Like I have been really thinking about how it was to live in the 90's within the larger arc of 20th-21st century America as an upper middle class white kid. I remember the absolute extreme pressure to perform in school, extra curriculars, socially, etc... Like everything was approached with this intensity that revealed the undelying insanity that none of the problems were going to be fixed "But you are the future and you will fix them! YOU NEED TO FIX THEM."
Like I remember in middle school the herded us into the auditorium at our local community college to give us a lecture on the importance of education and getting a college degree. They had a whole section at the time on how costs were outpacing inflation and it was "important to save now!" in order to afford it because without college there were no good jobs. I remember thinking as a kid like why not make it cheaper then?
While there was this intense pressure to make sure "the children succeed!" There was an equal and opposite refusal to expend any kind of resources to make anything even remotely better. Like it was almost as is society at large was actively (now I know it was, though like all things in capital it's a drive without a guiding mind) uprooting and with holding resources to ensure failure of young people.
Like I don't know where I am going with this, it's just stunning the level of insanity that people have lived with for so long. Like people knew we were heading for a cliff at least as early as the 90's when the Democrats finally took the wheel in the "Lets strip the copper wiring out of this New Deal!" bandwagon. And yet nothing was done.
I wasn't told that that I would be part of the generation to fix anything, I was in fact told that everything is and would be fine forever (it was the end of history, after all), and that things would only get harder once I entered college and/or the workforce and that it was a good thing, actually.
Come to think of it, it was really weird how my middle school principal just stopped midway during his speech to look directly at me and say "9/11 will never happen", but I chalked it up to adults being adults.
and that you had a college fund and if you didn’t go to college, then you’re one of the ones holding your people back
my racist brother always points out that black people have zero excuse for succeeding because "they can get into any university for free" which is just
lol
All of our development as a nation was into a profoundly unhappy and dysfunctional parking lot.
I guess you can grow up well off, be likely to find a stable job, and be destined to a life of consumption and unhappiness. That is unless you are ND, disabled, or actually need other support systems
You can grow up poor and have to work your ass off to do anything, and also be unhappy. The bougie fuckers are the ones getting most of the goodies and living it up
Cool cool, greatest country on earth
only the bourgeoisie are allowed to do anything meaningful in our lives
Where did neoliberalism begin, the 80's or the 90's? I forget. The 90's were good to our family from what I remember. Maybe it was due to where I grew up but I didn't feel those pressures you're talking about. Like I had to do good in school for my own sake, but college was this far off thing I remember not caring all that much about.
The turn started in the late 70's with Carter, but was kicked into overdrive by the Regan Admin. Most people forget how anti-worker and pro-market Carter was because he is just seen as a joke.
Maybe it's my class position or something, but there was this extreme pressure to get good grades and pass all the stupid standardized tests. Like I must have sat through so many fucking PSAT and SAT prep classes.
The turn started in the late 70’s with Carter, but was kicked into overdrive by the Regan Admin. Most people forget how anti-worker and pro-market Carter was because he is just seen as a joke.
Ahh, so that's it. My mom used to love Carter and she couldn't understand why I didn't like him. Bless her though, she didn't know any better.
Maybe it’s my class position or something, but there was this extreme pressure to get good grades and pass all the stupid standardized tests. Like I must have sat through so many fucking PSAT and SAT prep classes.
Very well might be. Oh I bombed the math portion of my SAT lol, didn't take a single class on it at all. Still got into college though!
does anyone here remember the analogies? I think they took those off sometime in 2007 or something, but I still remember seeing them before I actually took it.
