Justin Trudeau hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[TacticalTea]

Oh yes... Its the social media! Damned internets and bleep bloops ruining the youth. Let's lump in Rock n Roll music and the Gutenberg press while we're at it.

Could it be that previous generations were able to enjoy growing up in Post-War prosperity, got educated without incurring monumental debt first, developed systems and barriers to help maintain their wealth that they themselves weren't subject to (Credit scores came out 5 years after my folks bought their first home on a good word from my mom's banker father), sold off union jobs to cheaper markets like China and Mexico, and all while they made a wage that would be equivalent to 320K in today's money.

Bootstrapping your way to the top helps when you're starting off halfway there already. It also is impossible when the bootstraps you're trying to pull up are on concrete shoes; shoes fitted by design to keep the status quo .

Its not an unreal expectation to make enough money to afford a home after a few years working. Its not an unreal expectation to want to have luxuries like food or leisure time. Its not an unreal expectation to want a chance to enjoy a similar quality of life to what you enjoyed as a child, as an adult.

Its a peasant mindset to believe that it's anything other than greed that has the majority of Canadians suffering in our current economic climate.

Translate that to the CAF, and yes... Folks aren't flocking to CFHD or Economic Increase wages because...well...they moved the bar from under the joists to the subfloor. This Recession isn't filling uniforms because people aren't desperate anymore: they're apathetic.

We as a country have given up on making a better lives for ourselves because it's no longer attainable. We as a CAF no longer offer that as an avenue either, so why are we so shocked as a CAF when we are down 16000 pers.

You might be betraying your age there because you clearly don't have a great grasp of what the youth are dealing with.

Social media has been a tectonic shift in terms of teenage brain development, young adults' social interactions, and their perception of the political environment. And not for the best.

That's not to say the economic conditions you describe don't have an effect, obviously this is a multifactorial issue. But "Greed", whatever that means concretely, is not the only problem, and affirming that anyone who disagrees with you has a "peasant mentality" is not a super effective way to get your point across.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

You might be betraying your age there because you clearly don't have a great grasp of what the youth are dealing with.

Try me. I have three teens in the house and see the trajectory for them post secondary. Its not a rosy picture by any measure. I have ways and means to give some form of assistance, but nowhere near what is required to get them off and being productive members of society on their own.

The Domestic Sergeant Major has already told me that "out the door at 18" is not the unit policy; my wishes be damned.

Social media has been a tectonic shift in terms of teenage brain development, young adults' social interactions, and their perception of the political environment. And not for the best.

As did books, newspapers, television, and any other evolution in the sharing of ideas. What's your point?

That's not to say the economic conditions you describe don't have an effect, obviously this is a multifactorial issue.

I can agree to that.

But "Greed", whatever that means concretely, is not the only problem, and affirming that anyone who disagrees with you has a "peasant mentality" is not a super effective way to get your point across.

Perhaps I went a bit far with the hyperbole, but I will state there is a prevailing view within Canadian society that "just stop being poor" is a viable CoA.

The goal posts have been moved further and more frequently in the past 10 years than in previous generations. Its going to come to a head eventually and I don't think Western society as a whole is ready for it.

 

[RangerRay]

Recruitment and procurement might be a bit of a chicken and egg thing, but my motto has always been “if you build it, they will come”.

Buy high-speed kit, people will come to recruiting centres. Have dilapidated rusted out crap, you have bored recruiters.

(Yes, that is simplistic and there are other factors. )

 

[Brad Sallows]

The main thing that shows up on gripe lists is the cost of accommodations, and the cost of accommodations is a simple supply-demand problem - no one is making any more land and populations in most urban areas are increasing. The birth rate has been corrected; the immigration rate has not. The lost lamented "lifetime union job" was always something only a minority of people enjoyed, and was a temporary condition.

 

[quadrapiper]

The main thing that shows up on gripe lists is the cost of accommodations, and the cost of accommodations is a simple supply-demand problem - no one is making any more land and populations in most urban areas are increasing. The birth rate has been corrected; the immigration rate has not. The lost lamented "lifetime union job" was always something only a minority of people enjoyed, and was a temporary condition.

Easy immediate large expenditure: CAF housing, from whatever incrementals will make living aboard while alongside more civilized, to renovating and improving bay, quad, and single barracks facilities, to the full spectrum of PMQs. Work the tax magic necessary to just provide quarters for free or a nominal rate.

Same with every incrementally lost benefit, perk, and allowance that's disappeared since, oh, 1960ish, and can be restored quickly and easily.

Give adventure training a major funding and leadership priority. Provide better support for service pistol and rifle shooting at service ranges. Recognize that doing cool stuff is part of the draw, and if you provide low-barrier access to cool stuff people will count that towards retention, even if their day job is bereft of significant coolness. Have a look at the PSP juggernaut and figure out if their delivery/support/management/whatever of clubs, fitness, and recreation is actually providing value.

Wrap it all in a big, fuzzy, "we care about our people" program package.

On the communications side of things, get GOFOs back in front of the public: consign Public Affairs to a supporting role. If it's unclassified and not otherwise privileged, make sure that statements regarding capability, needs, threats, and so on are aired publicly, by people the press and general public will be interested in hearing from (so: practitioners and commanders, not PR reps). There was a CDS interview on the National recently that I'm thinking of: nothing groundbreaking for e.g. the membership of this site, but well delivered from someone who has every possible access and support to communicate the CAF's condition and stance. If there was a way to get a L1/0 and a Global Affairs equivalent on to national TV news once a month, ish, that couldn't possibly hurt.

 

[TacticalTea]

As did books, newspapers, television, and any other evolution in the sharing of ideas. What's your point?

No. None fundamentally altered interpersonal relationships. This is not about sharing ideas. It's about how they interact with the world and eachother.

So when you say:

I have three teens in the house and see the trajectory for them post secondary.

That gives you an idea, but do you really think parents have profound insight on what their kids experience just by virtue of being their parents? If I asked them what it is you don't understand about their lives, you think they'd have nothing to say? Now I don't know your exact situation, so I can only speculate of course. But I know there were many things my parents didn't understand and many more I won't understand about my kids.

 

[Grimey]

Well Canada is kinda like the last guy on your platoon runs. Nice kid, tries hard but bottom third.

BTW LCC = Liberal Cult of Canada

I read it as liberal cock….something. Thanks for the clarificatio.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Work the tax magic necessary to just provide quarters for free or a nominal rate.

That would be a hard lift, since the value of free/nominal rent is substantial in most large markets. Not very many people are getting, say, a boost of 20% to 25% of their gross pay as take-home pay right now.

 

[quadrapiper]

That would be a hard lift, since the value of free/nominal rent is substantial in most large markets. Not very many people are getting, say, a boost of 20% to 25% of their gross pay as take-home pay right now.

But the CAF needs those people, and accom has been identified as a major dissatisfier, and it's one that (unlike multi-decade rust-out or the never-ending What is the Army Reserve For, Anyway?) can be solved fairly quickly through liberal application of money, one way or another.

 

[Halifax Tar]

I would have agreed with your last para when I joined pre-9/11. I distinctly remember my dad saying “you won’t fight - who would attack us?” when I joined the Reserves.

That changed about three weeks after Basic.

Ya, like you I joined at the tail end of the decade of darkness. Lots of bitter people around and a struggle for meaning.

Oh yes... Its the social media! Damned internets and bleep bloops ruining the youth. Let's lump in Rock n Roll music and the Gutenberg press while we're at it.

Could it be that previous generations were able to enjoy growing up in Post-War prosperity, got educated without incurring monumental debt first, developed systems and barriers to help maintain their wealth that they themselves weren't subject to (Credit scores came out 5 years after my folks bought their first home on a good word from my mom's banker father), sold off union jobs to cheaper markets like China and Mexico, and all while they made a wage that would be equivalent to 320K in today's money.

Bootstrapping your way to the top helps when you're starting off halfway there already. It also is impossible when the bootstraps you're trying to pull up are on concrete shoes; shoes fitted by design to keep the status quo .

Its not an unreal expectation to make enough money to afford a home after a few years working. Its not an unreal expectation to want to have luxuries like food or leisure time. Its not an unreal expectation to want a chance to enjoy a similar quality of life to what you enjoyed as a child, as an adult.

Its a peasant mindset to believe that it's anything other than greed that has the majority of Canadians suffering in our current economic climate.

Translate that to the CAF, and yes... Folks aren't flocking to CFHD or Economic Increase wages because...well...they moved the bar from under the joists to the subfloor. This Recession isn't filling uniforms because people aren't desperate anymore: they're apathetic.

We as a country have given up on making a better lives for ourselves because it's no longer attainable. We as a CAF no longer offer that as an avenue either, so why are we so shocked as a CAF when we are down 16000 pers.

We might actually disagree here. I think social media and hand held devices are definitely having a negative affect on not just our youth but our society as whole. There is a ton of information out there in support of that. Its all about the likes bro. And its the reason I am very strict on controlling my 9 year old's access too and time on screens. Its also the reason she spends all summer with us at the camper; and in the woods, swimming and fishing in a cat fish filled pond. And this year she will be with me when I take a deer, at 10 its time for her to learn about life and where food comes from. We are also lucky that she loves to read. Its not uncommon for her to crush a wings of fire book in 1 day.

As for bootstrapping, if you mean I had a family around me that didn't, on the whole, make shit choices and be a bunch of crackheads, and circled my wagon when things went sideways, sure. Buts that's a fault on those who chose to make shitty choices and then have kids. We all have choices to make in our lives and some choices will effect you for years to come and other lives, choose wisely.

To me we, as a society, aren't on the right path. And things don't look good.

 

[IKnowNothing]

Ya, like you I joined at the tail end of the decade of darkness. Lots of bitter people around and a struggle for meaning.



We might actually disagree here. I think social media and hand held devices are definitely having a negative affect on not just our youth but our society as whole. There is a ton of information out there in support of that. Its all about the likes bro. And its the reason I am very strict on controlling my 9 year old's access too and time on screens. Its also the reason she spends all summer with us at the camper; and in the woods, swimming and fishing in a cat fish filled pond. And this year she will be with me when I take a deer, at 10 its time for her to learn about life and where food comes from. We are also lucky that she loves to read. Its not uncommon for her to crush a wings of fire book in 1 day.

As for bootstrapping, if you mean I had a family around me that didn't, on the whole, make shit choices and be a bunch of crackheads, and circled my wagon when things went sideways, sure. Buts that's a fault on those who chose to make shitty choices and then have kids. We all have choices to make in our lives and some choices will effect you for years to come and other lives, choose wisely.

To me we, as a society, aren't on the right path. And things don't look good.

Both are definitely impactful, but the bolded is IMO generationally out of touch. If I gather correctly you're an early 80's kid. I'm early 90's. Current grads/ young people entering the workforce are late 90's/early 00's. We've all seen fundamentally different financial realities in early adulthood. I could write a long winded description, but I think this graph sums up what @rmc_wannabe wannabe was getting at quite nicely.

I'm a 30 year old and doing very well. To live within our means and save properly for the future my wife and I are capped at a bungalow on a half acre. If I was ten years older the exact same path and income curve (inflation adjusted) would have yielded a farm with twice the house. If I was less aggressive (or 5 years younger), we'd be renting a 2 bedroom walkup. What was a "don't fuck up monumentally and it's there for the taking" outcome for your age cohort is a "oh shit good work/ enviable" outcome for mine, and a fleeting dream for those entering adulthood now.

I'm not trying to bitch. Just pointing out the reality of the bolded, so much that I'll repeat it - people in their mid/late 30's or older, people in their late 20's/early 30's, and people in their early 20's or younger and all entering early adulthood into fundamentally different financial realities- and applying the option set and experiences of the older cohorts to the younger is not doing justice to the situation.

 

[Halifax Tar]

Both are definitely impactful, but the bolded is IMO generationally out of touch. If I gather correctly you're an early 80's kid. I'm early 90's. Current grads/ young people entering the workforce are late 90's/early 00's. We've all seen fundamentally different financial realities in early adulthood. I could write a long winded description, but I think this graph sums up what @rmc_wannabe wannabe was getting at quite nicely.

I'm a 30 year old and doing very well. To live within our means and save properly for the future my wife and I are capped at a bungalow on a half acre. If I was ten years older the exact same path and income curve (inflation adjusted) would have yielded a farm with twice the house. If I was less aggressive (or 5 years younger), we'd be renting a 2 bedroom walkup. What was a "don't fuck up monumentally and it's there for the taking" outcome for your age cohort is a "oh shit good work/ enviable" outcome for mine, and a fleeting dream for those entering adulthood now.

I'm not trying to bitch. Just pointing out the reality of the bolded, so much that I'll repeat it - people in their mid/late 30's or older, people in their late 20's/early 30's, and people in their early 20's or younger and all entering early adulthood into fundamentally different financial realities- and applying the option set and experiences of the older cohorts to the younger is not doing justice to the situation.

I was more talking about the social aspect of rearing children than housing.

I was born in 1979.

However, every generation has a different road to walk. Yours has challenges just as those before you and those who will come after you. We should see the boomer die off hit full swing soon, and then the housing market will plummet as there will be glut in the supply. Mark time.

Its funny that you see yourself as "capped at a bungalow on an half acre".

Hard times create hard men - Hard men create soft times - Soft times create soft men - Soft men create hard times
The highlighted portion is where we are now.

 

[daftandbarmy]

However, every generation has a different road to walk. Yours has challenges just as those before you and those who will come after you. We should see the boomer die off hit full swing soon, and then the housing market will plummet as there will be glut in the supply. Mark time.

You hang onto that dream, laddie

Boomers are only making the 2021 housing crisis worse​

• Boomers have more real-estate wealth than any other generation, according to a NYT analysis of Fed data.
• Unlike previous generations, many of them aren't listing their houses for sale as they get older.
• It's exacerbating a historic housing shortage that's made it difficult for millennials to buy homes.

Boomers are only making the 2021 housing crisis worse

Boomers are staying put in their houses as they age. That could be a big problem for other generations who want to build wealth through real estate.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[Halifax Tar]

You hang onto that dream, laddie

Boomers are only making the 2021 housing crisis worse​

• Boomers have more real-estate wealth than any other generation, according to a NYT analysis of Fed data.
• Unlike previous generations, many of them aren't listing their houses for sale as they get older.
• It's exacerbating a historic housing shortage that's made it difficult for millennials to buy homes.

Boomers are only making the 2021 housing crisis worse

Boomers are staying put in their houses as they age. That could be a big problem for other generations who want to build wealth through real estate.

www.businessinsider.com

Pretty hard to keep a house in your name when you're worm food.

But the article is right, the problem is you cant force people out of their houses because they are old. So we have to wait for the die off.

 

[IKnowNothing]

I was more talking about the social aspect of rearing children than housing.

Granted, but the study that kick started this line of discussion only had adult respondents.

We should see the boomer die off hit full swing soon, and then the housing market will plummet as there will be glut in the supply. Mark time.

I have my doubts about that plummet.
Three factors not accounted for
-inheritors electing to pass grandparents homes on to grandchildren (or retain ownership for any other reason)
-market size disparity between rural and urban environment, WFH opening the desirable rural properties to the far more plentiful urban buyer pool
-corporate ownership accumulation

Its funny that you see yourself as "capped at a bungalow on an half acre".

In what way? Dissatisfaction at what is really a decent situation, or seeming lack of ambition?

 

[daftandbarmy]

Pretty hard to keep a house in your name when you're worm food.

But the article is right, the problem is you cant force people out of their houses because they are old. So we have to wait for the die off.

Even worse news: Boomers are the biggest population in history and they will live longer than any other age cohort while costing the most to look after because they don't look after themsleves ....

Baby Boomers Live Longer but Have Poorer Health​

By the year 2030, the last of the baby boomers – the 78 million Americans born after World War II between 1946 and 1964 – will be turning 65. According to the Schaeffer Center of Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California, the average U.S. life expectancy for 65-year-olds will rise 20.1 years in 2030. (Although covid deaths in 2020 caused a drop by 1.5 years). Even those with disabilities are expected to extend their lives by up to 8.6 years. Despite the fact that baby boomers are projected to live longer lives than their parents, they will likely be less healthy, researchers say.

By the year 2030, the typical Medicare beneficiary over 65 will be more likely to suffer from obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and be disabled than those in 2010, the Schaeffer Center report said. This new generation of seniors are expected to number over 67 million, which will more than double current Medicare costs, increasing to $1.2 trillion by 2030. Due to the longer life expectancies, shifting health trends, and medical cost inflation, costs per Medicare beneficiary are projected to increase 50 percent; Medicare will likely spend 72 percent more for the remaining lifetime of a typical 65-year-old beneficiary in 2030 than in 2010, according to the report.

“It’d be one thing if there was an increase in life expectancy while maintaining health, but this is different. If you have more people that are disabled, it’s more costly, and we’re paying more because they’re living longer,” said lead researcher Dana Goldman at the University of Southern California. “In some ways, we are victims of our success” in extending lives and preventing mortality, he said. “We’ve done such a good job of preventing cardiovascular disease that now we have more cancer and Alzheimer’s.”

Baby Boomers Live Longer but Have Poorer Health

Despite the fact that baby boomers live longer lives than their parents, they will likely be less healthy, researchers say.

www.amadaseniorcare.com

 

[FSTO]

Even worse news: Boomers are the biggest population in history and they will live longer than any other age cohort while costing the most to look after because they don't look after themsleves ....

Baby Boomers Live Longer but Have Poorer Health​

By the year 2030, the last of the baby boomers – the 78 million Americans born after World War II between 1946 and 1964 – will be turning 65. According to the Schaeffer Center of Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California, the average U.S. life expectancy for 65-year-olds will rise 20.1 years in 2030. (Although covid deaths in 2020 caused a drop by 1.5 years). Even those with disabilities are expected to extend their lives by up to 8.6 years. Despite the fact that baby boomers are projected to live longer lives than their parents, they will likely be less healthy, researchers say.

By the year 2030, the typical Medicare beneficiary over 65 will be more likely to suffer from obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and be disabled than those in 2010, the Schaeffer Center report said. This new generation of seniors are expected to number over 67 million, which will more than double current Medicare costs, increasing to $1.2 trillion by 2030. Due to the longer life expectancies, shifting health trends, and medical cost inflation, costs per Medicare beneficiary are projected to increase 50 percent; Medicare will likely spend 72 percent more for the remaining lifetime of a typical 65-year-old beneficiary in 2030 than in 2010, according to the report.

“It’d be one thing if there was an increase in life expectancy while maintaining health, but this is different. If you have more people that are disabled, it’s more costly, and we’re paying more because they’re living longer,” said lead researcher Dana Goldman at the University of Southern California. “In some ways, we are victims of our success” in extending lives and preventing mortality, he said. “We’ve done such a good job of preventing cardiovascular disease that now we have more cancer and Alzheimer’s.”

Baby Boomers Live Longer but Have Poorer Health

Despite the fact that baby boomers live longer lives than their parents, they will likely be less healthy, researchers say.

www.amadaseniorcare.com

Time for the implant?

 

[Good2Golf]

The BI piece makes the assumption that housing value is the key metric in the ‘failed transfer’ of available housing from one generation to another, as though there would be some kind of 1:1 move out/move in by a millennial family unit when the boomers moved into a retirement home/condo/etc. Heck, even as a GenX’er myself (second-most guilty hoarder of real estate after evil Boomers), moving into a condo and putting my house up for sale, without some kind of government-forced devaluing of house value to allow affordability by a Millennial to buy, isn’t going to solve the affordable housing crisis for the millennials. Many people seem to believe that the only shortage of affordable housing is at the very start of the homeownership spectrum, but it isn’t. There is a shortage at many points along the spectrum, least so at the top, but still significant shortage in mid-spectrum markets as well.

 

[Quirky]

Even worse news: Boomers are the biggest population in history and they will live longer than any other age cohort while costing the most to look after because they don't look after themsleves ....

Our healthcare, or lack thereof, will take care of the boomer population quicker than any disease.

 

[Halifax Tar]

I have my doubts about that plummet.
Three factors not accounted for
-inheritors electing to pass grandparents homes on to grandchildren (or retain ownership for any other reason)
-market size disparity between rural and urban environment, WFH opening the desirable rural properties to the far more plentiful urban buyer pool
-corporate ownership accumulation

I dunno, we will see I guess. Most of the boomer kids are my age. And we have our places, generally. Some will be passed through inheritance but I foresee a glut.

In what way? Dissatisfaction at what is really a decent situation, or seeming lack of ambition?

That's a question for you. You used the term capped, not me. Are you happy and content ? Or do you feel you need or deserve more ?