Always amuses me when older people completely ignore the fact the same was going on in their youth and if anything it was their generation that, if not started, perpetuated this way of thinking and raised the kids they hate to be spoiled and self-entitled :lol:

Edited by davide82: 31/5/2016 12:47:56 PM

:lol: I can't talk, I'm only 26. Hence why I put the statement in blue.

Thanks old people though, I get lumped into a generation of people who are fucking useless. Sadly I know far too many people who fit into the category of perpetually needing to sort their life out.

Ah yes the "it's old peoples fault I don't take interest in poltics or vote" ruse. The reason why young people are disenchanted with politics is because they'd rather be on their smartphone scrolling through their latest Facebook status updates or watching youtube vids of dogs chasing their tails than reading the newspaper. Social media has corresponded with a tragic decline in the quality of debate. It has it's advantages too , like bringing important social issues to the fore and proliferating those issues into a five second sound bite that is easily accessible and digestible, but important issues like economy, jobs, growth have been ignored people because they are simply too complex and time consuming for young people to bother with. Ask most people under 30 and most won't have a clue what GDP or deficit means, but they will all have strong opinions regarding refugees and same sex marriage. It's ignorance, technology, apathy and social esteem that drives support for the greens among Australia's youth cohort.

Ha ha I'm older than you. I wasn't even referring to you in particular it's just something that I always find hilarious when someone says "the trouble with your generation".

Your second line is the point. You are apparently a hard worker and someone with ambition yet you get lumped in with video game playing ne'er-do-wells coz they are 'roughly' the same age as you while the older person complaining about "your generation" has peers who are just as useless as the kids

Ugh. I've lost my train of thought but you get the point hopefully aha

Raw IQ & brain size peaks at age 25

Recent cognitive research found that as you age, you become less capable of learning new things or adapting to new processes


Edited by Murdoch Rags Ltd: 31/5/2016 01:33:06 PM

Given the young kids I see around and the sort of shit they do, I maintain that I was never that much of a waste of organs :lol:

BETH FC, one thing you will learn as you get older is that the older generation are ALWAYS critical of the younger generation, no matter what era.

Complaining about "the youth of today" is as old as time itself!

Out of interest, why are you staunchly anti-union?

Are you against unions on principle, or because of the corruption among the likes of the CFMEU?

I just view unions like any large, institutional bureaucracy - ultimately they do serve a purpose, so they need to exist.

But they can be prone to corruption, and power hungry people exploiting the institution for their own benefit.

That explains the like of Di Naively, Bandt and Dudlam then. :lol:

We had a union rep at our workplace recently. The main selling point of his pitch was that as union members we gain access to the union shopper and can claim substantial discounts on refrigerators and air conditioners. I don't think anyone signed up.

Working with the construction industry I've seen them extort principal Clients/Contractors just because they can. They have all the power. Generally the bigger the site, the bigger the union representation.

An example is the Private Hospital in Southport on the Gold Coast. The principal contractor constantly had to deal with strikes over working conditions and safety which were first class. They paid the company I work for a lot of money to assess geotechnical safety concerns that 75% of companies would just ignore. Their sub-contractors would stop work over the smallest of details. It was extortion plain and simple.

Another example is the public hospital in Logan, Brisbane. There I was not permitted to speak to my Client without union representation over safety issues. Legally it's ridiculous. Legally I am not permitted to even speak to a union rep about something my client is paying for without written consent. On two occasions I distinctly remember getting a dressing down for not first reporting to the union rep. It's not how the industry should run.

Unions do serve a purpose but they wield way too much power to the point where construction companies have to pander to their needs. All it does in increase the cost of the project and most of the time there really is no need for it.

To qualify, I should probably state that I'm staunchly against the CFMEU.

Edited by bethfc: 31/5/2016 02:06:36 PM

living in the usa and seeing the conditions of the working poor made me staunchly pro union
I'm sure they are annoying but gee they make a difference

Ah ok - yeah sounds like you are more against construction industry unions, than unions per se. Fair enough too.

Well that sounds like a poor selling technique. I work in an office environment and I think we are screaming out for union representation, but we don't have any because the industry is non-unionised.

Not in regards to pay, we would all be well above award levels. But when it comes to conditions, the amount of unpaid overtime people are expected to do is crazy, there are huge wage disparities between people doing essentially the exact same job, there are hugely unreasonable timeframes on work which causes huge psychological pressures.

Ironically, it is white collar jobs where there is the most pressure on people, and where union representation is most lacking, yet most needed.

Because GDP and deficits isn't an issue for them in daily life.

If you're a Gen Y lesbian however and you want to legally marry your girlfriend and something like pressing Like on a Facebook posts empowers then that's how they feel.

Either way we are both heavily generalising the younger generation and I never said "it's old peoples fault I don't take interest in poltics or vote", that's something you seem to parrot alot all on your own.

-PB

Agreed.

I hate being lumped into the same generation as millenials lol.

The social media generation is totally fucking lost.

-PB

Have you tried negotiating with your employer regarding improved conditions? I know easier said than done but most people just acquiesce to their employers rather than demanding a better deal. What about standing up for your rights regarding overtime, isn't it law to pay overtime to staff who work more than 40+ hours?

They take inspiration from UniLad and ThugLife...is it surprising for you .

Mate, I work for a large corporate. They give exactly zero f**ks about their staff. We are salaried, not paid by the hour.

Of course you can just do the 9-5, no one will physically intervene. But see what happens if you ever want career advancement/pay rises etc.

I could "stand up for my rights". That just means I'll never move beyond my current role, and potentially be managed out of the business at some point in future if I develop a reputation as a "trouble maker".

It's the culture of the company that is the problem. That is why unions are necessary - an individual can do very little to force cultural change at an organisational level.

And I get that I have got first world problems. I am sufficiently skilled that I could move elsewhere - I am not a car factory worker who is screwed when the one car factory in town closes.

But the culture is similar across many big firms - it drives me nuts that these big companies squeeze out so much free labour from their staff.

Ultimately, it is not a matter of acquiescing to your employer, it is an issue of an imbalance of power between an individual employee and a large faceless bureaucracy.

I was having a debate just the other night about where you would choose to draw the line between generations
I am just over 34 now. Some people say I'm end of Gen X some start of Gen Y or some crap
I don't know or care really but my point is I decided (aha) that the biggest shift that has obviously happened in my life time has been access to internet/easy access to internet

I remember being in year 11/12 and a handful of people I knew went on chat rooms and we shared folders of pixelated naked women etc and I was getting lessons how to use Altavista in computer class and the numnbers 486 meant something speacial aha

Anyway, my call was if anyone had access to internet when they STARTED high school, in those formative years then you are a generation below me

I guess you can pick any age but I reckon that's where I would draw the line of one generation.

You could probably have a next one again just for portable internet like smartphones which is an even bigger shift I think.

Someone can tie that all together and come up with a coherent thought/post coz I can't be bothered

I started to reply but realised you basically summed up what I was going to say re salary jobs (I'm an accountant) and the hours you need to work to get ahead etc

I'm surprised you didn't realise this Rusty.......

I understand that confronting your employer can put in jeopardy your prospects of promotion, if that's what your gunning for, employers know this and use it to squeeze out free labour. Ultimately its your decision whether you submit yourself to those conditions or not, in the end it might pay off with a promotion.

I'm not sure what unionising the white collar workforce will achieve. Won't employers just promote outside Union membership, in order to dissuade staff from joining unions?

Anecdotal, make of it what you will:

My good friend works for transport compliance (QLD Government). They have a union that negotiates pay etc. The problem with their set up is that if you're not in the union, you get nothing. My mate is not permitted to negotiate his own employment terms.

This concerns me. I get that the department want a single negotiation rather than 20 or 30 or more, but where's the alternative?

The other issue I have with unions (and we saw it with teachers 3 or 4 years ago) was that they could if they wanted to throw everything into chaos and strike. That screws over the principal. However, firing these days is so unbelievably difficult. In my opinion there's no trade off. You have to give people 3 warnings and what not. Where is the balance? This might be a simplistic view but I have an issue with any side extorting employees or the principal. Most industries appear to lack balance.

congratulations, you're a racist, sexist bigot who supports cronyism and corruption... everything you hate Murdoch for!!!!

Didn't you used to work for Telstra rusty?

-PB

Not directly for

Lol now Sarah Hansen-Young stumbles on super discussions.

-PB

Due to the asinine logic of moderators, a post about health needs to go in the politics thread
FMD :lol:

Maybe I should have made the study reference just the opening post & a post a follow up comment, to accomodate simpletons like yourself

Much better!...now you and The Conservative can post as many politics topics/articles as you want here....
You can rant all you want here ...that's what a thread is for.
Enjoy!:lol: