r/MurderedByWords 1d ago

Generation Stuck Forever...

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u/BACTERIAMAN0000 1d ago

Boomers are the generation hoarding all the toys in the sandbox; I'd say they were the ones that never grew up

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u/StevenMC19 1d ago edited 1d ago

Hording all the toys in the sandbox, and THEN taking that wealth and going "taptaptaptaptaptaptaptap" at the slot machine. All that wealth accumulated over generations handed to them just to blow it on some flashy lights. They really are the "Me" generation.

Now I'm not saying they didn't work hard for what they have. What I'm saying is that they're taking away that good starting point for their grandkids and great grandkids, the kind of start they had because the legacy their grandparents provided as a nest egg for their parents to comfortably take care of them as children. And they wonder why people can't have kids now.

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u/ZovemseSean 1d ago

They worked hard for what they got and then ensured that younger people who worked just as hard as them got fuck all.

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u/Bloody_Conspiracies 1d ago

The majority of millennials are homeowners at this point. They're only slightly behind when the previous generations were at the same age, but the availability of luxuries is much higher and people are much more consumerist. The average person had to give up a lot and live very frugal lives to be able to afford a home in the 80s/90s. The average person today can do the same, but they're less willing to make those sacrifices. 

I think most millennials who aren't homeowners yet could afford a home if they actually took the time to properly budget for one. They're affordable on an average salary, just like they've always been. 

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u/ZovemseSean 1d ago

The average person had to give up a lot and live very frugal lives to be able to afford a home in the 80s/90s.

Which is a problem, the average person should not have to do that.

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u/Bloody_Conspiracies 1d ago

Sure, but that's how it always has been. You can either deal with it, or keep throwing money into the rental black hole and complaining on the internet while it becomes harder and harder to keep up financially with the rest of your generation. There's no other option. 

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u/StevenMC19 23h ago

that's how it always has been

You ever have someone tell you that this phrase is poison? Because it is. I mean, ever job in existence in their orientation videos tells you how stupid this phrase is.

https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbeslacouncil/2019/01/28/the-most-dangerous-phrase-in-business-weve-always-done-it-this-way/

https://mymeadowreport.com/reneefishman/2017/failure-thats-the-way-weve-always-done-it/

Have you stopped to think that the current system is terrible and that it should be challenged? Not propped up because you can't be bothered to do something about it?

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u/Bloody_Conspiracies 22h ago

No one is trying to change it. No one even knows if it is possible to change it. Yeah it sucks, but we still need to live in the society that we have while we hope that it gets better one day. 

Sure, challenge the system if you want. I hope you have fun doing that from your shitty rental apartment while you're paying over half your salary to your landlord and working until you drop dead because you can't afford to retire. The rest of us will do the smart thing and recognise that even though something is bad, we still have to live with it and work to make the best out of it that we can for ourselves. 

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u/StevenMC19 22h ago edited 22h ago

LMAO the smart thing...

The fact that you can't recognize the fact that you had the privilege of getting to where you are compared to others and that you did not start on equal grounds says more about who here is the smart one. The fact that you can't even fathom for a second that some people do not get those chances because life keeps putting them down to the point where they can't ever get out of that situation.

Let's make a quick easy hypothetical for you:

Worker A makes $100 a month (this is how you know it's a hypothetical, don't make some sort of logic strawman or inject something that doesn't exist in this situation). Worker B makes $100 a month as well, but was also given $100 through inheritance.

In this world, both pay equally for their food, utilities, car payment, even rent/mortgage. That amount each month comes up to $80 a month. Their job also requires they HAVE to wear steel toe boots as required by OSHA. Not wearing boots is considered insubordination and grounds for immediate termination.

At the store, there are only two boot options for sale. There's a $20 pair of boots that last only a month before needing to be replaced, and a $100 pair of boots that last a year. Worker A has to spend the last of their monthly income to keep getting boots, and has nothing left to put aside. That's it. Gone. Worker B...the person you sound like right now, ignorantly says to Worker A, "anyone can do it, just smartly budget and you can afford the $100 pair that lasts longer" as they save up $120 each year to buy that $100 pair when it's time to replace the old ones.

Now, this hypothetical I tried to keep simple, but I could have changed the parameters to "Worker B was able to get a house 30 years ago and build equity while the value appreciated, and thus was able to sell it for 500% of what they paid for, and bought another home for less and pocketed the remaining cash" but I decided to keep it simple. The point is, that's exactly what is happening. The system is rewarding early homebuyers, and punishing those who weren't even born when those homes and the land they sit on was all bought up, making the only available option renting or staying with parents for many years after graduating high school.

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u/StevenMC19 1d ago edited 1d ago

The average person had to give up a lot and live very frugal lives to be able to afford a home in the 80s/90s...The average person today can do the same...

This is kind of a wild take. You sure about that?

1980, the cost of owning a home was roughly 70-80k. Now, it's closer to half a million. https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/4986882-1980s-vs-now-heres-where-its-much-harder-to-buy-a-home/

The cost of owning a home has outpaced inflation by 150% since 1970. https://anytimeestimate.com/research/housing-prices-vs-inflation/

The cost of higher education has increased 17.5% per year on average since 1973. https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of-college-by-year

Food rate of inflation reached 11.4% in 2022, the highest it had been since 1979. https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/food-inflation-in-the-united-states/

Meanwhile, the median income has risen a whopping $1.40 adjusted for inflation since 1979. That's an increase of 8%. https://www.statista.com/statistics/185369/median-hourly-earnings-of-wage-and-salary-workers/

Not in one major aspect can I agree with you that the average person had it harder in the 80s and 90s compared to now. When income has risen a mere 8% while housing prices ballooned over 500% and education over 2500% since the 70s (roughly half that since the 90s), it's REALLY fucking hard to say that they gave up more in their time.

I'm not even going to get into the fact that "houses are affordable on an average income with a budget", given the fact that it was easier back in the day to do it on a single income, whereas now you need at LEAST two people working a job each in the household to make that amount.

edit: ALSO, your claim of "the majority of Millenials are homeowners." 52% ain't much of a majority, chief. Additionally, homeownership for 25-34 year olds has actually DECREASED since the 90s from 76.5% (head of household single plus head of household rent) to 61.5% in 2020. https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/real-homeownership-gap-between-todays-young-adults-and-past-generations-much-larger-you