Increased Tensions Between Rich and Poor Result of Age-Mixing at Work? (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | A Time.com article An article by Dan Kadlec highlighting the increase in multigenerational households is offered as a possible explanation for rich/poor tensions: Different generations are being thrust together, both socially and in the workplace, like never before.

As a twentysomething, I can attest to some tensions in the workplace between younger and older employees. Shortly after beginning my job as a social studies teacher I got to listen to a fortysomething colleague expound on his intense dislike of "liberal policies." "This is west Texas," he announced proudly. "All this entitlement stuff isn't going to fly." He proceeded to talk about how people who were whining about the recession needed to get in gear and find a job.

Having just spent months slugging it out in on the job hunt in said recession, I was less than thrilled to hear somebody who, in my mind, got on board easily in the Roaring '90s, criticize my generation and its struggles in the Great Recession. I guess exasperation with a poor hiring market does sound like whining to someone who got hired during the boom of yesteryear and never had to worry about job security.

Similarly, I marvel at many of my students who vociferously criticize Barack Obama and his administration, often using arguments riddled with inaccuracies. These teens, obviously parroting the views of their parents, harp about food stamps, welfare, and other economic policies. Sometimes it's hard to bite my lip and keep quiet when kids who have never needed to work and are not yet contributing members of society complain about anything involving taxes. "You one of the 52 percent?" I want to ask, glowering. "You paying for any of these government services?" As they look at me, confused, I would answer for them: "I didn't think so."

Then tensions I feel between my generation and those older and younger than us are not uncommon. When I hear old colleagues complain about issues important to me I grit my teeth, thinking that they got to begin their careers back before the globalized economy reduced a reliable career path to a slew of non-salaried, non-benefited jobs. When my students complain I shake my head at the naivete of youth, thinking that they will run into the job market meat grinder soon enough.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120115/cm_ac/10838611_increased_tensions_between_rich_and_poor_result_of_agemixing_at_work

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