The World Socialist Web Site, publication of record of the ICFI (SEP), on May 24th released a report about the grim situation many millennials face:
The stock market is booming, and President Donald Trump is boasting at every turn that the unemployment rate is lower than it has been in five decades.
However, the working class, the vast majority of the population, is confronting an unprecedented social, economic, health and psychological crisis. The same processes that have produced vast sums of wealth for the ruling elite have left millions of workers on the brink of existence.
Perhaps no segment of the population reflects the devastating consequences of these processes so starkly as the generation of young people deemed the "millennials," those born roughly between the years 1981 and 1996. More than half the 72 million American millennials are now in their 30s, with the oldest turning 38 this year.
A recent exposé by the Wall Street Journal noted that millennials are "in worse financial shape than prior living generations and may not recover." The article, "Millennials Near Middle Age in Crisis," [paywalled] concludes by stating that people born in the 1980s are at risk of becoming "America's Lost generation."
Selected bullet points from the WSWS article:
The report concludes, "Far from becoming the 'Lost Generation' predicted by the Wall Street Journal, this generation of workers carries within it an enormous source of revolutionary potential."
[Ed. Note. I debated whether or not to run this story given the partisan source for the article, but the list of references suggested it was more than a simple opinion piece. So, are things really as grim as portrayed here? I'm too old to be a millennial, but have both personally experienced as well as witnessed many others facing the same trends listed here. Where do things go from here?]
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday May 27 2019, @09:01PM (14 children)
A lottery? Seriously? How the hell does that work?
Presumably a fair chunk of taxpayers' money going towards subsidizing that but you have to get lucky to get the benefit? That's just weird.
You should think about leaving, if you can save up enough money to do so. Not just leave Kentucky, but emigrate.
Come to a country that mandates 4 weeks holiday per year and supplies the healthcare you need, not what the insurance industry decides they ought to pass on.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Monday May 27 2019, @10:10PM (13 children)
I have and am considering that myself. I'm in the process of confirming (with a passport) my Irish citizenship which would allow me to live/work in most places in Europe.
But leaving behind family, friends and your home isn't something to do lightly. Personally, I'd like to improve things here in the US, but that seems increasingly less likely. Sigh.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday May 27 2019, @11:39PM (12 children)
From what I understand Ireland is a great place to live and work, if you don't mind the weather being what it is.
Whenever I encourage an American to emigrate, you always give the whole "friends and family" excuse, but frankly it's not that big of a deal.
I have emigrated twice myself (three times, if you count coming back to where I started) and two of those were in the pre-internet days. All that happens is that you wind up with a bunch of places to stay the next time you travel, and sometimes you wind up with some overseas friend sleeping in the spare bed while they travel.
Seriously, it's a big world out there, and things like 4 weeks annual leave and proper healthcare are really nice. With the paid time off, and extra money you can fly home every year anyway to see your family.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 28 2019, @12:27AM (11 children)
I said that "it's not something to be taken lightly."
I did mention that I am moving forward to ensure that I *can* do so if I choose, right? Perhaps your family isn't important to you, but mine (a large group of really wonderful people) is to me.
What's more, I have an affinity for my home and would like to make it a better place. Not just so I'm better off, but so all of us can be.
That said, I've done quite a bit of traveling around the US and around the world. There are many countries which have wonderful places to live. There are many places in the US (and other countries) that are horrible places to live. I may well move out of the US, but it won't be without reservation. Sure, I can always come back, but I have a rent stabilized [nyc.gov] lease that has me paying half what my neighbors do, in one of the most expensive (and fabulous -- you should come visit) places on the planet.
In any case, I appreciate your point of view, and if I didn't concur in some respects, I wouldn't even be considering moving out of the US.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday May 28 2019, @12:59AM
You're quite right. I'm not that close to my family, although we get on fine, we're just different people really.
I have been to New York, and you're right, it's an amazing place.
As that great philosopher Huey Lewis once asked: "Where else can you do half a million things, all at a quarter to two?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @01:46AM (9 children)
Rent controls are fail and Ireland has a dipshit, globalist taoiseach that makes de Blasio look sane. Consider moving to a red state instead.
(Score: 4, Funny) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 28 2019, @02:35AM (8 children)
I'd rather have my tonsils extracted through my ears. Mostly because of people like you.
I've traveled all over the US and have lived in a bunch of red states. About the only thing you have going for you is Waffle House, and that's not nearly enough.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @03:21AM
I've lived in red states (TX, MO, AK) and blue states (CA, NY and briefly in WA).
Go to a party in a blue state, "What do you do?" is the question. In the red state, "Who do you work for?"
The difference is subtle but reveals a lot.
Blue states were absolutely fabulous, IF you have a lot of money to throw around. Red states are fabulous if you value your space and cheap food.
It's ironic to the core.
Something is seriously fucked up in this country.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:09AM (4 children)
Not agreeing or disagreeing - but that's a helluva funny line!!
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 28 2019, @07:29AM
Smothered and covered, motherfucker! :)
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 28 2019, @07:44AM (2 children)
Oh, wait. Were you talking about the tonsils and not Waffle House?
I can't take credit for the bit about the tonsils. That's JMS [wikipedia.org] all the way.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday May 28 2019, @09:23AM (1 child)
Smother and cover the tonsils, and we're all set, LOL! You can't take some damned Polski seriously, can you? 'Specially one from Newark. WTF ever came out of Newark?
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 28 2019, @05:32PM
The next president of these younited states, Cory Booker.
Oh, and you're welcome.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday May 28 2019, @10:17AM (1 child)
Man, you're seriously underrating the Waffle House.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @12:10PM
> seriously underrating the Waffle House.
Never been to one. A quick Goog suggests that they don't serve real butter or real maple syrup.
Without those ingredients, there's no point in even considering a waffle/pancake restaurant.