
Death of the Party - zabramow
http://nytimes.com/2015/09/17/fashion/death-of-the-party.html
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Torgo
>“You’re always told things used to be more fun,” Mr. Bollen said. “When I was
young, there was that obnoxious person in the corner who wouldn’t shut up
about the early ’80s.”

It is not implausible that things have gotten progressively "less fun" than
the early 80's. I mean, just think about the drugs alone. Lower drinking age,
crackdown on pills and cocaine hadn't happened yet. Police militarization and
infantilization of young adults hadn't happened yet. The economy was good.
Lower and middle class jobs hadn't fled the country yet. "safe sex"
movement/AIDS crisis, etc not yet there. Parents/spouses couln't keep tabs on
you 24/7 via cellphone.

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cryoshon
The NYT is mostly out of touch, as usual. A boomer rag-publication of the
highest order, the article shows a complete misunderstanding of why house
parties aren't a thing anymore by confusing some recent fads with
socioeconomic problems. House parties aren't in decline because people want
fancy liquor or fancy food items that hosts don't think they're competent to
cook. The ability to send a text message to cancel an appointment does not
cause people to not attend house parties. In small part, being able to stay
home with Netflix makes it easier to tolerate being alone, but hardly
overrules the desire for social interaction.

The real reasons, some of which the NYT glazed over vapidly:

1\. Money. Specifically, not enough money as a result of bad economic
conditions dominating the lifestyle of Millenials, the most likely
partyhosters and partygoers. It's expensive to buy booze and chips/food for
more than a couple people, and a dictum to BYOB guarantees a lot of leeches
and a shortage. It's pretty passe to charge for entry to your house party as
soon as you're out of college, so that's out. Millenials don't have enough
cash to be hosting these parties all the time, but probably have enough money
to attend them frequently, if it weren't for a lack of hosts. The article
calls this casual poverty "downsizing", which offends me riotously--
millenials aren't choosing to downsize, they're being downsized by extreme
income inequality and debt slavery typical in late capitalism.

2\. Space. Millenials live in apartments, in part because they are in
desirable areas, but also in part because they can't afford to buy homes.
Apartments are too small to have good house parties in, so, as the article
describes, it's "having a few people over" (max 6) at once. I don't know
anyone with a house or a large apartment here in Boston. Rents are high, and
rising. The housing market is still off-limits, so people must rent. The lack
of good private space is partially a symptom of a shit economy.

3\. The cops. Remember in high school when 5-6 of your friends were over
quietly watching a movie and the police knocked on the door, incorrectly
thinking that there was underaged drinking going on? This happened in my high
school suburban community when things were quiet. The fact is, a good party
can get loud, and the cops will be prowling around looking to charge someone.
A party isn't much fun if you are forced to be more inhibited than usual the
entire time, anyway. The neighbors being pissed off will probably be the
impetus for the cops to show up, but let's face it, the mere possibility is
going to keep party populations lower.

4\. Living at home with your parents. This is really just another subset of
the money problems with suffocate millenials. You can't host a house party in
your parents' house once you've graduated from college. It might also be
tougher to attend a party if your parents live far away and the only viable
transportation is car. This malaise of living at home is prevalent at about
10% of millenials.

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magic_beans
Sometimes the NYT boggles my mind with its utter misuderstanding. But maybe
it's on purpose.

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mapmap
I think the point about food and dietary restrictions is spot on. You can't
just make cheeseburgers anymore. You now have to make something for the
vegetarian, for the vegan, for the caveman.

The effort required for per person customization turns the fun of throwing a
party into the stress of running a restaurant.

