Another part of the competency crisis that I think is very fair to put onto boomers is the purposeful refusal to train or pass on skills. You could say this is part of credentialism (get your Ivy League Degree Kiddo then we can talk) but I really think it is it's own thing. The Fiction of the Baby boomer who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps as a self-made man (See Silverspoon Trust fund kids like George W Bush who made such claims) has created the expectation among them that the next generation will also do like wise all the while they refuse to pass on skills or train the eventual replacements so that they can protect their own position which they have stayed in far too long. As it turns out while to some degree you can learn things yourself some things really should be taught by someone who already knows it. You don't want the self taught guy who managed to vaguely understand how the jet engines he maintenances work keeping your planes in the air, having someone who actually knows and has a developed skill set to train them is paramount unless you enjoy randomly critical failures. The complete offloading of all responsibility to train people and help them develop their skills to institutions was always going to cause a disaster and to be fair I heard people saying this decades ago as well.
Amen brother. I switched to a skilled trade a few years ago and it's amazing how the old men will 1. Hire you as a trainee. 2. Tell you to your face that no one wants to learn this job. 3. Constantly brag about how early they started or how long they've been doing it. And 4. Tell you you're doing it wrong. All in one day.
I usually find when someone says "No one wants to do this job" It really means "I don't want to train anyone to do this job and there isn't tons of applicants who already have fully developed skills"
I can vouch for this in my personal life. I had an older relative who was a hobby mechanic but did not want to put in the effort to pass the skills down. His idea of training was having you watch what he was doing anyway, without explaining anything. I tried to explain to him that someone needs hands-on experience to learn what's going on, but he couldn't be bothered. He even refused to tell me when he was working on stuff. The whole concept of putting in effort to pass on a skill to the next generation was completely foreign to him.
I got past it by wrenching on my own, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to what I could have learned from him, had he wanted to teach. By the time I was an adult and had money to spend, I had stopped caring about cars, and we had basically nothing in common. The generational divide isn't just a bunch of teenagers shouting "OK, boomer", it is also the active refusal or neglect of the older generation to pass on their skills to interested parties. You can't bootstrap your way into motivating a teacher with no desire to teach. Boomers are just Zoomers with better pop culture.
I'm a boomer. I knew other skilled people who would have loved to train the younger workers. However, management had NO plans on how to pass on the learned skills of those retiring. In the short range, passing on the skills doesn't pay. Before I retired, it was reported that the average employee spends 5 years or less with an employer. Management doesn't want employee's to get too valuable - they get paid more. It is a mess.
When I was in my 20's my grandparents generation despaired of the boomer generation, in a similar way as you expressed in your essay.
You’re right about the average time an employee stays with an employer. I’m on my second half of my 5 years with my company and I’m ready to move on. I’ve learned all I can from him and there is nothing for me to grow to.
I understand! However, the unexpected can happen. I had a rule for myself - always earn the next promotion; learn about and perform as many of the functions at the next level as I could. On more than one occasion, the company generated a brand new position, and promoted me into that position. That was God working, of course! The point is, ask God for guidance, to show you your path forward, whether you stay or whether you find another job.
Boomer retired high school history teacher here, educated before Zinn. I found that most of my students were hungry to go deeper if you could show them how relevant understanding the past is to understanding the present.
I recommend those that have the will to pursue that knowledge now to seek out not only fathers and grandfathers but also local historical societies, archives, and libraries. There are SO many boomer and elder volunteers who are thrilled to share their knowledge and skills with interested young people!
I am a longstanding member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). We are not an old ladies' tea party. Across the nation, millions of DAR members work to research and preserve the history so many would destroy. I currently teach at a Christian residential drug rehab twice a week and most of the students are young men in their early thirties. They have the same hunger for purpose and hope in their future as my high school kids had and I love them for it. They know instinctively that they have been shortchanged. I also work, along with thousands of other DAR members, digitizing everyday primary documents -bills of lading, wills, etc.- building a large (and fascinating) research resource to preserve history. (Fortunately, we are all able to read cursive handwriting). We also promote patriotism in our schools and offer scholarships in most local districts based on student essays. These are only a few examples of our work and there are thousands of other organizations large and small doing the same.
There is a wealth of boomer knowledge to be tapped relating to almost every profession.
I was a divorced single mom and have been able to share this knowledge with my thirty-something sons (an engineer and an MD). They have learned so much through our travels and studies and it shows in the decisions they make.
Avoid the generalized 'boomer' nonsense. You are our much loved children and grandchildren and you will inherit far more than we ever did from our parents. Seek the real wealth of the wisdom they long to share. You are an even larger generation than we were, and you will make hugely impactful mistakes as every generation before you has done. The worst thing you can do is not try.
Older Gen X here. Sadly Gen X and Douglas Coupland and the movie Slacker started a lot of this generational rivalry nonsense. I wish it would stop, I am listening to you guys, and as long as you stay away from pop culture you are cool with me. I wish I had some skillz to share, other than splitting wood, making a fire and knowing how to tie on a fish hook I am as cybered out as any young person, shrug.
They say that children are generally smarter than their parents, not anymore fuck-heads, they have now dumbed the kids down to sill-plate, that be lower than the common keee-grow
Say thank your to USA public education and the homo-pedo agenda.
As a certified zoomer (born post 9/11) with a fully intact family I've definitely noticed the disconnect to the past alot of my peers have. I remember distinctly using one of my grandpa's jokes that requires a very surface level understanding of hamlet and getting a room of blank stares. Or being looked at like a demigod for keeping jumper cables in my car and knowing how to use them. I can go on but these are just things I picked up by interacting with the men in my family.
The incoming brain drain or competency crisis will likely act as a regional sorting mechanism. Those areas that "have their act together" will come through well. Places that have reformed their skilled educating systems, their social contagion, their reliance on purely global systems.
The dangers are almost all high level political actions: a turn towards immigration by the areas that are slipping the most as a solution; the refusal to let go of 60s/70s era SCOTUS and legislation of laws that restrict training (Griggs v Duke Power), restrict political representation (Simms), restrict workplace functioning (1992 CRA), etc.; a continued focus on the FDR/LBJ/GWB post WWII administrative state centered in DC as the locus of action instead of states and localities; and likely more that y'all can add on.
A realignment of national political mission to solving these issues by re-empowering the states and localities while simultaneously dismantling the federal (and with that the global) regulatory legal order is necessary - and has already begun... I wonder if it will come to fruition? Focusing on fixing and moving forward over following the last generations globalized greed and power will be a test of our humanity and love for neighbor.
Another part of the competency crisis that I think is very fair to put onto boomers is the purposeful refusal to train or pass on skills. You could say this is part of credentialism (get your Ivy League Degree Kiddo then we can talk) but I really think it is it's own thing. The Fiction of the Baby boomer who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps as a self-made man (See Silverspoon Trust fund kids like George W Bush who made such claims) has created the expectation among them that the next generation will also do like wise all the while they refuse to pass on skills or train the eventual replacements so that they can protect their own position which they have stayed in far too long. As it turns out while to some degree you can learn things yourself some things really should be taught by someone who already knows it. You don't want the self taught guy who managed to vaguely understand how the jet engines he maintenances work keeping your planes in the air, having someone who actually knows and has a developed skill set to train them is paramount unless you enjoy randomly critical failures. The complete offloading of all responsibility to train people and help them develop their skills to institutions was always going to cause a disaster and to be fair I heard people saying this decades ago as well.
Amen brother. I switched to a skilled trade a few years ago and it's amazing how the old men will 1. Hire you as a trainee. 2. Tell you to your face that no one wants to learn this job. 3. Constantly brag about how early they started or how long they've been doing it. And 4. Tell you you're doing it wrong. All in one day.
I usually find when someone says "No one wants to do this job" It really means "I don't want to train anyone to do this job and there isn't tons of applicants who already have fully developed skills"
I can vouch for this in my personal life. I had an older relative who was a hobby mechanic but did not want to put in the effort to pass the skills down. His idea of training was having you watch what he was doing anyway, without explaining anything. I tried to explain to him that someone needs hands-on experience to learn what's going on, but he couldn't be bothered. He even refused to tell me when he was working on stuff. The whole concept of putting in effort to pass on a skill to the next generation was completely foreign to him.
I got past it by wrenching on my own, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to what I could have learned from him, had he wanted to teach. By the time I was an adult and had money to spend, I had stopped caring about cars, and we had basically nothing in common. The generational divide isn't just a bunch of teenagers shouting "OK, boomer", it is also the active refusal or neglect of the older generation to pass on their skills to interested parties. You can't bootstrap your way into motivating a teacher with no desire to teach. Boomers are just Zoomers with better pop culture.
I'm a boomer. I knew other skilled people who would have loved to train the younger workers. However, management had NO plans on how to pass on the learned skills of those retiring. In the short range, passing on the skills doesn't pay. Before I retired, it was reported that the average employee spends 5 years or less with an employer. Management doesn't want employee's to get too valuable - they get paid more. It is a mess.
When I was in my 20's my grandparents generation despaired of the boomer generation, in a similar way as you expressed in your essay.
You’re right about the average time an employee stays with an employer. I’m on my second half of my 5 years with my company and I’m ready to move on. I’ve learned all I can from him and there is nothing for me to grow to.
I understand! However, the unexpected can happen. I had a rule for myself - always earn the next promotion; learn about and perform as many of the functions at the next level as I could. On more than one occasion, the company generated a brand new position, and promoted me into that position. That was God working, of course! The point is, ask God for guidance, to show you your path forward, whether you stay or whether you find another job.
Boomer retired high school history teacher here, educated before Zinn. I found that most of my students were hungry to go deeper if you could show them how relevant understanding the past is to understanding the present.
I recommend those that have the will to pursue that knowledge now to seek out not only fathers and grandfathers but also local historical societies, archives, and libraries. There are SO many boomer and elder volunteers who are thrilled to share their knowledge and skills with interested young people!
I am a longstanding member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). We are not an old ladies' tea party. Across the nation, millions of DAR members work to research and preserve the history so many would destroy. I currently teach at a Christian residential drug rehab twice a week and most of the students are young men in their early thirties. They have the same hunger for purpose and hope in their future as my high school kids had and I love them for it. They know instinctively that they have been shortchanged. I also work, along with thousands of other DAR members, digitizing everyday primary documents -bills of lading, wills, etc.- building a large (and fascinating) research resource to preserve history. (Fortunately, we are all able to read cursive handwriting). We also promote patriotism in our schools and offer scholarships in most local districts based on student essays. These are only a few examples of our work and there are thousands of other organizations large and small doing the same.
There is a wealth of boomer knowledge to be tapped relating to almost every profession.
I was a divorced single mom and have been able to share this knowledge with my thirty-something sons (an engineer and an MD). They have learned so much through our travels and studies and it shows in the decisions they make.
Avoid the generalized 'boomer' nonsense. You are our much loved children and grandchildren and you will inherit far more than we ever did from our parents. Seek the real wealth of the wisdom they long to share. You are an even larger generation than we were, and you will make hugely impactful mistakes as every generation before you has done. The worst thing you can do is not try.
Older Gen X here. Sadly Gen X and Douglas Coupland and the movie Slacker started a lot of this generational rivalry nonsense. I wish it would stop, I am listening to you guys, and as long as you stay away from pop culture you are cool with me. I wish I had some skillz to share, other than splitting wood, making a fire and knowing how to tie on a fish hook I am as cybered out as any young person, shrug.
I wonder what the history of multigenerational homes looks like in the US.
Great question. Pair it with a question on multigenerational residence in towns.
What will it show? Interesting.
They say that children are generally smarter than their parents, not anymore fuck-heads, they have now dumbed the kids down to sill-plate, that be lower than the common keee-grow
Say thank your to USA public education and the homo-pedo agenda.
As a certified zoomer (born post 9/11) with a fully intact family I've definitely noticed the disconnect to the past alot of my peers have. I remember distinctly using one of my grandpa's jokes that requires a very surface level understanding of hamlet and getting a room of blank stares. Or being looked at like a demigod for keeping jumper cables in my car and knowing how to use them. I can go on but these are just things I picked up by interacting with the men in my family.
Yes much to learn from folks.
The incoming brain drain or competency crisis will likely act as a regional sorting mechanism. Those areas that "have their act together" will come through well. Places that have reformed their skilled educating systems, their social contagion, their reliance on purely global systems.
The dangers are almost all high level political actions: a turn towards immigration by the areas that are slipping the most as a solution; the refusal to let go of 60s/70s era SCOTUS and legislation of laws that restrict training (Griggs v Duke Power), restrict political representation (Simms), restrict workplace functioning (1992 CRA), etc.; a continued focus on the FDR/LBJ/GWB post WWII administrative state centered in DC as the locus of action instead of states and localities; and likely more that y'all can add on.
A realignment of national political mission to solving these issues by re-empowering the states and localities while simultaneously dismantling the federal (and with that the global) regulatory legal order is necessary - and has already begun... I wonder if it will come to fruition? Focusing on fixing and moving forward over following the last generations globalized greed and power will be a test of our humanity and love for neighbor.