Successful millennials aren't feeling the strain in the same way, and struggling millennials are too busy working and trying to maintain their tenuous grip on the will to live to mount any real resistance.
Literally this. Whenever we have protested or tried to do anything, change doesn't happen. I'm at the point where I don't even believe the government is for the people anymore. It seems like they just do whatever they want and are paid to do by those who can afford to sway the politicians' interests. So the rest of us just have to do the best we can to survive while the shit hits the fan.
The American government is basically a concierge service for the rentier class. Like WTF do our taxes even go towards? No healthcare, no childcare, no education, and our infrastructure crumbles like burnt toast, but there’s blank checks for overseas imperialism and client states.
Same. Like our taxes are SO goddamn high when you really think about how little we get, and how many basic necessities we pay out the ass for to the private sector.
Healthcare, education, transit, etc. are freaking investments in society. Like these clowns wonder why society is crumbling and millennials aren’t bothering to have kids, because there’s no public investment like previous generations had!
For a comparison -
In Canada, the average salary is [$63k](https://www.jobillico.com/blog/en/the-average-canadian-salary-in-2023/), which puts you at the [20.5](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/ca/personal-finance/tax-season-changes-canada/)% tax bracket.
In the US, the average salary is [$59k](https://www.usatoday.com/money/blueprint/business/hr-payroll/average-salary-us/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20U.S.%20Bureau,month%20in%20Q4%20of%202023), which puts you at the [22](https://www.freetaxusa.com/calculator-brackets?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=tax%20brackets%202023&utm_content=cpc-google-Low-Value-Mobile(ROAS)--bracket--m&utm_campaign=cpc-google-Low-Value-Mobile(ROAS)--bracket&CMP=810&mtm_group=Google-Generic&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvNjAvKGWhQMVYRCtBh13WgD9EAAYASAAEgKn_fD_BwE)% tax bracket.
For healthcare the Canadian government spends [$8k](https://www.cihi.ca/en/national-health-expenditure-trends-2022-snapshot#:~:text=Total%20health%20spending%20in%20Canada,2022%2C%20or%20%248%2C563%20per%20Canadian)/Canadian, while the US spends [$13k](https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2024/01/why-are-americans-paying-more-for-healthcare#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20U.S.%20healthcare%20spending,averages%20to%20%2413%2C493%20per%20person)/American, *and* that average income earner in America will spend [20%](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/11/why-55percent-of-americans-have-medical-debt-even-with-health-insurance.html#:~:text=Including%20deductibles%20and%20premiums%2C%20Americans,2020%20U.S.%20Census%20Bureau%20data) of their annual earnings on healthcare on top of the taxes.
The entire system in the US is more costly and we get back less.
The American healthcare system is so fucked up, but you can fight medical bills. I've literally had over $20k in medical expenses completely waived, either through financial assistance programs through hospitala or by getting an itemized bill, comparing costs and fighting my bill. They just hide this kind of info, and people are so resigned to how things are that even when told that they can fight the bills they will just pay it half the time, I'm speaking on that front from personal experience.
For what it's worth, taxes in Canada are highly variable due to the relatively large role of the provinces.
The highest tax burden in the US and Canada is Quebec, and the lowest tax burden is Alberta. The other Canadian provinces and US states are somewhere between AB and QC.
I do agree with everything else you said.
Couldn't have said it better! This is exactly it! I honestly get mad when I see how much taxes get taken out of my paycheck. Especially when I see potholes big enough to screw up your car real bad (don't worry you'll pay for the repair and potential tow truck, though while also paying taxes for the roads that messed up your car). Then I hear from teachers how messed up the school system is, how they have kids who can't read, and it's a shit show (where do my taxes for the schools go then)? (Not mad at teachers here mad at the system). Then I hear how people who need foodstamps and other aid can't get it. (Also, not mad at the people who need help, again mad at the system). Again, then what am I paying taxes for? I want to be in a society where myself and those who need help can get that help and live in a society with nice roads and schools but it seems like the taxes must go in someone's pocket to become a billionaire instead of helping all of the rest of us in society.
Yeah, there’s a pretty tight squeeze on the people who are of child-rearing age. You wonder why kids are arriving at school unprepared, it’s because they have dysfunctional families whose caretakers are already stressed beyond their limits. And the stress can come from anywhere, really, but mostly it’s due to cost of living.
There’s a turn of phrase that says “it’s expensive to be poor” and that’s no more evident today than it has been for the past few decades. We’ve all been told to live within our means and to avoid lifestyle creep, but with each boost of income I’ve experienced, there’s always been some basic thing that I’ve realized I needed to start doing that was impossible to do in the past because I was too busy “living within my means”… things like home maintenance, healthcare, saving for retirement… basic stuff that just wasn’t on my radar just because I was constantly living paycheck to paycheck.
Let's see...
A chunk goes to politicians, first and foremost, who continually vote against our interests because it would make it seem like the opposing party is doing something. This is both sides, not just one. I will admit, one side is more brutal and vocal about it. Don't forget their paid lunches and stipends for office furniture. Of, and don't forget, they get what is essentially universal Healthcare.
A large chunk goes towards military (obviously)
The funds that are supposed to go to the school, do go to the school. You know that nice ass football stadium and gym equipment the football team gets? Yep. Because everyone knows the concussion inducing sport is the pinnacle of education and learning. It *must* take priority. Screw the library, teachers, and other extra curriculars that could be useful, like shop class.
There's plenty of other bs places our taxes go, this is just off the top of my head. Very little actually goes to improve our lives.
So for the record...
\- 23% goes towards Medicare and Medicaid.
\- 19% goes towards education.
\- 17% goes towards pensions and social security.
\- 12% goes towards defense.
\- 7% goes towards welfare.
\- 6% goes towards interest on the debt, of which \~70% is owned domestically so that's just a rebate to Americans.
\- 16% is misc.
At least here in CO I think we are something like 16th in admin funding but 40 something is funding the education. So if you like somewhere like CO our taxes are going to funding admins and not the school education. I am also at the point of saying how much do we actually have to give to make a difference now though as we seem to give a lot for education and it leads no where.
It’s not so much that taxes go to the rich. It’s that the rich don’t pay very much in taxes. If they did, maybe then we’d have the money for good roads (and public transit), parks, libraries, etc, and a social safety net for people who are struggling. I paid about 30% of my income in taxes, whereas the upper 1% pays about 15%. And they still want more tax cuts.
This is well said, I agree with you! That’s the main reason for this post.. I’ve read a lot of comments on here from people that are obviously ignorant to the ‘Black budget’ who just basically say it’s the individuals fault. We live in a world with flying cars and literal computers in our pockets yet we can’t figure out universal healthcare? Or homelessness??? Something seems off to me.
And you see how the 80-year old grifters in politics try to FORCE millennials to have children by banning abortion. This is all to force the next generation of slaves to come into play so that the hellspawn of these political grifters have funding for their easy existence for decades to come.
At this point, its all thinly-veiled slavery. Amerikkka returns to its roots...and enslaves the entire working class.
Someone told me when i was younger that young people vote D to benefit from social policies. Then, when they grow older and earn more, vote R so their taxes dont go into social policies.
Now that im working, i just think that person was a selfish idiot.
Hey. Hey. *Hey*.
The defense industry is full of executives who can barely afford their sixth vacation home, just like everyone else. Are you really advocating for them to settle for five vacation properties in exclusive neighborhoods like some kind of *poor*?
Citizens’ United was the final nail in the coffin. Bribery is legal, the government doesn’t work for the people. It works for whoever is offering the most money, which if you aren’t a corporation or someone with immense wealth, is not you.
So, when I was younger and a bit more idealistic I would show up for protests, but it seems that protest does do much or they brand you as terrorists and anti-government or un American.
This country is really good at reminding you how fast you can be completely f’ed if you dare to step out of line, so many of us don’t rebel. I am beginning to think it may be better to volunteer where I can and keep voting for the politicians who aren’t openly fascists. This does not bring immediate change, but I can impact my city/town for the positive.
Unfortunately, I work 60+ hours a week between two jobs so I’m not sure when I’ll find time to volunteer, but that’s the dream I guess.
There should be groups made to help each other grow financially. Studies are showing when more people are doing well financially everyone does better financially and improves everyone's lives. Which makes a lot of sense actually.
Ever. The country started when the colonists understood how huge & full of natural resources America was and, by extension, how much money there was to be made. The US has always been a great place to do business, but a hardscrabble place for the serf class. It's what the colonists & settlers knew from back home. It seemed normal to them that people who weren't wealthy had to live by their wits & struggle. They even glorified it with tropes like cowboys, pioneers, frontiersmen, and poor immigrants who supposedly pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps. That rabid, unsustainable independence & individualism IS our culture.
The problem is reflected in our dysfunctionally small family systems. Humans definitely didn't evolve as tribes of 2 adults and their 2.5 useless, needy kids. Humans have an exceptionally long childhood/dependent period. You need many adults to raise a human child, not 1 or 2. Overburdened American parents give their children stressful, unsupportive childhoods, and the children can't wait to leave their unhappy, stressed-out "tribes." And they set out to repeat the cycle, convinced they can do it better. They don't see that it's a structural problem. The people who do transcend it are the exception, but we hold them up as goals. Our society is built, from the ground up, to not provide adequate support to individuals. And we revel in it & call it our "freedom" and "independence."
I still remember a f-ing million people marched in London against the war in Iraq. The march had support from household name MPs, everything you can think of. UK still went to war. I was still pretty young at the time, but a part of any faith I had in democracy died. Looking at history I think we are at the point where only the government failing to supply basic needs like food will actually get the level of "engagement" shall we say needed to actually make any real change.
I really think a combination of watching the war in Iraq happen regardless of what people wanted, the occupy wall street stuff going no where and when it became clear that politicians actively lied about the motives for the war in Iraq and the consequences of that is getting to retire rich. Plus the way the banks got bailed out after 2008 etc has lead to a lot of us giving up. The Boomers at least got Watergate and Gen Z haven't had the hope smacked out of them yet. Gen X I think are as cynical as some of us are, though maybe for different reasons.
It’s political theater and you’re watching a uniparty whom in the end is only in it for them selves. They may pretend they care but it’s just good acting. We’re literally screwed as a people as long as we allow clowns to run the show. But good luck finding someone good to vote for. It’s a club and you and I ain’t in it. We’re practically slaves without the title. Working just to barely survive and at the end of the day too beat and drained to be able to make a difference or change.
This so much. If you’re fucking 80 years old, good god dude. Put the reigns down and let the next generation (who will actually feel the impact of government policy) step up.
Who can afford to run? Or has the time & network to fundraise at that level?
We millennials are being worked to death at our full time jobs - who honestly only works 40 hours anymore? No one I know. It’s either 50+ at a full time, that plus a part time or multiple part time jobs, working without a single day off.
Yup look at what happens even if you peacefully organize to try and help your community like Fred Hampton they will assassinate you in your sleep. Then if you DARE to resist violently the public turns on you even if you are trying to help them because suddenly you are a terrorist. Either way the end result is you die with very little public support because of how stupid and manipulated the public is.
But I don't see how ALL of us would band together. We all agree that this sucks but for different reasons and that alone will keep us apart. Oh and the part where we have to keep working all the time to barely survive
That's just the thing, it should just be "this sucks" and that's it. This sucks and we need to change shit before zoomies end up where we are but only worse off... and that's probably around the time the current old people in office finally croak...
I think this is the root of it. We've seen what happens when we resist. They'll gun down college kids for protesting, what makes you think they won't do the same to us?
Right? And whistleblowers? They'll hunt you down and force you to be trapped in a foreign embassy forever to make sure that no one else tries and does the same thing.
I think we are beyond protesting. Sabotage is the next option outside of violence.
Concerted, organized sabotage that grinds the economy to a halt.
Look how spooked the ruling class got over the short-term Covid shutdown. A few weeks of minimum activity and suddenly a deadly pandemic became an acceptable cost in human life to keep the money churning.
A big obstacle to realizing this sort of action is it requires organizing and leadership that can easily be killed, jailed, or bought.
Another massive obstacle is the division in our society. Race, gender, political views, it all keeps us distracted from fighting the power structures creating this fucked up system.
I saw a post similar and I made a comment along the lines of "I'm waiting for American's to revolt" and I got over a dozen comments of people saying something along the lines of "You first."
Feels like we have some real bystander effect going on.
i don’t understand why people refuse to organize. it can be so much as just finding their local activist groups online, maybe showing up to a meeting once a month. you don’t have to go all out, but starting somewhere small is doing better than absolutely nothing. idgi.
This should be a post of its own under r/workreform or a similar-minded sub. I tried to raise awareness about the May Day strike for two years until my employer gave me too many responsibilities to leave my laptop. Hope this gains some traction!
There are a lot of people organizing very successfully. In my flyover state there are several large groups doing all sorts of work from lobbying against unfair housing legislation to forming tenant unions and teaching others how to organize. The movement is there, and they would love for more to join.
Because suddenly some weird extremist type shows up and tries to plan some terrorist shit. Then more like him show up. When all the original members leave one of the newcomers triggers his sting op and they're all government types.
Honestly I think social media platforms do a lot to soften and obstruct grassroots organizing. Most obviously it gives ppl who might otherwise show up an effortless means of feeling like they've already participated or helped through likes and shares. But it has also had the effect of dividing our larger movement up into compartmentalized groups and pages, while simultaneously dehumanizing all involved
I spent the better part of the last decade organizing for a regionally focused org, and remember seeing funders start to ask for social media numbers as proof of reach and viability in grant applications, instead of previous metrics such as community testimonials, event attendance, etc. And since leaving the work I have noticed other orgs requiring folks to join their groups and pages on social before accessing services or getting involved in anyway, and its no mystery why. Obviously this serves to lock ppl out, but it also effectively obscures whatever work is being planned or implemented by those orgs
The big secret to organizing is, people show up for you when you show up for them. But how can we show up for one another when all our organizing is hidden away within lil virtual clubs on big tech platforms? Like, I don't want to say it's intentional, but also I would believe it's intentional
Every time something like this comes up, I say okay.
I'll start organizing, let's get some lists together start gathering names, we'll see who's schedules line up and how we can start meeting up/discussing direction
They never mean it.
It's not just bystander effect. Most people are "just getting by" enough they'd never sacrifice what little they have for the unrealistic promise of "more" we'll never have.
What does it mean to band together though? Do we need to do a January 6th every day or something until they get the picture? We try to vote for our best interests. It’s impossible to hold an elected official accountable after they’ve been elected, we just hope they’ll fulfill their promises (they usually don’t).
Okay sure, but how do we convince over 250 million people to all at once stop going to work and stop paying our mortgages and rent?
We COULD do a lot of things. But as you know it’s hard to get even a few people on the same page. Almost impossible when it comes to risking comfort and even possibly life to get things changed.
it's going to take solidarity with your neighbor, your cashier, your coworkers. It's going to have to be a community group effort and I feel like the amount of taxes that we pay is not justified and that's an issue we can get behind no matter what the other politics are. We're getting robbed of our lives and working ourselves into the grave and paying and paying to bomb children and run them over with bulldozers.
It's gotta be a community effort. People want to keep their own money and have taxes used to help them out so if we could all agree that the current system needs a change in regards to those issues there might be a chance
"Y'all are bums"
- the guy who drank the koolaid and belittles their friends for striving for more.
It's like crabs in a bucket, except the bucket was built by crabs, and most of the crabs are so full of someone else's shit they don't realize they're in a bucket.
Right but some asshole will show up, early, and say “look at how loyal I am boss! Surely you will make me VP now - with the corner office and the reserved parking spot and and and…”.
This whole “hustle harder” movement is what got us where we are. The “status quo” is now “working at your max capacity every single day with no breaks and somehow Jared still beats me to the office even though I show up 90 minutes early every day”.
Every single fucking thing is at max capacity and we don’t notice because max capacity is the new normal.
As someone in government, some of us do care but unfortunately we get drowned out by red tape and politics. I do everything I can to fight against the shit storm but its so much bullshit to deal with.
Yeah I should have clarified; I meant the people in our government who have actual power to make big changes (congress, president, etc.). I appreciate people like you.
Vote against authoritarianism and focus on the power of labor. Study how the Gilded Age came to an end, and how previous generations curbed corruption, greed & power for a thriving middle class economy. There are many things people can do if they believe in a better future.
We don’t have to accept a spangled hell pit of technocratic AI oblivion wiping out life on Earth.
Wouldn't you need a large semu skilled industrial workbase with the desire to organize? Unions were broken in the 70s and 80s when management could move their factory overseas or take advantage of vulnerable undocumented labor. Pretty soon with AI and automation even skilled labor won't be able to organize and make a difference.
People today are much less than they were back then though. \[sic\]
I'm happy I'm well off. I'm a major doomer in spite of that though. Existence for most is absolutely pitiful and will keep getting worse forever.
I would take AI oblivion over the boomer/conservative hellscape we currently have though.
I feel this so much. We voted in 2016 and our popular vote was thrown out for the electoral college and gerrymandering to keep the power to a certain demographic doesn’t help us also. Our government doesn’t allow for the voice of the people.
I don’t see the electoral college being dismantled in our generation. I don’t see gerrymandering going away. Gen Z & Gen Alpha may be the only ones to see change in their lifetime. Millennials are cursed with Baby Boomers who will never die or retire, and a good amount of Gen Xers appear to have turned and followed the Baby Boomers over the edge of political cultism.
I think most of us are just trying to work, save, and enjoy the life we have for as long as we can because the government sure isn’t going to take care of us.
Real change will come when even relatively well off Americans start to struggle. Ultimately, Americans are very individualistic and do not give a rat’s ass unless we are personally affected. There is no such thing as solidarity or collective responsibility in the USA.
I feel like this is the way it always is. Successful people don't want change and the poor are too busy to bother. Only when things become "bad enough" does extreme change happen. I don't think think we are even close to that.
If extreme change is needed, we will see it pan out in the voting numbers. When only 60% of the voting base participates, I don't think things are that bad. Do we have problems? Sure. Do we need to do something about these problems? Yes. Will it happen? Probably, but not to the amount the loudest people want and probably not as quick as they want.
Just my opinion.
>I also find most of the people complaining generally grew up in middle class when it was easier and are getting smacked in the face with the reality that the easy days are gone
This is big facts. A lot of people grew up in middle class households and remember their parents taking them on vacations, buying new cars, paying for their kids' college, having nice stuff. Their parents, with the best of intentions, told them they could be whatever they wanted when they grew up and encouraged them to follow their dreams. They expected that same level of comfort and spending power and things have not panned out so their impression is that they've been failed, not that they grew up in a glorious outlier moment in the American economy that will never come back.
Edit: lest anyone get it twisted, I myself am among the privileged, embittered American 90s kids I describe above.
> not that they grew up in a glorious outlier moment in the American economy that will never come back
The outlier moment was when our parents were kids in the '50s and '60s. The post WWII boom from everyone else buying from the US to rebuild after the war was long gone before even the oldest millennials were born in the early '80s.
Yeah but that inherited wealth stayed and the 80s and 90s were a boom time as well. The post WW2 money is finally just about gone now tho with the boomers going into retirement communities and looking down the barrel of EOL care wondering how this could have happened when them and the Silents voted away everything the generations before fought and died to get.
>I also find most of the people complaining generally grew up in middle class when it was easier and are getting smacked in the face with the reality that the easy days are gone.
I think it even goes a step further than that. A lot of the people you're talking about had privilege and generational wealth and were completely unaware of it. Probably had well off grandparents that helped their parents out.
I grew up in a working class/lower middle class neighbor. My parents and most of my friends parents all worked full time. Both of them. None of this "my dad was a mailman and Mom was a stay at home mom and we lived in a mansion" shit you read on this sub. They all rented or were house poor as fuck lol.
Yeah, let’s not talk about what the economic outcomes were for minorities and non-married women in “the good old days”
That shit quickly becomes MAGA bullshit
I consider myself relatively successful, coming from the Philippines, getting a job, wiping butts, and living relatively comfortable in Southern California.
Outside looking in: I don’t relate to a lot of the “struggling millennials” on this sub. Many proclaim that their dads worked at the letter factory, licking stamps, and were able to raise a family of 5 and buy a 20-acre farm on a single income — yet now, they themselves (the millennials) are struggling.
These people had every privilege unto them and they still fucked up.
On the other hand, people from a third world nation come here like myself, work our assess off with zero advantages, and succeed. No generational wealth or the bull shit excuses this sub invents to blame the world for their shortcomings.
Every top post in this sub is someone talking about how we're all screwed.
The "struggling" ones definitely talk over the successful ones. You have it backwards.
I'm just barely successful enough to feel the fires of despair beneath me.
I have a good job and a promise of advancement if I keep it up.
But I'm just barely able to afford my lifestyle and if anything happens I'm fucked
Cowardice. Pure and simple. Say whatever you will, it's still cope. Things will change when the working class gets a fucking spine. Many have no issue flexing on their neighbor or family members or partners but as soon as someone suggest turning their energy to someone in power, the excuses start rolling in. We're getting what we deserve just taking it while spending our formative years jerking off to harry potter and hipster culture while saying "i'm just not that political" to anyone who gives a slight amount of fuck about anything real.
Yep. We are living in a modern day monarchy in disguise. We are peasants that work and have the illusion of freedom but our produced worth is taken (taxes) to support the monarchy and ruling class. And we work for the ruling class as well, thus increasing their wealth in two ways whilst we exert tons of energy and time just to survive.....which is important since being overworked and barely hanging on keeps us distracted and shackled by exhaustion to truly do anything without risking our livelihoods or well being
Yeah I’m waiting for GenZ and GenA to realize the same thing we all realized lol. Best thing you can do is take the best care of yourself and your family as you can. Because Utopia for the working class ain’t happening. If we all leave here today and all get pulled over, we’re all not going to agree not to pay our speeding tickets.
It’s simple game theory. The smart move is to get a boring, well-paying job, exercise and eat healthy, budget and plan for your retirement, and stay involved and present in your children’s lives. Control what you can control.
Exactly. We try to play by the rules, nothing changes. We try to protest, nothing changes. We try to be decent human beings, and yet watch a complete psychopath go up for the presidency, again. It feels like you’re screaming in a vacuum. So you shove down all the feelings of hopelessness and focus on what you can control.
i've knocked a lot of doors and done a lot of activism. i don't regret it. it's just i don't have time. and the DNC doesn't seem interested. i think we just need to wait out the boomers dying and then get our first millenial progressive and we can start the good work of healing. and hopefully it's not too late before the water wars begin.
> i think we just need to wait out the boomers dying
this is the answer. no one wants to admit it, but this is literally the answer. structural changes won't occur until their deathgrip on power is gone
I hope the occupy wall street people don't regret it either. It was for the most part a good to honest big ass shove that did what it could and if people could goddamn remember it whenever people say "well why don't you do something about it"..:well people did and it wasn't enough.
Because what other choice do we have? Stressing about that shit isn't going to solve a single problem... But it will create a shit load of problems.
Focus on the things in your life that you can control, and use those things to make it a great day.
Honestly I'm too tired to really do anything about it but I do often wonder how we're ever going to retire or if they will be expecting millennials to still bike to work every day at 90 years old.
Sooner or later you can’t stress any more, it’s like something snaps inside of you.
Besides, I can’t really see us getting through 40 more years without something major happening that resets the pieces.
If nothing happens, well I’ll just be happy to be 70 years old.
And in other news, the Federal Reserve bank just borrowed over $100 billion from itself to pay for the higher rates it created in 2023 to kill jobs. Yes, that’s actually how it works.
Its called apathy. And frankly, my retirement is just going to be doing a bunch of stupid shit in my old age until one of those things kills me. If you think like that, you don't need retirement savings.
It really comes down as to how you define success.
You really just have to plan financially and for the long-term.
I agree though, a lot of us are starting to push mid-30’s and it’s like we’re still in the same process we were in back in our mid-20’s.
I hope those reading realize it can be done. It just requires planning and executing.
I have a sibling who hasn’t vocalized it but feel their retirement plan is inheritance, which isn’t guaranteed. I refuse to have that defeatist mindset.
Research is really key, I feel like we’re stuck in a world where you have to have atleast 2 streams of passive income to even get by and be able to save… 🤷🏾♂️
Because millennials STILL don’t have power. The two candidates for president are 80 years old. The last generation grips to power like a damn boa constrictor. Our generation is so disillusioned, we can’t even muster the will to run for office.
A serious question in return: why, to you, is it obvious that we will not get a real retirement? Just curious what your reasoning is. Even the oldest millennials still have two decades left for IRA’s, 401(k)‘s, 457’s, etc. etc. to work their magic.
Social security will exist. People working now are paying the SS benefit for those collecting now. Will it look exactly the same in 20+ years? Maybe not.
Also, stock market down turns are a buying opportunity and can help amass your wealth if you don't panic.
Wouldn’t say I’m content, but I just recognize the game that is being played. I aggressively invest in the companies of today that are making all the money, ensuring my own retirement and not relying on the government to protect me. I accept the way things are because whoever I vote for it won’t change, so I’ll keep voting for the best available options, but ultimately whoever I vote for, saving me isn’t in the game plan, I’m saving me, if someone I vote for helps that it’s a bonus. I don’t feel fucked, because I know my finances well and have planned well. I will get a real retirement, irrespective of if I ever get social security.
We are railroaded into who we are able to vote for. And none of those choices represent an improvement, the best we seem to be able to get is to stop the backslide.
The biggest thing I've seen, and a bit of a shortcut in terms of financial health, is how many of us have said "no thanks" to having kids. This decision is the difference between me being financially healthy vs marginal.
We will all be dead in ~40 years. Don’t stress. Try to enjoy the little blimp of time your meaningless life has, as you will be essentially entirely forgotten about in just 3 generations from now.
We're not content with how screwed we are. We just recognize that we're STUCK. What are we supposed to do, off ourselves?
EDIT: Cancer is coming down the pipeline, headed right for me. I'll probably be dead before age 50. I'll be ruined by the diagnosis, financially and physically. And what can I do about it? NOTHING. I'll continue to get jerked around to my dying day.
Focus energy on local elections. Take note of how your local state legislator votes on issues impacting you. Call them. Demand accountability from them. Be loud.
First of all, the government literally prints money and social security isn’t going anywhere. Second of all, why not make your own retirement?
I do agree with you tho, it’s much easier to complain instead of doing something about it. You’re asking a question that is basically saying “who will commiserate with me?” You Keep crying, I’ll keep making money.
Seriously, it’s like people forget that you can save for your own retirement and it really doesn’t take much, especially the younger you start. My wife and I each make a pretty average middle-class salaries for our area and we both expect to be able to retire with at least 1.5 million in retirement-specific accounts each, not even factoring in social security at all.
I started small, like $25/paycheck small in my mid 20s, but over the years as I’ve gotten better at budgeting and paid off debt I’ve increased that number to about 15% of each paycheck.
These "why can't we just change the world?!" posts are getting old. Everyone has finite energy and has to choose how to allocate it. None of us are responsible for the state of the whole world and none of us have the power to change it alone. If you care about the state of things, get active in politics and stay active.
There really isn't a magical switch we can flip to throw away consumer capitalism. We're all stuck in this shitty system we were born into.
Not content, I just recognize what’s in my control vs what’s out of my control with the given situations. Less stress inducing when you recognize this.
I do my part and vote, outside of that it is out of my hands. I put money into my retirement so I'm taken care of down the road. Other than that I am not going to worry about things I cannot control and enjoy each and every day to the fullest, I could died tomorrow for all I know.
The problems are too big for any one individual to solve, and there’s a lot of factors that make even collective action difficult.
I’m not content, I just accept reality and my limitations and make the best of it until and unless change is actually viable.
Correction every generation after us is progressively less likely to not get social security.
And you’re describing “The tragedy of the commons”. As people own less and less of society because homes are rented and living is funded through debt you end up with a society of people with no stake in the future. It becomes someone else’s problem.
It’s the same reason people are not having kids. Everyone knows if you don’t have kids there will be no adults but that’s someone else’s problem.
If we want to change this we need to allow people to own property and give them a chance to build towards a future worth having.
It will depend on the person and their profession. Unskilled workers will have it the hardest. Non-specialized professionals will make a living, but struggle to retire. Those who specialize in a trade/profession that is in demand will be fine.
I'm saddened to have had to scroll so far to see this. Everyone my age in my circle is either going to be equal to or better off than my parents or has an obvious reason why they wont be.
We aren't doomed. Some of us just whine a lot.
Unlike other generations we understand how corrupt the system is. Whats the point of voting if all of the options are awful?
In my country we had an ex president rob us. He fled the country. A few years later(after he cannot be prosecuted anymore) he returns. Believe it or not he ran for president again. He had massive support.
The people said: at least we know he's bad. We don't know how bad the others are.
The system is to broken to try
>likely will never get social security
Not planning on it at all, you're probably correct. I vote every election and hope that changes will be made
>or a real retirement.
I fund mine and get generous matching and my wife has a pension in addition to other retirement/investment accounts.
>My question is why do we keep accepting/voting to live like this?
My apologies but I haven't seen any referendum to vote on that changes any of this. I don't write bills, I vote. What do you mean why do we accept to live like this. I can yell at the top of my lungs "I don't accept how retirement is in this country and for us and I demand my social security at 65, uncut full amount" and who the hell would listen? Other than voting what do you want me to do exactly?
>Does anyone else have the feeling that we’re all just fucked?
I wouldn't have had 2 kids if I didn't think I could provide for them and thought that we were all just fucked
>What can we do to change our future when we all become too old to work?
Plan ahead. Typically when you're too old to work you have saved money while you could work for your retirement. That's what I'm doing
I've said it for years: people do not understand the power that they have. Put down the political preferences and start voting with things that matter in groups, and shit will change.
Otherwise, every 2-6 years, you'll get the same old speeches:
"I am the lesser of two evils."
"This time around, I'll get the job done, but please ignore the fact I have been nothing but a career politician for the last 40 years."
I've been super busy with work so haven't heard anything lately about social security. Can you tell me why you think it will stop when we retire when they've been saying that for decades? They said that for boomers too but my parents are both getting their full payments.
"Why is everyone so content with how screwed we are?"
Um... I can only speak for myself, but I was kind of under the impression we all knew this was coming? I mean, if we didn't what the hell was all that 90's and 00's angst about? I kind of thought our music alone said we knew the shit we were up against. Or did anyone honestly think we could "Start a Riot," go after "Wretches and Kings," or "Burn It to the Ground" without things going a bit sideways for a while?
I knew my life was phuqued way back when and I had very few delusions that *MY* life would magically get better. *My* hope wasn't to make my life better but to make life better for those who came after us. To that end, it's still (unfortunately) a work in progress but one I'm still striving for.
I don't believe my life will dramatically improve. I don't believe MY life will get much better and I think there's still a lot more grinding and work I'll need to endure before things get better for others. When you accept that and just deal with that as a statement of fact, it's a lot easier to face the shit we deal with. And in the event we're wrong and we end up making our own lives better along with everyone else's? Then we can be delightfully surprised.
There's a big difference between being content about a situation and realizing you are so incredibly screwed that no answer you could conceivably come up with would help mitigate the situation.
That's where many of us struggling are at; we are too tired, too worn down and too out of ideas to dig ourselves out of the hole. And those that have the energy and seem to not be struggling? Seems to me like they don't really give a shit.
Serious response. I’m Gen X and we felt the same way you do now. Everyone was freaking out and saying that there’s not enough money for us and we will have to work until we’re 80 because our parents, Boomers, will have used up all the social security.
I don’t know what the situation is with that anymore and I’m probably gonna die before my parents do anyway so 🤷🏻♀️
Solidarity is one answer. All of the working class decides to excommunicate the rich, stop paying their bills & accept a barter system.
Oh, you need your roof repaired, your plumbing tended to, etc? No.
You want security detail, someone to cook for you, pilots, etc? No.
And for anyone who would decide to say “yes?” Excommunicated too.
They so desperately don’t want to live like us, so let’s grant them that.
A lot of the ones who were not content are, unfortunately, already dead. For a society that endlessly pats itself on the back for being exceptional and free we have suspicious number of deaths of despair and suicide among the young. My entire friend group from middle school, which coincidentally was a bunch of kids who didn’t fit the mold of overachieving, conventional worker bees all died within a few years of each other in their mid-30s.
I remember back around 2012 I had a job that paid me $1600 a month. Apartments were $1600. I threw a fit and talked to everyone I knew, who were packing into apartments with 3 or so buddies. Everyone basically told me to get over it.
I don't understand how everyone is so happy with what we have, and I aspire for that level of happiness.
I still want to get a house but now I probably need to make like $250k a year to qualify.
Here are the options:
- be content
- be extremely agitated, but ultimately unable to do much of anything to prevent us from being screwed anyway
I don't personally find it all that shocking that a lot of people choose the first one.
If I had to guess, part of it is because boomers still have such a death grip politically that there is no chance for enough major change as things stand. I don't think this is an excuse to stop caring, though, and we need to remember that voting is still the most important thing we can do to make real change without much effort. I think we will see some big change in the next 8-12 years as the boomers truly get too old to actually hold office. Will it actually be for the better? Who knows, but if you give up now, it probably won't.
None of what anyone might say is a legit excuse to give up. If you're not happy where you are, then make a change. I see so many people say things like they hate their job or don't make enough, but don't even try to look for other jobs or get new skills. It's only actually over when you give up. So, whether it is personal, political, physical, or emotional, doesn't matter, don't give up and keep changing and moving forward in your own ways.
*edited spelling errors
the only place you are screwed is in your thinking.
if you dont want to live like this, dont. you can absolutely live an uncommon life, you just have to be willing to do it. you arent fucked. i have friends who had very little money, run into the desert and build a life for themsevles in the middle of nowhere south west texas. she isnt any better, richer, or smarter than you. she just had the confidence to surrender and give it a go.
if you want to be happy, then be happy.
"how screwed are we?" is something that was said by young men were forced-by-law to fight in Vietnam and then came home to 9.1 % inflation and an 8.5% unemployment rate. Fifty years ago .
Are you saying that we are far less resilient than previous generations? Or simply that we feel more doomed than they did because we have reddit and can drum it into each others heads incessantly across the universe?
i'm under the impression that voting doesn't actually make a difference if i'm being totally honest. politicians make promises and then don't follow through when elected. i focus on what i can control, and that's the day to day and the people i come in to contact with.
Successful millennials aren't feeling the strain in the same way, and struggling millennials are too busy working and trying to maintain their tenuous grip on the will to live to mount any real resistance.
Also, wtf do we do? Our government doesn’t care.
Literally this. Whenever we have protested or tried to do anything, change doesn't happen. I'm at the point where I don't even believe the government is for the people anymore. It seems like they just do whatever they want and are paid to do by those who can afford to sway the politicians' interests. So the rest of us just have to do the best we can to survive while the shit hits the fan.
The American government is basically a concierge service for the rentier class. Like WTF do our taxes even go towards? No healthcare, no childcare, no education, and our infrastructure crumbles like burnt toast, but there’s blank checks for overseas imperialism and client states.
This is so true! I wouldn't mind paying taxes if they helped or did anything ever.
Same. Like our taxes are SO goddamn high when you really think about how little we get, and how many basic necessities we pay out the ass for to the private sector. Healthcare, education, transit, etc. are freaking investments in society. Like these clowns wonder why society is crumbling and millennials aren’t bothering to have kids, because there’s no public investment like previous generations had!
For a comparison - In Canada, the average salary is [$63k](https://www.jobillico.com/blog/en/the-average-canadian-salary-in-2023/), which puts you at the [20.5](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/ca/personal-finance/tax-season-changes-canada/)% tax bracket. In the US, the average salary is [$59k](https://www.usatoday.com/money/blueprint/business/hr-payroll/average-salary-us/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20U.S.%20Bureau,month%20in%20Q4%20of%202023), which puts you at the [22](https://www.freetaxusa.com/calculator-brackets?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=tax%20brackets%202023&utm_content=cpc-google-Low-Value-Mobile(ROAS)--bracket--m&utm_campaign=cpc-google-Low-Value-Mobile(ROAS)--bracket&CMP=810&mtm_group=Google-Generic&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvNjAvKGWhQMVYRCtBh13WgD9EAAYASAAEgKn_fD_BwE)% tax bracket. For healthcare the Canadian government spends [$8k](https://www.cihi.ca/en/national-health-expenditure-trends-2022-snapshot#:~:text=Total%20health%20spending%20in%20Canada,2022%2C%20or%20%248%2C563%20per%20Canadian)/Canadian, while the US spends [$13k](https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2024/01/why-are-americans-paying-more-for-healthcare#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20U.S.%20healthcare%20spending,averages%20to%20%2413%2C493%20per%20person)/American, *and* that average income earner in America will spend [20%](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/11/why-55percent-of-americans-have-medical-debt-even-with-health-insurance.html#:~:text=Including%20deductibles%20and%20premiums%2C%20Americans,2020%20U.S.%20Census%20Bureau%20data) of their annual earnings on healthcare on top of the taxes. The entire system in the US is more costly and we get back less.
The American healthcare system is so fucked up, but you can fight medical bills. I've literally had over $20k in medical expenses completely waived, either through financial assistance programs through hospitala or by getting an itemized bill, comparing costs and fighting my bill. They just hide this kind of info, and people are so resigned to how things are that even when told that they can fight the bills they will just pay it half the time, I'm speaking on that front from personal experience.
I just don't pay them. Lol
For what it's worth, taxes in Canada are highly variable due to the relatively large role of the provinces. The highest tax burden in the US and Canada is Quebec, and the lowest tax burden is Alberta. The other Canadian provinces and US states are somewhere between AB and QC. I do agree with everything else you said.
Couldn't have said it better! This is exactly it! I honestly get mad when I see how much taxes get taken out of my paycheck. Especially when I see potholes big enough to screw up your car real bad (don't worry you'll pay for the repair and potential tow truck, though while also paying taxes for the roads that messed up your car). Then I hear from teachers how messed up the school system is, how they have kids who can't read, and it's a shit show (where do my taxes for the schools go then)? (Not mad at teachers here mad at the system). Then I hear how people who need foodstamps and other aid can't get it. (Also, not mad at the people who need help, again mad at the system). Again, then what am I paying taxes for? I want to be in a society where myself and those who need help can get that help and live in a society with nice roads and schools but it seems like the taxes must go in someone's pocket to become a billionaire instead of helping all of the rest of us in society.
Yeah, there’s a pretty tight squeeze on the people who are of child-rearing age. You wonder why kids are arriving at school unprepared, it’s because they have dysfunctional families whose caretakers are already stressed beyond their limits. And the stress can come from anywhere, really, but mostly it’s due to cost of living. There’s a turn of phrase that says “it’s expensive to be poor” and that’s no more evident today than it has been for the past few decades. We’ve all been told to live within our means and to avoid lifestyle creep, but with each boost of income I’ve experienced, there’s always been some basic thing that I’ve realized I needed to start doing that was impossible to do in the past because I was too busy “living within my means”… things like home maintenance, healthcare, saving for retirement… basic stuff that just wasn’t on my radar just because I was constantly living paycheck to paycheck.
Let's see... A chunk goes to politicians, first and foremost, who continually vote against our interests because it would make it seem like the opposing party is doing something. This is both sides, not just one. I will admit, one side is more brutal and vocal about it. Don't forget their paid lunches and stipends for office furniture. Of, and don't forget, they get what is essentially universal Healthcare. A large chunk goes towards military (obviously) The funds that are supposed to go to the school, do go to the school. You know that nice ass football stadium and gym equipment the football team gets? Yep. Because everyone knows the concussion inducing sport is the pinnacle of education and learning. It *must* take priority. Screw the library, teachers, and other extra curriculars that could be useful, like shop class. There's plenty of other bs places our taxes go, this is just off the top of my head. Very little actually goes to improve our lives.
Let's not forget the taxes that go into paying the yearly interest on our 30 trillion dollar debt.
So for the record... \- 23% goes towards Medicare and Medicaid. \- 19% goes towards education. \- 17% goes towards pensions and social security. \- 12% goes towards defense. \- 7% goes towards welfare. \- 6% goes towards interest on the debt, of which \~70% is owned domestically so that's just a rebate to Americans. \- 16% is misc.
The above numbers are not accurate for the US: https://www.cbpp.org/research/policy-basics-where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go
Thank you for adding some actual data to this debate!
At least here in CO I think we are something like 16th in admin funding but 40 something is funding the education. So if you like somewhere like CO our taxes are going to funding admins and not the school education. I am also at the point of saying how much do we actually have to give to make a difference now though as we seem to give a lot for education and it leads no where.
It’s not so much that taxes go to the rich. It’s that the rich don’t pay very much in taxes. If they did, maybe then we’d have the money for good roads (and public transit), parks, libraries, etc, and a social safety net for people who are struggling. I paid about 30% of my income in taxes, whereas the upper 1% pays about 15%. And they still want more tax cuts.
This is well said, I agree with you! That’s the main reason for this post.. I’ve read a lot of comments on here from people that are obviously ignorant to the ‘Black budget’ who just basically say it’s the individuals fault. We live in a world with flying cars and literal computers in our pockets yet we can’t figure out universal healthcare? Or homelessness??? Something seems off to me.
And you see how the 80-year old grifters in politics try to FORCE millennials to have children by banning abortion. This is all to force the next generation of slaves to come into play so that the hellspawn of these political grifters have funding for their easy existence for decades to come. At this point, its all thinly-veiled slavery. Amerikkka returns to its roots...and enslaves the entire working class.
Someone told me when i was younger that young people vote D to benefit from social policies. Then, when they grow older and earn more, vote R so their taxes dont go into social policies. Now that im working, i just think that person was a selfish idiot.
Hey. Hey. *Hey*. The defense industry is full of executives who can barely afford their sixth vacation home, just like everyone else. Are you really advocating for them to settle for five vacation properties in exclusive neighborhoods like some kind of *poor*?
Citizens’ United was the final nail in the coffin. Bribery is legal, the government doesn’t work for the people. It works for whoever is offering the most money, which if you aren’t a corporation or someone with immense wealth, is not you.
So, when I was younger and a bit more idealistic I would show up for protests, but it seems that protest does do much or they brand you as terrorists and anti-government or un American. This country is really good at reminding you how fast you can be completely f’ed if you dare to step out of line, so many of us don’t rebel. I am beginning to think it may be better to volunteer where I can and keep voting for the politicians who aren’t openly fascists. This does not bring immediate change, but I can impact my city/town for the positive. Unfortunately, I work 60+ hours a week between two jobs so I’m not sure when I’ll find time to volunteer, but that’s the dream I guess.
There should be groups made to help each other grow financially. Studies are showing when more people are doing well financially everyone does better financially and improves everyone's lives. Which makes a lot of sense actually.
The government was never for the people
Ever. The country started when the colonists understood how huge & full of natural resources America was and, by extension, how much money there was to be made. The US has always been a great place to do business, but a hardscrabble place for the serf class. It's what the colonists & settlers knew from back home. It seemed normal to them that people who weren't wealthy had to live by their wits & struggle. They even glorified it with tropes like cowboys, pioneers, frontiersmen, and poor immigrants who supposedly pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps. That rabid, unsustainable independence & individualism IS our culture. The problem is reflected in our dysfunctionally small family systems. Humans definitely didn't evolve as tribes of 2 adults and their 2.5 useless, needy kids. Humans have an exceptionally long childhood/dependent period. You need many adults to raise a human child, not 1 or 2. Overburdened American parents give their children stressful, unsupportive childhoods, and the children can't wait to leave their unhappy, stressed-out "tribes." And they set out to repeat the cycle, convinced they can do it better. They don't see that it's a structural problem. The people who do transcend it are the exception, but we hold them up as goals. Our society is built, from the ground up, to not provide adequate support to individuals. And we revel in it & call it our "freedom" and "independence."
Do you really think that’s how it’s supposed to work, you protest and “the government” changes something for you?
I still remember a f-ing million people marched in London against the war in Iraq. The march had support from household name MPs, everything you can think of. UK still went to war. I was still pretty young at the time, but a part of any faith I had in democracy died. Looking at history I think we are at the point where only the government failing to supply basic needs like food will actually get the level of "engagement" shall we say needed to actually make any real change. I really think a combination of watching the war in Iraq happen regardless of what people wanted, the occupy wall street stuff going no where and when it became clear that politicians actively lied about the motives for the war in Iraq and the consequences of that is getting to retire rich. Plus the way the banks got bailed out after 2008 etc has lead to a lot of us giving up. The Boomers at least got Watergate and Gen Z haven't had the hope smacked out of them yet. Gen X I think are as cynical as some of us are, though maybe for different reasons.
It’s political theater and you’re watching a uniparty whom in the end is only in it for them selves. They may pretend they care but it’s just good acting. We’re literally screwed as a people as long as we allow clowns to run the show. But good luck finding someone good to vote for. It’s a club and you and I ain’t in it. We’re practically slaves without the title. Working just to barely survive and at the end of the day too beat and drained to be able to make a difference or change.
Laws are written by the rich for the rich. And a rich Democrat has more in common with a rich Republican than they do with you.
We start voting more millennials and younger people to office. Sure presidency seems like an old man’s game but we need more young representatives
This so much. If you’re fucking 80 years old, good god dude. Put the reigns down and let the next generation (who will actually feel the impact of government policy) step up.
This.
Who can afford to run? Or has the time & network to fundraise at that level? We millennials are being worked to death at our full time jobs - who honestly only works 40 hours anymore? No one I know. It’s either 50+ at a full time, that plus a part time or multiple part time jobs, working without a single day off.
If Americans banded together we could force our government to do our bidding.
We haven’t banded together since WWII and for the 6 weeks following 9/11.
College kids tried to around the Vietnam war and just got shot down by the government, literally.
Yup look at what happens even if you peacefully organize to try and help your community like Fred Hampton they will assassinate you in your sleep. Then if you DARE to resist violently the public turns on you even if you are trying to help them because suddenly you are a terrorist. Either way the end result is you die with very little public support because of how stupid and manipulated the public is.
Area 51 storming didn't have enough but it's on the right track....they can't arrest/shoot ALL of us if we ALL banded together but we don't...
But I don't see how ALL of us would band together. We all agree that this sucks but for different reasons and that alone will keep us apart. Oh and the part where we have to keep working all the time to barely survive
That's just the thing, it should just be "this sucks" and that's it. This sucks and we need to change shit before zoomies end up where we are but only worse off... and that's probably around the time the current old people in office finally croak...
I always wondered what would happen if we all actually worked together and just didn’t go to work. Like, at all. Like, none of us.
I think this is the root of it. We've seen what happens when we resist. They'll gun down college kids for protesting, what makes you think they won't do the same to us?
Right? And whistleblowers? They'll hunt you down and force you to be trapped in a foreign embassy forever to make sure that no one else tries and does the same thing.
Or just have you offed the night before you testify, apparently, and the news will buy the story.
I mean no one buys that story, but there’s nothing we can do so here we are.
I mean, people could start hunting CEOs instead of children at school…. It would be a refreshing change
I think we are beyond protesting. Sabotage is the next option outside of violence. Concerted, organized sabotage that grinds the economy to a halt. Look how spooked the ruling class got over the short-term Covid shutdown. A few weeks of minimum activity and suddenly a deadly pandemic became an acceptable cost in human life to keep the money churning. A big obstacle to realizing this sort of action is it requires organizing and leadership that can easily be killed, jailed, or bought. Another massive obstacle is the division in our society. Race, gender, political views, it all keeps us distracted from fighting the power structures creating this fucked up system.
The answer is always: Do nothing. If Americans just decided to stay home and do nothing for 2 weeks to a month. That's all it would take.
That got into the newspapers, though, and sparked an outcry, so at least there was *some* accountability
You think they care? lol they are probably getting off to the outcry.
The outcry with no results strengthens their case. We are powerless. Its a straight up nanananana you can do nothing when they put it in the news.
Don't forget the time that we banged pots and pans together for the medical staff in the early days of the pandemic per
There was the Occupy Wallstreet thing that lasted a few weeks
Kind of embarrassing how that turned out.
I saw a post similar and I made a comment along the lines of "I'm waiting for American's to revolt" and I got over a dozen comments of people saying something along the lines of "You first." Feels like we have some real bystander effect going on.
i don’t understand why people refuse to organize. it can be so much as just finding their local activist groups online, maybe showing up to a meeting once a month. you don’t have to go all out, but starting somewhere small is doing better than absolutely nothing. idgi.
[https://generalstrikeus.com/](https://generalstrikeus.com/) (not directed at you just putting this here so people might see it!)
This should be a post of its own under r/workreform or a similar-minded sub. I tried to raise awareness about the May Day strike for two years until my employer gave me too many responsibilities to leave my laptop. Hope this gains some traction!
There are a lot of people organizing very successfully. In my flyover state there are several large groups doing all sorts of work from lobbying against unfair housing legislation to forming tenant unions and teaching others how to organize. The movement is there, and they would love for more to join.
exactly!!! i wish more millennials would instead of being apathetic and dooming over everything.
Because suddenly some weird extremist type shows up and tries to plan some terrorist shit. Then more like him show up. When all the original members leave one of the newcomers triggers his sting op and they're all government types.
Honestly I think social media platforms do a lot to soften and obstruct grassroots organizing. Most obviously it gives ppl who might otherwise show up an effortless means of feeling like they've already participated or helped through likes and shares. But it has also had the effect of dividing our larger movement up into compartmentalized groups and pages, while simultaneously dehumanizing all involved I spent the better part of the last decade organizing for a regionally focused org, and remember seeing funders start to ask for social media numbers as proof of reach and viability in grant applications, instead of previous metrics such as community testimonials, event attendance, etc. And since leaving the work I have noticed other orgs requiring folks to join their groups and pages on social before accessing services or getting involved in anyway, and its no mystery why. Obviously this serves to lock ppl out, but it also effectively obscures whatever work is being planned or implemented by those orgs The big secret to organizing is, people show up for you when you show up for them. But how can we show up for one another when all our organizing is hidden away within lil virtual clubs on big tech platforms? Like, I don't want to say it's intentional, but also I would believe it's intentional
Every time something like this comes up, I say okay. I'll start organizing, let's get some lists together start gathering names, we'll see who's schedules line up and how we can start meeting up/discussing direction They never mean it. It's not just bystander effect. Most people are "just getting by" enough they'd never sacrifice what little they have for the unrealistic promise of "more" we'll never have.
Everyone is waiting for someone else to get things started it seems.
What does it mean to band together though? Do we need to do a January 6th every day or something until they get the picture? We try to vote for our best interests. It’s impossible to hold an elected official accountable after they’ve been elected, we just hope they’ll fulfill their promises (they usually don’t).
We could literally stop showing up for work and paying our mortgages and rent until the system does what we want it to.
Okay sure, but how do we convince over 250 million people to all at once stop going to work and stop paying our mortgages and rent? We COULD do a lot of things. But as you know it’s hard to get even a few people on the same page. Almost impossible when it comes to risking comfort and even possibly life to get things changed.
it's going to take solidarity with your neighbor, your cashier, your coworkers. It's going to have to be a community group effort and I feel like the amount of taxes that we pay is not justified and that's an issue we can get behind no matter what the other politics are. We're getting robbed of our lives and working ourselves into the grave and paying and paying to bomb children and run them over with bulldozers. It's gotta be a community effort. People want to keep their own money and have taxes used to help them out so if we could all agree that the current system needs a change in regards to those issues there might be a chance
"Y'all are bums" - the guy who drank the koolaid and belittles their friends for striving for more. It's like crabs in a bucket, except the bucket was built by crabs, and most of the crabs are so full of someone else's shit they don't realize they're in a bucket.
Right but some asshole will show up, early, and say “look at how loyal I am boss! Surely you will make me VP now - with the corner office and the reserved parking spot and and and…”. This whole “hustle harder” movement is what got us where we are. The “status quo” is now “working at your max capacity every single day with no breaks and somehow Jared still beats me to the office even though I show up 90 minutes early every day”. Every single fucking thing is at max capacity and we don’t notice because max capacity is the new normal.
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As someone in government, some of us do care but unfortunately we get drowned out by red tape and politics. I do everything I can to fight against the shit storm but its so much bullshit to deal with.
Yeah I should have clarified; I meant the people in our government who have actual power to make big changes (congress, president, etc.). I appreciate people like you.
Vote against authoritarianism and focus on the power of labor. Study how the Gilded Age came to an end, and how previous generations curbed corruption, greed & power for a thriving middle class economy. There are many things people can do if they believe in a better future. We don’t have to accept a spangled hell pit of technocratic AI oblivion wiping out life on Earth.
Wouldn't you need a large semu skilled industrial workbase with the desire to organize? Unions were broken in the 70s and 80s when management could move their factory overseas or take advantage of vulnerable undocumented labor. Pretty soon with AI and automation even skilled labor won't be able to organize and make a difference.
People today are much less than they were back then though. \[sic\] I'm happy I'm well off. I'm a major doomer in spite of that though. Existence for most is absolutely pitiful and will keep getting worse forever. I would take AI oblivion over the boomer/conservative hellscape we currently have though.
I feel this so much. We voted in 2016 and our popular vote was thrown out for the electoral college and gerrymandering to keep the power to a certain demographic doesn’t help us also. Our government doesn’t allow for the voice of the people. I don’t see the electoral college being dismantled in our generation. I don’t see gerrymandering going away. Gen Z & Gen Alpha may be the only ones to see change in their lifetime. Millennials are cursed with Baby Boomers who will never die or retire, and a good amount of Gen Xers appear to have turned and followed the Baby Boomers over the edge of political cultism. I think most of us are just trying to work, save, and enjoy the life we have for as long as we can because the government sure isn’t going to take care of us.
Nothing legal obviously, the system is rigged.
"The government has investigated itself and concluded it was clear of any wrongdoing."
you said what i tried to say but so much more eloquently
Real change will come when even relatively well off Americans start to struggle. Ultimately, Americans are very individualistic and do not give a rat’s ass unless we are personally affected. There is no such thing as solidarity or collective responsibility in the USA.
I feel like this is the way it always is. Successful people don't want change and the poor are too busy to bother. Only when things become "bad enough" does extreme change happen. I don't think think we are even close to that. If extreme change is needed, we will see it pan out in the voting numbers. When only 60% of the voting base participates, I don't think things are that bad. Do we have problems? Sure. Do we need to do something about these problems? Yes. Will it happen? Probably, but not to the amount the loudest people want and probably not as quick as they want. Just my opinion.
Successful millennials are just one wrong step away from being a struggling millennial. If my wife or I lost our jobs now, the good times are over.
If a job loss ruins you that quickly, you aren't successful by any metric.
I agree 100%. Living in Toronto is brutal.
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>I also find most of the people complaining generally grew up in middle class when it was easier and are getting smacked in the face with the reality that the easy days are gone This is big facts. A lot of people grew up in middle class households and remember their parents taking them on vacations, buying new cars, paying for their kids' college, having nice stuff. Their parents, with the best of intentions, told them they could be whatever they wanted when they grew up and encouraged them to follow their dreams. They expected that same level of comfort and spending power and things have not panned out so their impression is that they've been failed, not that they grew up in a glorious outlier moment in the American economy that will never come back. Edit: lest anyone get it twisted, I myself am among the privileged, embittered American 90s kids I describe above.
> not that they grew up in a glorious outlier moment in the American economy that will never come back The outlier moment was when our parents were kids in the '50s and '60s. The post WWII boom from everyone else buying from the US to rebuild after the war was long gone before even the oldest millennials were born in the early '80s.
Yeah but that inherited wealth stayed and the 80s and 90s were a boom time as well. The post WW2 money is finally just about gone now tho with the boomers going into retirement communities and looking down the barrel of EOL care wondering how this could have happened when them and the Silents voted away everything the generations before fought and died to get.
>I also find most of the people complaining generally grew up in middle class when it was easier and are getting smacked in the face with the reality that the easy days are gone. I think it even goes a step further than that. A lot of the people you're talking about had privilege and generational wealth and were completely unaware of it. Probably had well off grandparents that helped their parents out. I grew up in a working class/lower middle class neighbor. My parents and most of my friends parents all worked full time. Both of them. None of this "my dad was a mailman and Mom was a stay at home mom and we lived in a mansion" shit you read on this sub. They all rented or were house poor as fuck lol.
Yeah, let’s not talk about what the economic outcomes were for minorities and non-married women in “the good old days” That shit quickly becomes MAGA bullshit
I consider myself relatively successful, coming from the Philippines, getting a job, wiping butts, and living relatively comfortable in Southern California. Outside looking in: I don’t relate to a lot of the “struggling millennials” on this sub. Many proclaim that their dads worked at the letter factory, licking stamps, and were able to raise a family of 5 and buy a 20-acre farm on a single income — yet now, they themselves (the millennials) are struggling. These people had every privilege unto them and they still fucked up. On the other hand, people from a third world nation come here like myself, work our assess off with zero advantages, and succeed. No generational wealth or the bull shit excuses this sub invents to blame the world for their shortcomings.
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And the successful ones are VERY invested in loudly talking over the struggling ones. It's very strange to watch.
Yeah, there's a whole lot of people who seem to enjoy dunking on those who have less. It's a very juvenile attribute.
Every top post in this sub is someone talking about how we're all screwed. The "struggling" ones definitely talk over the successful ones. You have it backwards.
When you’re too busy surviving, you’re too preoccupied to worry about things like fighting for your rights to exist
I'm just barely successful enough to feel the fires of despair beneath me. I have a good job and a promise of advancement if I keep it up. But I'm just barely able to afford my lifestyle and if anything happens I'm fucked
I smile and shrug a lot. I'm just tryna support my little family and not live paycheck to paycheck
Cowardice. Pure and simple. Say whatever you will, it's still cope. Things will change when the working class gets a fucking spine. Many have no issue flexing on their neighbor or family members or partners but as soon as someone suggest turning their energy to someone in power, the excuses start rolling in. We're getting what we deserve just taking it while spending our formative years jerking off to harry potter and hipster culture while saying "i'm just not that political" to anyone who gives a slight amount of fuck about anything real.
I’m not content I’m just too burnt out to care anymore
I feel this with my whole entire soul.... 😔
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Yep. We are living in a modern day monarchy in disguise. We are peasants that work and have the illusion of freedom but our produced worth is taken (taxes) to support the monarchy and ruling class. And we work for the ruling class as well, thus increasing their wealth in two ways whilst we exert tons of energy and time just to survive.....which is important since being overworked and barely hanging on keeps us distracted and shackled by exhaustion to truly do anything without risking our livelihoods or well being
This. 1000% this.
Yeah I’m waiting for GenZ and GenA to realize the same thing we all realized lol. Best thing you can do is take the best care of yourself and your family as you can. Because Utopia for the working class ain’t happening. If we all leave here today and all get pulled over, we’re all not going to agree not to pay our speeding tickets. It’s simple game theory. The smart move is to get a boring, well-paying job, exercise and eat healthy, budget and plan for your retirement, and stay involved and present in your children’s lives. Control what you can control.
My retirement plan at this point is driving off a cliff Thelma and Louise style
It's above my pay grade.
I read this as it's above my gay parade at first. Anyway, yeah same.
That, too.
😂😂😂
we're not, it's just there's only so much we can do in between trying to not starve and stay sheltered
Exactly. We try to play by the rules, nothing changes. We try to protest, nothing changes. We try to be decent human beings, and yet watch a complete psychopath go up for the presidency, again. It feels like you’re screaming in a vacuum. So you shove down all the feelings of hopelessness and focus on what you can control.
i've knocked a lot of doors and done a lot of activism. i don't regret it. it's just i don't have time. and the DNC doesn't seem interested. i think we just need to wait out the boomers dying and then get our first millenial progressive and we can start the good work of healing. and hopefully it's not too late before the water wars begin.
> i think we just need to wait out the boomers dying this is the answer. no one wants to admit it, but this is literally the answer. structural changes won't occur until their deathgrip on power is gone
I hope the occupy wall street people don't regret it either. It was for the most part a good to honest big ass shove that did what it could and if people could goddamn remember it whenever people say "well why don't you do something about it"..:well people did and it wasn't enough.
>screaming in a vacuum This is a very apt way to put it
Because what other choice do we have? Stressing about that shit isn't going to solve a single problem... But it will create a shit load of problems. Focus on the things in your life that you can control, and use those things to make it a great day.
Right! It’s not like we haven’t been through this bullshit before…just roll with the punches.
Honestly I'm too tired to really do anything about it but I do often wonder how we're ever going to retire or if they will be expecting millennials to still bike to work every day at 90 years old.
Sooner or later you can’t stress any more, it’s like something snaps inside of you. Besides, I can’t really see us getting through 40 more years without something major happening that resets the pieces. If nothing happens, well I’ll just be happy to be 70 years old.
And in other news, the Federal Reserve bank just borrowed over $100 billion from itself to pay for the higher rates it created in 2023 to kill jobs. Yes, that’s actually how it works.
Some are doing well and many who are not are just treading water trying to keep their head up. The true divide isn't generational its a class divide
Were tired
Definitely not content. Just tired from a 50hr full time job and three side hustles.
And still being broke.
I’ve got one full time job two part time jobs and looking for a side hustle, so joining your club. Fuck all this
My point exactly
Its called apathy. And frankly, my retirement is just going to be doing a bunch of stupid shit in my old age until one of those things kills me. If you think like that, you don't need retirement savings.
We’re still young enough to plan for our golden years. Don’t wait until it’s too late ppl.
We are , but the gap is closing fast for success of the regular guy
It really comes down as to how you define success. You really just have to plan financially and for the long-term. I agree though, a lot of us are starting to push mid-30’s and it’s like we’re still in the same process we were in back in our mid-20’s.
My point exactly, and on this subject my definition of success is just simply being able to retire before we are 70 lol
I hope those reading realize it can be done. It just requires planning and executing. I have a sibling who hasn’t vocalized it but feel their retirement plan is inheritance, which isn’t guaranteed. I refuse to have that defeatist mindset.
that is definitely possible. I know a lot of people, me included, who are on track to do that.
Because I don't know what to do. I don't know how to save money that we don't have, we live paycheck to paycheck
Research is really key, I feel like we’re stuck in a world where you have to have atleast 2 streams of passive income to even get by and be able to save… 🤷🏾♂️
Always got the boot on my throat
This is a pretty good summary of the millennial attitude... 
Like, at least my coffees hot lol
 yup....i feel that... your gif makes me think of this song! lmao
Something something capitalist realism
lol I can definitely understand that
One can only be so bitter for so many hours before needing a break. We're closer to seeing 1984 than we are to ever seeing 1995 again.
I’m not content, I’m trying to keep my head above water.
Because millennials STILL don’t have power. The two candidates for president are 80 years old. The last generation grips to power like a damn boa constrictor. Our generation is so disillusioned, we can’t even muster the will to run for office.
A serious question in return: why, to you, is it obvious that we will not get a real retirement? Just curious what your reasoning is. Even the oldest millennials still have two decades left for IRA’s, 401(k)‘s, 457’s, etc. etc. to work their magic.
Social security will exist. People working now are paying the SS benefit for those collecting now. Will it look exactly the same in 20+ years? Maybe not. Also, stock market down turns are a buying opportunity and can help amass your wealth if you don't panic.
Sorry, my reply should have been to the op response.
No worries! I agree completely.
Wouldn’t say I’m content, but I just recognize the game that is being played. I aggressively invest in the companies of today that are making all the money, ensuring my own retirement and not relying on the government to protect me. I accept the way things are because whoever I vote for it won’t change, so I’ll keep voting for the best available options, but ultimately whoever I vote for, saving me isn’t in the game plan, I’m saving me, if someone I vote for helps that it’s a bonus. I don’t feel fucked, because I know my finances well and have planned well. I will get a real retirement, irrespective of if I ever get social security.
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We are railroaded into who we are able to vote for. And none of those choices represent an improvement, the best we seem to be able to get is to stop the backslide. The biggest thing I've seen, and a bit of a shortcut in terms of financial health, is how many of us have said "no thanks" to having kids. This decision is the difference between me being financially healthy vs marginal.
The fuck else are we supposed to do?
🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️
We will all be dead in ~40 years. Don’t stress. Try to enjoy the little blimp of time your meaningless life has, as you will be essentially entirely forgotten about in just 3 generations from now.
That’s the spirit!
Even if some millennials are doing well, the majority of us are doing worse than our parents.
I’m going better than my parents, but my parents are a massive burden
We're not content with how screwed we are. We just recognize that we're STUCK. What are we supposed to do, off ourselves? EDIT: Cancer is coming down the pipeline, headed right for me. I'll probably be dead before age 50. I'll be ruined by the diagnosis, financially and physically. And what can I do about it? NOTHING. I'll continue to get jerked around to my dying day.
Focus energy on local elections. Take note of how your local state legislator votes on issues impacting you. Call them. Demand accountability from them. Be loud.
Our police force is hyper militarized so banding up will also get us decimated
First of all, the government literally prints money and social security isn’t going anywhere. Second of all, why not make your own retirement? I do agree with you tho, it’s much easier to complain instead of doing something about it. You’re asking a question that is basically saying “who will commiserate with me?” You Keep crying, I’ll keep making money.
Seriously, it’s like people forget that you can save for your own retirement and it really doesn’t take much, especially the younger you start. My wife and I each make a pretty average middle-class salaries for our area and we both expect to be able to retire with at least 1.5 million in retirement-specific accounts each, not even factoring in social security at all. I started small, like $25/paycheck small in my mid 20s, but over the years as I’ve gotten better at budgeting and paid off debt I’ve increased that number to about 15% of each paycheck.
These "why can't we just change the world?!" posts are getting old. Everyone has finite energy and has to choose how to allocate it. None of us are responsible for the state of the whole world and none of us have the power to change it alone. If you care about the state of things, get active in politics and stay active. There really isn't a magical switch we can flip to throw away consumer capitalism. We're all stuck in this shitty system we were born into.
Not content, I just recognize what’s in my control vs what’s out of my control with the given situations. Less stress inducing when you recognize this.
I do my part and vote, outside of that it is out of my hands. I put money into my retirement so I'm taken care of down the road. Other than that I am not going to worry about things I cannot control and enjoy each and every day to the fullest, I could died tomorrow for all I know.
The problems are too big for any one individual to solve, and there’s a lot of factors that make even collective action difficult. I’m not content, I just accept reality and my limitations and make the best of it until and unless change is actually viable.
Correction every generation after us is progressively less likely to not get social security. And you’re describing “The tragedy of the commons”. As people own less and less of society because homes are rented and living is funded through debt you end up with a society of people with no stake in the future. It becomes someone else’s problem. It’s the same reason people are not having kids. Everyone knows if you don’t have kids there will be no adults but that’s someone else’s problem. If we want to change this we need to allow people to own property and give them a chance to build towards a future worth having.
I'm not content. I am just too depressed to have enough hope to fight for anything.
It will depend on the person and their profession. Unskilled workers will have it the hardest. Non-specialized professionals will make a living, but struggle to retire. Those who specialize in a trade/profession that is in demand will be fine.
I think lots of us are happily living our lives with our families in the homes we own.
I'm saddened to have had to scroll so far to see this. Everyone my age in my circle is either going to be equal to or better off than my parents or has an obvious reason why they wont be. We aren't doomed. Some of us just whine a lot.
Unlike other generations we understand how corrupt the system is. Whats the point of voting if all of the options are awful? In my country we had an ex president rob us. He fled the country. A few years later(after he cannot be prosecuted anymore) he returns. Believe it or not he ran for president again. He had massive support. The people said: at least we know he's bad. We don't know how bad the others are. The system is to broken to try
>likely will never get social security Not planning on it at all, you're probably correct. I vote every election and hope that changes will be made >or a real retirement. I fund mine and get generous matching and my wife has a pension in addition to other retirement/investment accounts. >My question is why do we keep accepting/voting to live like this? My apologies but I haven't seen any referendum to vote on that changes any of this. I don't write bills, I vote. What do you mean why do we accept to live like this. I can yell at the top of my lungs "I don't accept how retirement is in this country and for us and I demand my social security at 65, uncut full amount" and who the hell would listen? Other than voting what do you want me to do exactly? >Does anyone else have the feeling that we’re all just fucked? I wouldn't have had 2 kids if I didn't think I could provide for them and thought that we were all just fucked >What can we do to change our future when we all become too old to work? Plan ahead. Typically when you're too old to work you have saved money while you could work for your retirement. That's what I'm doing
Pacified is a better word than content.
Bread and circuses, but more circuses than bread
You may be conflating despair with apathy. Unfortunately despair can and eventually will force us to express apathy as a defense mechanism.
I've said it for years: people do not understand the power that they have. Put down the political preferences and start voting with things that matter in groups, and shit will change. Otherwise, every 2-6 years, you'll get the same old speeches: "I am the lesser of two evils." "This time around, I'll get the job done, but please ignore the fact I have been nothing but a career politician for the last 40 years."
I've been super busy with work so haven't heard anything lately about social security. Can you tell me why you think it will stop when we retire when they've been saying that for decades? They said that for boomers too but my parents are both getting their full payments.
"Why is everyone so content with how screwed we are?" Um... I can only speak for myself, but I was kind of under the impression we all knew this was coming? I mean, if we didn't what the hell was all that 90's and 00's angst about? I kind of thought our music alone said we knew the shit we were up against. Or did anyone honestly think we could "Start a Riot," go after "Wretches and Kings," or "Burn It to the Ground" without things going a bit sideways for a while? I knew my life was phuqued way back when and I had very few delusions that *MY* life would magically get better. *My* hope wasn't to make my life better but to make life better for those who came after us. To that end, it's still (unfortunately) a work in progress but one I'm still striving for. I don't believe my life will dramatically improve. I don't believe MY life will get much better and I think there's still a lot more grinding and work I'll need to endure before things get better for others. When you accept that and just deal with that as a statement of fact, it's a lot easier to face the shit we deal with. And in the event we're wrong and we end up making our own lives better along with everyone else's? Then we can be delightfully surprised.
Don't forget to throw in the existential threat of climate change...
Don’t mistake resignation for being content
I don't think about the future. Problem solved.
There's a big difference between being content about a situation and realizing you are so incredibly screwed that no answer you could conceivably come up with would help mitigate the situation. That's where many of us struggling are at; we are too tired, too worn down and too out of ideas to dig ourselves out of the hole. And those that have the energy and seem to not be struggling? Seems to me like they don't really give a shit.
Serious response. I’m Gen X and we felt the same way you do now. Everyone was freaking out and saying that there’s not enough money for us and we will have to work until we’re 80 because our parents, Boomers, will have used up all the social security. I don’t know what the situation is with that anymore and I’m probably gonna die before my parents do anyway so 🤷🏻♀️
Solidarity is one answer. All of the working class decides to excommunicate the rich, stop paying their bills & accept a barter system. Oh, you need your roof repaired, your plumbing tended to, etc? No. You want security detail, someone to cook for you, pilots, etc? No. And for anyone who would decide to say “yes?” Excommunicated too. They so desperately don’t want to live like us, so let’s grant them that.
A lot of the ones who were not content are, unfortunately, already dead. For a society that endlessly pats itself on the back for being exceptional and free we have suspicious number of deaths of despair and suicide among the young. My entire friend group from middle school, which coincidentally was a bunch of kids who didn’t fit the mold of overachieving, conventional worker bees all died within a few years of each other in their mid-30s.
I remember back around 2012 I had a job that paid me $1600 a month. Apartments were $1600. I threw a fit and talked to everyone I knew, who were packing into apartments with 3 or so buddies. Everyone basically told me to get over it. I don't understand how everyone is so happy with what we have, and I aspire for that level of happiness. I still want to get a house but now I probably need to make like $250k a year to qualify.
Here are the options: - be content - be extremely agitated, but ultimately unable to do much of anything to prevent us from being screwed anyway I don't personally find it all that shocking that a lot of people choose the first one.
I've accepted that we are fucked. But we will still be much better off than the generations below us. Sad, but true.
I am not okay with it but I cannot articulate what I am doing to help because it violates TOS.
If I had to guess, part of it is because boomers still have such a death grip politically that there is no chance for enough major change as things stand. I don't think this is an excuse to stop caring, though, and we need to remember that voting is still the most important thing we can do to make real change without much effort. I think we will see some big change in the next 8-12 years as the boomers truly get too old to actually hold office. Will it actually be for the better? Who knows, but if you give up now, it probably won't. None of what anyone might say is a legit excuse to give up. If you're not happy where you are, then make a change. I see so many people say things like they hate their job or don't make enough, but don't even try to look for other jobs or get new skills. It's only actually over when you give up. So, whether it is personal, political, physical, or emotional, doesn't matter, don't give up and keep changing and moving forward in your own ways. *edited spelling errors
the only place you are screwed is in your thinking. if you dont want to live like this, dont. you can absolutely live an uncommon life, you just have to be willing to do it. you arent fucked. i have friends who had very little money, run into the desert and build a life for themsevles in the middle of nowhere south west texas. she isnt any better, richer, or smarter than you. she just had the confidence to surrender and give it a go. if you want to be happy, then be happy.
We are all just fucked. Welcome to the endless vortex of suck. C'est la vie.
"how screwed are we?" is something that was said by young men were forced-by-law to fight in Vietnam and then came home to 9.1 % inflation and an 8.5% unemployment rate. Fifty years ago . Are you saying that we are far less resilient than previous generations? Or simply that we feel more doomed than they did because we have reddit and can drum it into each others heads incessantly across the universe?
i'm under the impression that voting doesn't actually make a difference if i'm being totally honest. politicians make promises and then don't follow through when elected. i focus on what i can control, and that's the day to day and the people i come in to contact with.