Beware of The Young and Dissatisfied

The young and dissatisfied are the foot soldiers of revolutions. Our young, both the “haves” and the “have-nots” are headed for more disappointment and dissatisfaction.

Government has expanded beyond the level which can be sustained. The biggest threat to the country is probably the “entitled,” non-workers who believe they have a right to live at the expense of others. Some have been conditioned to think this way for three generations. When their benefits are eventually cut or eliminated entirely, the country will become a dangerous place.

Frustrations are not limited to lower income classes. As a result of past and current economic policies, falling living standards are a fact of life. That is always true during a recession, but what is happening now is a secular or long-term economic trend. Living standards are falling even for the so-called “winners.”

From the Justin Lahart in The Wall Street Journal comes this information:

When young college graduates do land a job, it often won’t pay well. According to the Census Bureau, the median annual earnings of a worker 25 to 34 years old with a bachelor’s degree (but no graduate degree) was $40,875 last year. That compares with $45,200 in 2000, adjusting for inflation.

Older college-educated workers also saw their earnings fall, but not by nearly as much. Numbers like these help explain the fervor of the young Occupy Wall Street protesters, who have come to believe the American dream is passing them by.

As the US becomes poorer, most suffer to various degrees. The young well-off (defined as college graduates) suffer more than did their predecessors. The following WSJ chart captures these data by age group:

The above deterioration in purchasing power reflects government CPI numbers which understate true price inflation. Shadowstats.com provides a more reasonable estimate of price inflation. If used, their numbers would present a more dismal picture.

Are the “Occupy Wall Street, etc.” protests the beginning of a youth movement that will be dominated by both the “haves” and the “have-nots?” Data above suggest that both extremes should be unhappy at what is occurring and still to occur. A solution makes these two groups incompatible in terms of objectives. Yet that doesn’t mean they can rabble rouse together for a while.