What happened to admiration?

[cptjeff]

I got no problem with someone driving a fine, expensive car -- as long as they don't use it to cut me off in a parking lot. Then we got problems.

I'm reminded of this:

 

[Creeping Past]

I think the original question confuses admiration with aspiration. There's an element of deference in admiration, as the OP sees it. I think deference/admiration is still with us in that regard, but tempered with a more questioning approach to its worth as a measure of social standing and of the way a society may be ordered.

 

[Scott Wood]

I think it is even worse sometimes when it happens between friends. Reminds me of that old song by Morrissey: "We hate it when our friends become successful."

A portion of the song:

We hate it when our friends become successful
And if they're Northern, that makes it even worse
And if we can destroy them
You bet your life we will
Destroy them
If we can hurt them
Well, we may as well ...
It's really laughable
Ha, ha, ha ...

You see, it should've been me
It could've been me
Everybody knows
Everybody says so...

Lord won't ya buy me/ a Mercedes Benz
My friends all drive Porsches/ I must make amends...

I had a 928 when I was about 30 but I had been overseas working for years and came back to working about 60 hours a week and being on call 24/7.
I put up with a lot of 'road apples' to have and to hold and it taught me something...
This sense of entitlement so many of our youth seem to display is based on the theorem that if I a) have it, I can b) do it, and then I will c) be it... this wonderful person that I will be after life gives me everything I want and lets me do all the things I think I should be able to do.

In reality if you work at being the best human you can be, you will do the things that need to be done in order to get the things you need to survive and more[bad]
I could go on ad nauseum :deadhorse but I think we all share an everyday vision of all around the youth think it should just be served up all the best things in life and though we may be saying it in different ways we are all saying the same thing![huh]

 

[Creeping Past]

I'm with you on this, Scott.

 

[pipvh]

Actually I think that most of the younger people I know don't resent things like the Lexus because they want one. It's more that they reject the values that lead to people driving Lexuses (Lexi?) because they think people should admire their ability to buy one.

Perhaps I've been lucky, but I have met a lot of young people who understand that a rounded life derives from how you live it, not from what you buy. And considering that every generation post-Baby Boom has had to put up with a relentless, 360 degree bombardment of advertising, that's something to be admired.

The pursuit of status has always been with us, but interestingly, even after thousands of years we've yet to either wholeheartedly accept or reject it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The thing I find most interesting is that the pursuit of status is most intense among those who *haven't* really "arrived" -- the sort of person who would be disappointed if you don't admire his car is likely looking to bolster his own insecurities, just as much as the person who criticises him for owning such a vehicle. The people who are truly at the top of the human food chain don't care a lick if you're impressed by them or not.

 

[Rick Blaine]

Twain said it best:

“The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.”

-Mark Twain