Charlie Stross: Generation Z

[Bland Unsight]

I don't believe its *all* planned. A big pinch of it must be congenital nicebutdimness

Everybody is making it up as they go along. In some games there is knowledge because there are rules (e.g. maths, chess), in some games you have a shot at making your way towards knowledge because there is a check on whether or not what you made up which is consistent with something else that is broadly speaking outside of the control of what you made up (e.g. science). Everybody else (economics professors, central bankers, chancellors of the exchequer, hedge fund managers and all the rest) are making it up as they go along in the setting of a system that has no stable rules and probably is constructed so that no rule could exist on a continuing basis. When they are nakedly making it up as they go along because everything that they had previously hoped might be a rule is turning out to not be a rule they use coy phrases like 'unconventional monetary policy' and make up new stuff in the hope that it turns out OK. There is no plan - only hope and the more pressing matter of who gets thrown under the bus first whilst we wait for hope sort out the mess...

[200p]

[justthisbloke]

They just don't get it.

Or maybe they do.

I get it. And my response is to accumulate wealth and assets to protect me and my family from the cruel economic storms of reality. If were a politician rather than an office lackey when I had my lightbulb moment, the sane response would be the same.

[wonderpup]

The new Help-to-Work scheme

The government’s new Help-to-Work scheme will kick in from April 2014, replacing Mandatory Work Activity. You will be moved onto the scheme after two years on the Work Programme.

Help-to-Work aims to provide full time, unpaid placements for the long term unemployed in which you must work for your benefits or risk being "sanctioned" and losing them.

Unlike MWA which was capped at 6 months, Help-to-Work is indefinite – lasting until you find employment. However you do have some say in your placements, with 3 options available:

• Unpaid community work placements, such as gardening in public spaces or cooking meals for the elderly
• Daily appointments at your nearest JobCentre
• Compulsory training, e.g. to improve your literacy, numeracy, computer skills

If you don't choose one of the options yourself, your JobCentre Plus adviser can choose for you.

The sanctions have been pared down, compared to MWA at least. Under the Help-to-Work scheme you stand to lose four weeks’ worth of Jobseeker’s Allowance the first time you breach the rules of your placement; while second offences could mean you lose 3 months of benefits.

Interestingly one way to view this is as an embryonic form of the Citizens Wage- a guaranteed income from the state that must-I assume- also include somewhere to live.

The joke is that in an increasingly precarious world the real problem the elites might find is not that people are motivated to get off such schemes but may be quite happy to stay on them- after all, what would you choose?- a life of zero hours contracts with the constant threat of hunger or eviction if you don't pay your rent- or a secure state sponsored job with an income guarantee and a housing guarantee? Especially given the fact the wages for the precariat are so low that you may well be little better of by working anyway.

The other subtle point is this- if you work for your benefits you are no longer a scrounger- so the carefully constructed edifice of social opprobrium that has been fostered over the past five years against the 'skivers' will not apply to you-so you will feel no pressure to give up your state backed job either financially or as a result of social stigma- after all if you are looking after old people for a minimal return you are something of a hero, are you not?

So the unintended consequences here might be to create another form of state dependency that undercuts the wages and bargaining power of the unskilled even more- leading to more unemployed people as business's cannot compete against cheap state paid labor.

[chronyx]

Look, here is a young youtuber at 22 who has BOUGHT a large house. He has nearly 1m subscribers, and put in some good work to get there.

Get out there and CREATE content.

YOU HAVE TO DO, like Nike "Just Do it".

Edit: Moar illuminanti as thisis HPC

[200p]

Part 2 of the house tour.

Generation Z will be fine if they don't comply to a "job". Jobs are dead, you'll just be another corporate zombie, amongst the billions out there waiting for the eventual automation and thus obsolescence.....

[Bland Unsight]

Part 2 of the house tour.

I for one will not be clicking on your link.

or to put it another way

[wonderpup]

Get out there and CREATE content.

We are creating content- you are consuming it right now- we just don't get paid for it.

[MarkG]

Generation Z will be fine if they don't comply to a "job". Jobs are dead, you'll just be another corporate zombie, amongst the billions out there waiting for the eventual automation and thus obsolescence.....

So who's going to run Youtube so all these Gen-Z kids can become millionaires by posting crap there?

[200p]

Youtube can run itself - or whatever other business it will be. It may not be Youtube, because the internet is always changing.

- People can click those video links, I'm not affiliated in anyway.I'm just showing what is possible. iballisticsquid and stampylonghead aren't the biggest youtube stars, there is pewdiepie who has some 22m subscribers. Zoella has 4.5m subscribers.

Everyone has some interest. If you like train spotting, think of ways to monitise it. Post a video / make a show each day or each week. Write a blog with adverts, start a forum, write an ebook, start a podcast, and when you have a few shows you can sell it on a CD or DVD etc. Perhaps you are blessed with some genetic assets? One could look at the clipsforsale.com route!

Don't have a hobby, but like being a grumpy old man? If you like to be a Daily Hate, there is a new headline each day that you can talk about.

Do something that doesn't take up much more than what you are doing now, so it is low risk and not much more consuming than your hobby, of course there is a chance it won't take off. Wealth distribution goes down the 90/10 rule, 10% of the field make 90% of the money. However there is bound to be some fan base you can connect to out of the 7bn people in the world.

[Dorkins]

However there is bound to be some fan base you can connect to out of the 7bn people in the world.

Do you make a living as a one man band producing online entertainment?

[200p]

Not enough to give up the "job", but through investing (another line of paving my own way) to get off the beaten track, but some way to go! A job is the backup plan, not the road to riches. A job or "labour" is not valued as much as it was in the 1960s, a job or the value of labour doesn't guarantee you a house today or even a decent place to rent. Capital is valued over labour, as someone on here put it. Does anyone think UKIP will put labour over capital? I do admire their brave fight against the EU, however I wouldn't bank on them changing things.

Have a plan of where you want to be in ten years, plan for the worst, hope for the best. So many are drifting rudderless through life, ensure you have a steady hand at your tiller throughout.

[StainlessSteelCat]

I don't make enough to give up the "job", but enough through investing (another line of paving my own way) to get off the beaten track. A job is the backup plan, not the road to riches. A job or "labour" is not valued as much as it was in the 60s, a job or the value of labour doesn't guarantee you a house today. Capital is valued over labour, as someone on here put it. Does anyone think Ukip will put labour over capital? I think not.

Have a plan of where you want to be in ten years, plan for the worst, hope for the best. So many are drifting rudderless through life, ensure you have a steady hand at your tiller throughout.

I think you're probably too optimistic for this forum. It's good, though challenging, advice though. I started following much of it about eight years ago - and at some points - it did pay considerably better than the day job.

Yes, it won't help everyone. But that's like saying not everyone can be a baker and make a good living that way. The point is the internet has massively increased opportunities and lowered barriers if you are willing to give it a go. It's still very much in the pioneer phase at the moment so there's lots to play for.

My other standard advice is that if you are hitched to any global internet megacorp, make sure you have a plan B. They can, and do, behave like capricious gods sometimes. A flick of their terms and conditions, or a wrongful ban because of an overactive bot - and you are out of business. Sometimes they even do it deliberately. Amazon, in particular, is known for it. Become a success on their platform and the changes are good that they'll hoover up your sales and leave you in the cold.

[MarkG]

Youtube can run itself - or whatever other business it will be. It may not be Youtube, because the internet is always changing.

You do realize the Internet doesn't just work by magic, right? That there are millions of people around the world who keep it going, from the people writing the software that runs these services, to the guys who go out and replace phone cables when a storm knocks them down?

Ah, you think we can all get rich by making funny cat videos and selling advertising to each other, so I guess you don't.

[cybernoid]

We are creating content- you are consuming it right now- we just don't get paid for it.

You're worth every penny

[cybernoid]

I think you're probably too optimistic for this forum.

I should say so ! Get out there and make something of yourself? Don't be silly, its all thatchers fault. Don't even try! The 'rentiers' have it all sown up! Woe is me! etc etc

Keep up the good work and stay good little bitter employees. Muh hahaha haaaa.

[chronyx]

You do realize the Internet doesn't just work by magic, right? That there are millions of people around the world who keep it going, from the people writing the software that runs these services, to the guys who go out and replace phone cables when a storm knocks them down?

Exactly. That was possibly one of the most technologically ignorant things I have ever read.

[Dorkins]

I should say so ! Get out there and make something of yourself? Don't be silly, its all thatchers fault. Don't even try! The 'rentiers' have it all sown up! Woe is me! etc etc

Keep up the good work and stay good little bitter employees. Muh hahaha haaaa.

I'm not a bitter employee, the company I work for pays me a decent wage for the labour I supply and treats me reasonably well. It's not the company's fault the price of land has gone insane. A drop in the price of land would be good for business as our customers would have more money to spend on the products we design and manufacture.

[wherebee]

I should say so ! Get out there and make something of yourself? Don't be silly, its all thatchers fault. Don't even try! The 'rentiers' have it all sown up! Woe is me! etc etc

Keep up the good work and stay good little bitter employees. Muh hahaha haaaa.

Cybernoid - whilst I agree with you that we can all have a crack at suceeding, it remains true that the dice are stacked much more against non asset owning individuals than was the case in the past 40 years. The cost of shelter is so high in the UK, and the wage opportunities so low, that many of the traditional routes to being a successful small businessman are effectively closed, as the price of a single failure is too high.

[cybernoid]

It's not the company's fault the price of land has gone insane. A drop in the price of land would be good for business as our customers would have more money to spend on the products we design and manufacture.

Of course and I am an advocate of lower housing costs largely for that reason. They suck wealth from the real economy, market forces should be allowed to do their work to make us all better off.

[cybernoid]

Cybernoid - whilst I agree with you that we can all have a crack at suceeding, it remains true that the dice are stacked much more against non asset owning individuals than was the case in the past 40 years. The cost of shelter is so high in the UK, and the wage opportunities so low, that many of the traditional routes to being a successful small businessman are effectively closed, as the price of a single failure is too high.

I agree the cost of shelter is high and has only got there through state props and distortions of the free market. I want a property crash.

What many posters on this forum are guilty of is using a public forum to exercise their own catharsis at the expense of easily led readers. Their illogical and irrational views about the free market and capitalism etc are due to their own failure and resulting bitterness.

It is true the odds are stacked against you in most worthwhile enterprises but you cannot choose in which time you live, you can only make the best of what you have. It pains me to see those that have failed bleat on here about how its all the systems/thatchers/whatevers fault. These are certainly not easy times but if you talk yourself (and more importantly others) into not even trying you have precisely zero chance.

The socialist bleaters on here would do well to remember this is a public discussion and their poison can spread to impressionable young minds.

I also would like to take issue with your point that

"the dice are stacked much more against non asset owning individuals than was the case in the past 40 years"

The 'means of production' (that painful phrase parroted by marxists who read some of a book once) is easy to come by these days due to changes in technology. You can produce products with a laptop today, you don't need a factory. You can make assets out of thin air.

Some things to consider.

[cybernoid]

I see very little of that on these forums, got some concrete examples? A lot of posters seem to have a lot of liquid wealth but simply refuse to buy at current prices (for example the 'If you had enough money to buy a house what would you do?' thread). Very unfair to characterise posters as failures. I think a lot of people recognise the inequalities even though they are in a strong position.

Well 'failure' is quite subjective anyway, money isn't all there is. Im talking about the vocal minority of socialists, the bitterness is palpable. They are a minority, here and in society at large. Fortunately. But they bang their tedious drums so often and so loudly, occasionally it needs speaking against for the sake of the impressionable.

[alexw]

Well 'failure' is quite subjective anyway, money isn't all there is. Im talking about the vocal minority of socialists, the bitterness is palpable. They are a minority, here and in society at large. Fortunately. But they bang their tedious drums so often and so loudly, occasionally it needs speaking against for the sake of the impressionable.

*yawn* whatever. The problem is people are listening because we are telling them the truth. After having 3 decades of neo-liberal nonsense spoon-fed to them they are noticing that all they have more of is debt while the elites make out like bandits.

Heck even the daily telegraph recently published an article that stated the U.S. was an oligarchy -

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10769041/The-US-is-an-oligarchy-study-concludes.html

Then we have piketty who has basically proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that capitalism left on its own tends to oligarchy.

http://www.thenation.com/article/179413/thomas-piketty-undermines-hallowed-tenets-capitalist-catechism

Now, no doubt, you will write another one of your smug, glib, dismissive replies that in no way answers any of the points I have raised. But then that's all you do isn't it? Because you don't have a worthwhile reply that anyone can believe.

[cybernoid]

*yawn* whatever. The problem is people are listening because we are telling them the truth.

Thats right young 'uns, don't you even try, you embrace laziness and negativity too so the alexws of the world can feel better about their own failures. What an appalling selfish destructive attitude, just so you can feel better about being a loser. Appalling. Shameful.

[alexw]

Thats right young 'uns, don't you even try, you embrace laziness and negativity too so the alexws of the world can feel better about their own failures. What an appalling selfish destructive attitude, just so you can feel better about being a loser. Appalling. Shameful.

Yup. Just as I said, a smug, glib, dismissive reply, that in no way answers the points I raised. Thanks for providing confirmation to the people I'm supposedly leading astray, that they should ignore you.

As for what I advocate, I teach so that others may understand, so that at some point a critical mass can be achieved that through mass power via the ballet box or otherwise, institutes systemic change and overthrows the oligarchy.