Australia

You have to be much more deluded though. Its really the first generation where those things became unobtainable and it makes a big difference on if you are an older one or a younger one. The boomers and the silent generation were lucky in that for them things got by and large better throughout their lives. The silent generation though at least grew up with hard times so had an appreciation of it. What gets me with boomers is they grew up with their parents and grandparents saying they are lucky and have it good as it was so much worse (for the parents/grandparents) and as they got older they felt it was their right to sorta pass on that wisdom but in their case it simply was not so. Their kids had it worse than them. Overall decline started early in the 70's but was so gradual at first it was not very visible vs short term trends until the eighties but even then some short term stuff was good right up to 2000. So the boomers did not really have to deal with any very bad stuff till they had lived most of their life and amassed plenty to weather. Still they are sorta screwed compared to the silent generation as the silent generation were completely retired by the time the decline was innescabable and because they knew bad times in their youth they were very careful with their money. Boomers on the other hand having had it good for all of their experience squandered a lot and went into retirement inadequately prepared for bad times. Back to Xers we definately had the fantasy growing up that humanity would advance and technology and such would make it better. Sure there was dystopic and utopic visions but lets face it, most folks are inclined to think in the end we will go utopic. Xers were early enough to have college be barely affordable but doable and get careers going but most should see how it takes an incredible amount of success to have a very modest lifestye. Its the generation that started to not have kids and such but again it really depends on when. If I was a few years older or if I had gone into more of a money major than a passion major or just gotten my career going faster by bootstrapping with an associates; well then I might have had children. Im sorta lucky that by the time having kids was something to think about I could see the economic situation would not fly which makes me so happy given the environmental situation. But all the same, yeah, some very successful Xers about my age that I know have the attitude that its no worse for younger people than it was for them and that other Xers just did not apply themselves and that is the same for younger ones. Many got that way through dumb luck or just being a jerk (this is a whole nother level as many jerks don't realize that they are jerks. They think the folks they are mean to do have gumption or whatever and they do. Case in point is an insurance adjuster I went to college with). Some legitimately got were they are from ability or hard work or a combination of the two. I find though that folks in the last group are aware of how much better it was before them and how much worse it is after and that its getting worse and there is not indication that direction is changing. Currently I would love to have turned 15 or 16 in 1973. That was when they got rid of the draft so it would get rid of that as a source of stress in high school and although its the beginning of the decline again it was so slow there would be plenty of time to establish a career but also its late enough to see the really great computer stuff. Preferably even be a CS major.