[theogt]

Originally Posted by JBond

I found this interesting. Having returned to college a couple of years ago at age 38 I see many of the points made played out every day.

Originally Posted by Future

I think some of that stems from the fact that many kids are trained, in high school as well as college, that confidence and being able to sell yourself is key to getting a job in today's workplace. Many are also taught that anything is possible with hard work, without being given a concrete definition of hard work. Combine that with a major sense of entitlement, and you get individuals who trick themselves into believing that they are more skilled than they actually are.

Originally Posted by Chocolate Lab

I was going to say something along those lines.

But maybe even more, I wonder how much of this is caused by all the PC "self-esteem" training that has gone on in schools and elsewhere for so long now. Don't give grades because kids who get a bad one will feel bad about themselves... That kind of thing.

For a while now, certain people have been convinced that making kids feel great about themselves is more important than anything. Maybe they've gotten their wish.

Originally Posted by WV Cowboy

Entitlement is a major problem.

Work ethic is lacking.

Manners are lacking, compassion, respect, humility are all lacking.

Originally Posted by burmafrd

kids have been taught over the last 20 years that they are so important. Everything is about them.

So no wonder what you get is a bunch of never will be's


since they have been convinced they are already there

Originally Posted by Future

I think you're absolutely right. Rewarding everything just makes kids lazy. I will never understand how people don't see the value in, for lack of better terms, winning and losing.

Originally Posted by vta

Not really. There's a reason our country is tanking in more ways than one. This thinking that everything follows a repeatable course is illogical. Many will pipe up loudly about how far we've come when it comes to certain advances, yet when someone states the growing negative trends, people like to claim it's really just a product of 24 hour news cycles. We weren't exaclty communicating with smoke signals before the 80's - 90's.

It also suggests that consequences don't exist. That certain paths of the last generation or earlier years of our own have no ramifications.

Advertising is very effective and very powerful and to think that a generation brought up on hit and run advertising and microwavable convenience won't be radically effected is not realistic. Expectations are effected due to these certain 'advancements', and so are the reactions to adversity.

[View Full Quote]As to the effect of generations and their laments, it's based on truth. The materials you live on and in are inferior plastics that have a calculated shelf life designed to make you a repeat and frequent customer. Your appliances, your cars, your clothes all are made with the ricochet effect in mind.

Its not opinion that education scores and health have regressed in the United States. Life expectancy might be at it's highest, but is quality of life? Medicince can allow a cancer patient to hang on much longer with denigrating and painful treatments, but frankly, I'd rather drop dead. These are all examples that challenge the idea that everything's the same as it ever was and that generations don't decline. Civilizations exist on arcs, not plains. Prior civilizations died not because they remained consistently predictable, but because the changes were so subtle and long manifesting that they were not generally and popularly recognized.

Originally Posted by JoeyBoy718

I've never said "This" before on a message board, but... This ^

Alllllllllllllllllllllllllll of this.