Posted on 01/02/2011 3:06:49 PM PST by Flavius
OME, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Violent protests in Southern Europe reflect growing anger and despair among youth shut out of a future, economists and political observers say.
The most highly educated generation in the history of the Mediterranean is facing one of its worst job markets, experts warn.
In Italy, where university cuts have provoked protests, President Giorgio Napolitano warned of "the pervasive malaise among young people" in his year-end address, The New York Times reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
And they keep voting for the same people who created this problem.
Apparently “best educated” does NOT mean “smartest”.
I read an editorial the other day saying we haven’t increased the number of representatives in the House since like 1920 or so. With our population increase we really should have something like 1200 reps (or more!), not 435. It’s an artificially low number that shortchanges voters - one guy represents like 500,000 people. I know it would be a pain to expand the House (they’d have to build a gallery or something) but with the present setup each guy has way too much power.
We boomers are not the favorite generation, either those before us or after us.
Thanks!
I could do with 10 reps per state. I don’t care much for the Northeastern or Northwestern Reps. After 10 they seem to all be corrupt.
Uh I am going to assume that if we had Killer Robots,they’d come up with some better ideas then what is going on in Europe’s parliaments.Because really at this point,they’re more interested in “global warming” then what is going on in their own streets.
Maybe the Killer Robots could fix global warming with some new creative way of doing stuff,such as ion canons for example.
Most of these youth will either join the far-right,which is a real possibility or they will go Anarchist.I don’t see a shift back to communism or a large shift to center-right either.
More is the pity,there is a bunch of angry young people who can’t understand how fatally flawed the entire system has turned.
They’re stigmatized by their parents,friends and respective societies for not working.Yet they’re preventing from finding work precisely because society often looks down on them.
Point is Europe should stop trying to recreate itself over and over again as a peaceful society,either it can colonize space or it can start blowing itself apart.Otherwise you’re just trying to fit too many elephants in one narrow pipeline.
Even the ones with the high paying jobs are going to find themselves cut out of a lot of what they were expecting,those who earned high paying positions will find that they don’t have the same safety net as their elders.
The ones who got there because they walked lockstep with the socialist system and were able to get approved for those jobs,are more then likely going to lose everything as the need for adaptability and intelligence replaces mindless obedience.Though I am sure many will try to stay on,they aren’t likely to enjoy the cutbacks.
The rest see any chance for the “good life” going out the window.There isn’t going to be any good life for anyone hanging on to this system period.
The future is what you make of it,not what others(including myself)choose for you.You can accept God,life and the pursuit of some kind of happiness.Nobody can truly take away these choices.
Here are some facts that I dug up tonight. Let's start with the recent college graduates.
Their current unemployment rate is 10.4% Unemployment Demographics This isn't a complete picture because this doesn't break out the job into part time jobs, temporary jobs, or jobs in or leading to their chosen career field. We may think a job is a job, but people on average will earn more when they are in the career field they are educated in, and that is important to pay off our debts.
We also know that for those who are not in their career field, it will take longer than normal to get in there, and we have a severe unemployment problem in older workers as well, which is only beginning to show signs of recovery, but not yet even to keep up with population growth. Percent Job Losses in Post WWII Recessions We also know that there is a big spike in young people returning home to their parent's house, which certainly doesn't look like a sign of financial well being. Under 35: Living with Parents vs. Home ownership rate Also, college graduates have a total student loan debt of 850 billion dollars, which is higher than the total credit card debt in the US or our first bailout/stimulus package under Bush. Student loan debt exceeds credit card debt in USA
And now for soon to be retirees. States have unfunded pension guarantees of about a trillion dollars which will have to be made up for by the taxpayer. Unfunded Pension Liability: Trillion Dollar Gap
There is a funding gap in Medicare and Social Security:
The NPV of Social Security's unfunded liability over the next 75 years is $ 5. 3 trillion, or approximately $ 45,000 per household
Due to the automatic funding of the other Medicare programs, the HI program is the only one with an unfunded liability. The NPV of the unfunded liability of HI over the next 75 years is $ 13. 4 trillion, or approximately $ 114,000 per household
UNFUNDED LIABILITIES OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE
The average balance of a 401k, $80,000 will not sustain a retiree for the rest of their lives. Average Retirement Savings
Many boomers considered their homes to be part of their nest egg for retirement. However, 22% of all mortgages are underwater Decline in underwater mortgages credited to surge in foreclosures and the Case-Schiller index shows housing prices nationally has dipped 29.72% since the peak Case-Shiller: Slump in home prices is beginning
And I haven't yet brought up the $14 Trillion debt we currently have and are adding to daily, but someday we'll pay for that too.
So we have a young generation that is going to lose out on several years of income growth due to the economic climate, and boomers who have already had their savings hurt by the downturn, with a bunch of unfunded obligations thrown in. I know these links and numbers are apples and oranges, but I don't see any way millennials and young Gen Xers can pay for all of this. That leaves either not paying for it, or paying for it through money printing and debasing the currency.
Bring me into this and tell me where my years of running Gunnery Ranges plays.
Happy New Year to you as well. Bring your Army you will need it.
BTW, I didn’t take a damn thing from you.
I live north of 183, in Austin, Texas. I don’t need to bring my army anywhere, you are the one who made the original threat. If you are in town, let me know, and I’ll gladly PM you my actual address, so you can come get your ass kicked in person.
Blow off idiot, if you need Tennessee to resurrect your ass again call Jackson.
Oh, we should take our country back from the bankers too, if we ever want real freedom, we will have to.
Oh, we should take our country back from the bankers too, if we ever want real freedom, we will have to.
“That’s right! They should just march downstairs and say “Dad, I want my government back! Right now!””
No, they should get a bunch of AK-47’s and storm Parliament.
“I am 46 years old and officially a boomer. Bring it snot nose. You are an idiot. I will crunch your face.”
Bring what on tough guy? You worthless, selfish, jerk. You would actually bankrupt a younger generation who didn’t vote for your benefits, because you want something for nothing? And then threaten violence if you don’t get to steal from your children? So sad.
All good thoughts, but seriously, Thomas Jefferson warning against excessive debt is like Dean Martin warning against excessive drinking.
I accept most of your premises about how bad things are today, and how dependence on government to solve all problems, right every “social” wrong and guarantee everyone’s financial security & health, for life, does not solve problems, it creates them while whittling away at our Liberty in the name of assuring some delusional idea of a government-guaranteed entitlement for everything.
However, I reject your full scale, absolutest assurance about a 100% pessimistic future.
I DO believe that many adjustments over the next decade are likely to be extremely difficult, and painful for many, in the short term; but the resilient American people will, by ways not yet foreseen, defy the predictions of total doom and gloom and wind up rising again, as we have before.
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