Specifically this one: "Millennials are screwed"
I don't have a ton to add, and it's got the annoying scrolly whizbangs, but it's a pretty decent look at the... four?... pronged assault on "the younger generation" that I think the "older generation" doesn't get:
1. work is unstable. it's never a 40-year 9-to-5. At best, it's a 9-to-5 for a few years with a decent company. Unemployment is a never-ending abyss that we're always one step away from, whenever our dear employer decides we're disposable. And we sure don't have unions to negotiate for us.
2. healthcare is insane; ok, y'all old people kinda know this. But you don't feel it if you've still got (job-sponsored) insurance. Otherwise, we mostly just go without, and hope we never get sick. Again, we're one step away (one illness, one car accident, one random thing) from the abyss of infinite hospital debt.
3. housing is insane; y'all have no idea about this, and you're making it worse. The places with the jobs have no houses, thanks to years of zoning and NIMBYism. So if we're in the lucky few that can make it to a job, we've got to rent an overpriced studio in a crowded market. And hope you don't tick off the landlord, or you're a "problem tenant" (or worse, evicted!) and who would ever rent to you again?
4. civic disenfranchisement: you might think "well, vote!" I mean, we're trying. But we're dealing with gerrymandering and voter suppression on one hand, and just the lack of time to get more involved on the other. Housing decisions, for one, are often made with minimal public comment periods at 2-4pm on Wednesdays. Sorry, we're busy either hustling at our jobs or hustling to find a job.
I say all this as one of the lucky few who's making it in this economy. (Getting a fancy degree in Computer Science helps.) All of the above are much easier for me than for most. But... can we make things better for everyone else?
(I'm not sure what I'm trying to do by writing this. Like, ideally convince a boomer to help with these things? and stop figuring we can just cut taxes on the rich and trickle-down will fix any of this? More likely, I'm just recording my feelings for later consumption. And/or, getting this on paper so I can stop thinking about it for now. But more on that later.)
I don't have a ton to add, and it's got the annoying scrolly whizbangs, but it's a pretty decent look at the... four?... pronged assault on "the younger generation" that I think the "older generation" doesn't get:
1. work is unstable. it's never a 40-year 9-to-5. At best, it's a 9-to-5 for a few years with a decent company. Unemployment is a never-ending abyss that we're always one step away from, whenever our dear employer decides we're disposable. And we sure don't have unions to negotiate for us.
2. healthcare is insane; ok, y'all old people kinda know this. But you don't feel it if you've still got (job-sponsored) insurance. Otherwise, we mostly just go without, and hope we never get sick. Again, we're one step away (one illness, one car accident, one random thing) from the abyss of infinite hospital debt.
3. housing is insane; y'all have no idea about this, and you're making it worse. The places with the jobs have no houses, thanks to years of zoning and NIMBYism. So if we're in the lucky few that can make it to a job, we've got to rent an overpriced studio in a crowded market. And hope you don't tick off the landlord, or you're a "problem tenant" (or worse, evicted!) and who would ever rent to you again?
4. civic disenfranchisement: you might think "well, vote!" I mean, we're trying. But we're dealing with gerrymandering and voter suppression on one hand, and just the lack of time to get more involved on the other. Housing decisions, for one, are often made with minimal public comment periods at 2-4pm on Wednesdays. Sorry, we're busy either hustling at our jobs or hustling to find a job.
I say all this as one of the lucky few who's making it in this economy. (Getting a fancy degree in Computer Science helps.) All of the above are much easier for me than for most. But... can we make things better for everyone else?
(I'm not sure what I'm trying to do by writing this. Like, ideally convince a boomer to help with these things? and stop figuring we can just cut taxes on the rich and trickle-down will fix any of this? More likely, I'm just recording my feelings for later consumption. And/or, getting this on paper so I can stop thinking about it for now. But more on that later.)
No comments:
Post a Comment