Democratic nominee for President, Joe Biden, was speaking at a Town Hall event in Florida last evening after a day of campaigning around Miami, where he was asked by a Gen Z individual about how he would represent his generation, who is a generation dealing with school shootings and the inability to earn a living wage even with advanced degrees. The individual went on to ask Biden if he could guarantee him that the "American dream still existed". Biden responded first by saying, "I guarantee you it still exists" and followed up by telling Gen Z-ers what his administration will do for them, and that includes eliminating a lot of student loan debt, as well as a $15k credit for first time home buyers so they can afford it and start accumulating wealth to get started.
Sounds pretty good right? I have a question, is this limited to Gen Z-ers? What about Millennials? It took me 6 years of living at home and saving my money to be able to afford a house with my husband. Do I get a credit because I couldn't afford the cost of a house after graduating with my advanced degree and underpaid job? I did what I had to do like a lot of people do and luckily I was able to live at home with my parents and save money till I could afford to move out on my own and even at that, it was possible with a dual income from my husband, not my income alone. The same goes for my husband by the way and he is also a Millennial. Bottom line, while that sounds magical that the government can come in and help out with my student loan debt and a down payment on a house, how the heck are they going to afford that as a country? Are they not going to get bankrupt in the process of bailing out all the Millennials and Gen Z-ers? While I think you'd be crazy to not take advantage of free money, especially when it's bailing out your debt...at what cost? The cost of our country and what makes us thrive and be the most powerful country in the world? The money has to come from somewhere to make these bailouts possible and the big question is where would you like the money to be taken out of? The military? Public education? You tell me...unfortunately while I'd love the country to bail me out, I made these decisions to go to school and try and better myself and as the old saying goes, I made my bed, now I have to lay in it. It takes time to get a good paying job and afford yourself a good living. You can get there, it might not happen immediately out of college but it will if you're persistent, hardworking, and patient. Where there is a will, there is a way. I feel like some Gen Z-ers and Millennials are impatient and have this desire for instant gratification based on their upbringing of being coddled and the technology of the day where we can acquire anything we want at our fingertips so when they don't immediately get their dream job out of college, it's earth shattering and they want mom and dad to bail them out and in this case, Father Joe. There needs to be a greater understanding for these Gen Z-ers and Millennials, of the repercussions of bailouts. As I mentioned earlier, that means financially taking away from another area in our government and you need to understand why that might be hazardous. Additionally, there should be a greater understanding of the reality and necessity of what you are paying a lot of money towards in terms of your degree type. No offense, do you want to pay thousands of dollars to get a general degree in psychology or philosophy where upon graduation, that degree will provide little to no help for you unless you are going all the way to get your masters and doctorate in that area where you start to see a pay increase? These are things students need to take into consideration before committing to these type of education courses. Furthermore, parents and guardians need to inform their children of the realities of this instead of coddling the notion that "oh you can do whatever you want" and not be so afraid to speak the truth; sometimes the hard truth is necessary.
-Producer Lightning
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