I would guess at 60 I could now be older generation, though I figure growing old to be mandatory but growing up an option.
Re-reading what I wrote, I think I mis-phrased what I was meaning. Let me see if I can clarify my thoughts a bit...
I was basically meaning to say that the real marketing push of attaching celebrity, status, power, and wealth to products began sometime after WW2 - mainly with "movie stars" and other well-known personalities being attached to the purchasing and use of products; this also coincided with the rise of television. Prior to that, while there was some similar attempts made with radio and other marketing means, there wasn't as an overt link between these "ideals of status" and products.
I would say things really started to pick up in the 1970s and then just snowballed in the 1980s and beyond. What I meant by "older generation" wasn't the overall age of the participants, but the relative ages. Parents today (of impressionable teenagers) are mainly my peers (those in their 30s); most of my peers I would say bought almost wholly into the whole "status in the product" message, and many lack the ability (or they don't want the ability - "ignorance is bliss" and all that) to see through the foggy veil that is modern marketing.
Most of it is easy to fix, though, by getting rid of the television...
Growing up my parents never played the game when it came to kids clothing. It was the classic you will get what you get and like it. Then one day with kids of my own I woke up and said, Oh My God, I have become my father. I guess I just inherited that sense of values. How terrible that my kids had to suffer much as I did as a child. Forced to wear practical clothes and be taught the value of things and being practical.
Your parents were likely children who remember and grew up during the Depression, and the hardship it caused; one could say after WW2 that the marketing of products coupled to "ideals of status" was an outgrowth after years of austerity, but there was resistance. Then as now, you and your generation had people like yourself who believed in the ideals of thrift and practicality, but the majority was leaning the other way (and being led - almost willingly - by marketing).
How strange that now I see my kids waking up and saying Oh my God I have become my father as they shop for my grandchildren. Yes, here we are in August and the school season begins with back to school clothes. I don't see where a kid needs a $100 or now $200 pair of tennis shoes to sit in school and learn.
Back in my day, I was more often than not "the kid with the k-mart clothes"; my parents instilled in me basically the same values of practicality - because they were of a generation that partially grew up during the tail-end of the Depression, plus WW2 and everything else (my dad served in both the Korean War and Vietnam). I am really an anomaly compared to a lot of my peers; I was adopted as a 4 year old by my parents, they were almost beyond the "cut off" age for the state to allow the adoption (they had me prior as a foster child). So my parents were much older than my peer's parents, and as a result I got a whole different set of values handed down to me.
Believe me, I am glad I did.
Peer pressure? They can suck it up and get over it.
Easy to say as an adult - for a kid (perhaps more for a teenager) its not as easy. Most kids seek to move up their social ladder, to be popular, etc. This is all accompanied by "peer pressure" to "conform"; it continues in a different manner into adulthood, as well (wear that suit, watch these shows, be this religion, have this car, etc). As a kid though, that pressure can take a brutality of violence, sometimes - bullying, physical fighting, etc can all be outcomes of the pressure.
I didn't have much of that as a kid though; I was never a popular person, I tended to hang out with other geeks, the "poor kids", and other "downtrodden" of my peers. Today, I still buck the "trends" (just about anybody on these type of forums likely does), even for my generation. I play around with electronics, I am a software developer, I am a bona-fide computer geek and proud of it. I wear tie-dye clothing with camos! I even like some of Lady GaGa's music (she is really this generation's Madonna - it's funny, I hear the same arguments from my generation that the parents of my generation were making about Madonna - tards!). I drive only paid-for vehicles, my house is "second-hand" (I hate HOAs), I have no unsecured debt. I work at a place that, if I showed up wearing the outfit I have in my profile pic, my boss would say "nice hat", ask me about my weekend, then we would meet to discuss the logic in some piece of code.
My tennis shoes? I always buy two pairs at a time to rotate and I never spend over $29 per pair. They do just fine and wear as well as the overpriced garbage.
I buy much of my clothing at Goodwill. Shoes, underwear, etc - are bought new, though; Goodwill goes only so far with me. My tie-dyes come from online (tie-dye is hard to find, especially quality hand-made tie-dye, it also isn't cheap). Some of my other t-shirts I wear come from online stores, too (lot of geeky shirts). I have found Goodwill, though, to be a great place for strange "one-off" shirts, as well as "Tommy Bahama"-style "island shirts", which I love to wear (linen or silk only - which is why they are probably at Goodwill, because dry-cleaning those aren't cheap).
Do I indulge? Hell yes and love a good $15 cigar or good beer.
Good for you, Ron. I have my own indulgences; I can't pass up a good deal on used robotics or old virtual-reality equipment (depending on manufacturer, age, and completeness - I am still looking for a complete VPL DataGlove system; probably will never find it). Other than that, I try not to skimp on food. You can skimp on a lot of things, but you shouldn't skimp on the quality of food you buy. I also tend to be "indulgent" when it comes to tools. I try to buy the best quality for the lowest price, but if the best can't be had for the lowest, but you know it to be best, then I go for that (the basic argument when I bought my wife her KitchenAid stand mixer; quality and timeless construction that will last a lifetime, well worth the premium price we paid for it).
Dry joints on ON/OFF switches was a good one (in more recent years), because it arcs and sparks, makes smoke and a smell, and often just needs resoldering.
