An interesting take on Gen Y'ers' Unhappiness.

NYSpeed Automotive NYSpeed Off Topic
41

Did you see any of the calculations that people have done figuring out the price impact from increasing the minimum wage at McDs from $7.25 to $10?

Your combo meal would increase in price a whole ~2.7%!!! Thus if you spent $10 before at McDs, you’d now owe another Quarter and a WHOLE 2 pennies!!!

(Note - I’m doing these numbers from memory, not the actual article, but the rough order of magnitude is correct).

To completely de-rail this thread though… the interesting thing about McDs is… their Profit is almost identical to the amount of $$ the government spends supporting their workers on a yearly basis (Medicaid, WIC, SNAP, Housing assistance, Heat assistance, etc). Thus you and I are already paying these people the increased wages… only through taxes instead of prices. Increase the wages, then their dependence on these “HORRIBLE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES” that the right wants to slice to the bone will be able to naturally be reduced; not to mention their purchasing power will increase, thus the econemy will get better.

Bottom up economics… instead of “trickle down”… you know because the trickle down has worked sooooooo well during most of our lifetimes.

But anyways… back on topic!

42

I would take a few of those off the lists especially India, China, and Mexico.

Look for countries with the largest middle class

Realistically its something like

Norway
Australia
Netherlands
United States
New Zealand
Canada
Ireland
Liechtenstein
Germany
Sweden

43

by population China and India’s middle class is bigger than North America’s (excluding Mexico)… and their middle classes are growing rapidly…

point being though that there are plenty of self made millionaires and billionaires in those countries even if their systems are not purely capitalist

many African nations are about to boom as well in the next 20 years.

44

“Poverty in India is widespread, with the nation estimated to have a third of the world’s poor. In 2010, the World Bank reported that 32.7% of the total Indian people fall below the international poverty line of US$ 1.25 per day (PPP) while 68.7% live on less than US$ 2 per day.[1]”

My point is in the US there isn’t much stopping you from working at McDonalds and taking out student loans to achieve some sort of success in life if you want to hustle and put in the time.

A lot of other places that isn’t the case you don’t go from factory worker in India making $1 a day and become middle class at some point.

45

In terms of opportunities, I think it will all come back around at some point. It’s getting more and more costly to business in China from what I can see. A few companies are already moving their assembly lines back here (Apple for example). If people become desperate enough for work, then it will be worth it to move manufacturing back home.

We are also going to start seeing Baby Boomers hit retirement, and there is going to be a lot of back fill needed. Younger generations of workers getting paid little will then become in higher demand and then pay will go up from there (and thus the economy).

I’m sure that’s all just speculation on my part, and I don’t have any data to back it up, but I’m sure you can find some data to back it up. It’ll all take a lot of time though.

46

^you make a good point on the retirement point.

at Centennial College, (where I was a TA), the few young professors were complaining because their friends can’t get professor positions, or they can’t move up because the older generation is holding on to their jobs as long as possible. At the end of this year, 66 faculty members in higher positions were retiring. (That is a huge amount for that school) (example; One department, the dean, the chair and several professors were retiring)

47

That mirrors how most school districts are here in the NYS as well. A lot of dinosaurs that need to retire.

48

And with the 2008 collapse, a lot of potential retirees lost their shirts and can’t afford it now.

49

I agree with all of this.

As workers in China and India etc. Start to demand more rights and higher wages it will become less advantageous to outsource there. Also read about some people bringing plants back to the US. That’s a wicked sign.

      • Updated - - -

do you think there will be enough qualified people to back fill these roles?

50

I’ll try not to get overly personal here but I’ve actually been struggling with this lately. I’m not sure if it’s because we have a baby on the way or just a third life crisis but I’ve been bummed where I’m at as far as success goes. For some reason I had this expectation that things would be different by the time I was 30. I really hate to admit to being a “gypsy” because I hate the usual gen Y, and especially yuppie, bullshit but I do have this feeling that I’ve worked hard so I deserve better.

I think this partially came from the school system as I wasn’t a complete idiot so did no real work in high school and constantly earned A’s. College was a huge shock for me but even a school like RIT wasn’t a huge challenge after I realized I’d have to work a bit. My parents were strict with stuff and definitely the “work for something” type but at the same time they gave me more than I probably deserved which didn’t help.

If I compare myself to my parents, who worked and still do work blue collar jobs not making a ton but doing ok, I do have the flowery fields portrayed in the story but when I compare my expectations of life I’m in the dirt. Sure, I don’t have thousands of extra dollars every month but at 30 my parents didn’t have 2 newer cars, a race car (well my dad did but it was a bit more low-buck), Sabres season tickets, cell phones, internet, etc.

Maybe I’m alone in this but I believe if a lot of us really think about it, the story probably describes a good chunk of our generation more accurately than it should. I think the majority of the people do expect to have to work hard for something (something the article doesn’t really give us credit for) but we do think that hard work will pay off quicker than it should.

51

https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1470013_709175302435364_1260328549_n.jpg

52

They have those at Sheetz. I prefer it to a human being.

53

Here is a wild tangent. I was joking with my argument, but I’ll bite anyways. Assuming that the equation is simple:

Happiness = Reality - Expectations

I’d like to take you question a step further, would it raise goals if there were no coping drugs, whether it is use of prescription anti-depressants, alcohol, or illegal narcotics? Coping drugs make things better by either elevating a person’s perception of reality or lowering their expectations. Removing this would mean that a person would need another form of fulfillment: hobbies, internets, art, video games, reading, consumerism, travel, religion OR another form of endorphin release: exercise, over eating, acupuncture, massage, sky diving. Would the reality of these activities meet their expectations? For some yes, for others no, some are good, some are bad. Some people will just be angry, my history is a little hazy, but weren’t there a lot of angry movements around the prohibition era? My perception of Muslim and Mormon society is that they are angry, or maybe just too stern. If a person has a casual drink or smoke does it hurt their long term expectations (goals)? I’d say no. If a person binge drinks 3 times a week or is high the majority of their waking hours does it hurt their long term expectations (goals)? I’d say yes.

I’d think a prohibition would in the short term decrease happiness of those that don’t have other forms of fulfillment.

Quality of life. This was a rebuttal to JayS “less disposable cash” from the McRaise, as in smoking would allow a person to be complacent with the lower quality of life. So the quality of life was dependent on income, not whether or not marijuana was legal. Prohibition in this context would hurt how a person coped with their current quality of life as it removes a coping mechanism.

      • Updated - - -

Another point is we need more “common core”, they aint got no time for unicorns puking rainbows and artsy creative stuff, and therefore expectations will be lowered so happier students… right?

      • Updated - - -

Happiness = Reality - Expectations

Let’s say Lucy is a Happiness -90 = 10 - 100 (low reality and high expectations)

A drug addict is a Happiness 90 = 100 - 10 (perceived reality and low expectations)

Both ends of the spectrum are unhealthy.

Striving hard worker Happiness -10 = 40 - 50 (still has a goal that they are working toward)
Striving hard worker + beer Happiness 5 = 55 - 50 (everything seems better)

Lucky break corp ladder worker Happiness 15 = 75 - 60 (this person might lose motivation)

54

I bet it gets my order with less delay and annoyance. I’d pay it $15 an hour…yep. LOL

      • Updated - - -

I was attempting sarcasm. Given all my rants on here I thought you would have picked up on that. :wink:
I don’t condone the empire style of subsidization. That said, no other nation comes close to Americas level of tangible wealth confiscation.

55

yeah i know i just decided to bite.

56

Interesting tangent.
Your rambling puts your thought process in prospective.

57

Give me some more good web articles to read, you’ve dropped some great ones in the past when I’ve rambled. :slight_smile:

58

Bumping, just re-read this timeless gem.

59

I’m unhappy because I recognise that everything is just going to keep getting more expensive. Despite an engineering career I feel I will never be able to retire unless I pick up a second form of substantial income or leave New York. And that’s with having zero student loans to weigh me down.

60

^I feel you there, and I have student loans…and more than likely make less than you. But, you gotta want and work for a better tomorrow if you really want it.