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Those are sobering numbers and what it means for our youth. Scary. I started working at 14, was on my own at 18, and have never had family to depend on. I remember before joining the military that I didn't have enough money, military solved that, afterwards, I've made more. Even more once I got my college degree. But I fear for my kids.

During covid I took a non-IT job and was hiring most young adults with a high school diploma and limited or no skills. More than once I had people calling out because they could not afford gas to get to work, had no family to help.

When I was starting out, I knew what being an adult meant and was preparing myself for it.

I wasn't the best high school student but was good enough to get into the state university. Once there, I got a degree in computer science and was hired by a top company where I spent my entire career advancing my potential.

I know it's harder on the kids today, but some of that is on them for not "growing up," some of it is on their parents for not encouraging them to persevere to succeed, some of it is on the schools that deemphasized the basic skills to make room for social indoctrination, some of it is on the businesses that off-shored work to cheaper labor pools and then imported cheap labor here that displaced American workers, and some of it is on the politicians who pandered to the fringes for power and votes.

-PJ