Broken Promises and the American Lie
I am a child of the 90’s, the dot com boom. A time where we watched everyone around us try real hard and succeed with those efforts. Children of my generation were told if we “say no to drugs” and “stay in school” then the world would be our oyster. Boy, were we lied too.
I abided by most of that logic. I brought home the good grades. I stayed out of trouble and went to college. I even went on to get a respectable bachelors degree. Oh, I am not talking about one of those online ones either. I toiled and tried my hardest, graduated and sent out a plethora of applications and resumes, right as the market crashed.
In a few short moths I saw my pristine little picture of the world shatter. I didn’t get the job of my dreams. Hell, it took me over a year just to get a respectable job with a salary and benefits. I saw the lies unfold quickly. I started in a job that used to be only high school degree required. It was now college degree required. Then I thought about it. I now have over a hundred fellow coworkers fighting for the same promotion that, only a few years ago, a handful of people would have been fighting for.
I know the saying is that: “the bachelors’ degree is the new high school diploma”, but it is getting to be a little ridiculous. Next thing you know, we will be needing bachelor degrees to flip burgers. And oddly enough, I am one of the lucky ones. I have friends who spent a few years looking constantly for professional positions directly out of college. The only positions they could find were in bartending or waitressing. A large number of them are now back in school, doubling or tripling their debt load, and praying that a masters degree with get them the all illusive professional position.
In this unpredictable economy who is getting the help? Not the college student who is up to their eyeballs in debt. Not the ones who are trying to better themselves and help this economy. No, not them, it is the banks who were being shady with their money, the people who were too stupid to read their mortgage contracts or pay off a credit card, and the executives who ran companies into the ground. Why not bail out the hard working students who are fighting to make themselves a productive member of society. Why not help them get their heads above water so they do not end up in the bread lines unnecessarily or worse yet, they paid for an education and now they are not going to use it. I am talking about an economically induced revolution.
It might sound extreme, but how many young adults are just as mad as me? How many were promised bright futures if they just worked hard enough, but learned that hard work doesn’t pay off if there are no jobs to speak of. So, we are an educated group, who were taught just enough to know exactly what is going wrong right now. Just take a look around. We did vote in “Change” in historical numbers. And that taught us one irrefutable lesson. We have a voice and can make a difference. Well, if this current situation in our country doesn’t resolve soon, we might be making our own form of change. Don’t go telling a whole generation of mid 20 and 30-something’s that they have no future, will not be able to support their young and growing families, and will amount to nothing. We will make something happen in our favor one way or another.
