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America's Generation Y not driven to drive
Yahoo/Reuters ^ | 07/01/2012 | Deborah Zabarenko

Posted on 07/01/2012 1:58:15 PM PDT by nascarnation

Bigger than the post-World War Two baby-boom generation but without the middle-class expansion that drove the earlier group's consumer habits, Generation Y includes an increasing number of people for whom driving is less an American rite of passage than an unnecessary chore.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: auto; driving; generationy
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To: JCBreckenridge
Back in the day when dinosaurs roamed the earth, you could test at 16 and get your full license and away you go. But that was the Boomer age............

In CA in the 60's, you could get a learners permit at 15 1/2, which would allow you to ride a mororcycle alone or drive a car with someone over 18.

21 posted on 07/01/2012 2:26:57 PM PDT by umgud (No Rats, No Rino's)
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To: Zeppelin

22 posted on 07/01/2012 2:27:56 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lame and ill-informed post)
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To: willyd

Yeah, Baraq’s Cash for Clunkers.

Another European “great idea” imported by the Chicago mob to reward the UAW.


23 posted on 07/01/2012 2:28:59 PM PDT by nascarnation
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To: jameslalor

Kids these days are no dumber than generations before.

My best friend’s son has joined the Air Force and is serving honorably. As are a large portion of my kids’ classmates. My daughter (20) is newly married and starting her career in the medical field and my son (18) is busting his butt 60 hours a week as a machinist.

The older generations have always decried the younger generations. Then these kids grow up and do the same thing.

There are a LOT of great kids out there who were raised right and who are struggling (just as we did) to find their way in the world.

But THIS young generation has to deal with an uncertain future. When we were coming into our own, we had several clear paths that would lead us to stability. These kids don’t have that. College is no longer a guarantee of a good job. (And I’m not talking about ‘throwaway’ degrees like “feminist studies”. I’m talking engineering and computer programming.) With the coming draw-down, the military won’t be as available. Family farms and businesses that have been around for generations are dying at an alarming rate. Manufacturing is being moved offshore. The oil and natural gas industries are being crippled by Obama and the EPA. These were areas where many a young man found good work without a degree.

We are living in an economy where a large portion of established adults are struggling. There are no more guarantees.

Yeah they’re scared.

I’m proud to say that my daughter is a member of the Tea Party. She is educated and loud and she votes.

My son is so focused on making himself invaluable in the oil industry that he doesn’t do much more than work and sleep. He plans on being securely employed and earning a decent living within the next three years.

So I agree with you.

As for the ones who seem lost right now...?

They’re still young. Every generation has plenty of slow learners.


24 posted on 07/01/2012 2:34:40 PM PDT by Marie ("The last time Democrats gloated this hard after a health care victory, they lost 60 House seats.")
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Comment #25 Removed by Moderator

To: JCBreckenridge

What’s interesting is that back in the ‘Boomer days’ you keep grousing about, a 30yo wasn’t considered a youngster, but a full adult.

Intergenerational resentments used to be individual and particular to whatever family member was being resented for whatever reason. Those specific resentments now seem to be repressed, with the emotion coming out against said parents’ whole generational cohort, perhaps as a result.


26 posted on 07/01/2012 2:37:50 PM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: jjotto

I know one long term goal of statists like Baraq is to get people out of cars (hard to control) and into public transportation (more easily controlled).

It appears they have loaded so many straws on the camel’s back it may be working...


27 posted on 07/01/2012 2:39:35 PM PDT by nascarnation
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To: Zeppelin

Four-barrel carb too, eh . . . ? Wouldn’t mind having the dough to spare to drop that into my 1995 Caprice.


28 posted on 07/01/2012 2:40:14 PM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: nascarnation

They can’t afford a union made car. Case closed.


30 posted on 07/01/2012 2:43:35 PM PDT by Dallas59 (President Robert Gibbs 2009-2011)
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To: nascarnation

What’s up with that???

It’s like my kids are a different species!


31 posted on 07/01/2012 2:44:29 PM PDT by null and void (Day 1258 of our ObamaVacation from reality - Heroes aren't made Frank, they're cornered...)
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To: Olog-hai

No kidding!

I’m seriously thinking about putting one in my ‘97 Z28...but that’ll be a couple years out.

In the meantime, my ‘07 Corvette Convertible will have to suffice.

(I bought that Vette two years ago, when I was 25 y/o. I guess I buck the trend of youth disinterested in cars... =P)


32 posted on 07/01/2012 2:44:39 PM PDT by Zeppelin (Keep on FReepin' on...)
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To: Dallas59
They can’t afford a union made car.

Aren't there a lot of non-union made cars sold in the US every year? (Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai, Subaru, Kia, etc)

33 posted on 07/01/2012 2:46:29 PM PDT by nascarnation
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To: nascarnation

I don’t see this.

males are always driving for fun.

women not so much.

could this also be part of the ongoing ticket quotas (any statement to the contrary is a lie)


34 posted on 07/01/2012 2:50:30 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: nascarnation

I don’t see why driving is considered an indicator of “freedom” these days. What with punitive taxes, insurance costs, soon to be mandatory black boxes, limited licenses etc I don’t see it as being anything more than a pain for the younger set.

HOWEVER I saw something on the freeway the other day I had never seen before: a guy driving a truck without a license plate. Instead there was a plate that said “if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.” But no plate. He was meticulously staying within the speeding laws giving no reason to stop him. Other than the lack of a plate. It made me wonder. If someone were to decide to purchase some clunker for cash, refuse to insure, title, or plate it, what could the state really do? Do the cops really want the hassle particularly if the person is violating no traffic laws?


35 posted on 07/01/2012 2:52:14 PM PDT by RKBA Democrat (Thank you Chief Justice Benedict Arnold!)
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To: 9YearLurker

Last I checked the article was calling the ‘youngsters’ worthless and lazy.

Only when someone states the facts - that boomers have changed things drastically, do people get their dander up. Odd that.

Yeah, it’s a fact that boomers have passed laws restricting when kids can get their license, and restricting when they can drive and where. And then they wonder why the kids don’t want to drive anymore...


36 posted on 07/01/2012 2:54:34 PM PDT by JCBreckenridge (Texas, Texas, Whisky)
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To: umgud

I’m just old enough to get in under the change. Driven for 14 years, they changed it the year after to make kids wait until 18 for learners and 21 for full.

I’m surprised the boomers haven’t raised the voting age yet.


37 posted on 07/01/2012 2:56:14 PM PDT by JCBreckenridge (Texas, Texas, Whisky)
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To: Dallas59

Not defending labor or unions but the sticker price of a car is made up of many things, material cost, admin cost etc. The cost of labor is at most 10%. So a $20K you pay about $2K for labor. Even if robots or slaves built the cars a $20K would still cost $18K. There are a lot of misconceptions out there.


38 posted on 07/01/2012 3:04:14 PM PDT by central_va ( I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Tzimisce

Horsepower means little. It is torque that is king off the line and only cubes and / or compression make torque.

Compression is what made the Buick Grand National a contender. 21 lbs of boost on a 3.8 liter engine as I recall. Fast off the line and through the finish line.


39 posted on 07/01/2012 3:04:28 PM PDT by Sequoyah101 (You've been screwed by your government.)
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To: gorush

“I compare my childhood in the ‘50’s with that of today. It brings a tear to my eye, but worse, there’s no way to communicate it to the youth of today. It is a good time to be old.”

Pitiful: People across the street were having a party. There were a lot of newish compact cars and CUV’s parked. These were actually kids having a party with mom+pop out of the house. The cars belonged to all of their parents!

When I was in high school, you would have more cred driving in your own $500 beater than in mom and dad’s station wagon, particularly if you were a young man.

No question at all, the “world” of young people today is going to be much, much smaller and poorer than ours was. Mobility was the great advantage of the American workforce over everyone else. Now, not so much.


40 posted on 07/01/2012 3:08:46 PM PDT by The Antiyuppie ("When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day.")
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