I hear this line all the time from out of touch people and still don't know what it means. Like, the fact that I can get on the internet with a "device" means I'm spoiled or something? Those things are pretty much essential these days, not luxuries. People in Zaire, Sri Lanka and Iraq can get on Twitter for crap's sake; it hardly means you've got it made or something.
A little has changed. My parents couldn't drink out of the same faucets as white people 80 years ago. Thankfully, someone felt differently than you about the ability to change things. (but I agree--these yahoos won't do it)
Internet access and smart phones are not essentials and are absolutely luxuries. That shows how out of touch you are. Essentials are required to live not entertain and keep informed. I don't care what countries have Internet access. The fact that anyone would try to deem them essentials is extremely sad. If you are paying for Internet access and paying for a smart phone and paying for TV/Netflix and don't have enough money to buy food and lodging then you are not setting your priorities correctly and have no one to blame for your issues but yourself. Driving by the projects and seeing a satellite dish literally on every house and a $30k car at half of them absolutely infuriates me. If you can afford satellite then you don't need government assistance period end of discussion. And before you ask the answer is no. If you have so little money that tax payers are paying for your housing and food then NO you shouldn't have satellite TV (or cigarettes, or beer). I don't even pay for satellite TV or have anywhere close to a $30k car.
Don't get carried away - I'm only really a fan of DC United. I just support any team playing the Galaxy. LAFC is convenient and will be a rival of the Galaxy. I will have no gear, etc. james
Wow - a little naive aren't you. I love the "my view of institutional poverty is the only view". Pretty much every thing you stated is an outlier. Your comment shows a complete lack of understanding of how/why people end up in the "projects". Also - a mobile phone with email capability is basically essential now. It doesn't have to be a new iPhone/Samsung but try getting something that isn't a minimum wage job without it. As most people don't have landlines anymore (~40/mo) they can put that money toward internet and mobile communications. Apparently you think they shouldn't. I don't believe that you can use SNAP/EBT to pay for internet phone so that is the calculation. Does your view do anything to improve the situation or does it just give you a sense of superiority as you drive "through the projects" that your choices are the correct ones. Cheers, James
I didn't say anything about a "mobile phone with email capability". There you go twisting words. I said "paying for internet access and a smart phone". I also assure you that people living in government housing and having satellite TV is not an outlier (at least not where I live). I really want to say a lot more but I will refrain as I have already contributed enough to this thread being derailed. And please also do not try to tag me as an emotionless person with a "superiority" complex. I by no means feel i am superior to anyone. I feel that there are lots of people that don't understand how manage priorities. I also feel that there are many that are in genuine need of help. Too many times others ruin for the people that really need help.
Seriously, the level of ignorant condescension toward Millennials and poor people on this thread is reaching unbearable proportions. And no, I'm neither a Millennial nor am I poor. Let's get back to soccer.
Internet access is an absolute luxury? Well, I guess it is if you want to dig ditches for a career. If on the other hand you aspire to have the education and job that is more likely to get you into a middle-class existence (or better), then internet access is slightly more essential. Check the calendar, man. It ain't 1965 or even 1995. (And considering how cheap smartphones are these days, and that a smartphone + a data plan is far cheaper than a home phone + wired internet access + a computer, and that it has the additional attribute of being mobile, I'd say that a basic smartphone makes good economic sense.)
I hear Landon Donovan will be playing for the Galaxy again. So that precludes him from any LAFC position (which was always a stretch, Keane is a more likely candidate.) Hey, isn't LD a millennial?
Welp, he's still a Millennial. If people are going to make overarching statements about the generation then they can't pick and choose those who fit into their preconceived notions. I'd love to avoid being labeled as a Millennial, if only to not have to deal with the stigma. But even though I work 60+ hour weeks doing labor intensive jobs, haven't rushed into any big life decisions, and am able to keep all of my bills paid, I'm still lazy and make bad decisions because I was born after 1980. I may not check off all of the boxes on the "Millennial Stereotype" checklist but I will stand up for my generation against those who are simply doing what every single generation has done: hate the next generation because they're different.
So are you saying Greatest Generation, WW2 babies, Baby Boomers, Generation X,[Generation Y?] Millenial?
Labeling the traits of a generation is a bit like using body mass index. BMI was never meant to be used on a case by case basis (Mike Tyson in his prime had a BMI of 33, obese), it was meant to provide a way to perform comparative studies across populations. For instance, if the French BMI is 25 and the US BMI is 30 than the US is "fatter" than France. But that doesn't apply to individuals. Yes, there are Millennials who are Navy SEALs. There were people in the "Greatest Generation" who were draft dodging and smoking weed while their peers were storming the beaches of Europe. No one with half a brain applies the generalizations of generations to individuals, but they ARE useful for identifying the collective behavior of the entire generation, ie voting patterns and consumer preferences. Also, generations don't hate the next generation because they're different. They hate them because they think they're different.
I am a late 81 birth, and I took five years, so my date would have been 2004 for college, rather than 03. I ended up graduating in 05, so both Facebook and Myspace were part of the end of my years. However, the big thing at the start was how EVERYone had cell phones, which was a new thing. I can definitely relate to the caught in the middle, between generations thing. My youngest sister is a 98, and a pure millenial in both good and bad ways. People don't really change, though, and every generation thinks it knows it all when it is young.
But I think we can all agree the greed and rapaciousness of the boomers screwed the whole thing up for everyone....right? cheers, james
Those things weren't invented or perfected in the last 80 years. The boomers were just borrowing from the ideas of the generations before them. Everyone keeps making the same kind of mistakes. I mean, look at MLS. They keep going back to places like LA2, and apparently Miami, in spite of the clear evidence to steer clear.
America's founding fathers purposely made their government to always have check and balances. This creates stabilty and it's why the great experiment has continued to work. Oh sure we would love things to change but there is a reason why things don't drastically change in our goverment culture.