Reaching adulthood: is it harder now than when we did it?

Sawfish

Sawfish

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Let me frame this a bit...

Knowing what you know now, with the perspective that age has given you, do you think that if you were just entering young adulthood now, it would be harder/easier than it was when you entered young adulthood in the distant past?

Why/why not?
 

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Without giving it too much thought, I'd likely say it's considerably harder nowadays........'back when', one could, basically, go and find out for one's self........now, people are overly inundated by misinformation, and despite any conscious attempts on their part, cannot help but be pre-influenced.
 
I would have been raised in this current time, so I would have experienced the same number of years before adulthood, and now.
Probably would equal out to the same only different issues to confront.
 

Right Now said:
I would have been raised in this current time, so I would have experienced the same number of years before adulthood, and now.
Probably would equal out to the same only different issues to confront.
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I see it differently.

There was no confusion about how to comport one's self, nor about roles. It was therefore easier to find a comfortable niche in society. I was was what I was, there was no arguing about that, and for me, at least, this felt fine.

Lessee...I had to deal with the draft, but not student debt, which is, to my eye, the single biggest obstacle to achieving a stable lifestyle. There's no point in handwringing about how this started--in my opinion much of the increase in ***public*** higher ed is due to servicing pensions that are now coming due, while for private higher ed, it is simply supply/demand, pensions may not even be a part of it, at all.

So I came out of school without debt, nor was it even routinely offered as a possibility except as Pell grants.

Manufacturing jobs were still available--I had one for a while, while saving up for the next phase of college (had to save up to complete college, and took "work breaks" twice).

It think that socially, everything was much easier going than now.

Me, I think it's a lot harder now than when I was 18, back in 1965.
 
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When I was growing up, the only source of information was my father, with a bit of input from others. I knew nothing about careers, student loans, men, childbirth, and just life.

Thanks to the Internet, I'm learning things now that I wish I'd known 50 (or more) years ago.

Also, I was bullied by my peers. I had no way of knowing that bullying is common, so I took it personally.

Nowadays, young people are much more sophisticated. They know where to find information and support. Of course there are downsides, but on balance, I'd say it's easier now.
 
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Nowadays very few under 60 ever become real adults....many perfect examples in government, politics, tech , crypto currency firms CEOs, ....

Last pol who was a real adult and took blame and responsibility for a catastrophe.

John F Kennedy, after 1961 Cuba Bay of Pigs invasion

"I am the responsible official of government and I take full responsibility"

A real "mensch" this took guts!

Can you imagine any US President, Sec State, Defense Sec nowadays taking responsibility ?

Enjoy !

Jon
 
Up 'till about 5 years ago, I would've told you that the Internet has made everything worse and in some ways it has with the amount of misinformation that it carries. However, I think that it sometimes helps people feel less alone. But does it and some other things that are different for young people growing up now make life easier or more difficult for them? IDK; maybe it's like a lot of other things: easier for some, more difficult for some, and about the same for others.
 
I have read all the responses here.
Many agree that times have changed, people have changed. But, many haven't addressed the 'why'.
Many will disagree with me views, say I'm being too political, but fact is, and I do mean 'fact' as something provable, that governments have manipulated our children and weak minded.
To understand the how and why we have changed as a country one must go back and do 2 things. 1) Read about the differences between Capitalism, Socialism, Marxism, and Communism. Understand the nuances and 'flash points' as a society morphs from one to the next. 2) Trace back to the early 1900's and follow radical groups manipulation of governments to achieve a slow implementation of the 4 main societies I mentioned above. There are many books on how to take over the US without a declaration of war. One book, 'The Dumbing down of America' starts back in the 50's with the subtle changes in funding of our education system. They know to change generations of people, they need to start young, at the education level.
I could expound on everything that has happened since then but things like LBJ's Great Society was one of the modern day turning points of separating the family unit or the family structure. Attack education, attack families, and you have the start of the downfall of a Capitalist society.
Its all around us, you just have to look at the subtle ways it is being implemented.
 
The difference is in expectations. My parents and society expected me to grow up. Woe unto me if I failed. No one rushed out to save my butt when I was irresponsible. I was expected to deal with the consequences. There are no expectations for young people today, there are only excuses.
 
It would be the same, only different. I mean I am of my time, so it was what it was then. If I were that age now, I'd be of this time and it would be just what it is. Like when a famous person's child is asked what was it like to have that parent, they say I had nothing to compare it to. It was just Mom or it was just Dad.
 
I think the more challenging part is the result of the information age. People entering the work force now days are scrutinized much more through their digital foot print. Employers can obtain more information about you than you know about yourself.
 
I believe it's more difficult today. I entered adulthood when 21 was the accepted age. When much more is expected of you at 18, and in reality, you are still a teenager, has to be daunting.
 
1955 said:
I think the more challenging part is the result of the information age. People entering the work force now days are scrutinized much more through their digital foot print. Employers can obtain more information about you than you know about yourself.
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That is one area where an irresponsible young person may see a consequence by not being hired because of their own actions. I’m sure it comes as a shock when they haven’t seen many consequences before. Will it be enough to help them grow up? Maybe, maybe not.
 
I think that there are more hoops to jump through now to reach adulthood, and more temptations thrown in the pathway there than when I was making the journey. There are more worries and fears injected, many of them artificially generated or imposed. Perhaps most tellingly, I see children rushed and pressured to grow up more quickly, often without being allowed the time simply to be children...
 
Fyrefox said:
I think that there are more hoops to jump through now to reach adulthood, and more temptations thrown in the pathway there than when I was making the journey. There are more worries and fears injected, many of them artificially generated or imposed. Perhaps most tellingly, I see children rushed and pressured to grow up more quickly, often without being allowed the time simply to be children...
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That's how it looks to me, too...

Poor devils!
 
Nathan said:
The culture is surely different, good paying jobs have long ago been exported to countries with lower wages and living standards.

But the young folks are survivors, and are making their way in life, just as we did.
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Yes, the commonality is to adapt to an environment, but really, the question is how does the current environment compare to the general environment we adapted to as young adults? Does it require greater levels of adaption, and at greater frequency?

I'm not sure; I suspect that it does, and it's why I've asked.
 
Sawfish said:
Yes, the commonality is to adapt to an environment, but really, the question is how does the current environment compare to the general environment we adapted to as young adults? Does it require greater levels of adaption, and at greater frequency?

I'm not sure; I suspect that it does, and it's why I've asked.
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I think so. 20+ years ago, I knew a woman who was a foster parent to teens for several decades. She said that the youths at that time were much more able to adapt and shrug things off (failures, losses, etc.) than in the past.

Probably still true, or more true than ever.
 
We were better prepared in practical matters and learned the ways of the world as we "launched".

Of course, these days if there's something that needs to be learned by a young person "launching" there's always YouTube.

As for responsibility and personal integrity, if not learned in the home while growing up 🤷‍♀️? I dunno.
 
Sawfish said:
Let me frame this a bit...

Knowing what you know now, with the perspective that age has given you, do you think that if you were just entering young adulthood now, it would be harder/easier than it was when you entered young adulthood in the distant past?

Why/why not?
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It's easier. WAY easier. Cars have so many safety features now, dying in a wreck is an oddity, not common place. Vaccines, plentiful, no tetanus, diphtheria, measles, polio and others that killed off the young.

Farming is now corporate mainly, no family farms where you can fall into an auger, get stomped by cattle, run over by a tractor.

Rare you see kinds riding bikes with no protection, cops would be writing, public be shaming, CPS be taking.....
 
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Sawfish said:
That's how it looks to me, too...

Poor devils!
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I agree with Fyrefox, too, except instead of hoops to jump through, I'm gonna say "too many barriers" to becoming an adult. I know adult-aged people who buy toys....not for their kids, for themselves. They do buy toys for their kids, but for themselves as well, and they'll spend 3X more on their toys. And toy manufacturers know this.
 
Yep...things are certainly altering.....I just looked at a vid of Tangier, (first time I was there was 1969, last time 1988), the changes are unbelievable.
 

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