Interesting old guy...

[Bumblebee]

I was talking to a Korean War vet today who said this generation coming up in his opinion is the "useless" generation...he was kind of a grumpy old cuss...made me like him right away.....

He said his grandkids and great grandkids are part of this useless group...

Some points he made to support his thoughts were:

Most don't have a clue how to change a flat tire or do basic maintenance on their vehicles
Most don't have a clue as to what to do in a crisis such as a flood or ice storm or even a prolonged power outage.
Most don't know how to do any basic maintenance around their homes including lawn care equipment

He did say hand them a phone or some other device and stand back though....but we are hurting for professional tradespersons so much they are importing them from other countries because this generation doesn't want to get their hands dirty.

 

[HayaWakened]

A couple previous generations may have played a role
Fortunate to be raised in a very technical atmosphere where above mentioned items (values) were SOP, with praise
It's an approach to problem solving, isn't it? Where is that? And if you were raised that way, you tend to raise the same.

 

[Kiwi Rider]

A couple previous generations may have played a role
Fortunate to be raised in a very technical atmosphere where above mentioned items (values) were SOP, with praise
It's an approach to problem solving, isn't it? Where is that? And if you were raised that way, you tend to raise the same.

The young 'useless' generation's approach to problem solving is at their fingertips . . Google search and youtube.
Or so they think, until the power grid goes down and there is NO Google search any longer... or any internet for that matter.
It's a case of putting all your eggs in one basket.
And who wanks a big sticky mess in their basket??

 

[JeffSyh]

The young 'useless' generation's approach to problem solving is at their fingertips . . Google search and youtube.
Or so they think, until the power grid goes down and there is NO Google search any longer... or any internet for that matter.
It's a case of putting all your eggs in one basket.
And who wanks a big sticky mess in their basket??

Damn guess no one is fixing their hayabusa....

 

[Kiwi Rider]

Damn guess no one is fixing their hayabusa....

Ha! I for one can do that thank goodness!

 

[Zerks]

The TV and other media that has been attracting our youth for decades and has wasted a lot of time and instilled some real bad examples of how people should treat one another. The messaging in certain types of music has glorified and installed ( downloaded ) a lifestyle that is violent and vulgar in ways we cannot accurately estimate how much damage it has caused. Add to that how millions of parents have used TV and cell phones as a way to babysit the kids they have and not monitor what they are watching.

 

[Bumblebee]

A couple previous generations may have played a role
Fortunate to be raised in a very technical atmosphere where above mentioned items (values) were SOP, with praise
It's an approach to problem solving, isn't it? Where is that? And if you were raised that way, you tend to raise the same.

I agree, we've slowly had to adjust as to what and how we taught our kids....my kids didn't have internet or social media until they were older whereas their kids have had social media their entire lives.

I was taught old school and so were my kids....but as they became more and more engrossed in social media and video gaming, their ideology changed...

Both of my boys could/can wrench, they fix their own stuff but they are the exception in their circle of friends and peers of whom many go to them for assistance.

I've personally encountered many of their generational peers who don't have a clue about anything but for the most part want to learn and readily accept any teaching I give them.

 

[fallenarch]

I recently had dinner with a friend who is an archeologist. We met on a project I was doing where we found river barges, which obviously stopped the project dead. Over a few lunches, we hit it off and have remained friends as we enjoy debating the role of architecture in society. Anyway, he has an interesting theory on this very subject:

His hypothesis is each generation tries to stabilize (or monopolize, depending on your level of cynicism) some important element of existence. Food, riches, housing, power, etc. However, as civilization is successful at stabilizing a "need", the next generation takes that "need" for granted. He gave an interesting example: Ask someone who is 100 years old how we get food and they will say "Farmers raise animals and crops to eat". If you ask a 20-year-old the same question and they will say the "grocery store". Go back even further than 100 years and they would probably say "I go hunting or grow it".

The point here is that each generation's paradigm assumes the abundance created before them as a baseline. This is an incredibly powerful perspective on human development. It informs race, political orientation, gender politics, and even gun control. For example, we need invasive government control to monitor the people we let provide meat, crops, power, etc. - that baseline must be protected. Another good example is people who ask "What do you need an AR15 for?" Obviously, the person asking that has assumed a civil, controlled society as a baseline.

Imagine the world as a movie set. The younger generation lives on the set and only us old-timers can see behind the walls and realize it can all come tumbling down (remember the movie The Truman Show?). My friend and I have been debating for 10 years whether this is the natural way things evolve or technology has become some evolution bending influence. Is the resilience of civilizations a factor of being able to move forward without losing touch with the realities of human existence? OR does this happen to all civilizations and they end when a disruptive force (war, natural disasters) pushes them backward on the evolutionary scale?

 

[Bumblebee]

I recently had dinner with a friend who is an archeologist. We met on a project I was doing where we found river barges, which obviously stopped the project dead. Over a few lunches, we hit it off and have remained friends as we enjoy debating the role of architecture in society. Anyway, he has an interesting theory on this very subject:

His hypothesis is each generation tries to stabilize (or monopolize, depending on your level of cynicism) some important element of existence. Food, riches, housing, power, etc. However, as civilization is successful at stabilizing a "need", the next generation takes that "need" for granted. He gave an interesting example: Ask someone who is 100 years old how we get food and they will say "Farmers raise animals and crops to eat". If you ask a 20-year-old the same question and they will say the "grocery store". Go back even further than 100 years and they would probably say "I go hunting or grow it".

The point here is that each generation's paradigm assumes the abundance created before them as a baseline. This is an incredibly powerful perspective on human development. It informs race, political orientation, gender politics, and even gun control. For example, we need invasive government control to monitor the people we let provide meat, crops, power, etc. - that baseline must be protected. Another good example is people who ask "What do you need an AR15 for?" Obviously, the person asking that has assumed a civil, controlled society as a baseline.

Imagine the world as a movie set. The younger generation lives on the set and only us old-timers can see behind the walls and realize it can all come tumbling down (remember the movie The Truman Show?). My friend and I have been debating for 10 years whether this is the natural way things evolve or technology has become some evolution bending influence. Is the resilience of civilizations a factor of being able to move forward without losing touch with the realities of human existence? OR does this happen to all civilizations and they end when a disruptive force (war, natural disasters) pushes them backward on the evolutionary scale?

Lots of ancient empires and civilizations came to an end for various reasons...

I think this old guy I was talking to was thinking more along a primeval or basic line....he was talking about the abilities of the younger generation to navigate even the basic of things such as changing a flat tire or knowing how to use basic power tools...

I still believe the impact of social media and other platforms have led more and more kids and their parents away from the basics...

I spend time with my neighbors' kids and take them around to show them what different plants are and what birds make what noises....before I did this, they had zero clue and their parents didn't know most of it either as they would tag along.

Even the older neighbor kids sometimes come over to my house with an issue with their car or bicycle and are incredulous that I fixed the issue so easily.....and most of the issues they had were pretty simple.

As time progresses and they grow up to raise their kids, their ability to teach their kids will be lost...each generation loses a little bit more....our generation had the fortune to learn from the older generations but the generations coming behind us are not interested in learning the old ways.

 

[JeffSyh]

On an honest note I look back at growing up and my parents stories they sure had it easy. They worked easier jobs, less hours and made way less then me but some how they lived so comfortable and beyond my life style. We would go on dozens of trips a year, houses were cheap, gas was cheap, cars, motorcycles, cabins, beer, concerts everything seemed so much easier and cheaper. I really think my parents generation is by far the most spoiled generation we ever had or will have, my grandparents worked so hard to build a foundation for my parents. Most people I find in that age group have been tainted by easy life and spoiled behaviour that they passed it down to my generation.

Sorry if I offend you old guys but life after covid hasn't been easy for the younger generations.

 

[Bumblebee]

On an honest note I look back at growing up and my parents stories they sure had it easy. They worked easier jobs, less hours and made way less then me but some how they lived so comfortable and beyond my life style. We would go on dozens of trips a year, houses were cheap, gas was cheap, cars, motorcycles, cabins, beer, concerts everything seemed so much easier and cheaper. I really think my parents generation is by far the most spoiled generation we ever had or will have, my grandparents worked so hard to build a foundation for my parents. Most people I find in that age group have been tainted by easy life and spoiled behaviour that they passed it down to my generation.

Sorry if I offend you old guys but life after covid hasn't been easy for the younger generations.

I'm probably the age of your parents and it wasn't so easy then either...I was lucky to have joined the military but we sure didn't get paid what they do today and we spent far more time away from home than they do today with less "fancy" equipment than they do. It took a long, long time too get anywhere financially when I was younger raising kids....we didn't have a lot of extras.

If you work out inflation it was as expensive to live then as it is now only people lived simpler.....we didn't have expensive phone/internet/cable bills in those days and rarely if ever ate at restaurants....people generally had one car as well and there were less vehicles on the road so insurance was cheaper....

Today the young people want to be as financially balanced as their parents but it takes time to get to that balance-they just don't want to wait....many of them have big fancy, expensive SUVs and trucks, motorcycles, boats/jet skis, snowmobiles, etc and are living paycheck to paycheck complaining that they are always broke but never thinking that if they lived within their means and sacrificed a little now they'd be better off later. This is the generation of "I want it now."

I remember minimal wage when I was young was around $2.75 an hour.

 

[michael parris heuberger]

I'm probably the age of your parents and it wasn't so easy then either...I was lucky to have joined the military but we sure didn't get paid what they do today and we spent far more time away from home than they do today with less "fancy" equipment than they do. It took a long, long time too get anywhere financially when I was younger raising kids....we didn't have a lot of extras.

If you work out inflation it was as expensive to live then as it is now only people lived simpler.....we didn't have expensive phone/internet/cable bills in those days and rarely if ever ate at restaurants....people generally had one car as well and there were less vehicles on the road so insurance was cheaper....

Today the young people want to be as financially balanced as their parents but it takes time to get to that balance-they just don't want to wait....many of them have big fancy, expensive SUVs and trucks, motorcycles, boats/jet skis, snowmobiles, etc and are living paycheck to paycheck complaining that they are always broke but never thinking that if they lived within their means and sacrificed a little now they'd be better off later. This is the generation of "I want it now."

I remember minimal wage when I was young was around $2.75 an hour.

Hi. I remember working for $1.00 an hr and I could buy 20 coffee for an hrs pay. So when was I better off? Now my daughter just got a $37500.00 rase on her $87,500.00 pay + $3,000.00 every 3 mounts + commissions up to $5,000.00 per sale. My son in law got a$30,000.00 rase Federal law inforcement.

 

[Zerks]

I recently had dinner with a friend who is an archeologist. We met on a project I was doing where we found river barges, which obviously stopped the project dead. Over a few lunches, we hit it off and have remained friends as we enjoy debating the role of architecture in society. Anyway, he has an interesting theory on this very subject:

His hypothesis is each generation tries to stabilize (or monopolize, depending on your level of cynicism) some important element of existence. Food, riches, housing, power, etc. However, as civilization is successful at stabilizing a "need", the next generation takes that "need" for granted. He gave an interesting example: Ask someone who is 100 years old how we get food and they will say "Farmers raise animals and crops to eat". If you ask a 20-year-old the same question and they will say the "grocery store". Go back even further than 100 years and they would probably say "I go hunting or grow it".

The point here is that each generation's paradigm assumes the abundance created before them as a baseline. This is an incredibly powerful perspective on human development. It informs race, political orientation, gender politics, and even gun control. For example, we need invasive government control to monitor the people we let provide meat, crops, power, etc. - that baseline must be protected. Another good example is people who ask "What do you need an AR15 for?" Obviously, the person asking that has assumed a civil, controlled society as a baseline.

Imagine the world as a movie set. The younger generation lives on the set and only us old-timers can see behind the walls and realize it can all come tumbling down (remember the movie The Truman Show?). My friend and I have been debating for 10 years whether this is the natural way things evolve or technology has become some evolution bending influence. Is the resilience of civilizations a factor of being able to move forward without losing touch with the realities of human existence? OR does this happen to all civilizations and they end when a disruptive force (war, natural disasters) pushes them backward on the evolutionary scale?

That is a good summation of the changes we don't consider unless we stand back and take a good look into the past. By some people accounts civilized civilizations have risen and fallen a number of times and places all over the world tells us we still have a very incomplete historical record of humanities existence on this planet. It looks like we arrived here about 200,000 years ago... so... we are the new kids on the block.

Side note.... My dad was also an archaeologist ( He held a position at the Minnesota Historical Society, right across the street from the Minnesota Capitol building in St Paul ) and had a dry sense of humor. A photograph of a family buried together laying next to each other revealing nothing but skeleton bones and he captioned it with... "The family that decays together stays together" lol! He has been gone since 2010.

The other factor that could come into play soon has to do with unidentified flying phenomena, or UFOs. On June 10th and 11th a live stream event will take place (

https://twitter.com/x/status/1664268731193921537

) at a National Press Club event in DC. I have heard a moratorium on witness disclosures spoken at this event will be in effect so that those that come forward to say what they have witnessed or been a part of will not have their pensions revoked as a result of the previously sworn to secrecy document that was signed in the past.

 

[Zerks]

On an honest note I look back at growing up and my parents stories they sure had it easy. They worked easier jobs, less hours and made way less then me but some how they lived so comfortable and beyond my life style. We would go on dozens of trips a year, houses were cheap, gas was cheap, cars, motorcycles, cabins, beer, concerts everything seemed so much easier and cheaper. I really think my parents generation is by far the most spoiled generation we ever had or will have, my grandparents worked so hard to build a foundation for my parents. Most people I find in that age group have been tainted by easy life and spoiled behaviour that they passed it down to my generation.

Sorry if I offend you old guys but life after covid hasn't been easy for the younger generations.

Its all relative... when you get hungry just call Uber eats and dinner will be on the front step where you live in half an hour. The dollars value has dropped 97% since 1913 and will continue inflating until a new system can be implemented and a reset can be planned. The people running this country right now want you to do digital with your money and accept a social credit scoring system where "they" control your life.

Covid... or... the scamdemic has damaged many and killed many... its over for now until they come up with a new scam. I think the next big challenge with be food production and distribution... but, I am not a fly on the wall in the room where the Davos crowd and their political minions decide how to play the game of central control and command.

I saw a hat for sale today... it said... I want reparations for every moron that voted for Biden.... lol ! That was funny, however, it shows the victimhood mentality of those that want to blame others for the reality that they themselves co-created through their own actions or in-actions.

 

[Bumblebee]

Its all relative... when you get hungry just call Uber eats and dinner will be on the front step where you live in half an hour. The dollars value has dropped 97% since 1913 and will continue inflating until a new system can be implemented and a reset can be planned. The people running this country right now want you to do digital with your money and accept a social credit scoring system where "they" control your life.

Covid... or... the scamdemic has damaged many and killed many... its over for now until they come up with a new scam. I think the next big challenge with be food production and distribution... but, I am not a fly on the wall in the room where the Davos crowd and their political minions decide how to play the game of central control and command.

I saw a hat for sale today... it said... I want reparations for every moron that voted for Biden.... lol ! That was funny, however, it shows the victimhood mentality of those that want to blame others for the reality that they themselves co-created through their own actions or in-actions.

You seem to keep going around on that hamster ball and politicizing each and every thread....

This thread is not in the politics section.....

This thread is about how the generations are changing and not necessarily for the better...sure there may be some politically driven overtones in this change but a lot of it is from the invent of social media and the change where both parents are working leaving kids to basically raise themselves...

 

[Berlin Germany]

Ha! I for one can do that thank goodness!

yeah man

you (and me and others at our age) do not belong to the mentioned young 'useless' generation.

 

[Bumblebee]

yeah man

you (and me and others at our age) do not belong to the mentioned young 'useless' generation.

Nein,

We don't belong to this "useless" generation....the old guy meant the word useless as they don't know how to do the basics..

There are always exceptions to this however....I know a few stellar young people who have their heads screwed on right..

I remember when I was serving, I had younger troops tell me they wish the military they were in was the same as the one I joined....they wanted it to be a lot tougher.

 

[HayaWakened]

You seem to keep going around on that hamster ball and politicizing each and every thread....

This thread is not in the politics section.....

This thread is about how the generations are changing and not necessarily for the better...sure there may be some politically driven overtones in this change but a lot of it is from the invent of social media and the change where both parents are working leaving kids to basically raise themselves...

Reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode ...

"The Twilight Zone" The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (TV Episode 1960) - IMDb

The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street: Directed by Ron Winston. With Rod Serling, Claude Akins, Barry Atwater, Jack Weston. On a peaceful suburban street, strange occurrences and mysterious people stoke the residents' paranoia to a disastrous intensity.

www.imdb.com

 

[fallenarch]

So every generation I know of thinks the next generation is weak and lazy and focused on the wrong values. Think of what your great-grandparents said about rock and roll. Somehow, things seem to call on each generation to use their superpower to move the ball forward (though not necessarily improve it). I think the next big war will be cyber and viral, so maybe then these kids with a phone attached to their heads will become relevant.

I also think simple thinkers are predisposed to violent solutions, so maybe these kids can back that tendency down a bit. It is amazing that our world has been at war for the better part of 100 years straight. We go from one fight to the next. Gil Scott said, "Peace is not the absence of war but the absence of the preparations for war". Profound words. Imagine if we had spent the last 150 years trying to perfect things other than killing.

 

[Bumblebee]

So every generation I know of thinks the next generation is weak and lazy and focused on the wrong values. Think of what your great-grandparents said about rock and roll. Somehow, things seem to call on each generation to use their superpower to move the ball forward (though not necessarily improve it). I think the next big war will be cyber and viral, so maybe then these kids with a phone attached to their heads will become relevant.

I also think simple thinkers are predisposed to violent solutions, so maybe these kids can back that tendency down a bit. It is amazing that our world has been at war for the better part of 100 years straight. We go from one fight to the next. Gil Scott said, "Peace is not the absence of war but the absence of the preparations for war". Profound words. Imagine if we had spent the last 150 years trying to perfect things other than killing.

Sadly humankind and warfare can probably be traced back to the first prehistoric settlements and will always be part of humankind....

We do get better and better at finding ways of killing each other though and in these times, any military weakness is deemed as an entire weakness of the country.....some nations are very set on their prowess as warriors and look down on any nation that isn't...

Sadly, the generations have become weaker over the years, this generation coming up appears to be following this trend....but the invent of social media and the addiction of this has accelerated this weakness (in many opinions).

North America and other first world nations might have their "deep thinkers" (although I'm skeptical) but other nations are not so worried about deep thinking and more about how to wipe their neighbors out....this is why we need a robust military.