Michigan voters ban affirmative action

[shinerbock]

AKA, well, I can only go on my own experience. Vietnam was quite a shift in the way America treats war, unfortunately. i'm simply saying that it seems my father's generation had a lot more of the "i'm gonna do whatever I have to to make sure my kids have ________," moreso than this generation.

I don't want to get off on a tangent, but I think part of it is we don't have a clear enemy. Granted, 9/11, Cold War, World Wars, you saw a lot of unity because we were bonded together for something and against something we felt to be threatening us. Its a much more complicated world now, we're not even sure we like our own country (some of us). Alright, this thread is getting ridiculous.

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

AKA, well, I can only go on my own experience. Vietnam was quite a shift in the way America treats war, unfortunately. i'm simply saying that it seems my father's generation had a lot more of the "i'm gonna do whatever I have to to make sure my kids have ________," moreso than this generation.

I don't want to get off on a tangent, but I think part of it is we don't have a clear enemy. Granted, 9/11, Cold War, World Wars, you saw a lot of unity because we were bonded together for something and against something we felt to be threatening us. Its a much more complicated world now, we're not even sure we like our own country (some of us). Alright, this thread is getting ridiculous.

Your comments are tangential to the actual discussion. Just so you know. But you bring up a good point, in that you said, "my father's generation [said] 'I'm gonna do whatever [it takes] to make sure my kids have ______'" That is the same thing my folks thought, too. Most GCers parent's here thought that. That is why most of us are college-educated and can have these discussions...

Some folks in this current generation, which is yours and mine (Gen X, Y, Millenial), do not think that we need to "do" whatever it takes. It often looks like "wanting a handout or freebie". And is some cases it actually is. But in numerous other cases it more about folks not knowing that there ARE options in life. In fact, there are quite of few of us here of GC that have be excluded, overtly. HAYLE, if you walk one hour in my shoes, they'd hurt your feet... And it isn't the down-trodden suffering that my parents had. It is that "mind-game crap" that eats at your soul...

The problem then becomes an insidious, institutionalized perpetual one.

As far as a common enemy, well, that's what the 60's and 70's protesters were saying... Make LOVE, not War... Why fight when you don't have to?

Do I agree with that ideology? Not necessarily. I'm with you, you can't have the Jonger lightin' off sticks...

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

. . . but I'm just tired of the "the government owes me" attitude. If anything, you owe the country, we all do.

Originally Posted by shinerbock

unfortunately. i'm simply saying that it seems my father's generation had a lot more of the "i'm gonna do whatever I have to to make sure my kids have ________," moreso than this generation.

Okay, since we've veered way off on a tangent, I think that for a disturbingly large portion of the American population, lower, middle and upper class in particular, the "I am owed" attitude is all too prevelant. Whether it's the government that owes me or the parents that have always given me every little thing I've wanted, or simply society in general, I think the extent to which America has become a culture of the "entitled" extends far, far beyond "the government owes me."

It's nothing particularly new. I remember being told early on by my parents that familiy wealth tends to run in three generation cycles -- the first generation amasses it, the second maintains it, and the third goes through it. But it certainly seems more widespread than ever before.

[shinerbock]

Hey kids, I'm not the only one on a tangent, you people are steering us too...just so you know. But I'm with you Mystic, that attitude isn't just the lower class, although their entitlement claims generally are more demanding of the government. The upper classes tend to think society as a whole owes them something. Theres a difference between having a dad who can get you into (and out of) things, and thinking the world should cater to your every need.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

Hey kids, I'm not the only one on a tangent, you people are steering us too...just so you know. .

Oh, we're all equally guilty.

Theres a difference between having a dad who can get you into (and out of) things, and thinking the world should cater to your every need.

True. But all too often, I fear, having dad get you into and out of things and grant your every desire teaches you that the world should cater to your every need.

[shinerbock]

Mystic, I don't know. To be honest, just about all my friends have somebody of some importance that they know on a first name basis, and you really don't see much of it. I mean, we'll make jokes like "do you know who my father is," but there's really not any sense of entitlement. Good parenting in a good environment can keep well-off kids from straying from their roots.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

Good parenting in a good environment can keep well-off kids from straying from their roots.

I agree completely. I don't consider spoiling your kids and giving them everything they want good parenting, however.

I started seeing it more when I had kids of my own (there is a reason that they called us the "Me Generation"), but growing up I did see it with friends as well. Sometimes it's subtle, but it's there more often than I like to see.