When I was young it was a completely different time. I worked throughout high school and college. I graduated college with zero debt. Back then college was relatively inexpensive. Just about everyone in administration also carried a course load. Few were full time administrators. This obviously reduced the overall budget of colleges.
There were some who needed to take out a college loan. But back then college loans were your responsibility. If you defaulted the college got screwed. This insured that colleges only admitted people that had a chance to actually graduate, get a real job, and pay off their loan. Today the government foolishly guarantees these loans. There is no incentive for a college to ensure that they actually educate you so an employer will consider you as an asset to hire. And while the college gets off scott free you are left holding the bag for the loan.
I did well with my job, got married, and was in just a few years able to buy a house. Small, but I still owned it. And over the years I was able to use the equity in my house to buy larger ones. And once you start to acquire assets you gain freedom
Today you are lucky if your job pays enough for you to escape your parent’s house or living with a roommate that you barely tolerate.
Today, if you go to college, you are behind the 8 ball even if you graduate and get a good job. I know so many young people with degrees working entry level jobs that used to be done by high school kids.
If you ever want to change things, the first thing is to not have any political affiliation. Never vote for any candidate because you like them. Examine policies. Were they tried before? Did they work in the past? Why would they work now?
Vote for people who endorse policies that help your situation.
Don’t believe any media sources. They are all selling you a point of view. Not facts.
If you don’t put the time in to examine policies on your own but instead believe what a media source, a politician, or a political party tells you …then don’t expect any change in your situation.
Many old people live in a fantasy thinking today is just like it was when they were young. It is not.
I’m glad that my grandparents are dead, because they would be absolutely horrified to see the state this country has put itself into. My grandfather fought against the Nazis and the fascists in World War II, not to mention the fact that he was a Jew. Both of my grandparents loved their neighbors and their friends and their family, no matter what. What I especially remember is their kindness to strangers.
If they were alive to see this time of suspicion, hate, and authoritarianism, I believe it would kill them.
My father is a full-tilt Republican Asshole and if his father was alive today, I think he’d kick my shitty father’s teeth in for what he’s become.