Originally Posted by
Thedude
I completely disagree with that. People of the X generation moved home because they had to not because they wanted to. In the late 70s and early 80s a person graduation from college could almost walk into a job that paid 18k-25k. Flash forward 10-15 yrs. The employment market became tighter but was still pay the same 18k-25k salary while most other cost of living items had gone up significantly. That 6k car in 1980 became a 28k car in 1995. Same 18k-25k pay but much less purchasing power not to mention getting a job straight outta school was mostly a pipe dream except for a lucky few
I wished I could have live at home and saved a few bucks when I entered into the work force. It would have helped tremendously financially but for me in the aviation biz, it just wasn’t possible.
Now we have the same people that had it good back in the late 70s and early 80s that are now well entrenched into upper management, They give themselves huge bonuses while cutting workers pay and outsourcing to offshore companies to slash costs even further.
Gen X is the first generation that will have a standard of living lower than the generation that precedes it.
Again, a bunch of hooey. The car purchased in the 1970s cost more when adjusted for inflation, cost more to operate, and did not last as long. The engines RARELY lasted 100,000 miles, now it's a given. The tires lasted about 10,000-20,000, now they often last over 50,000. Your chances of surviving a crash in a car are MUCH better today than back then. EVERY car I have purchased since 1991 has lasted over 150,000 miles, and would have lasted longer but I traded them in. Of the four cars I have owned since then, 2 JEEPS and an Acura, the only two things I replaced were a water pump and an alternator. Yeah, my 64 Dodge Dart was easy and fun to work on, but given the choice of reliable transportation I'll stick with my car of today.
And while you're complaining about jobs moving overseas, please tell me where your cloths were made. If you fly, do you buy the cheapest shirts and publications bag, or American made ones? (Personally, when it comes to my publications bag, flying shirts and work shoes, I go with quality. Underwear, t-shirts and socks, I go cheap). The workers who have their jobs moved overseas don't just stop working- they find new jobs. Usually they are better jobs than the mindless and hard manufacturing jobs they had.
People lived at home then because they could and their parents let them. Most people I knew chose NOT to live at home, but it meant paying someone rent and getting a job. Jobs were available, just not the jobs people really wanted.
The alternative is the government getting involved in the job market and the economy. You DON'T want that. I remember visiting Spain on R&R several times in the mid 1990's. Unemployment was over
25% thanks to government interference in the markets. That's worse than in the US during the depression. No thanks.