The headline from a Boston Globe article "Making Washington Inconsequential" gave me the idea for this thread.
Why would students spend their summers playing games and posting all day instead of working?
The answer of course is they count on mommy or daddy if they are in high school to pay for everything in the fall so why work in the summer.
What a poor commentary on a generation of young people that has no drive to be independent of their parents.
What a poor commentary on a generation of young people that have no shame in being a burden on their parents.
What a poor commentary on a generation of young undergraduates who feel that student loans, pell grants, and the other assistance paid for by taking money from productive adults through tax policy is their "right."
What a poor commentary on a generation of young undergraduates who have no self-respect whatsoever not to be a burden on society.
What a poor commentary on generation of young undergraduates who do not desire the pride of taking care of their own responsibilities.

Those young people are in for a rude awakening because the cradle-to-grave welfare state in on life support.
There are no jobs waiting for this lazy, unmotivated generation.
These lazy unmotivated leeches can't riot like they do in Britain because they will get shot in America by law abiding citizens who haven't been rendered powerless by the vestiges of a monarchical government and aristocratic society.

The massive debt and backlash from hard working productive adults is going to render Washington DC inconsequential in the lives of American citizens as it should be and the young people are in for a rude awakening as that happens.

hey, what if these High Schoolers that are a "Burden" To there parents tried to get a job. I a "Burden" Tried as hard as I could to get a job this summer but no such luck. I know what I have coming, don't think down on us like we have no idea, maybe some of us do, but not all of us. We are not all Stupid little brats like you think.

Nice straw man you got there.

TC, you manage to post plenty here and still hold down a job. Stop the ageist bullshit that a young'n can't do the same.

The generation before you sang the same tune as well as the generation before that. It sounds like a broken record - to go with a saying more fitting for your age.

Yes, there are young people who are fine mooching and being a burden. But there always have been and it makes no sense to paint an entire generation with the same brush.

Hey, jackass. No one's hiring. Actual unemployment rate for college-age students right now is over 40%.

No, TC's right
The Internet should be reserved only for those who are 40+ years of age, and who are not receiving any government aid
Any time spent online is time being wasted not working
The Internet is a luxury that only people that meet his criteria should be able to afford

Anybody who can't find a job is a drain on society, as is a kid who wishes to enjoy himself for his first few years before facing the immense shitstorm that is real life

Honestly, we'd probably be better off just killing the poor for no trying hard enough

I hope TC is close to retirement so we can euthanize before he becomes a burden to us.

Excellent point Yonni
We should kill off people once they retire too, they stop being productive after that

@Hugo While I agree that the internet is a luxury to a degree, I can't fathom why you would believe an age limit would apply. According to your argument, a mid-30's adult is incapable of being so well established as to not enjoy time online without becoming a burden on society? I find that to be extremely appalling! I am a full-time employee, go to college working on my masters, a full-time father who is very engaged in my sons' various activities such as karate and swimming and still find time to enjoy a few games of diplomacy online and read some of the crazy banter that this forum comes up with. I don't see how age should have anything to do with it!

I think what you wanted to say was "being at a point in one's maturity development where responsible use of time can be accurately decided and divided according to priority." That isn't necessarily at a particular age but is instead different with each individual. Some people mature in the 20s and others don't until they reach 50+ while still others never truly do.

How are you guys so retarded? College employment is low because they have to study and learn, for Christ's sake, and because the jobs which don't require skills (read: the only jobs that are available to all but a handful of them who got internships for inexperienced teenagers) are taken up. Don't make stupid generalizations about our generation.

Gunfighter hit the nail on the head. "A lot, judging by the immature comments on a lot of threads."

We see an avalanche of immature comments from the usual suspects.
"We are not all Stupid little brats like you think."
(I can't find any posts that called anyone stupid or brats, but if the shoe fits)
"The Internet should be reserved only for those who are 40+ years of age"
(Irrationality is all Hugo can muster as usual)
"we'd probably be better off just killing the poor for no trying hard enough"
(More from the quack Hugo)

Nice job you two.

Hey cunt for you information I know a multitude of people out of college who are working their asses off looking for jobs and getting nowhere. They will probably die young of chronic stress as a result - their parents offer to take them in for a few seasons but they refuse out of pride.

Stop generalizing people you don't even know. Plenty of college-aged people have mountains of debt and no job prospects because of the economy and because of the fucked up higher education system. Are they to blame for that? No. Some do the dishonorable thing and run home again and never attempt to re-enter the workforce, but even that is not unreasonable - once you have been unemployed for two years out of college looking for jobs that don't require work experience in the field (GOOD FUCKING LUCK), once it has been two years and the jobs appear again, the companies will hire the fresh out of college ones, not the ones who have been unemployed for two years.

The current generation of college grads got boned by chance and nothing more. You can't chalk everything up to human effort and willpower - it's an ancient fallacy to ignore random inhuman chance.

I count myself lucky that there is even a little hope that the economy will recover by the time I exit school - I don't count myself lucky in terms of how much money I will pay in tuition and thus student loans, but it is what it is. I will do the work that is necessary.

Also what is the with the title of the thread?

Yonni, I'm a burden on no one except the lazy and shiftless who I cut no slack.
No doubt in my mind that I paid more in taxes last quarter than you made all of last year.
Like I used to tell the kids "we are not equals."
Until you pay all of your own bills you are a burden.
As long as you take one red cent from the government you are a burden.
My point is that all young people are a burden and they can't help it.
Today's generation of young people seems to embrace the status as if it is there right to be a burden on whoever they choose.

The vehement reaction to having this pointed out in a game site's online forum is case in point.
The younger generation "embraces being a burden, demands no one point out that young people embrace being a burden, and refuse to confront the reality that they are a burden on their parents or society."

The youth of today simply can't be bothered with growing up and taking responsibility for their own lives.
It would cut into their online game time.

Are you fucking kidding me Tettleton do you even know more young people than your own children assuming you have them?

there are plenty of lazy youth, I grant you this, but there are just as many who do everything they can to become independent as soon as possible - and many become independent even before it is advisable, living in what it technically considered poverty solely for this purpose.

But I wouldn't have expected you to know that, being ignorant.

Maybe if your generation hadn't destroyed the country being a bunch of spoiled entitled pricks then my generation wouldn't be so screwed over.

Good job not addressing the fact that unemployment numbers for college grads are at 43% right now. Curtains.

Excuse me Eden, but I know of a secret country that acts as a safe haven from the ruins of America. Interested in joining?

Tettleton, your generalization is as accurate as me calling you a pot-smoking hippie. It's obviously not true.

I was an undergraduate this time last year, now I work at a mining corp and maritime simulator doing very challenging, high-level work (and enjoying it), usually working 6 days/week (though I've had a couple of 12 workday fortnights over the last couple of months).
I work harder than most of the people there, but I see no correlation whatsoever between hard work and age (it's more to do with personality, in my experience)

I paid back some of my student loans with summer jobs at first, then it became too much to do both (plus webDiplomacy) so I went on HECS like most.

But giving someone an interest free (inflation-adjusted) loan to get a better education when we have such a shortage of skilled labor is a no brainer to me, both then and now, as an investment and as a social leveler, as long as the right courses are incentivized. (And 4-8% of my salary goes to paying it back)

Well said kestasjk.

Also, TC, in response to:
"No doubt in my mind that I paid more in taxes last quarter than you made all of last year"
Yeah, that's true. Grad students don't make much at all. But, if I make more next year than TC did when he was 25 does that make a better harder-working member of society? Am I suddenly and magically transformed to a competent adult?

>Why would students spend their summers playing games and posting all day instead of working?
>The answer of course is they count on mommy or daddy if they are in high school to pay for everything in the fall so why work in the summer.
P.S. I wrote most of the code you're looking at during those summer breaks, and the lessons it taught me make me more productive at work every day.

I will also say that according to google analytics this site takes a substantial hit around holidays/weekends, and booms back into life on working weekdays. Make of that what you will.

TC, I really do hope that you keep making moronic sweeping statements, bitching and moaning about the young, and generally being an ignorant, cranky old fool
Really

The more you do this, the less it validates your batshit arguments

Youre not changing any minds using this method of argument, so either get off your high horse and quit laying into the youth or just fuck off

Just because you're older than some people here doesn't mean that you're in any position of authority or that you should be respected
Respect is something you haven't earned

TC: "I'm a burden on no one except the lazy and shiftless who I cut no slack."

Whom, dear Tettleton, whom.

I am proud to announce that I am one of those lazy bummed youth you are talking about :)

Well, I can say this at least. While I'd like to see the young people out working if they had an opportunity, given the state of the economy and all, I'd rather have these young'uns living at home versus on the street or purely on welfare. Besides, if they're playing here which is at least something that makes them think and learn, makes them expand their minds and discuss current news here in these forums with others, then at least they're not in all the other very potential negative alternatives such as gang and/or criminal activity, etc.

FirstApple make a great point

I've always tried to encourage my sons into activities that can expand their minds, and I feel as though it certainly did them good and kept them out of trouble.... or at least gave them the strategic knowledge to know how not to get caught

This article is a waste of time. I can't believe this line of argument is even given a second thought by anyone with an inkling of reason. TC get a grip and man up because the only thing sadder than a lazy son is an adult man crying over how hard he works in comparison to everyone else.

or as my old man used to say when he'd hear anyone bitching... "Good workers don't complain or look behind them, they don't have time to. They move forward until the job is done and don't mind doing more than their share because that is what being the best means."

I don't usually log into webdip in order to call somebody a twat


But when I do, it's because of Tettleton's Chew