We take a (partial) break from politics today to address a topic that is near and dear to many of us, namely the oft-mentioned unhappiness plague among young American adults and the intangible hopelessness epidemic that people under 30 are experiencing in the twenty-first century.
We’ve all heard survey results detailing attitudes among the young, how they’re purportedly upset by how difficult it is to establish a standard-of-living to match the one they grew up with and are conditioned to. We’ve also heard how young folks aren’t at all happy with the political choices they’ve been given in recent times, feeling their political elders are out-of-touch, old-fashioned, outdated, grouchy and just plain mean.
The old saying used to be, “Don’t trust anyone over 30.” Now it’s more like younger people feel that life all-but ends at 20 because there’s no chance for them ever to be happy and content – and that middle-aged Americans and seasoned citizens just don’t comprehend why the young are so discontented. And don’t dare lecture them, either! They’ve had it awful darn hard this century!
How absurd does it get? In an opinion piece in the USA Today titled “US plummeted in world happiness ranking because of young people like me. I'll tell you why.”, self-described under 30-something Sara Pequeño wrote last week:
“The annual analysis by Gallup, the United Nations and more ranked the United States at No. 23, knocking the country out of the top 20 for the first time ever. It’s apparently all thanks to the folks under 30 – when they’re the only ones accounted for, the country falls to 62 in the rankings. As someone who is under 30, I’m not surprised in the slightest. In the 2021-23 period, we have experienced huge life changes amid a pandemic, a new president and persistent economic anxiety. We, collectively, aren’t OK.
“The happiness scores come from six criteria – GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption. Despite the large-scale criteria, I have some ideas as to why people my age are unhappier than older folks in the United States.”
Pequeño lists these as topic headings explaining under-30 unhappiness:
COVID pandemic happened right as we entered adulthood
Gen Z lost rights (Ed note: "abortion") while gaining political polarization
Social media, doomscrolling impact mental health
OK, boomer: US ranks No. 10 when only older Americans are countedI’m jealous of the joy boomers and the Silent Generation apparently possess.
Pequeño concludes her piece by writing, “Or maybe the reality is that things are, in fact, not OK. We have lived through unprecedented times for the past few years, and now we're seeing the aftermath. It's not really surprising that young people aren't as happy as the rest of you – just don't expect us to grin and bear it, please.”
Grin and bear it? Grin and bear it? Is Sara serious? Governments at all levels are going bankrupt because they’re devoting so much of their budgets to public education and welfare, and the youth “unhappiness” is what we get for it while test scores continue to plummet and society in general erodes because of “woke” and other cultural cancers that have all-but destroyed “the way it used to be” as a legitimate measure against the way things are now.
Look closely, under 30’s. Government is at the root of it all, too.
Why so unhappy? You’ve got years/decades ahead of you. Most of you have transportation, places to live, access to waves of government benefits, infrastructure that someone else built and paid for, money for higher education, free mental health counseling if you want/need it, conveniences all around… and leaders bending over backwards to provide everything you’ll ever need and want. Oh yeah, a political class bent on eradicating “climate change” and therefore saving the world.
What’s wrong with the “kids”? Why aren’t they alright? In no particular order:
They’re entitled. Many of today’s twenty-somethings grew up with far more luxury-type conveniences than previous generations could ever have dreamed of, and upon advancing to the next age levels, they assume that because they’ve always had such conveniences that they’re permanently entitled to keep using and enjoying these “rights” and privileges in perpetuity.
Face it, most “kids” today spent their formative years in houses that were much bigger and more well equipped than their forbears, typically had access to computers and the internet at a young age, had complete or near complete and unfettered exposure to media (social media belongs here) and therefore entrusted themselves to making decisions that heretofore more experienced humans (a.k.a. parents, grandparents, school administrators, teachers and other authority figures) would’ve made for them in times of yore, all-but safeguarding them while they’re too inexperienced/immature to handle this type of responsibility.
Anyone remember when they got their first cell phone? Granted I was way behind the times, but it was in the early years of this century when I took the plunge and went mobile. Now, everyone has a “device” and have been inured through necessity and common practice to carry it with them and use practically everywhere.
How many times have you entered a public restroom and spotted someone with their phone out? Talk about gross and unsanitary. But addicts can’t live without it, not even for a couple seconds.
Meanwhile, mobile contracts are expensive monthly obligations that older generations simply didn’t have. I recall our home still had rotary dials when I was little. And long-distance calls came at a hefty premium. These days, the youths don’t even understand what a “toll call” really is. Many have traded in “old” cable and satellite TV for streaming services, but those aren’t free, either.
Today’s students are often provided computers as part of their educational tool repertoire. Textbooks? That’s so yesterday! Who needs to go to the library and search periodical lists for old magazine articles for use in term papers? If Google can’t find it, maybe an AI chatbot can make it up!
Deterioration of family life. I can’t tell you the number of parents I’ve talked with over the years who said their kids get home from school and immediately head to their rooms, close the doors behind them and basically disappear from the earth into an electronic abyss until they’re compelled by necessity to emerge for dinner or some other essential bodily functions.
Whereas it could be said that youth of my age group were brought up under the influences of Axl Rose (Guns n’ Roses) or Madonna or Michael Jackson, today’s kids are influenced by their peer groups, TikTok, (insert App here), YouTube, Instagram, “Influencers” you’ve never heard of, targeted internet advertisements based on personal data collected by search engines and malignant cultural forces from all over the world telling them what they should think and do and shouldn’t do and how they should talk, dress, speak or write (mostly referring to “woke” cultural sensors here) and like.
It's a fun exercise to read posts on Facebook these days that refer to the way things “used to be” when kids were actually at liberty to roam neighborhoods, go to friends’ houses, ride bikes to places – or walk – without worrying about being molested by some culturally coddled freak or kidnapped by an illegal alien who should’ve been deported long ago or stopped from entering the interior of the country in the first place.
Lack of political engagement (in the news, not in leftist political causes preying on the brainwashed needy youth). The “youth” today almost fully abstain from discussing political topics, mostly because they’re terrified of being questioned on their beliefs or requested to provide follow-up answers to their stated views or supporting information for their opinions garnered from biased social media sources.
Further, they’re mostly told at school to not talk about politics. Why? Because it starts fights. The elite class prefers ignorance to intellectual engagement. No wonder the youth aren’t okay.
Newly graduated younger professionals are limited in their life options mostly by choice. The under-30s were told that there’d be jobs waiting for them if they only conformed to the new cultural realities of social acceptance for all and submitted to “diversity” brainwashing and other nonsense. As a result, they can’t “do” anything. Vocational schools are making a comeback because those who are willing to get their hands dirty or actually learn skills are finding they can make decent money and earn independence from their parents. Isn’t that what they want, anyway?
I know of one guy in his early 20’s who makes well over a hundred thousand bucks a year as a welder. Work has its benefits. Shouldn’t Taylor Swift be singing its praises?
Young people simply don’t want to do anything uncomfortable, which includes manual labor. Plus, many of the jobs that kids used to do are now being done by middle aged adults (and sometimes older) who need the work to scrape by in Joe Biden’s America.
Fast food-type roles used to be performed by kids looking to earn a little money after school or on weekends, allowing them to acquire some semblance of usable skills while keeping them out of trouble, off their phones, learning how to say please and thank you and generally how to get along with people who aren’t like them, namely folks of different ages and community demographic variances (races, religions, different parts of the country and world, etc.).
Instead of patience and the long-view, young adults are blasted with lies about “living wages” and Democrat politicians promising a $50 an hour minimum wage.
Want to be happy, under 30’s? Earn your way; learn to appreciate what you’ve accomplished; learn to live an uncomplicated existence; temper expectations early in life; value life and responsibility; dive into the study of current events and understand political positions, voting, and the issues confronting government. Learn to challenge what you’re being spoon-fed by “experts”; don’t be afraid to ask or answer questions; give faith and religion a chance; find someone over 80 and listen to them talk about “the old days”.
Who knows, under 30’s… you might just learn something.
One of the reasons why today’s politics is so divisive and nasty is because we’ve got one side of the political spectrum constantly lecturing to people – including the young – about why they should be so unsatisfied and unhappy. What the disgruntled really need are political leaders reinforcing ideas and discourse as virtues and skills. 2024’s election can’t turn on ignorance.
Joe Biden economy
inflation
Biden cognitive decline
gas prices,
Nancy Pelosi
Biden senile
January 6 Committee
Liz Cheney
Build Back Better
Joe Manchin
RINOs
Marjorie Taylor Green
Kevin McCarthy
Mitch McConnell
2022 elections
Donald Trump
2024 presidential election
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