We’ve all heard it—“generation owe,” “generation screwed,” or “generation me me me.” Endless debt, no jobs, no future; at our age, you hear this every time you turn on the radio or open a magazine.
Usually these criticisms are coming from baby boomers. That I can understand. If they were suddenly looking at our economic future a lot of them would be screwed too. What does make me sad is when my fellow 20-somethings start mourning our bleak fates as well.
A year ago, I was mourning too. I was convinced I was screwed, even though I really didn’t know what that meant. I had a few ideas though—being homeless, moving back in with my mom, and selling my kidneys were the main theories.
No matter what, I knew debt would be involved. I didn’t really have much debt then, but it had to come from somewhere, right?
Maybe I’d finish school and my mom would show up on my doorstep with 20 years worth of food and rent bills. Maybe I’d buy a Porsche. That seems to be a big problem with the boomers.
Listening to the news, I also knew I’d never have a good job. I knew that there were lots of part-time jobs out there, but part-time work could never pay off my Porsche debt, let alone living or eating.
I worried about these things for the first three years of my degree. After third year I decided to stay in Ottawa instead of going home for the summer.
Preparing to live in the city for four months without classes, I felt I was about to face real life. In the end, I was shocked to find out how easy real life can be.
Since I didn’t have to pay tuition I never borrowed money off my mom and even managed to pay off a sliver of my student debt. It turns out that living off of only one part-time job is possible, and not even that hard.
I realize that I’m speaking from a position of privilege in our society, but there are really just so many part-time jobs out there. I was shocked, even giddy, to find out how much the previous generations exaggerate how hard living is.
Of course, I wasn’t living like they expect us to.
This summer I rarely bought clothes and almost never ate at restaurants. I didn’t buy a single videogame and rarely went to bars. I biked everywhere, and when my bike was stolen, I spent a month walking. I would not call this thriving, but I certainly wasn’t “screwed.”
Now I’m not trying to tell people how to live their lives, or preach about living within your means. I’m trying to tell people to stop worrying.
This summer I learned to not listen to what anyone says about living. Money is essential in the pursuit of happiness, but you don’t need much of it. If you want lots, that’s great too. Personally, if I didn’t want to have kids and move back to the country someday, I could happily work as a part-time tour guide for the rest of my life.
This summer I discovered what people in the media really mean when they say our generation is screwed. They mean that we probably won’t be home-owners by age 25, and they’re afraid that we’ll never own a car that costs more than $40,000.
By saying we’re “screwed,” the baby boomers mean that that we’ll never live like they did and do today, but honestly, I’m fine with that.
Bring it on.
