Why Are Millennials Pissed Off?!?!

I was reading an article recently, and one commenter was discussing why he simply cannot fathom why the Millennial generation in this country is so disgruntled and full of unrest. He proceeded to discuss how our generation has it so much better than the ones before us with our "luxurious, coddled lifestyles" and that we seem to be having great lives with our "excessive drug/alcohol use and selfies."

While his comment on "selfies" did make me chuckle (wait...let me take a selfie...), I would like to take this opportunity to answer this question for anyone else out there that shares his sentiments: why is the Millennial generation so pissed off?


#1 The Economy

• A gallon of gasoline cost approximately 27 cents in 1950 vs. $3.69 a gallon in 2012. Today, in 2014, we are ecstatic that it is below $3.00 again. Of course, we did just have an election period, so don't hold your breath that they will stay this low for too terribly long...they got their votes already...

• The percentage of the average family income spent on housing in 1950 was 22%. In 2012? A whopping 43%.

• Corporate taxes made up 30% of the federal revenue in 1950 vs. a measly 7% in 2012.

• The U.S. national debt in 1950 was $257 billion vs. the approximately $18 trillion ($18,007,936,305,000 to be more precise...but who's counting anyways...) debt today.

• As of 2012, of that debt, China owned 8% - $1.2 trillion. Yet, the U.S. citizens own $959 billion.

And what I find the most staggering of all...

• In 1970, the average pay for workers in the U.S. was $3/hr. In 2011, it was $19/hr (keep in mind this is the national average for all jobs). However, despite increased education, technical training, and productivity, the purchasing power in 1970 was $8.29/hr vs. $8.79/hr in 2011.

So, for those that can't quite wrap their minds around what all of this actually means...the $3/hr in 1970 allowed them to buy the equivalent of $8.29/hr worth of goods and services, but the $19/hr in 2011 only allows people to buy $8.79/hr worth of good and services. Meaning, on paper, people are making substantially more money, but that money doesn't go nearly as far in supporting oneself. The value of the dollar in 1970 was much, much greater than it is today.

Meanwhile, corporations are paying much smaller taxes and making much higher profits off of our hard work. The citizens in this country have busted their asses to make more money for the financial giants and have gotten nothing in return, except increased exploitation, financially harder lives, and uncertainty about their futures.We average more work hours each year than any other industrialized nation, which has landed the U.S. elite 10 of the top 25 multinational corporations and the citizens a financially burdensome retirement. Seems like a fair deal to me...

And even better than that? The financial giants have already and are continuing to run our economy into the ground. We are now operating in a massive bubble similar to the housing market crash that will inevitably collapse on itself. They continue to print more money that has zero value because we irresponsibly eliminated the gold standard years ago and switched from money backed by stored value to fiat money. Essentially, we cannot pay our bills, and we are only prolonging the process of going bankrupt.

And when the economy does eventually collapse, are the rich going to have anything to worry about? Absolutely not. Because they have already stockpiled what they need to survive and prosper. It will be the everyday citizens that suffer tremendously or absolutely cannot survive.

# 2 Education

We were pushed by our high schools and parents to attend college. We were promised that if we worked hard and received a college degree, our lives would be so much better than if we didn't. I even remember being told: "If you receive a college degree, you will earn $1million more than if you don't over the course of your lifetime." And that we would be much better off than our parents were. So, we did...and what happened?

1) While in college, we realized that it was nothing but a manufacturing line. The focus was not on teaching us absolutely everything that we needed to know about the world. (Shit...I've learned more from reading books and watching TEDTalks). The purpose was to teach us just enough for us to pass our courses so we stayed enrolled. Because continued enrollment = more $$$$$ for the college = more debt we owed to the federal government.

2) The majority of us received college degrees. Now, the workforce is saturated with Bachelor's degrees. A Bachelor's degree is the new high school diploma, and a Master's degree is the new Bachelor's degree. To truly stand out to an employer these days, a Bachelor's degree just doesn't cut it. And a Master's degree just doesn't pay enough to make it worth it anymore.

So, now we are on the path to be the most educated generation in history. Yay for us!!! But now we have massive debt and little to no hope of finding a job with our degrees. Hence why there are more college graduates working minimum wage jobs today than ever before. Even more, if we do find a job with our degree, it's typically outside of our field of study, and we aren't making anymore money than we would have without the degree. Yet, we have that massive college debt to pay every month, and someone without a degree doesn't.

Combine this education situation that we are commonly facing with the not-so-awesome economy that we are currently in, and let's just say that in general, life has been a HUGE disappointment. And we struggle financially more than the generations before us did each and every day. Not because we don't work...because trust me, we work our asses off...but because hard work just doesn't get us very far anymore. The American Dream that those before us enjoyed has now been destroyed.

But look on the bright side...now we are educated enough to know all the wrongs in this country and call you out on your bullshit.



#3 Politics & Civil Rights


I will never forget being a youngster and watching the political race between Baby Bush and Gore on TV with my parents and witnessing the election be thrown to Bush. Guess it pays to have siblings that control certain states. Then, in the midst of Florida doing their recount to determine the REAL winner of the election, the Supreme Court ordered that they stop. Guess it pays even more to have your daddy's appointees/connections in the highest court of the land.

Let me say this again...the highest court...they epitome of the U.S. judicial system...ruled AGAINST ensuring that a true democratic election, representative of the people, had taken place. They ruled in favor of throwing our Constitution out the window. This is not to say that there had never been any shady acts going on in U.S. elections prior to this. I can pretty much guarantee that there had been. But this was the first time that it was openly shown to the American people. And we were told to just suck it up and accept it because Bush was staying in office. At that point in our country's history, we were living in a country no different than a Third-World, nondemocratic nation that we always speak out against.

Then, our illegally appointed President led us into a never-ending war and plummeted our economy into the ground from an enormous surplus. But did he or his cronies feel any pain from all of this? Nope. In fact, they felt the complete opposite. Baby Bush, Cheney, and the others made an enormous amount of blood money off of the war that destroyed us more than it destroyed the terrorists. They awarded contracts based on what would benefit their financial well-being the most, not the "restoration" of Iraq. And today? Iraq is still a shit-hole. America has been ruined. And terrorism has strengthened, i.e. ISIS.

And then came our promise for true change...and we fell for it. Like fools, we fell for it. Because we clung to the small hope that there was still an ounce of good left in our political system. And we were played. Because in the end, it isn't about having Republicans or Democrats in office. It isn't about whether or not the American people vote. It is about the elimination of our democratic system in the 2000 election, and the complete control of country's policy and decisions by the financial elite to a much greater degree than ever before. It is about the American transition from a democracy to an oligarchy (For more on this, see my last post here). At this point, any promises that we are made by either political party are going to be empty. Because unless we fix the real problem of wealth inequality and elite dominance, everything else is going to fall short. 

Further, our politicians have been using political means to slowly take our rights away from us through executive orders. And while they do all of this, they distract us by causing the masses to divide into various groups and fight with one another over various civil rights issues - immigration, affirmative action, racism, same-sex marriage, abortion, etc. They tell us that we need to preserve our morals and maintain a Christ-like nation, yet their behavior and actions are completely Antichrist-like. They continue to successfully divert our attention away from their elite dominance to enable them to slowly gain more and more control. The masses debate over civil rights issues, while our most importance civil right of freedom is being torn away from us behind our backs.


# 4 Religion

Stemming from the previous section...the U.S. is an antichrist-like nation. Full of inhumanity and immorality. Not because of the smaller civil rights issues, such as abortion, same-sex marriage, etc., but because we have learned to serve money over God. We are extremely greedy and materialistic. We blatantly disregard human life. We don't take care our fellow brothers. We are hypocritical in our claims to true Christianity. I could go on forever...

The main question is: where's Jesus? His life was our model and we ignored it. This has turned many Millennials away from Christianity altogether. The bad behavior of those who claim to represent Christianity has turned many of us away from God. Because of this, we are lacking in spirituality. We feel empty. This is why we use drugs and alcohol excessively. To fill the void within our souls. Let's just hope that eventually, our generation can realize that God is not to blame from the evil form that Christianity takes in the world today - mankind is.

#5 The Environment

In the unchecked quest for more profits and dominance, our environment has been destroyed. And now those that destroyed it are STILL denying the damage that they have caused, preventing real solutions to be employed to try to stop it before it is too late. Scientists have been issuing warnings for years. Previous generations ignored them because it wasn't convenient to their needs, desires, and wishes at the time. Corporations didn't have time to worry about the environment! They had more money to make! And well, let's face it...they aren't going to be the ones that have to deal with the consequences...we are.

These five areas above are just surface talk. If more is needed to address this question, I have plenty more where this came from. So, on behalf of all other Millennials, to the previous generations, I would like to say:

Dear Previous Generations, 
 
Thank you for destroying the economy, the American Dream, democracy, the Constitution, Christianity, and the environment. We are so sorry for being pissed off about it. Now, let us deal how we have to deal and try to salvage a decent future.

Sincerely,
Millennials

YEAR PRICE PER GALLON INFLATION-ADJUSTED PRICE 1950
1955
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005 .27
.30
.31
.31
.35
.53
1.13
1.19
1.13
1.14
1.66
2.10 2.19
2.19
2.05
1.92
1.76
1.92
2.68
2.16
1.69
1.46
1.88
2.10 - See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp076.shtml#sthash.9xEDShRy.dpuf

Why I Didn't Vote Yesterday & Why You Shouldn't Either

            I did not vote yesterday. Not because I didn’t have time or I forgot to do so. Absolutely intentionally did not vote. This was the first time since I turned 18 and registered to vote that I have not done so. I’m sure this will come as a shock to most people who know me, since I’m usually the one preaching to others about why they absolutely have to vote in every election, no matter how big or small because voting is what brings about the change that we need in this country and preserves democracy. But nope…no more. I’m over it. As much shit as I’m sure I will catch for this, I honestly don’t know if I will ever vote again. Let me tell you why and why you should consider not voting either.        

            My motives and ballot decisions have previously been determined by who supported the changes that I wished to see in this country. I voted for increased civil rights for LGBT members, women, and every other minority in this country – equality for all. I voted for compassionate capitalism in which we employ morality and true Christianity in our economic system and help those that need it. Mainly, I voted to prove that my vote as a citizen meant something. That the government that was to be put in place was going to serve the interests of the American people as promised in our Declaration of Independence.

            Specifically, in the last two presidential elections, I voted for positive change. Change that was much needed from the situation that the previous generations had put us in. Faced with a failing economy just waiting to implode on itself, extreme wealth inequality, and various forms of inequality and oppression, I voted for the candidate that I wholeheartedly felt was going to follow through on his campaign promises and fix this country before it was too late. Someone that gave the appearance that he knew of the main problems facing this country and wanted to resolve them for the betterment of us all. While some of the changes that were needed have been accomplished during his two terms, such as increased civil rights for the LGBT community and small economic gains, but for the most part, we’ve been let down. We’ve been thrown tokens to make us blind to the real problem in this country that has yet to be addressed – America is no longer a nation by the people, for the people. It is now a nation by the elite, for the elite. America is no longer a democracy. It is an oligarchy.

            A 2014 study titled “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens” by Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page found that the voices of non-rich American citizens are not being heard any longer. Mark Karlin of TruthOut discussed the study in his article “Most US Voters Have Nearly Zero Impact on National Policy, New Study Concludes” (2014):

            The analysts found that when controlling for the power of economic elites and organized interest groups, the influence of ordinary Americans registers at a "non-significant, near-zero level." The analysts further discovered that rich individuals and business-dominated interest groups dominate the policy-making process. The mass-based interest groups had minimal influence compared to the business-based interest groups. The study also debunks the notion that the policy preferences of business and the rich reflect the views of common citizens. They found to the contrary that such preferences often sharply diverge and when they do, the economic elites and business interests almost always win and the ordinary Americans lose.

            What does this mean to the everyday American like you? You mean nothing. Only the interests of the elite matter now. You control nothing in this country. The elites control everything. The government no longer serves you. You now serve the government. Our political system has failed. Democracy has now been trumped by corporate power and corrupted politicians to create a nation the no longer meets the needs of its entire citizenry.

            We’ve already seen real-life examples of this and did absolutely nothing about it – the illegal election of George W. Bush in 2000 thanks to his brother giving him the state of Florida, President Obama illegally superseding Congress in major national decisions, and the issuance of executive orders for national decisions by the President with no approval from anyone else. We no longer have checks and balances to prevent tyranny. We no longer have elections that represent the true vote of the people. We now have the appearance of a democracy, equally “evil” political parties, and one of the greatest wealth inequalities in the entire world.

            We’ve yet to do anything to take our country back as our democracy and freedom slowly slip away from us, primarily because we spend so much time fighting with one another over the less important things. We fail to realize that in a non-democratic nation, none of us are truly free. So we are essentially wasting our time debating over absolutely anything else.What does it matter if women have the right to abortions if our democracy is gone? What does it matter if same-sex marriage is legalized if our democracy is gone? What does it matter if marijuana is legalized if our democracy is gone? None of these things matter if our democracy is gone.

            Most people will say that this should be even more reason to vote. But our democracy is essentially gone at this point, so continuing to vote is only strengthening the elite that destroyed it. They need the citizenry to believe that its democracy is still in place and its vote matters to prevent rebellion. The silent treatment, or not voting at all, is now more effective than participating in a broken system that they need for us to believe in to maintain their power.

            Personally, I’m not going to give them that any longer. They took away our democracy and don’t answer to us, so they are no longer our government in my eyes, no matter what party they represent. They are simply a democratic façade. There is no lesser of evils to vote for now, and there is no true democracy to partake in. If more Americans come to terms with where we stand as a nation now and begin to give them the silent treatment as well, maybe they will notice that they do need us more than they think they do. And if they don’t realize this, eventually we will have to make them, unless we wish to simply concede entirely. As Guy Fawkes once said: “A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy.”