What's killing middle-aged white Americans without a college degree?

xoxoxoBruce · 03-23-2017, 09:31 PM

Didn't the majority of college grads (not counting a degree basket weaving and the ilk) who found they couldn't find a job, graduate in the last ten years or so? That would be a younger demographic.

I'm seen a lot of middle aged men who's lives are so constrained, so shallow, they'll contemplate suicide or start binge drinking if their football team doesn't make the playoffs, and losing the Superbowl is a disaster equal to 9-11. Hockey and Basketball too, not so much with baseball.

Griff · 03-24-2017, 08:18 AM

It has been brutal to watch and participate in. This economy which doesn't appear to need people has guided a lot of my choices. The house project was my solution to underemployment at that time followed by a move into human service work because you still need people to work with people. I see the people I went to school with and the shock goes beyond recognizing how old we've gotten, it's how a lot of us look decades older than others.

I think this is a big part of the lack of progress in race relations. A segment of white society has a hard time with the concept of white privilege. It feels like the stakes are higher if they are passed over in favor of a minority candidate because the stakes are higher. I still understand that whites are privileged compared to others but it is no guarantee that they will ever get a sniff of success in a broken economy.

(I could add a nice rant about our kleptocracy and the safety net here but I need to get on the road.)

Undertoad · 03-24-2017, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Didn't the majority of college grads (not counting a degree basket weaving and the ilk) who found they couldn't find a job, graduate in the last ten years or so? That would be a younger demographic.

And, their time will come soon enough; one quarter to one half of millenials believe their student loans will be forgiven. Reality may bite them in the face.

cites:

2014 survey one quarter

2016 survey one half

03-23-2017, 09:31 PM	#1
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Didn't the majority of college grads (not counting a degree basket weaving and the ilk) who found they couldn't find a job, graduate in the last ten years or so? That would be a younger demographic. I'm seen a lot of middle aged men who's lives are so constrained, so shallow, they'll contemplate suicide or start binge drinking if their football team doesn't make the playoffs, and losing the Superbowl is a disaster equal to 9-11. Hockey and Basketball too, not so much with baseball. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

03-24-2017, 08:18 AM	#2
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	It has been brutal to watch and participate in. This economy which doesn't appear to need people has guided a lot of my choices. The house project was my solution to underemployment at that time followed by a move into human service work because you still need people to work with people. I see the people I went to school with and the shock goes beyond recognizing how old we've gotten, it's how a lot of us look decades older than others. I think this is a big part of the lack of progress in race relations. A segment of white society has a hard time with the concept of white privilege. It feels like the stakes are higher if they are passed over in favor of a minority candidate because the stakes are higher. I still understand that whites are privileged compared to others but it is no guarantee that they will ever get a sniff of success in a broken economy. (I could add a nice rant about our kleptocracy and the safety net here but I need to get on the road.) __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

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