False Sense of Entitlement Blues

There is a story in the business section of The New York Times with a headline which reads American Dream Is Elusive for New Generation, which in reading makes makes me want to either scream, or weep.  The story begins this way.

After breakfast, his parents left for their jobs, and Scott Nicholson, alone in the house in this comfortable suburb west of Boston, went to his laptop in the living room. He had placed it on a small table that his mother had used for a vase of flowers until her unemployed son found himself reluctantly stuck at home.

The daily routine seldom varied. Mr. Nicholson, 24, a graduate of Colgate University, winner of a dean’s award for academic excellence, spent his mornings searching corporate Web sites for suitable job openings. When he found one, he mailed off a résumé and cover letter — four or five a week, week after week.

Over the last five months, only one job materialized. After several interviews, the Hanover Insurance Group in nearby Worcester offered to hire him as an associate claims adjuster, at $40,000 a year. But even before the formal offer, Mr. Nicholson had decided not to take the job.

Poor young Mr. Nicholson, diligently hunting for a job, in the cushy comfort of his parent’s home, upon being offered a job, and an opportunity for self-reliance, turns it down.  And why did young Mr. Nicholson turn down the job

Rather than waste early years in dead-end work, he reasoned, he would hold out for a corporate position that would draw on his college training and put him, as he sees it, on the bottom rungs of a career ladder…

“The conversation I’m going to have with my parents now that I’ve turned down this job is more of a concern to me than turning down the job,” he said.

That is not reasoning, my friends, that is an outright spurning of an opportunity for self-reliance due to a false sense of entitlement inculcated through the American education system, which has caused young Mr. Nicholson to worry more about what he is going to tell Mommy and Daddy, rather than how he can pay his own way.

But to what, does The New York Times attribute young Mr. Nicholson’s inability to get a job?.

The Great Depression damaged the self-confidence of the young, and that is beginning to happen now, according to pollsters, sociologists and economists.

While it cannot be disputed that the current state of the economy is affecting young college graduates’ ability to find employment, let’s not blame it on damaged self-confidence, but rather false self-confidence instilled in America’s culture of unearned entitlement, which is supported by these statements describing young Mr. Nicholson’s world view.

“Going it alone,” “earning enough to be self-supporting” — these are awkward concepts for Scott Nicholson and his friends.

The story continues, lamenting this, that, and the other thing, including other individuals’ successes in the past, but providing no real substance as to why young Mr. Nicholson should be so special as to refuse to stand on his own two feet and take any job, other than maybe that he is “handsome as a Marine officer in a recruiting poster.”

The denouement to the NYT piece are these two paragraphs, and they are the main reason for my not knowing whether to scream, or weep, upon reading this story.

So he struggles to get a foothold in the civilian work force. His brother in Boston lost his roommate, and early last month Scott moved into the empty bedroom, with his parents paying Scott’s share of the $2,000-a-month rent until the lease expires on Aug. 31.

And if Scott does not have a job by then? “I’ll do something temporary; I won’t go back home,” Scott said. “I’ll be a bartender or get work through a temp agency. I hope I don’t find myself in that position.”

The attitude displayed by young Mr. Nicholson, in those words, perfectly illustrate why American society is failing.  A good portion of American individuals believe they are entitled to a free ride and will not get off their asses until they have milked the system, whether it be Mommy and Daddy, or the State, until the milk runs dry.

I’ve got the false sense of entitlement blues.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/07 at 11:17 AM

  1. This makes my head lift off my neck a bit and spin and spin and spin.

    Let me get this straight:  this kid is 24 and he turned down a job in this economy that would pay him $40,000???????

    I can’t believe it.  I just can’t believe it. 

    Look.  I am 41.  I have 4 degrees, the last one being a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing.  I am paid peanuts as a nurse.  NO ONE I know who graduated from college would DREAM of doing what I do for what I’m paid and the abuse we endure from some doctors.  No one.  They don’t have to say it - it is clear they think that nursing - and a lot of other jobs - are below them.

    What is going on in these schools (and maybe homes?) that leads these kids to think they are going to get these cush, impressive jobs right off the bat?  I know people who spend their LIVES working like dogs in very unsexy positions to pay their bills, raise their families, etc.

    Aarrggh!  This makes me crazy.

    D.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  07/07  at  06:57 PM

  2. So he turned down a job starting at what I am making after 11 years?  I don’t think he needs to worry about Mommy and Daddy nearly enough…most parents on hearing the news would say, “OK, pack your stuff and go.”

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  07/08  at  09:20 AM

  3. And why did young Mr. Nicholson turn down the $40k/yr job?....Rather than waste early years in dead-end work….“I’ll do something temporary; I’ll be a bartender….”.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Why does this not make sense to me?
    Oh, that’s right, it was written by the NYT.
    Nevermind…..

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  07/09  at  05:24 AM

  4. Why does this not make sense to me?
    Oh, thats right, it was written by the NYT.

    Don, I seriously wonder if either the NYT, or young Mr. Nicholson, understand the irrationality of the turning down the one, to end up in the other.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  07/09  at  06:15 PM

  5. I see delusion all over the place in this thing.
    As long as Mr. Toogoodtowork is catered to by mom and her 2nd husband there is no impetus for him to work. This is not the fault of society, the schools or the gov’t but with the donors that spawned this creature. 10 to 1 the parents would rather be *friends* with their biology experiment than examples of how to live.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  07/09  at  07:00 PM

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