You want full bore socialism? This is how you get full bore socialism.

"More education" does not automatically translate into "more income," which is the point I was making. If Person A has a degree in structural engineering and Person B has a degree in Celtic folklore, guess which one is probably going to be better off in the job market.

I’m sorry Gen X is the red-headed step child of the 20th century.

they gave us toys filled with mercury, so it wasn't all bad.

Again, Person B would be in the minority, but you're welcome to click my link. There are also non-STEM degrees that yield higher incomes than average.

isn't the question really more about how anyone (or the job they do) can be considered worth so little despite taking up the time?

We keep framing minimum wage as the value of the work, but seriously... how many of us haven't at some point stated they wouldn't get out of bed for less than $X because it wouldn't be worth the time?

The only reason fast food or stocking shelves is considered "minimum wage worthy" is because it doesn't require spending an insane amount of money to learn how to do it. 60 years ago, factory work was among the highest paying jobs and that work didn't require spending an insane amount of money to learn how to do it.

What changed?

Education used to be about learning and acquiring knowledge not "How can I leverage this into becoming an arbitrager?"

Commie!

That would have been lovely.

I hope you're not making the fallacy of discounting the need for liberal arts education, as while STEM is vital for society, liberal arts is needed for culture.
I'd note that our society doesn't place enough value on culture.

I am pointing out that some fields of study are more likely to lead to economic security than others. Nothing more.

Let us also remember as a gen X person I had to do a lot of things for the boomers and their parents. I had to start by ghooking up my own video games. I had to teach my grandparents how to go from a rotary phone, through pulse dialing, and then into touch tone phones. I had to help my parents with their cell phones, smart phones, and then how tro install their apps. I had to program every VCR, teach them how to use remotes, and I still cannot get my grandparents to figure out cable only works on channel three. I cannot even explain inputs to them. I had to teach them how to email, use a computer, use a pad, and somehow explain candy crush to them. I set up my boomer parents alexa and after two years my dad finally learned how to ask it what the weather is.

If it was not for gen X no boomer would know how to use any electronics in their house, and no millenial would have the devices that they cannot live without. We are the glue that holds the generations together with technology. Oh, and you fucking boomers had better be nice or else we will leave wiping your old asses to your grandchildren. We won't bother making any youtube instructional videos for them either. Next thing you know you will have shit coming out your pants and depends over your face like a mask because those kids cannot do anything without an app for it.

That's entirely irrelevant to the point though, unless you think that previous generations had more education in those areas.

You might be Gen X but you have big Boomer energy.

Granted, but we do have an overabundance of liberal arts degrees, such that nobody should expect them to have any labor market value.

On the other hand, a STEM degree is no guarantee of success either.

The higher education racket, supported by centrist and left-leaning politicians, deserves a lot of the blame for sucking up millenial wealth while delivering diminishing economic returns.

My sister did things the proper way to get into her field. It took her a long time of bullshit jobs nowhere near her field of study to finally get to what she specialized in. It was not like her education wasn't worth anything either. During her school she went to south africa to dive and study sharks. Even after that she was not getting into oceanography positions until she got lucky and landed her present position. She spent years doing callcenter work for a pet food company.

We waste these resources when we do not have a good school to workplace transition in the STEM fields. It is not as if my sister did not try, it is just that she did not have the proper connections and I am sure other less qualified people got in before her because they knew the right people.

I remember when I got into my career. I did not bother with college or tech school because my contacts and certifications were good. I already had a work history I could call on because I dropped out of college and had managers and co-workers I had worked for. So when I came in without college but I had certifications, a connection in the industry, and people as references I was golden. I got in because I got in the bubble. College or tech school does not get you in the bubble on the bachelor and even masters level jobs. I think it might pay off once you get a doctorate, but that may be because you are introduced into the bubble.

Ok, first, I apologize for my statement. I was making a joke and apparently was insensitive. Yes, gen-Xers have contributed a lot to both the economy and to culture.

The only reason a career in the arts is not as financially feasible as a career in a STEM field is because the people who would pay the individuals for their art do not make any more than their 1980 counterpart. In fact, the purchasing power is lower than their 1980 counterpart. Meanwhile executive pay is 400 times what it was in 1980 and they don't give a shit about culture.

umm... you do realize you are Gen X too? unless you're a lot older than your pic would imply...

Born Feb 1964. So, technically a boomer, but have always felt more like a Gen-Xer.

good news.. you are Gen X by many measures as the cohort starts in 1963.
tends to make sense to break these demographics down to roughly 17 year intervals as that'd place the millennials from 1980-97 and then gen z '98 until 2015. There's frequently a major tech access jump involved too... Like for us through to Z, it could be a computer in the school vs a computer in the classroom vs a computer on every desk now becoming doing everything on an iPad/tablet device.

That means I'm a tail gunner for the Boomers, being born in '61. So get off my lawn, you damn kids.

"Generation Jones"... the Boomer equivalent of a Xillenial

https://genhq.com/faq-info-about-generations/

I would really consider a boomer someone who would have had opportunity to go to woodstock. I do not think you would have been of age. Gen X covers those seventies teens too. Because you would have also been there with me in that technical revolution where you are helping the actual boomers and WW2 generation with technology, while also realizing the experience of age over millenials. In fact you were probably the leaders of style that younger gen Xers wanted to be like. You just probably feel like you belong with the boomers because maybe you have a lot of older friends and did not hang out with people your age as much. I get along with boomers so much because I ended up hanging out with the parents a lot because kids my age bored me and did not like me very much.

yes, I'm aware there's variance in the dates-you'll find others that place the start in 61. Also the first time I've ever seen Millenials as far back as '77-Usually they get placed between 80-85.
I prefer the methodology that makes use of equal spans of time-roughly 17 year increments starting in '46.

Actually, most of my friends were always younger than me. My current boyfriend is 13 years younger than me.

The part that makes me a boomer is my complete refusal and crankiness at having another new definition that I have to learn!!!

Maybe that is why you feel like a boomer when you are dating a fetus. That would put him in his early forties. ........I am going nowhere with this because I don't know what hell the fifties are going to bring. I see a lot of death and oozing. Things are really starting to not work like they used to. I can't play these games like I used to. I am going to take my nephew out paintballing this season. That is going to really show me where I am old. I am pretty sure I am not going to age like the action heroes in the movies.

I know I haven't. I've been saying for years, there is absolutely nothing I like about getting old. fuck this shit.

There is one thing I have found I really like. I like seeing kids having fun and discovering things for the first time. I like helping them to make something. It was something I learned playing paintball. I really enjoy helping someone achieve something. I don't have to be the star athlete or champion. I really like sharing in a person being that champion. With kids you get to see that happen over and over as they grow and get better at things.