So I'm reading this book:
You're gonna get bl00'd on it, I promise; it's not what I wanted it to be but it's definitely what it is and it's worth discussion.
I'm GenX. My parents are "Silent generation" which means they were born before the end of WWII; Gibney argues they're 'boomers 'cuz he likes a different definition of 'boomer and I'll say this: they're fuckin' rich even though they squandered fuckin' everything on booze my entire goddamn life. Well, my dad is. Of course, he's paying for an ex-wife, a mistress, a daughter and a private plane. That's probably over-sharing.
So I'm GenX. And for the first time in a long time I feel pretty okay. But I look around and y'all are fucked. And I'm sorry. And we're doing what we can, kids; my wife pushed eight thousand dollars into Other Peoples' Payroll last month which is money I can't spend on knocking down the business loan but it's the difference between "driving for Amazon" and "having a career" so I don't begrudge a goddamn thing.
But the fuckin' 'boomers are yelling at you because they had to STFU when we created Amazon and Google and eBay and shit like that but they're still better off than you except for the ones that aren't
but they're still so goddamn spiteful and I don't know what to do about it and I'm sorry.
- Millennials will fight this fate. They are the most educated generation in American history. They work hard. And they remain optimistic — still expressing the same faith in the American Dream as the generations that came before. However, to salvage the millennial future, it is essential to see past stereotype and understand the reality of the millennial present.
The equation underlying the millennial struggle is as much about systemic inequities as bad timing. They graduated college carrying unprecedented debt burdens due to the skyrocketing cost of college. In 1975, college tuition for public, four-year colleges (in 2017 dollars) was $2,450. In 2017, that number reached $10,000, according to CollegeBoard. Student loans now make up roughly 74% of total debt owed by 25- to 34-year-olds, up more than sevenfold since 1989 when that number was just 10%.
That added debt burden may have been manageable if more education had equalled higher wages. In 1977, only 24% of Americans ages 25 to 34 had attended college. In 2016, that number was 37%. Yet, over that same period, inflation-adjusted median income remained roughly stagnant at $34,000 for that same age group.
Fuckin' VOTE. It's the only thing the goddamn boomers have over you. They don't even have the numbers anymore (and us GenXers never did) but they've been running things for so long that if you listen to them they'll grind you into powder.
I'm drunk. Not rich and drunk, but I sure as shit don't drive for Amazon and I'm drinking McCormick whiskey because I'm cheap, not because I'm poor, and I'm so sorry about this bullshit.