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| 5/24 |
| 2005/1/20 [Politics/Domestic/California, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:35810 Activity:very high |
1/20 How true is this "Trixter" thing, 20 somethings who live off
their parents, change jobs often, and change SOs often?:
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050124/story.html
\_ It's a widely reported phenom in Japan, too, where they're called
"Furita" (from the the Japanese transliteration of "free time").
\_ The "changing jobs often" is a direct result of the destruction
of pensions in this country. As to the not getting married until
later, I think this is a definitely good change. I think in the
next generation you'll see a lower divorce rate because of it.
People have realized "I don't need to enter a world-without-end
bargain with this person I don't even know", and so they find
their own way in the world while looking for someone they can
go along with. I think these trends started with women's lib,
and are for the best. My mom married a horrible guy, got out
when my sister was born, met my dad, and has been married to
him for 25 years. My sisters and I learned from that. --scotsman
\_ ah that's because you're born in a hippie family. Look at
all the evil things in media-- violence, first person shooter
games, reality shows based on cheating and lying, etc. You
liberals don't know anything about family values and faith.
Have you been to your local church lately? You may find
peace and stability there. God bless.
\_ Hardly. Why would you say that? Because my mom
divorced? Because she's a churchgoer and school
teacher? Because my dad served in Vietnam and is
a retired LtC? Get your head out of your ass.
You prefer someone getting married right out of
high school and being miserable for years in a
bad marriage? I weep for your children.
Are you the same person that complained about the
guys who weren't allowed to "defend" the kid from
the empty water bottle? --scotsman
\_ Heh, I know the guy that posted the water bottle
link; it's not the same guy as the one you're
responding to above. -mice
\_ With all due respect to your veteran status (you're
almost as old as me) please don't feed the trolls.
\_ to the other guy: I'm a conservative, but in this
case, lay off scotsman even if he may be a hippie
\_ you are probably being trolled
\_ duh.
\_ Your brain is so small...I am so sad for you, so sad.
\_ Damn, what a bunch of horseshit. If faculty outside of the
technical fields are not going to spend their time teaching,
we should just fire their asses so they don't pollute the world
with their moronic ideas. Yes, these kids exist in massive
numbers, and yes, they're lazy.
\_ "Twixter" and this sounds exactly like my 25 year old brother
and his friends. I hear from older acquaintances that many of
their kids are the same way. In spite of what the article says,
I do think they are lazy.
\_ Anyone got the full article? Also, I agree with the poster
above. Most twixters I know are that way because they are
allowed to mooch.
\_ I was like that until I was 35, but I didn't live off my
parents. -ausman
\_ Here in Texas, we don't have Twixters:
http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/kdaly/2005/krd_0118.shtml
\_ what are the Liberal Parenting Mantras? What are the
Conservative Parenting Mantras?
\_ Conservative:
Spare The Rod, Spoil The Child
Children Should Be Seen And Not Heard
A Family That Prays Together, Stays Together
Liberal:
Bitch Betta Have My Money
It Depends On What The Meaning Of "Is" Is
\_ It is a worldwide phenomena, no doubt the fault of the Lib Media:
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050124/sotwixter_chart.html
\_ I see teenage moms on the bus everyday. Is this what Conservatives
mean by "family values"?
\_ funny, I've always thought they're liberal single parents
like the ones you see in liberal media. Have you
people ever wondered why conservatives are dominating
politics? It's because they listen to people.
Many people in America are pissed. People are sick and
tired of liberal TV media that glorify late-20s/early-30s
jobless comedians, minority ganstas, and gays & lesbians in
NYC and Los Angeles. People are tired of seeing them
sleeping with and/or shooting at each other. Call it
evil media, bad influence, or liberal view, I don't care,
but that is not America is about. Look, people want safety,
security, stability, and family values, all of which
conservatives have provided many decades ago.
I know this thread is going to get a lot of flames.
Typical liberal response.
\_ The only thing in your list that any liberal would balk
at is "family values," and that's simply because of the
way social conservatives define it. Of late (read last
2 decades), conservatives have not provided safety or
stability. And many of the "family values" they offer are
not what I will try to instill in my family.
\_ I'm not sure about in general, but in the south bay I think
that more and more college grads are returning home after
college. About 1/2 of my friends still live at home (we
graduated 5-6 yrs ago). Some of us (including myself) still
live at home b/c we are working on PhD or LS/Med school and
don't want to pay rent in addition to tuition. Those who
are working have taken over things like house payments or
tuition payments for younger siblings. |
| 5/24 |
|
| www.time.com/time/covers/1101050124/story.html E-mail your letter to the editor ANN STATES FOR TIME MATT SWANN: After taking 6-1/2 years to graduate from the University of G eorgia with a degree in cognitive science, Swann, 27, worked as a waiter in Atlanta. Posted Sunday, January 16, 2004 Michele, Ellen, Nathan, Corinne, Marcus and Jennie are friends. Ellen is on her 17th, coun ting internships, since 1996. Thirty years ago, people like Michele, Ellen, Nathan, Corinne, Marcus and Jennie didn't exist, statistically speaking. Back then, the median age for an American woman to get married was 21. It appears to take young people longer to graduate from college, settle in to careers and buy their first homes. Who are these permanent adolescents, these twentysomething Peter Pans? Everybody knows a few of themfull-grown men and women who still live wit h their parents, who dress and talk and party as they did in their teens , hopping from job to job and date to date, having fun but seemingly goi ng nowhere. Ten years ago, we might have called them Generation X, or sl ackers, but those labels don't quite fit anymore. This isn't just a trend, a temporary fad or a generational hiccup. This i s a much larger phenomenon, of a different kind and a different order. Social scientists are starting to realize that a permanent shift has take n place in the way we live our lives. In the past, people moved from chi ldhood to adolescence and from adolescence to adulthood, but today there is a new, intermediate phase along the way. The years from 18 until 25 and even beyond have become a distinct and separate life stage, a strang e, transitional never-never land between adolescence and adulthood in wh ich people stall for a few extra years, putting off the iron cage of adu lt responsibility that constantly threatens to crash down on them. And what's taking them so long to get w here they're going? Some of the sociologists, psychologists and demograp hers who study this new life stage see it as a good thing. The twixters aren't lazy, the argument goes, they're reaping the fruit of decades of American affluence and social liberation. This new period is a chance for young people to savor the pleasures of irresponsibility, s earch their souls and choose their life paths. But more historically and economically minded scholars see it differently. They are worried that twixters aren't growing up because they can't. Those researchers fear th at whatever cultural machinery used to turn kids into grownups has broke n down, that society no longer provides young people with the moral back bone and the financial wherewithal to take their rightful places in the adult world. The sociologists, psychologists, economists and others who study this age group have many names for this new phase of life"youthhood," "adultesc ence"and they call people in their 20s "kidults" and "boomerang kids," none of which have quite stuck. Terri Apter, a psychologist at the Unive rsity of Cambridge in England and the author of The Myth of Maturity, ca lls them "thresholders." Apter became interested in the phenomenon in 1994, when she noticed her s tudents struggling and flailing more than usual after college... To get immediate access to this complete story, you must be a TIME Magazine subscriber. Back to TIMEcom Home FROM THE JANUARY 24, 2004 ISSUE OF TIME MAGAZINE; POSTED SUNDAY, JANUARY 16, 2004 Copyright 2004 Time Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. |
| www.gopusa.com/commentary/kdaly/2005/krd_0118.shtml It's a Matter of Parenting: The Twixters By Kay R Daly January 18, 2005 During this week's inaugural celebration, it is possible to bask in the w arm glow of Republicans, pleased with their victory and determined to pu sh the agenda forward in the second Bush term. In fact, there some arenas, in which liberals have made tremendous strides without Republicans taking too much notice. It is not simply that these young people are not gett ing married anymore at age 21 and having children at age 22. They are ta king far more time to complete college and even if they do complete unde rgraduate or even graduate degrees, they hang out at Mom and Dad's house for years while sampling a variety of jobs. Because most of the essentials such as food, rent, electricity, etc. are paid for by the parents, these kids use their limited income for discret ionary spending. A flat screen television, it seems, takes priority over getting an apartment and growing up. Besides, I'll bet Mom does a great load of laundry and makes a mean lasagna. Apparently years of instant gratification, whether through the endless ba rrage of video games or parents wracked by guilt over divorce or time-co nsuming careers, has now taken its toll on this generation of children i n more ways than one. And while conservatives weren't watching, the libe rals have almost completely dominated child-rearing philosophies today. Many conservative parents who can beautifully articulate the most intric ate conservative philosophy are almost completely blind to the liberal c laptrap that has infected their child-rearing practices. Both parents an d their children are paying quite a price for it now. For example, according to the Time magazine piece, there are twice as man y young people 18-29 living at home than in the 1970s. About 23% polled say they were 24 years old or older when they finished college. One-quar ter of those polled have lived in more than three places in the past fiv e years and close to half claim to have had two, three or even six or mo re jobs in the past three years. Reading the "Time" article, all kinds of external excuses are given for t he Twixter's Peter Pan syndrome. From an unfriendly job market, to decli ning wages for devalued college degrees, to massive college debt, it is a cold, cruel world for these poor put-upon souls. There are actually some interesting suggestions as a post-script article to the main piece, such as stop indulging the little darlings and actual ly talk with your children about the future and their career aspirations beyond permanent college student status. But then the suggestions retur n to the standard liberal notion that "tough love" generally won't work and may harm their delicate psyches. It is way past time for these parents to grow up themselves and take cont rol of their own households. As my mother used to say, "So long as your boots are under my table, you will live under my rules." Some of these c hildren are calling the shots at home and so there won't be a fuss, the parents foolishly acquiesce. This starts, by the way, from the time a pa rent holds their newborn child until the parents are lowered into their graves. Every whim, every temper tantrum, every tiny desire is indulged, smoothed over and soothed to the point that children have absolutely no coping skills for the trials of life whatsoever. Even the simplest rules make all the difference in the world. Rather than running to them with a bottle o r a breast every time they whimper, get to know what their cries mean. Are they too warm, too cold, gassy, getting sick, wrapped too tightly in a blanket, enveloped in a dirty diaper, teething or bored? When Mom or Dad asks their child to do something, ther e should be no whining, back talk or discussion. Promising consequences after multiple violations of requests give children a sense of inconsistency and they end up disrespecting parental authority. Little children should n ot be allowed to carry around the remote control to the television or the cordless phone. If they like keys, remotes and phones, get them little toy replicas. Trust me, you'll avoid much heartache by nipping this one in the bud. Regular schedules give a child comfort because they know what comes next and there is no uncertainly. No matter what your socio-economic level, teach your children the value of money. If you believe your child should have a cell phone, have them pay for the bills out of their monthly allowance. If your teenager has a car, have them pay for the insurance and the gas out of their monthly allowance. As they display competence with basic budgeting, more privileges can be added. Make your college student take at least two, preferably four semesters of accounting no matter what their major is. It will be painful (unless they are accounting majors) but they will use this course more than any of the completely useless theoretical garbage they are semi-absorbing in their classes. These are but a few of the smallest suggestions that could make all the d ifference in the world in later years. Encouraging responsibility, indep endence, civility, ambition and a strong sense of values is critical. Yo ung people today seem to be more interested in where the next party is r ather than where the next paycheck is coming from. With parents having children later in life, it is more important than eve r that the next generation is raised prepared to take care of their pare nts. Having children later may have its benefits, but it also means that the parents are not going to be around as long. The great irony is that kids today should be raised with more of a sense of responsibility rather than less. Merely enduring the death of one's p arents requires maturity, much less managing the myriad of financial and legal details that invariably follows. To read the self-indulgent quote s that litter the Time article, it is doubtful that much has been requir ed of these young people in their time on Earth. There was a time when nearly every male teenager in America went half a w orld away to fight a world war. Mind you, they had just lived through th e Great Depression as well. Maybe a few letters home several m onths after they have been penned. Rather than letting adversity defeat them, it seemed to build character i nstead. Listening to most teenagers today, it becomes readily apparent t hat their idea of adversity is owning a cell phone without text messagin g A word to the wise here. Just about 95% of what is published online and i n books on raising children is alarmingly liberal. It is certainly conve nient and helpful to the parents and it sounds imminently reasonable. Bu t most of the so-called advice establishes patterns and habits that are nearly unbreakable by the time the worst damage manifests itself in the teenage years. Because for all of the high-minded pub lic policy wrangling that goes on, many concerns about the future could be alleviated if only our children could survive the prosperity we lavis h upon them. And if that doesn't convince you then just remember that it is your little darlings who will pick out your nursing home for you in your old age. That should keep you awake at night if nothing else does. |
| www.time.com/time/covers/1101050124/sotwixter_chart.html Posted Sunday, January 16, 2004 C A N A D A Boomerang Kids A growing population of young Canadians are living in their parents' home and delaying starting families of their own. Median age at marriage Men: 28 Women: 26 Average age at birth of first child Women: 277 E N G L A N D Kippers The acronym stands for kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement saving s Increasing numbers of British twentysomethings are staying with Mum a nd Dad as a refuge from rising costs. Median age at marriage Men: 297 Women: 277 Average age at birth of first child Women: 297 F R A N C E Tanguy Syndrome The name comes from a 2001 film about a charming 28-year-old who refuses to move out of his parents' apartment despite their comical efforts to g et him out. Median age at marriage Men: 292 Women: 271 Average age at birth of first child Women: 304 G E R M A N Y Nesthocker Literally translates as nest squatter. One researcher says the reluctance of so many Germans to go out on their own could be attributed to the fa ct that they regard their parents as friends. Median age at marriage Men: 303 Women: 271 Average age at birth of first child Women: 29 I T A L Y Mammone A description of the young men and women who won't give up Mamma's cookin g The number of them living at home has risen to nearly 50% in the past decade, perhaps the highest rate in Europe. Average age at marriage Men: 305 Women: 276 Average age at birth of first child Women: 284 J A P A N Freeter The term, a combination of free and arbeiter, the German word for worker, describes an unmarried young adult who job hops and lives at home. Back to TIMEcom Home FROM THE JANUARY 24, 2004 ISSUE OF TIME MAGAZINE; POSTED SUNDAY, JANUARY 16, 2004 Copyright 2004 Time Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. |