Hard times for the middle class, but during that decade, I was between 23 and 33 years old. Those were the years when my career was just taking off, I went to college, worked overseas, lived all over the country, experimented with different jobs, finished graduate school, without any family responsibilities to hold me back. I could afford to experiment and take chances, but I also had little in the way of committments or obligations. I was used to travelling light and living off the land.
Of course, my experiences are irrelevant, unless you consider that as part of the postwar Baby Boom, a lot of people were in the exact same boat I was. And it was a sweet ride, fueled by GI Bill, and other government welfare for the middle class! We pretty much missed the hard economy all around us and took advantage of the time to gather travel, experience and education. The Boomers went through the timeline like a pig through a python, pretty much unaware of what was going on all around them because for the most part, they usually hung out with people just like them: young, free, educated, and just starting their careers.
By the time I got my first professional hi-tech job I was 31, and I married at 33. I had no children, which was a decision many of my contemporaries also made, or postponed til later. I made out like a bandit, but I know why. The only really smart move I can take credit for was to realize the party couldn't last forever and to take the appropriate precautions.
"They say I shot a man named Gray
and took his wife to Italy
She inherited a million bucks
and when she died it came to me
I can't help it if I'm lucky."
Current Events » in reply to I guess it depends on your age
Note the 1970-1980 dip...
The whole thread (51 posts)
- Okay, I would like to start a thread and I would really like it to stay on topic, if at all possible.
- "Middle-out" Economics.
- Simple, Right to Work Laws
- You might have better luck on Current Events
- Unions, collective bargaining, and the right to strike.
- Yeah, I think we all owe a debt to unions.
- I don't think that is realistic anymore, ER.