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Comment by marcus_holmes | Hacker News Reader

Actually my parents' generation had it even easier. For example, baby boomer university students in the UK paid no tuition fees and were paid a grant by the government to go to University. When I went to uni that grant was changed to a loan. Now there's tuition fees on top.

Same for unemployment benefits. Stories from the 60's and 70's show British counterculture surviving pretty well on benefits. When I did a 6-month stint of unemployment in 1990 it was still possible - the state paid my rent and enough money to feed myself and buy cigarettes and a few beers. Now it's a brutally harsh life on benefits.

I know that's only examples of state handouts, but it's an indication of attitudes. Again, when did we get so convinced that life had to be so tough?

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When the middle class has it hard, they become less sympathetic. I think Thalia made a series of poor financial decisions, but there still needs to be some kind of safety net.

Middle class? That actually still exists in the US?

I'm pretty sure the divide is now razor thin: either you're pretty rich, or poor...

I'm in the US, as were my parents, and theirs. Perhaps we're also talking about two different things: me about work; you about education.

To my recollection, it's always been the case that the first few years of employment after education come with harshness due to lack of experience. Maybe you had to live with parents for a couple of years. Maybe you had to use a friend's couch for awhile. Maybe you had to work a menial job for a bit. Just because one has graduated with a degree doesn't automatically entitle them to the nice apartment overlooking the beach and a sip of a expensive bourbon every night.

I suppose in my corner of society, things are indeed better with each generation. (I'm nearly certain we've never had a safety net quite like you describe in the UK in the 60s and 70s.) It's not that "it has to be tough" it's just that "it's never going to be easy." And without some perspective, "easy" is not so objective.

I agree, I look back on what I did as a couple of years of harshness, character-building stuff that made me the man I am today, etc, etc.

That's not the same as what we're hearing from the millenials. We can choose to write that off as the whinging of an "entitled" generation. Or we can choose to listen to them and compare their stories to ours.

Talia made some mistakes. That's what your 20's are all about. But she's working a full-time job and is unable to eat properly. I don't think that's acceptable.

By writing her off as an entitled whinger I think we're putting our hands over our ears, going "lalalalalala" and ignoring a real problem in our society.

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