Is this generation of young people expecting TOO much?

[righteousdude2]

I just finished watching Megan Kelly on FOX, and she had a smattering of this generation of young people. It was sad to hear some of them say that our country is so bad that there is "No longer any hope!"

I get what they were saying, but is the bar being set so high for college-educated young people to succeed and make tons of money right out of the gate [pulling down six-figures], that if they have to work several jobs [related or not related to their degree or major] they have failed?

I understand that they have a high student-loan debt, but what happened to the day when you left college and took menial jobs, at low pay to get your feet wet, gain experience, and demonstrate to your future employers that you are a dependable, hard working individual, driven to do what it takes to make a living!

When I left college, I got my first church [to pastor], and after giving a tithe, and setting aside taxes and paying insurance for my family, I found I needed to take on substitute teaching to make ends meet. Moreover, my wife wanted our children in Christian school, and because it was so costly [based on my two incomes], I worked out a deal with the school to coach the Jr. high football and basketball programs and serve as their Athletic Director. That paid tuition, and kept me extremely busy.

It also cost me my marriage [a few years later], as I was working so hard to pastor the church, teach a few days a week and run the brand new athletic program at the school that my wife began to seek affection elsewhere! I never saw it coming...

Maybe it's me, but I think our kids, today, lack the incentive to do whatever it takes to get to that job and career they studied so hard for. Secondly, they come out of school thinking they should have everything their parents have, not remembering that their parents worked years and years to obtain!

 

[HAMel]

rd2, I had an aunt that made pot holders for me to sell door to door. They went for .05@. She would give me 2.5 cents for each I sold and she would keep the rest. Back then, and to a 10 year old, that was a lot of money. During the summer a friend and I would go door to door (with the old push mowers) and would cut someone's grass for a dollar. At 15 I was cropping tobacco here in Eastern NC. Once I had my drivers license I had one part-time job after another plus..., drove a school bus. The rest is history. I've worked all my life and now at 68 and retired from DOD..., I'm still working a part-time job. With hindsight..., my wife and I have needed for nothing. The Lord has certainly blessed this household.

Many youth of today have been indoctrinated into the false impression the government will take care of them. So why work?

There is a certain amount of work involved simply laying around doing nothing or sitting all day playing games on the internet. Having fun and waiting for another to pay their way is but the way of individual destruction.

As God and His Word is now out of style not many are interested in the wisdom contained therein.

Such as,

Colossians 3:23 - And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

2 Thessalonians 3:10 - For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

Proverbs 14:23 - In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips [tendeth] only to penury.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 - Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy might; for [there is] no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Acts 20:35 - I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Proverbs 12:11 - He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain [persons is] void of understanding.

Proverbs 10:4 - He becometh poor that dealeth [with] a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

Proverbs 21:25 - The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.

Psalms 1:1-6 - Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (Read More...)

Proverbs 16:3 - Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Psalms 127:1 - (A Song of degrees for Solomon.) Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain.

1 Timothy 5:8 - But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

Genesis 2:1-25 - Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (Read More...)

1 Timothy 6:10 - For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Proverbs 13:4 - The soul of the sluggard desireth, and [hath] nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 - But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. (Read More...)

Psalms 127:2 - [It is] vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: [for] so he giveth his beloved sleep.

Hebrews 4:10 - For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God [did] from his.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-9 - Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. (Read More...)

Ephesians 4:28 - Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with [his] hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

1 Corinthians 10:31 - Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Ecclesiastes 5:12 - The sleep of a labouring man [is] sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

Proverbs 20:4 - The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; [therefore] shall he beg in harvest, and [have] nothing.

Proverbs 16:1 - The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, [is] from the LORD.

Proverbs 11:1 - A false balance [is] abomination to the LORD: but a just weight [is] his delight.

Deuteronomy 8:18 - But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for [it is] he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as [it is] this day.

1 Corinthians 15:58 - Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Hosea 14:9 - Who [is] wise, and he shall understand these [things]? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD [are] right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

James 1:4 - But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Source: (Bible)

 

[Thousand Hills]

I'm in my mid 30's so I suppose I fit in your young category. I have pretty much always worked and had some type of job. My dad was/is a workaholic. I know at times I've been overly anxious for success, but the Lord is still showing me that its more important to be what he is called to be. If he wants to bless financially in some way he will.

But back to your OP I do observe what your saying to be the norm with the younger generation.

 

[padredurand]

Maybe it's me, but I think our kids, today, lack the incentive to do whatever it takes to get to that job and career they studied so hard for. Secondly, they come out of school thinking they should have everything their parents have, not remembering that their parents worked years and years to obtain!

Friends of ours just had a baby - their first. Molly lamented that her maternity leave was ending and in a couple of days she would return to work and her brand new baby would go to daycare to be raised by a stranger.

I suggested, "Why don't you stay home and be Mommy?"

She replied, "We can't afford to do that."

Both she and her husband are well educated. That means they have education debt. The also have affluenza: two car notes, a hefty mortgage, high credit card debt paying for a cruise and all that furniture in their house.

They wanted it all and it has taken every penny they have and many that they don't have to get there. Standing at the curb you would think they were living the dream.

Now somebody they do not know will be raising their child.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

... what happened to the day when you left college and took menial jobs, at low pay to get your feet wet, gain experience, and demonstrate to your future employers that you are a dependable, hard working individual, driven to do what it takes to make a living! ... When I left college, I got my first church ... I found I needed to take on substitute teaching to make ends meet ... I worked out a deal with the school to coach the Jr. high football and basketball programs and serve as their Athletic Director. That paid tuition, and kept me extremely busy.

It also cost me my marriage ... [Emphasis added]

Hm. And you wonder why they complain that they can't find one job with one decent income??

Seems to me, your post answers your own rant.

 

[Van]

A majority of American's vote for hopelessness. They do not see a pathway to comfort and security, and so they vote for those who will take from those who do ok and provide the necessities to those unable or unwilling to do for themselves. Never mind the 70 year history of misery provided by the Soviet Union, where corruption flourished.

The bible teaches it is better to be free than slave, but a majority of Americans vote at every opportunity to become slaves of government's corrupt providers.

 

[JonC]

I just finished watching Megan Kelly on FOX, and she had a smattering of this generation of young people. It was sad to hear some of them say that our country is so bad that there is "No longer any hope!"

I get what they were saying, but is the bar being set so high for college-educated young people to succeed and make tons of money right out of the gate [pulling down six-figures], that if they have to work several jobs [related or not related to their degree or major] they have failed?

I understand that they have a high student-loan debt, but what happened to the day when you left college and took menial jobs, at low pay to get your feet wet, gain experience, and demonstrate to your future employers that you are a dependable, hard working individual, driven to do what it takes to make a living!

When I left college, I got my first church [to pastor], and after giving a tithe, and setting aside taxes and paying insurance for my family, I found I needed to take on substitute teaching to make ends meet. Moreover, my wife wanted our children in Christian school, and because it was so costly [based on my two incomes], I worked out a deal with the school to coach the Jr. high football and basketball programs and serve as their Athletic Director. That paid tuition, and kept me extremely busy.

It also cost me my marriage [a few years later], as I was working so hard to pastor the church, teach a few days a week and run the brand new athletic program at the school that my wife began to seek affection elsewhere! I never saw it coming...

Maybe it's me, but I think our kids, today, lack the incentive to do whatever it takes to get to that job and career they studied so hard for. Secondly, they come out of school thinking they should have everything their parents have, not remembering that their parents worked years and years to obtain!

You bring out several issues of relevance in regards to those graduating college today. Rather than a “land of opportunity,” some are viewing our nation as hopeless. College-educated young people expect a financial utopia right out of the gate, but are disappointed to discover they only qualify for entry-level jobs, make considerably less than their pre-graduation dreams afforded, and are up to the neck in debt. I think that there is more to it than too high expectations.

But, here’s a rant of my own.

For starters, our parents attended college as a means to a career. The majority of their generation (I’m 45 yrs old) did not attend college, nor did they have plans in high school to attend college. Many simply entered the work force, but many also chose a vocational route. At that time, one could be reasonably assured of a career with vocational training (whether formal or through an apprenticeship program). When I go to high schools today the majority of juniors and seniors plan on going to college, with the majority having absolutely no idea what they want to do after college. Granted, a substantially smaller number actually become college graduates. But this ultimately, IMHO, devalues college education.

High school students seem to choose a career based on media. For example, of those I spoke with last month at our city high school, most of those wanting to attend college with a degree in mind wanted to be “forensic criminal investigators.” When pressed they do not know what the job actually entails. Of the ones I spoke with, the average ACT score was 20 and their plan for college was student loans or scholarships. I’ve met two people who were going to take an 18 month HVAC course at the local vo-tech because HVAC tech’s start out at 100K a year. Parents and educators are facilitating a skewed view of reality provided by our culture and our high school students are carrying this into college.

Second, adolescence somehow runs through the 20’s in our culture. How many of us could imagine our father in his late 20’s sitting down at a game for hours a day. How many mid 20’ers spend hours playing video games, spending money on the most up to date game systems, etc? We have placed an undue emphasis on entertainment, and this - I believe - has displaced much of our work ethic.

But more importantly, the dreams of our fathers are not the dreams of this emerging generation. Our fathers did not have to have two cars, the biggest home, a television and computer in every room, vacations in the Bahamas, etc. There may have been a work ethic based on progress and materialism - but this was tempered by a desire for financial independence and security. Debt is acceptable to a level today that was unheard of generations ago.

The older I get the more I think that we have our eye on the wrong prize. The “American Dream” cannot be about bigger houses, more cars, and the accumulation of stuff. If so, it cannot be reconciled with Christianity.

 

[righteousdude2]

Thanks HAMel

rd2, I had an aunt that made pot holders for me to sell door to door. They went for .05@. She would give me 2.5 cents for each I sold and she would keep the rest. Back then, and to a 10 year old, that was a lot of money. During the summer a friend and I would go door to door (with the old push mowers) and would cut someone's grass for a dollar. At 15 I was cropping tobacco here in Eastern NC. Once I had my drivers license I had one part-time job after another plus..., drove a school bus. The rest is history. I've worked all my life and now at 68 and retired from DOD..., I'm still working a part-time job. With hindsight..., my wife and I have needed for nothing. The Lord has certainly blessed this household.

Many youth of today have been indoctrinated into the false impression the government will take care of them. So why work?

There is a certain amount of work involved simply laying around doing nothing or sitting all day playing games on the internet. Having fun and waiting for another to pay their way is but the way of individual destruction.

As God and His Word is now out of style not many are interested in the wisdom contained therein.

Such as,

Colossians 3:23 - And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

2 Thessalonians 3:10 - For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

Proverbs 14:23 - In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips [tendeth] only to penury.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 - Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy might; for [there is] no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Acts 20:35 - I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Proverbs 12:11 - He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain [persons is] void of understanding.

Proverbs 10:4 - He becometh poor that dealeth [with] a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

Proverbs 21:25 - The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.

Psalms 1:1-6 - Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (Read More...)

Proverbs 16:3 - Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Psalms 127:1 - (A Song of degrees for Solomon.) Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain.

1 Timothy 5:8 - But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

Genesis 2:1-25 - Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (Read More...)

1 Timothy 6:10 - For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Proverbs 13:4 - The soul of the sluggard desireth, and [hath] nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 - But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. (Read More...)

Psalms 127:2 - [It is] vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: [for] so he giveth his beloved sleep.

Hebrews 4:10 - For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God [did] from his.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-9 - Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. (Read More...)

Ephesians 4:28 - Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with [his] hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

1 Corinthians 10:31 - Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Ecclesiastes 5:12 - The sleep of a labouring man [is] sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

Proverbs 20:4 - The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; [therefore] shall he beg in harvest, and [have] nothing.

Proverbs 16:1 - The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, [is] from the LORD.

Proverbs 11:1 - A false balance [is] abomination to the LORD: but a just weight [is] his delight.

Deuteronomy 8:18 - But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for [it is] he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as [it is] this day.

1 Corinthians 15:58 - Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Hosea 14:9 - Who [is] wise, and he shall understand these [things]? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD [are] right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

James 1:4 - But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Source: (Bible)

:thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

 

[righteousdude2]

Thanks for the candid honesty

I'm in my mid 30's so I suppose I fit in your young category. I have pretty much always worked and had some type of job. My dad was/is a workaholic. I know at times I've been overly anxious for success, but the Lord is still showing me that its more important to be what he is called to be. If he wants to bless financially in some way he will.

But back to your OP I do observe what your saying to be the norm with the younger generation.

:thumbs::wavey::thumbsup:

 

[HAMel]

Rant?

Who 'dat what be ranting?

 

[abcgrad94]

If my 21 and 19-year old nephews are the norm, then yes, young people are expecting everything to be handed to them on a silver platter. These boys are out of high school, decided college was too hard, and quit vocational training after a few weeks. They do not have jobs. They do, however, have cars, iphones, girlfriends, and workout equipment. I was told they "couldn't find jobs" as they are "competing with people who have degrees." What that really means is, they will not work at McDonalds for minimum wage. They want big bucks NOW and since they can't seem to find that, they just don't work, period. As long as mom and dad are paying their way through life, they have no ambitions and no desire to work.

 

[TC]

It seems every generation makes similar complaints about the younger ones all the time. I remember my great grandma and grandma lamenting the laziness of their kids - the one that grew up and won ww2. While I have seen my share of the lazy ones, I have also seen things out of the younger generation that give me great hope for them.