Dear Millennial Generation,
Complacency* and unthinking consumption today will inexorably lead to persistent declines in living standards in the future. Unfair as it may seem, a future (and present) in which upper and middle class kids attempt to replicate the lifestyles and consumption patterns of their parents is a future that’s racked by untenable levels of personal debt , declining health outcomes, and yawning economic** and political*** inequalities.
In short, you can do better.
Love,
the future
Now, don’t you wish someone had written the baby boomers this letter forty years ago?
*EthnoSense, a blog produced by an up-and-coming Aussie ethnographer, has an interesting take on first-world youth complacency in relation to world affairs and development issues. A worthwhile read.
*Ezra Klein, as wonkish as they come, is always a good read, too.
***At the very least, read the summary of Bartels’ paper at the top.
Complacency* and unthinking consumption today will inexorably lead to persistent declines in living standards in the future. Unfair as it may seem, a future (and present) in which upper and middle class kids attempt to replicate the lifestyles and consumption patterns of their parents is a future that’s racked by untenable levels of personal debt , declining health outcomes, and yawning economic** and political*** inequalities.
In short, you can do better.
Love,
the future
Now, don’t you wish someone had written the baby boomers this letter forty years ago?
*EthnoSense, a blog produced by an up-and-coming Aussie ethnographer, has an interesting take on first-world youth complacency in relation to world affairs and development issues. A worthwhile read.
*Ezra Klein, as wonkish as they come, is always a good read, too.
***At the very least, read the summary of Bartels’ paper at the top.
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