Grey Champions and the Election of 2016

[Warren Dew]

(11-17-2016, 06:19 PM)Mikebert Wrote: This is an important observation.  Generational effects are only apparent under the right conditions.  I work with Millennial, Xer and Boomer chemical engineers and scientists.  There really isn't any difference between us.  The traits that make us engineers and scientists outweigh any generational effects.  On the other hand, I knew working class boomers (kids I grew up with and went to school with).  And I know working class millennials (my grandkids and the people they get romantically involved with).  Working class Boomers and Millennials ARE different in ways that Engineer Boomers and Millennials are not.

In other words, for generations to matter, the right environmental conditions are necessary.  Working class folks are feeling the effects of the stress and so they manifest generational behaviors.  Elites have not yet felt the effects and so all generations will defend elite prerogatives equally.  If the economy collapses, then they will start to show generational behavior.

I work with boomer, X, and millenial software engineers.  There's a huge distinction between boomers and millenials.  Boomers prefer to work by themselves, preferably in enclosed offices, figuring things out in solitude.  Millenials prefer an open environment where they get help or collaborate at any moment.

I suppose just as the working class is under stress from illegal immigrants, software engineers are under stress from H1b immigrants.  I don't think that's all there is to it, though.

I agree with the earlier parts of your post.  Inequality reached the apparent maximum sustainable levels around 2000 just as they did around 1930.  As in 1930, the elites are holding things together so far.  In 1940, foreign war relieved the inequality for the cycle.  We don't yet know how that's going to go this cycle.

Rather than just holding things together, Trump might be better off starting a war of the industrial elites against the financial elites.  If successful, it could reduce inequality enough to move into a new cycle.