You said it, brother!

One generation gets rich and then they mercilessly spoil their own kids. Those kids grow up with everything including huge expectations and little motivation. When it comes time to work, they decide the couch is more comfortable than a boring office.

This trend happened here years ago. This article shows it happening in Japan now. Watch for it in China in 20 years. Maybe we can shrink the trade deficit then?

This is another long but interesting article.

In Aging Japan,
Young Slackers
Stir Up Concerns

Changing Attitudes Prompt People to Quit Job Search; A Demographic Time Bomb

Mr. Isozaki's Lack of Urgency

By GINNY PARKER WOODS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

December 29, 2005

TOKYO -- Japan needs Yuta Isozaki in the work force. With the number of young workers shrinking, it's crucial to get the 23-year-old -- and every other Japanese youth -- toiling away in jobs to stave off a looming labor shortage.

Mr. Isozaki, however, doesn't feel that urgency. Last year, he dropped out of engineering college. He failed to land part-time jobs at electronics and convenience stores. Discouraged, he spent his days playing videogames and watching cartoons on television, living off his parents and wondering what to do.

A year and a half later, he's still in limbo. An ideal job is one "that feels like going to the park and having a good time," says the pudgy Mr. Isozaki. "I'm not someone who can fit into a rigid framework."

...

But Japan has also experienced a quiet revolution in work attitudes. Many Japanese in their 40s and 50s who sacrificed their lives for stable but grueling corporate jobs don't want their children to do the same. As a result, they're encouraging them to pursue dream jobs -- even seemingly unattainable ones -- and are willing to support them in the process. Compared with the U.S., the pressure on parents to push grown children out of the nest is low in Japan, where families have traditionally housed and financially supported children until marriage.