Why We’ll Never be as Rich as our Parents

Rising living costs, stagnant wages, education debt and a housing market that lurches relentlessly forward more expensively.

We are on the cusp of a revolution where millennials will slowly begin to realise that the austere path they are being forced to walk, which simultaneously pilfers their ever decreasing salary, reduces the value of their work while increasing the contribution they must make to pay for the debts that previous generations have incurred, is not the route they must follow. Upon this stark realisations that their responsibility ensures they are in debt for the duration of their working lives I foresee massive resistance and uprising against acceptance and willingness to contribute. These whispers and murmurs will grow into a majority of dissenting voices which will shape both the debate but more pertinently the future success of the World as we know it.

Young workers will shoulder the economic burden of your countries future success, this is an undisputed fact. The budget deficit has been arrived at after decades of careless government mismanagement and spending. Millennials have just arrived at the party to find it has finished, the house has been trashed and they are the ones being forced to foot the bill even though they have contributed to none of the mess.

The British Prime Minister said last year, in a damning indictment of politicians, “We must not burden our children and grandchildren with debts that we didn’t have the courage to pay off.” Trusting the least courageous among us to face up to their responsibilities and tackle theses issues instead of shirking them does not fill me with optimism.

What career politicians fail to acknowledge publically are that the electorate isn’t stupid but that they rely on continued compliance from the majority. It’s important to recognise that tomorrow’s voters, much like millennials of voting age today, come from the future, not the past. It’s worth repeating: We, millennials, are not beneficiaries of past overspending but are going to be responsible for repaying the budget deficit. Without sounding ungrateful, I question whether this is fair or just? The general population have been forced to accept liability of the economic burden following the financial crash, revealing the revolting opulence, greed, lies and sickeningly reprehensible criminality of the banking world and bore witness to zero punishment being levied against any of the reprobate champagne serpents who disingenuously hid behind fraudulent lies and creamed wealth for personal gain. Those who can least afford it will pay for this for the rest of their days as will our children.

I guess the question that I often come back to is this: would you take a loan out and live the high life knowing your children and grandchildren will be forced to cover the repayments? Quintessentially this feels like enslavement of future generations conveniently dismissed as collective responsibility. When does responsibility begin and where does it end? When should enough be enough for future generations and liability be absolved? You may have lived a financially sensible life from the minute you were born and never been in debt but what’s the point? You can’t escape the debt-ridden tentacles of governance who cypher away your hard earned cash while with their other greasy palms throw billion dollar multi-nationals seductive tax breaks with hopes of prostituting the country as their brothel to do as they please. What happens to a Nation’s debt if the youth all leave?

Compounding this obscene situation is the fact that real earnings for the average worker are actually falling. To pay for the money we, millennials, haven’t spent we are left with even less disposable income than we have had in the past. The price of housing is rising at the same time which means we have to earn more money to buy houses from the generation whose austerity derived ‘debt’ we are struggling to pay back. Married to that is our ever increasing tax bill and though the fallacious game of ‘tax cuts’ is pedalled it is, of course, a blatant lie. Even if you believe you are paying the lowest rate of tax at 20% your tax contributions are really 32%.

The State of Industry
The state of the entire spectrum of employment for my generation is bleak. We are slaves to the previous generations past economic sins with no realistic prospect to overcome it. Our progress is prevented by the shackles of debt that hold us back and our economic prospects are depressed by the economy which has ensued.

So what is the answer? The internet and technology may have obliterated traditional boundaries but that does not alleviate the existence of nations or your liability for the national debt. Fortunately, you don’t have to live where you work. You will struggle to find someone as patriotic as me but my devotion to my children’s future well-being is far stronger than to a national identity which has been diluted by our inability to make decisions which affect our country.

Loyalty is a tool which has been abused to ensure commitment for millennia and it is incredibly powerful. Eventually, though, you need to recognise the signs that your loyalty has been abused and instead of working as part of a mutually beneficial partnership you are being exploited.

The Future
All of the above has occurred in a world which is devoid of true automation, what happens when technology displaces workers on an unprecedented scale? The size of the problem is ignored, but in the USA alone some 3,000,000 workers could be replaced by self driving cars and trucks and similar revolutions will occur across all industries. The forthcoming technological revolution driven by autonomy, artificial intelligence and machine learning will be our generations biggest challenge and how we tackle it will determine whether we return to a level of comparative financial footing to that of our parents or not.

Mass migration is another challenge and eventually I imagine it will pave way to a world without borders, no amount of Razor Wire and immigration controls will be able to stem the flow of migrants which will inevitably increase as climate changes ravage countries on the breadline. This new Utopian world where all boundaries have eroded and disintegrated, or Dystopia dependent on your world view, will enable unprecedented collaboration and cultural advancement. Technology will be something which can ensure nationality survives, where those with a propensity to remain part of their nation can still benefit from being part of it. Nations will become platforms and individuals will be able to contribute by paying taxes virtually, enabling them to cling to a sense of national identity.

Or they won’t and the world will benefit from the collective sense of being which will arise. Adversarial lines, which are historical remnants from the distant past and only act to perpetuate war, will be erased. A line on a map where one country begins and another ends ignores the truth that people are people and are unconcerned by where they are from: your quality of life shouldn’t be decided by the lottery of where you are born. The industry outlook for Millennials may be bleak but the future is dependent on the path we choose together.

Check out What i’m Working on

I’m building Cleeyk; a lifestyle management system alleviating life’s biggest annoyances; wasted time and effort. It removes your need to worry about insurance renewals and monthly subscription services, ensuring you never talk to another call centre or haggle on price again. Your services renew automatically at the most cost efficient price meaning you never have to search or compare.

We also review what you pay for your monthly subscription services in comparison to other users on the platform and negotiate on your behalf to reduce all your costs to the lowest price possible. Let me know what you think.