8 years ago
11
The real reason young people are the poorest generation in 25 years
Hint: It's not because of the Internet. By S.E. Smith.
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Let's not forget the depression that sets in because everything feels so dire... that only makes it a lot harder. That's pretty much my situation.
Heck, just reading this made me depressed, particularly as the job I'm hoping for (high school teacher) requires a degree, which means tons of debt. Hopefully I'll get it forgiven if I just run out of money...
For your sake I sincerely hope that isn't your plan. Conservatives have made it a lot harder for private citizens to declare bankruptcy in the US.
No, not my real plan. I'm not totally screwed on debt (particularly as one of my relatives, a teacher, actually got her debt forgiven), but it is sometimes easier to think of trying for bankruptcy due to how difficult it can be to scrape by.
If you've got the means to do it... go for it. Better to struggle and fight for what you know you want... rather than lose that dream and just struggle.
We have been lucky so far that school has paid off for us and we are under the average for student loan debt. This is probably due to both of us having graduate degrees. However we haven't started a family yet mainly because of financial reasons and just starting our grown up jobs.
I don't know if it's fair to lay the blame squarely on the feet of the baby boomers. They're not solely responsible for the decoupling of wages to productivity. They should share some of the blame for buying into the politics that destroyed the collective bargaining power that came with strong labor unions. But I don't know how how much they're to blame for globalization. Their generation was certainly in power when international trade agreements really started taking down barriers and labor protection, and when the financial system was deregulated setting the stage for the financial crisis. But in their defense trade agreements and banking regulation were obscure issues not put up to a public vote. They also can't be held responsible for the technological revolution that has made workers that much more replaceable and redundant. I think they stand out because they were economically established before all these systemic changes happened or really hit in force. The millennials on the other hand had the bad fortune to enter the workforce in strength just in time for the financial crisis to hit.
I don't think this blame game productive at all; it's merely a distraction that keeps us from looking at the issues and processes that lead to this situation.
Even so, once they figured out what was happening (I'd forgive nafta) they kept doubling down on the same policies when it was clear what was happening. Once nafta started shipping jobs to Mexico, why do the same with GATT? Why is TPP pretty much a done deal?
Baby boomers are also the parents, so even if they aren't directly responsible for career inadequacies of millennials through policy they certainly contributed to existential dilemmas and therefore all unpaid psychotherapy fees.
I'm sure there's plenty of blame to go around. Millennials should have been a bit more concerned with future job prospects when choosing majors - not just studying what they were interested in. Similarly, student loan debt can be very easily abused. So is it the young people's fault for making sub-optimal decisions or the older folks for not warning them?
Either way, the solution is even more difficult. Some suggest stronger social programs and efforts to reduce income inequality. That's a tough thing to make happen ever. But some kind of radical financial reform needs to happen, otherwise best-case-scenario booming economic growth would only benefit those already at the top.
LOL
Have some cheese with all that whine.
Pitiful, pitiful ....me, backbone of the Democrat party.