The current concern among many Americans is that it is no longer true that every generation does better than the one before. That no doubt is a valid concern.
However let's exam the context of this proposition a little further.
Using my family as an example, of those first generation Americans, only one of six of my mother, aunt and uncles went to college. I'm sure that many other Americans of my generation have similar experiences.
On the other hand, most of my cousins have gone to college; consequently it wasn't too difficult to financially do better than our parents. That created a lot of social/economic mobility.
Said another way, most of our kids' parents went to college; unlike the prior generation. As such it's not surprising that while our kids too have gone to college, some may not surpass their parents financially.
This generational change among families of relatively recent immigrant status, drive a good deal of this phenomenon, I suspect.
I throw this out there once again in my role as a contrarian observer, even though I too recognize the problems our kids face.
Eric
well reasoned as always.
ReplyDeleteEric:
ReplyDeleteAs you know, my father worked for the railroad for almost 60 years as a freight handler and, then, foreman. He had a union to help him negotiate pay and avoid arbitrary actions, seniority rights, railroad retirement benefits, and health insurance. A working class family like ours was able to send its children to a good state university. I left U of Illinois and DePaul Law School with no debt. My parents retired to -- where else? -- North Miami Beach for 20 years of comfortable retirement.
Our generation was the beneficiary of a more level playing field than our kids and grandkids now face. They are in a predicament far more difficult than ours and our parents. Our college graduate kids get jobs that, in many respects, offer a quality of life inferior to that of our parents. Add the toys of modern life (flat screens, cable, internet, iPads, jets, skype) to our parents’ lives – all things they could have afforded on their working class salaries -- and its hard to think that their lives were harder than our kids.
Our kids are not suffering in comparison to our success; they are suffering because of increased income (power) disparity and a broken political system that leaves them without sufficient opportunity.
Jared, my almost fifty year old lawyer son (for those of you who don’t know), and I were talking about Eric’s last communication. Jared’s response was to recall that one of his closest high school friends grew up in a modest house down the street. His father was CFO of an international cosmetics company. Today that family would likely be in a gated mansion in an exclusive community – not off of Ridge in Evanston playing with Jared.
Don
Let me respond:
ReplyDelete1. Level playing field better then? I think not.
When I went to college, and I'm sure it was even more pronounced when you did, the unlevel playing field was much worse. There was no such thing as diversity or affirmative action, and outright discrimination still existed. The "greased skids", "old boys network" still predominated.
There were few African Americans, Hispanics, even Women, at elite schools. Even good, but not elite schools, had few minorities. In fact there were still quota for Jews, at least unofficially, at many such schools, including Northwestern.
Women had their own restricted "separate, but equal" elite schools - with few, if any, African Americans, Hispanics and a limited number of Jews.
Here's an example how the traditional elites were more advantaged then than now. Since I was dating a girl from New Trier my senior year in high school, she told me that 33 boys in her class were going to Harvard, with a proportionate number going to the other Ivies and girls to the Seven Sisters. Today if 3 or 4 ( boys and girls) go to Harvard a year from New Trier , that's a lot.
No one from my very diverse high school, Proviso East , went to the Ivy League then. Today, top students at Proviso East are very much in demand , with great financial aid available.
In my own law school experience at Northwestern in 1968-71, out of a class of 150, there were 7 women ( only 1 woman in the class ahead of me), 3 African Americans, 2 Hispanics, no Asians and, in fact, only 3 or 4 Poles and Italians. A group of us liberal law students actually did that analysis.
2. As to student debt and high tuitions. You can't blame that on the Banks , Wall St or Corporate America. I would have thought that the leaders of Academia would be the type who would be more sympathetic to this issue. They aren't rapacious capitalists, and you would think they would be less concerned with the " bottom line", and as such, would be better able to come up with a solution to this very real problem. Apparently not.
3. As to Jared's friends dad. Today he'd probably be living in Uncle Sam's neighborhood, Glencoe, with me. By the way , we don't have gated mansions on the North Shore of Chicago, even if you are a CFO of a big company. We have our share of big houses, they're just not gated.
Additional comments are interlineated below.
I believe this is all a part of what I call the "good old days " syndrome.
I hope my observations don't give offense, it's certainly not my intention.
Thanks for your response. Hopefully others will weigh in.
Eric
Eric, You know you are actually making Don's point. Until the 80's or so the economy allowed even Jews like us and others to climb the ladder despite the best efforts of the establishment. Today there is equal opportunity to fail. With far fewer non-economic barriers, economic mobility has collapsed in this country. The opportunities just aren't there except for people who can get into the financial elite industries. Even the law, where we got our traction, is not the pathway to prosperity it once was.
ReplyDeleteRon
The non-privileged masses – the 47%? – the 98%? – certainly have made progress. Women, Jews, blacks, gays, Latinos are closer to parity with the previously favored. We have achieved misery for all; okay, that’s too strong, more equal opportunity in the fight over what’s left.
ReplyDeleteDon
Although I did not weigh in I really appreciated the exchange. This morning I became depressed when on Morning Joe the discussion was about how little our kids and grandkids will likely have available to them, e.g. ss, medicate, when they reach our ages. I guess the expression "we're stealing from our kids" finally meant something to me. Added to the picture was how well seniors have done and so much better than young people and there seems to be no change in that trajectory. At least you express yourself in a way that stimulates thinking and constructive discussion, which is more than can be said for DC.
ReplyDeleteSusie
I too watched Morning Joe today and am extremely concerned about the issues you are concerned about.
ReplyDeleteFrankly I don't understand the problem the Dems have with making adjustments to entitlements that will enhance the likelihood those entitlements will be there for our kids and grandkids.
Recall however that we ( or at least me) said the same thing when we were younger- i.e.. that we will never get our social security. It got "fixed" then, and we can do so again with very little real "pain"
I've actually written a lot about this and here are some of the ideas I like:
1. Raise the eligibility age for SS and Medicare-- people are living longer and healthier lives.
2. Means test Medicare premiums and maybe even SS if still working.
3. Adjust CPI if it would really be more accurate.
4. Perhaps means test CPI altogether.
5. Raise payroll cut off without raising benefits and face up to the fact that it's a tax and not linsurance as originally structutreed. Again perhaps based on means testing using total income over the years rather that current income. In fact that would be how you'd do all means testing.
None of these changes if phased in over time would be catastrophic .
Why are Obama and the Dems resisting this?
I don't know why and it's one of my disappointments with Obama. Just as it is that we don't just work to close loop holes. Why do these things have to be packaged - if they're good for the country going forward we should just lead to make them happen.
ReplyDelete