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 ...
Instead of getting into a pointless discussion on this thread about the intelligence or other attributes of Generation Y, I'd offer something else for everyone to consider, in light of a conversation I've had with some of these Gen-Y folks in my company ...
Maybe a lot of younger people aren't interested in getting a driver's license because their parents never cultivated a desire to go out and drive somewhere?
Driving interferes with texting.
My 70 is collecting dust unfortunately..sniff:-(
“I have answered this little problem with the fact that I refuse to drive her anyplace that is not on the way or at a time that is convenient for me.”
Ha ha, my dad was such a PITA, he would moan and groan whenever he had to pick me up/take me to work (three miles away) when it was raining or snowing (couldn’t bike there). I never bothered to ask him again the day after I bought my car (at a little over 16 years of age). Of course, now, that would be impossible for a young person to do unless they are a dot-com cashout. Insurance was very tough when I was a kid. Now, it’s basically impossible at any price if it’s not on your family insurance.
They are willing to wait until the older generation - who is not very malleable in its approach to freedom of movement - either dies out (thanks to rationed healthcare) or simply loses positions of authority. The newer generation is already indoctrinated to entrust all their secret thoughts to Twitbook, carry an iPhone with GPS that reports back to the mothership, and ride a bus (or a bicycle.) Since youngsters do not earn much they are not paying much taxes either, which helps with the early adoption of the new cabal. Older people will be relegated to chasing kids off of their lawns.
A nation without cars will be an imprisoned nation. Perhaps this is not so in densely populated Europe. However this country is large. In case of any "unfortunate events" the public transit will be shut down, and then peasants can't enter or leave the "affected area" until the army - that has access to every form of transport - is done with "the problem."
“We are living in an economy where a large portion of established adults are struggling. There are no more guarantees.”
Best statement yet. The previous gnerations including the current living elders created a mess. Even the middle aged are finding things not so easy anymore. Toss in the fact that kids have been taught less and less and the current younger generation has no idea how to act, your children being some of the exceptions to that view.
I live in a college town and see numerous mustangs, camaros and challengers on the road.
I think this is media hooey. The only reason for young people to not drive is money. If they’ve got money, it is a priority to get wheels, no matter what the media says.
Much of it has to do with mating: girls think a boy’s car says a lot about him: his wealth, style, employment; and they want a car so they don’t have to ride in cars with boys if there are no good prospects. Boys are intensely aware of the status of cars, and the freedom they offer, as well as convenience.
“My opinion is that the media is the main
supporter of healthy eating. We’re certainly
not hearing it from our customers”
— Andrew Puzder, CEO of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.
Darn tootin'. With any amount of luck we'll be out of here when the SHTF, and it will, and it won't be pretty.
Plus, backseats are now made for midgets.
It’s too expensive. Insurance, gas, repairs, upkeep.
Back in the day, almost anyone could pick up a junker and fix it up yourself, change oil, etc.
We grew up taking things apart & putting them together - tough to do in the digital age for the average joe or jane.
P.S.
Also, you can’t just all chip in for a few six-packs and cruise around anymore.
not true...only DC does that till 21 ...most states are 16/17 and 3 or 4 that are 18
you wish to blame someone...blame insurance companies
and this hike started in the 70s when boomer's parents and grandparents were the political power of age then
i got mine in a small southern state in 1972 at 15...it's 16 now
what has made younger men such pussies today?
really?
their mothers and lack of daddies or soft subservient dads...and the culture
I'm 54 and have 5 children from 5-23...I grant them pretty much same freedom I had...it drives my contemporary strong chinnned Gen X moms crazy...they view me as a Neandethal
I would say it's cause I'm southern but high cotton Nashville environs are eat up with wussy men and gays...
the Deep South seems to have escaped it better
Optional twin teleprompters, nice.
It has to do with being the cop’s most delicious prey.
Police have driven our kids from the roads.
Seems to me that access to immediate communications through cell phones - phone, text, internet, facebook, etc. has impacted this change - plus the cost of having a teenage driver is through the roof, not to mention the cost of a dependable car with all the newer cars so difficult and costly to maintain.
Of course, it’s hard to party with just a cell phone.
My husband and I were shocked that our daughter had no interest in getting a driver’s license. It’s quite a different world though from the 60’s when we got freeways. When I learned to drive, we’d just gotten a new freeway, and most of the other roads had 35 mph speed limits. We had the state route that gave a bit of feeling like throwing caution to the wind- 2 lanes and a 50 mph speed limit, and lived on “dead man’s curve.”
Flash forward- I leave our gated community to take her to school. It exits onto an 8 lane highway. We proceed to a 7 lane freeway (that includes confused, out of state drivers.)
We exit onto a 10 lane highway which requires minimally 3 lane changes within a few hundred feet. I cringe every day I have to take her, plus she’s heard years of me scream about near accidents. I can hardly blame her. Then I discovered what insurance was going to cost. It’s a bit of a kick for her to drive around the gated community though.
Funny, I didn’t see ‘worthless’ or ‘lazy’ in that article.
And, with apologies, I meant to be responding to your posts on the college graduates story instead.
But Boomers have never been a majority voting block, only, I suppose, a plurality—if you’re counting by generations. I do believe it was state legislatures, rather than the general voting public, that more often raised driving ages and placed various other restrictions on all that when they did.
me and fledermaus live in tony Williamson County TN
one of the richest and fattest with revenue counties in America
the richest cost of living adjusted
so many damned cops and deputies everywhere
and all the fancy gear
no doubt today it's harder to get away with anything
no question...they stay on my ass
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