Post-American Dream

I’m finding it incredibly hard to believe we’re already in August. This year has been moving at an incredibly fast pace. Seems like it was just February, while March through June was merely a blur in the rear view. We’re already nearly a month past our July trip to Colorado.

A couple weeks ago we were in record high temps, then Saturday it was a high of 75 with lows in the 50s in the morning. Of course this is just a little reprieve in-between oven blasts – as like I said – it’s still only August.

Kids are heading back to school, while some already went back last week. That’s an end of summer event we no longer take part in. Our youngest graduated in 2023, so we’re adults in this house doing the adult things like working, not looking forward to going to work in the morning, and being tired after work. It’s the cycle we hit once we become old enough to worry about health insurance, down payments on homes, and keeping up with yard work.

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But newly-appointed young adults these days seem to be behind the eight ball when it comes to total adult autonomy, as opposed to when my wife and I graduated high school over 30 years ago. In 1992 the job market was rich enough in our area that if you decided you didn’t want to go to college you could still find sustainable employment without a degree. What used to be referred to as “factory jobs”. It was physical, blue collar labor that earned you a paycheck fit for a rent or mortgage payment. Maybe even a car payment as well if you found something that paid well enough. Plus money left over for utilities, gas, groceries, homeowners and auto insurance, a chunk for savings, and even some for weekend fun like dinner and a movie.

You could make your way in the world on your own. It wasn’t easy, though. You, more than likely, worked a job you didn’t care for. But the desire to be on your own and live and run your life how you saw fit was greater than your indifference to where you punched the time clock. I worked a couple low paying jobs out of high school, but I enjoyed them. I was still a kid for all intents and purposes, but I was working and paying for my own gas. I still lived at home and my parents didn’t mind, as long as I was doing something. But by August of 1993 I was working at one of the top orthopedic companies in the world and it was only a 12 minute drive from home. I had my own health insurance and my girlfriend(now wife) was there as well. We got married in June of 1996 and built our home and were moved in by November of 1996, just shy of my 23rd birthday.

In today’s standards, that’s like reading top shelf fantasy.

In 2024 a college degree(Bachelors to boot) doesn’t guarantee anything. Lots of college graduates are moving back home with mom and dad and working some “in-between” job until they can get one in their respective field. So they’re leaving college with a massive debt and no job prospects in their selected field, working a job that doesn’t pay enough for them to be able to put money back to save for a down payment on a mediocre car, let alone a forever home. Hell, they can barely afford rent without having to live with one or two people in order to split the $1,500 a month on a two bedroom, one bath apartment.

So on top of starting to have to pay back that financial debt to the Federal Government or private bank they’re not making enough to build any sort of nest egg. Their autonomy is non-existent and the college graduate is still just an adult kid living with mom and dad. And that’s if they’re lucky enough to have parents that can offer them their old room back. A lot of those parents are running into their longstanding jobs disappearing due to companies closing American manufacturing facilities and moving them overseas.

Much like the orthopedic industry.

You’re probably thinking, “Wow. Thanks for bumming me out on a Monday morning.” Well, yes, sorry. But all of this has been on my mind lately given that I have a 19, 21, and 24-year old trying to make their way in these extremely choppy economical and financial waters. I hear people my age and older whining about “this generation” or “these damn kids these days” and I just want to punch them in the face. Just once. Not even to break their nose, but to bloody it up a bit. Where I work there’s a good number of folks that have worked here for 3 decades. Some probably since they were in their late teens. They’ve never known that fear or struggle of wondering if they’ll ever find a job with a living wage, let alone a home of their very own. That’s a concept that’s as foreign as life on other planets these days.

I feel the folks I work with are a microcosm of the country at large. Entitled, middle-aged and boomer-age folks that grew up in a wealth of employment opportunities. America post-WWII was booming with manufacturing and new housing opportunities. It was still booming – maybe distantly – when I got out of high school. I got a good job relatively young and was able to buy 1/3 acre lot for $7,500 to build a house on. That same lot today would probably run close to $25,000-$30,000. My $78,000 home would would probably run over $200,000. These bumps are astronomical, and are as far out of reach for my kids and many others in their situations as a condo on the moon.

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My point here is that maybe think twice before talking about “this generation” or “that generation”. Each one has had different experiences, struggles, and hardships. The world is changing in equally good and bad ways. I don’t think we’re past the point of no return, but we’re on the cusp. Much like this weather recently, we had a reprieve from the heat. But more is on the way.

I count myself as one of those lucky middle-aged folks. I didn’t have to worry about finding a job out of high school. There were plenty. I didn’t struggle to build a home. We had money saved and we were financially prepared to take on a mortgage. We have struggled over the years, especially with three kids and one full-time income. But we seemed to have figured it out. I’m willing to help my kids out while I can as my manufacturing job was one that was on the chopping block and was just recently granted a pardon by the powers that be. I don’t think it’s a lifetime pardon, though. But while I’m currently in the clear I’ll help my adult kids.

Nothing wrong with a little struggle, though. You toughen up in the struggle. You get leaner and more thoughtful in how you spend your money. All of my kids are pretty adept at surviving on the bare minimum.

I’m just hoping someday they won’t have to do that.