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This generation is screwed up.

The liberal education worked its magic. Fight or flee instinct is being forced to flee, self reliance is frowned upon and replaced with over-dependence on public services.

I just hate to see how young men and women have turned to sheep in the past couple decades.

What other reasons do you see?
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Greathands01 · 61-69, M
Less opportunity. Loss of middle class. Only jobs available for the young generation are menial minimum wage 'stepping stone' jobs, which don't pay a living wage. Union breaking corporations keep wages below poverty line. They have no choice but to either live at home or live off the government. Trickle down doesn't work. Give them a choice and they will surprise you.
81redhead · 41-45, M
Wow, so many slogans, so little substance. How about doing it the old fashioned way. Minimum wage part-time jobs from age 14 and through college with pay and duties going up as skills are gained and work ethic is proven?

At 15 I did landscaping at a cemetery at 1.5x minimum wage for 40-50 hours weekly because not a single local would want the job. Cemetery had convicts from half-way houses, dominicans on seasonal farming visas, me and couple kids of the mechanic and foreman.

Jobs are there, opportunities are there and everyone knows it.
Burnley123 · 41-45, M
@81redhead: You provided no substance either apart from another anecdote with a the same sample of one. Greathands01 is right.

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/09/the-american-middle-class-is-losing-ground/

The US middle class is losing ground on high earners and these changes are economic. Yes jobs are available but there are less good jobs available so there are less opportunities and less people can succeed.

Maybe you are happy with that?
Greathands01 · 61-69, M
I said nothing about minimum wage, but since you mentioned it, only 19% of employees paid the federal minimum wage are teenagers (16-19) and 45% of minimum wage workers are over 25 years old, which presumably means they are out of college. And 33% of minimum wage jobs are full time jobs, not part-time jobs. These stats are only for at or below the Fed minimum wage. They do not take into account state or local min wages, which are higher and they do not take into account people making +$0.10 above minimum wage, like those who have been with the company for five years and got a raise once.

I am happy you had a great experience 16 years ago during the Clinton economic boom, but I'm not sure how that applies to the current economy and education system.

Personally, I think the real problem is not the youth or education system, but the economic system, where population growth out-performs job growth. Supply and demand of workers and jobs, pushes wages down. Low wages decreases spending, which decreases GDP and job growth. Low wages increases government dependence. When 40% of Walmart employees are on food stamps, and the owners are four of the top ten richest people in America, we need to look at something other than our 'liberal education' as the problem.
Greathands01 · 61-69, M
Is that enough substance?
Burnley123 · 41-45, M
@Greathands01: Its plenty for me. Game set and match IMO. :-)