re: When "Normal" is no longer normal...

Okay, MOST ENTRY LEVEL CORPORATE engineering jobs suck. The first 5-8 years are pure grinding whether you work for Dow, Exxon, Schlumberger, Halliburton, Shell, BASF, BP, Jacobs, etc.

Not anymore, and that’s the problem. Gen Z and younger millennials are working longer, harder hours for less pay at scarcer jobs than previous generations were, and then are chastised as “weak” or “lazy” when they complain about it.

It shouldn’t be “mental illness” when someone points out that something is very very wrong in the world right now and young men seem to be struggling almost universally. From nation to nation, I see a growing cohort of unemployed/underemployed young men with no dating prospects who see no future for themselves and are rapidly losing any faith or trust in any of the institutions of civilization. This is concerning because these are the groups who tend to fight wars and engage in bloody revolutions when they finally find something to believe in.

I believe our society is being destroyed on purpose to create fertile soil for Revolution, and not the good kind, but the chaotic tyrannical Reign of Terror style revolution.

How much did you make when you started, what year was that, how many hours per week typically?

Studies show time and time again that younger millennials and zoomers are, in fact, working significantly more hours than previous generations did at the same jobs AND earning significantly less money when adjusting for inflation.

I remember one such thread on this, when a poster who had worked as an engineer in Texas in the 80’s talked about how they “scraped by” on her salary working 50 hours a week. I calculated that when adjusted for inflation, she “struggled” on the equivalent of $130k/year in today’s money, while graduating with zero student debt and had housing costs that, even when adjusted for inflation, were 1/4 the current market in the same location for the same home (talking monthly payment, not house price).

Meanwhile, the person working the same job likely works 20-40% more hours every week while getting paid barely half as much, and paying 4 times the adjusted for inflation housing cost AND likely has student loan debt on top.

Nope, just lazy. Maybe instead of blaming them for recognizing a f$&ked economic and social situation while rejoicing how “I got mine”, we should focus on how we can best correct the situation and rebuild the relationships and community that people used to be able to rely on in hard times. We need better churches and civic organizations, we need better school administrations, less exploitative workplaces, and better economic/regulatory policies from our governments.

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while getting paid barely half as much

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That's not even close to true for engineering. I graduated in 89 and the middle of the bell curve was looking for $30k as a first job. Depending on which inflation calculator you use that's about $75k today. I think my first mortgage was 7.5%.

I'm not saying that some things aren't more difficult, I have children in their 20s. Economies aren't static and somebody's inevitably going to hit the bad spots when they're starting out, but exaggerating their woes doesn't accomplish anything.

I have posted about this tension historically(see post below)

We are all insane. It is all about perspective…

LINK

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The Meaning of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon

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Dark Side of the Moon has endured through the years because it is such a well written and thought out concept album. A concept album is an album where all (or most) of the songs on that album revolve around a story or a theme. This is a contrast to most studio albums which just lay out a series of songs that are often unconnected or unrelated with the exception of the fact that they are on the same album.

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So what is the meaning of Dark Side of the Moon?

Dark Side of the Moon is a concept album that discusses the philosophical and physical ideas that can lead to a person's insanity, and ultimately an unfulfilled life.

The album is a cautionary tale in two parts, the first half describes living a life that goes unfulfilled. This part of the album consists of the following tracks:

Speak To Me/Breathe
On The Run
Time/Breathe Reprise
Great Gig In The Sky

The second half of the album consists of individual songs about different ideas and concepts that are detrimental to society and can lead to madness. These songs are:

Money
Us and Them
A color You Like
Brain Damage
Eclipse

The philosophical ideas in the second half of the album are a sort of madness in their own right. They are also the root causes to the problem mentioned in the first half of the album that focuses on living an unfulfilled life.

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Brain Damage




The lunatic is on the grass.
The lunatic is on the grass.
Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs.
Got to keep the loonies on the path.

The lunatic is in the hall.
The lunatics are in my hall.
The paper holds their folded faces to the floor
And every day the paper boy brings more.

And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.

The lunatic is in my head.
The lunatic is in my head
You raise the blade, you make the change
You re-arrange me 'til I'm sane.
You lock the door
And throw away the key
There's someone in my head but it's not me.

And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear.
And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.



I can't think of anything to say except...
I think it's marvelous! Hahaha!

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What do you think they were referencing???

Blatant commentary on the influence of media/ "society" / control

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Brain Damage

Brain Damage is about losing your mind and going insane.

The first verse talks about insanity that is caused by happening what's outside your head, with the line,"The lunatic is in the grass." This would be the type of insanity that people see in the physical world, it's a type of tangible insanity.

The second verse continues in this vain, but brings the insanity into a more personal area with the lines, "The lunatic is in my hall." The lyrics have moved insanity from the outer and wider world in the first verse to the private home of the person in the second verse. This type of insanity is a bit more personal and it sounds a lot more disconcerting.

The first chorus talks about finally having a mental breakdown, potentially much earlier than a person should have a breakdown. After the mental breakdown, the final line of the chorus says, "I'll see you on the dark side of the moon." The dark side of the moon mentioned in this song is a place for insanity and ideas that are destructive. Of course since the moon is always dark, its also suggesting everyone to a certain point is mad.

The final verse now moves insanity to its most personal location, inside your head with the line, "The lunatic is in my head." The verse suggests that the person who is losing his mind will pay any price in order to make him/her sane again, and subsequently they will isolate themselves in order to stop any further destruction of themselves or others.

The final chorus again elaborates on having a mental breakdown. With the line, "And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes... I'll see you on the dark side of the moon," it would appear that the madness was caused by not being able to align your views with the views of everyone else, or most likely society in general. Ultimately that line in the song seems to suggest that people go crazy by resisting what they are told to do all of the time.

However, on the previous songs in the album, Money, Us and Them, and Any Color You Like discuss the ideas that everyone in society go along with that are insane. From a larger perspective it seems you are insane by following the ideas discussed in Money, Us and Them, and Any Color You Like, or you go insane by resisting them like in Brain Damage.

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It's a metaphor for darkness, the darkness (or different ideas) that can destroy all of the positive emotions and ideas that are a part of humanity. In effect the darkness represents insanity. But like in reality the light portrayed by the moon is really an illusion. So it would appear that the album, which seems to take the dark side of the moon concept to heart is suggesting, is that everyone on some level is insane or will have to deal with madness.

Dark Side of the Moon seems to specifically suggest that there are two types of insanity. The first type of insanity mentioned on the album suggests people go insane by riding the tide. Or specifically speaking, people are insane for doing what they're told all of the time and just accepting life for what it is.

The second type of insanity mentioned on the album suggests that the people that don't ride the tide realize that the people riding the tide are insane. In turn their efforts to try to convince people not to ride the tide, or their resistance to the tide itself causes them to go insane.

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These themes are similar to Plato's allegory of the cave

On a deeper, subconscious level (reference album sales/ popularity) we know this to be truth

I would argue that changes in economic conditions have driven pop culture and changing social mores more so than pop culture changing social mores resulting in worse economic conditions.