Martha Stewart isn’t really a Baby Boomer. She was born in 1941, and most people believe that the Boomers were born 1946-64 (although I always thought the cut-off was more like 1959). But Martha talks like a Boomer, and I think she probably relates to the Boomers, especially when it comes to throwing shade on the younger generations. Martha has a new interview with Luxury Listings where she questions the work ethic and initiative of the millennial generation, which is generally thought to be people born 1980-2000. Millennials, Martha says, aren’t even capable of growing a lovely little tomato plant in their own tiny apartment.
Martha Stewart isn’t impressed by millennials, who she says need to stop living with their parents and find some “initiative.” The domestic diva, 74, didn’t mince her words in a new interview with Luxury Listings.
“I think every business is trying to target millennials. But who are millennials?” she said. “Now we are finding out that they are living with their parents. They don’t have the initiative to go out and find a little apartment and grow a tomato plant on the terrace.”
She continued, “I understand the plight of younger people . . . The economic circumstances out there are very grim. But you have to work for it. You have to strive for it. You have to go after it.” Stewart added, “I got married at 19, and I immediately got an apartment and I fixed it up. I was very proud of everything I did. I got the furniture at auctions for pennies.”
She said that she was encouraged by restaurateur David Chang to focus on educating young people during a recent dinner at her Bedford, NY, farm.
“David Chang kept saying, ‘Martha, you know so much and the millennials have to know this stuff! . . . They don’t know how to grow spinach.’”
I think millennials are a mixed bag, just like every other generation, if we’re being honest. Some millennials are a—holes with no initiative, and some are fantastic people who work hard. The Boomers like to think they were the first people to do everything, that they built the American middle class, that they increased the wealth of the nation, that they are the center of the universe (sound familiar, millennials?). In a lot of ways, millennials are still dealing with the failures of the Boomers, the mistaken domestic, international and economic policies that the Boomers have come to represent. The Boomers tanked the American economy repeatedly, and now the millennials are trying to climb out of that legacy. So this story is basically “Martha Stewart yells at clouds.”
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Martha Stewart is a snob and a lot of other things, but I will always love any and everything Martha Stewart.
Just more get off my lawn yapping.
The boomers did so many things to destroy the world and blindly trusted government to do everything.
Millennials DO need to show more initiative, but we live in a global economy where the jobs our parents had have gone overseas- and our parents made sure they did. So wtf do they want when they shipped off the jobs, ruined the housing and domestic economy, and drove down wages where a single job cannot support a household anymore? They’re the generation that made the rules and squandered opportunity for everyone but themselves. No one works a job for 40 years and retires w pension. It’s nearly impossible now with all the union busting laws in place.
I mentor millennial interns at my job, and I think they get a bad rap sometimes. Many of them show plenty of enthusiasm and initiative. A lot of them are willing to work really hard for subpar benefits and pay, which you would never know if you just go by the “millennials are entitled and lazy” narrative that’s so popular now.
Millennials can do what I did as a baby-boomer and that is bring a union into the work place. We carded and got enough signatures and management was presented with a union. If we were fired, in our state that would have been retaliation and their would have been a lawsuit filed. It wasn’t simple nor easy, as there are always some anti-union people. But, the whiners ended up with a substantial pay increase and cost-of-living increases. It was well worth it.
Saved some jobs too. So, when people moan and groan, I say, work for it. I did and helped out my fellow co-workers and even fought a discrimination against promotion and that person after merit was promoted. So, you pick your battles and with good leadership, work environments can change. And yes, it can be risky, but depending on the laws, one can be protected against retaliation.
http://www.opeiu.org/
http://www.seiu.org/
This is coming from someone whose “initiative” landed her in prison. I can’t stop laughing. Those worthless millennials are going to be the one’s caring for her in the end of her life. She better buy a clue.
Same here!! She does No Wrong and anyone who wants to quibble with us can watch Comedy Central’s Justin Bieber Roast, where she showed up in an applique cardigan and sequin capris and proceeded to take everyone to church!
Omg she was fabulous on that roast appearance!!!
“Now we are finding out that they are living with their parents. They don’t have the initiative to go out and find a little apartment and grow a tomato plant on the terrace.”
Yeah, I mean – I moved out at 23 into the house we bought… and have a raised bed garden beside our deck… but okay Martha.
I don’t know man. The crapping on millenials really annoys me. I wouldn’t even say 2/3 of the people in my age group are as bad as they’re made out to be. I’m just going to point out that a lot of the people causing the big problems in government across the world are the people more in Martha’s age range. So there’s that.
I’m a Gen X er and remember the sweeping generalizations made about us back in the day. The Boomers were looked down on by their parent’s generation. It’s bullshit and these types of criticisms have always been clueless and unnecessary.
Yep, Boomers were self entitled, Gen X was the apathy generation. I’m Gen X and remember professors in college accusing us of not standing for anything. Look at what they named us ffs!
It’s silly though. We were the first tech wave that adopted and built the Internet (and the last to have childhoods without it.)
As others have said, Stewart is tone deaf.
Exactly. They do this crap with every generation and it’s annoying as hell.
I cannot STAND The Greatest Generation BS. No generation was perfect. Plus the Millenials have already made some fantastic contributions so I think we can cut them a little slack.
BengalCat-
IKR?? Gen-Xers took so much crap. The late 80s/early 90s saw an entire movie genre dedicated to calling us slackers. Then we freakin’ invented the Internet (well, most of the early dot-coms anyway).
Plus, I really don’t get the point of trying define every generation when each one gets larger and more diverse.
The thing people like her don’t seem to understand is that the 25 year old ‘you’ in 1966 would probably be a much different 25 year old ‘you’ in 2016. It’s ridiculous to criticize and compare generations because events are so completely different from one another.
I too am Gen X and we were all a bunch of no good slackers.. siiiiggghh…
Yea Millenials live at home because your Gen tanked the damn economy. So over baby boomers acting like they didn’t ruin a lot for us. Same thing in the US and UK. Entitled older gen oblivious to the crap they caused
Also, wages haven’t kept up with inflation since the 1970s. It’s amazing how few young people live with their parents considering how little they’re paid.
This is like the conversation about women working, as though it’s a choice for all and not an economic necessity: blaming young people for the economic mess they’re dealing with.
‘They don’t have the initiative to go out and find a little apartment and grow a tomato plant on the terrace.’
that’s it martha, you got it! it’s not because there are no jobs and house prices are ridiculously unaffordable especially without a job, it’s initiative. i’m a millennial, and i do live by myself but i’m lucky enough to have been able to get a good job after uni, and i have parents who could afford to help me financially with my education, so i did not end up with a massive student loan. many of my friends and ex classmates haven’t been this lucky, and it has little to do with initiative, since they’d love to be able to move out or have a proper career.
If I had a dollar for every time An Old complained about my generation, I could afford to buy a house in the economy they ruined!
What Martha and so many other people don’t realize is how crushing a burden student loan debt is. I’m a Millennial and it’s holding back my generation so much. I have an idea for a business and I would like to venture out and try a start up, but my reality is that I cannot afford that. My parents are aging and their nest egg has taken a hit, so it’s going to be on me to help care for them as they age. I make good money, but between saving for my retirement, helping my parents, paying my mortgage (my husband and I live in an apartment, not a house), and yes, still chipping away at my (huge) student loan, I can’t risk economic failure. So I will not be an entrepreneur like Martha, because I can’t afford it. And I work hard. I’m not apathetic or entitled or lazy. I *want* to work, but the real world situation for Millennials is that we have enormous debt burdens our parents didn’t have to deal with.
I was reading a thread about regrets recently and I was shocked at how many people listed college as a regret. Pretty depressing.
I don’t regret college, but if I had understood going in about the debt I was acquiring, I would have done it totally differently.
First time commenting here.
Same for me. I was born in 1981. My parents couldn’t afford to help me with college, but I had scholarships to a state school and still ended up with debt. I got a masters degree (I am a teacher), and even with an assistantship that included tuition, I still had to take out student loans. By the time I was finished with graduate school, the 2008 crash happened. I couldn’t find a teaching position (so adjuncting with no benefits), my parents’ nest egg took a massive hit. At lot of other things after that I cannot list here, but now … My father is gone, my mother’s health is failing, I am struggling with supporting both my mother and myself, paying the mortgage on her house and trying to keep up with suffocating student loans. I have a full-time teaching position now (with terrible pay) and I can barely afford to put anything in a retirement fund. I feel hopeless. People like Stewart went to college when college was almost nothing. There is not really anything such as “working your way through college” anymore when a 4 year degree costs $30,000+ for a state school. If I had that money to begin with, I wouldn’t need to go to college, you know? I also don’t have any family to fall back on – after all, I am supporting my mom. If something happened to me, I don’t know what would happen to her, because I don’t have any savings. I have to live paycheck to paycheck and I bust my arse doing so.
Martha Stewart can take a seat. She knows nothing what it is really like out there.
I’m a GenXr and scrounged for nickels to buy day old bread… So I didn’t accrue any debt. I was almost certain my poli-sci degree would get me a job that involved saying “do you want fries with that?” And that was pretty accurate for quite a while. Also, ramen and me? Not friends.
Same here, except I’m having trouble finding a good job with the chance to build a LT career, so I make do with what I can get while living in a small apartment and saving as much as I can.
Nevermind our generation gets mixed up with 18 years old. I didn’t know I one (born in 87) until a few months ago when I read something in a magazine.
We have initiative we just don’t have opportunities or money.
I think the idea of LT career may be something that may not our could not exist in an ever changing globalized economy and with tech innovations. Kids are graduating with degrees that are outdated as soon as they receive their diplomas.
It’s a challenge, but it takes a lot of reworking of thinking and looking twice at something you would have never looked at before. While MArtha’s advice seems glib, I think about where she is coming from and how she took ordinary things: baking, cleaning, knitting, etc to a different level and showed people how do so. I believe the millenials can do this too, but a commenter made a point that millenials look down on “low class” jobs.
If martha can become a global brand and millionaire by rebranding something as low as cleaning, just imagine what can be done with other low-skilled jobs in the world when combined with educated youth.
What is an LT career? Google was no help…
“The economic circumstances out there are very grim. But you have to work for it.”
ugh. “just go outside and get a job” “just smile, dont be depressed” etc etc. shove that advice in one of your turkeys, Martha.
its so infuriating when old people who are responsible for this mess (and the mess that the planet is) are giving such crap advice.
the boomers climbed the ladder provided by their parents and then they took the ladder away from their children. thanks for nothing! literally!!!
Excellent way to put it.
They’re still living off the benefits that the previous generations handed off to them but instead of being grateful/helping their own kids, they complain about everything.
I couldn’t say it better myself. It makes my blood boil.
So what are the kids born after 2000 called?
Generation Z. As far as I know they don’t have a cool monomer yet
The “living with their parents” statistic is about STUDENT DEBT and LACK OF JOBS, Martha… not lack of “initiative”.
I appreciate your write-up, Kaiser. I was about to make a similar comment, but you summed it up perfectly: my generation is dealing with all the failures of our parents’ and grandparents’ generations. And the next generations will have it even worse: dealing with a dying planet that we all had plenty of time to save, and chose propaganda and money instead.
Ugh. Humans.
Yes. And I also agree with Kaiser that every generation is a mixed bag. My town has this online chatter group and everyone is always complaining about what monsters all the teenagers around our neighborhood are — someone didn’t hold the door for a woman yesterday at the 7-11 on free slurpee day. The horror…while in other parts of our city people are just trying to survive and avoid stray bullets.
It’s beyond petty and ridiculous and people have no perspective. Martha’s perspective is warped, too.
annaloo. I hear you about common courtesy and respecting others. However, I wanted to point to the woman who complained that for every teen who didn’t hold the door open for her, there are 10 others doing positive things such as working as babysitters and lifeguards and volunteering at the library and food bank and coaching and refereeing youth sports and going to summer school and helping the local church with gardening work — and also holding the door open for strangers but also sometimes forgetting because they are self-absorbed teens.
I feel like we are so quick to jump on the negative behaviors that we don’t even see the positives all around us.
@Esmom–
“I feel like we are so quick to jump on the negative behaviors that we don’t even see the positives all around us. ”
you are absolutely right ,and this is true in every way, in all directions for so many people
I apologize if I come across as patronizing, but every generation deals with the failings (and successes) of the generation prior…that isn’t new. :-/ My generation was handed the cold war, the beginning of globalization, AIDS and the homophobia surrounding it and the ascendancy of yuppies including Donald Trump. Who knows what else. We also had a lot of good things too. No one generation has ever come at an ideal utopian time, and no one here (or their grandchildren’s children) is going ot be around long enough to truly see the effects of a planet that has been besieged and destroyed by (and we’ll probably just invent something and adapt in some way anyhow). Paraphrasing Fran Leibowitz, maybe we ought to stop taking pictures of our food and see how good we have it too? I’m sitting here with coffee, a croissant and Celebitchy… how bad can life be?
And I do feel small things like holding the door open for someone are the threads (along with many other) of a cloth that are unravelling for community, and that we are proactively creating a society that increasingly detached and unsympathetic when we fail to see the relevance of these small acts of respect for others. It’s common courtesies and respect that are disappearing…and so much of what people are angry about is because of the lack of respect given to them. Do we not see the reason bullets are flying on one side of town is tied to lack of respect? I just think that in a society where sincere respect existed amongst its members, you wouldn’t see bullets flying.
I don’t think Martha’s view is warped as badly as we are criticizing. All millennials – OF COURSE- are not entitled, but you can definitely tell that the participation medal generation is now in the workforce. When I say that, it’s bc there is a new approach to work and a lot of models have been busted. Sometimes the culture that is created from that is good, and sometimes that is bad…you have people who are figuring out better or more efficient ways of doing things, and then you have people who have over-bloated senses of what real value they are bringing to their jobs… but in the end, I don’t think it’s like we’ve never seen issues before with other generations.
The one thing Millennials have that no generation before has is an enormous debt burden coming out of college. Are we perfect? No. As you say, it’s a mixed bag. But a lot of our issues as a generation stem from the debt burden we carry. Even the “participation medal” crap you reference is just a label pasted over a problem stemming from debt.
Also, half the millennial generation didn’t get participation medals, that didn’t really come on strong until the 1990s when Gen X started raising their kids. It was a reaction to how hard Boomers pushed Xers as kids, so in turn Xers didn’t want to push their kids. The participation medal fallout will be *much* more prevalent when generation Z starts entering the workforce in the next 10-15 years.
The real issue with Millennials and work ethic is that no matter how hard we work, we will never be free from the debt strangling us. When you *know* you’re never going to “win”, what is the point of trying so hard? I like my job, I like going to work, but I know in the back of my mind that I can never make enough to pay off my student loan. So I don’t work late and I make full use of my vacation time and I don’t for a second feel guilty about not being as “driven” as some of my older coworkers think I should be. Since I’m going to be paying this debt forever, I might as well enjoy my life while I do. I find that attitude is pretty common among my peers. We’re never going to get ahead, we can’t bootstrap anymore. We might as well have fun with our lives while we can.
@ Algernon. Exactly student loan debt is a burden that our generation has faced that previous haven’t – in the sheer volume and debt load. We come out of college with mortgage-like debt, but none of the legal protections of mortgages (like bankruptcy). If we actually manage to qualify for income-based-repayment, then we are stuck with a crushing tax-bill after the 20 years are up. Politicians talk about free college going forward, but what about those of us stuck with this kind of debt (debt we will never be relieved from)? It’s indentured servitude.
@ lisac
We’re going to get screwed. Younger students will benefit from student loan reform, which is good and necessary, but those of use already out will get absolutely shafted. Any relief plan will probably ignore people already in their 30s with debt, and we’ll just be the lost generation who didn’t accomplish nearly as much as we could have because we were too busy paying off loans.
” Since I’m going to be paying this debt forever, I might as well enjoy my life while I do. I find that attitude is pretty common among my peers. We’re never going to get ahead, we can’t bootstrap anymore. ”
I know a lot of immigrants who come to this country that do not have that attitude. I don’t mean a parent coming over and driving cabs or cleaning rooms.. I mean university students who have larger debts due to being internationals. I know young people who chose military service via ROTC who had their college paid for them in exchange to service to their country. I know people who have gone to trade school for cosmetology running successful salons, even one who is now a Hollywood stylist.
The model of “get a degree” no longer works, and I agree, it’s a tough world out there. But as I said earlier, there are some millenials who have figured this out and acclimated, and some that had not. It behooves all of us as a society to have everyone running at premium, obviously, but sometimes, the problem comes from the self rather than society. I am not afraid to say this. That you think you will never get ahead, you have — by your own hand and mindset – cast your destiny and will probably see it manifest itself as a truth. It is a free country: we can move locations, we can create, and we have some of the greatest resources (internet, libraries, etc) at our disposal.
There are some people who you give lemons, and they figure out how to make lemonade, lemon zest foot rub, hair bleach, room deodorizer, etc from it.. and there are some people who will fall apart bc it wasn’t the oranges they were expecting and will feel defeated. Which defines you?
The attitude I hope to instill into any youg person is to be pragmatic, and recognize when the fight or the mission must change. I;ve had to do it myself, the art school degree for the $120K debt I accrued was not used except to create a website and the graphics for the restaurant accounting business I have now. I used more from the practical knowledge I gained working tables and tending bar in college, than the school ever gave me. I signed my first mortgage last year.
annaloo – that all depends on access. Not everyone has access to programs that are going to help someone get ahead. I live in rural Nova Scotia. I left school with over 30k of debt… I pay out over $300 per month JUST on student loans. I did two years at an expensive university (because at 17 I was told I was expected to go to University – not a college. Yes, I could ultimately have said no, but it’s easy to say as an outsider, not knowing family situations.) I struggled with depression, dropped out, and did another two years at community college where I took website design/development – and got a job right out the door. I am paying the MINIMUM monthly payments. I do not qualify for student assistance as I am married and our joint income is considered too high, although my husband is currently out of work. I make 3 bucks over minimum wage (and thankfully health/dental benefits). I own a home, which is better than most people in my age range can say, though it is largely due to low housing costs here. Ultimately, I’m paying on par to what most people around here are paying to rent – and at least I’m owning a home, so I have something to show for the money.
I will be paying that student loan for at least ten years- I will likely not receive any raises in this time, even with minimum wages going up. I work a minimum of 40hrs/week. I suppose I could pick up a second job, though with fibromyalgia, it’s hard to manage the energy levels to get in more than a standard work week.
Now – the people that receive debt forgiveness? Nurses and doctors working in this area. You can wipe out most of your student loans if you’re working as either of those. Mind you – those people are the ones who are making the kind of money to afford the student loans (nearly 4x the minimum wage in the case of my SIL who just finished her 4 year RN program which was offered in our town so she had minimal costs for her education). Yes – nurses and doctors are needed – they always are. But knowing that the people who make so much more money are the ones who don’t have to worry about their loans is incredibly frustrating. I make ends meet – but it’s difficult at times. Knowing that there are very limited opportunities in our area, and I have family who need me around really doesn’t help.
I mean – I could stop what I’m doing and go work on a lobster boat – an industry that isn’t all that stable – but then we’d all be hearing about how young people want fast money for no education.
Here’s the thing though – despite all of this – we have the previous generations complaining about our work ethic non-stop. We have them saying we’re lazy, that we’re greedy, and we have no initiative. I am living a comparable life to what many Boomers did – finished school, got married, bought a house. The difference is – I have a hell of a lot more debt, and less job prospects in my area than the generations before me. Despite that – I’m surviving. I’m making ends meet. I’m working my ass off every day despite illness. And yet – we’ve been pegged as useless, lazy, and unmotivated.
@ annaloo
I can only speak to anecdotal evidence of myself and the people I know, and my experience has been that all of us are employed, most of us are married, many of us have kids. By “standard” measures, we’re doing well. But we are all in crushing debt. My husband and I have decided not to have kids, largely because we can’t afford them. This disappoints my parents to no end, and they gave me hell for years, but I finally showed them my banking history and explained that either my guy and I can afford to feed ourselves, or children, but we can’t do both.
I’m not saying I or anyone I know has given up on life. None of us have. But the reality we face is that debt is a constant pressure and there is no relief in sight. My *entire life* revolves around getting out of debt. As I said before, I would love to start my own business, but as with having children, it isn’t feasible. The debt is too overwhelming.
I would say I have made lemonade from my debt-lemons, because I have a job I like and a partner I love and a life I enjoy. But there are things I will never have, like kids and my own business, and it’s because of debt. Specifically, student loan debt. (I’m really good about credit cards, because I have debt enough already.)
What older generations have to understand about Millennials is that our definition of success is changing, because our circumstances are very different than before. I know my parents are disappointed I don’t have a graduate degree, but there’s simply no way I am taking on the additional debt. They’re disappointed I won’t be having kids. They’re disappointed that I don’t own a home big enough to have a guest room for them when they come to visit. I am a disappointment to my parents, because the only metric of success that I meet that they understand is “married.”
But I pay my bills. And I can help them out with surprise medical bills. And that’s good enough for me.
When I went to college, Sallie Mae was still private and student loan interest rates were at a record high. I know many people in their 40s still paying off student debt. This problem is not unique to millennials.
Yeah, Gen X got shafted, too. The debt problem gets worse and worse, especially as Gen X is paying not only their debt, but many are paying kids’ debt, too, to prevent their children getting stuck in the cycle they found themselves in. Education costs and student loan debt are a real, urgent problem in the US.
@annaloo I have to say you are being incredibly offensive and dismissive. You are also making extremely broad and general statements about an entire generation. I am a millennial and guess what I have never been given a participation trophy. I work harder then almost anyone I work with certainly harder then the people in their 50s. I am constantly trying to grow my career and life. I moved out at 22 and started, I took any job I could get to build my career. I have never not stayed late at work, and I have never not been willing to come in on the weekend if needed.
These statements apply to almost every single people my age that I work with. Now do we make sure to take our vacation? YES but we should it is a benefit. Do I have zero loyalty to a company and will move for more money and a better title? YOU BET. But guess what no company has loyalty to me so why should I care.
You are obviously feeling a bit defensive, and you are right no generation has it perfect but the reality was baby boomers of any generation was handed the best situation and have made selfish policies that have hurt the country. Does this mean people don’t need to take responsibility and try to make it better? NO but I have not seen a single young person not.
Algernon, I just wanted to say “us, too” with the parents expectations. We are in our very late 20s with one child. We make six figures combined and literally cannot afford to have a second one for at least 5-6 more years. Older family (and complete strangers at the grocery store) keep pestering us to have a second (because two is a magical perfect number apparently) and they just do not get how we can’t afford it.
Our student loan payment is 31% of our take home pay — it’s about 2-3 average American mortgage payments (husband works in a medicine and had to borrow his way through school — thankfully he works in that field now). We obviously do not qualify for income based repayments. Daycare for just one is another huge expense. We could not afford another thousand dollars a month for another one in daycare, so we’ve messed up the older generation’s perfect picture of 2 kids 2-3 years apart.
@ Millennial
The impact this will have on the US going forward is enormous, if we don’t have enough new people in the workforce to pay for the social services for the retired. It’s called the demographic cliff, and it is a real threat, as people are having fewer children, with economic factors a leading consideration in that decision. (One way to fight the demographic cliff, of course, is immigration, but as we’re also hitting a period of anti-immigration sentiment, we’re in trouble. Being anti-immigration is basically national suicide.) People who don’t live the education debt reality just do not get what a burden it really is, and the trickle down effect it has on so many other aspects of life.
ETA: The impulse people feel to encourage couples to have multiple children may be an instinct left over from our cavemen days, when breeding was more important because half your kids would die in infancy due to disease. Infant mortality rates have really only stabilized/risen within the last 100 years (thank you vaccines!), so we haven’t lived nearly long enough to retrain our lizard brains to stop worrying about the number of children in a family.
Don’t forget housing prices and the fact that wages have been stagnant while the cost of living creeps onward and upward.
Oh, Martha. I say this with a lot of respect for a very accomplished and successful busineswoman but please, go f*ck yourself. I know that looking down on the next generation is something most generations do. We’re lazy, we’ve lost the ability to grow a damn plant or build a house or sew a dress, knit a sweater etc. etc. And while you were playing house at 19, I was living abroad. Alone. Without knowing the language or the culture before I went. Oh I’m sorry, you weren’t playing house, you were a grown woman who got married and made a home for herself and her husband? Was that “playing house” offensive? Yeah, don’t sh*t on us just because we don’t know how to Pinterest our balcony. I also don’t have a criminal record btw.
As a Gen X-ear, my peers and I graduated from college in the middle of a very deep recession. I do not recall a single friend living with their parents after college because for most us, it simply wasn’t an option. Once children reached adulthood, they were expected to stand on their own. We lived in group houses, worked two jobs, ate ramen, drank cheap beer, and had the time of our lives.
Most young people continue to do this well into their 30s. Many arent lucky enough to get free rent from their parents as we must go where the work is. Generation X is not the same as todays young people and therefore is not comparable. You didnt have to deal with Generation X, for a start.
Tuition has gone up about 300% since then, but nice try.
Add wage stagnation and rising house prices too.
Many who live with their parents don’t have a choice, it’s either that or homelessness. I know a few people who have had to move back in with their parents and they’ve either been paying rent (albeit at a reduced rate) or trading domestic work for their room and board, like a live in house keeper. Or both. And they’re usually pretty ashamed about it.
I know a lot of people who have lived at home after graduation, and no one is proud of it. It is, however, the new reality of graduating with tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. “Gen X didn’t have to move back home!” Well bully for Gen X. Gen X also didn’t have to pay my loan bill.
When I graduated from college unemployment was almost 8%, today it is 4.9%, a typical car loan was about 10% interest and a really great mortgage loan was 12% and you had to put down 30% of the principal. My point? Stuggling in your 20’s and 30’s isn’t unique to millennials. Boomers got lucky, but look at every generation before them. Pretty much everyone was screwed by the generation before them.
Yup. Millennials are special flowers who have it worse than anyone ever. We all had it much better. It’s sheer coincidence that all of us scrambled from 15-on to volunteer and beat the streets for menial service jobs. Hanging out all summer playing video games just wasn’t a thing when I was a teen. My parents coasted on nothing as well. They busted their asses on farms, in the military and in the work force. My work ethic is nothing near theirs, but in any workplace I’m known for being a hard worker. I don’t argue that economic realities are dire right now, but I think anyone who doesn’t think we’re living in an increasingly entitlement-heavy culture is also fooling themselves.
You have to be more specific when you graduated then. Because Gen-X is not a fixed term. I was born in 1984 and could, therefore, be Gen-X or a Millennial. I feel like neither. But none of that says anything about me or my friends’ ability or willingness to stand our own feet. I have friends who lived at home all through uni and never had a job until afterwards. Others started a business while still at uni when they were 21 and had kids at the same time. I went the route you describe. Work hard, play hard. None of it is wrong or right.
ETA: Also, I graduated with a Master’s and no debt because universities are free here. I have no clue how I would be paying that off now while also paying rent. And I have a good job.
I was born in 1984 also and I don’t relate to either generation. I’m often referred to as a millennial by older relatives but I just cannot relate at all to people in their early 20s in terms of how we grew up. I moved in with a boyfriend during college to avoid living with my parents and that was a big mistake. I will not shade people who live at home to save money.
@littlemissnaughty: Where did you go tot school? I ask because you reference free education and that is rare enough that I’m curious.
@Canadian Becks: Germany. It’s not that rare in Europe. I know I say free but what I mean is students don’t pay. I pay now, in taxes. 😉
I will never understand that. Once you reach 18, out of my house. Of course parents will help out if I need them too. And I will help them if they need it. Throughout our entire lives.
Okay, that is some tough love and while everyone can raise their kids as they please … I don’t get that. You will help them if they need it so it’s not really about being 100% independent, financially or otherwise. And chances are, kids do still need some help after high school so financially, it could be wiser to let them stay for a little bit. My sister lived at home while getting her Bachelor’s. She drove only 30 min to school every day so that wasn’t a factor. There was no way she had time for a job. Which wouldn’t have paid the rent anyway. So instead of kicking her out and possibly having to pay her rent or her going into debt, my parents told her to stay put until she was 22. It would’ve made zero sense for her to leave at 19.
I want to add that I knew a lot of Gen Xers who took jobs they hated to make life work. I think we have a lot of young people with dreams that they are understandably not willing to compromise — which is admirable, but in reality, this approach works out for some people and not for others and it gets to the point where the writing is really on the wall. The world needs plumbers and exterminators and tailors and accountants, etc… but if you have always had your heart set upon becoming a global dj or a film director or a journalist, it’s very hard to see those dreams die or spin wheels. I think when I saw that educated, able bodied, out of work writers in Williamsburg, Brooklyn would sooner take food stamps and welfare than take a job serving tables during the recession, I knew we were dealing with a very different societal attitude than what I grew up with.
There IS work out there. Humankind and society has always existed to provide constants like death and taxes. People need to eat, sleep, poop, etc… there will always be work out there– I feel if someone cannot find work today, or make work, it is a lack of an ability to see opportunity.
What was the line from Megan’s mother on Mad Men?
“Not every little girl gets to do what she wants. The world cannot support that many ballerinas”
I just read the entry on Kim Kardashian and Forbes
Martha, meet Kim. Kim, meet Martha.
I hate Kim, but there is initiative there.
I am going to have to agree with Megan as well. I was born in 1981, and I am deemed a Gen-X as well. I personally can not relate to most Gen-Xers. I haven’t lived with my mom since I was 17 years old, had a job at 15, two by 16. All of this while going to school and graduating a semester early with 12 units of college credit under my belt before leaving high school. Has she helped me throughout the years from time to time? Yes, but always with a contingency that I would likely hate, thus teaching me not to rely on her. And I appreciate the heck out of her teaching me tough love. I look at my step sister, whom is 26. The self entitlement in her is crazy. She didn’t even know how to do her own laundry until she was 22. She literally got everything handed to her, including her tuition to college. She didn’t talk to my step dad for two years, because my mom had the “nerve” to leave a list of chores she would have to do if she expected to live in their 7800 sq ft home rent free. (I.E. do dishes, pick up after yourself, make your bed, etc… cause she wouldn’t do any of this) Instead of doing the chores and being appreciative, she decided to throw a hissy fit and yelled at my step dad about it. She then turned around and tried to yell at my mom. That didn’t go over so well, and she was asked to move out. This is where I don’t get along with most other Gen-Xers, and maybe it’s because I am the first generation born American. But it feels like, to me, that most have lost a sense of respect, not all, but most. Respecting elders, respecting each other feels like something that is slowly dying. There is also this belief that some Gen-Xers have of being paid exuberant amounts of money for remedial jobs, or thinking a job is beneath them. Granted, I think income needs to increase with the rise of costs, but 15 bucks to flip some burgers?????? Seriously? Again, this isn’t all Gen-Xers, but a good majority do have this trait I see at least.
Isn’t someone born in ’81 a GenY or Millenial?
They deem people from 1980 – 2000 a Gen-Xer I believe. Well some do.
I’m not going to crap on them, but I have a confession. I don’t know why but I don’t like being categorized as millennial. I was born in 83, I think the borderline years stuck in the middle. I was in highschool without cellphones for most of it, and did reports without the internet in highschool.
I agree it’s a mixed bag, and there are many driven milennials, but don’t relate to a lot of them, and the “ME ME ME, I am a brand, everyone wants to hear about ME” is embarrassing and obnoxious.
Is it bad I don’t want to be considered one?
i thought millennials were born from 1980? i think there are some good things and bad things, like in every generation. i was born in 1989, but being an introvert some ‘typical’ millennial things do rub me the wrong way, like social media for instance. i don’t think millennials are more me me me than the previous generations though.
Also born in 83. Lived most of my life pretty low on technology, and was taught to write a research paper using the card catalog and thousands of note cards, haha. I have classified myself as Gen-Y, not X, and certainly not a millennial. I can’t stand “millennials” and the entitlement. The “I just got a job, and can you believe they haven’t promoted me yet?!!” mentality. Listening to them talk about how too good they are for the jobs they do is infuriating to me. Uh, get in line for the good jobs and pay your dues kids. I’m not sure they can handle that though. They are the generation that got participation trophies and were all told they were special and perfect and can do anything just because they wanted to. It’s not actually how the world works. Most people aren’t special, none are perfect, and no you can’t just do something because you want to.
Those are some pretty sweeping generalizations, Tessa. Sounds like a pile of confirmation bias with a dash of media stereotypes.
And I will *never* get the “participation trophy” outrage. For one thing, I’ve never seen one of these mythical objects… but more importantly, it seems misguided to criticize parents and teachers for wanting kids to feel special. Every child can’t be put in the same personality box; some are hypersensitive, some have learning disabilities, some have no support at home while their classmates get prizes for projects their parents made. Some have athletic skills and others don’t, but is the solution to let them feel like failures for years? I was the kid picked last for gym glass for YEARS and it shattered me. If I’d had just *one* empathetic gym teacher who realized how cruel it was to let a few very athletic kids have all the power and positive attention, I wouldn’t have gone home every day and sobbed and wished I were dead. Teachers play a BIG role in maintaining or preventing cliques and bullies, and with so much to criticize in our education system, are we really going to obsess over the appalling notion that every child gets some positive reinforcement regardless of talent or privileges?
Sigh. My generation is leading social movements and trying to dismantle racism and sexism and save this planet from our parents’ mistakes. But yeah, we’re entitled and lazy.
I think you need to find a better group of colleagues and friends.
Brittney B, preach. The “participation trophy” narrative drives me up a wall because that’s exactly what it is — some concocted narrative with no basis in the reality I have known.
And OriginalTessa, you could be describing some of my peers when I was young and starting out after college in the late 80s, so the entitlement you describe is not a millenial phenomenon.
Hey, I’ve gotten a few participation ribbons but they didn’t mean anything to me then or now. So they exist but I remember them as meaningless.
The thing about the jobs……. we (I say we because it’s easier, I’m also a “Gen Y” person) were taught from a young age to expect everything that we now demand. It was pounded into our heads that we should strive for certain professions (high paying and prestigious of course) and that other professions (like trades, or any entry level job) were “low class” and beneath us. College was expected, and trade school was a shameful alternative for those who weren’t “good enough”. We were taught to devalue good honest work. We were, in general, not even taught what good honest work even was. To not be immensely and immediately successful (in the right career) was presented as failure.
Many of us were never taught anything truly useful. In high school I was the only one of my friends who could change a tire or install a light switch. Or grow a tomato plant, for that matter.
So what do you get? A whole group of young adults who have known nothing but school, entrenched in the notion that somehow certain jobs are beneath them because they will be defined by their occupation, and have very few practical skills.
@Wren.. your words:
“So what do you get? A whole group of young adults who have known nothing but school, entrenched in the notion that somehow certain jobs are beneath them because they will be defined by their occupation, and have very few practical skills. ”
They ring true, and are truly terrifying. But surely, the millennials, who have been very good at disrupting things, would be our hope to disrupt the negative stigma towards the trades and other jobs like that…..right? A chain of female friendly, easy to understand, transparent car repair garages? A cleaner and smarter image of a plumbing franchise using environmentally sound techniques and equipment? Just a Gen Xer wondering…
@ annaloo
No, because that work has been totally devalued. Even if someone had the idea for environmentally responsible plumbing, they probably wouldn’t do it because, as Wren says, blue collar work is “shameful.” A good idea isn’t going to bridge that gap.
All this talk about how Millennial entitlement, where you think that came from? It came from Boomer and Xer parents, that’s where. As a generation, we were basically trained to expect to be upwardly mobile high-earners, and we went out and got the degrees to make it so, only to watch the job market collapse and wages evaporate. Now we’re stuck paying the bills for the educations that were supposed to make our parents’ dream of a generation of bankers, thinkers, and creators possible, and our parents are yelling at us for being entitled when they raised us to expect that future to exist. The future *they* burned to the ground.
If you have a college degree, you employer has to, by law, pay you more than if you don’t have one. So for a lot of jobs, if you have a college degree you’re overskilled and won’t be employed. Not because they are “shameful”. And for most parents, if their kid has good grades, not going to college is not an option. At least for mine it wasn’t.
And even if that wasn’t the case, even blue collar work is extremely hard to find. Furthermore, a bachelor’s degree in any field is pretty much meaningless because you won’t be employed without a masters.
Also, unless you finished a specific high school to be a plumber, or a builder, or a cook, you can’t get jobs in these areas either. Sometimes you can be a waiter, but most waiters also have finished a specific 3 year high school.
I suppose that’s not the way things are in America?
@Algernon
Let’s say that you owned a franchise of environmentally responsible plumbing services, with clean branding,tech support, and that also left ots client base more educated about one of the most crucial systems running through their homes. Is that classy enough now?
A lot of people who are successful right now—and that includes Martha – are doing simply what has been done before , many, many times and just reinventing the approach and selling that. You can’t tell me that there isn’t work, or opportunity or a way to financially approach the trades with a millennial friendly shine. No one has burned anyone’s future anywhere, but I respectfully feel that a lot of people are very blind to the opportunities before them bc they are not the original life plans….
m
@ Locke Lamora
There isn’t an actual rule about paying someone more based on a degree, but generally the more degrees you have the more you get paid. Although the last recession put a lot of older workers, who might not have degrees, or advanced degrees, out of work alongside newly-minted college grads. Generally the new college grads were thought of as “cheaper” hires because they lacked the experience of the older workforce. So employers felt okay about paying college grads less based on experience. It’s a system in which you literally cannot win. Everyone gets punished.
@ Analoo
I’m sure there is somebody somewhere with that kind of business plan. I work in the creative arts so they aren’t around me, so I don’t know anyone thinking in that direction. My experience has been that people, myself included, have gone way off the “original life plans.” I work in an industry I never dreamed of working in, because this is the job I got out of college. We have to find our opportunities wherever we can, and most people I know around my age are doing things they never saw themselves doing, because that’s the opportunity that arose.
I guess the one thing I can think of that is like “classy plumber” is my friend’s husband who went into the electrician’s union after a stint in the military. He had wanted to set up his own business specializing in rewiring renovated historical properties, but the old guard who ran his union made his life living hell. They didn’t want any upstart youngsters changing the way things have been done forever, so they rode him really hard until he quit. So even if you have that kind of ambition, you better hope you get into a union that is okay with that sort of innovation. Not limited to trade work, I have seen many cases of older members of the workforce actively discouraging younger people from trying to innovate and open up new possibilities.
(He’s a fireman now, and loves it, btw.)
I’m not American, should have said that. In my country it is the law.
And if you wanted to open a high tech plumbing bussiness, in order to get a licence you would have to have finished a plumbing high school and worked as a plumber for 5 years. For someone else. You can’t open your own bussiness off the bat.
@Algernon–
Not to open a nother can of worms, but tech has completely and continually disrupted a lot of status quo job fields.. the split that happens politically between tech oligarchs and labor leaders may be the next economic issue as many people simply do not have the skillset to work the new technology jobs… but I digress.
I graduated from SVA with a degree in film. I had to readjust after graduating and change my trajectory bc film did not pay well, so I went into design. The design field has changed with the advances of the internet and everyone with access to photoshop, I cannot make a living with the below the line rates new art school grads hungry for their first job or what “my 13 year old niece can doo that” charge. So, I found myself in accounting and payroll for restaurants and bar bc I had experience working in these fields from college. Was it my dream job. No. And my story is definitely only my own– but having had to shift out of two careers bc the money wasn’t there gives me no illusions that money is to be made out there. I think this is why I do not think some millenials are being practical or pragmatic, and it’s difficult for me coddle this. I understand the disappointment, but I also understand survival in the way I have learned to do it.
Look, I’m not here to give a sermon. I want to see you and your peers do well, bc honestly, it makes my world and society better if you are doing well too. But I think the inflexibility and hopelessness we see from some millenials is self inflicted– if you can’t find work, there is always a market for death or taxes. But if you look down on those jobs, is the problem society or is it one’s own pride?
@ Annaloo
My friend’s husband was saying he thinks it will change very sharply once the old guard retires and opens up new leadership for more tech savvy and forward-thinking people. And of course, this can’t be the case everywhere, it just happened to him that the union he joined had bad leadership who drove him out rather than train him effectively so he could set out on his own, and in turn, train the next generation.
I replied above so I won’t reiterate the whole thing, but what I can’t get older folks to understand (I’ve had this conversation a lot in my RL workplace) is that the hopelessness we feel isn’t stopping us, as a generation, from doing things. We’re doing stuff. Some of us are starting new businesses, some of us are changing old ones, a lot of us are just working to scrape by. We’re not all crying the gutter about our lost opportunities. Most of us move on and do the best we can.
But that hopelessness doesn’t go away. It’s not that we’re not all going to be ballerinas and astronauts, it’s that no matter what we do or how hard we work, most of us won’t ever get ahead. Unless I win the lottery, I will always have this student loan debt. My whole life is shaped by that burden. Forgive me if that makes me cynical.
@Britney: The participation trophy culture is having a negative impact on resilience.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201509/declining-student-resilience-serious-problem-colleges
Tara – Nothing about that article suggests “participation trophy culture” is the sole source of those issues, though. I suspect it’s a far more complicated cultural shift that has its roots in the declining quality of primary education, increased economic pressure, the overwhelmingly cynical tone of mass media, and the unrelenting and rapid pace of technological advancement. Gen X/Y was told that if they want to college, worked hard, and were ambitious, they’d be successful no matter what. Then the recession came through in the mid 2000s and revealed that to be a crock of sh*t that came with a hefty bill to boot. Millennials inherited that world from a very bitter generation and are having to come up with their own narrative for success in a far more uncertain world. As an older student, I get frustrated sometimes from the entitlement I see from some of the younger students, but I’m not really that surprised a lot of them are cracking under the pressure.
I’m on the cusp too, and yeah, my childhood was pretty technology free (as in, no cell phone and one crappy family computer we all shared) and I remember the internet as a scary place of violently colored pop up ads and porn. I remember when we were called Gen Y because they didn’t have a cutesy name for us yet. Every generation is a mixed bag because humanity is a mixed bag.
My thoughts on the Boomers complaining about is are……. well you guys raised us and taught us to be this way, so don’t get all high and mighty about how much we suck. We are your children, we didn’t spring fully formed from the womb. You shaped us and shaped the world we are now trying to live in.
The participation trophy crap makes me roll my eyes every time i see it. Just because you didn’t win doesn’t mean that you didn’t work hard.
But yea, let’s blame everything on little pieces of plastic.
“we didn’t spring fully formed from the womb. You shaped us and shaped the world we are now trying to live in.”
Yes! I’m a millennial and when Boomers rip on our generation for being lazy and spoiled, I always say “Well, who raised us??” But nope, they take zero responsibility.
The term is marketing-based and even some say that the Generation should be divided as Y (1983-1987/88) and Millennial (1989/90-99) because of the big differences between the younger, who are struggling more and being more pessimistic about future, vs the older Millennials which the last ones identifying more with the X’ers.
I was born in 1984, and I relate to a lot of what you said. I think it is the growing up without cell phones and the internet that really separates me from the younger millennials. I think there is entitlement in every generation, so I don’t really use that to stereotype millennials.
Born in 87. First mobile phone at age 16 (with no internet or games!), email address at 13 (why, though? We didn’t email anyone…) and lived through Napster’s golden era (good times). I actually consulted the librarian when working on essays and projects, there was no Google and the Internet was slow and kind of empty.
So all of this over sharing, obnoxious behavious is very remote to some of us. I’m not an Instagram model or Twitter narrator of events. I just went to uni and am trying to build some sort of career with minimal opportunities while paying ridiculous rent for a 1 bedroom apartment. I sometimes wonder why being an adult sucks so much.
Same! Born in 1987 and graduated college in 2008 (a year early with IB, AP credits and 17 hr course loads). Graduated early so I could save money and still have $15,000 left in loans. I was from a lower class family and would have qualified for a Pell Grant before but Bush and his Republican friends changed the rules. Graduated right in time for the housing collapse and recession.
I am working and doing ok (just started making enough to save and I even have an IRA now!) I don’t think I’ll ever own a house unless it is a tiny one. Don’t know how I’ll afford a kid either.
The whole Millennials are entitled and lazy thing needs to end. It is pure BS.
@Alyce – it’s amazing how close of an experience we share considering we come from so different countries. I was lucky enough that my parents are well off and believed it was their duty to fund their children’s educations, so I went off to Uni with no debt or need of a scholarship.
However, I only moved out 9 months ago because the future makes me anxious and I wanted to be able to afford rent/utilities and still able to save money. Everyone here has a retirement/pension fund (a % of our monthly income goes there) but I also have a private one, just in case.
I will most likely never own my own apartment (unless I inherit money or property) and I can’t even get into one of those schemes where you pay monthly installments and in 3 years you have an apartment, because my income is lower than the minimum requierement.
Public schools suck, so any child of mine will have to attend a private school and they are ridiculously expensive. So yeah, I don’t even know if kids will be a possibility, either.
I’m in a similar boat. I don’t really mind being called a millennial. I work for a non-profit, which for some reason makes people assume that I’m lazy. Because working for a non-profit is SO EASY, right?
I hire and work with interns who are younger than me, and a few things frustrate me about them. I also taught undergraduates and noticed the same things. They are VERY into certain parts of technology–mostly social media–but many of them are totally lost when it comes to something as simple as making a graph out of a spreadsheet. And they suddenly forget how to Google things.
They’re also VERY sensitive. I don’t know if it’s because I look young, but the interns at work will often complain to me about how their work was criticized by other staff members. I was there for one of the critiques–I thought it was totally on the mark and not at all offensive. I thought it was very constructive. One of the interns admitted to me that he wasn’t used to being criticized, and he should probably develop a tougher skin.
Ugh, I feel so old at work sometimes. I don’t know if all young people are like this. I assume past generations had similar feelings. Maybe as people get older they mature. But I didn’t complain when I was a young intern. Or if I needed to, I did it to someone outside of work! It’s unprofessional to complain to a superior about your co-workers.
Most of my work experience comes from working in non-profits and it’s mayhem. Especially the interns who think that just because they only get bus fare (if they even get that) they’re entitled to do nothing or the bare minimum.
It’s not just you. I had a conversation with someone 22ish (family member I wish not to name). He believed that he would be “headhunted” by a prestigious company right out of college with zero experience. Didn’t understand the concept of internships not being paid, cause if he was working, he should be getting paid to do it. And said internship HAD to pay him at least 1,000 a week. He quit a few 30-35K a year entry position jobs because “he deserved more money for putting up with them criticizing his job performance”. He honestly thinks that he SHOULD be making no less than 75K a year with his degree and no experience, with minimal effort on his part because the “headhunters” would find him. It’s baffling. Any time anyone tried to give him advice, he just said we were being condescending. I don’t quite understand this line of thought. I always was taught hard work gets you where you need to go.
I’m not a millienial but I will say that getting started used to be easier. The banking industry, in terms of getting a loan and how capital works, have made it much more difficult to start with very little. In addition to wages (adjusted for inflation) having not had any real growth in close to 30 years. Plus I would like to see Martha Stewart go back to those furniture auctions with her pennies and see what she can buy.
Those auctions would now be completely different, because of the focus on ‘vintage’, shabby chic, etc. Then again, a TV (not the high end ones) costs relatively less than 30-40 years ago.
Apartment costs are likely proportionately much different now, due to supply and demand.
I think the point is not that someone can succeed in the exact way that she did, but that every generation needs to find a new way to hustle.
I’ve counseled graduates from a professional school for 3 decades. They all had debt. The successful ones get that they need to sacrifice; the unsuccessful ones don’t. The unsuccessful ones use loan money to live decently – they think they need a smartphone, they need to have their own space, they need that little trip that everyone else is going on, they need to eat out, they need cable, they need a new outfit, they need a decent car. Lots of students think that taking yet another 20k is meaningless when they already have so much debt. And it’s hard to blame them.
For my own self, I have to say that my parents were much better at sacrificing early on than I was. My mom didn’t own a vacuum cleaner; she used a broom, even on the carpet. They had one car (she used to take a bike to the grocery store, with two of us riding on the bike as well and we took the bus everywhere). They used credit only to buy a house. They kept their car until it didn’t run, and my Dad got good at repairing it. We ate out once a month, and that was for breakfast. My husband and I managed a few of those good ideas (one car, and that was hard with two working parents and three kids that needed to get places; almost never eating out), but it took us longer to get a house because we were less frugal about other stuff.
Life hasn’t been easy for any generation, but I do think that our definition of “basic” and “necessity” has changed drastically, and one thing the older generations did better was just go with less.
I’m sick and tired of the constant complaining about my generation. The circumstances are different. I don’t know about America, but here, my prospects are much worse tham those of my parents. The economic uncertainty I grew up with, they can’t even imagine. They didn’t have to see their parents loosing jobs, they weren’t told that after college the chances if finding a job are small to nonexistent, they weren’t constantly disappointed by every politician ever. It’s hard to show initiative when every effort is constantly thrown back in your face because the only people who seem to be prospering are he ones who come from rich families anyway.
And in my country, living with your parents, while not as common as before, is perfectly acceptable. I don’t understand why Americans make such a big deal out of it.
I think it’s just the culture. Middle-aged and old people in America had to live on their own as young adults, so they expect the young adults of today to do the same. Factor in the whole independence, and “we need our space” thing that most Americans tend to have and yeah: we need to move out ASAP.
It wasn’t any different when Gen X was your age, though. It was the same damn song.
But the amusing thing to me is all the Millenials here who are blaming the Boomers for ruining the earth..aaaaaand the generation wars continue.
The whole thing is completely ridiculous if you ask me. Trying to categorize a diverse group of individuals and the myriad of complex concepts and circumstances that define our society, our economy, and our standing in the world by the year that somebody was born is quite frankly, absurd on every level.
If history repeats itself Gen X and Gen Z/Alpha will have the same wars, but for some reason I can’t really see that happening. Maybe it’s because you guys are so chill now, or had to deal with all the maligning when you guys were young so you know how it feels. Then again maybe it’s because Gen Z/Alpha still have to be born lol
I’m just comparing my situation to that of my parents, and they had it easier. It is just a fact. Both of them got jobs straight out of university, they were able to live on their own aged 23, etc. The most absurd thing is that in the 90s, right after a war and transition from communism to capitalim which was done extremely poorly in my country, things were still easier for young people.
But I agree, it’s hard to generalise an entire generation, especially in different countries. Like, people who were young in the 90s in America led compeltely different lives from people here, because, as I said, there was a war going on. But it will always happen, I guess.
I will NEVER do that sh*t to another generation.
I’m not a cranky old bitter fart like that. Plus I can already see so many of the great strides that Millenials are making. I’ve learned more from Millenials in this forum than I ever learned from people of my own generation or older. For instance I think that socially, Millenials are light-years ahead of previous generations. That’s not a small thing–that’s a HUGE contribution to society.
But mostly, I think the Generation Wars are like anything else: just another way for older people who feel lost and obsolete in modern society to feel better about themselves, a way for them to regain some semblance of control and relevance.
Keep doing your thang, Millenials, and ignore the bullsh*t.
“The whole thing is completely ridiculous if you ask me. Trying to categorize a diverse group of individuals and the myriad of complex concepts and circumstances that define our society, our economy, and our standing in the world by the year that somebody was born is quite frankly, absurd on every level. ”
the exact same thing is always said when someone objects to saying “men” or “white people” when talking about oppression.
you sound a lot like #notallmen
people have to realize that generalizing a privileged and socially powerful group is harmless.
@Maria- “people have to realize that generalizing a privileged and socially powerful group is harmless.”
Um, you DO realize that saying 80 million people are “privileged” or inherently “socially powerful” because of the timeframe that they were born is a straight-up ridiculous fallacy right?
I’m sure that you also realize that a generation doesn’t exist in a vacuum, previous generation both inform and pave the way for newer generations to take hold. You can’t just extract one generation from that formula and point to it as being responsible for all the problems in the world.
Also, a generation encompasses a myriad different people from different backgrounds, races, genders, social standings, cultures etc so needless to say, your comparison to one race (white people) or one gender (men) falls flat as well.
But thanks for playing.
Me too. I don’t blame previous generations for all my (our?) problems because that’s stupid. But from what I can gather from Boomer rants, they really did have things available to them that we just don’t anymore. Yes, they had to work and work hard, but there were enough jobs and success to go round. Finding a job after college was a matter of going out and getting one. College education was expensive, but not cripplingly so and also not required. Now, college is massively expensive AND a requirement for the seemingly dwindling number of jobs available. Competition is stiff, wages are low, loyalty is nonexistent, and you’re already deep in a financial hole. Sometimes it’s hard to find “initiative” in the face of such difficult odds.
My dad didn’t finish college because his job took off midway through so he quit to focus on work. Without a degree, he became a top-tier executive at a fortune 500 company. Good luck doing that today. I’m sure *someone* could, but among his peers, it was not at all uncommon to not have a degree and yet be “chief something” or “executive VP” of something. Not the case today, when you have to have at least a bachelor’s if you have any hope of upward mobility. Except that climb has gotten so hard, as you say, it’s hard to find the initiative.
OMG are you from Argentina? Because you just described our generation in this country. I moved out when I was 27! I couldn’t afford rent and utilities and save some money before that. I was making so little I couldn’t really afford anything on my own, and I didn’t want to depend on my parents any more than I already did.
Has it not occured to her that perhaps the young people are fed up with Martha’s generation consistently f**king up then blaming anyone but themselves? They coined the phrase ‘millenials’, they insist on us being stupid and lazy. In reality, they have no idea what its like being part of generation rent, a problem they created, living in an economy thats stunted and having the oppourtunities they were allowed ripped from us at every chance. Of course, this is a blanket statement that doesnt represent everyone within that generation. Its needs to be understood that young people are not living in the same world as the better off, older generation. We can no longer buy property based on menial work thanks to stagnated wages, extremely high levels of debt (thanks to half our pay check going towards rent each month) and being treated like we are not bright enough to think for ourselves. Martha’s generation are beyond priviledged. Sadly, they want to keep this for themselves and not extend what they were given to anyone else. That being said, I can manage to do my taxes and not end up in prison…
I am Gen X and all I know is that we are wedged between the two biggest drama queen generations ever…Babyboomers and Gen Y. No one ever mentions us cause we were so shafted, we dont even rate to the media. We just silently get on with it, but we did give the world flannel and Nirvana …awesome.
There’s a really interesting docu-series on Nat Geo called Generation X! It talks about the accomplishments you guys had while also breaking down things like the family, fashion, politics, and the trends back then. Also in the politics episode, it talked about how you guys were a big part in giving us Obama, so I’d say you guys were pretty cool =)
I’ll check that out, Lynnie, thanks for the heads-up. I love Nat Geo so much.
Gonna check that out too. Thanks+2, Lynnie.
I’m GenX and I don’t feel shafted. My older siblings are Boomers and they did not have it as good nor are they as responsible for today’s problems as many claim.
I helped a manager create a presentation based on a book about generational workplace culture differences. Said that Baby Boomers and Millenials have the most in common and think GenXrs are too negative. Millenials tended also to be raised by boomers, so expectations of more ease in life. GenXrs said to get along best with those born in the 30s, the Forgotten Generation. Generally not a lot of love for GenXrs; even missed that the term, coined by Douglass Copeland, was likely influenced by Billy Idol’s old band. And said we questioned things too much and wouldn’t do things as “proscribed” [sic]. Lol
@Serious : yup, yup, yup, yup and yup.
How did she pay for that apartment in which she grew her plant on her way to becoming a ‘domestic diva’?
She says she got married, got an apartment and grew a tomato. So, she left her parents and started living with a partner instantly?
How is that independence? And why does she not mention the job she had at that point?
What does growing a plant have to do with finding money to pay the rent? Or maybe someone else was paying her rent. It’s one thing to move on from your parents’ house and be on your own and it’s another thing to share rent and other stuff with someone, especially your husband.
She is a hypocrite. I am guessing she used a lot of people’s resources during her ascension to greatness and now she is yelling how full of initiative, brave and independent she was.
Maybe she sold a million tomatoes from her balcony ;). Plus having a lawyer for a husband couldn’t have hurt.
Aha, there you go, she forgot this ‘detail’.
Stephen Colbert on Millenials and Baby Boomers:
I’m going to take this opportunity to move on to the advice section of the speech; if you young folks will take advice from anyone.
After all, this week’s TIME Magazine called you lazy, entitled narcissists, who are part of the ME ME ME generation.
So self obsessed. Tweeting your Vine’s. Hash tagging your Spotify’s and Snapchatting your YOLO’s.
Your generation needs everything to be about you and that’s very upsetting to us Baby Boomers, because self-absorption is kind of our thing.
We’re the original ME generation, we made the last 50 years about us.
We took all the money, we soaked up all the government services, and we’ve deep fried nearly everything in the ocean.
It may seem that all that’s left for you is unpaid internships, Monday to Tuesday mail delivery.
and thanks to global warming, soon, Semester at Sea will mean sailing the coast of Ohio
While traditional paths may seem harder to find, that means that you may learn sooner than most generations, the hard lesson that you must always make the path for yourself.
There is no secret society out there, that will tap you on the shoulder one night and show you the way.
Because the true secret it: Your life will not be defined by the society that we have left you.
To paraphrase Robert Bolt: “Society has no more idea of what you are than you do. Because ultimately it has only your brains to think with.
Every generation must define itself and so, make the world that suits itself.
So, if you must find your own path, and we have left you no easy path,
then decide now to choose the hard path, that leads to the life and the world you want.
And don’t worry if we don’t approve of your choices. In our benign of self absorption, I believe we have given you a gift.
A particular form of independence. Because you do not owe the previous generation anything.
Thanks to us, you owe it to the Chinese.
This is great, thanks for sharing.
Love it!!!!
that was fabulous. I love Colbert
It’s true, the concept of ‘ambition’, of ruthless and relentless empire building is becoming less interesting to young people (again). The living at the parents’ thing is an unfortunate side effect — or, we could remember that up until recently, generations of families lived together and that in other countries they still do. Unless you’re pioneering or staking a claim or following your manifest destiny, or whatever, you’re a failure. I feel like boomer kids were fed this concept of the entrepreneurial spirit to put a fresh spin on ‘have to build the country back up because it’s ravaged by war, so get to it, citizens’.
I don’t get this stereotype, not at all. In the years I’ve worked in college administration, I’ve seen kids working 30 hours a week, teaching themselves about interest rates to better understand loan debt, attending summer school to graduate on time. Entering the workforce full time the day after they graduate instead of backpacking around Europe like I did. If they live with their parents, it’s because rents are sky high and they have student loans to pay. If any billionaire boomers wanna argue this with me, I’ll be right here.
Maybe I’m a millenial. Full time work during and after school. Backpacking around Europe was some sort of myth, like Greek gods and calorie-less chocolate chip cookies.
Forget about tomatoes and spinach-Millenials have been already enslaved for life through student loans.
Every generation has its share of entitled, lazy or grouchy individuals.
I can think of three in their mid-80s who are among the most self-centered people I have ever known. Unfortunately, they are relatives and have chosen to never grow or change their attitude. They’ve outlived most of my more humble, pleasant older relatives, yet still feel they are entitled victims. Certainly not indicative of the ‘greatest generation’.
EVERY generation has sour apples.
I think it’s just too easy to say that millennial’s are lazy. The economic boom that the boomers had was unprecedented and they had opportunities that even if they still existed, don’t exist in the same way. I think she just doesn’t appreciate how much the world has changed for young people and it annoys me that some people get a kick out of saying how bad they are because it’s unnecessary. (she’s still my favourite gangster though)
I’m GenX and my older siblings are Boomers. You are wrong about Boomers having an unprecedented economic boom. It was our parents who had that.
The Greatest Generation got the economic boom (post-war industrialization), and the Boomers reaped the benefit (low college tuition, available investment capital for new business, low housing costs). Millennials don’t get any of that.
Can anyone explain why there is such a pressure on American kids to move away from their parents house ? Like what does it accomplish ? I understand if you are moving to another city for college and such but if you are in the same city why would you want to move out ?
I think it just boils down to independence and space on both parties’ part. Parents want to get on with their lives and preserve more of their wallet. Kids want to get on with their lives without having the whole dependence on mommy and daddy thing above their heads.
As for accomplish, I guess how to live on your own, paying bills, self-sufficiency maybe. Takes a while though, from the young adults I’ve seen.
Yeah, my parents would agree with you. When I graduated from college I could not wait to get a job and an apartment in the big city and my parents were kind of offended, like “what’s the rush?” My dad really made me feel guilty about wanting to leave so soon. I can sort of understand him now, though, I am already mourning the impending departure of my own kids in a couple years. I will miss them…but I would never try to make them stay if they were determined to strike out on their own. But as people have said, economic circumstances might keep them home longer. I was able to live in a decent apartment in a good neighborhood with a roommate and managed to eat (most weeks, unless I wanted a night out!) for $17,500. I saved money by not owning a car and taking public transportation or walking and biiking everywhere.
Is there “pressure” though? I’m genuinely asking, because I knew a lot of kids who moved back home for a couple years after college to save up money. Has that changed with the younger generation?
Myself, I moved out at 17 and never came back. I’m really close to my family but I just needed my space and independence. The idea of moving back to the ‘burbs and living with my parents all up in my business after years of privacy was not an option in my mind.
But that’s just me.
See I agree with you if you live in the suburbs. But i was born and brought up in a metropolis where some of the best colleges in my country were and so I never moved out during my college years. Later when I got a job in another city I obviously moved. But every time someone who is American hears this they give me an actual lecture about how i should have tried to be more independent ? Like I am sorry I did not want to spend hours working for no reason when my pare ts could easily support me.
My mom, who got married the week after she graduated college with her MRS Degree and never earned a paycheck for one day of her life (and continued to call herself a SAHM five years after her last kid graduated COLLEGE) likes to shit on me for this too. Specifically, that I don’t appreciate the hard work that goes into sewing, needlepoint, and quilting by doing it all day (like she did). Well Mom and Martha, I simply don’t have time for it because I’m working 12 hour shifts every day to support my family. When I come home I’m too damn tired to do anything but put a Trader Joe’s lasagna in the oven.
I would say I’ll get to enjoy the art of homemaking when I retire, but who am I kidding. That will never be an option for me.
If this woman wants to see “initiative”, she isn’t looking hard enough.
I just want to know what she has done to that poor dog’s neck!!
I’m a milennial. I had a doctorate degree within 5 years of graduating high school and moving out of my parents house. I also have exorbitant school loan debt, 8 years later. Probably because I showed too much initiative and paid for my own wedding, bought a house and had 2 kids. Still no tomato plant on my terrace, however. And I but my spinach from the grocery store.
Never did manage to go to jail.. Guess I don’t have enough initiative.. ?
BOOM!
Mic Drop-
There are some outstanding Millenials, and it sounds like you are one. I do remember all the articles saying GenX was lazy. It was offensive since I (and almost everyone I knew) had been working mostly low-paying jobs during and after high school and college. So I get it. It’s stupid to characterize a whole generation, ANY whole generation. I think the media is doing no one any favors in this. I definitely don’t think all Millenials are lazy, but when I read all the hyperbole accompanied by anecdotes about teens not “stooping” to submitting cold applications to get a job and being so depressed they just sit on the couch and play video games. THAT pushes my buttons.
My takeaway is that Martha is click-baiting and trolling.
“Martha Steward yells at clouds” Lol, I’ve never understand the obsession of generations that have reached a certain age to start beating at the young ones.
I am a millennial from the first half, working hard and trying to beat the odds and I find these rants from older people hilarious.
Sorry, Martha, I guess I was too busy STAYING OUT OF JAIL. *drops mic*
This lumping together of any group(s) really irks my crevice.
I’m not too familiar with her as I’m not from the USA, but she sounds like an idiot. Millenials were raised and taught by those who came before them, you know.
I just hate this grouping that everyone in EVERY generation are the same. Let’s take a baby boomer year of 1946.
Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Cher, Freddie Mercury, Alan Rickman, Robert Mapplethorphe, Janet Yellen, Chuck Hagel, Dolly Parton , Dennis Kunich, John Waters. All born a few months apart in the same year and you couldn’t get a group of people who are more different.
It’s about people and their life experience-not this vast grouping of people born between year X and Y will all have this this and this in common. It was bad with the boomers, it was bad with gen x’ers, bad with gen y’s, and bad with millennials.
I don’t consider myself a Baby Boomer. I’m more Generation Jones (1954 to 1965) on the cusp of Gen X. Gen Jones has more in common in with Gen X than with Baby Boomers. And every generation leaves its legacy; positive and negative. My kids are Gen Y. I hope they leave the world a better place than the generations before them.
oops, I meant my kids are Gen Z, one on the cusp of Gen Z and Millennial.
Yeah well Martha, I am sure there were plenty of “Boomers” who did nothing with their lives. They didn’t all become millionaires. We have good and bad with every generation. Some of these millenials you are talking about are creating apps and technology that are changing the world. I think it simply has to do with how you were raised…and to be honest Martha, most of these millenials were raised by BOOMERS !!
If people want to live with their parents that’s between them and their parents. Personally, my kids are welcome to stay in my house to save money for a down payment or to save money during college. They’ll have to be working towards something and I am happy to help. I’ve got crap for living in a trailer on my parents land but whatever. It’s cheaper than renting and I was able to pay off a ton of debt. My parents love having their grandkids close to their house and they don’t want us to move.
And we have tomatoes, peppers, and squash growing, but it was a waste of money because they aren’t doing well. 😕
People want to work. They want to make money to afford the finer things in life, but they’re struggling to afford the basics. It’s why people get sucked into MLM schemes so easily.
Did you grow from seed or from seedlings?
What has the weather been like?
Your tomatoes could be getting too much heat if you didn’t specifically choose a heat-tolerant variety. If you can, move them to an area where they get morning sun and afternoon filtered sun or shade. You could also try to rig a canopy or something over them to provide at least partial shade and maybe some mulch to help keep the soil moist.
Mine are growing like gangbusters because we’ve been so dry here but they DO get shade in the mornings. I’ll water them tonight to be sure that they stay perky.
I don’t understand how anyone can just kick a kid out once they turn 18. You don’t stop being a parent when your kid turns 18. You are their parent for life. If they need help, parents should offer it (if they have the means to). I mean YOU brought those kids in to the world. Really 18 is so young. Your brain isn’t even fully developed until the age of 24 !
Yes but WHAT ABOUT THE TOMATO PLANTS???
Just kidding.
I agree. As long as my kids are working towards something I’ll help them any way I can. Now if they want to be lazy and mooch off of me they’ll be getting some tough love.
Kitten- we grew them from seeds. Maybe next year I’ll try some seedlings. It’s hot and dry here. They’re on our front porch so they do get some shade and they’re watered at night by my husband. Maybe they need to be moved back so that they’re not getting quite as much sun?
I also managed to kill a beautiful succulent. 😩 we suck at gardening. We just have to keep trying, I guess.
We’ve got like 5 cherry tomatoes off of it but my baby eats them faster than the plant will produce.
@Isa – Fellow (mostly container/raised bed) gardener here. Do you keep the non-producing tomato plant stems pruned? I was taught by people who had to grow their gardens for survival that you need to “sucker” them as they grow. It keeps the energy directed to producing more blooms (and thus more tomatoes).
Sometimes I wait until I see a stem starting to yellow, which is a sign it’s not going to produce. Keeps your plant growing upwards and producing more blooms, higher up the stem. I also agree about the too much sun/heat possibility.
Thank you so much for the advice! I will be doing that tonight. I guess I should be spending more time reading about gardening than celebrities, but I’ve kind of got the best of both worlds here. 😁
Good luck and try not to give up! My cucumbers and peppers seem stunted, plus some bugs attacked (didn’t dust them early enough with flour, which is a natural bug repellent — just dust very lightly). Some seasons seem to be better than others.
I think you’re doing a lot of things right. One thing I wish I’d followed more closely is to do what you need to do that makes sense financially. Following everyone else can be costly (houses, cars, vacations, etc.). Being in less debt has to be a great feeling.
My dad is giving us cucumbers since his are growing so well. They make my entire house smell good when I slice them up! My squash got attacked by bugs, but we gave some plants to my dad and they’re doing well in his garden.
I hope to get some blueberries and blackberries next year. I want my kids to be able to pick them and make cobblers with me.
If you don’t already, check out Joshua Becker (minimalism) and Dave Ramsey (budgeting) they have really helped me a lot. We are currently saving for a house. It’s a lot easier to save now that we don’t have student loan debt, but you’re right about it feeling freeing. Plugging numbers into the loan calculator app freaks me out about the amount of interest paid. 😱
My 5 cents for tomatoes.
If you cover the ground under the tomatoes with compost / mixed manures / or even just dry leaves or lawn mower cuttings then your tomatoes will do better as that stuff will shadow the earth. Rather loose earth with not too much clay / loam is usually better for tomatoes.
Also lots of water but never over the leaves.
And yes, tomatoes: these little branches that grow in the axilla of the leaves should be removed as they suck up the energy that would otherwise go into the tomatoes.
Simply chose to not grow too many tomato fruit bushels on one tomato bush at a time and the tomatoes grow better and faster. I think the optimal number is 3 hands / bushels of tomatoes on a bush. Could differ on different types of tomatoes, though. .
All the best!
I love tomatoes, too.
I was born on 83 and always considered myself as a Gen X ‘er or Gen Yer. Hey, I didn’t know I fall under millenial. I feel young again. Hooray!
This coming from a felon who shafted the system so she could make more $$ insider trading??
What? Aren’t millenials the bread and butter of like DIY pinterest? And her favorite person Blake Lively?
She’s been reading too much clickbait and doesn’t have enough experience with actual “millenials”.
Also, as a person born in 1987, I thought growing up we were considered Generation Y. Millenials should start at least mid-1990s.
I am Gen X and so are my brothers. I live in a house with my husband and 2 kids. Both my brothers ended up moving back in with my parents in the last 2 years. And I know other Gen Xers living with their parents.
The rents are crazy high in my part of the country. It’s tough out there for a lot of people.
I don’t get how pointing fingers and generalizing people born at different times helps anybody.
I have worked with lazy people from every “generation”, every group has its a-holes.
Born in ’89 and I have an entire garden in my backyard not just a “tomato on the terrace”. I have to hawk her products at work too. Yeesh Martha, that’s not how you get the kids to like gardening.
I for one, cannot stand the Baby Boomer generation. They are very snobby and think they are the best. I see this every time I visit my husbands large extended family. They sit there and bitch how they worked to pay for their college education. They forget that their year tuition was around $1000 at a very good school. They don’t understand that I am still paying my $45,000+ student loan debt and that the job market is not that great still from the recession. They also still support their 40 year old something children and their grandchildren all while pissing on the younger generations. It’s very frustrating to talk to a generation that are so clueless.
I do think a lot (not all) Boomers have that mentality. A lot of them didn’t even graduate high school and ended up making 30-40 bucks an hour in the automotive industry. They got lucky. Some dropped out of high school at 16, got hired at GM to work the line and retired from there. It was the only job they ever had. They don’t really know the struggles of generations after them. The boomers are reluctant to retire and leave their great jobs. They aren’t thinking about the younger people who need those jobs now. Also, the fact that the boomers will eat up all government pensions. They want to say they hate younger generations but who will be supporting these boomers in old age? US ! Those high paying jobs don’t exist anymore and certainly not for those who don’t have undergrad degrees and post graduate degrees. So sorry boomers, you might not be able to count on us after all !
If you don’t already know about it, you should check out the “Old Economy Steve” meme.
So many Boomer really are clueless about the economy Gen Y/Millennials inherited from them.
There is nothing I hate more then sweeping generalizations. It is so wrong and is always inaccurate whether it is about race, religion, gender, orientation or generation. People are people some smart, hard working and driven. Others are lazy, weak assholes. But the year, the gender, race or orientation you were born has no impact on that. It is who you are.
Also Millenials range from 1980-2000 do you really think these people are all going to be the same. Technically I am a millennial but I was born in 1982 and have a lot less in common with someone born in 2000. Our life experiences are so vastly different not to mention just where we are in our lives for heavens sake that you can’t compare.
Martha sounds like an out of touch person who is jealous that her time running the show and being who is targeted is over. That is it.
Oh if I can name ALL the Baby Boomers I come into contact with DAILY at work and their lack of initiative and utter incompetence. I could probably be making that money you tried to squander away from the government, Martha. Who cares if you “worked hard”–clearly you didn’t do it legally.
Right ? Its amusing when Baby Boomers call out others for not having any initiative when they most who work in my office are perhaps the most lazy people i have ever seen. Just because it s a private firm they put in minimal effort. My brother works in the government and always complains as to how people close to the retirement age just do not put in any work.
True.
The Baby Boomers had it easy. Jobs. Pay. Decent employment laws. No college tuition fees and such. And they screwed us.
And now they tell us we were screwing ourselves??? WTF???
According to her she got married in order to get her own place so I don’t find her in a position to talk.
I was born in the early 80’s and I do not consider myself part of the “Millennial” generation. I read an article Time put out about how there is a certain age group, those born from 1977 to 1983, that don’t quite fit with Generation X nor the Millennial Generation. But thanks to the Baby Boomer generation anyone born after 1980 is pretty much screwed.
THIS!!!
Dear Martha just forgot to admit that she is part of that generation that screwed our generation.
I wonder what she pays her cleaners. Perhaps then she might have some right to talk.
Me born past 1980.
I love how she assumes that every apartment comes with a little terrace. My dump is a dump and it costs me 2/3 of my salary. Terrace not included.
OT:: Stupid things I’m happy about list:
1) I created a cool ringtone for my phone.
I can’t help but wonder how well she would do if she were starting out today. Not just having to find an affordable place to live on minimum wage, but the amount of competition there is out there. I love cooking, crafts, DIY crap, and need a lot of help with cleaning and none of the sites or apps I use have anything to do with Martha. Flylady for cleaning, young house love for home improvements, Pinterest for recipes, YouTube for cake decorating, crochet, knitting, and make up.
The baby boomers have an awful lot of trash talk ready for the generation paying for their continued existence, yeah?
That’s a huge time difference for a generation. The oldest member of that is 36? I would think it would be a smaller gap.
Anyway, forgot her. Didn’t she say Blake Lively should stick to acting when she opened her failed website? How can you say we have no motivation and then publicly bad mouth someone showing initiative? I’m over the generation bashing, especially from people who had a hand in the finical collapse of our economy. Say…cough cough…. Like the people who used insider trading information to make money….
seriously this……
Martha now realize 19 back in 1960 even before the 90’s and 19 now is diff with pay and the economics and the impression of what a 19 year is suppose to do and the expectations and kiddy gloves that are put on still after hs…..
but still EVERYTHING THAT MARTHA IS SAYING….. i couldnt wait to get off to college and then muscle my way to the real world as in get a job with lousy pay in the non-profit world… then get a mid-kinda junior position making decent money in the private industry, saving like 3k for furniture…. and renting a tiny bite-size studio with consignment shop, estate sale, and thift store clothes and furniture….driving a old ass toyota …while my friends had new cars, credit cards galore, stayed with parents and etc and are now at 29 just moving out….. you have to almost be fiercely driven and ambitious and etc. to understand and NOT take offense of what martha is saying and to have lived it.
responsible independence and the grind to get there… as a young woman in watev time…takes hard work but is soooooo rewarding.
Dear Martha Stewart,
thank you for acknowledging the difficult economic situation. But your conclusion is simply that you have to work hard. And that is wrong. Because in such a difficult economic situation as nowadays it doesn’t matter how hard you work as you won’t get anywhere anyway. The costs for a basic decent living simply eat up all the money. And I don’t mean big house+threeholidays+twocars+designerclothes. I mean simply basic living: your own little apartment. Your own health insurance. your own car (second hand). The latter is often not possible any more!!! And that is simply not fair. As a society we got richer and richer. But all the added wealth did go to the upper classes. And the bottom classes even lost a lot of wealth that formerly covered their basic lifestyle (as described above).
Your generation had it easy. There were enough jobs and they were sufficiently well-paid. Your generation has a more difficult life. And partly that is thanks to your generation, just saying!
That is not fair. And telling people that it was all their fault and that they had to work harder is neither right nor fair nor decent advice.
So many many people experience that no matter how hard they work they just don’t get forward. Therefore your advice is simply b*ll*h*t.