That average new grad? Me. Except higher rent 'cause Boston and lower transportation costs 'cause MBTA (at least for another week - then it's RTD for me!). I did an IBR plan, so I have a cell phone.

I think I'm kinda murky on your overall point here though. I don't think anyone's drawing a distinction between forgiveness and bankruptcy in this dialogue. They're the same thing in my mind at least, and I said that already ("i.e. debt forgiveness or generational bankruptcy"). And if you're predicting a choice between massive, gullible fuck-up (option #2 above) or slow, throttling burn (option #1), then so am I. And to be clear, option #2 won't work.

So maybe I'm missing it, but what I'm trying to point out is that this problem is going to get more and more serious as time passes and the usual schedule of generational maturation is stymied. Plenty of people who didn't take out the loans will be affected. One example are Boomers and the housing market, but there'll be others too.

And the more effect it has, the more people think an easy-peasy jubileezy will work, or will say it would work: Olds, Youngs, Political Husks, Corporate Demon Puppeteers. A whole generation (and probably the one following) of late financial bloomers is going to attract a lot of attention.

"Where are my debt-friendly, Millennial consumers!?!"

"Eating the rich."

Or that's what the memes say at least.

But we won't do that. Instead we'll keep the $50k jobs and pay monthly minimums and never have home equity and pipe-dream the next 20 years away, unless we're lied to about the viability of debt forgiveness by a Husk "who gets it." In which case we'll zeitgeist quick, because that's all anyone my age ever thinks about and fuck the arithmetic. And I don't think that movement will just be sub-30s. And I don't think it'll work.

Source? I think your math's wrong. Or maybe mine is.

With 4% interest (closer to the subsidized rate for 2022 grads these days) and no payments towards principle or interest at all for 20 years, the loan doubles but interest accumulation per year is just shy of $3500 at year 20. Not easy to make on $15k/year, but no one's making it 20 years without intervention. Wage garnishments kick in about a year and a half after default notice and a collections referral (interest accumulation per year at around $1.6k, manageable). I have four friends in this situation right now.

A collections agency will take up to 15% of your income to pay down the debt. At minimum wage, that more than covers interest with a little to spare for principle, so it's paid down as long as the debtor works somewhere - APRs are just so low. And you'll live, just with roommates and side gigs mentioned above.

It's a slow bleed, not exsanguination. They need the debtor livestock to live.

Yeah, I read Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained too. It's been out long enough. We all know job prospects are shit in the coming decades. People who don't know that yet are still voting R. But ya don't need a fancy corporate desk job to pay down $40k in 20 years. Garnished Starbucks paychecks will do just fine too.

We agree that Boomers have an incentive (recognized or not) to not let this debt restrict equity creation in younger generations, no? That was my main point, so if that's clear then we're good. I was replying to this: "Relieving their debt will not power consumption (so will say the old rich white people)." Whether the Olds realize it or whether they prefer to grip their withered jewels at us, debt forgiveness would power consumption in their interests.

But so "...because it better be. Everyone's counting on it." wasn't me saying shrug "It'll work out, let's ignore the facts." The situation is grim, and (as you know) this debt doesn't work like other debt. We're all stuck with it until it's (1) paid, (2) collective undue hardship is proven (i.e. debt forgiveness or generational bankruptcy), or (3) we die and/or the loan expires.

As the social/economic realities come to bear and the voting population reflects the people carrying the burden (in unsellable/uncompetitive home equity or debt liability) rather than gaining from it, we might see support shift from #1 to #2. And we'll see some creative politicians who want to keep their jobs and are willing to lie about the arithmetic to do it. Because it might not be subject to hope or threat, but it is subject to manipulation.

We'd still all be fucked of course.

Baby Boomers own 32 million homes. Two out of five in America. They'll want to sell their extra ones as retirement approaches. Especially when their social security starts falling out the bottom.

Millennials, saddled with a cool $40k of student loan debt at the start of their careers, aren't looking to take on more long-term debt. No house mortgage for me, thanks. A generation of renters and roommates, sure, I'll skate around buying a house until it's absolutely necessary. When I know I'm sticking around or whatever that means. We all saw our parents get fucked in '08, not trying for a repeat - although that'll probably happen anyway.

And honestly, $20k-$40k of debt is not a lifelong issue. It's payable. So it'll get paid off usually and eventually. This is the next generation of America's workforce, and we're getting a later start than usual. So yeah, there's no generational earnings yet, because Boomers are retiring later and later. Hogging all those good, non-gig economy jobs with benefits and salaries. But there will be, because Boomers will retire some day. And the $1.4 trillion in debt will be paid off because it better be. Everyone's counting on it.

The problem is student loans are slowing the generational transition of equity. It's slowing Millennial home ownership, which is culturally signified real adulthood. It's slowing Boomer retirement plans and equity values because greedy dicks love an expensive house or three and won't be able to push them off. And it'll kick all these problems a little farther down the road as Gen Z comes across all the same shit in 10 years but worse. It probably won't be a big enough issue to require debt forgiveness, but it also really might.

There's incentive for Boomers to get on board, but they'll probably just blame Millennials for ruining retirement too, along with everything else.

Probably not what's expected, but my wife was making beef au jus and joked that the only missing ingredient was me (I don't join her in Denver until later this month).

I was in a Halloween-y mood, so I wrote this to tease her. I'm sorry in advance.

  Pierced by my ankles
  You hang me to dry,
  And there 'cross my neck
  Slashed your knife to the bone.
  "It's done now!" I cry.
  No more can I groan.

  Down through my veins
  Spills my blood through the slit,
  And there pools below
  In the vat from my limbs
  Into the pit
  Where the churning sauce brims.

  And that afternoon
  One can see you again,
  Dunking my corpse
  In a vat-full of sin.
  You look up from eating
  With a thousand yard stare
  "Take my french dip, bitch."
  You double-dog dare.

Max Boot is center. Moderate. He's not going to encourage votes for Democrats. That's not his leaning or his party.

Stay Tuned with Preet had a great episode with Max Boot recently, making basically the same argument.

Midnight on a flight out of Colorado last week.

So what's your preferred scenario here? What's your hill?

It seems like you'd rather the news media not report on the series of assassination attempts throughout the week. Then, only once the suspect was caught (because that's "news" now, or wtfever), would they begin reporting on those efforts and the identity of the perpetrator? Go screw.

The right-wing would have a field day with that. Reports coming out of the blue after a weeklong, behind-the-scenes manhunt would look exactly like how they picture a false flag. (1) Media selectively not reporting until after (2) the identity of the perp was known to be right-wing by (3) an apparently covert FBI investigation on (4) behalf of Dem leaders, to then (5) plaster that negative coverage all over broadcasting stations for (6) prime time coverage 2 weeks before midterms to (7) energize the last push in the Blue Wave. They'd say it was a setup, and any of those talking points would be convincing to many. Some are already in use with the current story, but 1, 2, 3 & 4 would fuck your preferred series of events up badly.

Instead, the right-wing bit HARD on this, and pushed bogus claims for a week straight about this being a false flag op. Now they've got to eat their own fucking shit, because news media reported the facts all along, regardless of outcome, which was strategically and ethically the right thing to do.

So no. You're wrong. It's been news the entire time, and media has done the responsible thing by making the people aware of the facts as they occur, and protecting the story from manipulation by week-long, transparent reporting. Anything else would have been a failure of their civic and professional duty as the fourth estate,

It's now our duty as citizens to not allow an authoritarian reaction, ours to not allow shock or fear or jaded whinging online to create an even more dangerous atmosphere after these events.

But you've already kowtowed to the defeatist attitude the Right was fucking praying you'd adopt on this issue. Holy shit, you're their wet dream in some of the worst optics they've had for months!

So go ahead, blame the media for telling you what was happening as it was happening, which is their goddamn job. And blame them too for the reactions of the American people, which is fucking not. Because that's how the Right gets away with this again: blame the victim for getting hit and saying something.

Shit man, I don't know what type of authority you have on what's "news" and what's not, but thank fuck no one's asking you to come up with reporting policy about it.

And the van.

No sane person's surprised by that.

Lol k.

10+ pipe bombs (and counting) sent to Democratic leaders is fucking news. This isn't a distraction; these are poorly executed assassination attempts at the "meddlesome priest" behest of our current president.

Go soak your fat head, this is news.

edit: ya this is fucking news...smdh

Oops. Wrong reply.

Lol I'm not willing to put our neighborhood out on the internet - sorry!

But thank you for the welcome! You live in a beautiful city.

We're moving to Denver! My wife and I have been looking for a change of pace, so she accepted a job in CO earlier this month. I'll be bringing on my replacement and following her there in a few weeks. Here we are at Summit Lake a couple thousand feet below Mt. Evan's summit.

New adventures, new places, new people. If anyone has any advice/recommendations on the area, feel free to share!

Yeah, none of it sounds good. But one process is described in the Constitution, and the other is some anonymous, un-elected asshole making it up as they go along.

I personally don't find Pence-as-author very convincing. "Lodestar" seems like a deliberate plant, especially in such a carefully written piece. The Op-Ed also uses the phrase "first principles" which is a favorite of Gen. Mattis. I think these phrases were used to throw off people trying to tell who authored the article.

I don't think either of these men (Pence or Mattis) would take the first step to publish this piece, especially if they're favored to take the reins after Trump's removed. It's sets them too opposite to Trump's base too early on. I might be wrong, but if I'm playing a coup, I think it would be better to let someone more dispensable make these early forays - a senior official still, but a subordinate to the POTUS's eventual replacement.

It's a coup d'etat.

If what they say is true, the only democratic recourse here is the 25th amendment, and this Op-Ed acknowledges they've considered it but won't do it. That's a hostile subversion of the Executive Office with intent to control its course - a coup.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Oh look! Something I think about all the time. I'll download the book once I get an Audible credit. Already read Nomadland last year when my own parents were considering that lifestyle. An RV + trailer full of beehives + Midwest croplands that need pollination = my parent's best retirement plan yet.

I'm a young Millennial, born in the '90s. I'm what the Boomers like to see: college-educated, "workforce ready", full-time job with career plans, great credit score, responsible debt repayment, living in a major metro area, married young, professionally articulate and socially polite, etc. They love it, makes them feel good. They like knowing Millennials like me exist. After all, examples like me prove they haven't fucked up as badly as everyone says they have - I'm still recognizable as something they value, a worker. And in a world that's changing faster than they can keep up, they like the familiarity.

But holy fuck if I don't hold some crazy ageist rage-blame for nearly every 50+ year old I come across Out There for the shit they've put everyone else through, and every Millennial/Gen Z-er I know feels the same. The Epic of America was written in 1931, and the "American Dream" was coined in it. By the time Boomers had come of age, the Dream was old enough to be believed. By the time they were through with it, it had been destroyed along with the environment that had allowed it to exist in the first place. The number of people who are ready for an alternative is growing.

A parallel subject that gets brought up among my friends when talking about Boomers and all the shit ye have wrought is that we are well past-due for a global military conflict. The climate crisis will reach a head, migrant refugees will vie with national citizens over scarce resources, destabilized governments will topple, and superpowers will get antsy. During it all, 75 million Boomers and Donald Trump will slither into their coffins.

We joke, but it's some consolation to think that we'll hopefully be dealing with that crisis on our own.

I really like this take on QAnon.

While it's almost impossible to prove who started QAnon, there is some evidence that it was meant to be a prank all along. And more importantly, it's looking more and more likely that QAnon is actually a prank by leftists or anarchists to make the far-right look deranged.

An experiment in social engineering using fascists as guinea pigs.

Lol more like a candid description of Machiavellianism than paranoia, but I hear you. There's a fair bit of hysteria in my views as well. Among friends, I've started ending all my political ramblings with, "...but I'm an extremist, so maybe don't listen to me."

Shit's weird, bud. Stay afloat.