I think your observation on student debt is spot on. And add to that the pervading opinion that college is ‘the best way’ to get ahead. It’s an easier ‘mistake’ to find oneself on the ‘wrong’ career path when college tuition is 3,500 euro (I live in Ireland but am an American), however. I recently lamented to my youngest sons, 19 yr old …
I think your observation on student debt is spot on. And add to that the pervading opinion that college is ‘the best way’ to get ahead. It’s an easier ‘mistake’ to find oneself on the ‘wrong’ career path when college tuition is 3,500 euro (I live in Ireland but am an American), however. I recently lamented to my youngest sons, 19 yr old twins, that I should have encouraged them to go into a trade (of course they were appalled at the idea). I said you boys are smart, would be capable of running your own business, would have a skill which a computer cannot replace, could earn upward of 6 figures, would never face the ‘squeeze out’ middle management 50 somethings confront in the corporate sector, you’d never be out of work if you’re good at what you do regardless of the vagaries of the economy (getting a competent tradesperson is tough in Ireland they are so busy), and you’d have the joy of both working with your hands AND making someone happy every day of the week. Dignity in work regardless of blue or white collar is important.
Good point about the sociopaths/narcissists always being attracted to power. Was thinking about your comment today and two considerations to add - the corporate world is more concentrated today (almost monopolistic) than in yesteryear meaning corporate power is stronger (we’ve all seen the charts of the 100s of brands owned ultimately by 5 companies worldwide!) and the passing of Citizens United which has allowed companies to much influence in policy making (IMO) so the government is less ‘of the people and for the people’.
Allied to the above is the slow degradation of ‘doing things one just didn’t do’ We used to have boundaries on behaviour - in the same way we had boundaries as to what we showed on TV or in our entertainment (this is not advocating for censorship, it’s a request to pull back on the shock/provocation element of our entertainment). I’m no prude and I love a good dirty joke - but the full-on, in your face, lack of manners and sex/sexualisation, anything goes tears at our social fabric, especially when done by ‘influencers’ whether politicians or TV/movies.
I’m sure many would be interested in a study on the decline in political debate. I’m sure so many aren’t even familiar with how things used to work.
To end on a positive note, like Rudy Havenstein has said himself, I am encouraged by many of the young people I meet.
I think your observation on student debt is spot on. And add to that the pervading opinion that college is ‘the best way’ to get ahead. It’s an easier ‘mistake’ to find oneself on the ‘wrong’ career path when college tuition is 3,500 euro (I live in Ireland but am an American), however. I recently lamented to my youngest sons, 19 yr old twins, that I should have encouraged them to go into a trade (of course they were appalled at the idea). I said you boys are smart, would be capable of running your own business, would have a skill which a computer cannot replace, could earn upward of 6 figures, would never face the ‘squeeze out’ middle management 50 somethings confront in the corporate sector, you’d never be out of work if you’re good at what you do regardless of the vagaries of the economy (getting a competent tradesperson is tough in Ireland they are so busy), and you’d have the joy of both working with your hands AND making someone happy every day of the week. Dignity in work regardless of blue or white collar is important.
Good point about the sociopaths/narcissists always being attracted to power. Was thinking about your comment today and two considerations to add - the corporate world is more concentrated today (almost monopolistic) than in yesteryear meaning corporate power is stronger (we’ve all seen the charts of the 100s of brands owned ultimately by 5 companies worldwide!) and the passing of Citizens United which has allowed companies to much influence in policy making (IMO) so the government is less ‘of the people and for the people’.
Allied to the above is the slow degradation of ‘doing things one just didn’t do’ We used to have boundaries on behaviour - in the same way we had boundaries as to what we showed on TV or in our entertainment (this is not advocating for censorship, it’s a request to pull back on the shock/provocation element of our entertainment). I’m no prude and I love a good dirty joke - but the full-on, in your face, lack of manners and sex/sexualisation, anything goes tears at our social fabric, especially when done by ‘influencers’ whether politicians or TV/movies.
I’m sure many would be interested in a study on the decline in political debate. I’m sure so many aren’t even familiar with how things used to work.
To end on a positive note, like Rudy Havenstein has said himself, I am encouraged by many of the young people I meet.