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- Apr 5, 2012
I disagree.
Parents have their kids following their footsteps.
Go to college , make good grades, the rest will work itself out.
Only problem is dad had 3 offers in management when he graduated.
Son has a part time offer and $200 in cutlery to sell...
Because all the entry levelgigs require 2 years experience
That is completely not true. Anyone that goes to college, gets decent grades, does an internship or two gets job offers. The job may not be exactly what they want but it is likely enough to put food on the table. Our generation confuses our dreams with realities. If you have an iphone + the ridiculous monthly payment and complain about making student loan payments it just doesn't make any sense. It is unbelievable to me how poor our generation is at saving.
We didn't have to go through truly tough times so we never had that concept of living within our means ingrained in us. It took me $17,000 of credit card debt and $35,000 of student loan debt to even feel a hint of that desperation. I worked my way through it by learning to live within my means. Going out every weekend with my friends, eating out for every meal, having expensive cell phone plans etc are all privileges and not rights. Most college student nowadays have a car, a cell phone, a tv in their room, a computer, and a meal plan. The infrastructure provided them by these loans is unbelievable. It is our fault (and the society that breeds these beliefs) that we somehow have it "tough".
There is a charity that gives poverty level people in Eastern Africa 1 year of income with no strings attached. This means they don't have to live paycheck by paycheck. They unequivocally found that given this basic infrastructure all the families that received this improved in every area of life (education, healthcare, jobs, etc) a few years down the road. Just because we take a lot of what we consider "basics" for granted does not mean that we should support the continuation of it.
I lived a frivolous and extravagant lifestyle from 18 to 27. It took me under 2.5 years of being fiscally responsible to get ahead of it. It can be done, but it just requires a lot more self responsibility than people are willing to take.