Older workers outnumber teens in the workforce

[BoomerD]

Originally Posted by Red Dawn
You're an abortion, most of your generation are self entitled fucks (see HACP). In fact I can't think of one thing your generation has done for the betterment of our country.

Facebook, disrespecting college education, and the smug look of satisfaction are things my generation has given you.

All perfectly good reasons to think that more Baby Boomers should have just jacked off and/or opted for birth control instead of having children...

 

[Red Dawn]

Facebook, disrespecting college education, and the smug look of satisfaction are things my generation has given you.

You'd think at least you'd give us some good music.

The only shit I hear from you guys us how unfair everything is.

 

[Brigandier]

You'd think at least you'd give us some good music.

The only shit I hear from you guys us how unfair everything is.

To be fair, it is all quite unfair. You'd think with us living under the same unfairness of the 70's we'd figure out solutions, instead we figure out new ways to express that unfairness.

 

[Red Dawn]

To be fair, it is all quite unfair. You'd think with us living under the same unfairness of the 70's we'd figure out solutions, instead we figure out new ways to express that unfairness.

What was so unfair about the 70's.

 

[Brigandier]

What was so unfair about the 70's.

No NES

 

[JSt0rm]

You'd think at least you'd give us some good music.

The only shit I hear from you guys us how unfair everything is.

The boomers were handed a lot by the ww2 generation. And by handed I am referring to opportunity to succeed. These days that is far rarer. I don't complain. I find opportunity in my life and take advantage of it. This doesn't mean we shouldn't reflect on the failures of your generation as it will be up to us to either pick up the pieces or continue down the same path of self serving interests and cashing in what little is left of the American dream for cheap plastics.

 

[JSt0rm]

Let me add...

"How does it feel to have a comfortable life at the expense of the generations that come after you?"

 

[Red Dawn]

Wahhhhh!!

 

[JSt0rm]

right. your generation doesnt need to explain itself. We get it. The path of least resistance is always desirable. Just know that some of us will succeed despite how horrible your kind were. That IS remarkable but there will be a lot of wasted talent along the way.

 

[Red Dawn]

right. your generation doesnt need to explain itself. We get it. The path of least resistance is always desirable. Just know that some of us will succeed despite how horrible your kind were. That IS remarkable but there will be a lot of wasted talent along the way.

Well you should you were given the means to do it by the previous generations. Might be a little tougher than you'd like but if you're worth a shit you'll figure it out.

 

[Brigandier]

Well you should you were given the means to do it by the previous generations. Might be a little tougher than you'd like but if you're worth a shit you'll figure it out.

No, I wasn't given it by the previous generations. I was given it by a parent smart enough to realize that's what was what. The previous generations have rode on the crest of the same wave I have, the wave of people that realize that anything you get in your life is the result of something you've given.

 

[Red Dawn]

No, I wasn't given it by the previous generations. I was given it by a parent smart enough to realize that's what was what. The previous generations have rode on the crest of the same wave I have, the wave of people that realize that anything you get in your life is the result of something you've given.

Given? Lol, we weren't given anything but a primary education and what ever our parents could afford.

See your problem is that you are realizing that you may not be able to have what your folks have, that doesn't mean you are going to be destitute and unable to fend for yourself. You might not get that 3500 sq ft house on an acre of land but you should be able to do alright

 

[Brigandier]

Given? Lol, we weren't given anything but a primary education and what ever our parents could afford.

See your problem is that you are realizing that you may not be able to have what your folks have, that doesn't mean you are going to be destitute and unable to fend for yourself. You might not get that 3500 sq ft house on an acre of land but you should be able to do alright

If you're looking to pinpoint my life, you are quite off. I don't expect to get anything in my life. If I end up working for the minimum wage for the rest of my life, I'll work it as hard as I can and have fun on my midrange electronics. I am not disrespecting your generation; hell, I get along better with 40 year olds than with 25 year olds. I like a few people in your generation, I like the people that do work and like their work. A lot of people in your generation ride on coattails and the fact they have decades in the business, is that what you saw as good as a child?

 

[rpanic]

Time for them to take a ride on the carousel.

 

[Jhhnn]

Let me add...

"How does it feel to have a comfortable life at the expense of the generations that come after you?"

Nice bit of misdirected moralizing.

Boomers have taken care of their seniors' needs with SS, Medicare, Senior drug benefit and a variety of State programs, as well. Recognizing the demographic bulge, they even paid it forward, putting what is currently ~$3T in the govt's hands to hold for them in the form of the SS trust.

The fact that the heroes of the Right used that increased revenue to cut taxes at the top, expand federal borrowing, transfer an ever increasing share of national income to the tippy-top in the process is the real problem. If distribution of income and taxes were the same now as when Reagan sold us the economic equivalent of Arizona Oceanfront, everybody other than the top .0X percent would be a lot better off. SS wouldn't be much of an issue, because it'd be the only federal debt.

Yep- Boomers got chumped, and Righties in general are still being chumped, so they're just desperately seeking to blame somebody other than themselves... That's how denial works- it's a disease.

 

[Hacp]

Nice bit of misdirected moralizing.

Boomers have taken care of their seniors' needs with SS, Medicare, Senior drug benefit and a variety of State programs, as well. Recognizing the demographic bulge, they even paid it forward, putting what is currently ~$3T in the govt's hands to hold for them in the form of the SS trust.

The fact that the heroes of the Right used that increased revenue to cut taxes at the top, expand federal borrowing, transfer an ever increasing share of national income to the tippy-top in the process is the real problem. If distribution of income and taxes were the same now as when Reagan sold us the economic equivalent of Arizona Oceanfront, everybody other than the top .0X percent would be a lot better off. SS wouldn't be much of an issue, because it'd be the only federal debt.

Yep- Boomers got chumped, and Righties in general are still being chumped, so they're just desperately seeking to blame somebody other than themselves... That's how denial works- it's a disease.

You haven't factored in pensions and all the borrowing yet.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

You haven't factored in pensions and all the borrowing yet.

Don't forget the unsustainable legislation the boomers have pushed on the rest of us.

The boomers and older are trying to double dip. They spent the money on themselves and now want to whine about not getting more just because they are old.

 

[ShawnD1]

Nice bit of misdirected moralizing.

Boomers have taken care of their seniors' needs with SS, Medicare, Senior drug benefit and a variety of State programs, as well

????

Baby Boomers are people born after World War 2. Social Security was started in 1935, which I think was before World War 2. Medicare was signed in by Lyndon Johnson in 1965 who would have been elected in 1964 I believe. The first baby boomers were born in 1946 (9 months after the war ended would be in 1946) which means the baby boomers would just then be reaching 18 years of age when LBJ was elected. Sorry brah, but the boomers did not elect LBJ. Their parents elected him. The senior drug benefit is really the only thing baby boomers can take any credit for, and that too has its own share of problems. Instead of demanding a price cap on drugs then having it covered by medicare, they simply decided to cover the cost without putting a cap on the prices. Thanks for fucking over the next generation of Americans who end up paying for your $400 per month pills for the next 20 years. Of course the boomers didn't pay into any of that because taxes are based on current expenses. That wasn't a current expense until 2006. When they jack up the taxes to cover that cost, guess who pays for it. That's right, the younger people who are still working; that doesn't include the boomers because they're just now starting to retire (1946 + 65 years = 2011 official retirement age).

Recognizing the demographic bulge, they even paid it forward, putting what is currently ~$3T in the govt's hands to hold for them in the form of the SS trust.

What do you mean they paid it forward? You pay into your own pension, not the pension of others. If they were really paying it forward, then Social Security would have a negative return, wouldn't it? Like you pay $100 in and you only get $90 back? According to even the craziest people on this forum like Spidey07, they estimated that Social Security has a net return that is positive, something like 2-3%. That's not paying it forward. That's simply getting back what you put in plus a small amount of interest, similar to buying government bonds. Actually, that's exactly what it is. Social Security is a government bond.

The fact that the heroes of the Right used that increased revenue to cut taxes at the top

Whoa hold on there. The pension turning over a profit doesn't mean they intentionally "paid it forward." That just means they died prematurely. Ideally, a person pays into a pension, they retire, and they collect roughly what they put into it. If a whole bunch of people die shortly after they retire, the pension will appear to have a profit because money flowed in but it was never paid out. Actually, that was one of the reasons those studies in the UK concluded that smokers were a net profit to the government. They pay into stuff like pension then they don't collect any of it because they died too soon.

 

[yllus]

The baby boomer generation is the cause of every major problem the world suffers from today, but somehow it's all the younger generations' fault. (Which is truly remarkable considering the younger generations still do not have significant representation in real positions of power.)

It's all convenient memory lapses and shrugging off personal responsibility. Every generation does it and will continue to do it. You'd think as a race we'd learn.

 

[MJinZ]

Lol you guys are dumb.

USA is going to either to take over the world or enter WW3, stimulating Economy, cutting world population by 90% and then there will again be enough resources for the remaining to enjoy.

It's just going to happen. It's not like any nation in the history has ever really persisted as they are. We are going to be destroyed or we are going to expand.

'Cuz Americans aren't going to stand other people having nice things as well.

 

[Jhhnn]

Lame obfuscation and denial

The first thing we need to do is get the demographics straight. The US Census Bureau defines Baby Boomers as people born between 1946 and 1964. The vast majority of Boomers are still working today, and have been their whole adult lives. None have reached the age of 65. They've paid for the SS benefits and Medicare of their seniors, and continue to do so.

Prior to 1983, both programs were pay as you go, with only a small SS trust fund acting as a buffer. Working people paid for the benefits of their seniors. That's the way it had been from the beginning. At the urging of Greenspan and Reagan, SS contributions for working people were increased tremendously in 1983. Not to pay for the benefits of those who were receiving them at the time, but to build a bigger trust fund to act as a buffer when Boomers arrived at retirement age. Boomers recognized the demographic bulge, and acted to lessen the burden on successive generations.

It seemed reasonable at the time, given Reagan's stated distaste for federal deficits. The public had faith in the idea that he'd contain deficits, one way or another. Seniors and middle aged people saw the initiative as strengthening SS.

And it did, for them, and Boomers paid the increased levy unflinchingly, building the SS trust fund to what it is today, ~$3T.

Had Reagan and his Republican successors fulfilled their promise to contain deficits, the total federal debt would be ~$4T, The SS trust plus the $1T created prior to Reagan.

But that's not what happened. Under Reagan, top tier taxes were cut tremendously and military spending increased even more, creating huge deficits. Although his successor, GHWB, raised taxes slightly, not to pre-Reagan levels, military spending was sustained and deficits continued to grow. That trend was reversed during the Clinton years, then exploded again under the GWB admin. Simple facts.

The existence of all that other debt is what threatens SS and the solvency of the govt in general. It will be many years, if ever, before SS trust payment obligations even approach the debt maintenance obligations created under a succession of Republican Admins. The obligations of the Trust are also temporary, as Boomers will inevitably die off, whereas the other debt obligations are basically permanent, a subsidy to the world's wealthiest people.

It's not what Boomers created that I referenced in the first place, but what they've paid, and continue to pay. It represents honest effort and sacrifice on behalf of their seniors and themselves. The fact that they've been exploited with class warfare should be fairly obvious, and putting it off in terms of generational conflict is dishonest at best.

Clearly, Medicare costs need to be contained, something that simply won't happen other than in the most callous fashion as long as we cling to an exploitational healthcare model discarded by the rest of the first world long ago.

Don't like that? Vote Republican- they'll tell you what you want to hear, deliver more of the same class warfare, top down looting that they've delivered all along, and you'll probably like it, too, adore extreme wealth even more as even modest wealth becomes more unobtainable for the vast majority of Americans. They'll raise your credit limit, (not your wages, obviously) and it'll all be hunky-dory.

 

[Engineer]

Don't forget the unsustainable legislation the boomers have pushed on the rest of us.

The boomers and older are trying to double dip. They spent the money on themselves and now want to whine about not getting more just because they are old.

My former boss, a baby boomer himself, actually told me the same thing. Said his generation sold out the next generations and since many in Congress are baby boomers themselves, they are still doing it.

<--- Not baby boomer but not a spring chicken either. Stuck in the middle.

 

[Jhhnn]

My former boss, a baby boomer himself, actually told me the same thing. Said his generation sold out the next generations and since many in Congress are baby boomers themselves, they are still doing it.

<--- Not baby boomer but not a spring chicken either. Stuck in the middle.

I expected better from you. If the next generation got sold out, it wasn't for the benefit of boomers themselves, other than the extremely wealthy % of them, but rather for tax cuts and policy initiatives that heavily favored the wealthy, and for a massive military machine that protects their overseas investments. You know, the ones they made with more money because of reduced taxes, the ones where they offshored american jobs.

 

[Engineer]

I expected better from you. If the next generation got sold out, it wasn't for the benefit of boomers themselves, other than the extremely wealthy &#37; of them, but rather for tax cuts and policy initiatives that heavily favored the wealthy, and for a massive military machine that protects their overseas investments. You know, the ones they made with more money because of reduced taxes, the ones where they offshored american jobs.

I didn't say it, my boss did, lol. I just pointed out that I wasn't a baby boomer or young chicken in this battle! It was strange hearing him say it (he is 63 now).

I already know about trickle-UP economics. Those with the most always get more and more until there is a revolution (Very "The Matrix" like) in which everything is reset and starts all over again.

And I'm in a good mood, so don't get me started about the capital class exporting jobs from middle class America......I want to enjoy my Sunday!

 

[Carmen813]

Hmmm...older people want to work? Not a big surprise to me...MOST older people have far better work ethics than young people, and it's not just the current generation either. Hell, I think that's always been the case. Yesterday's young people slackers have turned into today's best workers.

Why should a business hire an older worker?

They usually have their "relationship problems" far behind them.

Very few are more concerned about the upcoming party...or hungover from last night's party...

MOST of them realize that work is a necessary evil...like it or not, the job has to be done by someone.

Very few older people think they're so special that they need to be treated like kindergartners to get them to accept a job.

Of course older workers are also more likely to get sick and drive up the companies insurance premiums with their viagra prescriptions, forget where they are, complain about working past 4 P.M.,get all depressed because all their friends/family are dying off, and continue doing things the way they've always been done instead of innovate.

I don't believe any of the above paragraph, but I felt if we were going to speak our biases about younger people then older folks should get their fair share.