Saturday, September 01, 2012

The Crossroads Generation

Many of you may have seen Paul Ryan’s speech at the Republican convention. The take-away line for many young people was Ryan’s remark about the faded Obama poster on their walls, the one put up with such optimism for Obama’s hope and change in 2008.

The current crop of young people — those who turned out in great numbers for Obama four years ago — are finding life a rough go. About half of those who graduate from college are forced to move home because they can’t find work that will pay enough to live on their own, or to even share a house with roommates:


Goverment bureaucrat jobs? Sure, there are plenty of public sector slots... if you don’t mind the D.C. rat race and the anomie. But for many young people who don’t want to move to the hive, the pickings are slim. And with Obama’s draconian insurance system about to go into place, small businesses are forced to stay small or lose money. Jobs that could have been created are aborted out of fear of government interference.

The reality for young job seeker with a load of college debt is grim:

  • Tuition and fees at four-year public schools have risen 150% since 1990 while real wages have risen by perhaps ten percent;
  • The Labor Department stats claim that about eight million jobs have disappeared since 2008 — and the experts say many of them are gone for good;
  • Half of recent college graduates cannot find full-time work.

Thus, our current economic system is a stinking ruin for many in the Crossroads Generation. Middle-aged parents who thought it would get easier once the kids were grown, educated and gone are finding their fledglings didn’t fledge after all. The kids may live in America but their futures are in an economic Greece.

There are many pies from which government fingers need to be pulled. Education is one; health insurance is another. The more government gets involved, the worse the outcomes.

I’m sure you can think of many other areas that would be better served without the Nanny State’s withering regulatory hand lying across it...

Meanwhile, the disillusioned young are coming up with creative uses for those iconic posters.

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