Generations Of Struggle: They Want You To Think It's All Your Fault
Being upset that the dollar is worth less than it was five years ago is not a sign of laziness
Being an American comes with a basic expectation that the U.S. is supposed to be the greatest country on earth. This mentality is ingrained in our minds as a practical benchmark for measuring our standard of living.
As a product of this, we constantly ask ourselves: Am I living a life that is noticeably different from any other country? If the answer is no, we are required to spark debate and action on the issues preventing this from being true. This means that citizens should not be lectured into accepting expensive groceries, high gas prices, unaffordable housing, and a dollar that buys less now than it did five years ago as some kind of character-building exercise.
But that is exactly what some are asking of young Americans.
When the cost of ordinary life rises, and purchasing power falls, the correct American response is not stoic acceptance. We actually have no moral obligation to accept less than the absolute best economic conditions from our government. Treating economic pain as a rite of passage or complaining about it as a moral failing is a political error. Republicans who adopt that posture are repeating the exact mistake Democrats made under Biden, and they will pay for it with younger voters.
Between 2021 and 2026, the cumulative rise in consumer prices has left the dollar weaker in everyday transactions. Just because Americans have seen inflation stall in the last couple of months does nothing to change the reality that prices are still nowhere near pre-Covid levels.
Food-at-home, energy, shelter, and transportation costs have all moved higher in ways that demoralize young Americans just starting out in life. Those entering the workforce or trying to form households face rents and home prices that consume a larger share of income than the same life stage required a generation earlier. Telling them that this is simply the way things are, or that complaining about it reveals a lack of grit, does not influence anyone. It only signals that everyone in charge has decided the problem is their attitude rather than the conditions themselves.
Continuing to hold the position that young Americans are struggling because they “just don’t have what it takes to succeed” is only going to radicalize them against traditionalism and into the hands of the Mamdanis of the world. If Republicans are serious about their new crusade against socialism and communism, then they need a better answer to the cost of living issue than mocking those who are bringing attention to the very real issue.