Looking at the generations from the Fourth Turning perspective

[pbrower2a]

(06-19-2018, 10:55 AM)beechnut79 Wrote:

(06-18-2018, 11:46 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(06-18-2018, 11:16 PM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote:

(06-18-2018, 11:05 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(06-18-2018, 10:46 AM)David Horn Wrote: By that I meant the transactional relationship between a physical merchant and a customer.  If there is no need or desire to have a physical relationship to a product prior to buying it, as seems to be the case today, then the acquisition process is no longer one where, for example, we try on clothes and pick the ones we like.  Now, we just click and acquire.  Will that kill branding or make it stronger?  There doesn't seem to be much else tying us to our purchases.

It just means we don't know what we're buying. It probably makes a good business for shipping companies. Amazon even has lockers set up for people to return items at convenient places, I believe.

Yeah, whatever, man.     Convenience has a price you know. Merchant customer model. Nope, it's a merchant-sucker-NSA model. David's right, they're gonna regret it, big time.  

https://www.theonion.com/jeff-bezos-anno...1826395638

"deciding to reverse course is less than likely" It's rather strange since this has taken hold so quickly. Only younger millennials and younger Zers have this model so ingrained. I expect a revolt against everything virtual in the next awakening, which will be very green and back to nature and reality oriented. But Millennials won't be the driving force in that; they'll be defending the virtual model. Old fashioned will be new and new will be old fashioned for a while during the next 2T.

Do you see the advent of rideshare companies (Uber, Lyft) and food delivery apps such as DoorDash and GrubHub being part of the new wave of convenience obsessed mindset as well? So far we have not however had the generational tug-of-war that we had back in the 2T. However, the current mindset can feel like a tug-of-war between reality and dreams. Not sure though if this is part of the whole red vs. blue divide or not. With the advent of the Yuppie culture during the mid-1980s their battle cry was that "you can have it all". Is the current mindset more one of "you can have it all, but it may not be you imagine? When I was growing up we were often taught that if you focus on what you want but leave room for the details to fill themselves in, everything magically falls into place. As time went along I began to question that concept. For something to fall into place, a good job, good friend or spouse, etc. you have to help things along to make them happen. Reminds me of when they first came out with some of these stop smoking pills, etc. Never was a smoker but one day I did ask if they really work. The response I got was that yes they can, but you really have to help the process along. You have to really want to do it.

Would love to hear you elaborate more on the final sentence of your post and if that means that once we exit the next 2T and enter the next 3T that it will be back to business as usual again just like it was this time around.

Paying dearly for convenience makes little sense. Most of life is a trade-off. and any high-priced convenience implies a huge opportunity cost. Thus an investment banker might prefer to have lunch brought in than to take a trip to  Bob Evans, Big Boy, Panda Express, or Olive Garden (these are jokes, of course, as dining out). 

We cannot have it all. Real estate is expensive even if it is a slum apartment, and cheap places to live are those where there are few opportunities. Who wants to be a sharecropper?  Most people must hold on for dear life to jobs that most people would hate. You might want to say "take this job and shove it", but your boss will tell you to take that job and shut your mouth except to breathe.

I am reminded of a saying in the movie business: you can get quality, go under budget, or get the picture rushed to market... but you can't get all three.