such. But a lot do not know these things. Are there types of work that millennials do that can be considered hard work? Absolutely. But only if they stayed away from gender studies and worked towards degrees that involved things like doctors, business 101 etc etc. Hell, even lawyers work can be considered hard work compared to what I see of millenials now a days.

Note: I'm also talking mainly about millenials raised in the US. I have far more respect toward millenials of..say Japan, than I do of our own here in the US. In the US our millennials have been coddled and swaddled.

NeverTrumpGOP said:

Actually you need to pick the right college and the right major and get certified and a masters degree. Or post half naked pictures of yourself and be hot.

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That is a myth...well...the first part. I'm sure the second part there might have some validity to it.

JustHanging said:

Kal, I'm sincerely sorry to hear that. Best wishes to you and your family.

You're still a lot better off than 90% of the world, so as we say in my neighbourhood....keep your pecker up!

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Yes, I am better off than lots of parts of the world. I have no illusion to that and is why I roll my eyes at those complaining about not owning houses and the costs of mortgages, children etc etc. I'm sure as hell a lot better off than some kid that has to eat dirt patties just to feel full.

But...don't feel sorry for me. Just don't be like me. Use my story as an example of things NOT to do so that your life can be better. It's the only reason I shared it. I do not want or need anyone feeling sorry for me.

lwf said:

Isn't the tax and regulation reform focused on Wall Street? Permanent tax cuts to the biggest and most profitable corporations? Are we waiting for this to trickle down to Main Street?

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No, they are not focused on Wall Street, though Wall Street can benefit.

Those actions are directed at ALL businesses...not just the biggest and most profitable corporations. Mom and Pop businesses benefit, too. These all resulted in increases in the American economy across all industries and, more importantly, increases in jobs and wages. That's Main Street...not Wall Street.

aks said:

What happens to middle class disposable income was the price of goods increase? What does that do to main street? Is your contention that the trade war is causing prices to drop?
From all data, eh? Can you post a link to anything that shows local businesses booming?

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Can you link to anything that shows prices of things are increasing?

Here's something that shows manufacturing is increasing: https://www.instituteforsupplymanagement.org/about/MediaRoom/newsreleasedetail.cfm?ItemNumber=31086

Here's something that shows consumer spending is booming:

Shoppers delivered the strongest holiday sales increase for U.S. retailers in six years, according to early data.

Total U.S. retail sales, excluding automobiles, rose 5.1% between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 from a year earlier, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks both online and in-store spending with all forms of payment. Overall, U.S. consumers spent over $850 billion this holiday season, according to Mastercard.

[…] Retailers entered the holidays with momentum as online sales jumped 26.4% from a year earlier between the Wednesday before Thanksgiving through Black Friday.

[…] Sales at department stores fell 1.3% in the period tracked by Mastercard, in part due to store closings. Stores that mainly sell apparel, however, experienced robust sales, growing 7.9% during the same period. Overall, sales from bricks-and-mortar stores rose 3.3%.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-ho...ly-data-show-11545777668?ns=prod/accounts-wsj

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That's all Main Street.

Reading many of the posts of those here, striving to make a living after college esp....are high schools not providing counselors anymore to help plan future education or opportunities?

IMO it's the parents responsibility to see that their kid is prepared to move on into the world as a contributor and having talked to many parents about this, I hear little more than, 'we didnt want to pressure them into a decision,' 'he/she didnt want to talk about it,' and 'we wanted to let him or her find her own direction.' :roll:

So then where are the schools to hold both parents and kids accountable? Have programs that MAKE the kids FOCUS on choosing careers after high school and then follow thru with the right classes/requirements in HS.

And then these school counselors should be letting parents and kids know what jobs/professions are hiring in their area. Discourage kids from preparing for jobs that arent available. I agree all kids arent meant for college. There are many skills and trades.

But we need to put an end to kids coming out of high school without a plan, or with unrealistic plans, and then complaining that there are no jobs. IMO it's the parents and the school's responsibility to prepare them for the jobs available.

IMO too many come out of high school and 'just let life happen' to them. I call BS on so many that 'need some time to figure out their lives.' BS, you have 4 ys of HS and the summers to prepare...for FREE, on the govt.

Mycroft said:

No, they are not focused on Wall Street, though Wall Street can benefit.

Those actions are directed at ALL businesses...not just the biggest and most profitable corporations. Mom and Pop businesses benefit, too. These all resulted in increases in the American economy across all industries and, more importantly, increases in jobs and wages. That's Main Street...not Wall Street.

Click to expand...

Any business with a tax rate of less than 20% didn't benefit. Tax reductions are an artificial inflation of profits. Any profit not produced directly by increased business is not a benefit to the economy. It's a giveaway to the business owner and nothing more. Any business owner who increased wages or hired more people based solely on the profit generated from reduced taxes made a potentially costly business decision. Better to pocket that money and base your wages and hiring on the actual metric of how many people are using your product or service.

Real profits are generated by consumers purchasing your goods or service. Better to put that money into the pockets of customers than to reduce taxes on the business owners. That is the real way to boost an economy.

Most here are right. Yep, most here know what needs to be done to be successful.

However, the barriers are inflation and debt all of which reduce the chances and the numbers of people financially able.

I do recall the days when people on their wages could actually afford things.


Example: As a kid, I knew personally a typical middle class family with a two bedroom 3 story tudor in Detroit during [its] heyday.

Mothers didn't work.

They went out to dinner once a week, took two weeks vacation every summer, got a new Chevy every year,

from 1953 to 1961, added a two car garage and a beautiful room on the back of the house.

This was on get this: $8,500/yr. At 2000 hours...$4.25/hr.

Today that would require about $100,000/yr. Those jobs for a non-degreed 'engineer' and for 80% of workers...just do not exist.

Many of those are filled by H1B visa holders, keeping the wages down.

Look, let's use the business community to see inside.

Along came the 80s and 90s prior to the dot.com push.

Stock holders reports and business publications said that the rising profits were due mostly to

a reduction and maintenance of lower labor wages. Many 100s of the Fortune 1000 completely eliminated merit systems

and vested retirement...even IBM.

So yes, one can still achieve great success but it costs more, takes more time and fewer do make it.

Recall blogroids, until the great depression beginning with the crash of '29, 90% of houses were paid in full...no mortgage.

Then came subsidies for the real estate, home bldg. industry through home guarantees for mortgages. mortgage tax deduction,

inflation in housing began in earnest. A new middle class home in the 60s that was $9,000 by the 90s, was $200,000.

Inflation, speculation so now the industry depends upon all of these govt. subsidies or new houses simply would not sell.

Kal'Stang said:

And now I call bull. Today's generation does not know what its like to work in the fields starting at age 13. It does not know what its like to wade through thousands of chickens to pick up dead ones. And pray to god that you don't miss any because if you do and find it on the next go round its slimy as all **** due to the heat in the buildings being so hot that their bodies decomposes to the consistency of molasses. Your generation does not know what it means to work cement and lift it by hand or with a dolly and set it up to make that pretty bird bath or water fountain or picnic table. This generation does not know what its like to go out and gather wood just to stay warm. It does not know what its like to build a bar in a day with neighbors help. It does not know how to dig ditches or trenches with only shovels.

Now...Does this apply to ALL millennials? No. Never said or meant to imply such. But a lot do not know these things. Are there types of work that millennials do that can be considered hard work? Absolutely. But only if they stayed away from gender studies and worked towards degrees that involved things like doctors, business 101 etc etc. Hell, even lawyers work can be considered hard work compared to what I see of millenials now a days.

Note: I'm also talking mainly about millenials raised in the US. I have far more respect toward millenials of..say Japan, than I do of our own here in the US. In the US our millennials have been coddled and swaddled.

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This is just complete and utter garbage. Yes, farming jobs are less common and child labor laws are a thing, however, that does not permit one to call an entire generation lazy. It's a ridiculous notion. Also, I'm assuming you're Gen X? Even if you did all the work you described above, it's not that much different than what farm kids do now. You weren't especially hardworking compared to the millennial generation, that was just the environment you were raised in. Though, funny you mention digging ditches as I have a cousin who worked in high school literally digging ditches to help pay for future education. Regardless, this work is not better nor indicates a greater work ethic in a person.

I find the notion that my generation has been coddled as a rather odd notion and one that doesn't really hold up to scrutiny. We've entered into an economy that gives very little value to the work we do, while the costs of living continues to rise. Our wages do not match those cost of living increases, and we often have to work multiple jobs while also going to school. I worked 2 jobs for a substantial period of time while going to school full time. That's a helluva a lot of work. Particularly when those jobs were in grocery and retail environments. It's not literal backbreaking labor, but that's not the definition of hard work, and we live in the wealthiest country in the world. Trying to define an entire generation as lazy because we generally don't work in the fields is more than a tad ridiculous. This is particularly true considering the generations before us didn't live up to this ridiculous standard that you're judging millennials against either. Also, those previous generations earned on average much more than any of us and schooling was much cheaper. The idea that one could go to school and work a summer job to pay for it was a viable plan 40 years ago. Now, you couldn't pay for school if you worked that summer job full-time year round. Let alone pay for cost of living expenses.

Also, what makes my cohorts in Japan more noble and hardworking than my peers in America? Why are they hardworking and we aren't? And what are you basing these assumptions on? Do you have lots of contact with millennials in both Japan and America? I'm assuming you don't work with college aged youth -particularly college aged youth in Japan - on a daily basis so where are you getting your information? Or are these just feelings you have towards my generation?

One last note, I love that you went with the standard attack on the evil gender studies. As if students of the humanities don't bust our ass. I didn't major or minor in gender studies, but as an English major I busted my ass just the same as the people in STEM fields. Their fields are not more noble or inherently more difficult, we just have different skill sets. This was demonstrated every time I saw a friend in a STEM field freaking out over having to write a three page essay.

lwf said:

Any business with a tax rate of less than 20% didn't benefit. Tax reductions are an artificial inflation of profits. Any profit not produced directly by increased business is not a benefit to the economy. It's a giveaway to the business owner and nothing more. Any business owner who increased wages or hired more people based solely on the profit generated from reduced taxes made a potentially costly business decision. Better to pocket that money and base your wages and hiring on the actual metric of how many people are using your product or service.

Real profits are generated by consumers purchasing your goods or service. Better to put that money into the pockets of customers than to reduce taxes on the business owners. That is the real way to boost an economy.

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Okay. Tell you what...you run your business your way.

Most others will run their business the smart way: More money means expansion...not more money in the owner's pocket. Expansion means more goods produced, more people hired and more sales. That means growth. That means Main Street benefits...the economy grows.

lwf said:

Any business with a tax rate of less than 20% didn't benefit. Tax reductions are an artificial inflation of profits. Any profit not produced directly by increased business is not a benefit to the economy. It's a giveaway to the business owner and nothing more. Any business owner who increased wages or hired more people based solely on the profit generated from reduced taxes made a potentially costly business decision. Better to pocket that money and base your wages and hiring on the actual metric of how many people are using your product or service.

Real profits are generated by consumers purchasing your goods or service. Better to put that money into the pockets of customers than to reduce taxes on the business owners. That is the real way to boost an economy.

Click to expand...

The US et al, has seen what is a devastating fall in what's called dollar velocity. The ideal being the most dollars

possible hitting most hands possible which is what creates demand.

Without capital sharing...keeping more of the added value of labor, reduces buying power and demand.

The more wages are reduced or fail to keep up, and the fewest people enjoying any increase in that power,

the more an economy shrinks. Then the capitalist regime in 1980, began to...borrow in earnest.

Now any growth depends on debt, there is no more wealth distribution at all.

Kal'Stang said:

I know the cost of a family, I have one. I know the medical cost of having kids. I have two. I don't have a mortgage though, but rent is like mortgage in that you have to pay it every month. The payments are even about the same...and it never stops so long as you rent...unlike mortgage payments which stop when the bill is paid off. Yet my family survives on less than 40-50k / year. Granted we're not middle class. We're poor and live in subsidized housing. But I know many families just like mine that do not live in subsidized housing and make about the same as my family does.

I went to Job Corps, but ****ed it up by going to jail for my own stupidity. But I still know the people that I went to Job Corps with. I know other people that went to trade schools. I know how they live. How they have their own house, two cars and kids. I know what is capable of being done with such schooling. And its better than the position that I am in. Everything that you mentioned are nothing more than excuses to me. I kick myself every time I think of how I squandered and screwed up the opportunity that I had. I can't get that back. I have neither the health or opportunity for it anymore. Don't be like me.

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That's straight from the heart.

Respect

Your Star said:

This is just complete and utter garbage. Yes, farming jobs are less common and child labor laws are a thing, however, that does not permit one to call an entire generation lazy. It's a ridiculous notion. Also, I'm assuming you're Gen X? Even if you did all the work you described above, it's not that much different than what farm kids do now. You weren't especially hardworking compared to the millennial generation, that was just the environment you were raised in. Though, funny you mention digging ditches as I have a cousin who worked in high school literally digging ditches to help pay for future education. Regardless, this work is not better nor indicates a greater work ethic in a person.

I find the notion that my generation has been coddled as a rather odd notion and one that doesn't really hold up to scrutiny. We've entered into an economy that gives very little value to the work we do, while the costs of living continues to rise. Our wages do not match those cost of living increases, and we often have to work multiple jobs while also going to school. I worked 2 jobs for a substantial period of time while going to school full time. That's a helluva a lot of work. Particularly when those jobs were in grocery and retail environments. It's not literal backbreaking labor, but that's not the definition of hard work, and we live in the wealthiest country in the world. Trying to define an entire generation as lazy because we generally don't work in the fields is more than a tad ridiculous. This is particularly true considering the generations before us didn't live up to this ridiculous standard that you're judging millennials against either. Also, those previous generations earned on average much more than any of us and schooling was much cheaper. The idea that one could go to school and work a summer job to pay for it was a viable plan 40 years ago. Now, you couldn't pay for school if you worked that summer job full-time year round. Let alone pay for cost of living expenses.

Also, what makes my cohorts in Japan more noble and hardworking than my peers in America? Why are they hardworking and we aren't? And what are you basing these assumptions on? Do you have lots of contact with millennials in both Japan and America? I'm assuming you don't work with college aged youth -particularly college aged youth in Japan - on a daily basis so where are you getting your information? Or are these just feelings you have towards my generation?

One last note, I love that you went with the standard attack on the evil gender studies. As if students of the humanities don't bust our ass. I didn't major or minor in gender studies, but as an English major I busted my ass just the same as the people in STEM fields. Their fields are not more noble or inherently more difficult, we just have different skill sets. This was demonstrated every time I saw a friend in a STEM field freaking out over having to write a three page essay.

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I never said that Millennial's were lazy. Being lazy and not knowing hard work are two very different things. One is not working when you can work. The other is thinking something is hard but its not. Anyone can sit around talking about or observe gender differences. Not everyone can be a doctor or lift 200lb cement picnic tables or make convincing arguments to a judge and jury.

As for the rest of your post, I don't have time atm to go through it all. Perhaps I will later.

I have set up small lean companies around this country and my experience with the youngest generation and my fellow millennials is the more privilege the worse their employability. Universities and high schools are failing to provide job training, critical thinkers or an adaptable competent workforce. I am actually convinced they reduce those characteristics. Dropouts are often better for a time, but so often come with substance abuse and reliability issues which are catastrophic in their timing. My trades people tend to be great at specific tasks but are so often unimaginative and non-curious which makes putting them in charge of key expansion roles impossible. Maybe producing this drone worker mentality with the expectation of handholding and clear expectations works in larger organizations but in lean teams of the future [3-30 people] the value one creates is measurable and you if you are not self-driven to compete for your part of the pie there no way you can stick around or get the compensation required for a good middle class life. The poverty class is definitely set to grow especially as what that actually restricts in terms of lifestyle evolves along with.

From the government interventionist prospective: healthcare management in this country is imo the most addressable problem. Mangers have very difficult time finding solid plans especially for very reasonable needs of our young workers. The weight of health risks does factor into working mentalities and risk taking. I also ran companies in Canada and have observed these differences in real time. The biggest issue after accessibility/affordability however is the mass burden of an older generation [high the highest healthcare demands] that saddled the system in debt than inflated the prices beyond reason, whether by tax or private premium. Thank god for medical innovation - may we pray it offset this shortsightedness as between that and a broken pension/retirement saving system our retirees are being set up to suffer most.

With global competition upward wages pressures are way down. Modern living costs are way up. Any public sector has seen little of the private sector buying power increases to compensate. So one would be foolish to not think taxes are only going to increase [especially those integrated into price as distribution is stacked way upward] add to that ballooning interest payments and flawed monetary policy and even simple math will show we are looking at substantial lower value per tax dollar raised. Our collective governments choice to prioritize social programs over infrastructure during this time I am sure making the impact of that even more real.

All that said I still have a lot hope, if you remain relentless in filtering based on giving opportunity: great workers still do raise out from the trends. When you recognize that talent early, encourage and reward it, you get loyalty. Probably why 2/7 of millennials are doing better than ever. There are plenty disenfranchised and those aware of the flaws in their schooling and willing to be great via self-learning which has never been more accessible. Talking with the next generation[z], they are hyperaware of the flaws of their parents and grandparents soured to their hippy ideals[subconscious quest to recreate a class system]. As machines and programs replace the useless bias and corrupt politicians we can start to clean up the baby boomer 250 year debt. We can change the monetary system to be more inclusive and tax gains rather than incomes to allow for wealth mobility to return. The government can be decentralized and work for targeted aims and purposes instead of creating an ever thicker swamp of political elite. A new balance can be struck.

The next generation is no doubt inheriting a worse economic world, with a bankrupt governments, corrupt courts, personal debt equivalent to slavery, less access to healthcare\opportunity, more established economic classes and most importantly more systemic mechanisms for an elite designed to to enshrine the economic classes[like taxing income instead of gains]. The beast of the free market though is still out of the bag and it has created technologies which have the potential to erase all that short-sightedness in just a matter of years. As sharing economy radically reduces cost of living for those suffering the most, as the political backlash of populism takes over mindshare from the mainstream elitist-socialism and as failed education systems cannibalize their own excesses. We are already seeing now the emergence of a new first world, with a new engine of the next middle class. Sometimes inheriting a tough lot awakens a society willing to battle real problems instead of windmills and bogymen. This coming generation z I am sure will learn the lesson via the aftermath to work for a better world to give their children unlike the cluster handed to them.

Kal'Stang said:

And now I call bull. Today's generation does not know what its like to work in the fields starting at age 13. It does not know what its like to wade through thousands of chickens to pick up dead ones. And pray to god that you don't miss any because if you do and find it on the next go round its slimy as all **** due to the heat in the buildings being so hot that their bodies decomposes to the consistency of molasses. Your generation does not know what it means to work cement and lift it by hand or with a dolly and set it up to make that pretty bird bath or water fountain or picnic table. This generation does not know what its like to go out and gather wood just to stay warm. It does not know what its like to build a bar in a day with neighbors help. It does not know how to dig ditches or trenches with only shovels.

Now...Does this apply to ALL millennials? No. Never said or meant to imply such. But a lot do not know these things. Are there types of work that millennials do that can be considered hard work? Absolutely. But only if they stayed away from gender studies and worked towards degrees that involved things like doctors, business 101 etc etc. Hell, even lawyers work can be considered hard work compared to what I see of millenials now a days.

Note: I'm also talking mainly about millenials raised in the US. I have far more respect toward millenials of..say Japan, than I do of our own here in the US. In the US our millennials have been coddled and swaddled.

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But somebody who is exactly like you negatively describe....to a ridiculously exaggerated amount....is who you chose to the lead of your country. Trump is the model for American youth, and he certainly doesn't fit anything positive you listed above.

Kal'Stang said:

I never said that Millennial's were lazy. Being lazy and not knowing hard work are two very different things. One is not working when you can work. The other is thinking something is hard but its not. Anyone can sit around talking about or observe gender differences. Not everyone can be a doctor or lift 200lb cement picnic tables or make convincing arguments to a judge and jury.

As for the rest of your post, I don't have time atm to go through it all. Perhaps I will later.

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That's the implication when you make that statement though, that we're lazy. Also, I'm not interested in arguing the merits of gender studies. I will however say that not everyone can go through the rigorous curriculum that makes up the arts and humanities majors, and the ability to write and communicate well is just as valuable as the other skills you've listed. It is indeed hard work to earn a degree, period. Keep in mind also, that this just focuses on the millennials that are lucky enough to go to college. Many of my cohorts work long hours with very little to show for it due to our ****ed up economic system. Bottom line, our generation is nowhere near lazy. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Your Star said:

That's the implication when you make that statement though, that we're lazy. Also, I'm not interested in arguing the merits of gender studies. I will however say that not everyone can go through the rigorous curriculum that makes up the arts and humanities majors, and the ability to write and communicate well is just as valuable as the other skills you've listed. It is indeed hard work to earn a degree, period. Keep in mind also, that this just focuses on the millennials that are lucky enough to go to college. Many of my cohorts work long hours with very little to show for it due to our ****ed up economic system. Bottom line, our generation is nowhere near lazy. Quite the opposite, in fact.

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May I ask, politely, why do you think they have those jobs? Is it about the skills they have/dont have? Other qualifications lacking? Refusal to move to an area with better jobs? Lack of motivation? Unprepared for the jobs available in their area/region?

Because understanding the 'why' helps to tell us how to better prepare teens during a period when they can take full advantage of free resources in HS.

Lursa said:

May I ask, politely, why do you think they have those jobs? Is it about the skills they have/dont have? Other qualifications lacking? Refusal to move to an area with better jobs? Lack of motivation? Unprepared for the jobs available in their area/region?

Because understanding the 'why' helps to tell us how to better prepare teens during a period when they can take full advantage of free resources in HS.

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Low wages, poor benefits, and a job market that is still weak. This is particularly true for those entering into the job market.

Pedestrian said:

The US et al, has seen what is a devastating fall in what's called dollar velocity. The ideal being the most dollars

possible hitting most hands possible which is what creates demand.

Without capital sharing...keeping more of the added value of labor, reduces buying power and demand.

The more wages are reduced or fail to keep up, and the fewest people enjoying any increase in that power,

the more an economy shrinks. Then the capitalist regime in 1980, began to...borrow in earnest.

Now any growth depends on debt, there is no more wealth distribution at all.

Click to expand...

I think that leaving the market alone is not a solution in this case. Government is far from perfect, and not all regulations are good, but government regulation is the only thing that can fix this problem. Taxes are not the enemy. Taxes can be good for an economy when used to prop up demand. Squandering tax dollars on supply (corporate deregulation) and other things that don't help the consumer is the enemy of a strong economy.

Your Star said:

Low wages, poor benefits, and a job market that is still weak. This is particularly true for those entering into the job market.

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That doesnt answer my question.

Lots of people also have good jobs. There are many job openings. Why dont these people have those jobs? That's basically my question.

If people are entering the job market (of course they are)...why are they not prepared for the jobs that are available?

Lursa said:

That by no means answers my question.

Lots of people also have good jobs. There are many job openings. Why dont these people have those jobs? That's basically my question.

If people are entering the job market (of course they are)...why are they not prepared for the jobs that are available?

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How does it not answer your question? The available jobs one gets after college are generally on the lower end regarding pay-scale. This, combined with student loan debt, our countries rotten health-care system, and low wages lead to financial struggle.

You can't just start out making $150,000 a year with most degrees.

Your Star said:

How does it not answer your question? The available jobs one gets after college are generally on the lower end regarding pay-scale. This, combined with student loan debt, our countries rotten health-care system, and low wages lead to financial struggle.

You can't just start out making $150,000 a year with most degrees.

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Well I bolded 2 of the answers you posted...those arent reasons people have those jobs...those just describe their jobs.

Yes, people do start out 'at the bottom' usually. But that's been the norm and then people 'work their way up' as they gain experience and skills in a field or service.

I also didnt say they needed college degrees. That's one reason I'm asking. Why are people coming out of HS unprepared for the jobs available? Why get a college degree if a) you dont want to take an entry level job in your field and work your way up and b) if it's not going to support you and/or it's not available?

Id weep for the futre...if their problems werent of their own making. Look...there are some tried and tested means of achieving success in this country. Graduate from high school. Dont get knocked up or father a brat when you are still in HS. Plan for a future and go to a trade school or college with the intent to pursue a degree program in a technical field, medical field, or even a social services field (usually requiring a masters degree to be marketable). Its not that fricken complicated. There are TONS of good jobs out there and the PLUS side is there are enough young people NOT choosing that path that the competition isnt going to be all that challenging.

Or...dont. Have a kid in high school. Drop out. Take up recreational drugs. Plan on a career as a video gamer. DONT plan on a career at all. Go to college and get a mountain of debt in a worthless social justice or liberal arts field that you will never be able to use. Make sure you embrace a mental illness so you have an excuse to fail. ASPIRE to a career in fast food...but not as a manager. Or better yet, take up weed and sit on moms couch in the unfinished basement getting high, eating cheetos, and talk about deep philosophical ramblings.

Lursa said:

Well I bolded 2 of the answers you posted...those arent reasons people have those jobs...those just describe their jobs.

Yes, people do start out 'at the bottom' usually. But that's been the norm and then people 'work their way up' as they gain experience and skills in a field or service.

I also didnt say they needed college degrees. That's one reason I'm asking. Why are people coming out of HS unprepared for the jobs available? Why get a college degree if a) you dont want to take an entry level job in your field and work you way up and b) if it's not going to support you and/or it's not available?

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I mean, you pretty much need a college degree to be competitive in the job market. With a HS education you're not going to find much work outside of retail/fast food. That's just the reality for the majority of people. It's not that we aren't taking entry level jobs. We work, that's not the issue. The issue is that we aren't compensated well enough to fully function within the economy. As a cohort, we generally have little to no ability to save for the future, and the large amount of debt is an incredibly heaven burden.

Your Star said:

I mean, you pretty much need a college degree to be competitive in the job market. With a HS education you're not going to find much work outside of retail/fast food. That's just the reality for the majority of people. It's not that we aren't taking entry level jobs. We work, that's not the issue. The issue is that we aren't compensated well enough to fully function within the economy. As a cohort, we generally have little to no ability to save for the future, and the large amount of debt is an incredibly heaven burden.

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I respectfully disagree, or at least, I hope that's not true. There are many skills and trades and/or starting your own small business. Why dont people prepare for these in HS? Dont they provide guidance on these career paths anymore? I'm pretty sure they do.

There are jobs out there. Careers that do AND dont require college. THey may require trade school. That's fine. Internships, great.

I dont mean to put you on the spot, but why arent parents and school guidance counselors imposing programs (yes...'making them') to make some decisions in HS and then outlining classes and career paths and requirements to prepare them for 'actual jobs available in their area?' Or elsewhere if they're willing to move?

How many come out with no plan? Or plans for a college degree in a field that's not hiring or viable for raising a family on?

What exactly prevents teens from choosing careers/trades/skills that WILL compensate them "enough"? It's not lack of jobs...they are out there. If someone doesnt want those jobs...whose fault is that? If you choose something else then, IMO you shouldnt complain about compensation. Follow your heart, your muse...but you arent entitled to a job that pays what you want if that's not reality.