Hard News: Revival
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Not disagreeing with you Dyan, on your particular post -but that phenomenon wasnt evident in ANZ - for 'boomers (why do I always think of kakapo??) or Gen X. Anzers have travelled in rather strait ways
everywhere people may travel. And - certainly within the large group that I inhabit, that I am part of, we havent thought of ourselves as "entitled" . Or acted as though we were.3 of my family have built their houses from the ground up: we did that by having shit/hack jobs, and paying off a mortgage (mine still is high.) We started out with bugger-all*, and we went on to make our own places & our own lives.
*except a reasonable education (we all finished high school), a respect & tolerance for most fellow humans, and a love for the land/environment, arts, and the law-
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So how do you act "entitled?" Is there a certain walk , a look in the eye.
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"Well, you're not in Guatemala now, Dr. Lemming!"
The brush is too broad. Not only in years, but as you say, Islander, culture and other demographics.
And I'm not a wealthish babyboomer because, like Dyan, I was all about the travel, and the expensive clothes, and the parties - gawd, it was wonderful! - but it couldn't last forever. I just didn't think ahead, everything was instant gratification - and instant gratification was what was sold to us - we deserved it; don't worry, be happy; and all that. And in the end? Well, die young, stay pretty. Ridiculous. lol.
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Your question, Jeremy Eade, and not in terms I really understand - my only answer is that we never acted as though we were due anything from society at large. We never expected anything that wasnt our due as taxpayers (I grew up under the welfare state remember.)
We did expect family help, but that was - and is- our ethos- -
Well a strong family unit is a treasure.
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for 'boomers (why do I always think of kakapo??)
Birds of a feather.... so bloody predictable. Innit. :)
.So how do you act "entitled?" Is there a certain walk , a look in the eye.
Yes Jeremy, "act" like you are entitled would suggest to me that, one thinks they have an expectation for others to look after them, of which I would move on or probably try to point said person in the direction of the toilet. Jus' sayin'
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Of course they're generalisations. I think the notion of "entitlement" as a Boomer generational stereotype fits with observations like this:
instant gratification was what was sold to us - we deserved it
- especially compared with the previous generation's parsimony informed by Depression memories. Again, a generalisation.
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Oh definitely, sadly I'll blame the parents . Good intentions do not a good parent make.Cotton wool, but dirt is good! :)
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Oh definitely, sadly I'll blame the parents
the babyboomers?
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No, just the parents that got the "entitlement" thing going on.
What's a baby boomer?I don't recognise that. All the people I know are just people. Each friend that hangs in my wardrobe(if you will) is so different from the next friend. I've got nothing but respect, (oh ok, edit. and lots of love)for all of them peoples. I don't use this term babyboomer. Although there are words to describe individuals. We is all "people" surely? -
What's a baby boomer?
A Babyboomer is in a different part of their life than younger folks.
This has some economic and political ramifications.Don't fill out your age in the census if you find it belittling but it is a useful term in politics and economics.
I mean Gen y are not Gen x although we share a lot of pop culture.
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if you find it belittling
Qué? I love my age cos it's me! Belittling? I am not understanding you. Catch ya later. :)
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And an older generation is at a different stage of their__lives also- so??
My mother's generation grew up during or just after the WW1, through the Great Depression, and then through WW2. She lives, happily & well, in her own home (which her parents built, and paid for, over 30 years, sans mortgage.)I trust she lives many years yet. Aside from birthing & raising six healthy kids, she also ran 2 businesses, and was employed in several jobs after her first husband died.
My mother is in a different stage of her life than me.
I am in a different stage of my life than my youngest sibling. Who is in a different stage of __her life than her son-
what, aside from the blindingly obvious, are you actually trying to say Jeremy Eade?
You seem to be confuting age & life experience with politics & economics.
On *very* slender grounds, I would suggest. -
You can't blame the parents. Blame the marketeers. By the time most us of got the entitlement bug - at least in the Babyboomer gen - we'd left home and were hanging out with New Agers who said the universe will provide and we're all special little snowflakes who deserve nothing but the best, and marketeers who said we were beautiful and fabulous and deserved everything we ever desired, irrespective of need. It was our time; we were abundant and always would be; the world was our oyster; and we totally owned it, man. Golden sunbeams and slick ad men told us so. Pop songs backed them up, and movies confirmed it. Absolutely Fabulous satirised it brilliantly, and we all laughed and quaffed champagne and snorted cocaine and looked gorgeous. lol.
Century of the Self tells the story well. (excellent doco, think I've mentioned that before). We were happiness machines, and we wanted no policemen in our heads.
I'm not making excuses for why I'm not among the wealthier of my gen, by the way. I got to this low point all on my own, really. But it was not without cultural influences that fed a sense of entitlement that caused some of us, at least, to squander what our parents had taught us about thrift and temperance.
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at least, to squander what our parents had taught us about thrift and prudence.
Jesus, our parents sound like saints.
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You seem to be confuting age & life experience with politics & economics.
On *very* slender grounds, I would suggestCrosby Textor and most economists would differ.I can't see entitlement in the young uns, I see boredom and a real confusion to what we are actually trying to build here.
Are they entitled to a free education, to a reasonable wage and a chance at buying a house or is that just a phase that's gone?
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Petra - I would suggest "Most of us got the entitlement bug" with "actually, not a lot of us."
Speaking as someone who has neither gone in for cocaine, fashion, extensive travel or total indulgence, I totally agree with your last sentence:
"But it was not without cultural influences that fed a sense of entitlement that caused some of us, at least, to squander what our parents had taught us about thrift and prudence."
"some of us, at least"...
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Oops, sorry - I was just editing my post - meant to say temperance, not prudence.
No, they were definitely not saints - but they saved for things and went without to get necessities. They didn't squander as much as [some of] my gen did.
But even those that didn't squander, still caught the entitlement bug. We deserved everything our precious unique little snowflake selves desired.
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Petra - I would suggest "Most of us got the entitlement bug" with "actually, not a lot of us."
Speaking as someone who has neither gone in for cocaine, fashion, extensive travel or total indulgence, I totally agree with your last sentence:
"But it was not without cultural influences that fed a sense of entitlement that caused some of us, at least, to squander what our parents had taught us about thrift and prudence."
"some of us, at least"...
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Petra - I would suggest "Most of us got the entitlement bug" with "actually, not a lot of us."
Speaking as someone who has neither gone in for cocaine, fashion, extensive travel or total indulgence, I totally agree with your last sentence:
"But it was not without cultural influences that fed a sense of entitlement that caused some of us, at least, to squander what our parents had taught us about thrift and prudence."
"some of us, at least"...
Not even close to "a majority of us"-
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and Petra, you're right, Century of the Self is a great docu if not jaw droppingly sad.
It attributes the beginning of marketing to well before the second world war , to the end of the first when propaganda was simply called propaganda and not public relations.
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Arrgh! Excuse multiple posts (dunno what happened there - blame Vodafone.)(BB's never take responsibility for anything right?)
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Yeah, sorry, Islander. I'm projecting a bit. Telling the story from only one perspective of the times. I used to work in music (not as a musician), radio, and marketing in the 80's. Many of the people I knew back then were "the beautiful people" - as they often referred to themselves, actually. No shortage of entitlement in those halls, I can tell you!
But I am projecting, and I know there was a lot of hardship elsewhere. My own entitled self was blind to it at the time, I guess - despite my politics. Too busy being cool and trendy, and worldly and that.
But at least I'm putting my hand up and confessing to having been one of those entitled prats! Redemption. :)
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I don't use this term babyboomer. Although there are words to describe individuals. We is all "people" surely?
If we want to talk about groups of people rather than individuals, naming comes into it. As do generalisations.
Baby boomer is a well known one based on a demographic fact that still influences priorities affecting us all, no matter what we call it.
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One of the best docos I've ever seen, Jeremy. You should check out The Mayfair Set by the same director, as well. Enlightening...and deeply troubling.
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