Quote:
Originally Posted by Traduk
Unfortunately although I know that I am verbose beyond all logic you still do not get the point.
We Boomers had expectations and aspirations that for the most were zip, nada, nil but against the measure of our parents and grandparents just to survive without succumbing to Polio, Tuberculosis or being atomised in some muddy field of warfare looked like a positive way forward. Even that was frequently in question with wars almost constant and a culmination in the near miss of the Cuban crisis.
Of course there were jobs a plenty and at one point I had three (day, evenings and weekends) but they were at exploitative low pay and mind numbingly boring which if you were prepared to tolerate brain dead toil allowed the extraordinarily slow creation of enough capital to actually climb on the lowest rung of the housing ladder. With a non working wife and two children I turned down offers of council accommodation whilst against my wife's wishes I struggled for 5 years to acquire a house which needed complete renovation.
Nine years later, the fourteen years of saving and re-building reached a workable asset base which had initially and all the way through looked as though it had no prospect of success. The only way forward then was to risk the lot on business ventures which true to my inner philosophy of I will not be beaten, won through but not without a ton of grief on the way.
Nobody has or has ever had a working crystal ball. We had no hopes or aspirations any more than now. What we did have collectively and individually was a determination to make the most of what was available and contrary to the themes currently in circulation didn't decide to lose the human race in self defeatism and criticism of others before even trying to run the race. Perhaps in the educational lack of competitiveness they should have pointed out that although not coming first is acceptable, not taking part is not.
There could be a far better tomorrow just around the corner and with luck you may not have to strive for 14 years just to become a player. Luck sometimes visits those who are unprepared but mostly overnight luck is after years or decades of diligent preparation with hope but not expectation.
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wages were low but so were living costs.
People may seem better off today but think where most people would be without easy credit.