Coming Of Age In The Stormy Weather Of A New World
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“It is not difficult to understand why positive attempts at a solution appear earlier and are more easily recognizable in the development of the individual than in that of the collective.”
Over the past twenty to thirty years society has undergone profound and unprecedented technological, cultural, and economic changes. As far as I can tell, this isn’t even a topic of debate – It’s readily acknowledged with only an added caveat at most. The issues that society is now faced with – having the potential to be just as profound and unprecedented – are hotly debated but it’s not entirely clear that these problems have been properly identified.
This may be one of the reasons millennials have been referred to as “the lost generation.” Like the more tragic ‘lost generation’ of WWI, they have come of age in a world of uncharted territory, misunderstood implications, and uncertain consequences – They are the unintended guinea pigs of a changing world’s experimentation.
According to Pew Research and Social Trends, millennials are more likely to be living with their parents and have been slower than previous generations at becoming homeowners and starting families. As of 2018, they are now also the largest generation in the U.S. workforce. This could explain why, given the sheer numbers, they have been hit exceptionally hard by the recent pandemic and subsequent economic downturn. As of August 2020 unemployment among millennials was at 14.3%, according to FRED. It has since declined but seems to be fluctuating around a concerning 10%.
All of these features could be symptomatic of problems not easily recognizable from a quick glance at data sets. The Covid19 Pandemic marks the second time millennials – and young people in adjacent age groups – have experienced large scale economic setbacks at pivotal times in their lives. Many millennials were just coming of age during the 2008 housing crisis and many are undoubtedly still playing a game of catch-up to meet social expectations. The emergence of the 2020 pandemic arrives just as millennials reach another pivotal age... their early thirties.
All this talk about millennials and Gen X “job hopping” from Gallup and other surveys is perhaps yet another indication of just how much the cultural and societal landscape has changed. These behavioral features of the younger generations are often talked about as if the change occurred, at least mostly, within the generations themselves. A closer examination of the greater economic and cultural environment may be more informative, no matter how ambiguous or abstract that may appear.
For instance, there has been a lot of talk in recent years of a kind of rigid corporate culture that promotes platitudes as ideals and compels soft language meant to maintain some idea of a positive work environment. Dan Lyons, writing about HubSpot in 2016, spoke about a general feeling of disposability in a workplace where being fired was referred to as “graduation.” This kind of workplace devoid of a culture in-touch with humanity is certainly not limited to the world of tech. A quick google search or simply asking around would yield a plethora of similarly comical examples.
We have collectively entered a technological era that has significantly moved away from real human connection. Social media has partly supplanted real human interaction and transformed the way we communicate in ways that are not entirely understood. There used to be a time when a job seeker could show up at a company’s office, resume in hand, and have a decent chance at being seen or heard. Now, job seekers are almost always directed to apply online and likely face A.I. screening software that can ensure no one will ever set eyes on the applicant’s resume.
The political and economic turbulence of the past decade and a half have been profound enough to upend the career paths of many and establish a disorienting amount of insecurity for people still struggling to settle into a stable life. Saddled with debt – $1 trillion for millennials according to the New York Federal Reserve – the younger generations are navigating the subtle but alarmingly new world of the 21st century with largely outdated advice and guidance. The problems arising in this new world have not yet been clearly identified by the collective – making for a precarious future for those individuals struggling with them.
The (In)effectiveness Of Government Spending
During times of economic trouble comparable only to the Great Depression, what is the government doing to help the average American still hoping to establish a productive life? Whether we’re talking about the December 2020 Covid19 stimulus or the full 5,593-page omnibus bill which includes it, Trump (love him or hate him) had a point when he vetoed it for “wasteful spending.”
The U.S. Government has been criticized for years regarding its redundant, superfluous spending that seems to have little relevance to the lives of ordinary Americans. While citizens get a $600 check for the economic crisis brought on by the recent pandemic, Pakistan is receiving $25 million for democracy and gender programs. There is a slew of other questionable expenses written into the 2021 omnibus that need closer examination. $500 million to support the armed forces of Jordan and enhance security on its borders, 1.018 billion to Amtrak, and $26 million to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, just to name a few.
While there may be some valid reasons for this kind of spending, the critical nature of the problems the nation is facing domestically seems at least partially neglected if the government is still budgeting as though everything is hunky-dory. It’s very possible that government institutions have become so bloated and clumsily entangled that their goals are too misdirected, duplicative and fragmented to be relevant in unprecedented times. A document from the Government Publishing Office outlines in detail the kind of wasteful spending in need of examination, such as “Disjointed Workforce Programs.”
Speaking of workforce programs, a number of reports have been published over the years – see here 2011, 2016, 2019 – regarding the ineffectiveness of training programs and work requirements to receive government benefits. The Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) 2019 report found that “most government training programs are not effective at securing higher-paying jobs for participants.” If government spending has become excessively superfluous and institutional programs ineffective for the modern individual, then there may be some validity to a corporatist critique of the current political system.
In the 1930s, the last time the U.S. economy was in a comparably critical condition, FDR introduced a variety of new laws and institutions from 1933 to 1935 that had undeniable positive results for young people and families. What became known as the “New Deal” provided various subsidies, established “industry-by-industry codes” that set wages and prices, guaranteed worker’s rights to organize and employed millions of people through newly established institutions and a wide variety of “public works projects” from the construction of infrastructure to painting murals.
The relevance of the New Deal’s programs has much to do with its direct impact on individuals. Instead of just handing people $1200 here or $600 there, the government employed them in projects that provided long-lasting benefits for everyone. It provided respectable experience and skillsets to unemployable people, but most notably to young people whose best years were being wasted by the uncertain state of the world’s economy. Setting aside any criticisms of Keynesian economics, the New Deal aimed at the long-term for the lives of individuals rather than just blindly throwing money at people and hinging hopes on corporations to fill the gaps.
Since the end of WWII, corporate lobbying and outsourcing have weakened labor laws and all but annihilated the once-powerful influence of unions. Wages have stagnated or declined for around four decades and there are indications that there’s been a steady decline in the kind of “good jobs” that offer security, a good wage, and adequate benefits. For instance, a report from the National Employment Law Project found that the economic recovery from the 2008 market downturn involved employment gains that were “concentrated in lower-wage industries.”
If this pattern of lower-wage job recovery and cash-prize stimulus continues, where will the younger generations hinge their hopes for the future? There is a profound lack of direction on these issues reflective only of a collective conscience unwilling or unable to accept that the world is not what it was twenty years ago.
FDR’s new deal was a dramatic reaction appropriate for the dramatically changing times. Just as it was after the roaring twenties – the same old politics, the same old economy of yesteryear are no longer proving fruitful in the long-term.
