Bloomberg: Riots to come for US

I dunno. I guess I see things differently.
I love the younger kids, the early 20s, and I feel very, very sorry for them.
I disagree that they won't WORK too.

I think there's a disconnect somewhere- I think they WILL work, but I think the world they might see as possible is DIFFERENT from the one that we saw if we are in our late 30s or over. This generation has been raised with technology- they KNOW the possibilities.

The truth is, they should not HAVE to work as hard. Inventory systems and technology makes everything easier- but we still need humans- and they should be rewarded for what they do- enough to be able to get OFF food stamps- even if they do NOT have a college degree- heck, these kids are smart.

What if....what if....the jobs were there and the laws were right for these kids to FOLLOW their passions? They would blow us away with what they could do. These kids are networked, they are connected- look at instructables.com sometime- look at all the amazingly creative things these kids are doing? Youtube..you name it. I've seen some great young writers HERE.

They are amazingly creative. Different. Maybe they need a revolution of some kind so they can break loose and be what they can be. I don't know, but I feel SORRY for them. They are like butterflies trapped in a cage to me. If they could be let loose with a chance, they might rock the world.

On one hand, they are saddled with an ineffective government and nothing but debt being piled on them before they even START to work. They might be coming from dirt poor backgrounds. The education system is only serving to give them jobs that maybe existed in early 1970. Then there's an American Aristocracy of Education that you have to BUY your way into- saw where there was a degree now in 'game design.' Wow, some college jumped on that - Cornell. Wow- The multimillion dollar game industry was BUILT by kids that loved it, did it, and built it without colleges telling them how- maybe that's why the creativity just bloomed like it did.

Bleh. I'm 44, and I'm in LOVE with the kids I know. It makes me angry to hear people call them lazy or 'entitled.' Heck, the ones I know have 1/10th what the average kid had in 1985....with the exception of the federal deficit and friends dead from war.

Originally posted by camaro68ss
people dont understand you need to work from the bottom up. you need to sweep the floors before you become the manager!

That statement's pretty simple and a bit puerile since there is no qualification concerning the present reality of people who have already "paid their dues."

What would you do if you worked from the bottom up for 35 years as an engineer and physicist in SCADA, analytical chemistry, hardware/software design, R&D and particle physics as well as military strategy and national security infrastructure and then one day found out that you could no longer get a job anywhere even close to your field. I'll tell ya, they don't want to piss of former military guys too much, because even with all the training and all the emotional control, we still have our own individual "lines in the sand."

I fully expect riots in the near future and I am quite sure federal (read feral) governments will try to quash them, but when just trying to stay alive within the "system" they created is an intolerable burden, well, when people have nothing left to lose, life means very little, polarization occurs and they tend to become dangerous commodities or valuable assets. The perspective of which just depends on which side of the fence you sit.

I would like to think that level heads will prevail in the coming turmoil, but the governments of the world and their handlers are pushing all the wrong buttons so I don't hold out much hope for a rational transition. They are drunk at wheel with distorted visions of their self-worth and I believe they want confrontation.

The question is will they receive it on their terms or someone else's.

Cheers - Dave

reply to post by hadriana


Great post and awesome insight. Its nice how sometimes people can put into perspective what i can't. Thanks.

Good. It's about time. Let the riots start! F*** the gov! They tell lies.

What's the minimum wage in the US. Is it enough to live? Pay all the bills? While minimum wages raise unemployment, so do people who have to take more than one job to make a living.

reply to post by jude11


It's not that they don't want to work. It's that they don't want to work for $10 an hour and they don't want to work 2 jobs at $10 an hour each. They are used to making $15 to $20 and think that they are entitled to working only one job.

If the cost of living went down and the wages stayed at $10 to $12 and there was some "Bail the Dumb ### out of the debt they got themselves into" program so everyone could get a fresh start then maybe what is perceived as a lower paying lower prestige job would be filled,

I am one of those young recent college graduates. I grew up with the illusion that college leads to a cushy well paying job. That is not how the World works. You have to work hard to get something. Nothing is given for free, and in my opinion shouldn't be. When you gain something from work you are the better for it. If you are given everything you never develop the character from the struggle .

I feel that many I know do have a certain sense of entitlement. It really has more to do with how they were raised than the age. My dad is well off, but he made me get a summer job from age 15 on. I had a scholarship for college, but worked to cover the extra costs. Those jobs were invaluable for me. I cannot imagine going all the way through college without ever working. I can see how the lack of any work experience could cultivate unhealthy expectations, and attitude problems.

The lack of jobs is in the higher positions. We have tons of college educated students competing for fewer positions. I do not mean a job flipping burgers, but professional positions. The reality is my generation is gonna have to do it the way it has always been done. By hard work and commitment. Start flipping burgers(or another basic start in any company). Do your best, and constantly attempt to improve the business. After a while you will be a shift manager. Work. Maybe you will be general manger. Like I said before, you have to work to get something in life.

I chose a different path. I currently live abroad. There are many positions that can be found in emerging market nations. It is another option if you have an adventurous streak. I believe that the long term economic future is better in many other countries. If I have to work my way up I want to do it in a company/country that I think has a future. The US still has a great deal of opportunity, but the long term economic fundamentals are troubling to me. As a young guy getting started in the working world I recommend giving it a go in another country with better economic potential.

Riots don't happen because there are no jobs. But they are unvaoidable if those without jobs feel they have nothing to lose i.e, if the outlook for the near future continues to be bleak, they are connected to the other similar people and believe, rightly or wrongly, that it is unjust. I think all those conditions will be met sooner than later.

What the OP is trying to say is that the third reason, injustice of not being able to find a job meeting one's expectations, is itself a wrong belief. May be so, but won't affect the situation in the short run. Perhaps those entering their teens now will feel differently when they grow up, but the expectations of those in their 20s today have been set by the situation of the last 10 years, not those today.

reply to post by Observor

Riots don't happen because there are no jobs.

Common man. Do you really think that if there were no jobs there wouldn't be riots? You have to be kidding me....

Target warehouse here is having problems keeping people . They hire new workers at a decent wage with benefits ,
and they dont stay because loading the trucks is hard work. They are starting around 14 an hr, and everyone they hire for that shift seems to quit. They now have to go use a temp service . So yeah, there are jobs, but it seems to many dont want to actually do any work.

Originally posted by onequestion
reply to post by Observor

 

Riots don't happen because there are no jobs.

Common man. Do you really think that if there were no jobs there wouldn't be riots? You have to be kidding me....

I am not sure if you read my entire post, but yes, riots don't happen simply because there is widespread unemployment/underemployment. Otherwise unemployed/underemployed everywhere should be rioting all the time.

If the statement is that in the USA if the job situation doesn't improve in the next year or two you can expect widespread riots, my response is an emphatic "Yes, it will happen".

Rioting is an expression of extreme frustration by those who feel they are being treated unjustly by the society. It happens only when there is a sense of nothing to lose. Sense of nothing to lose comes when the situation is bad (from the point of view of the persons involved), there is no hope of it getting better in the near future and they believe the society is treating them unjustly. At that point they have nothing to lose by completely disregarding the rules of the society. That is when riots begin.

I was discussing the sociological causes of riots in general, not the possibility of riots in a specific case. If you are not interested in it, please go ahead and ignore it.

reply to post by KoolerKing


You can't say jack unless you've actually lived it. Those entry level jobs that were taken for granted 20 or 30 years ago? They're all gone. You've got to have experience to frickin sweep floors these days.

reply to post by stephinrazin


Our parents and grandparents were handed well-paying jobs the second they graduated college for the most part. At the very least, this would afford them a good opportunity to work their way up pretty quickly.

The idea that somebody with a college education should have to start out as a burger-flipper making 25 cents above minimum wage is ridiculous.

reply to post by AnIntellectualRedneck


Here is some advice so take it for what its worth. In this day and age you need more than 4 years of college to get a decent paying job. If you bust your butt you will thrive but it's all about who you know.

reply to post by KoolerKing


Here's some reality for what it's worth: You can't work your way up if you can't even get on the first rung. So don't talk to me about my generation being lazy.