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Are Millennials the Screwed Generation?
Daily Beast ^ | July 16, 2012 | Joel Kotkin

Posted on 07/17/2012 8:00:56 AM PDT by C19fan

Today’s youth, both here and abroad, have been screwed by their parents’ fiscal profligacy and economic mismanagement. Neil Howe, a leading generational theorist, cites the “greed, shortsightedness, and blind partisanship” of the boomers, of whom he is one, for having “brought the global economy to its knees.”

How has this generation been screwed? Let’s count the ways, starting with the economy. No generation has suffered more from the Great Recession than the young. Median net worth of people under 35, according to the U.S. Census, fell 37 percent between 2005 and 2010; those over 65 took only a 13 percent hit.

(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: boombers; boomers; economy; greatrecession; millennials; recession
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To: JCBreckenridge

Most of us have not put 250K into SS (yet), since that would take a higher income than the majority of us earn-you should only get back what you, personally paid in plus the bit of interest, and invest it in a private fund of your choice, no govt involved.

If paying it is a problem, let them get rid of as many agencies as needed to get the money-start with the Dept of Ed. EPA, and the rest of Carter’s folly, then cut the salaries of our “public servants” Washington-they were, after all complicit in perpetrating this fraud.

I personally don’t care if they have to gut everything but our defense, as long as they pay back the money they have stolen from every American, straight from our paychecks.

It is only a death spiral because the money has not been sequestered as it was supposed to have been-it is a slush fund and it has been stolen from every individual who has been paying into it under false pretenses-that is why we should all be pissed.

I’d like to see the fed go back to defending our shores and not much else, like the founders intended-private enterprise could certainly do the rest much better, and we’d all have work.

I’m a boomer, and I’ve been preaching the anti-welfare state/big brother message since I was about 13-I learned it from my parents and grandparents. I know more people who work and think like I do than do not-it may be because of where I was brought up, and live-I don’t want anything to do with government cheese, and never have-neither do my kids, even in these bad times.

There are welfare rats in every group of people, but I think their time may be up-(at least I hope so)-we need to pay attention to the lessons history teaches-Rome did not survive the bread-and-circus crowd-it brought them down from within...


61 posted on 07/17/2012 11:59:22 AM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: JCBreckenridge

Oh, yeah-my compadre contractor reminded me that not all can get SS-many public employees opted out years ago, choosing a private or union-funded plan instead. Just here in Texas, that is some school districts, police and fire departments, etc-those employers were apparently smarter than the average bear...


62 posted on 07/17/2012 12:05:35 PM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: poobear

You keep the faith as well-if enough of us do, we can change it like we did before at the ballot box.


63 posted on 07/17/2012 12:18:39 PM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: Texan5

And I have to deal with the O-bots. You have my sympathy. I work as a private school teacher here (thank God), so I’m not contributing to the problem.

If the program had been managed properly, we’d be better off, but that was the warning that the Founders had about unconstitutional government - you have to stick to the bounds of what is constitutional. Paying the boomers back shouldn’t entail more debt to be repaid by the young folks. We have no constitutional obligation to be paying for your pension.


64 posted on 07/17/2012 1:42:29 PM PDT by JCBreckenridge (Texas, Texas, Whisky)
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To: JCBreckenridge

Good for you-I’m a product of a Catholic education, as are my kids. I graduated from a Catholic university, too-my family has never been fond of the public school system.

Since I’m just a lone independent contractor, I don’t pay in as much as I did when I worked for someone else, thank God.

Like I said, I don’t expect to see any of the SS money I paid in over the years-never have-but since it is deducted without legal recourse from most of us before we even get our paycheck, I think every working person over the age of 16 who paid in should be given back the money they were/are forced to pay into a phony investment.

If the government was a private investment firm, they would be sued for misuse of clients’ escrow funds, if not outright theft.

I’m glad you have a way to opt out where you work, because I think the SS taxes will be going up unless we conservatives get a change of the makeup of the senate and whitehouse in November. We will be even more screwed otherwise...


65 posted on 07/17/2012 7:44:22 PM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: JCBreckenridge

Well, this Boomer is quite willing to let go of entitlements. I have news for you, the generations prior to Boomers are the ones who howl whenever anyone talks about touching SS or Medicare. Most Boomers I know understand that this Ponzi scheme has come to an end, and we will be the first generation to have paid into the system far more than we will receive.

Besides, it doesn’t matter what anyone wants. The money is simply not there. My hope is that our children and grandchildren will escape this rotten government scam and be smart enough to avoid doing anything like it in the future. Human nature being what it is, however, people are always looking for ways to live off of someone else.


66 posted on 07/17/2012 8:11:01 PM PDT by Pining_4_TX ( The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else. ~)
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To: Pining_4_TX

‘the generations prior to Boomers are the ones who howl whenever anyone talks about touching SS or Medicare’

We’ve had Boomer presidents for the last 20 years and that’s not going to change. So why, if Boomers were willin to change it, did it not get done?

Clearly, Boomers aren’t willing to make the difficult decisions.


67 posted on 07/17/2012 10:13:05 PM PDT by JCBreckenridge (Texas, Texas, Whisky)
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To: Texan5

Well, Given as I teach for a Catholic private school, that probably won’t last with Obamacare passing. Obama wants to force us to buy contraceptive coverage, but they will sooner close my school and put me out of work.

Why can’t we get a president who isn’t in favor of violating my religious rights and putting me out of a job?


68 posted on 07/17/2012 10:15:10 PM PDT by JCBreckenridge (Texas, Texas, Whisky)
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