Failing the people

Recently I saw an article about how companies are no longer going to concentrate their advertising on Millennials. It’s occurred to companies that young people have no money. What hasn’t occurred to them is that the low wages they pay have anything to do with that. Even Henry Ford realized he had to pay his workers enough money so they could afford to buy the cars they were building.

Young people are so screwed over. They were sold a bill of goods. It was fine to go deeply into debt for college because good jobs would be theirs. That didn’t happen. They were told that doing things for “exposure” was a good idea. That same was said for unpaid internships. For companies that’s even better than slaves. Slaves have to be taken care of.

So when young people say that maybe Socialism might look good to them, don’t be too surprised. Capitalism hasn’t done them any favors lately.

Personally, I don’t think any pure form of any particular “ism” is the answer. The world is a messy place. For example, Capitalism is great, if it has enough protections built in for the things that Capitalism is bad at, like taking care of those who can’t take care of themselves. Socialism is fine if there are enough exceptions to allow wealth creation.

I don’t care what it’s called. Let’s put together something that takes care of people. While we are at it, let’s make sure we take better care of the planet. If the plants and animals can’t survive, neither can humans.

Whatever we decide, we’d better do it soon. How long will the youth put up with what they have going on now?

-Sixbears

Same problem for Harleys and sailboats

So what's the connection between Harley Davidson Motorcycles and sailing? They are both suffering from some of the same societal pressures. Neither Harley Davidson nor the sailing community quite know what to do with Millennials.

Sales of the big motorcycles are down. Not enough young people are getting into riding. One obvious reason is that those big American iron monsters cost a fair penny. Young people are financially strapped, as they are stuck between the high cost of education and low paying jobs.

Another issue is that they didn't grow up taking engines apart and swinging hammers. Their generation grew up with screens. Instead of bending tin they are more likely to sling computer code. Different skill sets.

Of course, boating can be expensive too. Then there's the issue of the skills necessary to keep a boat going. It's been said that sailing is boat repair in exotic locations. Fewer of this generation are likely to know where to even begin.

A lot of Harley and boat owners have a similar obsession. They have a real pride of ownership. Some of these folks rather clean and polish their rides than actually take them out. Millennials are less likely to want to own things. They are all about experiences. Rather than buy a physical object, they are more likely to travel to Thailand to tour the temples.

I'm not sure what Harley is going to do about their motorcycle sales problems. Their advertising doesn't seem to be pulling in the young crowd. Their current customers are getting pretty long in the tooth. The changes the company would have to make are probably too radical for the old guard. If they could reduce the price, maybe develop some slick new electric bikes, and find a way to sell a motorcycle lifestyle young people connect with; then they'd have a chance. Leather jackets and fossil fuel behemoths aren't cutting it.

A segment of the sailing community is starting to make progress reaching Millennials. To reduce cost they are promoting club memberships with shared boats. Groups are offering basic maintenance courses for people who've never turned a wrench before. There are some nice beginner sailboats hitting the market, so that helps. Also there's a huge market of good used boast, but they have the problem of people needing the skills to restore them.

One of the things starting to drive interest in sailing are all the great videos on YouTube When Millennials see people of their generation out exploring the world and having the time of their lives, it generates interest. It's the best advertising the boating community could have, and they didn't even have to pay for it.

The world is changing. Businesses can ignore the change and go under, or they can adapt.

-Sixbears