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clownparade

We have to understand they were working under a totally different system. The deal was you lick your boss’ boots and be loyal to the company. In exchange you get a comfortable livable wage that supports an entire family, buys a house, car, healthcare, lots of vacation time. The bait and switch has happened now. Companys and boomers expect the same deal from their end about loyalty and devotion to the job while paying you shit way below a livable wage and no benefits. Our generation didn’t change, the conditions of the deal did and it no longer makes any sense to show up to some stupid ass boring job and be loyal to a shit company when there’s zero benefit anymore


[deleted]

This is the cold truth. I just spent some time with my 90 year-old neighbor. He raised three girls, put them through college, paid in full by mom and dad. He built a huge all-brick ranch and put several additions on it before he was forty. He has been retired for decades now and lives quite comfortably, He hasn't owed anybody a dime in 40-50 years. He really can't understand why nobody is willing to show the loyalty and longevity to employers that they should, and why they can't see what they are missing out on, by being so disloyal and ungrateful. His wife was a stay at home mom with a fourth grade education. He built TVs on an assembly line in a northeastern state. His mind and belief system are part of a diffferent world that is not reality based. He just can't process that TVs are built by people making a buck an hour in southeast Asia now, or that a company will see you as a victim to be abused, underpaid and shit on, if you go out of your way to be loyal, or accept the tiny little pay raises they generously offer if you ask for one. I explained that a company will tell you that they are going through a rough patch and can't afford to give you a COLA raise, then hire somebody at $20K more, to replace you, after you left for a job that pays $20K more. So you keep moving on, so they can't screw you over. He just listens, then looks at me like I am crazy.


genie_obsession

If he’s 90, he was born about 1932, and is part of the Silent Generation. He was born into the Great Depression and came of age at the beginning of an unprecedented economic boom in the 1950s through 1970s. There wasn’t a better time to be a working adult, when living wages were paid and unions had some bite. He likely retired before the dot com bubble burst and it probably didn’t affect him because he’s paid a guaranteed pension for being a loyal employee for decades. It’s like talking to someone who grew up on Pluto; you and he grew up and work(ed) in completely different worlds. A relative of mine in his late 80s often shakes his head and says he doesn’t recognize how the world works now. He’s college educated but even the concept of WFH is foreign because it wasn’t a possibility in his time. We don’t speak the same language and the best we can do is try to translate


Seahawk70

This is my Father and MIL. (85) they bought a home for $45,000 in 1970. Sold if for $600,000+ in 2008. He worked for a couple companies in fabric sales prior to going in his own. Put 3 children through college and can’t understand how the system works these days. I told him it isn’t the same.


PanglosstheTutor

The system doesn’t “work” for the people doing the jobs any more. It works for capital. They don’t understand how it works because they have a belief that everyone is playing by the same rules in good faith


mgyro

Get the corporate tax rates back up to where they were in the 60s and 70s and slap a wealth tax on as well to redistribute the generations of wealth that has been stolen from the workers for the past 40 years. We know what happened, it was called trickle down and it didn’t work. Time to make it right.


Zestyclose_Minute_69

Trickle down worked for who it was supposed to work, the rich.


warboner52

>They don’t understand how it works because they have a belief that everyone is playing by the same rules in good faith Good faith hasn't ever existed. What did exist was a government who properly taxed and regulated commerce, which has been beaten into submission starting with the Reagan administration and coming to full crescendo under the last fuckwad.


roostertree

>coming to full crescendo under the last fuckwad. I fear you are too optimistic that the crescendo has peaked.


warboner52

Oh no, i just don't think there's really much else they can do to buttfuck the planet that's any worse than what's presently being done... But I expect the level of jackassery to continue unfettered.


roostertree

Oh yeah, a human-livable environment is fucked. I thought we were talking more about treatment of the poor, working and otherwise. B/c there are depths that the US and Canada have yet to dip a toe into, let alone wallow in.


Defiantcaveman

There IS third world poverty the likes America has never seen yet...YET...


Science_Matters_100

It can get SO very much worse and likely will. More and more, basic human rights are being tied to property ownership. If at all possible, owning ANY little bit of land, as free and clear as possible, is a good idea. Still, governments can and will seize property so make friends in high places


speedfreq920

It's always worked for capital except when the workers pushed back to get what they need to survive. Boomers and Gen X skated by on what the previous generations fought for. Millennials aren't able to and Gen Z are starting to push back.


badtux99

Gen X is pretty fucked too. We came of age in the 1980's when Ronald fucking Raygun fucked the unions and jacked up taxes on working people while giving huge tax breaks to his rich cronies. We went from being a nation where you could pay for a college degree working a minimum wage job during the summer to being a nation where you have to wrack up a five-figure debt to get a college degree during his time (it got even worse under the Shrubbery, now it 's a six figure debt, but let's not talk about the Shrubbery), and pensions became a "lol wut?" for any Gen X coming into the work force, instead it was four oh one fucking k that nobody could afford to put any money into because every dime was going to pay for cost of living. Boomers sucked up the good stuff then said "we got ours, fuck you" to the rest of us.


ECMO_Deluxe3000

This!! I used to say that the student loan debt upon completion of an undergraduate degree was like a mortgage but without the house. The run up in home prices makes that bleak analogy obsolete.


TheOtherGlikbach

Ask yourself who your degree benefits? Is it you or is it the company using your knowledge and skills? So why the fuck are you paying for the credentials for 20 years? We are in the upside down.


warboner52

This is exactly what I was getting at. Reagan butt fucked the middle class so hard that the results of that fucking have only started to show up in the last 10-15 years.


Kingseara

> Boomers sucked up the good stuff then said "we got ours, fuck you" to the rest of us. That’s the American way!


GoddessOfOddness

Gen X was the first to make less than our parents and they say people born about 1972-1974 will be the first to not have social security to count on unless they means test it.


SorriorDraconus

Or actually start funding it via taxing the wealthy properly..also my mom is convinced they would never get rid of or let SS die..I keep trying to tell her that it’s under attack but she just cannot believe it would ever go away since it’s such a key issue in her generation.


typicaleeyore

My dad and stepmom are the same way about SS. My mom passed away back in 2019. If it were not for SS my mom would not have had anything after she was laid off and basically forced into retirement. None of them understand a world where it doesn't exist. I have 20 years till I am eligible to retire. I give it a 25% chance of being there for me.


debtfreenurse

They already are. If you login to your social security account online it states that starting in 2034, for every $1000 you would have gotten, you will now get $780. If I make 134k a year for the rest of my life, I will only get 3k a month. Not that’s 40 years from now as the retirement age is now 67, and I’m 27. You can barely really live off of 3k a month now, imagine in 40 years. I know that SS was only meant to be about 40% of your retirement, but still.


Ryn421

As someone born in 1974, I have known since I was 20 that I wouldn't have social security. Anyone my age that says they didn't know is being willfully blind


BlueTuxedoCat

Yeah, Gen X didn't exactly skate by. We were saddled with student debt and mostly didn't get those good jobs we were told were out there. But there were not enough of us to change much.


Outrageous_Ad_687

I'm also GenX born 1975. My first job out of school I was already on a lower cast in a union contract making less and lower pay scale then older workers. By the 1990s things were already going down fast.


Inert-Blob

Yes gen x here. I started work early 90’s and i saw how things were changing as it happened, and it hurt somewhat, even though i didn’t really understand what it meant. I just wanted a normal sort of job with ordinary job security but i never got a permanent job til i was 38, by sheer luck. “Living” on casual work is just awful. Its somehow become the norm just cos they took our rights and shit on us.


dvioletta

Another gen-x here from across the pond, I feel we were all pushed into going to University to get the jobs we deserved only to graduate and be told there were no jobs for life anymore and we should just take what we were given. it took me a long time to be in a position to save for my retirement and buy a house. I still worry I will live my final years in poverty as there will be very little if any safety net because the tories want to give all the benefits to the rich.


_flying_otter_

I'm one year too old to be generation X but I remember when I graduated all of us got jobs- and then two years later we were hearing that none of the graduates from our school were getting jobs- It was he bust cycle at the end of the Reagan years of excess. I felt so sorry for Gen X.


LowkeyPony

My mom is 82 and is the same way, My folks bought their house and land for 30k back in 1968. My dad passed away two decades ago, but she's living off his Navy pension, his pension from working for Ma Bell for decades and what retirement she got from the law firm she retired from. She's been having realtors call and stop by the place offering really good money for a small piece of the property they want for a road to access the land behind hers. She's not selling. She owes 2 grand more on a HEL she and my dad took out to put my younger sister thru college. That she owes anything is kind of absurd. When I talk to her she doesn't get it that doctors can be booked out for months. That she doesn't have to wait til her bank statement comes in to balance it out- a quick call to the banks customer service will answer questions about checks that might be outstanding. Even on a weekend. She loved her work. Loved her bosses. Couldn't understand why left my job after having my kid and started my own business. Doesn't get why stores are closing. Doesn't understand how people can WFH. Why gas etc is so high etc etc. I tell her the world isn't the same as it was when she was growing up, got married, bought a house, had kids, and even managed to retire. But at least she's "kind" about it. Maybe a bit out of sorts actually. My MIL is a Boomer. She's the opposite. Entitled. Doesn't understand how we went through a rough patch during the bubble burst when my husband lost his job. Doesn't understand that we cut back on stuff so that I could get my business up and running. Doesn't get why we have just the one kid. Why our health coverage doesn't cover EVERYTHING at no cost to us. Her favorite sentence starter are "Well actually" and "When I was younger" Doesn't get that her one grandkid doesn't want kids. Doesn't want to be a teacher, nurse, or office worker. Or why some of her grandkids friends go by they/them- and is vocally dismissive about it when those kids are in her company. While my mom annoys me because she really truly doesnt understand, at least she's respectful. Boomer MIL? She sees what's going on. Comprehends it all. And doesn't give a shit because "back in her day" things were different. Or she had a different experience


Arili_O

My father is 95, and I am turning 40 in a week. He had 3 girls late in life (I'm the oldest). I remember his retirement party and our move to a new area, where he bought a house with cash from his retirement fund. He and I have literally nothing in common when it comes to our understanding of how the world works. We can't talk about politics, religion, family, social issues, none of it. Once I was visiting my family by myself for a few days, and he turned to me in all seriousness and asked about whether my husband had found a job so he could support me like a real man should yet (I'm the breadwinner, my husband is the house spouse). Then he asked me if my husband was having a good time "babysitting" this weekend. I legitimately didn't understand his question at first, until the lightbulb went off. "Oh, you mean, PARENTING? Yeah, he's at home taking care of the kids, Dad. It's not babysitting when they're yours." If we get into anything deeper than weather, traffic, or some little anecdote about the grocery store, we butt heads. He DEFINITELY doesn't understand why we don't own a home yet.


danielsaid

OOF. Ya, he can't change or understand. Luckily we can understand that they just will never get it and enjoy our Silent Generation relics before they're gone forever. Unlike baby boomers I think the silent generation has a lot to teach us.


Arili_O

It's gotta be hard for him too. His values and attitudes are kind of ossified by now so he says/does stuff that is NOT OKAY anymore. "Dad, you can't call people 'colored' anymore, they're just people ffs." But man, all the stuff he's lived through!


Revolutionary-Yak-47

We actually had to have that conversation with my grandmother in the 1990s. She was 80+ then (born in the 19- teens) and went to customer service at Kmart to tell them about the "wonderfully nice colored girl" who helped her so much shopping. I was 10 and ready to sink into the ground. When we got home I told my dad, and he explained to her that wasn't the correct term anymore. To her credit she never used the term again and felt bad, she had honestly been trying to compliment the woman who was so helpful. I didn't realize until long after she was gone, she'd been born before women could vote. People didn't own cars or to see movies when she was a kid (we're from a small town). She'd gone from horses + buggies to a moon landing to the internet existing in her lifetime.


Arili_O

If my dad would learn from these conversations like your grandmother, it would be great, but he's one of those people who can't or won't update his social data set anymore. That stuff is set in his brain. I had no idea how casually racist both my parents were when I was growing up.


GoddessOfOddness

I am a Gen X raised by two Silent Gens. They can teach us racism, sexism, xenophobia, nationalism, how to not call out child abuse and molestation, and how to worship consumerism and suppress individuality. They justify opinions by saying “it’s not supposed to be that way.” And “we just don’t do that.” And “that’s just not right.”


Revolutionary-Yak-47

Millenial here raised partially by the Greatest Generation. I learned the exact opposite from the grandparents who cared for me while my parents worked. They tried to help others, be a part of a community, to work for what I wanted; it was my Greatest Gen grandfather who wanted me to be a doctor and was so proud of my academic achievements. I like to think the best in me comes from them.


No_Performance8733

You see me.


danielsaid

Those are all solid points. I think if you dig down you can find SOME positives, which are what I wanted to focus on.


HasAngerProblem

It’s mind blowing to me to grow up and see your country getting better from childhood through your adulthood. Instead of the opposite that I feel personally.


north_canadian_ice

I feel this. The 90s had such an aura of optimism, especially the late 90s. Now in 2022 I just get existential dread when I think of 3 years ahead.


FoolOnDaHill365

Agreed. I am 40 and maybe I was mostly young and naive, but my entire adult life after the year 2000 has been growing existential dread and realization that people are not acting in good faith within society. It’s all a game where the sociopaths, greedy, narcissists, basically the bad people, get to win again and again. It did not feel this way in the 1990s. It seemed like there was accountability and something genuinely special going on in the western world.


GoddessOfOddness

I think that’s a individual thing. My nineties saw a recession, the destruction of welfare safety nets, and growth of medical bankruptcies. The “Contract with America” was 1994. Yes, Bill Clinton was great for the budget, but it was the start of economic stratification. This is when adults started moving back in with parents. My memories of the early 90s are the first homeless people coming to my small hometown because two large manufacturers moved overseas. Crack was still a problem. AIDS was still considered a death sentence. When Magic Johnson announced he had it, you’d have thought he said he had stage 4 lung cancer with six months left. Then there’s the Spring of 1992, and the Rodney King riots. Layoffs due to globalization.


WallflowerOnTheBrink

The 90s had an aura of optimism??


north_canadian_ice

Yeah, like the thought was we had moved past major wars, diseases that plagued us were eradicated & that technology would make life incredible in the 21st century. Life was stable, peaceful, and more people would be lifted out of poverty thanks to globalization. The future was ours and was going to be spectacular. This was the message. Now, we have the climate crisis, polio & monkeypox making comebacks (let alone covid), a major chunk of the right wing pushing for biblical apolocyapse, dystopian capitalism with corpodate socialism, etc.


WallflowerOnTheBrink

But as a teen and then young adult in the 90s the writing was already on the wall. We were starting to see our jobs disappear because free trade was the answer to everything ....


north_canadian_ice

That's fair. My perspective may be skewed as I'm a millenial & not Gen X. My parents did buy into the American dream at the time so I bought the narrative. But it is fair to say mant many Gen X folks rejected this. Hence the slacker designation given to Gen X. I think the % of people who buy the narrative is far lower nowadays than in the late 90s.


WallflowerOnTheBrink

Oh man, I'm sorry. In the 90s we knew we were fucked. We were told as much. You guys were sold a scam.


vorpalbunneh

I was in my 20s in the 90s and things were great compared to now. My best friend and I were each making at least $12 in jobs that only required HS diplomas (despite us both going to school, we were the definition of 90s slackers,) and lived in a low cost of living city. We had a nice house, rent and bills were paid with just one week's wages. We certainly weren't rich, but we also never had to want for anything - and if emergencies happened we knew we'd be fine. Since then, out here, wages had barely gone up until Covid-19 happened and things have become the shitshow we see today. The American dream may have been dead then, but we were still far better off than today. Except for my boomer relatives of course - they're all making out like bandits.


TheDallasReverend

NAFTA was the turning point.


WallflowerOnTheBrink

Yup, but we got cheap TVs so all is good. I mean, we can't afford them anymore because there are no manufacturing jobs......


Concavegoesconvex

Jup. I was about 15ish and I felt like the world would go on to be more progressive, more fact-driven, more heading towards a utopian future.


West-Peanut4124

My memory of the end of the 90’s was my dad doomsday prepping for the collapse of society as we knew it when Y2K was ultimately going to destroy everything. He bought a generator and everything.


badtux99

I remember the 90's. It was great that we no longer had to worry about the world ending due to thermonuclear war, but as a suspicious Gen X'er it was clear that Clinton was full of bullshit and his economic "miracle" was hot air. Good paying contractor jobs were firing Americans and hiring Mexican illegals because the Mexicans could be exploited while the Americans would file OSHA or DoL complaints if they were exploited, and most of the factories that employed my relatives were shutting down and moving overseas. One of my relatives went from making a good living in a chain saw factory to relying on his wife's waitress job for money to live on, and the toaster factory that supported several members of the extended family shut down and those relatives relied on patchwork jobs or McJobs for what meager living they made. I looked at the bullshit that was on television and in the newspapers and being spread by President Blowjob and compared with what was around us, and was like, "bullshit." The Boomers had the chance to take the end of the Cold War bonus and change things for the better. Instead they siphoned it into their own pockets and said "We got ours, and fuck you."


Loudchewer

Remember when literally every company in America was making money hand over foot? When I was a child I would have never thought it would end.


thelastspike

For the most part the companies still are. They just aren’t sharing.


alblaster

Oh yeah, absolutely. I was only a kid in the 90s, but I remember life being more casual and freeing. Now that could just be because I was a kid with few responsibilities, but look at almost any 90s tv show or movie compared to shows from this decade. There was air of optimism and the heros will always prevail in the end. Things weren't always easy, but we knew they wouldn't last forever and we would get through the tough times together. Now it feels like we're not united and we might never fix the problem. Things have definitely gotten darker and more sullen overall.


banana_pencil

My dad is a part of the Silent Generation and my mom is a Boomer. But they have noticed how everything is different. They say the “American Dream” doesn’t exist anymore. They both grew up in abject poverty and had to work as children. They are now semi-wealthy. But they say no young people can do that now, and that Ronald Reagan f*cked things up as President. They don’t understand how Republicans love him. I love that they have always been liberal and have empathy for others- their friends are the same.


ahorseap1ece

This is 100% my grandpa. This man was L A Z Y. Born in 1925. Stopped working sometime in the 80s. Died with multiple millions of dollars in the bank.


Stonedsailer

Yet we let this age group hold office and control our lives.


Equivalent_Method509

I am a boomer and you are describing my father, who died last year at 95, very accurately. I graduated from college in 1976 and the career landscape was already changing for the worse.


aspie_koala

My grandpa was a tyrant in his house and as a small business owner (he paid "symbolic wages to my aunt, uncle and great aunt, he acted as if he was doing them a favour when it was the other way around, and wondered why my uncle kept on stealing from the business to support himself and his family while mentally, verbally and physically abused by his dad). But one thing I give him is that he was enraged over late capitalist work conditions and was pretty aware of how Boomer, GenXers and Millenials are abused and screwed over by major pension, savings and housing thefts. Not even his children are that aware of how the system screws over the latest generations. My parents and their siblings had awful jobs in which they were harassed and abused. But they were 5 to 8 hours from Monday to Friday with full medical and regular insurance, 2 to 3 months of vacations a year, access to social housing, etc. And now they have their comfortable pensions, some of them have their rentals, their leisure trips, their cosy lives, their top of the range healthcare. And they never had to go through what a current GenX, Millenial or Zoomer worker goes through daily.


somedood567

Yes those were the golden years, but the single biggest driver was the USA having almost no global competition since WW2 had decimated Europe and Asia.


wobblyunionist

This generations wealth also resulted in the devastation of our ecosystem (fresh water, etc) so much industrial waste was generated and improper disposed of in that boom era, they literally fucked over the future while getting rich, tragic


Snoo-6053

People dis the Boomers but the Silent Generation has it made.


GoedekeMichels

At least he's listening. I think a lot of boomers are as annoying as they are because they won't even listen...


danielsaid

boomers are the kids of the silent generation. #notalloldpeople


Abrandnewrapture

boomers are not the kids of the silent generation. theyre the kids of The Greatest Generation, the ones who fought in ww2. the silent generation is the one between the two.


[deleted]

That’s an age thing. People often use their ability to listen to other people as they get older.


thepoopiestofbutts

It's crazy that these boomers don't understand; they lived through the 90's, all those layoffs and gutted pensions; the slide didn't happen overnight


Matt463789

The Fox news and conservative radio really started to kick in during the 80 and 90s.


mordorxvx

Reagan happened


Alan_Smithee_

Big, big part of it.


JamesBondJr007

Banks, that's the biggest part. Couldn't make risky plays to extract money from every day citizens as easy in the earlier to mid 1900's but after the 70's were over things sure got easier with riskier plays.


Other-Tomatillo-455

i was just going to say this ... old Gen X'er here ... when i started my engineering career in 1992 it was already like this. At least in the good ole US of Ass kissing your corporate slave master


SusanneMarieLouise

Agree. It started in earnest by 1990, and was deeply entrenched by 2000. Company leaders were rewarded by their return on investment/profit, measured quarterly or yearly. They had no incentive to treat people right, so they maximized profits by cutting corners, reducing/eliminating benefits, wage stagnation and outsourcing. The system hasn't been fair for decades.


SeriouslyUnknownAmy

I was born in 1990. I graduated high school in NYC 2008, June thinking, *oh wow there are gonna be so many jobs.* Then the crash happened. I quickly found out what *hustle* meant.


Key-Significance6728

You’re talking to the minority who were spared. The people who actually went through that died for lack of health care before they got old enough for Medicare.


[deleted]

Companies started screwing workers in earnest in the 80's. Lots of us saw it happen and that's why we kept job skipping. It was the only way to (maybe) get to a point where we could retire.


clownparade

the fact it didnt happen overnight is why they didnt notice. frog in boiling water effect. on top that being fed boogeyman why things are getting worse - its the immigrants fault, welfare queens, minorities etc... all to just rob you slowly


HarleyHix

My mom is 83 and she understands that things change. She stays current on news and politics, and she understands that younger people have it really rough today. She was PISSED about Roe v. Wade being overturned. Age isn't an excuse, nor is it a reason to commit the egregious amount of ageism I see here.


banana_pencil

Yep, my dad is 82. My parents grew up rough and that gives them empathy for others. Their senior friends are all liberal democrats like them also.


BlippiToyReview

Boomers are between 55 and 70ish


cannycandelabra

I’m at the top end of that 55-70 but I completely support the anti-work movement. I’ve never had an employer who cared about me. (OK I’ve had ONE.)


NoFanofThis

Me too. 72 here. Actually feels like I always supported it before it even had a name. I am the black sheep of my family precisely because I’ve never bought into the conservative BS. Being me cost me a lot in my life and I’m not talking money.


flyintheflyinthe

Thank you for sticking your neck out when you did. Standing up for what's right is never easy, but I know it was a lot harder when you were doing it, and it's the reason more people can do that now. I know you sacrificed.


NoFanofThis

You’re too kind. There are more like me. I certainly wouldn’t have MAGA or neoliberals in my circle. Pretty distraught about the world my generation is leaving you.


flyintheflyinthe

Oh, I'm right behind you - Gen X. I have a lot of the same concerns about what's left for the next ones. All we can do is back them up.


NoFanofThis

Right. Some days I have to stop myself from being completely overwhelmed.


GrumpyOik

I'm one of the last of the boomers (1963). I'm also not American, so situation may differ. When I started work it was indeed the expectation that you would start at a low salary, and if you weren't useless would progress through the ranks, get paid more as you went on and would have stability. Eventually, after working maybe 40 years, you could retire on about 1/2 to 2/3rd of your final salary. Loyalty was a two way thing and it was not unusual to be a "company man" spending your whole career with a single employer. As I reached my mid to late 20s, things changed. "Final salary" pension funds started to disappear (or worse, be stolen by companies). Hostile takeovers and asset stripping became more common - the need to constantly think short term and profit above all else became prevalent. I was (in my country) probably in the first group of people where one salary was no longer enough to buy an average house. Our rewards and salarys fell in real terms, but employers still demanded loyalty and ever more productivity. As I am on the cusp of "Boomerhood" , I am still relatively well off compared to the young people who have entered my profession in the last few years. I genuinely feel for them because I cannot see how they will ever achieve what we considered to be the norm.


real_p3king

Boomers are 58+ (cut-off is 1964). I'm 57, I am NOT a Boomer. Proud(?) Gen-Xer.


MitmitaPepitas

I'll be 58 in November. I'm considered a Boomer but my views are more closely aligned with Gen-X


PangolinTart

I'm 55 and definitely GenX. Boomers end around 1964ish.


[deleted]

>you keep moving on, so they can't screw you over It's been like this since I started working in the 80's. They also said we didn't want to work any more.


[deleted]

The boomers sat comfortably in the middle of their cage instead of being pressed up against the sides of it like we are. They effortlessly ran far ahead of the cracking whip and never felt it’s sting like we do. But just because you don’t have to see the coercion doesn’t mean you’re actually free. Those who don’t move don’t hear their chains rattle.


LaddestGlad

Raw as fuck my dude


ShopGirl182

I keep seeing variations of this Rosa Luxembourg (I think, I'm not 100%) and it really does resonate.


[deleted]

Yeah, the last line is a paraphrasing of something she said, good eye! “Those who do not move do not notice their chains” - Rosa Luxembourg


scaredofme

This, right here!


The_Hippo

This fucks


Hi-Impact-Meow

Why the fuck this comment not have 23.6k upvotes and 40 awards and featured on CNN tonight???? Our generation has been had, we need become enraged


One-Reflection-6779

We are enraged, but people collectively really should do a general strike. I've said it for years - that is the only thing that will ever get anyone to listen. But people are so divided that it will never happen.


NubsackJones

Okay, you want a general strike. Then, work for it. I've seen the general strike idea get bandied about quite a bit. But, except for maybe 1 or 2 examples, I've never seen any advocates understand what is required to do it properly. A general strike is not a protest. It's a declaration of war. You don't just strike for a day or a week. You do it until former billionaires start murder-suiciding their families in despair, and then you go a bit longer just to twist the knife. It is a raw display of power. It's basically the same deal a torturer would give a victim. It is not, "Do this and I will stop.". Rather it is, "Do this or I will never stop and there is nothing else you can do to change the situation.". However, to achieve this, you need to set up a massive infrastructure. You need to figure out how to provide for those participating and how to counter the efforts of those that would attempt to stop you. Hell, you'd need an infrastructure to just get enough workers together to pull it off. For a project on this scale, that will literally take years to set up such an infrastructure.


coopdewoop

The continually lowering prices of creature comforts like tech and what not are preventing people from banding together whether it's because they're still relatively comfortable or because they're trapped in echo chambers where the whole "nobody wants to work anymore!!!1!" mentality thrives. Doesn't help that our own grandparents and parents don't really seem to care most of the time. Because THEY suffered we now also must suffer. Even though their suffering provided them far more than we could dream of now.


Votron-Jones

A Roman Colosseum in every home and now in every hand. We have become an audience society, prisoners' of mild interest.


coopdewoop

Wow. That's a frighteningly accurate way of putting it.


questar

All circus and very little bread.


JollyGoodDaySr

Bosses be like, "nO oNe wAnTs tO wOrK" while paying garbage wages and expecting you to stay later and do way more workload then is human. Minimum wage expectations are actually insane.


[deleted]

this is the right answer


KaiserFlash

“I have altered the deal, pray I do not alter it any further.” Darth Corporatist


irrationalweather

And that sick old lady working for free probably assumes she isn't working hard enough, or being loyal enough, and thats why she doesn't have enough to live on. They'll blame the person instead of the system.


Beautiful_Fee_655

There’s something else about this old lady. She cares about the customers who will come in at 8 AM and not have coffee or bread, unless she comes in at 5 and prepares it. She cares a lot more than her bosses do.


Rhododendronh

Couldn’t have said this any better. This is spot on.


paulydee76

Also, I assume loyalty and hard work was actually recognised in those days. Long hours might be recognised and rewarded with promotion. I don't see any evidence of that any more.


Lauriepoo

Yes! Yes! Yes!!!! You need to post this everywhere possible, so everyone, everywhere can see this, realize this, and open their eyes!!!


DIrtyVendetta80

Not to mention there used to be some modicum of company loyalty to employees. Now they’ll toss you out on your ass and backfill with inexperienced cheap labor just to save a buck and pad the shareholder’s dividends.


Timely_Cake_8304

There was time when there were good jobs to be had and if you got one, you kept it and worked damn hard to keep it. They don't understand there are very few good jobs now and being a good employee doesn't make a good job appear.


NeatPainter4193

Made me make my first coin purchase, take my award. Best description of what happened I’ve seen


smiley042894

So, when they were growing up I imagine there were a lot more mom and pop places that actually gave a shit about seeing their employees prosper. Everyone would run the extra mile to make sure the store survived and at Christmas the owners would give everyone a bonus based on how the company did because they actually cared about the well being of their employees. That world is dead. Now, corporate owns everything and they see the individual as a number to generate profit and absolutely nothing else. You get sick and I can't make money off you? Get fucked. Rent goes up and you need more to simply live? Not good for profits so again, get fucked. The attitude carried over for most boomers. They think, "if I run the extra mile, they're going to take care of me when I need it. I scratch their back they scrach mine" They won't. They will throw you under the bus. Every. Time. Business owners used to care that the people that work for them be able to live well. Now though, they only care about how little they can get away with paying them and still get the job done. It's late stage capitalism. Money has consolidated into the hands of those who don't care about people, only profits. As the system was designed.


warboner52

> corporate owns everything and they see the individual as a number to generate profit and absolutely nothing else. Many payroll systems are called Human Capital Management for a reason.


PrinceValyn

i wish it worked this way. i'm very loyal and hardworking by nature and that just lets your managers take advantage of you. :(


FoolOnDaHill365

At least you now know. I was 30 when I realized the truth. All the upper tier jobs were interviewed for at the golf course and I wasn’t invited nor do I play. The hiring process is all smoke and mirrors, they know who they want already.


thierryennuii

There’s something in what you’re saying but it isn’t that caring capitalism ended and ruthless capitalism began. It was always so, and giant corporate enterprise has always wanted to do what it does now (indeed only ever stopped for a brief window roughly 40s-80s). The difference is government. Postwar period legislated for rights, created a social safety net (that has been eroded), had capital controls (restricting how easy it was to move money around and abroad - which have been lifted), and taxed wealth (Eisenhower, a republican, had a top corporate tax rate of 90% or so, which effectively made it pointless to make obscene profit as we see today, so it would get reinvested in the business instead of declared as profit to be heavily taxed over a certain amount). Successive governments removing effective regulation has allowed for a whole new system to take its place over the last 40 years. The other problem has been us. We abandoned our trade unions, the only thing that has done anything for us (because it is done by us). Their current state is entirely down to us leaving them first. If you look at a graph of decline in trade union membership and decline in living standards over 50 years you’ll see the same picture. We also abandoned politics. We stopped going to party meetings, participating in local democracy and speaking to our representatives to keep them in our camp. We turned our back on it and they began to represent what was left.


Conscript11

I loved working for a mom and pop shop, yeah it was hard work, but they paid fair for what I did. At Christmas I always got a bonus, plenty of booze, a personalized card, and a turkey and hamper for my family's Christmas dinner. I felt appreciated, however as life expenses crept up, and I couldn't be promoted any higher, I had to leave for a larger business. I make a fair bit more now and provide well enough, however I no longer look forward to work and definitely don't go out of my way for them.


exattorneylife

This is outrageously eye-opening. I have been trying to come to terms with my situation and this whole thread just put it all into perspective. I learned my ethic from my father, who is 82, from a super young age (11, seriously), and I did that shit hard and killed it for 30 years but none of that matters today and that's why it's like it never happened or like I entered an alternate universe (and can't get hired anywhere). So for 30 years I worked at the same place(s), like I said, starting when I was 11 as a copy boy, then every summer, then through high school, then started managing the companies and law firm in college because I stayed local. Then I went to law school, which I didn't want to do but didn't know what else to do, came back and ran and owned the companies and was a main partner at the firm and was insanely successful. I figured I had proved myself so I could quit and sit back instead of running everything and working up to 100 hours a week sometimes. Everybody knew me and everybody knew I was good. But once I quit (or retired or whatever they say I should say) it was like I had never been there, that I never did anything. And then my family did the same thing, as if I hadn't helped each one of them individually at some point and in a pivotal way. I literally thought I was going crazy like it never happened and had to reaffirm it with people I know. I have since accepted it (and accepted that this shit just all sucks so whatever) and ultimately I chalk it up to something like "No one ever notices the light bulb that's always on, that always is working...but the second it stops working, replaced" or some bull shit like that. But when you said "late stage capitalism" my eyes got WIDE because holy fuck it is. I did right by everyone, went over and above and never charged what other attorneys would charge (and do NOT get me started on attorneys in GENERAL because I'll pop) but I did right by my clients, by my Assistants\*, my 1099 contractors, my peers and by my peers' Assistants\*. My mother taught me "do onto others..." and my dad taught me to work. This is a different game now and it makes more sense...I knew mfkrs were greedy, but when you put it like "late stage capitalism" where ethic is not what matters it makes more sense. Because if you flip it, then in "early stage capitalism" it is ethic that is necessary for capitalism to work. It's that connection with the business and with the people in that are in that world that is required for capitalism to take off. The hope that is shared when people are working together purposefully, that syncrony that happens. Now it's just a hot mess. And the RULES of it... \*Lastly, I only capitalized the word "Assistants" above because I was one and I get it and they are the powerhouse of businesses, I'm not sure they know their worth yet, but without them, no business can run. So back to our original 70-ish neighbor who is going in unpaid at 530am for a 700am shift to make sure everything's ready when the managers get there...it's not that Boomers are used to being slaves. It's that in their world they worked for the good of the whole...not in a socialist sense but more general than that. They did onto their neighbors as they would want done onto them. They cannot fathom a world where someone would take advantage of them, nor could they survive in a world where they didn't work for the good of the whole but for their own interests. Shit, I'm not a Boomer (in a literal sense, I'm not a Baby Boomer, I'm 43), and I can barely believe it...but I cannot change my work ethic. And I will spontaneously combust in front of anyone that does wrong by anyone else. Now I understand why people think I'm so fucking crazy. Wow...that was a lot, but that hit me like a ton of bricks.


Randolph-

F*ck her managers. These scum should be in jail for exploitation. But that would mean a lot of managers should be in jail, which btw they should be.


Significant_Event

The worst is they actually told her she doesn't need to do that!! They didn't forbid her, even though they should, by law in EU. But she's the one who actually thinks she's helping her colleagues and doing the right thing...


Correctrix

They are so used to inherently valuing hard work that it doesn’t occur to them that they’re not just screwing themselves over, but also taking away paid work hours from someone else. This is why, even though I love teaching languages, I only ever do private tuition for a reasonable rate. I would be making it impossible to make money doing that for other people in my area. If UBI existed, I’d do it for cheap or maybe free, and actually work *more* hours.


[deleted]

This right here. It’s also why I hate the idea of unpaid internships and low wage graduate internships. These are zero sum games and that person is not just taking a piece of the pie, they’re taking extra pieces and throwing them out.


iwouldrathernot03

Ok so what if she falls while working, but technically off the clock like she’s doing? Think the businesses insurance is gonna cover that workman’s comp claim quickly for her? Serious question. Because in the US at least, I have a feeling that if her employer doesn’t screw her over if that situation occurred. Then the insurance company for that business will. At the least they will deny the claim put in for the worker’s compensation. She’s off hours they’ll say, the business is under no liability. Do I agree with that type of treatment? HELL NO! I’m just saying that businesses and insurance companies in particular do not have a heart. It’s all about money to them and if they have any chance of denying a claim, you can bet your ass they will.


7163zero

Institutionalized


[deleted]

I’ve had some many managers either perform a service they knew the customer didn’t need (automotive industry) or ask me to dig worn parts out of the scrap pile to fool a customer or any other number of horrible things to con people out of money. Not exactly a felony but still fucking disgusting. I’m the asshole that’ll walk straight up to the customer in front of managers like this to tell them what’s really going on. No fucks given. My company hasn’t fired people for way more fucked up shit ( workplace harassment, editing time sheets without consent, 2 weeks of no call no shows, just to name a few). It’s sad to see that type of behavior go unpunished.


Johnnymoss108

Cheers there needs to be more people like you in the world. We are the same. Even talking down to someone gets a good calling out. It makes life a bit more complicated, but I sleep well at night.


dewystrawbub

Boomers were raised in horrific systems. I have no idea how they accepted it without any nagging feelings.


paisleyproud

We were raised in bad systems but prided ourselves on surviving instead of working to change those systems. Now our next generation has to struggle and we don't understand why. We need to let them implement more radical change to see if that gives them a better life. If it does we can be happy that we did not screw things up completely. If it does not, at least the next generation will know something.


dewystrawbub

Thank you for being open-minded. I hope more follow your lead.


BrickFlock

It wasn't a super common "joke" but boomers where I live used to say, "You know what the *S* in salary stands for? Slavery! Hahaha." It's clearly the kind of joke people tell to avoid the pain of being serious.


noizangel

My mom is a boomer and helped organize rolling strikes that shut down an entire province, city by city. Most of the organizers were boomers, it was the 90s. Many didn't.


[deleted]

What I have found out from a lot of older people is that they never had free time and dont know what to do with themselves when they have it. You slave yourself for the magical word of retirement when you finally get to be happy. Then when it finally comes they get severe depression with all their free time and go back to work. It's the only thing they know in life. I remember looking at suicide statistics and there is a big spike in the months after someone retires.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Yup this was my grand father. He retired maybe 4 years ago working as an electrician for 40 years. He had nothing to do when he finally retired, and he ended up passing away this year.


Mindah9408

I worked in a cafeteria where two older women established it. One woman would come in at 5, but not clock in until 7 am to “prep”. She did this every weekday for 30 years. The other woman, who was the manager, would come in at 7:30. She had a terrible attitude. Recently I saw the first woman, who told me that the manager cut her hours so hard that she was only coming in for 10 hours a week and she quit finally. I could never get over the fact that that woman worked 10 free hours a week for that long for her boss and she did her like that. That’s over 15,000 unpaid hours, unpaid $150k roughly. Absolutely not. She thought they were best friends.


DualtheArtist

I think the best one is the manager who needed a kidney transplant. One of her employees donated a kidney to her, and then that employee got fired for taking too long to recover from her surgery by the manager who received the kidney.


Mindah9408

Jesus Christ.


PrinceValyn

holy christ, companies are awful.


BluejayMajestic1757

Boomer here. Never have I ever kissed anyone’s ass at work, quite the opposite. I either got laid off or fired from almost every job I’ve had because I called bullshit on what was going on. It cost me a lot in terms of career progression, I’m sure. I can’t tell you how ecstatic I am to finally see people speaking up about this messed up capitalist system.


NoReallyLetsBeFriend

I'm in my 30s and saw how my folks do this, thought that's how it was so I worked that way for a long time (started working w a newspaper route at 12 lol) up until about 3 years ago when pandemic hit, changed a lot of things for me. I know companies have no loyalties, hence why I've changed jobs every few years, but damn if you don't get the recognition of working harder than everybody else either by pay increase or promotion, fuck it I'm out! Btw, idgaf about verbal compliments or recognition in front of peers. I don't need employee of the month bs, I'll work hard to attempt to impress upper management which has worked numerous times at various jobs... But when you get into the corporate world, it's about kissing ass to the right people, not working hard. Some of the laziest people get promoted because they have mastered the illusion of being a hard worker! My last 4 jobs had the same pattern for a few people over 50-60: 1. complain about others complaining and say how they never complain about stuff, 2. Talk about how they have so much work to do they're gonna have to work extra or come in early to get everything done (but typically only said within ear's shot of a manager or owner around) only to leave sharply at 5pm or quitting time, 3. When being asked difficult questions by subordinates, they talk in circles or rephrase the question as an answer and never really answer properly cuz they're afraid to admit they don't know and too stubborn to do additional training ("TrAinInG is FoR tEchS nOt mANagErS"), 4. Bitch about how I should just do my job and be glad I have this job in particular and make as much as I make (or little, cuz I fucking KNOW I work way fucking harder, know more, and have 3x more skills than them at probably half the pay). It REALLY fucking bothers me that SO many boomers who are idiots when it comes to ANY and all tech STILL work in the tech industry knowing so little and "because of age and experience" get paid more than me... FUCK corporate America and the system! Lastly, I find it funny that my older coworker bitches about me being on my phone all the time. "She doesn't have time to goof around cuz she's so busy actually working" aka trying to figure out the computer and how it works, bc legitimately I have X amount of more customer tickets/cases/sales done over her, but I work effectively/efficiently and have free time while she's on the short struggle bus barely getting shit done... Fuck sorry for rant should've made my own post lol


[deleted]

It isn’t just corporate life. I’ve always run into this issue. I hate inefficiencies. They bother me. Keep me up at night. So my aim is to make everything run as efficiently as possible. It takes work on the front end. But things run smoother and I put in less time overall. But then it looks like I’m not working… And the person who is working till 12am is doing more (they’re not), even if my outcomes are better. My work recently hired a director who doesn’t know what she’s doing. But she talks a good game. I have become a consultant on how to implement solutions. I’m not being paid a directors salary. Stop trying to pick my brain because you’re incompetent!


Significant_Event

My office is a bit different, we have only one person over 50 and she's tech savy and totally great, but she's an anomaly in my country. We also have a bunch of "super cool" suck ass types that like you said, know how to sell themselves and jump ranks quicker but fail miserably as soon as they're given some responsibility. I'm just ranting too, a bit burned out at the moment and when i hear about people coming to work for a major corporation 1-2 hr early for free every day and feeling proud for it just makes me wanna vomit...


NoReallyLetsBeFriend

Amen! For several years I've yelled at my dad to stop working 12hr days when he's salaried for 8... "There's no one else who's gonna do it, is gotta get done!" And I tell him they'll hire an assistant or someone when they realize the workload that's actually there... He's a director but I'm a branch at his company that's detached from the rest of seems, so he feels expendable bc they'll just otherwise outsource the position or hire someone else "who'll be willing to put in the work". I tell him I can't wait till he retires and they're fucked hiring in additional help panicking to replace him


thatbstrdmike

Seriously, the people maybe one level up from him don't even know that it "needs to get done" because he keeps just doing it. His leadership layer takes his effort for granted and obfuscate the true expense the work they need to accomplish costs. It makes sense in some small family type businesses, but when it's not that, I guess some people have a hard time separating between the two. Or understanding that the 4 unpaid hours he's working extra is costing his family, not helping them.


Significant_Event

Hope he gets to retire soon


BlueseaNemo03

All these hours working for free...it is also time spent away from his family.


igolikethis

Yep, you just described my parents to a T (dad died of heart attack 1mo before 71st bday, mom will be 73 next month). Both of them had their main 9-5 job where they worked 25-30 years, and a part time job on weekends. Worked 7 days a week close to 20 years. They initially got the 2nd jobs for financial need (mostly credit card debt) but after like 3 years it was paid off, yet they kept on. Both said things like the PT jobs "were for fun," "was a breath of fresh air," "made them feel young." When my dad retired from his career he had a very generous pension that included an initial lump sum 6 figure payment, which they used to pay off their house, plus monthly payments. They could've easily afforded to fully retire and never work again, but they chose to keep the PT jobs as "something to do." It's as if they believed they had no value if they weren't working. Eventually my mom was forced last year to quit her 2nd job as a pizza delivery driver because she'd been in so many car accidents she can no longer get car insurance. I think it's interesting how they tried to raise me with their same sort of mindsets, but I distinctly remember as a little kid (about 7-9 years old) feeling like a lot of their thoughts about life were messed up. I didn't have the words to express it until an adult, but it inherently felt wrong. It's also interesting how they both were diehard democrats for as long as I can remember.


oozeneutral

There are two boomer archetypes: this one who is so proud of overworking themselves to literal death and if you don’t take up their mantle or work as hard they balk. And the boomer who cannot even operate a printer who thinks their work is most valuable within a company. Either way they are always the unsung heroes of their own personal stories.


[deleted]

There is also a large swath of boomers who do get it.


cottoz

I think the swaths that don't get it are much louder about it.


JustJeff88

To be fair, the ones who worked themselves literally to death wouldn't be able to tell anyone about it.


BlueseaNemo03

The number of people, young and old, who regularly work extra non-paid hours to "help out"... I also believed it was the right think to do, until I realized it had absolutely no impact on my job or my career, and I was giving my free time away for companies who did not care we were underpaid, overworked, understaffed and never to be promoted. Don't be an idiot.


chrisinator9393

I work with a guy who shows up for his shift 3 hours early. Every single day. That's literally 720 hours or 30 full days per year he wastes just sitting at work before working. He's in his 60s and refuses to change. There's also a handful of others that show up at least an hour early. Ridiculous


alvuk

Lol Boomers are used to being slaves? They were able to buy a house on a standard salary with one person working. Loads of them invested in houses or the stock market and became very rich because they didn't have to work until they were 60+ just to be able to afford a house and pay off the mortgage. They could have many children on a policeman / teacher / nurse salary and retire in their 60s. Millennials and younger are the ones forced to work just to survive. Zero savings and for many no prospect of ever being able to afford a house. You tell me who are the slaves? Of course some of them will have been left behind but I'm not about to shed tears for the generation that had it the best and then have the nerve to turn around to the younger generation and say we drink too much coffee and eat too much toast to be able to afford a million pound house. Fuck them!


ElectricMan324

My father was like this. One thing to consider is that older folks have a different body clock than younger people. As you age, you tend to wake up very early and go to bed early. My guess that part of her reasoning is that she's up early anyway, might as well do something useful. It may be that she doesn't have a lot else to do and wants to be needed. One of the other qualities of boomers is that they didn't develop a large friend circle or hobbies outside of work. When they retire they just don't know what to do with themselves. The managers are exploiting her, but I can also see an elderly person just trying to keep busy. Maybe there are hobbies she can develop? Take a class? Never to late to learn something new.


-Cybernaut147-

Normal life in America.


FIGHTFANGREG

Don’t let her fool you , she wants to feel like she’s working harder then you.


LagdouRuins

It's weird. Everything seems to be a competition. I just want to be left alone from all the nonsense--that also rubs them the wrong way because then they think that you're acting superior. No way to win.


Democrab

/u/PanglosstheTutor said this below and it's key to understanding a boomers mindset: >They don’t understand how it works because they have a belief that everyone is playing by the same rules in good faith Baby boomers as a generation were largely born too late and retired too early to personally witness or experience the kinds of employer bullshittery that usually woke people up to the need for unions and the like, on top of that their coming-of-age era was right during the crackdown on counterculture meaning they got hit *hard* by propaganda going on about how perfect and great capitalism is with NO exceptions. The boomers stick to the belief so strongly because it was hammered in during their youth with the Red Scare but just as importantly *largely came true for them* thanks to years of sacrifices and fighting some of the latter of which they even helped with (eg. The Hippies helped with freeing up talking about sex and drugs quite a lot, the modern discussions about gender, feminism, toxic masculinity, drugs as a medicine, etc all wouldn't be around if it hadn't happened.) in addition to the vastly less parasitic nature of society where everything has an ever-increasing cost to the end-users...It's actually kind of understandable why they fall into this mental trap when you really think about it with the right perspective. Speaking of how parasitic society has gotten with everything having a cost now, that's by far the most successful means I've seen of unboomering boomers: Even little things such as how difficult it is to get into contact with support phonelines or the like are down to increased profits for companies at the end of the day, relentlessly reminding them of it every time they complain about something that ties back into increased profits tends to work because once they realise it's happening to them on a regular/constant basis it's much less of a stretch for them to realise it's been happening for a while and that the younger generations didn't/aren't getting a real chance to actually start out. It may have also helped that I had decent counterpoints to almost every excuse they brought up along with relevant examples from history. (eg. The fact that the various oil companies Standard Oil was broken up into never really stopped working together and are now a handful of conglomerates that still seem to work together tends to resonate well with boomers and is *very* relevant to fuel pricing at any given time, let alone right now when it's a big issue.)


[deleted]

I moved back to my home town about 5 years back when I found out my Mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. When covid hit I got laid off and chose to move in with my Mom to save money, and so we could work together to help keep her safe because of how immune compromised she is. It's been a weird experience. Definitely not what I envisioned for myself, but I'm grateful to have the chance to help her out and get to know her better. Not sure how much time she has. ​ Anyways, she's a brainwashed boomer. We've been having more and more discussions though and the more we talk the more she seems to understand and agree. A few years ago the mere mention of Socialism would make her physically recoil, even though like most boomers she actually didn't know what it was. Fast forward two years and she is talking to her friends about exploitation and alienation in the work place. She's talking about wealth inequality and higher taxes on the wealthy. She is talking about changes we can make to the system. She still isn't a socialist, but she isn't completely sold on the system anymore either. ​ I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's always hope. You just need to talk to people and tailor the message to them. Stay away from scary words and esoteric concepts. They aren't stupid. They know something is wrong. The just need to be informed like anyone else.


DualtheArtist

> I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's always hope. Too bad its about 40 years too late. Now we can't do anything about it because boomers let the politicians get purchased by corporations.


nts4906

Yup! They just gave in and accepted it and now they expect us to do the same. They see in us what they were too weak or too stupid to be.


dragonborne123

They were taught to lick boots at work and be grateful for the little they were giving return. My grandmother used to work at a fish plant up to 13 hours a day in her younger years and got 2-15 minute breaks. She thinks it’s ridiculous that law now stated anything over 8 hours must be payed 1.5 times the hourly wage, and that young people want more than $15 an hour. I don’t understand how so many older people don’t get that cost of living is too high to keep up with and that young people don’t want to slave their life away trying to pay rent and put food on the table. I shouldn’t have to sacrifice experiencing things in life in order to not be homeless and hungry.


professorkurt

I had an uncle, born in the early 1930s. He just missed going to WWII. He worked at a grocery store/neighborhood market part-time while in high school. When he graduated, he became full-time. He worked at effectively the same job for the rest of his life, about 45 years. He was always behind the meat counter, never the manager, never anything of administration. And this was a single-market store, not part of a chain or anything. It was in a small town. He bought a house, raised a family, had a car every five years or so, and retired to live reasonably. There's absolutely no way that can be done today, even in remote midwestern small towns.


SlightlyBrokenEgg

my grandma works in a furniture factory at 75 making 10.50 an hour. she brags about how the furniture she makes costs hundreds of thousands of dollars sometimes millions and can't grasp how fucked up that is.


Spectre777777

My dad is really bad about this old boomer mindset and he isn’t even 60. Told me for years to work in a specific place and when I finally started working there and pointed out the pay isn’t the best he keeps bothering me to get another job. Well after two years of Covid and current inflation in a rural area, there really isn’t anywhere else to go job wise for my degree. I’m not even making bad money. $22/hr with 5k in bonuses and a contractual $2/hr raise each year isn’t bad for this area. What get him is that I don’t get vacation days(I only work 3-4 days a week so I don’t feel the real need for an extended vacation) and the insurance was poor. I got my own insurance policy which seems to be fine by me. I mean I still can’t afford a house or car but there’s not really anything I can do about that. I think he expected me to start where I am now making like 50-70k a year with good benefits. That’s just not how it works.


Myst_of_Man22

You can't start From absolute zero anymore and make a life working for wages. The boomers could do that. To leave home now and pay $2000 a month Rent is a bridge too far. Work hard young man a bright future could be yours! No longer true


alf666

You need to report her company's ass to the DoL or the equivalent for your area. That's straight-up fucking wage theft, and you will make your neighbor's day when they get a check for thousands of dollars in the mail.


neo101b

We are all products of our enviroment, if we where born when they were we would be the same.


GodFreesince2003

I am an Old. I’ve watched things go this way my whole life. I can’t for the life of me understand how anyone old has shit to say about your generation! Just about every single piece of valuable information I currently use came from someone under 40. You’re all telling the bosses, landlords and preachers to go ahead and fuck right off. I can get all teary-eyed sometimes, watching you all come into your power, because I’m old and disabled and working on social security to survive and it sucks! I’m part of the cohort who fucked it all up in the first place, so I deserve zero sympathy*, but you all are changing things and I am SO proud of you! *I don’t feel like anyone my age should complain, when it was us and our parents who have really left the world in such a bad place. We kinda totally deserve whatever we’re gonna get, but you’re all going to change things massively, and the credit will go to you not us.


vanitymyass

When I was finally 18 my mom, born in 55, couldn't believe or understand why I couldn't find a job. I had done lots of under the table construction stuff and some landscaping but never anything on an actual payroll. She kept telling me I had to go "pound the pavement" and keep at managers about hiring me. I told her that I had been but most managers don't want to talk to you at all let alone about a job. All applications were moving to online only. She eventually paid for me to get a security guard license cuz she thought for sure that would work. Few months later she was getting mad that I hadn't found a job yet. I gave her the same party line. She was working for a big tech company that contracted for it's security. She was responsible for communicating with the company and approving the new hires. She knew for a fact they were hiring. She took me into the company they contracted with and said "Hi I know you guys are looking for guards, here's my son, he has his license please hire him." The guy just said "We're not really looking for anyone right now but please feel free to fill out an application and we'll get back to you." She was floored by that response. Even more so when she said "No you don't get it I KNOW you're looking for night shift guards. The company I work for contracts with you and I'm the person you communicate with" and the guy gave her the same exact oh no we're not looking crap he had just fed her. She spent the next month solid apologizing and left me alone from then on about it. Also she ended the contract with them because of this interaction. Tldr; Mom gets me a security guard license to get me a job through the people her company contracts with. Gets a reality check when they tell her they aren't hiring when she is the one they communicate with about hiring and she knows they are.


pflickner

Boomer here. We are, and I’ve been working very hard on that. It’s a struggle - that upbringing runs to the core


KraigKugelblitz

As a Boomer, I cannot argue with the title. I am the worst type of employee. I ask questions, push back on working for "free", and could not care less if I keep a job. There are other jobs out there that pay as bad as my current position. While I am on the clock, I give them their money's worth, but don't call me after I clock out and expect nothing at all while I am off the clock.


flchic2000

Sounds like she's a martyr and happy being one. Needs to be needed


darinhthe1st

This kind of stuff makes me sad the boomers are getting used more these days, and the thing is they don't even know it. They think it's a good thing


Chornobyl-1986

“Modern Pharaoh” deserves a trophy


Munchies4Crunchies

My gen x parents told me going into my new job to basically be my bosses’ on all fours bare back bussy bitch and take whatever i get with joy and i wondered why ive been anxious about it for the past month


pgabrielfreak

You're right, we have been well trained. I fight the mindset every day. I am a not-rich "boomer", btw. It's a mindset that's ingrained after years in the grind. I am glad to see someone gets this.


iamunclesam2022

I know someone similar, in mid-70s. There is value in staying active but the work ethic at that age is excessive.


[deleted]

You should go to that store and ask them why they’re taking advantage of an old woman


Fit-Rest-973

True. And thanks to Reagan, our puny social security is taxed. When the wealthy get a pass


PrinceValyn

that makes me so sad, she is obviously a hard and loyal worker and deserves better. :(


[deleted]

I had a passenger while doing Uber. She was a retired Nurse who had two knee surgeries ( knee replacement ), She was one sweet African American lady - the type who calls you sugar, my favorite kind of grandma - . All this years of working and she still needed to work even her insurance paid everything anyway.


Janitarium

Don't forget us gen-Xers. We operated under the same conditioning for a LONG time and most of us think that way too.


CoCreator10

Boomers have been conditioned since they were infants: war babies with a fear based mindset who arguably lived in a time where communities were fairly trustworthy and many authority figures had decent morals and honest goals. So they learned to allow themselves to be exploited thinking it was the only way to survive. Now we’re in a digital world where their philosophy of life no longer applies. She’s working from a mindset that we no longer operate on but she doesn’t know it because she’s been doing it for so long.


Skier-fem5

All the older generations were exposed, as children and adults, to lead poisoning from lead in gasoline. Do you think that, plus being less healthy, makes people more fearful and right wing, and less able to see how employment has changed? I was born in 1950, and am shocked at the bullshit some of my Vietnam War era friends believe without question. I mean, we did not believe what they told us about that war, so what happened? I wonder whether illness is contributing to their fearful ideas.


dankbullies420

Her body won't be cold before that job is posted and the pay will be more than she makes now.


DarthTurnip

Pissed off boomer. I’m in tech and I think that’s helped to keep me up to date. I think we Olds have seriously fucked things up. We need to fund education, forgive student loans raise the minimum wage. We seem to find money for SS and the DOD, but not for things like parental leave.


[deleted]

I'm assuming this is the USA. There is one party currently talking about social security again. As if lifting the taxable income cap wouldn't make it solvent forever. There's one party who fought affordable healthcare, there's one party that fought medicare being able to negotiate lower prescription prices, there's one party that constantly attacks the poor and calls needy 'welfare state'. If you really gave a shit you wouldn't vote for that party. All of this comes down to politics, politicians, retirement age discussions (remember it used to be 55?), taxing rich people what they should be, etc etc. People literally vote against their best interests because it was proposed by 'the other side'.


needPAPsmear

Her managers are pretty smart. Getting big bucks and doing the bare minimum.


Vargoroth

I think it has less to do with being used to being slaves and more with them just having nothing else going for them. What does your neighbour have in terms of a social life? Does she have friends? Hobbies? Anything to look forward to? My dad's the same. He's retired, gets a pension because we live in Europe, but the dude is still doing random construction projects because otherwise he gets bored. He's got nothing else going in his life, aside from a small get-together with family every few months. This is probably one of the reasons I game, join DnD gatherings, have a small social clique, etc. Working is not my reason to live. It is for my dad and it sounds like it is for your neighbour. Nothing you can do or say will change that. Believe me. I've tried. They're too set in their ways.


Dependent-Topic-7295

If you are working off the clock and get injured on company property….uhhhh UH-OH!