A confluence of events last week has me reminiscing about the days gone by and apprehensive about the future. I’ve spent a substantial portion of my adulthood rushing to baseball fields, hockey rinks, gymnasiums, and school auditoriums after a long day at work. I’d be lying if I said I enjoyed every moment. Watching eight year olds trying to throw a strike for two hours can become excruciatingly mind-numbing. But, the years of baseball, hockey, basketball, and band taught my boys life lessons about teamwork, sportsmanship, winning, losing, hard work, and having fun. There were championship teams, awful teams and of course trophies for finishing in 7th place. As my boys have gotten older and no longer participate in organized sports, the time commitment has dropped considerably. Last week was one of those few occasions where I had to rush home from work, wolf down a slice of pizza and head out to a school function. It was the annual 8th grade Spring concert.
My youngest son was one of a hundred kids in the 8th grade choir. I think it was mandatory, since none of my kids like to sing. As my wife and I found a seat in the back of the auditorium where we could make a quick escape at the conclusion of the show, neither of us were enthused with the prospect of spending the next ninety minutes listening to off-key music and lame songs. I’ve been jaded by sitting through these ordeals since pre-school. But a funny thing happened during my 30th band concert. I began to feel sentimental about the past and sorrowful about the future for these Millennials.
The Millennial generation was born between 1982 and 2004. Therefore, they range in age from 9 years old to 31 years old. There are approximately 87 million of them, or 27.5% of the U.S. population. In comparison, the much ballyhooed Boomer generation only has 65 million cohorts remaining on this earth. The Millennials will have a much greater influence on the direction of this country over the next fifteen years than the currently in control Boomers. There has been abundant scorn heaped upon this young generation by their elders. In a fit of irrationality befit the arrogant, hubristic, delusional elder generations, they somehow blame a cohort in which 54 million of them are still younger than 21 years old for many of the ills afflicting our society. This disgusting display of hubris is par for the course among these delusional elders.
Are Millennials addicted to their iGadgets, cell phones and Facebook pages? Probably. Do they spend too much time on the internet and playing PS3 & Xbox? Certainly. Have they been indoctrinated in social engineering gibberish like diversity and planet worship by government run public school bureaucrats? Absolutely. Are they young, foolish, immature, irrational and not respectful towards their elders? You betcha. Teenagers have acted like this forever. You acted like that. The ongoing crisis in this country and our unsustainable economic system are in no way the result of anything perpetrated by the Millennial generation.
Can the Millennial generation be blamed for the $17 trillion national debt, $222 trillion of unfunded un-payable social obligations promised by corrupt politicians, $1 trillion of annual deficits, undeclared wars being waged across the globe on behalf of the military industrial complex arms dealer mega-corporations, economic policies that have resulted in 48 million people dependent on food stamps, tax policies that enrich those who write the code, trade policies that benefit corporations who gutted the industrial base and shipped jobs overseas to slave labor factories, or monetary policies that have destroyed 96% of the dollar’s purchasing power? They had no say in the creation of our untenable welfare/warfare state.
There are no Millennials among the 535 corrupt bought off politicians slithering down the halls of Congress. There are no Millennials running the Too Big To Control Wall Street banks. There are no Millennials in charge of the mega-corporations that buy and sell our politicians. There are no Millennials at the upper echelon of the Military Industrial Complex or in the upper ranks of the U.S. Military. But, and this is a big but, they have done most of the dying in the Middle East over the last ten years in our multiple undeclared preemptive wars of aggression. They have died under the false pretenses of a War on Terror, when they are truly dying on behalf of the crony capitalists who profit from never ending war. They have been fighting and dying to protect “our oil” that happens to be under “their sand”. If the energy independence storyline was true, why is our military perpetually at war in the Middle East?
The Millennials will also be required to do the heavy lifting over the next fifteen years of this Fourth Turning Crisis. The Silent Generation is dying off rapidly. The Boomer generation has done some hard living and some hefty eating and with the oldest of their cohort hitting 70 years old, their supremacy will begin to diminish over the coming fifteen years. At 87 million strong, and millions yet to reach voting age, the Millennials will become more influential by the day regarding the future course of this nation. The question is what will be left of this country by the time they assume control. They are saddled with $1 trillion of student loan debt, peddled to them by the government and Wall Street with the false promise of good paying jobs and the opportunity for a better life than their parents lived. They have obediently followed the path laid out by their elders, but they have been badly misled. This American dream has been shattered upon an iceberg of debt, delusion, deception and denial. The unsinkable American empire’s hubris and arrogance are leading to its demise. The Millennials are coming of age during a Crisis that will reach momentous magnitudes over the next fifteen years, and they had nothing to do with creating the circumstances which will propel the chaos and anarchy that ensues. But, they will bear the brunt of the dreadful consequences.
Generational Bridge
“The Boomers’ old age will loom, exposing the thinness in private savings and the unsustainability of public promises. The 13ers will reach their make or break peak earning years, realizing at last that they can’t all be lucky exceptions to their stagnating average income. Millennials will come of age facing debts, tax burdens, and two tier wage structures that older generations will now declare intolerable.” – Strauss & Howe – The Fourth Turning
The kids on the stage at the 8th grade Spring concert were all around 14 years old. They are unaware they are in the midst of a twenty year period of Crisis. The boys are at that gawky looking stage with pimply faces and gawky limbs. The girls mature quicker than the boys at that age. These youngsters have barely begun their lives. I was amazed at their proficiency with a wide variety of musical instruments. They displayed poise and talent. The soloists exhibited composure well beyond their years. The performers were all musically endowed and proved that hard work and practice pays off. They were clearly enjoying themselves. They were all dressed in their Sunday best. I found myself enjoying the show despite my jaded attitude upon entering the auditorium. Even my son, wearing one of my ties, actually appeared to be singing during the choir performance. What I saw were hundreds of bright eyed Millennials with their hopes and dreams for a bright future intact. They have no idea what trials and tribulations await them.
I reached a milestone on the age chart last week that had me ruminating about yesteryear and contemplating the future. I reached the half century mark. Birthdays generally do not faze me, but the intersection of the 8th grade concert and my landmark birthday had me pondering my purpose for inhabiting this world. I’ve likely realized two-thirds of my life. The final third of my life will be spent trying to maneuver through the minefields of this Fourth Turning. I’m a father to three Millennial boys. I consider it my duty to defend and support them during this Crisis. Strauss & Howe wrote their book in 1997 and predicted a Great Devaluation in the financial markets around the time Millennials were entering their twenties. This Crisis began in September 2008 with the worldwide financial collapse created by Wall Street “Greed is Good” Boomers, as the oldest Millennials entered their twenties. It continues to worsen as more Millennials approach their twenties. We’ve reached a point in history when the elder generations need to sacrifice in order to insure younger generations have a chance at some form of the American dream.
I believe each generation has an obligation to future generations. We are bridge between preceding generations and future generations. We have a civic obligation to manage the resources of the country in a prudent manner. It’s our duty to leave the country in a financially viable condition so younger generations have an opportunity to live a better life than their parents. Every generation that preceded the Millennials has achieved the goal of having a better standard of living than their parents. I don’t believe my boys will enjoy a better life than I’ve lived. We’ve lived well beyond our means for decades. Government, Wall Street banks, corporations and individuals have run up a $56 trillion tab and are sticking the Millennials with the bill.
The $17 trillion national debt accumulated by elder generations to benefit themselves and $222 trillion of unfunded entitlements promised to themselves is nothing but generational theft. It’s immoral and possibly the most selfish act in human history. I’m ashamed that my generation and older generations have committed this criminal act of theft. Deficit spending today with no intention of repaying that debt is a tax on future generations. This egotistical abuse of power by the current and past regimes must be reversed voluntarily or it will be done by force. I’m 50 years old and will dedicating my remaining time on this earth fighting to create a sustainable future for my kids and their kids. The lucky among us get eighty years on this planet to make a difference. When did the definition of success become dying with the most toys and spending your life screwing your fellow man by accumulating obscene levels of wealth at their expense? If Boomers and Generation X have any sense of guilt about what they have done, they would be willingly offering to sacrifice their ill-gotten entitlements.
Not only are those currently in power not proposing to scale back their spending, debt accumulation, or entitlement transfers, but they have accelerated the pace of each in the last five years. An already unsustainable corrupted economic structure is being driven towards collapse by psychopathic central bankers and cowardly captured politicians. These are acts of treason against the youth of this country and larceny on a grand scale. It will lead to generational warfare and these crooks will pay for their transgressions. Strauss & Howe suspected in 1997 the elders might cling to their illicit profits acquired at the expense of the Millennials:
“When young adults encounter leaders who cling to the old regime (and who keep propping up senior benefit programs that will by then be busting the budget), they will not tune out, 13er – style. Instead, they will get busy working to defeat or overcome their adversaries. Their success will lead some older critics to perceive real danger in a rising generation perceived as capable but naïve.” – Strauss & Howe – The Fourth Turning
The elders who represent the status quo do perceive real danger in the rising Millennial generation. The initial skirmishes occurred in the midst of the Occupy protests. The young protestors initially focused on the true culprits in the crashing of the financial system and vaporizing of the net worth of millions – Wall Street bankers and their sugar daddy at the Federal Reserve. In a display of status quo bipartisanship you had liberal Democrat mayors in cities across the country call out their armed thugs to beat the millennial protestors into submission while being cheered on by Fox News and the neo-cons.
The existing status quo regime provides the illusion of choice, but both political parties are interchangeable in their desire to control our lives, flex our military might around the globe, indebt future generations and write laws to favor their corporate and banking masters. The establishment is showing contempt for the futures of our youth. Their solutions to the criminally created financial crisis have been to reward reckless debtors and bankers at the expense of future generations. Their doling out of hundreds of billions in student loan debt and artificial propping up of home prices has effectively made it impossible for millions of young people to get their lives started. Boomers have done such a poor job saving for their retirements they are unable to leave the workforce. Since January 2009, despite adding $400 billion of student loan debt, Millennials have a net loss in jobs, while the Boomers have taken 4 million jobs.
Strauss & Howe anticipated that older people would be anguished to see good kids suffer for the mistakes they had made. They thought the elders couldn’t possibly be shallow enough, selfish enough, or immoral enough to deny the Millennial generation a chance at the American Dream. They were wrong. The old regime has no plans to step aside or sacrifice on behalf of younger generations. The implications of this resistance will be dire.
“The youthful hunger for social discipline and centralized authority could lead Millennial youth brigades to lend mass to dangerous demagogues. The risk of class warfare will be especially grave if the 20% of Millennials who were poor as children (50% in inner cities) come of age seeing their peer-bonded paths to generational progress blocked by elder inertia.” – Strauss & Howe – The Fourth Turning
The social mood in this country continues to deteriorate as the sociopathic financial elite accelerate their pillaging of the working middle class, steal money from senior citizens through zero interest rate inflationary policies, and enslave our youth in the chains of crushing debt and promise of dead end jobs. When the next leg down in this ongoing depression strikes like an F5 tornado, the simmering anger in this country will explode in a chaotic frenzy of violence and retribution. The chances of class and generational warfare have increased exponentially due to the actions of the elderly regime over the last five years.
Generational Sacrifice
“You got your whole life ahead of you, but for me, I finish things.” – Walt Kowalski – Gran Torino
A couple days after the Spring concert I was flipping through the 650 channels on my TV with nothing worth watching when I stumbled across the 2008 Clint Eastwood movie Gran Torino. This was the third episode within the week that had me thinking about the future of my kids. It was his highest grossing film in history. Eastwood played a bigoted tough guy Korean War veteran whose Detroit suburban neighborhood had deteriorated into a dangerous gang infested Asian war zone. The movie did not follow the standard Eastwood plot where he kills dozens of bad guys. He grudgingly befriends two young Millennial teenage Laos refugees who live next door. He had lost his wife of 50 years. He was in his 70s and dying from some undiagnosed illness. I viewed the movie as an allegory for the generational sacrifice that should be taking place now.
Eastwood’s character, Walt Kowlaski, decided to finish things his way. He realized the two Millennials would never find peace or have a chance at a better life until the criminal gang running the show in the neighborhood were confronted and defeated. He knew he was too old to kill six gang members singlehandedly, so he made a choice to sacrifice himself and be gunned down in cold blood in front of multiple witnesses so the perpetrators would go to jail and allow his Millennial companions to have a chance at a better life. He sacrificed his life for the good of young people who weren’t even related to him. This message has not connected with the elder generations who control the purse strings and political system in this country. The media propaganda machine supporting the existing regime continues to peddle a storyline that debt doesn’t matter, consumption is good, saving is for suckers, and passing the bill for unfunded entitlements to future generations is not immoral and cowardly. Walt Kowalski displayed courage, bravery, and valor that is sorely lacking in the elderly generations today.
At the age of 50 I have a choice with my remaining 20 or 30 years. I can choose to keep accumulating material goods with debt, voting for politicians who promise never to cut my entitlements, believing deficits growing to infinity are beneficial to the economic health of the nation, supporting the military industrial complex as they wage undeclared wars across the world, applauding the Orwellian fascist surveillance measures instituted to give the illusion of safety while sacrificing freedoms and liberties and selfishly looking out for my best interests. Or I can stand up to the corporate fascist old boy regime and lure them into a violent response that will ultimately lead to their downfall. I’m willing to sacrifice what is supposedly “owed” to me on behalf of my kids and all Millennials. They don’t deserve to start life in a $200 trillion hole created by their parents and grandparents. It is disconcerting to me that more Boomer and Generation X parents are unprepared, unwilling or too willfully ignorant to forfeit entitlements awarded them under false pretenses in order to preserve a decent standard of living for their children and grandchildren. The Bernaysian propaganda programmed into their brains over decades by the sociopathic central planning status quo has created this inertia.
The inertia will be replaced by frenzied activity when this unsustainable system ultimately fails. Time seems to be standing still. People have been lulled into a false sense of security even though history is about to fling us into a chaotic transformational period in history. How do I know this is going to happen? Because it happens every eighty years like clockwork. The best laid plans of the men running the show will be swept away in a whirl of pandemonium, violence, war and reckoning for sins committed against humanity. There will be no escape.
“Don’t think you can escape the Fourth Turning the way you might today distance yourself from news, national politics, or even taxes you don’t feel like paying. History warns that a Crisis will reshape the basic social and economic environment that you now take for granted. The Fourth Turning necessitates the death and rebirth of the social order. It is the ultimate rite of passage for an entire people, requiring a luminal state of sheer chaos whose nature and duration no one can predict in advance. The risk of catastrophe will be very high. The nation could erupt into insurrection or civil violence, crack up geographically, or succumb to authoritarian rule. If there is a war, it is likely to be one of maximum risk and effort – in other words, a total war. Every Fourth Turning has registered an upward ratchet in the technology of destruction, and in mankind’s willingness to use it.” – Strauss & Howe – The Fourth Turning
Our country has entered a period of Crisis. We may or may not successfully navigate our way through the visible icebergs and more dangerous icebergs just below the surface. The similarities between the course of our country and the maiden voyage of the Titanic are eerily allegorical.
The owners of the ship (Wall Street, Washington politicians, crony capitalists) are arrogant and reckless. They declare the ship unsinkable, while only providing half the lifeboats needed to save all the passengers in case of disaster in order to maximize their profits. The captain (Ben Bernanke) has been tendered the greatest cruise liner (United States) in history. The initial voyage across the Atlantic Ocean has drawn the financial elite ruling class (financers & bankers) onboard, occupying the luxurious state rooms on the upper decks. But, the lower decks are filled with young poor peasants (Millennials) who are sneered at and ridiculed by those in the upper decks. A maiden voyage should always be approached cautiously. A prudent captain would not take undue risks.
Our captain (Ben Bernanke) wants to make his mark on history. He considers himself an expert in navigating dangerous waters (Great Depression) because he studied dangerous waters at his Ivy League school. It doesn’t matter that he never actually captained a ship in the real world. He declares full steam ahead (reducing interest rates to 0% and throwing vast amounts of fiat currency into the engine room boilers). Midway through the voyage, the captain is handed a telegram warning of icebergs (potential financial catastrophe) ahead. If he slows down the vessel, he will not set the speed record and receive the accolades of an adoring public. He ignores the warning and steams on to his rendezvous (eternal disgrace) with destiny.
In the middle of the night, the lookouts (Ron Paul, John Hussman, Zero Hedge) cry iceberg!! But, it is too late. The great ship (United States) has struck an enormous iceberg (debt & currency crisis). At first, it seems like everything will be OK. The captain and crew assure the passengers that everything is under control and their evasive action has saved the ship. But below the waterline, the great ship (United States) is taking on water (toxic levels of debt, un-payable entitlement promises, trillion dollar deficits, political & financial corruption). The engine room (Federal Reserve) works frantically to alleviate the damage (QE to infinity). The captain is sure the compartmentalization of the ship will save it. One of the designers of the ship (David Stockman) sadly declares that the ship will surely sink. The captain orders the band (CNBC, Fox, MSNBC, CNN) on deck to distract the passengers from their impending fate with soothing music. The owners of the ship (Wall Street, Washington politicians, crony capitalists) aren’t worried. They collected their fees upfront and over-insured the vessel. They anticipate a windfall when the ship sinks. It worked last time.
To avoid mass panic, the crew (government apparatchiks) has locked the youthful poor peasants (Millennials) below deck. The captain and his crew are content to let them go down with the ship. They’ve decided the women, children, and senior citizens (Middle Class) can also be sacrificed. The financial elite ruling class (financers and bankers) are piling into the boats with the ship’s jewels, escaping the fate of the peasants. The captain (Ben Bernanke) has no intention of going down with the ship. In a cowardly act, he leaps onto the 1st lifeboat to be launched. We are on a voyage of the damned. The great cruise liner (United States) has a fatal wound and is headed for a watery grave. Are we going to let the owners, captain and crew dictate who will be saved in the few lifeboats or will we rise up and throw these guilty parties overboard?
It comes down to the abuse of power by a few evil men and their henchmen as they have centralized their control over our financial, political, economic and social institutions. The existing social order is an ancient, rotting, fetid swamp of parasites that will be drained during this Fourth Turning. The Millennials are rising and will be the spearhead of the coming revolution. As each day passes they will become a more powerful force and the power of the existing regime will wane. Meanwhile, the band will play on as the ship of state descends into the abyss.
What would happen if we just defaulted on all of our debts and just said fuck it we are going to start over? I think it would be a domino effect around the world. Sure there would be a boat load of pissed off people but they would just have to get over it. This is going to end badly anyway, so there is no time like the present to start over. Hey this was just a thought seeing that nothing last for ever.
Like I say I am glad that I am closer to the end than the beginning.
Jim,
Best article you have written. So much truth. The Boomers and elites really have no idea the extent of the anger that is seething amongst the youth. Many have champion the fall of the Occupy Movement, but like anyone who has seen the Robert Redford movie “The last castle” they only revealed their opening moves. Now any Millennials that decide to openly start a Revolution will know what to expect.
To the Boomers, if you weren’t scared after reading this article, you are ignorant. Admin captured the feelings and motives of the Millennial generation exactly. Nature has a way of favoring the young. Always will. When the 4th turning does hit its climatic moment, the only guarantees are your family and community. I am only required to take care of my own parents retirement and elder years. I have no other obligations. Neither does any of rest of the Millennials. Many in the 13ers will be looking out for their children. If you have children, and haven’t given them every sacrifice to prop them up, you will have some anger coming your way.
I jumped ship 5 years ago and now watch from foreign shores. I had no real way of fighting it except to remove my support by not having taxable income or paying any of their ‘fees’ or supporting their banks or other financial schemes. My small income is nontaxable, even with the far reaching tentacles of the IRS in every country but a few. My dollars are exchanged for the local currency almost immediately upon arrival in my bank account. I have no IRA, 401k, Mutual fund, insurance or visible savings for the government to grab. It is all in places out of their reach or knowledge. I am preparing for the day my small income ends. Yes, I care about my kids and grand kids. I send them articles trying to get them to prepare. But, I cannot do it for them. They could come here, but they won’t. I won’t go back.
I am an occasional member of a retirement forum. I am always dazzled at how conventional and unquestioning and worldly unconscious most of the other members are. I would suppose we are all in the same age range of about 55 to 65.
They talk about stupid shit like still being able to drive a stick shift and snowbirding to Arizona and the best bargains at Costco. I can’t believe how shallow their thinking is and the myopia they’re mired in.
Because you are absolutely right, this ship is going down.
My fellow American near-retirees seem clueless. They don’t see that everything they’ve lived and every American value they pontificate and all of their homogenous expectations for future to be the same as the past–is a bygone fantasy. It’s all over except in their heads.
And that’s why we’re going to be getting out. Out, out. Far away out. Right now I’m afraid that leaving in two years will be too late, TPTB can lock the doors any time and I’m always afraid they’ll do it before we’re ready to go.
But if luck holds and we do sail away, I’m hoping to blaze a trail that our millennial kids can follow to get out too. The adventurous ones anyway. We will create an expat haven to which they can also escape and we will provide them a safe landing zone.
Not all boomers are selfish, boring, lazy, and stupid. Some of us definitely get it.
Marissa, if only more boomers did get it. Most are still up in the clouds scorning Millennials for being failures. But, while they have their heads in the clouds, the youth are realizing it isn’t their fault.
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Admin
Another gem of an article that is sure to be broadcast far and wide on other sites. Your Titanic metaphor is a beaut.
Most Boomers are still in their peak earning years and have not yet had to suffer enough to shake them out of their denial. When the storm comes, Boomers will suffer much more than Millenials because the Millenials are going to be already conditioned to living frugally. Financially they will have little to lose.
Now I’m asking myself what I can possibly add to your article by way of comment, and I answer myself “nothing.”
Really great piece, Admin. I’m not sure if I’ll go so far as Calamity’s “your best ever”, but that’s only because you’ve written some really, really great stuff before. This is what I’m talking about-Fourth Turning revelations, combined with personal inspiration. I have a handful of Millennials myself, one who just graduated (w/o debt, thank Jeebus). And some (what do we call them?) post-Millenials, too. Artists for the next Silent Generation? I’m willing to sacrifice for their sake too.
On a much more self-indulgent (I’m 1963-not that far from Boomer age, after all) note, I scored tickets to Dropkick Murphys this July. If the shit has not yet hit the fan, maybe I’ll take my graduate daughter.
Or you can take the fight directly to the money men and shot callers on Wall Street and K Street who tell the old men in D.C. what to do. They aren’t as well protected and tend to be very big soft targets.
Instead of murdering every Boomer and geritric case in a old folks home. 1000 instead of 50 million would solve the problem.
Were some of the elites to have accidents, their influence would cease quite rapidly.
Remember he who has the wealth controls the government. Even the Roman Emperor in it’s waning days still had to kow tow to the very rich. You mistake the old men in D.C. for the source of all that is wrong, they are merely machines you stuff money into and legislation comes out of. Go to the money changers and drive them out of the temple, Sir.
The rank and file over 50 crowd isn’t to blame per se. They were told the rules by the elites and played by them. A lot of them also got screwed a lot worse than those professional moochers at OWS, who saw their factories being shut down and shipped to Asia while they were lucky to get work at Wal-Mart part time. Then watched Hollywood and Madison Ave turn on the shit spigot and fill our airwaves with crap that attacked men, decency, the family and promoted every degenerate behavior imaginable for the last 30 years.
Most of them who didn’t get a fat state or federal job don’t have much to brag about during their Golden Years as they saw Wall Street turn their 401K plans into 201K plans.
One last thing: Eastwood’s character was old school all the way, a WWII combat vet. You don’t find men with that sort of quality in a OWS meetup, they wouldn’t be wanted. Old school’s values aren’t OWS values. The average OWS protestor is a liberal arts college student on a pot break and the hardest thing most of them ever faced was a beer bong challenge.
Damn, Cynic not living up to his moniker (or is he?). Apologizing for the boomers, dissing the yout and erroneously describing Walt as a WW II vet. Get your basic facts straight before spouting opinions, dude. Your credibility on this thread is mighty weak.
Great job again Admin! What else can be said?
Sensetti
That age pyramid is based on the Census definition, not S&H. That is why it shows more Boomers.
Wouldnt restoring agriculture provide jobs and sustenance to people? at the worst people would have healthy food to eat.
A great way to the day with one of your best post ever.
Good job admin,…..I think they will take 401s,pensions,and finally bank accounts before letting everything completely collapse.They will keep the system going until it want.Then it will hell to pay.
Excellent essay, Jim. Thanks.
Most people in my Florida condo community are older folks, but some are working young and non-boomer middle age also. I can say with consummate confidence that 99 percent of my neighbors are NOT preparing for any uncertain future, both young and old. The 1 percent in the complex is moi. I am a bit of an outcast on my “block” because I buy 25 pound sacks of brown rice instead of bottles of red wine and gourmet cheese. I am a odd duck because I installed new ballistic storm windows and Sentry Crimsafe mesh screen to protect my home/patio against theft/intrusion and CAT 5 hurricanes instead of buying a new (or newer) car.
Meanwhile, they play cards in the community center and sit by the pool enjoying the Florida sunshine, gossiping about each other. No time (or need) to worry about Russian destroyers and the US carrier fleets in the Straits of Hormuz, Israeli air strikes killing Syrian troops or the fall of the US dollar from world currency status. No need to be concerned about Hezbollah, Iranian, Russian and possibly Chinese troops in Syria right now or US economic collapse you see. What’s important is to be happy and walk around with your head of your ass 24/7. Should I have merlot, cabernet sauvignon, malbec, or pinot noir with my roast duckling tonight? Decisions. Decisions.
The personal touch, Fourth Turning, expansive overview, and the Titanic — what could best that writing? A tour de force, sir.
“The American people are slow to wrath, but when their wrath is once kindled it burns like a consuming flame.”
Theodore Roosevelt
As a Dad of four Millenials, I found this piece particularly moving, Jim. I often have thoughts like the ones you had sitting there in that darkened auditorium. I’m sure that many of us Boomer and GenX parents feel the way you feel, but we live in a society where our power to make changes through legitimate avenues has been co-opted. The ship is going to sink. All we can do is try to build a lifeboat for our families.
You sound like you’re going militant in your late middle age. I applaud your decision to take on TPTB. Your voice is one the clearest and sanest and most intelligent I know . Give ’em hell!
I like the Titanic analogy – that part could stand alone.
My parenting of my three Millennials (18,22 & 25) has evolved – I now find myself arming them with knowledge they didn’t/don’t get in school and equipping them with insight that contradicts what MSM would have them believe.
Telling them we’ve all been bathed in propaganda 24/7 – and have been for decades – means telling them all the “betterment for humanity” BS indoctrination they received as young children *may not* be the appropriate attitude going forward and this can be a difficult notion to digest.
There has been resistance and I have to keep my ego out of it.
And as with all things temperament plays a role, some are more receptive than others or certain topics resonate and generate more passion and others not so much, and I find much to my chagrin that some cannot be persuaded to question their college professors at all.
It may all be like a day late and a dollar short but awake and aware has got to be better than asleep and unconscious.
Thanks for another great essay – I needs to go far and wide.
admin,
great article and thoughts.
especially the detailed and extremely well thought out analogy for the US & The Titantic.
The influence you’ve had on my views of politics, economics and social issues is pretty damned big. Your continued search for the truth is much appreciated Jim.
Admin,
Great article, this will be forwarded to my 17 and 19 year old. I had a similar moment driving home to see my 17 year old daughter of to her junior prom. I did not make it as a truck had rolled over on route 128 and I had a 3 1/2 hour commute home. One more thing I missed stuck in traffic doing the work my masters have trained me to do. It will be interesting to see which Millennials rise up to the occasion. As with all generations it will not be the group as a whole but a minority of the strongest willed ones who will lead the change.
My largest concern is the complete immersion of this generation in the boomer indoctrination system of the public schools. I have tried my hardest to engage both my children in conversations that contradict much of what they are taught in school. I can only hope that in the long run I am successful. As I have mentioned before my son studies Chemical Engineering and there are a number of very bright hard working young people of this ilk in the STEM studies as well as the business schools, who do not seemed to have the false sense that they are owed a living. They know that they will have to work hard to survive.
I am very concerned what student debt will do to enslave this generation, there will be no simple way out of that mess. My wife and I pay cash for our son and we will try to do the same for my daughter, but the system has been set up to milk people in our position of as much money as possible in order to sustain what is ultimately unsustainable. Fortunately our debts are minimal as we live very frugally. I have brought my lunch to work since I stopped working in restaurants at 19. We can only do the best we can with what we have, so I pray for the best for my children, and prepare for the worst.
Thank you,
Bob.
This ones gonna get emailed to lots of people, really, really well done.
Sorry no breaks in the paragraphs.
Bob.
CHARLES HUGH SMITH WROTE ME A NICE EMAIL ABOUT MY ARTICLE AND SENT ME A LINK TO SOMETHING HE WROTE IN 2005. IT SEEMS HIS FELLOW BOOMERS HAVEN’T HEEDED HIS ADVICE
Boomers, Prepare to Fall on Your Swords (June 2005)
Perhaps the most mocked generation in the last century, the “Baby Boomers” have certainly enjoyed a roller- coaster ride: born in the socially constrained environs of the post-“good war” boom, saddled with an old man’s “limited” (unless you got killed or wounded) war in Vietnam, reviled and feared as drug-crazed hippies and idealistic founders of anti-war, feminist, Black Power and environmental movements, sucker-punched by the worst recessions since 1929 (1973-75 and 1980-83), revered as founders of the personal computer revolution, reviled (again) for an obsession with “me” and “getting mine,” benefactors of the Dot-Com boom of the 90s, and now, in a grey-haired botoxed frenzy over staying “youthful,” we collectively face the bankruptcy of the social welfare programs our parents have enjoyed at our expense: Medicare and Social Security.
Now it falls to us to fix the finances of our foolishly bankrupted nation. Either we sacrifice our freebies (every recipient of these programs has extracted far more than they paid in, even including accrued interest) or we leave our children and their children burdened by an impossible debt.
I say we go out with idealistic panache, and fall on our swords with grace and dignity. Instead of sucking off future generations like our parents have, let’s pay our own way, tighten our belts, stay healthy without absurdly expensive operations and medications (which don’t work that well anyway, in case you’ve ever read the fine print) and leave the next generations a financially stable nation rather than a bankrupt, self-absorbed “pass the buck to your kids” mess–which is the current state of affairs.
Why leave our debts to the next generations?
Great article Admin! Got me thinking a bit. As a 36 year old Xer, the fourth turning description is pretty accurate regarding generations. It seems like folks my age were literally the last ones to get in the door before it slammed shut regarding careers and potential earnings. That being said, we were also the majority of the cannon fodder going into Afghan and Iraq when they first kicked off (I was 24 when my boots first hit the Afghan dust). Despite getting a screwing in this fashion, Xers appear to generally have fallen into the same bullshit partisan sideshow and entitlement mentality. It’s pretty damn sad.
“I say we go out with idealistic panache, and fall on our swords with grace and dignity. ”
I’ve been surprised that this POV hasn’t taken hold. I think it’s because almost no one anymore is proactive. We are, by and large, a nation of REACTIVE people who just go with the flow until…well, until it doesn’t flow anymore. When the oil stops flowing, and the free money stops flowing, that’s when there will be a hue and cry never before heard in the annals of Man
Thanks Admin
Minnie’s will find their way as survival of the human race requires it, that being said, tremendous hardship will be this generations lot, they are passengers on a sinking ship that is floating on a sea of debt.
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Minnie’s have a long swim to reach the shore of prosperity the previous generations have known.
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Good Luck and Godspeed
This was a very deep and interesting article. Continuing like this, you should consider writing a book about your life experiences and combine it with a knowledge of current economics and politics literature.
The vast majority of this article is right, but I will rather focus on one thing that I do not agree with. It is your determinism about the state (Titanic) – there is no reason to think that your sons will have to continue living under the same capitalist and bureaucratic state as you did. Everything you wrote is pointing out that state is lacking will and control to really solve these problems. There is not any part of your post which would suggest any particular group or individual to deal with the problem. Yet you say you are basically anti-authoritarian and afraid of possible fast and easy solution with some kind of fascist or right wing dictator (president). From this perspective, you should consider anarchist solution.
There are many ways how to escape the reality of paying bills and going to work for endless hours. It requires a change in our broad social interaction, but it is possible. Collaboration on the system that was developed and self-perpetuated by the ruling class (business) will never bring you anything. And as you pointed out, middle and lower class will remain locked in the ship. What to do?
I suggest replacing the current monetary system with more genuine local economy, which would be based on DE-commodification. There are already many useful ways how to reach this goal – one of them would be the construction of eartship home or any other off the grid solution.
There are three necessities, water, food (think beans and rice) and shelter. Shelter is protecting one self from the environment which varies greatly from the arctic to the tropics. All else are luxuries. Few are prepared to meet these necessities but are way ahead on luxuries. Weapons are implied in protecting one self.
BostonBob,
In my opinion there is hope regarding the issue of indoctrination of the public schools.
I was born in early 1981 (right at the typical cut-off) and feel I have tenancies of both millenials but I think I am predominantly an X-er, I am told “nomadic” is an appropriate term for describing me.
My wife and i have a 2 year old son and many of the people we associate with are our age or a little older and the trust and faith in the public schools is greatly diminished among us as a whole. People who are in their early-mid 30’s with kids are strongly considering private schools or homeschooling. Interest in things like “Kinder-Musik” and the level of involvement is very different than it was for most of us growing up.
I draw the occasional scorn from the fellow parents but that is mainly because I am more in the extreme mindset. They dont’ think public schools provide a good education. I agree with them on that but then attack the issue that the idea of public education controlled by govt and funded by compulsory taxation is tyrannical and evil in its foundation. I typically scare off 80% right off the bat. As admin has said I won’t be invited to many of their bbq’s.
My boomer parents rolled their eyes this weekend when schooling came up and it was made clear our little guy was not going to be attending those moron factories, either by homeschooling or private schooling. They are in the camp of “not getting it” for the most part. But there are people out there bucking the trend and raising children who will hopefully have a chance to think for themselves.
On a side note:
I am a mechanical engineer and one suggestion i would have for your son studying Chem Eng is that he takes electives in philosophy if they are available. A mind capable of figuring out “how” to do something should also have a mind capable of determining “if” that something should be done.
(I did in college and i think it benefitted me; just my $0.02)
The real problem began back in 1913. No boomer to blame for that.
But I do have a question for those here that arent boomers….have you read the 4th Turning theory book?
I’ll back up harry p. I took general philosophy as well as a scientific ethics course, and both helped me tremendously in very tangible ways.
At the very least your son will become better at defending his thesis/dissertation.
Kill Bill- I have read the book. I have known about the fourth turning since I was 11 years old. My mom has been talking about it for over a decade.
Great article, thanks.
“We’ve reached a point in history when the elder generations need to sacrifice in order to insure younger generations have a chance at some form of the American dream”
Oh, that’s a good one. I can’t stop laughing. Boomers being expected to sacrifice? HaHaHaHa. They aren’t going to sacrifice anything, they’re not even close to being done “taking”. They are going to suck the blood of the millenials like parasite ticks until every drop of blood is gone. They’re the most obese generation in the history of mankind, ever, throughout recorded history. That tells me and everyone else they don’t give a shit about their health, their healthcare costs, or who is going to pay them. They are going to ride the Medicare train until in collapses in a pile of debt. Ah, debt. Boomers managed to create debt out of thin air so they could live the good life, stuff themselves, drive nice cars, live in big houses, take trips, and “live the American dream” no matter the cost now or later. Now we’re counting the days until everything collapses.
Bubbles Bernanke, a boomer, is injecting monetary heroin worldwide just to keep the debt machine going for a little longer. I don’t see that millenials have much hope. Can they create an entirely new economy? One where they don’t have to support Social Security and Medicare? If not, they will become the ultimate milk cows. Their entire lives will be spent trying to keep up making tax payments and debt payments with their crappy jobs. They will either work within the fiat currency system and be slaves to the elderly and FSA, or they will work outside the system and make a lives for themselves. Yet to do so, they will have to fight the government. Boomers have managed to set up a massive tyranical government to protect their interests. And in order to free themselves from guilt, shame or regret, they manged to dispose of these concepts as all morals and ethics were destroyed in the interests of the free love and “changing society, man” attitude and zeitgeist of the 60’s and 70’s.
Let’s face the facts. Millenials don’t have a pot to piss in. They live in a fascist country that will monitor their every thought and every word they write. IF they can find a job, they will be paying and paying so the boomers can ride scooters, get all their joints replaced, take 12 medications a day, their sleep apnea machines, heart caths, home health nurses, penis pumps, and a 1000 other things required by boomers now that their health is destroyed. They will have to continue to support 100 million people on welfare, 30 million union drone government employees, 10 million people on disability, all the government contractors, all the subsidies to banksters and farmers, and all the wars. There simply isn’t enough money, but they’ll be stuck paying anyway.
What’s going to be the next big wave that lift’s their boats? There isn’t one. The debt crisis that will face the U.S. and the rest of the world will sink all boats, wipe out jobs, wipe out opportunity. Millinenials will have to basically start from scratch. How exactly that is going to happen without armed revolution against the government is beyond me. The boomers and the rest of the elites aren’t going to give up without a fight. They will never have enough, and they don’t care what happens to everyone else. They’re laughing all the way to the bank after riding the biggest debt fueled bubble in history. Millenials don’t have much to look forward to; the crumbs the boomers left ’em, and all the bills and debts. At least they don’t expect much (they’d better not). I wonder when they’re going to figure out how fucked they are, and start burning everything down like they’re starting to in Europe.
Great post, admin…but you say “There are no Millennials in charge of the mega-corporations that buy and sell our politicians.” What about Millennial Mark Zukerburg, born in 1984, who runs Facebook?
Or is Facebook not a mega-corporation? Also the young fellow who recently sold Tumblr to Yahoo for a large sum. Seems like some of these new billionaires may fall into the category of being in charge of at least sizeable corporations.
I don’t consider a $5 billion company like Facebook to be a mega-corporation. GE at $147 billion or Wal-Mart at over $200 billion are mega-corporations.
Simply the best I’ve read on TBP. I was born in ’79 which is generally considered the tail end of the X’er generation. My peers of that generation born in the 60’s and early 70’s had much better times to “get theirs” thus I’ve always felt closer to the Millenials.
I do feel generation war is upon us and much hate is aimed square at the “boomers.” The fact that since 2009 all the jobs have gone to boomers is very telling. What is youth unemployment in the ME countries that have seen revolution in the past years? This is a ticking-time-bomb that does not end well for those in power.
Kill Bill
The problem began in 1788 when we abandon The Articles of Confederation and adopted the Federalist Constitution in 1789. The Confederation of Helvetian States (CH) has done much better than our Federalist system.
Mark Zuckerberg is a fascist. He can’t hand over Facebook personal information to the Feds fast enough. He’s been instrumental in the government spying and obtaining information on everyone in this country. He’s a flash in the pan. Remember “myspace”? Fuck Zucker and the suckers on Facebook.
Millenials:
Here’s your inheritance:
And of course the entire global financial system is a giant bundle of debt, risk and leverage at this point. We have never seen anything like this in world history. When you step back and take a good, hard look at the numbers, they truly are staggering. The following statistics are from one of my previous articles entitled “Why Is The World Economy Doomed? The Global Financial Pyramid Scheme By The Numbers”…
-$70,000,000,000,000 – The approximate size of total world GDP.
-$190,000,000,000,000 – The approximate size of the total amount of debt in the entire world. It has nearly doubled in size over the past decade.
-$212,525,587,000,000 – According to the U.S. government, this is the notional value of the derivatives that are being held by the top 25 banks in the United States. But those banks only have total assets of about 8.9 trillion dollars combined. In other words, the exposure of our largest banks to derivatives outweighs their total assets by a ratio of about 24 to 1.
-$600,000,000,000,000 to $1,500,000,000,000,000 – The estimates of the total notional value of all global derivatives generally fall within this range. At the high end of the range, the ratio of derivatives to global GDP is more than 21 to 1.
Facebook is not a mega corp in terms of revenue.
But, I believe it is a mega corp in terms of influence, especially on culture.
FB recently reported 1.1 BILLION active users. (I know that includes names like Mickey Mouse … but, hey, mice deserve to be “heard” as well.)
Maybe millenials are going to get what they deserve….
Why Obama Won: Hispanics, Millenials Were The Difference
President Obama won re-election primarily because he did so well with two key, and expanding, constituencies: Hispanics and members of the Millennial Generation. Throughout the campaign, Democratic pundits predicted that these two groups would be the key difference makers. They were right.
To this Republican political malpractice there is an even greater threat: the loss of younger voters. According to CNN exit polls, millennials voted for Obama 60% to 36% and accounted for 19% of all voters, up from 17% in 2008. Although white male millennials turned slightly less enthusiastic, the President’s huge margin among white women as well as minority millennials — roughly 40 percent of this huge generation — more than made up the difference.
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Most millennials voted for Obama, and believe in big government!
They’re doomed.
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Over 40 million Millennials weren’t old enough to vote in the last election.
College age Millennials were the biggest supporters of Ron Paul during the 2012 campaign. He dominated the young Republican vote.
I think I see a few Millennials in the crowd. Oh yeah. They’re all Millennials.
Yeah, they had to use camera angles to make it look like the other republican candidates were speaking to crowds.
“millennials voted for Obama 60% to 36% and accounted for 19% of all voters, up from 17% in 2008. Although white male millennials turned slightly less enthusiastic, the President’s huge margin among white women as well as minority millennials — roughly 40 percent of this huge generation — more than made up the difference.”
Regardless of their support for Ron Paul, they elected Obama, especially millennial women and minorities. Same old shit, different age group.
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I am 100% with admin on this after what I have seen the last 6 months, many of those millenials are the people i know that are starting families and talking about home schooling. there are quite a few that are cancelling cable and expenses so that one parent can stay home. there may be a renaissance in responsible parenting happening (atleast in my circles).
on monday nite at Kinder-Musik I was wearing a RP 2008 shirt and one of the parents asked me what I thought about the home school curriculum Ron Paul is developing.
People herd.
The real harm done to young people was their parents agreeing to delegate their upbringing to tax-paid professionals (social workers, early Ed specialists, and myriad others who taught DEpendence).
I don’t worry much about the masses. They are, after all, mindless herd animals. Individuals can choose, can elect to be self-controlled, can learn to to useful and productive.
The rest of the program is just managing what comes. Collective behavior determines the environment, and is as natural as snow storms and hurricanes. No one or group can control the mass mind. Our current debacle was foreordained a long, long time ago.
Stop worrying about your kids. Help them identify their aptitudes and then help them amplify them into productive endeavors and occupations.
AWD- How many of the Obama voters of Millies were still in college? College is a bubble world that is not reality. Its not a fair assessment of how future Millies will vote. Most of my friends and Iwho were in the first millie wave and out of college voted and campaigned for Ron Paul. Very few of my friends voted after Ron Paul lost the primaries. There was as much enthusiasm to vote in the general election for the older Millies.
Our good friend Jim Kunstler liked the article so much he asked me to be his guest on his weekly podcast. We’re doing it June 5.
Should I ask him about his views on NASCAR?
“Eastwood’s character, Walt Kowlaski, decided to finish things his way. He realized the two Millennials would never find peace or have a chance at a better life until the criminal gang running the show in the neighborhood were confronted and defeated.” ———– Admin
I loved Gran Torino!
But, “the criminal gang running the show”, …. well, they too were Millennials.
Generational warfare (if that actually happens) will also be inter-generational warfare. Mexican utes, El Salvadoran gang utes, black utes, white utes ….. they have nothing in common except their ages, and that won’t be enough to stop them from killing each other.