What's going on?

[usayit]

I suspect another component to throw into the mix is the fact that populations in developed countries are still rising (slower than in lesser developed nations and also with increasing components of immigration and migrant population increases).

Probably... I don't claim to be educated enough to offer an explanation but yours seems sound. I can only say that I have seen various contracts between international companies. I realized that I can work for free and I'd still cost more.........

That realization was enough to tempt me to the closest Gogo bar to down a few cold ones, then to the nearest camera shop with a credit card in hand.

 

[j-dogg]

I much preferred the days of sex drugs and rock'n roll, That's what college was supposed to be about right?

That's what it is so far for me.

Blame it on the damn media, I was the same way when I was a teen. I had virtually zero self-esteem, got picked on made fun of etc., I was the social outcast in high school. I didn't follow trends or fads and was ridiculed as a result.

My favorite day of high school was the day I graduated and left all my problems behind, it was the beginning of the rest of my life, I remember walking the stage thinking "it's over, it's finally all over, no more suffering"

 

[j-dogg]

MEDIA EXPOSURE is one of the single most-critical shapers of attitudes and behaviors among primary and secondary school aged people, according to one long-term Harvard study I read a few years ago. The television shows, movies, music, reading materials (both print and web-based) are the factors that contribute the most in shaping attitudes,morals, and behaviors of kids.

Kids who listen to hip-hop and rap music are more likely to have sex as early as three years earlier than kids who do not listen to rap and or hip-hop music. Kids who are exposed to lots of sex and violence on TV come to accept sex and violence as fairly normal things.

Ignorance of the role of media on today's youth and their development is an issue that many older people typify; I hate to blame KmH specifically, for trying to downplay the role of the media, and for trying to blame parents, but seriously--"the media" today is much, much more pervasive and invasive and targeted than it was when KmH was a boy. People who grew up with AM radio, 4 TV channels, and TV that was on from 6:00 am until 1:00 AM, when the TV stations shut down, seem to underestimate just how much more "media" is available in today's world. Kids are being targeted by slick advertising campaigns, aimed at children as young as four years old, and the campaigns extend from TV, to city buses, to the grocery store shelves, to videos, to McDonalds, and to Toys R Us...kids today have vast corporations DIRECTLY attempting to influence them, across multiple types of media outlets, all day long.

If one wishes to boost his or her self-esteem, there's a classic sociological study that tells us what to do: STOP WATCHING TELEVISION FOR 90 DAYS. Problem is, the majority of today's population is absolutely hooked on modern media consumption, where the teeth are whiter, the tummies tighter, the boobs larger and more fake, and the sex appeal is cranked up to 10 all the time. In a world where the celebrity men and women are ridiculously beautiful or handsome, "real people" are encouraged to feel inadequate, and to buy products and services to bring themselves upward, to what is acceptable/desirable/portrayed as normative.

As Patm1313 wrote above me, "What is the problem is that recent generations are learning that they are not what they should be; that they are flawed and imperfect. There's certainly more going on that is contributing to this wave of poor self-esteem, but in my oppinion, the insecurity resulting from media-fueled poor body image is a massive part of it."----I agree with that sentiment 100 percent!!!

Hit the nail on the proverbial head. I wished I could buy you a beer over TCP/IP