http://www.theledger.com/business/business/04summ.htm

"Growing numbers of teen-agers are spending their summers in school or hanging out at the pool or mall instead of flipping burgers, mowing yards or even looking for a job. This summer, economists expect the rate of teens who shun summer jobs to hit an all-time high."

sure, but there are less jobs around as well: http://www.edweek.org/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=41jobs.h21

Yeahy my lil bro calls me sometimes and complains about working 50 hour weeks, I cant wait till he turns 18 so I can tell him what I do.

:winkwink:

46 percent of teens were in the work force in May this year.

There may not be any statisics for when I was a kid, but in my area when I was a kid, my guess would be that 98% of 10 year olds and up worked either at a job, or had assigned chores to do on the farm, as it was a rural area. The fact is they were kept busy and did not have alot of idle time to get into mischief.

Every day I am thankful for the sixties... they had it right back then.... SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK N ROLL...

Pathfinder, you can take your things were better back in the "good old days" and shove it up your arse. I guess I really shouldn't expect anything else from someone who has chosen a life of conformity. Fighting wars for "the man" - willing and eager fresh meat for the system, saluting your superiors and never questoning orders. I guess buying into the bullshit must have been easier when there was no opposing views... when anyone with a different opinion was a communist or un-American and virtually run out of town.... or at least out of their profession.

I don't buy this crap for a second. They still lynched negroes in the thirties and they still had blacks riding in the back of the bus in the fifties... It was the sixties and the civil rights awakening that helped put a stop to this shit.

You can have "the good old days".... I'm glad they're gone.

I don't know what your age is but that sounds like a typical response of some one that is young and is from a spoiled, give me, hedonistic generation.

Some things were better in the "good old days" some things were not.

Have you ever heard of Duty, Honor, Country? Once again I do not know your age, but the current generation does not seem to be familiar with, let alone practice, any of the above.

The government makes mistakes (ultimately it is the people of the country that make the mistakes, as it is they that put the politicians in their positions) and the McArthy era was a disgraceful period of time.

As stated some things were better and some things were not.

Once again I do not know your age, but I seriously doubt that you were alive in the thirties, forties, or fifties, so you cannot speak to "the good old days" as you did not live them. I did.

While it is true that I spent a major portion of my life in a system that requires conformity and obedience of orders, within that system, I was considered to be by many, quite the non-comformist and I was lucky to be allowed to put in my thirty years.

I entered the Army at a young age, was almost immediately sent to fight a war. Even though war is a horrible experience I liked being a soldier, for more reasons than I care to go into, and I am sure for reasons that you wouldn't understand.

I took an oath as well as "the man's" money to kill whoever "the man" (the President) pointed me at. It was my chosen profession and it is what "the man" paid me to do and I became quite good at my profession.

Killing people because the government told you... brainwashed with that "duty, honor, country" bullshit. Jesus Christ... "the man" really did have his fat dick stuck right down your throat, didn't he? You probably would have killed women and children too if you'd been ordered too I'm sure.

To be honest, I'm quite amazed that you feel killing is something worth bragging about. You were a very tiny pawn in a very big game run by the rich and powerful and all you were doing is serving their interests.

And no, I was born in 1970 so I didn't live in the "Good old days" but I've heard enough about them to be glad I didn't. I'm grateful I grew up in an era when thinking for yourself was possible and not considered as something subversive.

You cant be serious. I am assuming this means the 80s and the 90s as you probably werent such a free thinking 9 year old.

Free thinking? the PC backlash of the late 80s and all through the 90s kept me from opening my mouth alot. As it did a good majority of this country. And it still does.

The only difference between then and now is the lefties now control what you can and cannot say.

Well compared to Pathfinder's
"Good old days" of the 1930's at least.

While I have not killed any women or children up close and personal, I certainly have been responsible for their deaths. War is criminal by nature and civilians are unintentionally killed and sometimes intentionally targeted, it is part of war. War is a dirty affair.

Not bragging, stating a fact, and I am only one of tens of millions that have performed the same job.

We had sixteen million people in uniform during the Second World War alone. My father served as a combatant from New Guiene (spelling) to the battle of Manila. If he and others like him had not served you may not ever have had life.

I was not serving "their interests", I was serving my interests as I chose to be a soldier.

The McArthy years were short lived, if that is what you are referring to. I have always thought for myself and usually out of the box.

Does "Have you ever heard of Duty, Honor, Country? " ring a bell?

Out of the box? Sounds like "the man" was doing your thinking for you.

You don't get it. It was my choice, my thinking. I was not forced to be a soldier. Made the decision all on my own. Having made that decision and having taken the OATH, the above follows.

In addition; to choose to be a professional soldier is actually thinking out of the box, because the percentage that make this choice is a very, very small percentage of the population, way less than 1%. On top of that when I was on active duty even among soldiers it was only about 10-15% that chose to be professionals. The figure is higher now but has been on the decline from its highest point.

Some people actually do believe in serving their country.

Some people like the country they live in. Some people consider it an honor to fight for their country.

You listen to too much Rage Against the Machine.

And just because they want to serve their country, does not mean they are brainwashed automatons and incapapable of thinking for themselves. Everyone who joins the military does not have an M16 put in their hands, and the odds of you actually seeing combat while in the military now is slim to none.

Its not even that easy to join the military anymore.

"Serving their country"... you make it sound so honorable. But who exactly are they serving? I've never met a soldier, including my older brother, who has been able to cut through the bullshit and the propaganda to see that the only "serving" they're doing is serving the gutless politicans and the oil companies or whoever the fuck it is that has vested interests in whatever war is being fought.

The machine always needs fresh meat. And as long as they keep filling the heads of the largely ignorant idealistic young males with dreams of heroism and crap like "duty, honor, country" (or "God, Queen and Country") they'll never run out...

I take it back. Perhaps too much Noam Chomsky.

Oil wars and gutless politicians. The only oil war I can think of off hand is the Gulf War. I dont think anyone will dispute that. But how many people died in that "war". 36?

Regardless, you make it sound like this government behemoth is eating up our nations young to fuel some gigantic war machine, when it just isnt happening. Where is this oil war? Afghanistan? Cmon, this isnt a war, its an occupation.

The last great war we had would probably be considered Vietnam, and as far as I know, that wasnt a corporate oil war neither. Nor were any of the great wars for us previous.

Perhaps soldiers now dont see the point in serving, I think most people see the military now as giant vo-tech school when they enter it.

When my grandfathers were fighting in Europe and the South Pacific, they were doing so for a legitimate cause. Facism was threatening Europe and Japan had attacked US. They were legitimate threats to the security of the United States, and my grandfathers felt pride and felt duty bound to fight for the country that had taken in my great great grandparents. It was not pointless, nor were they part of some giant government expansionist war machine.

Same goes for WW1, same goes for the Civil War, and same goes for the Revolutionary War. They had a purpose and people felt pride in serving their country.
Make sense?

It is.

Look in the mirror, and every other American citizen that is of voting age, and you will see who is responsible for putting these "gutless politicians" in office.

Many people think that it is the monied people that put them in office an keep them there. This is BS. The excercise of the power of the people, or the lack there of, is resposible for our Politcians.

Politicians like to win elections and I gaurantee you that if the people excercise their power, they will tell the monied people to kiss their ass and abide by the will of the people.

Unfortunately the polls show that the average American seldom watches the news on TV, seldom reads a news paper, or a book of import. Now how many people do you think even know the name of their congressman, let alone ever send a letter, make a phone call, or send an E-mail?

Do you drive a car, ride in a cab, ride on a bus, use a train, fly on a plane. Gee...I wonder if you are willing to give up these means of transportation. Does oil mean something to you now?

I am happy as hell someone had a vested interest in engaging in war with the Japanese and the Germans. I understand that both lanquages are difficult to learn.


Tell you what...how about if we just fire the military tomorrow. Which country will be the first to take our asses over, including yours.

Or maybe on second thought, maybe supplying the "fresh meat" may not be such a bad idea after all, and just maybe your older brother is smarter then you seem to think you are. Maybe he has some understanding of the real world, and possibly even some understanding about "Duty, Honor, Country."

Come on now tell me what you really think? Should we just fire the military tomorrow?

yup, misread.

I think you may need to re-read the post [Labret], concerning the brother.

Asolutely NOT. We need to clean up the gene pool somehow and putting monkeys in uniform and sending them off to fight pointless wars like Vietnam is a good step in the right direction.

Well you have just insulted every vetran in this country that has served in uniform including the more than three million that served in Vietnam, not to mention the hundreds of thousands that have died. I served three tours in Vietnam myself as a combatant and lost many good friends and saw many more good men die. It enrages me to hear you call them monkeys.

You better hope that none of the vetrans discover your identity and live near by.

You are a disgrace.

Wait, this kid isnt even an American?

Wow.

Spoken like a true lefty. When backed into a corner, the true colors will shine.

Something I'm extremely grateful for.

AHAHAHA

Where you from kid?

This is gonna get good.

Firstly, I'm not a kid so you can shove that patronising bullshit where the sun don't shine.

Secondly, I'm Australian.

So when does it get good?

I have served side by side with Australian soldiers when the chips were down and they were all good men. I have liked every Australian that I have ever personally met.

You are a disgrace to Australia and its good men. If I met you I would have to control myself, or I would end up disliking you with extreme prejudice.

You warmongers are a violent lot, aren't you? The army does tend to attract the Neandethal types.

I gave you the benefit of doubt by responding to your posts, I now feel the fool for doing so.

No more soup for you. Next.

This coming from a nation whos ancestors were all inmates of one giant penal colony and responsible for one of the most thorough genocides in recent history (tazmanians).

Yeah, lovely lot down under.

You're obviously quite ignorant of Australian history.

Errors with your post:

1. Very few Australians have any sort of convict ancestry. Most are descended from either European free settlers during the 19th century or from immigrants during various waves of immigration during the 20th century.

2. Australia wasn't a country until 1901 so there were no "Australians" before then. It was the English that massacred the aborigines.

3. It is spelt Tasmania.

Also, you seem to forget that North America was a dumping ground for English criminals as well so I'm not quite sure what it is you are implying.

If this is where it's supposed to get good I must say I'm disappointed. I expected something a little better than that uninformed nonsense.

A lefie is a leftie is a leftie...
Doesnt matter their nationality ,age colour or gender ...
Always the same old song . They are good , the rest of us are evil , they are smart , the rest of us are stupid ,they are well informed , the rest of us are ignorant.

Why argue with this guy ? We should just listen and learn.

All hail Pope Joe sixpack the first...

Either you speak from experience, or ignorance. Which is it?

I consider myself a pretty severe liberal. I consider this Joe Sixpack a fuckwit. Not only does he go waaay overboard, but he makes us lefties look bad.

trying to get back to the original topic, I do not believe kids today are any worse, better or different than they have ever been.

while some arian poster child spouting "s'up nigga" is shocking, it's no less shocking than greeting an elder with the phrase "hey daddy-o" was fifty years ago.

elements of times past may seem appealing but guess what? WE CAN'T GO BACK.

i agree that there's some awful kids out there as there are awful adults but i defy you to find a time in human history when this was not true.

the difference today comes from the progression of human technology and socialization. we can kill faster, communicate faster and the mysteries of our existance are diminishing every day.

what is one saying when they suggest that the past was a preferable time to live? it can't be done.

i don't have a fatalistic view of the future. i think the kids are just fine and that humans have always been potentially dangerous creatures. that little wigga kid that inspired this thread will probably grow up to regret a lot of things he did in the PAST.

was he ridiculous? of course. is this the end of civilization as we know it? i doubt it.

I do not accept your premise. A society is not static. A society is dynamic. The planet we live on is dynamic. So there is always change, either for the better or for the worse.

I have been on this earth for seven decades and each decade the children of that decade are different than the previous decade because as I have stated we live in a dynamic society on a dynamic planet.

I don't accept the second of your premises. Change may be an intrinsic property of society, the planet, and reality itself, but "worse" and "better" are just arbitrary distinctions we foist upon change according to our social and psychological conditioning, not an intrinsic property of change itself.

Of course the terms are arbitrary distinctions and are freely applied by each generation based upon the generational perspective so the "premise" is applicable in real life terms.

hehe I'll say...

I remember when me and my siblings acted up in church and our parents didn't catch us, the people sitting behind us would smack us upside the head.

And then we'd get a beaten from our parents when we got home just to reinforce it.