• grue@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    39
    ·
    1 year ago

    …And then they mostly couldn’t be bothered to actually get college degrees despite how cheap they were, yet still ended up with good careers capable of supporting entire households with only one person working anyway.

    Despite his cynicism, even Bernie manages to understate the problem here!

    • wwaxwork@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      1 year ago

      Just throwing out there, this was one generation out of however many to the dawn of time that was able to do this. And they did it on the backs of the hundreds of thousands of people that fought, starved and died to get unions established. For the vast majority of history, if you could work you worked man, woman & child because if you didn’t your family starved. Then people fought for generations to get unions established and they finally did it and one single generation got the advantages of it before the next generation decided they didn’t need no stinking unions as they were working white collar jobs and here we are. We’re not standing together so we’re falling together.

    • suspecm@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      To be fair, the reason every job nowadays requires a college degree is because so many people went to college. Before that, the boomers were coasting on with barely a high school degree but they tought that by pushing their kids to get college degrees, they can help them achieve more wealth (and by extension, themselves). This combined with the fact that they basically directly contributed to the erosion of unions (it was a very common thing that an employer/union leader paid off by a company offered boomers a deal where they get a higher pension but it would not apply to anyone born after 2000 or something; of course they took those deals because they are the “me me me generation”, who has the foresight of a hampster) and then they are deliberately oblivious to the fact that young people can’t achieve anything career wise because they don’t have strong unions backing them up. No unions, no better pay, no better working conditions, no guarantied good deal on pension and insurance, etc etc.

      As a side note, in the US at least there is a reason many advise people to just learn a trade instead of getting a college degree. Trades are in high demand, has been for a good while and probably will be for decades.

    • doomer@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      You know what else changed? On-the-job training is now practically unheard of. The kind where the company invests in employees and their development.

          • justhach@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            8
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Honestly, a candidate like Trump was not an “if” but a “when”.

            Even if the Dems had won that election, history has shown they they would not have made any real.changes. They would have done nothing to try and prevent something like the Trump Presidency from happening. They wouldnt have tried to fix the rigged gerrymandered districts, they wouldn’t have pushed for voting reform, they wouldn’t have tried to call put the insane rhetoric being put out by right wing propaganda machines, and they wouldn’t have instilled better checks and balances on the presidency that relied on more than the assumtions of common decency, respect, and tradition.

            Nah, they would have rested on their laurels for electing the first female president, and be caught with their pants down when the GOP successfully harnessed the resentment of angry white men for being “under the rule” of a black muslim socialist for eight years, and a satanic pedophile child eating woman for 4.

            • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              7
              ·
              1 year ago

              Even if the Dems had won that election, history has shown they they would not have made any real.changes.

              THREE Supreme Court justices would have been very different today. Thats going two have repercussions for the next 3 generations.

              • justhach@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                1 year ago

                Fair point.

                I guess the bigger point I was teying ti make is that someone like Trump would have happened regardless of what happened in 2016. Maybe not him specifically, but this has been the work of right wing propaganda machines for 30+ years. If not in 2016, then 2020, and if not then 2024, etc.

                The fractures in American society are so deep that I cannot see any real unity in that country ever again.

    • Hypersapien@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      It was the Democratic establishment and the corporate media that stole it. The biggest thing they fear is a candidate that puts the American people over corporate interests.

    • CallMeDuracell@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      I wanted to believe this during the 2016 party primary like I needed to breathe. Hell, I STILL want to believe it. But the reality is that the American people robbed us of his presidency.

      2016 was one of the first elections where Gen X, Gen Z, and Millennials collectively outvoted the boomers and the silent generation, by the slimmest of margins. It goes without saying how much the older generation drinks from of the neo-liberalism kool-aid. A self-professing socialist was always going to be a hard sell.

      As far as the 2016 Democratic primary goes, Bernie got 1820 pledged (elected) and 45 unpledged (super/unelected) delegates. To win by one delegate, he would have needed to get 518 additional super delegates to overcome Hillary’s pledged delegate lead over him. A win from him would have caused an outrage, since the unelected delegates would have overridden the elected (read: will) of the Democratic primary voters.

      The most important thing American voters can do is to continue to demonstrably show how neo-liberal socio-economic politics is marching us to generational ruin to every voter you know, and then vote appropriately in every local, state, and federal election.

    • sadreality@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      11
      ·
      1 year ago

      Did she steal it tho?

      The Bern caved, which was a cuck move.

      I still support him but that was a clown mistake imho setting working and young people back a decade or so.

      • AnonTwo@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        As much as I hate to say it, Democrats would’ve just lost even harder if the vote was divided. He did the right thing at the time, the democrat party never would’ve backed down on Hillary back then.

        That entire election was egos that overestimated how things would go.

        • sadreality@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          I love this guess parading as facts. We don’t know what would have happened and now there is no way to tell. But we do know that Bernie fed the 2 party system, which has been screwing wage slaves for most of the century. Trump won anyway, so the entire exercise turned out to be futile as we now know though. As long as people keep playing two party system aint nothing changing. Democrats can control both house and Presidency, and we are still getting fucked. Obviously this aint political party issue, since neither will improve anything for plebs. Last time something like that happened was when FDR was in charge lol

  • BornVolcano@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    14
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Image Transcription: Twitter Post


    Bernie Sanders, @BernieSanders

    The Boomer generation needed just 306 hours of minimum wage work to pay for four years of public college. Millennials need 4,459.

    The economy today is rigged against working people and young people. This is what we are going to change.


    ^I’m a human volunteer transcribing posts in a format compatible with screen readers, for blind and visually impaired users!^

    • P1r4nha@feddit.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Talked to a (old) boomer just yesterday during a BBQ. Everything from climate change denial to citing the Bible to … I don’t kinow, justify his hate of “weirdos” like gay and trans people.

      But he did admit that young people have it harder than him and that he would not be young in our current time.

    • Miqo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      I’ve been looking for work since losing my job in March. And all these lead-addled antiques keep saying, “nobody wants to work anymore.” These people couldn’t be any less attached to reality.

      • TwystedKynd@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        I can promise you this: for every boomer who says something like that, there’s another boomer who thinks that one is a douche.

    • TwystedKynd@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Finances aren’t the only difficulty in life. It’s not that simple and reducing down to just the financial aspect of life, while that aspect is important, is oversimplifying things. Don’t forget there were tons of poor boomers too. Only about 1/3rd ever saw a pension. Plus, try telling gay boomers, POC, women, people with mental and emotional issues, etc that they had it easier. They weren’t all middle class straight white men, and treating them as one homogenous group is disingenuous.

      • doomer@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Plus, try telling gay boomers, POC, women, people with mental and emotional issues, etc that they had it easier.

        Doesn’t making necessities unaffordable affect all working class populations?

        I get what you’re saying, and agree in part, but depending on where you are in the US, a lot of the progress has really only been superficial - and over the same time working class purchasing power decreased and social safety nets decreased.

        Economics is an easy point of intersectionality for the working class, because it hurts us all. We can unite around that instead of dividing ourselves from it. It even hits the boomers, and I think we’re all aware that many of them are already skating on thin ice in retirement.

        There are no ‘easy times’ for some groups of people (and they deserve our utmost empathy) but I can’t help but see it like this: Throw in a minority identity, or a neurodivergency, or anything else that already makes life hard on top of this late stage capitalist economy, and 2020s are right out of a dystopian novel. At least in my opinion.

      • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        I’m (barely) in the boomer generation, and I have a daughter who is 25, so I see the situation she has compared to what I had. I also have boomer employees and coworkers with younger kids. The cost of buying a house and paying for education is for sure a lot higher now compared to wages, and those are big quality of life factors.

        One thing I rarely see mentioned in these discussions is the availability of a safety net. My daughter has had to have a fair amount of help from us, as have most of her peers from their parents, and that sucks, but the fact of the matter is that it’s more of an option today than when I was young. Most of my friends have paid 100% of their kids’ education, and many if not most have helped with housing in one way or another. That was less viable when I was young. I was lucky that my parents paid for my education, but that wasn’t true for most of my peers at the time. When I left the house, it was made clear that there’s no going back.

        I’m in no way trying to say we had it hard or harder, just mentioning that there are a lot of factors that go into the situation.

        Oh, one other thing: I really believe that the current high cost of education is at least in part intended by older conservatives. Today’s conservative agenda relies on people voting against their own interests (it’s amazing that poor Midwestern farmers largely support tax cuts for the wealthy - it’s crazy). Making education something only wealthier people can afford and creating a giant media franchise that looks like news but is really conservative propaganda are two approaches to furthering that goal. We have to fix it, but there’s a bunch of people who actively don’t want to fix it because they’re happy with the situation.

  • Discoslugs@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    13
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    Bernie sanders screaming into the wind yet again.

    Bernie i love ya but nobody is gonna do the things you say.

    They are way too reasonable.

      • Furbag@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        It’s more cynicism than defeatism. People from the United States have pushed for these kinds of common sense reforms for our entire lives and we still have nothing to show for it.

      • graphite@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        First you say

        Isn’t that kind of defeatist?

        Then,

        I don’t really have a horse in this race since I am not from the US.

        So, that’s the thing: after you have lived here long enough and seen all this shit happen, it’s much easier to have a cynical outlook on the whole situation.

        If you live in an area of the world where you feel as if you can actually improve things, I can kind of understand why you might be surprised.

        But, the US is kind of fucked.

        • ItchySunItchyKnee@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          1 year ago

          I do understand having a cynical outlook on things. That is how I look at the state of policing in the US.

          And in my part of the world there are similar defeatist opinions, but through engagement with the community at large we (the people) are slowly able to change things for the better.

          Sometimes it feels like it’s one step forward but two steps back. That just means I’ll pick up speed and march on faster.

          • graphite@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Sorry, it really doesn’t work that way here. People only have the capacity to accept the status quo and use whatever resources are available to them given their socioeconomic standing, which is fluctuating.

            Community based and state sponsored programs in the US are more often than not for show and nothing more.

            The rest is “oh, yeah, I voted for that”. 30% of the time something that’s good for for society might go through.

            There is far too much corruption in our system for the people to make a dent. That’s just the way it is.

        • markr@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          He means basically you are shitting on the people actually trying to change things for the better. Your basic claim is that for some unknown reasons nothing can ever change. This is not the only way things can be, this is not the way things have always been. Change is possible.

          • ItchySunItchyKnee@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Thanks for clarifying much better than I would be able to :) this is exactly what I meant and also the reason I added I’m not from the US, as not to step on anyone’s toes.

            Change is definitely possible. It has been happening for as long as I have been following American politics. Though the change has been (in my opinion) mostly in favour of rich old people. This should only strengthen our resolve to change things for the better.

          • Discoslugs@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            If yall think bernie sanders is going to make real change, y’all weren’t paying attention to the 2020 presidential race. Im oversimplifyng but Bernie had overwhelming support for Democratic Presidential nomination and the DNC went with Biden. This and a career long history of being overlooked. I would vote for bernie and his policies if ever made it anywhere but into memes.

            Your basic claim is that for some unknown reasons nothing can ever change.

            No. My claim that the US governemnt is not designed to bring about useful and rapid change. Prove me wrong.

            • Omega@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              1 year ago

              The Democratic Party is a lot more moderate than you think. I voted for Bernie, he lost.

              Bernie is a shining example of progressive ideals that has shifted the landscape. But he never going to get the support of the majority of Democrats.

              • Discoslugs@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                1 year ago

                Bernie is a shining example of progressive ideals that has shifted the landscape. But he never going to get the support of the majority of Democrats.

                Lol my student loans got shifted alright.

                Statements like these reaffirm my political stances. This system is working as intended and its miserable af. Lol

                This is why i am an anarchist.

                • Omega@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  0
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  You know Biden is pushing for debt relief right? That’s Bernie shifting the landscape. Shift it enough, and you’ll get someone like Bernie.

                  Unless you want to go back to '90s Republican-lite Democrats.

      • okamiueru@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        As someone who lives in a country where Bernie’s political view would be considered far more right than left, yes. Reasonable.

        Imagine a politician with a good grasp of reality and actually wanting to improve the conditions for the people. Being right about all contentious issues for the past 3-4 decades… Then imagine instead electing an absolute narcissist moron who I would entrust with a single thing.

  • ThesePaycheckAvenging@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    It’s always good to focus on buying power. I bet you would get similarly ridiculous numbers when valuing food or housing in some normalized work hours (doesn’t have to be minimum wage, could be median income too).

  • speaker_hat@lemmy.one
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    I think the only solution to this problem is subsidies.

    Subsidies knowledge works well around the world.

      • Cannacheques@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        Depends what you subsidize, if you subsidize the learning, the work, the tools, etc. You’ll also have a lot of young people already committed, having bought their own tools or paid for much of their education etc already, who will feel that they’ve lost their advantage in the job market due to the subsidy, and others who need it who may not qualify, who will be in a major pickle. At this stage at least, there’s no one size fits all policy

      • MiddleWeigh@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Congrats. That probably feels really good.

        I never liked school. Authority, busy work, rote memorization. I always liked to learn ground up, with a purpose. And choosing what I wanted to be before i was even aware of myself felt limiting.

        Perhaps I’ll go someday, I could never afford to not work, but today, I think I’d be pretty decent at school…go figure.

        tbh, I wouldn’t trade my “education” for the world. If I could do it again, I’d do the same, i think.

        • electriccars@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          I only started going when I was 28. I’m also a very independent learner, I was unschooled as a child, but I love it.

          I’m the top student in most of my classes and I have straight As. It’s nice to prove to myself I’m able to succeed in school when I didn’t go when I was younger. You should give it a try, you might be surprised how much you actually enjoy it! I know I was.

          • MiddleWeigh@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            Perhaps I will get around to it. I do think I’d enjoy it, but for something I’d want to learn, not for a job. Tbh, the schedule would be what got me. I don’t like em. I like flapping on the wind lol. I definitely understand your sense of pride in your accomplishment, you deserve it. (:

  • Ketchup@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    I found my people. On Reddit this would have been on r/BernieSandersforpresident and I would have been the lostRedditor for suggesting otherwise

  • FinalBoy1975@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    This is very smart of him to use generational terminology to engage with young voters. He’s looking at trends on social media. Maybe it will work for him. His main obstacle is that most democrats are moderate and don’t have a problem voting republican if they think the democrat is too far to the left. Maybe engaging with young voters in this way can help him get over that obstacle.

  • vitucadrus@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    Try researching your masters degree in a Library using Microfiche. First reply here on Lemmy, just wanted to say “hello”

    • AttackBunny@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Oh god. Microfiche. I haven’t seen one of those machines in decades. I remember going to the local library and looking stuff up on them as a kid/early teen.

      I do, every so often, encounter digital versions of microfiche catalog pages (like from parts department) from certain car manufacturers. They are so blown out and blurry.

  • RufusFirefly@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    The Federal Reserve has more power to control inflation than the president ever did. Presidents can’t control supply and demand, nor can they control how much Amazon, Uber or Walmart pay their workers. Why do so many people believe that the US president is able to raise or lower prices of commodities, homes or college on a whim?

    • zombuey@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      The president appoints multiple people on the board of the fed. But that’s about it. More to your point neither the fed or the president has any control left on the main causes of inflation. Principal of which is corporate greed. Every major market in the US is an unnatural monopoly due to the fact we stopped busting monopoly’s. Corporate greed would not be an inflationary cause but since there is so little competition in markets they can conspire without communication. Neither the president or the fed have any levers in which to do anything about this realistically since half our legislation is wholly owned by those same companies that hold control over these markets.

      Companies very literally trained judges through continued learning requirements to not fight monopolies. The only bar for a merger today is a single question “Will prices go down” companies lie saying “yes” then it gets approved and there is no recourse or follow up.

      They further make fallacious claims like “Monopolies don’t exist without government!” Which is a total farce perpetuated by the same groups. It’s meant to have people vote against their interests. Monopolies are an inevitable consequence of capitalism. It must divide at a certain point or stagnate.