I’m posting this article now, since I don’t know what’s going on right now. I did send an inquiry off to TSO. – Ex-PH2
The general impression of the Great Depression was that it built character in a lot of people. I’ve heard complaints about Roosevelt’s administration, but if he hadn’t put those work programs into effect, just to get people back to work, we wouldn’t have the national parks we have now, and the trades which built the skills that built the Empire State Building and put US fighter planes into the air during WWII might not have become as important as they were then and still are, and the Depression might have gone on much longer than it did. It wasn’t that there was no work. If you had no job skills, you simply couldn’t find employment. It’s not to say that it had no impact. My mother worked for the WPA, and when that ended, for a bookstore in Chicago. She repeatedly emphasized to me how she had to stretch her paycheck to pay for her rent, food and transportation.
But the real impact of economic hardship like the Great Depression is something that has not happened in nearly 100 years, and is just a phrase in a book to the current crop of SJW howler monkeys (HT to Nicki for that) whose screaming for ‘justice and equality’ conflicts with the reality that we see on a daily basis. They are ONLY a small percentage of their generation, but unfortunately, they are the noisiest. I do NOT paint the entire group with the same brush, but it is the loudest squeaky wheel that gets the most media attention.
I’m convinced that those who are howling the loudest are actually feeling the least impact, and are making noise just to get attention and nothing else. They aren’t going hungry or feeling the bite of winter’s cold, or sleeping on the sidewalk on Lower Wacker Drive. They are, however, the noisiest, and seem intent on giving everyone in their generation a bad rep, even though they do NOT represent everyone in their generational group.
I’ve seen far more young adults joining the real world work force, becoming nurses, veterinarians, accountants, firefighters, EMTs, mechanics, paralegals, working in science and tech engineering fields, engaging in competitive sports of all kinds, and NOT joining the SJW Howlers or going along with their self-involved nonsense.
Whatever the Howlers were expecting in the way of social revolution, it is not going to happen. They aren’t really interested in equality and coexistence. They show up to foment disruption. Engaging in those protests is already shortening their work week to part-time with no benefits of any kind, and a demand for an unrealistic minimum wage will not only raise prices at fast food joints and other low-paying jobs, but will also increase inflation as well as the rate of automation and job loss, while those whose education is directly related to real job skills like programming or systems engineering or nursing are going to flourish.
A complaint about the loss of a grocery store is legitimate if it creates a food desert, but does that justify making peculiar threats during a protest march? No, it does not. That comes from the noisy malcontents who have no solution but want everything handed to them, because they think they’re entitled to it, when they aren’t. If you want something, you still have to earn it. Ain’t nobody owes you nothin’, kiddo.
I’m not sure that any of the noisiest noisemakers are even gainfully employed. If you have a good job, why would you take time off from it to go make loud, threatening noises in a public protest over a contest you lost, or over what turns out to be fiction meant to generate hysterics? If you work in a labor-intensive field like systems engineering or programming, you don’t have time for that kind of antisocial nonsense.
The loudest SJW Howler Monkeys frequently have the lowest level of employability with zero job skills. They come out of college with a useless degree, and they also have a huge college loan debt. They might find work in a copy/print shop or pushing coffee across a counter, minimum wage jobs if there ever were, but I don’t think they last long.. My guess is that waitresses at roadside diners have a higher customer base with tips for their services. The latest report on wages is that most college grads are starting at $10,000/year less than their parents did. That’s almost back to 1975 wages, you know. After taxes, there isn’t much left in the pay packet to pay the bills and the rent and put food on the table, never mind buy all those toys and junk that they take for granted. If your apartment rent for a studio is $1350/month**, and city market food prices are inflated well above those out in the counties because of logistics expenses, never mind the tax on groceries, stretching a food budget of $275/month for one person can become a nightmare when you’re also paying off a college loan, buying clothing for work, and paying for bus fare to get to your job. **Yes, that is real rent for a studio apartment in Chicago now.
I can tell you exactly what is going to happen. Those quieter people will still be employed when the fast food stands and coffee shops close or cut back on employees because ordering food at the drive-up window only requires pushing buttons and tapping your card at the window.
We already pump our own gas at the gas station. Machines dispense everything from chips to drinks, including chilled water, and you can use your bank card for that at the machines. McD’s doesn’t bother with filling your cup for you if you’re indoors. You do it yourself. I fully expect to see permanent robots filling and dispensing prescriptions within the next five to eight years. No human interaction is required. The advent of viable self-directed vehicles may result in SDVs for short trips that do not require a driver, lowering the cost to the passenger. It’s already in place with bicycles in some cities. Walmart now has self-checkout available. Why do they need cashiers if you don’t have a huge load of stuff? I don’t even have to drive to the pet shop to get cat food. I can order everything I need online and it’s delivered within three working days.
While I would not wish an economic crash on anyone, some financial forecasters are forecasting volatile, shocking, rough times ahead. These are people who predicted the 2009 crash and financial debacle several years ahead of that event.
The spoiled, screeching, slacker snowflakes of this generation are completely unprepared for it. It will either snap them out of their fantasies, or they will become lost in the mess and never recover. Their quieter, less noisy counterparts will roll with the punches and leave them behind in the dust.
Welcome to the real world, kids.
