For the Kids

Every time you hear a politician mention that we need to slash spending "for the next generation" be reminded that of current generation:

1 in 6 is working full time
3 in 5 live with their parents
3 out of 4 say they need more education, but only half plan to enroll in classes

Source: this NY Times article. Here's a PDF to the actual study.

One of the themes of this depression is that those with the power to do anything are entirely insulated from any of its effects much in the same way that Washington DC has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. "Everything is fine. what is everyone talking about?"

I'm in my 20's and more or less all my friends are underemployed or unemployed. We're talking middle class to privileged and highly educated people. Very few people my age are able to find jobs in the fields they studied in college or grad school. I'm talking law, architecture, accounting, industrial design, etc. - not just history and philosophy majors. We're destroying an entire generation of our populations workforce in a way that it will never recover from. But hey, gotta watch that deficit for the future generation (the ultimate irony being that we'll owe ourselves the money).