Another post I have agonised over. Sorry to be so serious:
One of the problems we now face is societal attitudes towards generations. This started some time ago when “boomer” became an insult, when gen X hated baby boomers, when gen Y hated gen x, and when millennials hated everyone.
We had created an “I want it now“ culture in X, Y and Millennials. Behavioural economists will tell you that more than anything else, this IWIN culture was the primary cause of the GFC. Young people wanted the BMW, the 3 bed condo with the water views, and they thought that they were entitled to it. So they borrowed.
I knew 18 year old office juniors with $7000 Rolex watches, bought on credit, and no chance of paying it back. ”Buy now, pay later”, “no repayments until 2010”, “ “interest free loans”, “interest only mortgages” kept the consumer economy expanding at the expense of common sense.
That IWIN flowed though to most parts of life. I worked with young graduates who expected a corner office and the executive lifestyle on the strength of a third rate degree. They wanted overseas holidays to somewhere exotic and remote. They floated down cambodian rivers with a beer in each hand.
This selfish societal attitude now shows up in social distancing and isolation. Anyone under 30 fails to see why they cannot live the life, go clubbing, go overseas etc. The fact that Covid will kill anyone over 50 and anyone with health problems doesn't seem to worry them. They want the lifestyle and they want it now.
And we created that attitude in them.