Cruel optimism and lazy pessimism
I love these terms, definitely describes the situation well. I&#x27;m not sure how you&#x27;d describe the best mindset here. Pessimistic stoicism? Understanding the system is bad, but also realizing you have to work with the hand you were dealt.<p>My generation (millennial) tends to frustrate me, in that while a lot of people are correct in that the system is setup to lead them to failure, there are so many escape hatches to actually succeed.<p>I mean think about it, yeah, things are a lot more expensive now than my parents generation, but we also have these advantages:<p>- We all walk around with super computers in our pockets<p>- We have instant access to pretty much all of humanity&#x27;s collective knowledge, practically for free<p>- Most people have pretty easy access to credit (which is admittedly a double edged sword)<p>My unscientific observation is that the people that complain the most about &quot;the system&quot; are actually some of the most privileged people, which makes them sound sort of spoiled and ridiculous.<p>I don&#x27;t know, on one hand if you came from poverty in a crime stricken neighborhood you have my sympathy and understanding. On the other hand, if you came from a middle class background, you went to college and majored in something utterly useless (I won&#x27;t mention the degrees... but you know them), racked up a huge debt, and now you&#x27;re upset that nobody has a great job for you... I have slightly less sympathy. I realize that&#x27;s a bit of a strawman, but it also just seems to be something I see a lot. If there&#x27;s a big mistake my generation has made, it&#x27;s having everyone go to college for degrees they&#x27;ll never really use. And for some reason the trades have this huge stigma, even though you can make a perfectly good living as an electrician or a plumber.