Blanche confirmed 50-49 at 1am as the Senate's Turtle Caucus dies off; a top House Judiciary Democrat defects to the GOP in Michigan; and Burrito-Gate exposes what's really wrong with zoomers.
There's a factor in the Twenty Dollar Burrito Brawl that I haven't seen addressed: between parents dropping the ball on teaching their kids basic life skills and Home Economics being pulled from high school education, Generation Z doesn't know how to stretch a dollar or cook for themselves so they don't have to rely on other people to make and deliver their food.
It's not the only factor, but it's something I've observed among the Zs and Alphas that I've interacted with.
Excellent point. While Growing up eating out was an occasional thing. Now people eat out most of the time and complain it’s expensive. I can feed 5 people burritos for $20
Working at a pizza place with a free pizza meal for every shift kept me going! My roommate ate hot dogs with avocado wrapped in tortillas. Ugh. But, we knew how to shop and make food ( I wouldn’t call it cooking though).
Food service jobs are great for college kids. During my last couple of college years I tended bar in 5 star Gold Coast dining room. Meals improved greatly! 😁
Yes-definitely both my kids are working in college one at a restaurant, one at a grocery store. For me, it was not just a job but a group of friends for life.
I worked at KFC thru college. We could take home whatever was left at the end of the night. I'd take the skin and bones off, cut up, and make chicken burritos, chicken and noodles, chicken soup and so on.
When did this happen? I worked at KFC for a short time after being laid off from my regular job. (Back when you had to physically apply to jobs and could not turn one down if you wanted to keep your unemployment benefits). We could buy the leftover chicken, but if we didn't, it went in a padlocked dumpster in the back.
Wow, how horrible is that!? I was there in the mid 80's. About a decade ago, I did read something about a local food bank that was going to some restaurants after closing and picking up leftover food as a donation for the "needy" and KFC was one of them. Leftovers in any volume was not a regular thing - mgrs had strict food cost goals to meet so we cooked in smaller quantities once the dinner rush was over but every once in a while business would just die off and there'd be a lot left. Most of my co-workers said they were sick of chicken and didn't want it so I got most of it,
I was just thinking about the hot dogs in tortillas thing today. My first ever roommate in 1968 was from Guatemala. She fixed those for dinner one night with an unripe avocado. We had no clue how to tell. It was the only native dish she knew how to cook. Needless to say, quite inedible. Back to PB &J.
Look for Safe Catch. Ahi Yellowfin Tuna, 43 grams of protein per can, and mercury limit of 0.1 part per million. The FDA limit is a too high 1.0 part/million. Even so, limiting Safe Catch to 1-3 times a week for an adult is a reasonable strategy, no more than once a week for children.
Another strategy is eat smaller fish like sardines--good omega 3 content, and since they are in the middle of the food chain, they don't take in as much mercury as tuna.
You betcha ya! the smaller SMASH fish are a better choice. I’ve preferred mackerel for some time now. But…Locally raised Buffalo 🦬 remains my go-to protein source 🫶🏻
Married in 1967 while hubby was in college, paid for by himself. We survived on Banquet Pot Pies and Chef BoyArdie (?) pizza mixes. We had to think long and hard if we wanted to celebrate our anniversary by going to the $1.00 Steakhouse. Truly. There was one in Champaign Illinois.
My mom fixed a Chef BoyArdie (?) pizza mix once when I was a kid. It stunk up the whole house, and my dad flatly refused to eat it. Mom gave it to our Cocker Spaniel, who would eat just about anything. He sniffed it, turned his bowl over with his nose, then backed away growling at it! It was the only time in his long 17-year life that he ever did anything like that. We laugh about it to this day.
LOL. That is funny. Dogs know better don’t they. I lived in farming country. That box pizza was literally the first pizza we ever had. Mom made it but she did ramp it up a bit and we had sausage from our own hogs. I wasn’t much of a cook at first, well actually, not for a long time. Until I had a baby and a garden.
The whole idea is to thrive at any age. Eating dead animals is not good for people, the animals, nor the planet. There are spiritual bottlenecks as well...
I eat them on the way out of the store. #notkidding The filling is pre-cooked--I think--and the tortilla is not going to kill anybody--I'm pretty sure.
The point is, if they're supposed to be deadly eaten uncooked, they're not working on me.
Whenever I am at a Chick-fil-a, I notice the stack of Door Dash orders is larger than the number of customers dining inside or waiting in the drive thru line. I honestly can’t believe that many people don’t make or pick up their own meal.
Chipotle burritos are easily $20, depending on type of protein added and guac (it’s $2.70, Jeff, not $2.00), and queso blanco (another $2+). Thing is… that Chipotle burrito is big enough to easily be two meals. Shared, or taken home and eaten the next day.
$2.95 in my area, $8.95 for gauc and chips. Taco Bell has burritos from $1.50 up to $6.50.
There are 12 Mexican restaurants within 3 miles of where I live, all with $5 to $8 burritos.
Choices are made, and there are consequences.
Choices of college debt for unemployable majors. The lies are mainly propagated by other kids.( Greta Thunberg anyone?) Social Justice warriors and exploitive college professors and especially administrators with the money grab of student loans. There are entire industries built around this fraudulent system.
Further promises of gentle parenting by the government serves no one, particularly the failing Gen Z population. Hard truth, with it’s attendant pain , is the way out of the desperation cycle.
So choose the $3 burrito or the $ 20 burrito but be honest about your decision and accept accountability for the results. Freedom includes the possibility of failure but also the opportunity of second or even third chances.
The most helpful course for conservatives would be to allow student debt to be discharged in bankruptcy. That would remove the distorted tertiary education market and direct more young people into the skilled trades.
Colleges and universities should use their enormous endowments to enroll capable students who need financial assistance. Maybe then remedial math and english would not be needed at this level.
Encouraging Gen Z to continue to view themselves as helpless victims is unquestionably the path to ruin for the nation.
My brother in law does Door Dash. The “youngsters” (as he calls them) will order a COFFEE at 7 AM, FINANCE it on an app (I can’t remember what the ap is called) and pay the mandatory tip which all brings a cup of coffee to $10! He says it is crazy stupid the way youngsters can’t, or won’t, boil water and use a V-shaped, pour over coffee ground thingy to make themselves a darn cuppa! I’m having my 12 year old grand niece stay over for home making lessons: cooking, sewing, laundry and house cleaning. We lost the lessons on food growing, making clothes, knitting, canning a while back and now basic homemaking is a lost art. I cannot believe how some of my 30 something relatives can’t seem to wash/dry/fold/put away laundry; they just go to Goodwill and buy clothes if they need to look nice.
I cannot believe you are advocating for minimal job creating Data Centers. Talk to the people who live in the area of one and how negatively it has affected their lives.
When my eldest kid was in college (which I could not afford to pay for so she had to get loans & grants) I went down to visit her in San Diego. I was invited out to go clubbing with her and with her friends. Oh, my!It was great fun and then after drinking and dancing until 1 a.m., we went to this taco stand near their college where you could get 10 tacos for 2 dollars!
I was warned ahead of time by one of the other parents "Don't eat those tacos; because you will lose weight in a most uncomfortable way!"
The kids ate them...a bunch of them ... and saw no harm. I ate a couple, but passed on 8 more.
I was never sure if it was the partying or those 2 tacos, but I profoundly thanked GOD that I had another whole day before I was flying home! 😂
I was raised by a mother who taught me how to cook, and on a budget. I know far too many that even a boxed mix baffles them. Home Ec. was a breeze for me, and now it's not even offered.
I was thinking the same thing! we just had a burrito night with one grilled steak and grilled chicken and fed 10 people with guacamole for my daughters birthday for about $20 and they were delicious.
Historically, has any generations parents said , "You know, we had it easy growing up. Let's take away some things we enjoyed from our own kids as they grow up." I don't think so. It is in our nature to want to provide 'better' for our children. The real root of the issue is that is starts with a real passing on of the faith. Not a watered down prosperity gospel or "it's just Jesus and me and the bible". All the rest is ancillary. We as a country still allow the slaughter of almost a million babies a year. We gloss over that horror. We "statistics-ize" it the way Stalin predicted. How can a new generation be blessed without a people humbling themselves and repenting, and doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord? Economic issues are downstream from the True Faith.
Yes, the hypocrisy of this younger generation protesting about the death of children in Gaza, yet promoting the slaughter of babies in the womb is breathtaking! Truly repugnant.
Truly "skulls full of mush" as Rush would say. Surely we were all in that category too once. Thankfully we grew up. But back in my day parents were more conservative in every way. Ready to welcome us into Realville. Now?
For the last 25-30 years kids have been taught in schools that Christianity is bad and Christians are stupid. They go home and convince their weak parents that what they are learning is true. Children have been handed lots of power and been given entitlement. The kids run the show as parents helicopter around them.
Home schooling has helped ameliorate that a bit, but I've seen kids who had that who then still went off to a college and 'flipped'. It's sad to see. The sad fact is we all have a bit of a rebellious tendency in us no matter our state in life. It is why it is all the more amazing the example that Mary gave us in the New Testament. We can see by her response to Gabriel that she knew the teachings of the Old Testament. When he brought her the request from God, she replied perfectly in her free will, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." Humility in our relationship with God is the only way out of this mess.
And as a Gen-X-er myself, I see how annoying the helicopter parenting is. I'm not a full "free range-r", but kids need more exploration/discovery/problem-solution to their lives. The 'drone-ing' of our young still continues, now with digital babysitting added on.
Most of my girlfriends wanted to be their daughter’s best friend. Too afraid to push back and now they have grown “kids” who still expect mommy and daddy to put up the money for their new car or a house down payment, and these “kids” are 39-40 something!
The ROOT of the matter!! Led to all we are now contending with. Man has continued to put our faith in the lie. After seeing how we were duped in the garden, where we once had EVERYTHING and named the lion as we ran our fingers through his mane, we chose the fruit of thee one tree. I find it is very difficult to find a church that teaches the whole counsel of the Word. But they have a café. Our priorities stink. Apathy is rampant too. Lord forgive us, fully responsible for where we are, we need You, Your wisdom. In Jesus’s name. Amen
Maybe instead of just telling zoomers they are lazy, we can show them how to make a meal & eat off it for days. What else could we do, stuff that brings back community. Covid really did hurt in so many areas.
Sadly, while almost everyone has a phone, they don't actually use it to learn key life things like food purchasing and prep and storage. And even just growing a bit of their own food. If they just have a terrace or stoop, they can still grow something and get a little more in touch with good food. And sadly, 'community' doesn't mean much anymore. I made a purposeful decision to get to know more people at church beyond the weekly smile/nod. I started a 'boot camp' during the summer to encourage especially older men in the faith. Do you know how many men get surprised and touched when you tell them you will pray for them for something they specifically shared? It breaks down 'lethargy/inertia barriers'. Now instead of me trying to come up with all the topics, they are growing and requesting specific areas.
I know there are adult evening classes in my area where you pay anywhere from $30-$100 for a series of 1, 2, or 3 sessions where a woman teaches people how to cook certain types of meals, including shopping tips and such. A lot of that used to handed down from grandmoms/moms, but not much anymore. Periodic "Faith & Food" nights hosted by parish/congregation ladies to teach the 'youngsters' would be something to try.
This is an excellent thesis to springboard any number of intergenerational exchanges of sharing...living....learning. So many people either live far from relatives of have so much disfunction, they MISSED important lessons of resourcefulness .........Spirit, have your way.....
you assess correctly. But that is the spiritual, moral view. Economic reality always manifests. Look into PrometheanAction. It promotes the economy of AMERICAN SYSTEM. The foundation is imago Dei: man made in God's image- human creative mind to discover and convert earth's resources through productive labor FOR present and future posterity. Lots of short videos give commentary on current events with the AS worldview!!
Love it. The part they are probably more concerned about, then the spiritual & moral will inevitably follow, if we meet the need without DSA hand outs. Those that might at the most, last a month or two, then full communism shows its ugly, permanent non-solution.
We had to find another church. Our mainline Presbyterian church left the bible (scripture) to teach social justice. Now a church that teaches anything goes as long as love is your focus. Our new denomination is full of young families who hunger for Gods message.
I hear you Debi. If you’re anywhere near new Smyrna Beach Florida, Pastor Allen Baisley at Grace Community Church preaches straight out of the Bible. No “additions or subtractions”! It’s wonderful.
No, they are being fooled to believe they want the hand outs and they’ll just keep coming. That’s why we need to help them figure out the practical without the handout. “The saying: "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.
They don’t have the skills but “influencers” have told them they are entitled to the rewards anyway. So they feel cheated. And their teachers/professors have told them who to blame — Trump, conservatives, capitalism, republicans. Hence the rise of the “free everything” communists.
That has been my experience with Gen Z and Alphas. I truly like those kids, and there are some exceptions to the rule, but as a rule, most of them have been clueless about the real world. Almost like the education pipeline set them up that way ...
Jeff is talking about Mike Rowe and his pot cast, ( I am a subscriber and strongly suggest you too) two days ago I told my wife that I was sad but still had hope for our future after watching him interviewing Ethan Thornton.
Nothing prepares me for listening speak about the future, jobs, projects and the most important thing how he got where he is now.
22 years old and the captain of a 2.5 billion company.
The thing that really stands out, not complains. Period.
Only solving problems.
A $20 burrito is strikingly expensive.
Don’t complain
Create your own $5 solution and then sell it to the world.
Exactly. When I bought shrimp from a weekend business in a truck, he asked if I wanted them mild, medium or spicy. I asked What? He said how do I want them steamed. I said "I am going to cook them, so raw. Doesn't anyone cook anymore?" Pretty bad when the default position is assuming you are too lazy to cook yourself.
Seafood buying off the truck is a huge thing in the Gulf of America states! It’s perfectly fresh or flash frozen and they generally just drive it inshore a few miles for the convenience of the customers. If you’re ever in the south and see one on the side of the road, I would urge you to stop and check it out for yourself! Cheers
My dad was working down in Seadrift, Tx at a shipyard and came home with 50 pounds of shrimp bought off a truck. We all sat around the table shucking and deveining them til they were all done. I was so sick of seeing shrimp until it came to eating them, then we were sad once we ate the last of them.
Now, that gas station sushi? I’m with you on that! But it’s the same thing with their sandwiches. Unless they’re making them fresh on site, I’d steer clear.
Good to know you have a Startrek Transporter. Unless you are at the dock, everything moves by truck, rail, or plane. Seafood, produce, meat. Except for you, apparently. This was not a pick up truck. A dedicated trailer that does not move, and has been operational here for decades.
There's always the inverse, which precious few consider: it takes 20 of the paper monies to buy a burrito. Twenty paper monies use to buy burritos for four. What's with the paper monies? They have the same dead presidents on them as before. Who broke the monies?
Why does No One Ever talk about "restoring the value of the paper monies"/deflation? Why, instead, is it pretended from the rooftops that "controlling" the rate at which the paper monies become "worth less" is the best one can do?
(I heard it hinted that "deflationary periods are not pleasant times to endure," but I think it depends on whether you've got an ox to be gored or you don't have one. Although I suppose if oxen are being gored all round about you, it will undoubtedly become unpleasant for you too.)
This is how they get you. Everything seems like a left/right debate, but it all comes down to monetary policy. Detaching money from Gold made a lot of dodgy stuff possible, and financial engineering has transferred gobs of wealth to a class of people who are far removed from our struggles. Nearly all of the wealth has been borrowed from the future. It's egregious class and generational theft.
When I was in college I worked three jobs and rode a bicycle everywhere. Even lived in my dad's work trailer in a trailer park near the university that he set up for me when I had to leave the dorm. I got busted for having smuggled in a kitten whom I had rescued from the street and Tom was not in great shape. He likely wouldn't have survived much longer. In any event, one of my jobs failed to pay me on the Friday. I had like $3 in my wallet and faced the decision of buying cat food or rice (to stretch what was left in the kitchen cupboard: two cans of cream of mushroom soup) to get me through the weekend. I bought the cat food. After I fed Tom, my neighbor whom I had never spoken with and only knew from an occasional friendly wave from across the small road knocked on my door and invited me to go out for pizza. He ordered an extra large, ate one piece, drank a beer, and told me to take the rest of the pizza home! I think God had been whispering in his ear. Interesting to note that I never again saw that neighbor.
We never know when we entertain angels, Hannah (beautiful name by the way). Raised poor and taught self sufficiency, I know a hungry cat will feed itself ;-)
That was the loss from high schools teaching Home EC, carpentry, plumbing years ago. You learned basics like sewing, cooking, how to keep a checkbook. All things that were common sense to help you in life. Then the Dept of Education was formed and things changed.
Right on, Karmy. Eliminate individualism and self sufficiency, make everyone dependent on government and teach how to hate the successful. The road to socialism/communism.
You are spot on! When Home economics got removed as a required course I was livid! And here are the fruits of that effort! Maybe RFK can have some influence. Nutrition ignorance was rampant among the urban and rural poor a century or so back. Now it knows no economic boundaries.
The inflation is real. High minimum wages don't produce cheap burritos, either. And there's relentless upcharge and corporate style enshittification (less for more).
But.
Zoomers do seem to expect a standard of luxury and safety that wasn't there a few decades ago. The fact that Doordash is even in discussion, or the presumption is food bought at a restaurant, is indeed part of the problem. And older generations have become soft, too. All those Guatemalans sure make it easy to get take out.
Both things can be true.
And yeah you can make a better burrito at home for much much less, unless you're severely disabled in multiple ways.
I'm with you on the inflation. I know how to budget, and food costs these days bother me.
OTOH, someone should probably tell Gen Z that what they spend on ink could feed them for a month at least (two months if they know how to utilize the humble freezer bag).
Cooking from home at lower cost is a good point, but a very minor one. These kids are struggling to find ‘good’ employment. That resulting W2 opens up so many possibilities. This is the point!
I thought Jeff did a decent job at trying to lift our faces off of the food prices alone, as that is just the proxy for the rest of the economy. But the majority of comments here are still focused on the damn burrito. Good grief.
I’m very pleased to see Jeff address the affordability reality faced by our younger generations, who are (I’m pretty sure) not a big slice of C&C readership. And then point out to us older generations ‘why’ DSA is gaining currency. And top it off with solid Dear Abbey advice that us GenX & Boomers can’t lead with ‘suck it up’ - but instead we must acknowledge the deck has been stacked against them, and we are are voting for Representatives with a plan to reshuffle the deck.
JD Vance needs to make this the centerpiece of his ‘28 campaign.
I graduated college in 2008, right when the recession hit. I understand where Gen Z is coming from. I also interact with a lot of Gen Z and Alphas, and while the deck stacked against them, most of them are hopeless at basic adult skills. The blame for that is on us for failing them in so many ways.
This $20 Burrito issue is a culmination of many issues coming together, and some of them involve uncomfortable conversations directed towards Gen Z about growing up and learning that our level of comfort that we are used to and that Piker and his fellow Napoleon T. Pigs are trying to promise them is not standard, and there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
They also seem to lack initiative which may come from the comfortable life their parent's have provided. I worked multiple jobs because my parents were poor. I worked hard because I wanted a better life. Some kids, mine included, start the scale with what they grew up with, the comforts of home. They detest being uncomfortable, whether it is working 40 hours, having to eat something under par, or living with roommates they may not like. It's a longer conversation about what drives work ethic and grit. It is easy to be attracted to the easy way -- student loans, social programs, income redistribution. But it won't give them purpose and they won't feel any more satisfied with their life and who they are imho. But that's not what they want to hear, Jeff is correct.
It was difficult for my 20 year old daughter to find summer employment this year. West coast metro. She finally broke down and applied to be a Wal-Mart shopper. But was turned down as soon as they learned she’d return to campus at summer’s end. I’m using this as a lesson for her to try harder and in new ways next year.
If it's any encouragement, I graduated college with a history degree, thinking I would work at a museum someday. As a side hustle, I did live-in dog sitting. While I was being told that I really needed a masters and then a PhD to do museum work, I was turning my dog sitting side hustle into a full time business. I wasn't going to spend any more money trying to chase paper only for it to not be enough, especially when people were offering to pay me good money to live at their house and love on their pups while they were out of town.
I didn't have "start my own cool dog sitting business" on my Life Bingo card, but I rolled with it anyways. It sounds like you're encouraging your daughter to display that kind of ingenuity, and that's awesome.
my across-the-street neighbor is a dog-sitter. I know a young man in Amsterdam who is very successful in dog-sitting. He is a true dog whisperer. It always pays to BE RESOURCEFUL!
Thank you, Galapagos… my daughter is an English major (for now) myself a Political Science major. I made my $ in business, sales and have done well. My emails are still too long. I blame my blue book testing education. I have plenty of wealth to pass on to my daughter and am teaching her how to preserve it, and how to donate it as well. My shameless plug is to my favorite charity, a Central Washington summer camp for disabled and terminally ill kids & families:
Before college I was Army National Guard and before that, a restaurant waiter, bakery cleaner, grocery bag boy, dishwasher and library page. I know how to scrap, love my deplorable background, and passing it onto my child. She in turn has me reading the most delightful books. I read her copy of the Odyssey for the 1st time this year, before we went to see the film ;) Homers poem is better than Nolan’s flick. She will do alright in whatever she decides. I am most happy that she took several semesters of Latin and getting a classical education. She may have to do more STEM study down the line but I value the Humanity foundation she is gaining. It’s interesting in that one of her main teacher mentors is a flaming liberal, and I’m the opposite. And yet we are both devout Catholics, which the Christianity sinking in is most important to a good, long life. My daughter seeing the world through multiple lenses and that is what growing up is all about.
WM turned down a college student willing to work an entry level no experience needed job? That says far more about WM than about your daughter!
I'm a dinosaur, but I can only imagine the demand for a young person wanting to work would be high. Especially if she isn't tatted, pierced and with flaming hair.
My daughter is smart, pretty, and only earrings ;) she had a summer job last year at Office Max but didn’t like it. She sells online throughout the year (Ebay, Depop). She’s not lazy, just a lot of competition for seasonal jobs here.
Yes, lots of parents haven't bothered to teach their kids how to do basic things like cook and do laundry. And have also conditioned them to expect constant treats and to get trendy brand name everything. I am not against having treats and buying clothes or trendy things, but all of it has to be framed in terms of opportunity cost and wants vs. needs. Which I think some parents have fallen short on. On the other hand, in my midwestern community, I see a lot of teens working, saving money, being responsible and learning how to manage their lives. So it's not all young people and I think that shows hope for a better future.
I also want to bring up a point, cheap food is bad. Gen X and boomers are not an example of good health. Yes, teaching economics of making vs buying food is important. I have with my Gen Z kids- who also have to be gf- which is very expensive. But when a pound of ground beef is $10 at a grocery store, add all the other ingredients -good quality ingredients- not cheap processed diabetes inducing- yes you might get two burritos for $20
an 18 year old boy but it’s still crazy expensive. All my kids can cook but groceries are super expensive and sometimes more than eating out. It is not the same as I was when I was in the 90’s so we really still need to not say that to them.
The food all suffers from enshittification as well. When I was setting up housekeeping in the 80s, you could buy food that wasn’t produced by huge multinational corporations that wasn’t full of Pfizer chemicals.
I’m trying to eat healthy now and I could buy another car for what I spend on food. And eating out is out of the question. It’s impossible to buy anything healthy at a restaurant.
Good point about food allergies and health conditions, that does make cooking more expensive. Although I can get ground beef for quite a bit less than that in many stores here. So much depends on where you live and what you have available also.
...and THERE's ANOTHER THING! We Americans are, supposedly, a historically highly mobile race, BUT is ANYONE thinking, as Sam Kinison (r.i.p.) suggested (LOUDLY), "MOVE TO WHERE THE FOOD IS?!" We've got an elderly bachelor relative stewing in Dallas-Ft. Worth under a $1,300/month rent for a one-room "studio," who simply can't CONCEIVE of himself living anywhere other than A METROPOLIS--that hates his guts.
My older son is an excellent cook and my younger son is learning, although he can only do basics. My objective is for each of them to be able to feed themselves reasonably well when they are adults and on their own.
Did you see he is going to have a cooking show to demonstrate relatively easy recipes that are healthy but not expensive? I think that is a great idea!
RunningLogic, I think RFK, Jr. hosting a cooking show us a great idea. However, I’m sure there are plenty of cooking videos on the internet already for any interested. The problem is the interest.
Observationally, I see a lot of MAHA hats on teenagers and young adults. They like RFK Jr and the healthy principles that he embodies. I think there's interest there for a show hosted by him.
You're not wrong about the interest part and that there is a lot already available. However, getting someone with name recognition and in a position of power to do this is also different than some no name or niche cooking show person providing this information. If it is one more way of getting the information to people who might not otherwise see or know about it, why not? It might be even better if there were hands-on ways of getting people to cook frugally but in a healthy way. Kind of like Dave Ramsey for food :D Too many people have bought into the idea that healthy cooking has to be very expensive and/or time consuming, but that isn't necessarily true and if RFK Jr can help debunk that notion, more power to him.
Glad to see the "Turtle Caucus" going away. It's crazy how they're all showing their true selves after either announcing their retirement or having their retirement proclaimed for them. Being in TX - I was glad to see Cornyn finally pushed out as he's been a RINO for several terms now. Being nearby, I was really glad to see Cassidy out. Maybe we'll get some sanity in the health areas of gov without him driving things. :)
I followed the "Burrito" conversations. Some summed that up as a "both" issue and I tend to agree with that. The cost of a burrito shouldn't be $15-20, but at the same time inflation grew at an insane level to contribute to that. Now - getting rid of tons of people on govt SNAP benefits and getting rid of the visa/migrant invaders consuming all of the resources ... that will help quite a bit, but is crazy hard to do with "judges" blocking that at every turn and our politicians welcoming these grifters in en masse.
I know in TX - we have a _huge_ visa issue and Abbott isn't helping that. We have people on the streets exposing the visa fraudsters, pointing out their "businesses" (houses) and the fact that people on these visas are working other jobs. We can't close those doors fast enough and get these people back home to make their own countries great.
the burrito conversation is actually a learning opportunity for young adults.
particularly when paying $35 to have it delivered. because the extra $20 to have it delivered and tipping requires three of the most important concepts to understand for success:
1. opportunity cost
2. time value of money
3. determining when a burrito is just a burrito and the first two no longer have value
Some of us said, shouted at the time that shutting down the world for a bad cold and giving trillions of dollars to us for hiding out at home...or go on extended vacations...would result in massive inflation. You can't flood a market with currency without additional products for that currency to buy. Supply-Demand is an economic law. Not a suggestion. Massive inflation was *always* going to result from that.
I was called selfish and uncaring and told I wanted people to die, some called me a murderer. Well...
There's many components that Jeff did an able job explaining. But the Scamdemic printing press was the rocket fuel boost it needed.
And for the record, that foolish spending, following a foolish national/global shutdown is on ALL of DC. D's, R's, and yes, PDJT. Fact. I hate that I have to write it, but I said that at the time, too. It was foolish all the way around. And arrogant. To imagine that man controls the microbiological world of the planet is the height of arrogance. Nothing man did, no controls, no barriers, no minimization of movement and socializing, working, playing, exercising, no injections of magical elixirs and potions controls the ocean of microbiology we live and breathe in. We only control our own bodies. And how well we take care of them to meet the microbiology we coexist with. When we take care of the perfect immune system that God designed us with we can handle anything but chemical poisoning. For which there is no biological technology, no biotech, that can help with. Only poison control.
If PDJT wasn't a known germaphobe he'd have known better than to "trust the experts" who lied their asses off to him. With fear + flattery. The nation and the world needed a POTUS who said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." And "We will...bear any burden, meet any hardship...to assure the survival and the success of liberty." Instead we had were directed to hide at home. The original sin of the loss of freedom came when he forgot that we are AMERICANS. Only the tyranny that followed in the petty tyrants of state government and his successor made his catastrophic mistake look better. Sorry if that truth offends C&C readers. But it's the truth of it. Trump believes in cooties. SadTragic. For all of us. Now we all pay for it.
The trap PDJT fell into was declaring a national emergency and giving state governors free reign. I guarantee Michigan’s wicked witch governor knew exactly when the pandemic was coming and how it would roll out. March 10, 2020 two hours after the Detroit hosted DNC presidential primaries wound up, she declared the first two CoVid cases in Michigan. 13 days later she declared “shelter in place”. Michigan went dark. Two years later we find out Detroit Metro Airport never shut down and was flying international flights from China even during the first of the lockdowns. Our “superb” Michigan media kept all of it secret, if they even bothered to find out.
But I don't think he could have stopped the governors, apart from maybe withholding federal funding, but that isn't always easy to do or practical. And then all of the people screaming at him that it was too dangerous :/
His initial declaration of a national emergency opened the door. The governors never could've done what they did without that. Started with that catastrophic initial decision. Is why Fauci and Birx - and Pottinger - gloated after he did. They knew what he had opened up the door to. He didn't. They absolutely did.
To be fair, he tried to keep to the two weeks the "experts" initially said we needed, and got excoriated because it was "too soon" and he was "killing people" by saying we should open the country back up :/ But yes, he should never have agreed to any of it in the first place.
Original sin. That fit with his pre-existing belief in cooties.
If only he had better educated himself about biology beforehand. And had faith in God's perfect human design.
He let the demonic beast of fear out of the basement of every human mind. Especially the minds of weak people given dictatorial power. FDR was exactly right about that.
I’m not sure how much I could have resisted. Every blue state was telling him to panic, the red states weren’t much better. The medical insects infesting DC were all in tandem screaming “2 weeks to flatten the curve”. And this was worldwide. The media blanket over everything did not allow anyone to disagree. My prayer is they learned a valuable lesson. I pray it but my faith is about the size of a mustard seed.
Don't forget the incoming massive inflation resultant this latest boondoogle war...All of the exponential increase of costs are resultant the trillions WASTED on wars in the middle east and Afghanistan along with Covid and operation "warp speed". I find it hilarious that our deficit is increasing faster now than it did during Covid but crickets coming from the "conservatives" ;who always somehow forget what conservative means when Rs are in charge... Fully agree President Cabbage had a bunch to do with the inflation however, it is still increasing again due to this latest boondoggle from our Department of War...We haven't even begun to feel whats coming this loss..
.Both sides have a ton of responsibility for where we are. It's pure fabrication to lay it all at the feet of one side. It's a Uniparty with different badges that trick the sheep into forgetting that "their" side is just as bad as the other...This stack has turned into the press office of the dear leader...Disappointing...
I never had either, other than an occasional pizza delivery.
Then maybe 2 yrs ago grubhub did a 'free delivery' thing off of Amazon accounts - and my DH found it. Oh dear. I guess it is always the "free" offers that reel you in. I did tell him he has to tip the drivers. But, he does have an excuse, driving in town is difficult for him (compressed neck discs) as he can't easily turn his head. Now, he can get his Popeye's spicy chicken delivered.
I don't really mind him ordering the spicy sandwiches as I don't eat spicy anything and this way I don't have to cook it or have it smell up the house if he cooks it. But, he is now branching out a bit. Last week he ordered iHop's chicken & waffles for me and something else for him. It was good, which surprised me as the last time we ate there a couple yrs ago after fasting medical stuff, the wait was long, food was overcooked, service was terrible and the blue haired server had more metal in her face than we had silverware.
Last time I made him "spicy kielbasa & beans", I apparently used 2 tablespoons of scotch bonnet pepper sauce and not the milder jalapeno sauce (all spicy is freakin inedible to me) - to me it was just a bottle of 'smelly, spicy' from the fridge. LOL!! Reckon scotch bonnet is MUCHO hotter; he ate it anyway, with tears, sweating & sniffling.
I order it and go pick it up. The only thing I pay for is the food. No delivery driver to tip and no wait staff to tip. A tip is for good service. Nobody brings my food to me, or clears the table , or washes my dishes. I guess I tip myself.
Im 54 and never do that either UNLESS the business im doing at hand will either make me more money or save more per unit of time vs just going to get it myself
I never get delivery because I can't stand to pay that extra for the convenience! I will get take out at the very most, if I don't feel like cooking! Or go to a restaurant and just have my meal there, if I am going to pay extra.
Absolutely. The local pizza place will give me a $5 discount if I go pick up my pizza. If I want it delivered, I have to pay regular price plus delivery fee plus tip. I save $10 by the momentary inconvenience of driving a mile. That’s a trade off I’ll make happily.
We will be happy here in NC with Tillis leaving. Cooper (pooper) is the one we need to stop! We have an uphill battle. Hopefully the truth about Covid will help keep him out!
Elizabeth Warren is pushing and contributing to campaigns! She’s a nightmare.
Thanks to C&C, I have some good push back points. 🙌
Like I told my son when he said I bought things for nothing when I was young and told him a McDonald’s meal was $3.75. That was an hours wage now it cost $17 which is an hours wage.
They won’t last. I have picky feet and my last pair of Vionics (well over $100) didn’t last two months.
And I bought three pairs of Taos because they were on sale and they fit so poorly (heel slipping for one and one smaller than the other on another) that I could only wear one pair out of three.
I found Fitville shoes on Amazon (had been looking at $100+ Hopa), I have foot issues; they fit great, have wides and lots of cushion. And they go on sale occ. Once they start wearing in, you can add a great shoe pad and they perk back up.
But I can buy 6 pairs for the same price! Lol. Actually, I'd much rather buy decent quality stuff that lasts, and usually do, but these were bought for me.
That man is an absolute tool! A cuck! False Republican. I don't even consider myself a Republican anyway, I am a constitutional conservative. If it's in the Constitution then that is all the Fed gets to do, everything else is left to the States. We need a Milleil here and have him reduce the federal gubment by 50%. And congressmen don't get paid if there is a shutdown and don't get back pay when the govt is again funded. Same laws for them as for the rest of us. I hate those fuckers, so few of them I believe in.
Said in a way I wouldn't have, Kaycee, but you are correct. As congress recesses for another 5 week break. No wonder these people spend a million $'s to be re-elected.
As a fellow Texan -- be excited all you want for seeing Cornyn pushed out, but Paxton is a horrible, horrible, horrible replacement candidate. And that is now coming to fruition in the polling. Independents matter, folks! My center-right children who live in Texas will not be voting for him. They're all voting third party.
Talarico, who would have a snowball's chance against Cornyn, is polling higher than Paxton in numerous polls. Can Paxton pull it out? Maybe?? But if so, it will be even more razor thin than Cruz's victory over O'Rourke. And how much of the Republican war chest will have to be spent in Texas to do this? Which is NUTS to have to do in Texas -what a waste. So we might gain Michigan, but it is hardly a foregone conclusion we keep Texas.
You believe polls? The polls showed Harris by a landslide. Additionally Paxton is not horrible. You are woefully uninformed. During the Biden years he was a ray of light during dark, dark days. In his role as AG he fought creatively and tirelessly until the tide began to turn. And his reward was vicious attacks by the press and now people like you.
I don’t know where you are coming from with the 3 horribles about Paxton. Be specific. I have listened to him interviewed a few times, and he came across as thoughtful and a fighter. Voting for a third party right now only assures that the Democrat wins.
Well, maybe that's right, but can you argue that he is not really flawed? In the current environment, that is not good enough for a win. We have too many blue-state transplants and Independents since 2020 for complacency.
I would agree that he has fought for conservative values, but does he do that because he's in Texas or because he believes them? My kids say he's the epitome of a "slimy politician" - he knows how to read the room and move on that, but you have no idea what he really stands for. His finger is to the wind.
Conservative values does not mean having an alleged affair (in process of divorce because of this), not answering questions from the press, not being transparent, being embroiled in numerous personal/financial/political scandals over many years (just google to find out all of them) that have never really been explained, and being renowned for eschewing press conferences - I would suppose because he doesn't want to answer uncomfortable questions.
Talarico has triple the money that Paxton has right now -- with that money, his campaign is digging into Paxton's past, exposing it, and asking questions that Paxton is not answering. Talarico - with his good looks and seminary background (no matter that "God is non-binary and there are six genders") --is hammering with talking points on political corruption and favoritism, a rigged system that works against working Americans, and that Paxton is part of all that.
Republicans should not take our red-state for granted -- I live in a previously red northern Dallas suburban district that is now purple-and-getting-bluer -- in 2022 our district voted in for the first time a Dem state rep who hasn't been voted out (and won't lose in 2026), in part because the Republican candidates have been extremely weak. FWIW, during my daily walks I'm seeing more Talarico yard signs pop up in my large neighborhood ---- during the primary there were only two.
Again, amuse (Alexander Muse) has written extensively, fairly on Tx politics. He is highly informed, very knowledgeable on law, military and writes extensively. He does not have 'shares' like this on C&C. His X account does allow comments. Based on those judgements I would strongly recommend Paxton, NOT the media narratives you recount.
I still didn’t see any specifics about Paxton. Slimey is the last word I would say about him in listening to interviews. If you are going by tv “water carriers for the Dems”, then realize it’s the same everywhere.
Kathi, don't where you are in TX but I'm in Baytown, east of Houston. I'm an Independent since 2007, will be voting for Paxton over Talarico even though I can't stand him really. I call him Ken "I'll sue anyone and anything" Paxton affectionately because I do like that about him, lol. You are correct about the threat! This year alone, the fallout from the Camp Mystic flooding, the Data Center threats, the Flock cameras, and then there is last summer's Ban THC For The Children (even though it was for the liquor lobby). I will also be voting for Abbott because even though he has been a bad boy encouraging DC's and the Muslim centers, when the people have screamed he does respond to them and has reversed course on some things. So at least he does that. The one I want gone at all costs is Dan Patrick. I'm voting for Vikki Goodwin for Lt. Gov to send that message, she won't have that much effect bc the Lege' will limit her power (which they should have done with Patrick). Patrick is toxic: stubborn to a fault with a greased palm. I can remember decades ago watching the local CBS Houston KHOU with him as their sportscaster. Every week he threw some kind of ridiculous tantrum on-air about some sports issue he couldn't do anything about. He was an immature control freak even then. At any rate, if Texas turns blue this fall, we warned ya! Talarico has a lot of people fooled! And the rising problems we are facing could kick out all incumbents. And Trump dissing Abbott for trying to appease his citizens on data centers is not helping!
I read Alexander Muse on Texas politics and understand there was about as much lawfare against Paxton as Trump got. Does anybody else get more vehement and exaggerated attacks for moral lapses than conservatives?
I pray for and try to get GOOD candidates in the run. I may withhold a vote at some point in the future.... The WORLD of difference between parties at this point is so vast that I do believe the large picture is of great significance.
PS. I certainly wish TX to eliminate OPEN primaries! A PARTY should able to choose its candidates.
I largely agree with this, but I also think Gen Z bears some responsibility for their predicament. I'm 30, right on the Millennial/Gen Z edge, often in what's called the "Zillennial" window, and the number of people my age or younger who cannot cook, cannot do basic financial math, and cannot tighten the belt at all astounds me.
You're correct that the $20 burrito is not actually about the burrito, but that goes both ways: there is also no $20 burrito in this nation, certainly not from Chipotle or other standard wrapped meat and rice emporiums. Which means the $20 burrito is as much a stand-in effigy for the financial illiteracy of the younger generation, as it is for a broken housing market, and both issues need to be fixed, not just the housing market.
And young people bear some of their own responsibility for that illiteracy. Sure, schools and parents failed them on that, but we also live in the most information-accessible era in human history. Not knowing what an interest rate is, or how to budget, or how to hold debt in ways that are less costly, is a choice that too many young people are still making.
I am afraid there may be another explanation to go with yours., I know absurd numbers of these otherwise poor are too pathetic to even do pick up, let alone cook, so maybe $20 is the price if you order from Door dash .
Our nephew is a decent good man, but zero ambition. He ran up his credit card, then walked. He works enough to get the few things he wants. Lives with his mother, helps his dad, occasionally does things for us for which we pay him. We could keep him busy full time, but he is just not interested. All too common these days. Life is still too easy in this country when it comes to not starving or freezing to death if you don't work.
Yeah I didn't even bother to go into the gig economy side of the equation. In my mind, that rolls up to "cannot budget". Delivery of anything other than a pizza (or groceries, which was actually standard prior to the second world war) is and has always been a luxury that comes at a premium, and I cannot fathom why it's not being treated as a staple.
Don't get me wrong, I have those nights where I just really want the Chicken Parm Fairy to knock on my door, but I also can't drive due to a neurological condition and I make enough money to splurge.
It's like kids growing up are just in a daze. A screen daze. They don't really care, numbed out. I know when I was growing up I couldn't wait to get out of the house. The freedom of getting your license. It is becoming more and more common for kids not to get their drivers license. Learned helplessness? It certainly is sad.
The good news for the kids who aren't worthless - it should be fairly easy for them to have a bright future.
re: the driver's license thing, that's mostly a downstream effect of teenagers largely being banned from outdoor public life these days. Shopping malls are either dead or will arrest you for loitering, which is now a crime. "Cruising" (i.e. just driving around) is now illegal in most towns to tamp down on prostitution (instead of, you know, arresting the hookers and pimps and traffickers). Parks are riddled with dangerous crackheads. Third spaces in general which aren't bars (which you need to be 21 to enter in most cases) just basically don't exist anymore, so what's there to drive to? Your friends are online.
Also paying burrito makers $20 an hour so they can have a ‘living wage’ when those jobs were not meant to raise a family on. They were for teenagers and college students, increases the cost.
What do you think of food prices at the airport or at a sports arena? The burrito there costs even more than $20. The elevated food prices at sporting events are one that grinds my gears
Went to my first MLB game in years recently (only because friends from out of town really wanted to go). Tickets at the very top of the park, the nosebleeds: $60 each. Parking: $50. Hot dogs about $10 each, beers $20. And yet we saw many families there. No idea how they can afford it.
I go to 2 to 3 collegiate / pro events per year. And try to bring in my own beverages. Nowadays have to use the transparent plastic bag totes. Usually I bring empty water bottle and fill it up at stadium. I can afford to pay the counter prices, but generally try not to. I enjoy watching minor league baseball in summers, and they are pretty lenient on bringing your own food / beverage from home.
I only know you are correct because I talk to family and friends that occasionally attend entertainment events, PhD Mom. I was priced out of most entertainment long ago. And I don't like crowds of rude people.
I don’t go to sporting events but I shudder when I see the prices at concession stands at movie theaters. I refuse to buy anything there but the admittance ticket. And it is rare to find a decent movie- I usually attend the films by ‘The Chosen’ Production company.
And I find the costs very sad - how many of us went to the movies on dates? Kids today (even in their 20s) may not be able to afford that. We also had drive ins, that would charge $5-10 for a carload. Young men have no chance just starting out.
Your reply makes Jeff’s point even sharper. Can’t afford the entry fee, can’t afford the food when there. Sad for our youth parents and their kids.
I think Jeff’s post today took people out of their comfort zone. That doesn’t happen here all that much. But would suggest we need more of that to truly MAGA for the generations coming after us.
Apparently in Atlanta, there is a commitment that food prices should be kept to affordable levels. I was amazed to hear what people were paying during the World Cup games there! And that is apparently the norm there regardless!
Yes, there are a smattering of wealthy sport team owners that are tuned in to the middle class and families. I’d like to see this low-cost ‘Costco hot dog’ model be replicated around the country.
US sports fans have seen high cost concessions become normalized due to many locations and many years of this gouging. I love capitalism, it’s the best system out there, but bending over your fanbase for just a wee bit more makes me shake my head. For the youth, they shake their fist.
Look at the priorities; tatoos, Tik Tok, the latest electronic gadgets, wanting "it all" without earning anything. And saddest of all, no personal, spiritual relationship with our Creator.
Some younger people spend a lot of money on tattoos, and have high end phones.
But you cannot assume every younger person struggling financially is doing that. As I ranted at Catturd yesterday, if "everyone" was getting a new Iphone every year or two, they would have almost no resale value - one could get a two year old Iphone Pro for $50. Nope, Iphones have almost half their value three years later because so many people want the used phones.
And on the Android side of things, you can get a $1000 Samsung, but Samsung also has phones from about $150 that look pretty similar from the outside.
Have you tried to buy a decent lunch in NYC? Governments cause inflation for the most part. The idea that demand is the main driver is economic fallacy foisted upon us by bad economists. Bad layers of government like in NYC which also has NY State bad government makes the issue even more pronounced. People have been saying things 'need to be fixed' for decades, but Congress isn't equipped with people who want to really fix it. They just want to get re-elected.
I mean, I live in a blue downtown (albeit in a red state) and the locally-owned, high quality burrito place is $11, not $20, and is portioned heartily enough to keep me for most of a day without any other food. Can double the protein for another $2, and I basically don't need anything else to eat that day.
That's my point, is that the hypothetical nature of the $20 burrito reveals as much about the financial illiteracy of Gen Z as the reaction to the possibility of its existence reveals about their reasonable frustrations about generic cost of living (most of which is being driven by housing, insurance and healthcare costs, not food if you normalize against increases in median wage).
Inflation is absolutely a result of policy (namely, monetary policy), but there is a serious expectations issue within Gen Z that needs to be addressed at the same time, or literally nothing will ever be good enough for them. A chart going around recently showed that while most generations see $100,000 or perhaps less as "successful" annual income, Gen Z sees $600,000 instead. Until those expectations are re-set, Gen Z will never be happy with anything. They will be prisoners of their own minds, subject to suffering that is ultimately self-inflicted, and it breaks my heart to imagine.
I hear you on expectations. When it comes to food though, we need to compare apples-to-apples (and not apples to food-grade shellacked apples which basically means apples long past their normal due date).
There is 'sustenance' and there is healthy eating. Something can 'sustain' you now, but you are going to 'pay the piper' at some point. And there is the concept of food 'substitution'. Where a restaurant or food processor will take our something of higher health value and replace with something more harmful, to keep a price point. We know most people don't read labels, let alone learn about what those terms they see mean. So in the case of a burrito (I've eaten, but rarely):
1. Corn - is it gmo? Any other adulterations? Glyphosate used?
2. Beef - Healthy beef is grassfed, not corn fed. I don't think your 'high quality' burrito is using grassfed beef. Cornfed has a bad Omega 3-to-6 profile. The meat in your burrito is causing inflammation you will pay the price for either/and in the short term and long term. And that doesn't even take in to consideration where the beef was sourced (here or overseas where you can be getting old beef). The restaurants often do not know what is in their beef or the true source They just buy from Sysco. Now, we have supermarket chains like Sprouts Farmers Markets, supposed to be healthy, who have approved the selling of labgrown meat. They don't put that on the label. Instead it will begin showing up as "Cultivated" "Cultured" "Cell cultured". Created with techniques cancer cells use to propagate. Easier to hide that creation in 'ground beef'. Who's checking where the beef really comes from? This is 'substitution'.
3. Cheese - How many know that most shredded cheese is now treated with an antibiotic so it 'stays fresh' longer without molding. Any anti-biotic will mess with your gut biome, which scientists are only now starting to understand the symbiosis of.
4. The sauces used for the most part are additional chemistry experiments, and often loaded with seed oils and soybean, not something healthy like unadulterated olive oil or organic avocado oil.
So, to truly eat a healthy burrito, assuming you can find one in a restaurant that is diligent, would cost about $20 when you factor in food costs are often only 1/3 the final cost. And if you want to eat that healthy at home, you better find a way to buy in bulk those unadulterated ingredients because getting each of the above in a truly healthy format will cost you if you only buy periodically so as to not have it expire.
People know shrinkflation, but few know substitution dangers and what it does to their health.
If we're limiting ourselves to discussing healthy food, then eating out shouldn't even be in the equation, frankly. It's a pointless contention because there are vanishingly few places which even offer half of what you just had to list to stretch the final cost above $20.
That's kind of the point, is that those expectations are absurd. Trying to find premium meals (i.e. organic, grass-fed, sustainably raised, no chemicals at all involved in any stage of the process/completely fresh, and prepared by someone else) at non-premium prices has always been a fantasy, that's not suddenly a new phenomenon. If you want completely healthy and completely cheap, then it's back to my point about needing to learn to cook; that's always been the case.
It is a sad era that we live in when we can't have unadulterated food - or it is hard to come by unless you are cooking from scratch and are hyper vigilant.
No Sherlock: You make all informed, important points. I agree totally. So odd that some folks are discriminating about which injections they allow in their bodies, yet indiscriminately consume mystery meats and factory food.
Thank you for the education. Seriously. I know some, but you remind me to be more diligent. As a child near Grandma's farm I KNEW what I was eating (pre1970 BEFORE the food industry went high fructose.../chemicals). My son tends a HUGE organic garden in his back yard. I have been intending to go to my nearby (45min away) farm which sells their organic meats. Prompted by your comment, I WILL go this week! :) (Better than Sprouts)
Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University is such a great resource for basic instruction in budgeting and building wealth. It’s even offered in an online format now. https://www.financialpeace.com/app/classes/guide
He is a terrific counselor of money. My dad always said, “you want to double your money? Take that bill out of your wallet, fold it in half and put it back.” When we actually pay cash for something, it is much harder to see it go in one $20 burrito.
I have been fiscally responsible since my grandfather said “if you can’t afford to pay cash you can’t afford to put it on a credit card.” I was a young teen and that always stuck with me.
My burritos regularly cost over $20 at Chipotle, such being the result of an extra spoon of meat for $6 (extra protein for me).
But I question how well such a generation can do as home owners (with repairs and maintenance) if they can't do basic food prep, do math, etc.
All people can learn skills for some degree of Independence and a sense of accomplishment. But they're much more likely to be successful if they're married, or are willing to have responsible roommates, and sacrifice for the long term instead of whining about short term types of luxuries. (that's a broad brush stroke, I understand. I'm trying to convey that there's a need for sacrifice.)
I've only ever bought a new car once in 1993. All others, including my first pulled from a junk yard and rebuilt, were used and required skills to learn to maintain, instead of chasing more debt to look cool. A car also enables people to go to school, reach jobs they couldn't otherwise get via public transportation, and you can pick up tools and parts for maintaining or building things.
I BARELY got into a house in a buyer's market with a VA loan (for sellers, one of the worst to sell to because of seller conditions). That meant it wasn't a cream puff house, was old in style and interior kitchen, bath and carpets.
Over 10 years, we've replaced most of the floors ourselves, did demolition and upgrades (paint, upgraded hinges and knobs) we could do ourselves, and leveraged a relative's contractor discount for counters we couldn't afford, but fell in love with after wandering outside the cheap counter material area in a warehouse. The bathrooms still need updating, but we've remodeled one with paint, switching out lights, curtains and mirrors, and exercised creativity.
In other words, it's taken time and I've learned skills along the way. My purchased tools and learned knowledge have been an investment to save money elsewhere. I have 3 vehicles, two over 20 years, one at 14 years, all paid off and I maintain them. Two look a bit worn, and I'm toying with the idea of painting them myself.
The point is... There are sacrifices I have to make. And skills to learn. Investments in myself to allow me to have what I have, over time. My wife is about to retire, and we're facing having to tighten up a bit more. I will need to work a few more years. Hopefully there is a retirement to look forward to.
Oh, and my smart phone is 10 years old. Yes, I replaced the battery once. It still functions well. You don't HAVE to buy into a consumer mindset. Buy the best you can at the time (quality) and make it last. Some people say 'But once, cry once. "
Thanks you It's what I can do to get by, leveraging many skills I've picked up over the years. I fix a lot of my own stuff. Constantly learning is a huge deal, to help enable me. Buying used appliances, and cars, etc. doesn't bother me because I know what to look for, and can fix (or avoid) them. Having gotten divorced and remarried (15 and 10 years ago, respectively,) had me renting rooms from other people for 5 years, so I get the struggle many face, but there are options to lower some costs of living, albeit, not with the benefits I'd always like. Thankfully, I haven't been driven to homelessness.
Bingo. I said in another post this is what I call adulting. Basic societal survival skills are missing from Gen Z's arsenal as an adult. Some of this is the result of being lazy, because as you mentioned pretty much every tool you need and how to use it is accessible by numerous methods.
In college I lived off Kraft Mac and Cheese and cans of tuna, lol.
When they get a little older though, their “useless degrees in woke nonsense” encompasses computer science and engineering.
H1B, OPT, ands that other student visa is robbing them of any chance that had at a good job.
The H1Bs tether the immigrant to the company like a slave, and with the student and temp worker visas, the company and employee together save 15.3% because they don’t owe FICA taxes on those wages.
We’re making our young people compete against all 8 billion people in the world for a job when they did nothing wrong.
If we don’t protect our youth, where do we get off asking them to sacrifice for our SS and Medicare?
Ehh, this is kind of overblown, frankly. I'm white, straight, male, and have a STEM degree. I'm gainfully employed in a career with upward mobility, own my home, etc. The same can be said of basically everyone I know from college, and several are married with children, or at least children on the way.
Even within tech, only ~5% of the jobs are held by an H-1B, and amongst the population at large, it's closer to 0.15% of jobs in the US. While yes, they need to go back and that program needs to be shuttered, it wouldn't free up nearly enough jobs to make a dent in the underemployment problem.
Ultimately, the issue was we oversaturated the tech jobs market. We told everyone to learn to code, and assumed that both they'd be good at it, and that you can maintain an entire economy on B2B web development indefinitely, and neither were true. Most people don't actually make remarkable programmers, and economies cannot infinitely scale up more and more B2B Web software; there are upper limits on just how much connectivity and integration work there can be in an economy that's largely stagnating everywhere else.
Congrats. You're definitely proof that Gen Zers can make it and survive in today's society!
I think some of that learn to code thing was a bit tongue in cheek; but at any rate AI seemed to knock the sheen off of many who went into programming. The market is oversaturated with a certain type of software engineer; but there are still needs for other types. UX, apps and streaming seem to be easily replaced; while military and edge type applications not so much.
Whatsit Tooya, you sound like a critical thinking soul. May I suggest you look into PrometheanAction as they support the AMERICAN SYSTEM of economy which is neither 'Free market' capitalism (as has been employed for several decades now via the pairing with Globalist banking manipulations). Nor is it socialism (or any of the other CONTROLLING -isms). Trump with his unusually capable cabinet (Bessent, Rubio, Vance Greer, Wright, ETC) is making great strides toward restoring the principles of American System economics. It has always produced prosperity wherever it is utilized because of the REAL principles on which it is based. NOT elites controlling the bestial masses (or culling or even eliminating them)
I keep wondering if there is any way President Trump could offer some degree of student loan forgiveness by sticking the universities with at least part of it. After all, they ran the grift in the first place; they should be on the hook, no?
That would have the additional political benefit of further dividing parts of the Democrat constituency.
I never understood why they all kept building more huge buildings. They have to be maintained and airconditioned and what all, when we were already in the age of virtual classes and virtual degrees.
I am a boomer, and when the computer age hit, I taught myself everything I needed to know to get ahead in my job and to do things more efficiently.
Teach kids how to read. After that, they can teach themselves everything they want or need to know.
I hadn't thought of it that way! Our grand kids cannot write in cursive and one of them was just hired as a second grade teacher. I always write notes to them in their birthday cards in cursive and it annoys their mother (my daughter). Best part is, she's a teacher too! Ay yi yi.
The arenas and the student center buildings are part of the scam, a way to take those excess funds the students borrowed to get, and pass them to building contractors.
I have no doubt that there were kickbacks and grift involved.
I remember that Diane Feinstein's husband was involved in a UC "new arena" scam, and made a lot of money from it.
Same here! Good reading comprehension opens up the world via books. Yes, I still prefer the feel of a good book in my hands as supposed to staring at a lit screen. 😁😄
In student loan offices on every campus it is carefully explained AFTER students have been told to read the documents they are about to sign that student loans are non-dischargeable for any reason. They are told and sign off on provisions that the loans can be taken from their paychecks and Social Security, and probably other sources as well. I remember at age 18 understanding what that meant, but then I didn't major in Left-Handed Puppetry.
they weren't explained to me back in my day. I never knew any of that until years later. Man, I'm GenX...life is hard for us as well once corporate gives you the boot...no one will hire you. We at least know how to make due and save $, but it's still a kick in the teeth the prices of everything compared to earnings (or lack thereof when you are jobless and there's just no one hiring you no matter what you apply for).
Honestly, I never heard of anyone getting a loan for anything (home, car, college) who wasn't ask to read the loan terms and have it explained to the person taking out the loan that there were consequences for non-payment! And it's super important that a college loan officer explain that college loans are non-dischargeable unlike other loans.
I mean they told me it would have to be paid back and the interest rate, but that was it. Never knew you couldn't clear it ever (of course I didn't know about bankruptcy either...never was taught that in school). The only concept I had was borrowing $ meant I had to pay it back with interest. Nor did they tell me that the minimum payments would basically just be interest only so there were lots of fun years of working FT and going to school FT and just paying what the bill said for the loans and never making any headway. LOL I still believe to this day 95% of 'adults' out there aged 18-22ish (maybe 25) are really not ready for the world maturity wise. They still make dumb decisions and can't fathom the future of those decisions. I know I didn't and I was considered a smart, mature kid of my age. Of course, I was also told I had 100% scholarship coverage via FL Bright Futures, but then after receiving it for my 1st semester they put it down to 75% because "too many received the scholarship" and they could no longer afford 100% for everyone, which I thought was wrong because I was promised one thing and they took it away but you can't argue with the gov't so it was what it was.
The reason college loans are non-dischargeable is that a college degree can't be re-possessed like a car and you can't be evicted. There was also the problem years ago that doctors who had taken out huge loans for med school had got into the habit of not paying them back.
The loans are technically dischargeable - but in practice it only happens if someone is in a permanent coma, or is otherwise clearly never going to be able to pay off the loan, or even be able to make an effort.
I seriously doubt the nuances of almost completely non-dischargeable student loans are explained to the borrowers.
You will have to trust me on this, but yes, students are fully advised of the consequences of not paying back their student loans. The loan officer explains that after which the student is asked to read and sign the document. Many children anymore are brought up without any understanding of consequences.
I didn’t go to nursing school because I couldn’t work two jobs and go to school. Years later I found that I really loved the Legal field and got my paralegal certification. No debt either.
The Obama administration ran the grift. It was how he jacked with the employment numbers to hide the truth. At the time you could not go on social media sites without a flurry of pop-ups touting cheap degrees.
It is the universities fault we are becoming a banana republic? They share blame for the cost of an education, but they didn't create the shitty economy.
En masse, they also share blame for MIS-education, but that goes down to all grades now. Not as good as my parents had or even what I had. The Unions - people who PROLONGED the covid closures - have greatly diminished the quality and CONTENT of education. There needs to be competition. Reward where actual outcomes of learning success are achieved. Vote carefully for school boards and State Superintendents of schools. Find those who prioritize learning to read, compute and THINK critically - first... children and teachers.
Are there a fair number of young people with unrealistic expectations and a poor work ethic? Yep...but there are also a LOT of young people who worked hard, studied hard, followed the rules that were given to them, and are now PI**ED that none of the promises they were given are even remotely close to coming true!
When we denigrate them and belittle their understandable frustration we are only pushing them straight into the arms of the waiting DSA, who is also making unrealistic promises to them, but from the other side of the political divide! IMHO, there are far too many Boomers (sorry, but that is the age demographic), both Democrat AND Republican, who have zero empathy or understanding. They are NOT helping the situation when they condescendingly tell the kids to sit down, shut up, and quit whining! It is not helpful and it will not end well for ANY of us if we keep ignoring what they are trying to say, simply because we don't like their tone!
I am sure I will get a ton of pushback for these comments but I think Jeff said some things that need to be said and I appreciate him having the guts to do it!
I agree with your analysis but you, and others, are wrong to lay the blame on Boomers. What you really mean is just old people as indicated by your politicians over the age of 50 comment because politicians under 62 are not Boomers and politicians over 80 are not Boomers. Truth be told politicians have been selling the American citizen out for well over a century, including the Social Security Ponzi scheme. If we really cared about the young people we should free them of that yoke.
Reframing the message would go a long way too. I keep hearing Trump tout how he stopped inflation and prices are dropping. Food, gas, services etc. It is simply not true. Gas in central florida is up to $4 per gallon! Our food bill has not gone down even a little and good luck finding help with services you can’t do yourself for a reasonable cost.
Framing it better would be to acknowledge what we all know we are experiencing. Validate us! Don’t gas light us. We waded through the gas lighting and don’t believe your lying eyes for a while now. We see it. Maybe SOME states have it a little lower -but were they already the states that were lower anyway? I drove through Georgia in the height of biden. Gas was STILL lower than everywhere else. So people in Georgia telling me what their gas prices are (lower) doesn’t help. Not sure if that makes sense.
Anyway. Voted for Trump every time. But he needs to stop telling me to not believe my lying eyes. That would go a long way.
I see Jeff is still pushing the "Get a STEM degree" line. That is SO last decade.
When the economy crashed in 2001, the newly unemployed were told "Be a nurse".
As a nurse, I didn't like the sound of that one. And yeah, a new influx of nurses willing to work 12 hour shifts, who weren't all that interested in actual nursing, ensued.
Then when the 2008 crash hit, the newly unemployed were told "Learn to code" and scorned for their college ambitions, with the "You should have gotten a STEM degree, not gender studies". (Jeff is showing his age with that one.)
So the STEM departments filled up with young people eager to get a useful degree.
And then they graduated with $100,000 debts and found out about H1B visas.
Meanwhile, Obama and the Congress after 2008 rebooted the all-important stock market by handing over billions to the bankers, and putting it all on the public debt.
Now the debt is skyrocketing, as is inflation, since inflation is actually caused by too much money in the system, not young people making a living wage.
Obama foreshadowed this in another way, when he announced that American workers were going to be forced to be "competitive" with Chinese workers, who worked long hours with no regulations on pollution or dangerous conditions.
That meant going back to the 1880s, when Americans worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, for lousy wages, and dangerous working conditions.
We're always told "We're a nation of immigrants". Yeah, because they needed to replace those workers who died in the mines, the mills, the factories, and the railroads.
I'd rather cut off Wall Street than screw young people. And the attitude that young people should be screwed instead has led to the point where they are openly talking about cutting off Social Security to the elderly.
Divide and Conquer. George Carlin nailed it over a decade ago, because he was an intelligent man, and could read the tea leaves of the propaganda we are fed.
All kids should look with jaundiced eye at the media (et al) when they say the kids should all go into xxx careers. Everyone is a mix of different aptitudes, desires, likes, etc. Those are the criteria we should be telling our kids to use. I wanted to be an engineer about as soon as i learned what an engineer does (around 6th grade). Was gonna have to work a year or two to get enough for first year college, but discovered General Motors Institute and co-op programs which made it possible to realize my dream. As it turned out, i didn't just have the desire, but also the aptitude and personality to understand how things work and can be designed/realized. 24 yrs retired and i still enjoy designing tools, gadgets, gifts i 3D print or build in my shop. On the other hand we have a young friend who decided she wanted to be an engineer after trying hairdressing and nursing. While she had some aptitude for it, she didn't have the vocabulary or the personality and I strongly suggested she not go that way. Unfortunately she didn't listen to advice (one of the non-engineer traits i'd mentioned to her) and started. Fortunately she failed early and didn't waste too much time or money and went back to hairdressing. We should be getting kids to really think about what they want, can, enjoy to do, not push them into the latest fad career!
I have 3 carpenters work on my house over the years. One had a master's in philosophy (boy, did he talk a lot), and the other two had bachelor's in Liberal Arts and History, respectively. But they all were good with tools and had the eye for artistry, so carpentry worked out for them.
Between off-shoring (for decades), '08 bank bail-out travesty, covid bail-out/closures DOUBLE travesty, there is plenty of blame/shame, but it's not usefully directed. Each election measures the current economic FEELING, not the large SCOPE of policy. MSM has proven UNHELPFUL in that regard.
While I'm grateful that we have much freer, wide-ranging discussion formats and vast amount of media sources now, that also contributes to a sense of disjointedness, rather than consensus.
The alleged purpose of the university was to enable ACTUAL learning and dissemination of knowledge. I'd rather be here than anywhere else, especially China, Iran, Russia, Europe, or ...... anywhere else.
From this discussion, coping skills, disciplines, and flexibilities are always valuable. And never discount spiritual grounding in Truth.
I agree! Susan Kokinda and Barbara Boyd with Promethean Action have been making this point for several months. Condemning communism is not enough. We must highlight the infrastructure that is coming and being built from Trump's policies. Manufacturing, mining, etc. was gutted for 40-70 years. It cannot be rebuilt in two years.
As parents of those hard working children, if we can financially assist them into housing, business, etc., that would be an enormous encouragement. A starter home not the home we ended up with after decades. Earlier generations did that. An early partial inheritance. When my husband passed away three years ago, I gave my six hardworking children part of the life insurance.
For those of us who know how to economize, cook, etc., we need to start a class or mentor one-on-one to train these young adults who failed to learn the basic life skills needed to survive and flourish in life. My mother started a cooking class when she was helping a community pantry a couple decades ago. The difference she made in those adults was profound. We can make a difference.
Love all of your ideas! My dad used to say, "Do your givin' while your livin' so you're knowin' where it's goin'" My parents helped us get into our house and we are doing the same with our kids! And yes, teach them HOW to succeed as adults instead of berating them for not doing it "right"!
I am a Boomer. I spent my life being remarkably empathetic and compassionate. Sometimes to my detriment. But I feel absolutely attacked by the younger generations. And they are remarkably ignorant for the most part in doing so. Boomers did not have anything handed to them other than the good fortune to be born into an economic boom. Well that and pre-Department of Education education. But that boom was over by 1971 when Nixon (who was not a Boomer) removed the US from the gold standard. Look at the economic stats pre- and post- 1971. The interest on the mortgage on my first house was north of 14%. That being said young people do have considerable economic (and social and other hurdles) but they seem woefully unprepared to address them. And voting for the DSA will not help them. He'll voting for Democrats will not help them. Democrats have, and the DSA will squash them far more mercilessly than they (erroneously) think Boomers have. Maybe it is just that they are the soft men created by the good times created by strong men.
I tried very hard to come up with a different phrase other than Boomer in my reply because I think it's a pejorative that has been unfairly applied in some cases. But, there are far too many people in a certain age range who seem to be unwilling to engage with the younger generation and that is my concern!
My husband and I are generation Jones - between the Boomers and Gen X- and we too worked hard, lived within our means, and tried very hard to adapt to world that just kept changing around us!
I think politicians of both parties have sold out successive Generations of Americans in order to enrich themselves and their lobbyist friends! I think it's important that we all be willing to acknowledge that today's young people, especially those who were just starting out when Covid hit, have been dealt a pretty crappy hand and they're not doing very well at playing it, sometimes because they're lazy and entitled for sure, but sometimes because the rules keep changing so they throw the dice across the table and walk out of the room .
And that is not good for any of us! Social Security is predicted to run out of money the year I'm slated to start taking it so I feel like I have a vested interest in helping and encouraging young people. I don't feel like many politicians above the age of 50 understand or care about them and that is the demographic I was trying to target in my comments.
Viking Mom, I agree with you completely!!! The large contingency of Boomers, especially those that should have stepped down from Congress (because it was supposed to be a job for a few terms and not a career) have kicked the can down the road on social security and generally doing anything positive other than to secure their lifetime healthcare and pension, and their healthcare ain't what you and I get. So I am not very fond of the boomers that have done this to our nation. I am also in the age range to begin collecting SS when it is due to run out. I paid in, I should get paid out. Don't see that happening. Thanks to who, yeah, Boomers in Congress because they will never have to worry about that when they qualify for their pension after only 5 years of their job (I was about to say service, but the majority no longer serve us). But again, they seem to have little idea of the reality of what is "affordable" so if their feelings are hurt by this then oh well.
You are utterly and completely ignorant. A trained seal clapping and barking “Boomers”. It is your ignorance that offends me. Nancy Pelosi is not a Boomer. Mitch McConnell is not a Boomer. John Conyers was not a Boomer. Kevin McCarthy and Mike Johnson are not Boomers. Tip O'Neil, Dennis Hastert and Newt Gingrich were not Boomers. Harry Reid was not a Boomer. Dick Durbin is not a Boomer. … Clap and bark on seal. But remember, if you are capable that “[T]here is none so blind as he (or she in your case) who will not see”. Sorry if this offends you.
Frankly, comments like yours are not helpful! Young men have been told for the last two decades, at least, to sit down and shut up, because they are "too entitled" "too masculine" and "toxic" but your answer is to tell them "regrow balls"? Have you ever read this book? I would highly recommend it!
How about we all start talking about the very real struggles that almost everyone in their 20s/early 30s are facing financially and relationally and figure out ways that we can ALL offer better solutions without calling names?
I think that is what Jeff was trying to say and I think it's a worthwhile conversation! The Republican Party has a great opportunity to step in and offer real life solutions that will bring back jobs (which many of these kids DO want) and opportunities in a way that recognizes the inherent dignity of hard work and personal responsibility.
The Democrat/DSA solution is to go after "the rich" and offer MORE useless government funded programs. We have to be willing to listen, to correct where necessary, but to encourage young people to take ownership of the future in a way that gives them hope rather than just makes them angrier!
Yes. And please read what PrometheanAction has to say regarding the need for a different FRAMING of economic system, neither crony capitalist NOR socialist/communist/Islamist, but AMERICAN SYSTEM. Our system which has been corrupted by everything you say. Recognizing dignity of hard work, human creativity, and personal responsibility. There is also an organization - ARC Alliance for Responsible Citizenship that promotes a truthful approach to developing civilization for GOOD. Based on Truthful foundations, not utopic ideologies.
I think capitalism is good. Not perfect but by fair better than the alternatives.
My complaint is with rampant corporatism and extending personhood to corporations. There is a good book, The Corporation by Joel Balkan. People fret about AI replacing humans but in a way corporate structure is much further down the road.
Thanks for the Promethean referral. I will check it out.
I just had this conversation ( convo as Zillenials say) with other Boomer parents that told us they are becoming MORE left. Unreal. Yes I'm in VERY blue city. My friends are livid Michigan wasted 14 million trying to stop El Sayed, whom they said attended medical school and was an Oxford Rhodes scholar. Sheesh, I had to look that up and it's actually true.. but they were missing all his "communist" radical platform points and dismissed Michiganders as being racist not supporting him.
They think Talarico is great, they are grasping looking for good LEFT news and we were very quiet and just listened. I am practicing listening more, so thank you for letting me let of steam and Thank God for C&C.
When we spoke of both our married w/kids in their mid- 30s and realized a starter home in our metropolitan city is unaffordable again, as Jeff says, the math doesn't math. Starter houses are over a million and a thirty year loan comes out at easily $9K + a month. I sure hope this Democratic polycrisis is real and continues.
Favorite lines by Jeff, "the 'burrito' is the proverbial bean-stuffed canary in the coal-mine" AND
"It's about the fact that an entire generation of Young Americans are drowning , and they are beginning to stop caring about who threw them the anvil."
I want to memorize those lines and I I pray that we can experience a great Christian Awakening of the blessings of our country and political system....
I'm reading Eric Metaxas, Revolution. We are so blessed with this country and I pray that Zoomers are awakened to see that.
Where are the Promethean people who usually comment?
Cecil Rhodes established the Rhodes Scholarship to find smart young people who could be groomed into furthering the agenda of the ruling class, in England and in the US.
Bill Clinton was a Rhodes scholar who presented himself as a man of the people, then pushed through NAFTA (resulting in thousands of jobs sucked to Mexico and 7 million Mexicans pushed off their small farms, who came to the US).
He also demolished the 1933 Glass-Steagal Act, which forbade banks from speculating with depositor's money, leading to the 2008 crash.
Watch what they do, not what they say, and that includes Rhodes scholar, el Sayed.
RW, I was just going to reply that being a Rhodes scholar is a perfect explanation of how someone would develop 'communist' ideology.
For those who think 'Rhodes scholar' is a badge of exemplary educational standards. NO! Cecil Rhodes was the key figure of British infiltrations that have been corrupting our foreign and domestic policy ever since and preceded Rhodes as well.
EVERYONE should read Richard Poe's extensive 2024 book documentation: 'How the British Invented Communism (And Blamed It On the Jews). I thought it a rather startling title until I read it. I'm proudly of English heritage, but the political and cultural influences - specific facts and personal menotships..... - should be LEARNED thoroughly by all.
Not from me. I have two Gen Z kids and one is pretty conservative but also doesn't stop and say no, we can't afford to order supper out multiple times a week (husband is part of the blame here). Put the money in savings and cook in. The other is all over the map on living wage (which is to livable here in New England), rent is astronomical here, gas prices haven't been below $4 a gallon in a long time, utilities high, food costs high. Boomers say get another job and STFU and have zero understanding that life, especially post Covid, has gotten too expensive to live alone. And rent never decreases here. Also, when I was their age i could afford all my bills on $1200 a month before taxes. So no, the boomers need to look at reality and not what they like to preach. And the boomers in Congress need to be thrown the fuck out!
New England. AH!!! I have lived in 4 midwestern states - which are all cheaper than coasts. I was in Chicago 11 yrs though, which is, they say, "the 3rd coast".
I wonder if the policies of the these Left enclaves use the ClowardPiven strategy of CAUSING societal devastations to produce collapse that REQUIRES their take-over. It seems to be working that way.... EU....CA... Biden.. 'Green' & Open borders- that combo alone - would destroy a nation. Deny REALITY.
I was a mechanic. Ever since I was six or so. And I did that until I was 40. God, I miss those days. Life was easy, stuff was cheap. I married a pretty girl and fixed up a starter home. We raised three kids and felt genuinely middle-class. I want this for the zoomers.
A quick AI search of the phrase "ride the tiger" got me this:
It comes from the Chinese saying roughly translated as “He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount” (recorded in English by the late 19th century, e.g., in W. Scarborough’s 1875 Collection of Chinese Proverbs).
Imagine waking up to the fact that you've been riding a very wacky Tiger and you need to jump. Wow... sucks to be them.
The commies’ challenge that Carville and Fetterman “start their own party” reminds me a bit of that CA congresswoman who told Elon to F off. He tweeted back “message received” and the rest is history. And karma.
The tiger we've been 'riding' is the Republican leadership one in Congress. Do nothings for main street people. Have voters too scared to dismount for the apocalyptic fear placed in them every 2 years while nothing really changes from Ryan to McCarthy to Johnson, or McConnel to Thune.
Sad thing is, God allowed the Biden administration as a way for us to wake up and wise up. We thought that is what happened in Nov. 2024, only to discover basically the same old same old in Congress. If they literally just did what they said they would do, we wouldn't be in this position. But like a battered spouse married to an alcoholic, we just accept things over and over because "what else can we do".
Why is Thune still in power blocking us? It is because we have a deep problem in the Senate with 80% of the Republican Senators. 6 years was supposed to protect us from immediacy of an election. But it hasn't. It calcified people into positions of ease, prestige, and power.
I am reminded of a famous quote by Archbishop Fulton Sheen, "Sometimes the only way the good Lord can get into some hearts is to break them."
I think it has applicability here in the political scene too.
Primaries got rid of 2 - Cornyn and Cassidy. NC one just saw writing on wall and declined to run anymore. It would be good to get Mike Rogers in MI. Senate should not have moved to elections which are now financed by national (well, private from nationwide) money instead of by state elected legislatures. Amendment # ??.
I surely believe God allows earthly situations to educate us. We are very slow learners!!! I also believe we have a good and special Constitution. But it does need a Godly people, as our Founders knew. PRAY for humility - repentance.
Scandinavia socialism had ended up being just as destructive as every other variety. And to think the Swedes guarded themselves for decades from Soviet Communism, only to invite other destructors into the country themselves.
What is wIth all the losers here who think only the war and Epstein files should be written about every freaking day? Go read your commie heroes' stacks. Maybe go back and look at THE LIST!
President Trump should be touting Mike Rowe's program every day and warning young people college isn't the best course if you're taking dumb classes that won't result in a living wage. Parents need to wake up and steer their kids in a better direction!
Here is the link to Mike Rowe’s build freedom jobs program. I’ve sent this to several young people and they’ve already put in their applications. It’s quite amazing 🤩
Vance was recently on Mike Rowe's podcast. Mike said that he'd approached "DC" about his program but didn't hear anything back for 10(?) years until just recently. The Trump admin is now fully supporting this program!
Riley Moore is a West Virginia U.S. Congressman, who learned the trade of welding before getting into Congress. Mike Rowe interviewed him and it was fascinating. He is talking about how many businesses are looking for portable welders. They don’t need full time, long term welders but are always looking for welders with their own portable set ups. He’s trying to find monies to help these new apprenticed welders buy the tools they need to go into portable welders. There are so many ingenious young people who can do great things in the trades if we give them the chance. But the whole mindset has to change. Thank you, Mike Rowe, and the Riley Moore’s, JD Vance’s, leading the way.
The initial news I saw about the Trump admin fully supporting Mike Rowe's program was Mike's program to help provide workers to build AI Data Centers around the country. Not a fan of data centers myself.
Hubby and I watch Mike Rowe on YouTube all the time and he is doing a great job helping today’s young people and the newest program is terrific!!! Yes- spread the word! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
He also has a requirement that there is a love of our country and it's values of hard work, gratitude for our communities, etc. He said if that's not there, it's a tough climb in getting financial assistance.
Whats with the losers here who turn a blind eye to massive corruption at a global scale because a president tells them to? Or who ignore the massive and repeated campaign promises about no new wars, no regime change, etc?
However, Home of the Brave is underpinning the burrito wars (likely a little ccp money, too). Zoomers' parents have absolutely failed them in teaching any sort of fiscal accountability. As for corporations bemoaning the lack of smart hires due to dumb dei crap in colleges, I know one big one that lost a great kid last year because even though he was perfect for a position, no degree/don't bother. Well, someone else swooped him up and his potential knows no bounds. Warm bodies are nothing if they're incapable of problem solving.
@lis1242498 It’s true that parents have failed to teach their children fiscal responsibility. Yes, everything is more expensive, but young people in America today have so much. Few of them know what true poverty is. They walk around in designer clothing carrying the latest smart phone. In our city, there are food banks in every neighborhood. I was in a rural area in NC recently, wearing jeans with a hole in the knees. An elderly man I was talking to told he that when he was a kid, he had to have patches over the patches on his pants (because his family was so poor). There is a disconnect between what people need, what they think they are entitled to, and what they are willing to sacrifice and work for.
I will keep saying this: get foreign investors out of our real estate market. It should be a right of citizenship to own any kind of property in the US. Everyone else should rent from an actual American.
Since the 80s, housing has been a favorite speculative move for the investor class, in America and also foreign investors who prefer real estate to treasury bonds.
It has skyrocketed since the 2008 bailout, and ongoing funneling of tax money to the speculators.
All those increases in the price of housing go into the coffers of Blackrock and other speculators. And they respond "Thank you, suckers".
Just kidding. They don't say thank you. They feel entitled.
Jeff is correct about the Democrat polycrisis, which is partly created by Trump, quite intentionally. He likes to troll them and rile up their radical wing, by (e.g.) bright lines that put him and MAGA on the majority side: deport illegals, two sexes, law and order, etc. Democrats are forced to either agree or be stuck with the unpopular side.
This puts Democrats at a major disadvantage. The DSA is now too big and loud for them to ignore. They’ll have to embrace or denounce them, and either choice hurts their party at the box office.
Too bad Scott Adams is not around to see this. It’s the result of Trump’s brilliant Sun Tzu politics.
Blanche to keep breaking the law and covering for the Epstein class. I remember saying months ago we would never see the meat and potatoes of the files. Yet another broken promise. TAW
Epstein? What's an Epstein? Didn't you notice that everyone is cheering Operation Epstein ForGetAboutIt? LOL. Distraction da'jour.
Like Massie said "Trump isn't in the files but his billionaire buddies from New York are". Let me translate that for everyone "Trump has the goods on a lot of very powerful people some of whom are above him in the Zionist banking cartel".
America usually has a Rockefeller controlled president but this time you've got a Rothschild controlled president.
That was when I knew the gig was up. One month after winning the biggest upset since Dewy vs Truman, Trump goes from "Lock her up" to "I don't want to hurt the Clintons. They're good people".
There's a factor in the Twenty Dollar Burrito Brawl that I haven't seen addressed: between parents dropping the ball on teaching their kids basic life skills and Home Economics being pulled from high school education, Generation Z doesn't know how to stretch a dollar or cook for themselves so they don't have to rely on other people to make and deliver their food.
It's not the only factor, but it's something I've observed among the Zs and Alphas that I've interacted with.
Excellent point. While Growing up eating out was an occasional thing. Now people eat out most of the time and complain it’s expensive. I can feed 5 people burritos for $20
Such a great point! It’s so important to control one’s own gustation and consumption. But my broke college era ’Ramen’ was linguini aglio olio!
Working at a pizza place with a free pizza meal for every shift kept me going! My roommate ate hot dogs with avocado wrapped in tortillas. Ugh. But, we knew how to shop and make food ( I wouldn’t call it cooking though).
Food service jobs are great for college kids. During my last couple of college years I tended bar in 5 star Gold Coast dining room. Meals improved greatly! 😁
Yes-definitely both my kids are working in college one at a restaurant, one at a grocery store. For me, it was not just a job but a group of friends for life.
I worked at KFC thru college. We could take home whatever was left at the end of the night. I'd take the skin and bones off, cut up, and make chicken burritos, chicken and noodles, chicken soup and so on.
When did this happen? I worked at KFC for a short time after being laid off from my regular job. (Back when you had to physically apply to jobs and could not turn one down if you wanted to keep your unemployment benefits). We could buy the leftover chicken, but if we didn't, it went in a padlocked dumpster in the back.
Wow, how horrible is that!? I was there in the mid 80's. About a decade ago, I did read something about a local food bank that was going to some restaurants after closing and picking up leftover food as a donation for the "needy" and KFC was one of them. Leftovers in any volume was not a regular thing - mgrs had strict food cost goals to meet so we cooked in smaller quantities once the dinner rush was over but every once in a while business would just die off and there'd be a lot left. Most of my co-workers said they were sick of chicken and didn't want it so I got most of it,
LOL, Our survival fallback of choice was Fruit Cocktail in a can!
I was just thinking about the hot dogs in tortillas thing today. My first ever roommate in 1968 was from Guatemala. She fixed those for dinner one night with an unripe avocado. We had no clue how to tell. It was the only native dish she knew how to cook. Needless to say, quite inedible. Back to PB &J.
Add a can of tuna or a couple of chopped hot dogs and Feast Like A King!
Well, that was my attitude but with buttered egg noodles.
Yep! I’m hoping tuna was safer to eat back then. 😬
I’ve since progressed to wild caught mackerel in EVOO.
Look for Safe Catch. Ahi Yellowfin Tuna, 43 grams of protein per can, and mercury limit of 0.1 part per million. The FDA limit is a too high 1.0 part/million. Even so, limiting Safe Catch to 1-3 times a week for an adult is a reasonable strategy, no more than once a week for children.
Another strategy is eat smaller fish like sardines--good omega 3 content, and since they are in the middle of the food chain, they don't take in as much mercury as tuna.
You betcha ya! the smaller SMASH fish are a better choice. I’ve preferred mackerel for some time now. But…Locally raised Buffalo 🦬 remains my go-to protein source 🫶🏻
Legacy: Try Sardines!
Thanks Leo…I have, but the dogs like them more than I do. Mackerel (sardines’ big brother) is my jam 😉
Oh La La so fancy LOL
😂💦fancy sounding peasant food!
🤣
Married in 1967 while hubby was in college, paid for by himself. We survived on Banquet Pot Pies and Chef BoyArdie (?) pizza mixes. We had to think long and hard if we wanted to celebrate our anniversary by going to the $1.00 Steakhouse. Truly. There was one in Champaign Illinois.
My mom fixed a Chef BoyArdie (?) pizza mix once when I was a kid. It stunk up the whole house, and my dad flatly refused to eat it. Mom gave it to our Cocker Spaniel, who would eat just about anything. He sniffed it, turned his bowl over with his nose, then backed away growling at it! It was the only time in his long 17-year life that he ever did anything like that. We laugh about it to this day.
LOL. That is funny. Dogs know better don’t they. I lived in farming country. That box pizza was literally the first pizza we ever had. Mom made it but she did ramp it up a bit and we had sausage from our own hogs. I wasn’t much of a cook at first, well actually, not for a long time. Until I had a baby and a garden.
Boy-R-Dee, if I remember right!
Mr Steak?
I-L-L 🧡💙🧡💙
INI !
The whole idea is to thrive at any age. Eating dead animals is not good for people, the animals, nor the planet. There are spiritual bottlenecks as well...
I think they still got frozen burritos for like a buck 50 at Walmart
What don’t they have at Walmart!? One may also buy organic produce and grass fed beef there. All things to all people… 🤪
Anyone not eating organic is feeding the beast, and will deal with the consequences...
I prefer growing my own whenever possible.
Always have. Vegetables and fruit. Trade with neighbors as well.
Worm farm for castings. Best ever.
John Infinity, don't you still have to "cook" them in the microwave?
Nah, just a hair dryer. A heat gun from Harbor Freight is better
Defrost on high… leave ‘em on the dash (?)🤭
That works too, especially at work assuming one is working in the trades at a job site
I eat them on the way out of the store. #notkidding The filling is pre-cooked--I think--and the tortilla is not going to kill anybody--I'm pretty sure.
The point is, if they're supposed to be deadly eaten uncooked, they're not working on me.
I want to know where they are spending $20 on a burrito. Did it come with rice and beans at least?,🤠
It’s the delivery and service fees with DoorDash. The burrito itself was about $10.
Whenever I am at a Chick-fil-a, I notice the stack of Door Dash orders is larger than the number of customers dining inside or waiting in the drive thru line. I honestly can’t believe that many people don’t make or pick up their own meal.
They must think they are saving on gas. They don't realize it is figured into the delivery $$$$
They are delivered via levitation instead of IC vehicles. Not!
I can..
And there’s an app for them to FINANCE their Door Dash order!
Are you joking?! 😮
I can see it being that much in certain parts of the country, even without delivery.
You’re right, prices vary a LOT by region. Especially for fast food in places that have a high minimum wage.
Minimum wage. Bingo, Valerie. Another leftist time bomb that is exploding. Since when is an entry level job supposed to provide a "living income"?
Chipotle burritos are easily $20, depending on type of protein added and guac (it’s $2.70, Jeff, not $2.00), and queso blanco (another $2+). Thing is… that Chipotle burrito is big enough to easily be two meals. Shared, or taken home and eaten the next day.
$2.95 in my area, $8.95 for gauc and chips. Taco Bell has burritos from $1.50 up to $6.50.
There are 12 Mexican restaurants within 3 miles of where I live, all with $5 to $8 burritos.
Choices are made, and there are consequences.
Choices of college debt for unemployable majors. The lies are mainly propagated by other kids.( Greta Thunberg anyone?) Social Justice warriors and exploitive college professors and especially administrators with the money grab of student loans. There are entire industries built around this fraudulent system.
Further promises of gentle parenting by the government serves no one, particularly the failing Gen Z population. Hard truth, with it’s attendant pain , is the way out of the desperation cycle.
So choose the $3 burrito or the $ 20 burrito but be honest about your decision and accept accountability for the results. Freedom includes the possibility of failure but also the opportunity of second or even third chances.
The most helpful course for conservatives would be to allow student debt to be discharged in bankruptcy. That would remove the distorted tertiary education market and direct more young people into the skilled trades.
Colleges and universities should use their enormous endowments to enroll capable students who need financial assistance. Maybe then remedial math and english would not be needed at this level.
Encouraging Gen Z to continue to view themselves as helpless victims is unquestionably the path to ruin for the nation.
Alsup's beef & bean burritos are often priced at 2 for $3.
Big. Take the rest home as take-out.
My brother in law does Door Dash. The “youngsters” (as he calls them) will order a COFFEE at 7 AM, FINANCE it on an app (I can’t remember what the ap is called) and pay the mandatory tip which all brings a cup of coffee to $10! He says it is crazy stupid the way youngsters can’t, or won’t, boil water and use a V-shaped, pour over coffee ground thingy to make themselves a darn cuppa! I’m having my 12 year old grand niece stay over for home making lessons: cooking, sewing, laundry and house cleaning. We lost the lessons on food growing, making clothes, knitting, canning a while back and now basic homemaking is a lost art. I cannot believe how some of my 30 something relatives can’t seem to wash/dry/fold/put away laundry; they just go to Goodwill and buy clothes if they need to look nice.
I cannot believe you are advocating for minimal job creating Data Centers. Talk to the people who live in the area of one and how negatively it has affected their lives.
Yes that is one thing that both the left and the right are on the same side of the fight in my neck of the woods - that and Flock cameras.
Probably Chipotle.
Chipotle, probably
When my eldest kid was in college (which I could not afford to pay for so she had to get loans & grants) I went down to visit her in San Diego. I was invited out to go clubbing with her and with her friends. Oh, my!It was great fun and then after drinking and dancing until 1 a.m., we went to this taco stand near their college where you could get 10 tacos for 2 dollars!
I was warned ahead of time by one of the other parents "Don't eat those tacos; because you will lose weight in a most uncomfortable way!"
The kids ate them...a bunch of them ... and saw no harm. I ate a couple, but passed on 8 more.
I was never sure if it was the partying or those 2 tacos, but I profoundly thanked GOD that I had another whole day before I was flying home! 😂
😂🤭
@Kathryn- HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I was raised by a mother who taught me how to cook, and on a budget. I know far too many that even a boxed mix baffles them. Home Ec. was a breeze for me, and now it's not even offered.
I was thinking the same thing! we just had a burrito night with one grilled steak and grilled chicken and fed 10 people with guacamole for my daughters birthday for about $20 and they were delicious.
Absolutely!
Historically, has any generations parents said , "You know, we had it easy growing up. Let's take away some things we enjoyed from our own kids as they grow up." I don't think so. It is in our nature to want to provide 'better' for our children. The real root of the issue is that is starts with a real passing on of the faith. Not a watered down prosperity gospel or "it's just Jesus and me and the bible". All the rest is ancillary. We as a country still allow the slaughter of almost a million babies a year. We gloss over that horror. We "statistics-ize" it the way Stalin predicted. How can a new generation be blessed without a people humbling themselves and repenting, and doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord? Economic issues are downstream from the True Faith.
Yes, the hypocrisy of this younger generation protesting about the death of children in Gaza, yet promoting the slaughter of babies in the womb is breathtaking! Truly repugnant.
Truly "skulls full of mush" as Rush would say. Surely we were all in that category too once. Thankfully we grew up. But back in my day parents were more conservative in every way. Ready to welcome us into Realville. Now?
For the last 25-30 years kids have been taught in schools that Christianity is bad and Christians are stupid. They go home and convince their weak parents that what they are learning is true. Children have been handed lots of power and been given entitlement. The kids run the show as parents helicopter around them.
Home schooling has helped ameliorate that a bit, but I've seen kids who had that who then still went off to a college and 'flipped'. It's sad to see. The sad fact is we all have a bit of a rebellious tendency in us no matter our state in life. It is why it is all the more amazing the example that Mary gave us in the New Testament. We can see by her response to Gabriel that she knew the teachings of the Old Testament. When he brought her the request from God, she replied perfectly in her free will, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." Humility in our relationship with God is the only way out of this mess.
And as a Gen-X-er myself, I see how annoying the helicopter parenting is. I'm not a full "free range-r", but kids need more exploration/discovery/problem-solution to their lives. The 'drone-ing' of our young still continues, now with digital babysitting added on.
Amen
Most of my girlfriends wanted to be their daughter’s best friend. Too afraid to push back and now they have grown “kids” who still expect mommy and daddy to put up the money for their new car or a house down payment, and these “kids” are 39-40 something!
The ROOT of the matter!! Led to all we are now contending with. Man has continued to put our faith in the lie. After seeing how we were duped in the garden, where we once had EVERYTHING and named the lion as we ran our fingers through his mane, we chose the fruit of thee one tree. I find it is very difficult to find a church that teaches the whole counsel of the Word. But they have a café. Our priorities stink. Apathy is rampant too. Lord forgive us, fully responsible for where we are, we need You, Your wisdom. In Jesus’s name. Amen
Maybe instead of just telling zoomers they are lazy, we can show them how to make a meal & eat off it for days. What else could we do, stuff that brings back community. Covid really did hurt in so many areas.
Sadly, while almost everyone has a phone, they don't actually use it to learn key life things like food purchasing and prep and storage. And even just growing a bit of their own food. If they just have a terrace or stoop, they can still grow something and get a little more in touch with good food. And sadly, 'community' doesn't mean much anymore. I made a purposeful decision to get to know more people at church beyond the weekly smile/nod. I started a 'boot camp' during the summer to encourage especially older men in the faith. Do you know how many men get surprised and touched when you tell them you will pray for them for something they specifically shared? It breaks down 'lethargy/inertia barriers'. Now instead of me trying to come up with all the topics, they are growing and requesting specific areas.
I know there are adult evening classes in my area where you pay anywhere from $30-$100 for a series of 1, 2, or 3 sessions where a woman teaches people how to cook certain types of meals, including shopping tips and such. A lot of that used to handed down from grandmoms/moms, but not much anymore. Periodic "Faith & Food" nights hosted by parish/congregation ladies to teach the 'youngsters' would be something to try.
"Periodic "Faith & Food" nights hosted by parish/congregation ladies to teach the 'youngsters' would be something to try."
Brilliant!!!!
Respect for elders, great wisdom for those that will listen.
This is an excellent thesis to springboard any number of intergenerational exchanges of sharing...living....learning. So many people either live far from relatives of have so much disfunction, they MISSED important lessons of resourcefulness .........Spirit, have your way.....
you assess correctly. But that is the spiritual, moral view. Economic reality always manifests. Look into PrometheanAction. It promotes the economy of AMERICAN SYSTEM. The foundation is imago Dei: man made in God's image- human creative mind to discover and convert earth's resources through productive labor FOR present and future posterity. Lots of short videos give commentary on current events with the AS worldview!!
Love it. The part they are probably more concerned about, then the spiritual & moral will inevitably follow, if we meet the need without DSA hand outs. Those that might at the most, last a month or two, then full communism shows its ugly, permanent non-solution.
We had to find another church. Our mainline Presbyterian church left the bible (scripture) to teach social justice. Now a church that teaches anything goes as long as love is your focus. Our new denomination is full of young families who hunger for Gods message.
I hear you Debi. If you’re anywhere near new Smyrna Beach Florida, Pastor Allen Baisley at Grace Community Church preaches straight out of the Bible. No “additions or subtractions”! It’s wonderful.
Thank for!! I will also check see if he is online.
They didn't want that.
No, they are being fooled to believe they want the hand outs and they’ll just keep coming. That’s why we need to help them figure out the practical without the handout. “The saying: "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.
Amen
Agree!
I like to call it "adulting". A lot of Gen Z don't have the skills to be an adult in order to "get along" or survive in today's world.
They don’t have the skills but “influencers” have told them they are entitled to the rewards anyway. So they feel cheated. And their teachers/professors have told them who to blame — Trump, conservatives, capitalism, republicans. Hence the rise of the “free everything” communists.
That has been my experience with Gen Z and Alphas. I truly like those kids, and there are some exceptions to the rule, but as a rule, most of them have been clueless about the real world. Almost like the education pipeline set them up that way ...
"Almost like the education pipeline set them up that way". So true. Like an evil plan.
Jeff is talking about Mike Rowe and his pot cast, ( I am a subscriber and strongly suggest you too) two days ago I told my wife that I was sad but still had hope for our future after watching him interviewing Ethan Thornton.
Nothing prepares me for listening speak about the future, jobs, projects and the most important thing how he got where he is now.
22 years old and the captain of a 2.5 billion company.
The thing that really stands out, not complains. Period.
Only solving problems.
A $20 burrito is strikingly expensive.
Don’t complain
Create your own $5 solution and then sell it to the world.
Exactly. When I bought shrimp from a weekend business in a truck, he asked if I wanted them mild, medium or spicy. I asked What? He said how do I want them steamed. I said "I am going to cook them, so raw. Doesn't anyone cook anymore?" Pretty bad when the default position is assuming you are too lazy to cook yourself.
You bought seafood off of a truck? Do you also purchase gas station sushi?
Seafood buying off the truck is a huge thing in the Gulf of America states! It’s perfectly fresh or flash frozen and they generally just drive it inshore a few miles for the convenience of the customers. If you’re ever in the south and see one on the side of the road, I would urge you to stop and check it out for yourself! Cheers
Just be sure it is all cooked to correct temperature! That flesh eating Vibrio virus is deadly!!!!
My dad was working down in Seadrift, Tx at a shipyard and came home with 50 pounds of shrimp bought off a truck. We all sat around the table shucking and deveining them til they were all done. I was so sick of seeing shrimp until it came to eating them, then we were sad once we ate the last of them.
I'm in Central Florida and have seen it, but never stopped
Now, that gas station sushi? I’m with you on that! But it’s the same thing with their sandwiches. Unless they’re making them fresh on site, I’d steer clear.
Good to know you have a Startrek Transporter. Unless you are at the dock, everything moves by truck, rail, or plane. Seafood, produce, meat. Except for you, apparently. This was not a pick up truck. A dedicated trailer that does not move, and has been operational here for decades.
I’ve bought it off the back of a pickup truck and never had a problem. Just look at it and smell it. Problem, if there is one, solved!
Mike, can a virus or mercury be detected via fragrance?
It can’t just be an enterprising business that offers a step for its customers that could be appreciated? Gee whiz, Mr. Wilson!
I don't have a steamer so I would appreciate that service, personally. Unless I wanted to pan fry them or do something different.
There's always the inverse, which precious few consider: it takes 20 of the paper monies to buy a burrito. Twenty paper monies use to buy burritos for four. What's with the paper monies? They have the same dead presidents on them as before. Who broke the monies?
Why does No One Ever talk about "restoring the value of the paper monies"/deflation? Why, instead, is it pretended from the rooftops that "controlling" the rate at which the paper monies become "worth less" is the best one can do?
(I heard it hinted that "deflationary periods are not pleasant times to endure," but I think it depends on whether you've got an ox to be gored or you don't have one. Although I suppose if oxen are being gored all round about you, it will undoubtedly become unpleasant for you too.)
This is how they get you. Everything seems like a left/right debate, but it all comes down to monetary policy. Detaching money from Gold made a lot of dodgy stuff possible, and financial engineering has transferred gobs of wealth to a class of people who are far removed from our struggles. Nearly all of the wealth has been borrowed from the future. It's egregious class and generational theft.
When I was in college I worked three jobs and rode a bicycle everywhere. Even lived in my dad's work trailer in a trailer park near the university that he set up for me when I had to leave the dorm. I got busted for having smuggled in a kitten whom I had rescued from the street and Tom was not in great shape. He likely wouldn't have survived much longer. In any event, one of my jobs failed to pay me on the Friday. I had like $3 in my wallet and faced the decision of buying cat food or rice (to stretch what was left in the kitchen cupboard: two cans of cream of mushroom soup) to get me through the weekend. I bought the cat food. After I fed Tom, my neighbor whom I had never spoken with and only knew from an occasional friendly wave from across the small road knocked on my door and invited me to go out for pizza. He ordered an extra large, ate one piece, drank a beer, and told me to take the rest of the pizza home! I think God had been whispering in his ear. Interesting to note that I never again saw that neighbor.
Love that story! God was looking out for you :)
We never know when we entertain angels, Hannah (beautiful name by the way). Raised poor and taught self sufficiency, I know a hungry cat will feed itself ;-)
That was the loss from high schools teaching Home EC, carpentry, plumbing years ago. You learned basics like sewing, cooking, how to keep a checkbook. All things that were common sense to help you in life. Then the Dept of Education was formed and things changed.
Right on, Karmy. Eliminate individualism and self sufficiency, make everyone dependent on government and teach how to hate the successful. The road to socialism/communism.
Tbh I learned how to do most of that from my parents, but I know that isn't the case for every kid/family.
You are spot on! When Home economics got removed as a required course I was livid! And here are the fruits of that effort! Maybe RFK can have some influence. Nutrition ignorance was rampant among the urban and rural poor a century or so back. Now it knows no economic boundaries.
The inflation is real. High minimum wages don't produce cheap burritos, either. And there's relentless upcharge and corporate style enshittification (less for more).
But.
Zoomers do seem to expect a standard of luxury and safety that wasn't there a few decades ago. The fact that Doordash is even in discussion, or the presumption is food bought at a restaurant, is indeed part of the problem. And older generations have become soft, too. All those Guatemalans sure make it easy to get take out.
Both things can be true.
And yeah you can make a better burrito at home for much much less, unless you're severely disabled in multiple ways.
I'm with you on the inflation. I know how to budget, and food costs these days bother me.
OTOH, someone should probably tell Gen Z that what they spend on ink could feed them for a month at least (two months if they know how to utilize the humble freezer bag).
Agree, there are multiple factors going on here.
Inflation is a factor, so I give Gen Z grace there. That said, the dollar doesn't stretch as far right now, but that doesn't mean it's inflexible.
Cooking from home at lower cost is a good point, but a very minor one. These kids are struggling to find ‘good’ employment. That resulting W2 opens up so many possibilities. This is the point!
I thought Jeff did a decent job at trying to lift our faces off of the food prices alone, as that is just the proxy for the rest of the economy. But the majority of comments here are still focused on the damn burrito. Good grief.
I’m very pleased to see Jeff address the affordability reality faced by our younger generations, who are (I’m pretty sure) not a big slice of C&C readership. And then point out to us older generations ‘why’ DSA is gaining currency. And top it off with solid Dear Abbey advice that us GenX & Boomers can’t lead with ‘suck it up’ - but instead we must acknowledge the deck has been stacked against them, and we are are voting for Representatives with a plan to reshuffle the deck.
JD Vance needs to make this the centerpiece of his ‘28 campaign.
I graduated college in 2008, right when the recession hit. I understand where Gen Z is coming from. I also interact with a lot of Gen Z and Alphas, and while the deck stacked against them, most of them are hopeless at basic adult skills. The blame for that is on us for failing them in so many ways.
This $20 Burrito issue is a culmination of many issues coming together, and some of them involve uncomfortable conversations directed towards Gen Z about growing up and learning that our level of comfort that we are used to and that Piker and his fellow Napoleon T. Pigs are trying to promise them is not standard, and there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
They also seem to lack initiative which may come from the comfortable life their parent's have provided. I worked multiple jobs because my parents were poor. I worked hard because I wanted a better life. Some kids, mine included, start the scale with what they grew up with, the comforts of home. They detest being uncomfortable, whether it is working 40 hours, having to eat something under par, or living with roommates they may not like. It's a longer conversation about what drives work ethic and grit. It is easy to be attracted to the easy way -- student loans, social programs, income redistribution. But it won't give them purpose and they won't feel any more satisfied with their life and who they are imho. But that's not what they want to hear, Jeff is correct.
It was difficult for my 20 year old daughter to find summer employment this year. West coast metro. She finally broke down and applied to be a Wal-Mart shopper. But was turned down as soon as they learned she’d return to campus at summer’s end. I’m using this as a lesson for her to try harder and in new ways next year.
If it's any encouragement, I graduated college with a history degree, thinking I would work at a museum someday. As a side hustle, I did live-in dog sitting. While I was being told that I really needed a masters and then a PhD to do museum work, I was turning my dog sitting side hustle into a full time business. I wasn't going to spend any more money trying to chase paper only for it to not be enough, especially when people were offering to pay me good money to live at their house and love on their pups while they were out of town.
I didn't have "start my own cool dog sitting business" on my Life Bingo card, but I rolled with it anyways. It sounds like you're encouraging your daughter to display that kind of ingenuity, and that's awesome.
my across-the-street neighbor is a dog-sitter. I know a young man in Amsterdam who is very successful in dog-sitting. He is a true dog whisperer. It always pays to BE RESOURCEFUL!
Thank you, Galapagos… my daughter is an English major (for now) myself a Political Science major. I made my $ in business, sales and have done well. My emails are still too long. I blame my blue book testing education. I have plenty of wealth to pass on to my daughter and am teaching her how to preserve it, and how to donate it as well. My shameless plug is to my favorite charity, a Central Washington summer camp for disabled and terminally ill kids & families:
https://campprimetime.org/
https://youtu.be/OUs2hKqADZk?feature=shared
Before college I was Army National Guard and before that, a restaurant waiter, bakery cleaner, grocery bag boy, dishwasher and library page. I know how to scrap, love my deplorable background, and passing it onto my child. She in turn has me reading the most delightful books. I read her copy of the Odyssey for the 1st time this year, before we went to see the film ;) Homers poem is better than Nolan’s flick. She will do alright in whatever she decides. I am most happy that she took several semesters of Latin and getting a classical education. She may have to do more STEM study down the line but I value the Humanity foundation she is gaining. It’s interesting in that one of her main teacher mentors is a flaming liberal, and I’m the opposite. And yet we are both devout Catholics, which the Christianity sinking in is most important to a good, long life. My daughter seeing the world through multiple lenses and that is what growing up is all about.
Matt,
WM turned down a college student willing to work an entry level no experience needed job? That says far more about WM than about your daughter!
I'm a dinosaur, but I can only imagine the demand for a young person wanting to work would be high. Especially if she isn't tatted, pierced and with flaming hair.
Guess that's why I don't shop WM.
My daughter is smart, pretty, and only earrings ;) she had a summer job last year at Office Max but didn’t like it. She sells online throughout the year (Ebay, Depop). She’s not lazy, just a lot of competition for seasonal jobs here.
Yes, that is a good point. Many are very averse to being uncomfortable in any way.
Yes, lots of parents haven't bothered to teach their kids how to do basic things like cook and do laundry. And have also conditioned them to expect constant treats and to get trendy brand name everything. I am not against having treats and buying clothes or trendy things, but all of it has to be framed in terms of opportunity cost and wants vs. needs. Which I think some parents have fallen short on. On the other hand, in my midwestern community, I see a lot of teens working, saving money, being responsible and learning how to manage their lives. So it's not all young people and I think that shows hope for a better future.
Wise words here! I'm disappointed in Vance's response. Looking at him side-eyed.
I also want to bring up a point, cheap food is bad. Gen X and boomers are not an example of good health. Yes, teaching economics of making vs buying food is important. I have with my Gen Z kids- who also have to be gf- which is very expensive. But when a pound of ground beef is $10 at a grocery store, add all the other ingredients -good quality ingredients- not cheap processed diabetes inducing- yes you might get two burritos for $20
an 18 year old boy but it’s still crazy expensive. All my kids can cook but groceries are super expensive and sometimes more than eating out. It is not the same as I was when I was in the 90’s so we really still need to not say that to them.
The food all suffers from enshittification as well. When I was setting up housekeeping in the 80s, you could buy food that wasn’t produced by huge multinational corporations that wasn’t full of Pfizer chemicals.
I’m trying to eat healthy now and I could buy another car for what I spend on food. And eating out is out of the question. It’s impossible to buy anything healthy at a restaurant.
Good point about food allergies and health conditions, that does make cooking more expensive. Although I can get ground beef for quite a bit less than that in many stores here. So much depends on where you live and what you have available also.
...and THERE's ANOTHER THING! We Americans are, supposedly, a historically highly mobile race, BUT is ANYONE thinking, as Sam Kinison (r.i.p.) suggested (LOUDLY), "MOVE TO WHERE THE FOOD IS?!" We've got an elderly bachelor relative stewing in Dallas-Ft. Worth under a $1,300/month rent for a one-room "studio," who simply can't CONCEIVE of himself living anywhere other than A METROPOLIS--that hates his guts.
I’m so blessed that my mother taught me how to cook! I’m no chef but I can put together very nutritious and satisfying meals.
Good point. My teenage sons do quite a bit of cooking and it always shocks people!
My older son is an excellent cook and my younger son is learning, although he can only do basics. My objective is for each of them to be able to feed themselves reasonably well when they are adults and on their own.
I learned early from my mom how to cook. My twin sister only knew how to make macaroni and cheese. Of course she sewed better than i did.
It's entertaining to cut up a whole chicken for frying and be asked by onlookers 'where did you learn to do that?'
So freaking true…
Thanks for my best laugh of the day.
RFK Jr is working on that! There’s a lot of work to do here and it’s up to us.
Did you see he is going to have a cooking show to demonstrate relatively easy recipes that are healthy but not expensive? I think that is a great idea!
I saw that! Very good idea and I really hope it takes off. We need to learn how to eat (and cook) all over again!
I hope he covers HOW to pick decent healthy food.
I would expect that to be part of the show. Choosing what to buy and how to decide if it's good quality or not, and so on.
RunningLogic, I think RFK, Jr. hosting a cooking show us a great idea. However, I’m sure there are plenty of cooking videos on the internet already for any interested. The problem is the interest.
Observationally, I see a lot of MAHA hats on teenagers and young adults. They like RFK Jr and the healthy principles that he embodies. I think there's interest there for a show hosted by him.
You're not wrong about the interest part and that there is a lot already available. However, getting someone with name recognition and in a position of power to do this is also different than some no name or niche cooking show person providing this information. If it is one more way of getting the information to people who might not otherwise see or know about it, why not? It might be even better if there were hands-on ways of getting people to cook frugally but in a healthy way. Kind of like Dave Ramsey for food :D Too many people have bought into the idea that healthy cooking has to be very expensive and/or time consuming, but that isn't necessarily true and if RFK Jr can help debunk that notion, more power to him.
And yet, those same parents were helicopter parents!
YourGG, not just Home Ec, but no more "shop" classes either.
They are starting to add them back.
Glad to see the "Turtle Caucus" going away. It's crazy how they're all showing their true selves after either announcing their retirement or having their retirement proclaimed for them. Being in TX - I was glad to see Cornyn finally pushed out as he's been a RINO for several terms now. Being nearby, I was really glad to see Cassidy out. Maybe we'll get some sanity in the health areas of gov without him driving things. :)
I followed the "Burrito" conversations. Some summed that up as a "both" issue and I tend to agree with that. The cost of a burrito shouldn't be $15-20, but at the same time inflation grew at an insane level to contribute to that. Now - getting rid of tons of people on govt SNAP benefits and getting rid of the visa/migrant invaders consuming all of the resources ... that will help quite a bit, but is crazy hard to do with "judges" blocking that at every turn and our politicians welcoming these grifters in en masse.
I know in TX - we have a _huge_ visa issue and Abbott isn't helping that. We have people on the streets exposing the visa fraudsters, pointing out their "businesses" (houses) and the fact that people on these visas are working other jobs. We can't close those doors fast enough and get these people back home to make their own countries great.
the burrito conversation is actually a learning opportunity for young adults.
particularly when paying $35 to have it delivered. because the extra $20 to have it delivered and tipping requires three of the most important concepts to understand for success:
1. opportunity cost
2. time value of money
3. determining when a burrito is just a burrito and the first two no longer have value
Some of us said, shouted at the time that shutting down the world for a bad cold and giving trillions of dollars to us for hiding out at home...or go on extended vacations...would result in massive inflation. You can't flood a market with currency without additional products for that currency to buy. Supply-Demand is an economic law. Not a suggestion. Massive inflation was *always* going to result from that.
I was called selfish and uncaring and told I wanted people to die, some called me a murderer. Well...
There's many components that Jeff did an able job explaining. But the Scamdemic printing press was the rocket fuel boost it needed.
And for the record, that foolish spending, following a foolish national/global shutdown is on ALL of DC. D's, R's, and yes, PDJT. Fact. I hate that I have to write it, but I said that at the time, too. It was foolish all the way around. And arrogant. To imagine that man controls the microbiological world of the planet is the height of arrogance. Nothing man did, no controls, no barriers, no minimization of movement and socializing, working, playing, exercising, no injections of magical elixirs and potions controls the ocean of microbiology we live and breathe in. We only control our own bodies. And how well we take care of them to meet the microbiology we coexist with. When we take care of the perfect immune system that God designed us with we can handle anything but chemical poisoning. For which there is no biological technology, no biotech, that can help with. Only poison control.
If PDJT wasn't a known germaphobe he'd have known better than to "trust the experts" who lied their asses off to him. With fear + flattery. The nation and the world needed a POTUS who said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." And "We will...bear any burden, meet any hardship...to assure the survival and the success of liberty." Instead we had were directed to hide at home. The original sin of the loss of freedom came when he forgot that we are AMERICANS. Only the tyranny that followed in the petty tyrants of state government and his successor made his catastrophic mistake look better. Sorry if that truth offends C&C readers. But it's the truth of it. Trump believes in cooties. SadTragic. For all of us. Now we all pay for it.
The trap PDJT fell into was declaring a national emergency and giving state governors free reign. I guarantee Michigan’s wicked witch governor knew exactly when the pandemic was coming and how it would roll out. March 10, 2020 two hours after the Detroit hosted DNC presidential primaries wound up, she declared the first two CoVid cases in Michigan. 13 days later she declared “shelter in place”. Michigan went dark. Two years later we find out Detroit Metro Airport never shut down and was flying international flights from China even during the first of the lockdowns. Our “superb” Michigan media kept all of it secret, if they even bothered to find out.
But I don't think he could have stopped the governors, apart from maybe withholding federal funding, but that isn't always easy to do or practical. And then all of the people screaming at him that it was too dangerous :/
His initial declaration of a national emergency opened the door. The governors never could've done what they did without that. Started with that catastrophic initial decision. Is why Fauci and Birx - and Pottinger - gloated after he did. They knew what he had opened up the door to. He didn't. They absolutely did.
To be fair, he tried to keep to the two weeks the "experts" initially said we needed, and got excoriated because it was "too soon" and he was "killing people" by saying we should open the country back up :/ But yes, he should never have agreed to any of it in the first place.
Original sin. That fit with his pre-existing belief in cooties.
If only he had better educated himself about biology beforehand. And had faith in God's perfect human design.
He let the demonic beast of fear out of the basement of every human mind. Especially the minds of weak people given dictatorial power. FDR was exactly right about that.
I’m not sure how much I could have resisted. Every blue state was telling him to panic, the red states weren’t much better. The medical insects infesting DC were all in tandem screaming “2 weeks to flatten the curve”. And this was worldwide. The media blanket over everything did not allow anyone to disagree. My prayer is they learned a valuable lesson. I pray it but my faith is about the size of a mustard seed.
Beware the Military-Medical-Banking-Digital Industrial Corporate Complex.
Don't forget the incoming massive inflation resultant this latest boondoogle war...All of the exponential increase of costs are resultant the trillions WASTED on wars in the middle east and Afghanistan along with Covid and operation "warp speed". I find it hilarious that our deficit is increasing faster now than it did during Covid but crickets coming from the "conservatives" ;who always somehow forget what conservative means when Rs are in charge... Fully agree President Cabbage had a bunch to do with the inflation however, it is still increasing again due to this latest boondoggle from our Department of War...We haven't even begun to feel whats coming this loss..
.Both sides have a ton of responsibility for where we are. It's pure fabrication to lay it all at the feet of one side. It's a Uniparty with different badges that trick the sheep into forgetting that "their" side is just as bad as the other...This stack has turned into the press office of the dear leader...Disappointing...
Excellent comment. Right on target
"Scamdemic printing press (of money) was the rocket fuel boost it needed." .....had to copy THAT!
Almost like they meant to have an emergency and subsequent $$printing (&voting rule changes?) HAPPEN.
Can't EXPOSE and DETACH from those ELITES fast & far enough.
I’m 63 and I’ve never ordered restaurant food via uber or any other delivery service!!
I never had either, other than an occasional pizza delivery.
Then maybe 2 yrs ago grubhub did a 'free delivery' thing off of Amazon accounts - and my DH found it. Oh dear. I guess it is always the "free" offers that reel you in. I did tell him he has to tip the drivers. But, he does have an excuse, driving in town is difficult for him (compressed neck discs) as he can't easily turn his head. Now, he can get his Popeye's spicy chicken delivered.
I don't really mind him ordering the spicy sandwiches as I don't eat spicy anything and this way I don't have to cook it or have it smell up the house if he cooks it. But, he is now branching out a bit. Last week he ordered iHop's chicken & waffles for me and something else for him. It was good, which surprised me as the last time we ate there a couple yrs ago after fasting medical stuff, the wait was long, food was overcooked, service was terrible and the blue haired server had more metal in her face than we had silverware.
Last time I made him "spicy kielbasa & beans", I apparently used 2 tablespoons of scotch bonnet pepper sauce and not the milder jalapeno sauce (all spicy is freakin inedible to me) - to me it was just a bottle of 'smelly, spicy' from the fridge. LOL!! Reckon scotch bonnet is MUCHO hotter; he ate it anyway, with tears, sweating & sniffling.
I order it and go pick it up. The only thing I pay for is the food. No delivery driver to tip and no wait staff to tip. A tip is for good service. Nobody brings my food to me, or clears the table , or washes my dishes. I guess I tip myself.
I did ones and I would recommend you never to use it.
I got everything wrong, it took 45 minutes to arrive.
It was cold and unpleasant.
Now, if I need to eat out, I drive.
But I prefer to cook myself.
Im 54 and never do that either UNLESS the business im doing at hand will either make me more money or save more per unit of time vs just going to get it myself
I never get delivery because I can't stand to pay that extra for the convenience! I will get take out at the very most, if I don't feel like cooking! Or go to a restaurant and just have my meal there, if I am going to pay extra.
Same!
Delivered food, I don't want that.
Like my ballot, there's no chain of custody and I don't know by who or how many times that delivery was handled.
For the housebound, I'm happy they have the option of delivery, but that's all. Indeed, the p'demic changed the world.
Absolutely. The local pizza place will give me a $5 discount if I go pick up my pizza. If I want it delivered, I have to pay regular price plus delivery fee plus tip. I save $10 by the momentary inconvenience of driving a mile. That’s a trade off I’ll make happily.
We will be happy here in NC with Tillis leaving. Cooper (pooper) is the one we need to stop! We have an uphill battle. Hopefully the truth about Covid will help keep him out!
Elizabeth Warren is pushing and contributing to campaigns! She’s a nightmare.
Thanks to C&C, I have some good push back points. 🙌
Like I told my son when he said I bought things for nothing when I was young and told him a McDonald’s meal was $3.75. That was an hours wage now it cost $17 which is an hours wage.
(Yes I get gas was cheaper LOL)
Yep. The same crew that demands $17 per hour (or more) complain about Chipotle prices. That tracks even with Common Core math.
A friend just bought me a pair of shoes from Costco for $9.95.... 😧
They won’t last. I have picky feet and my last pair of Vionics (well over $100) didn’t last two months.
And I bought three pairs of Taos because they were on sale and they fit so poorly (heel slipping for one and one smaller than the other on another) that I could only wear one pair out of three.
I’m so tired of buying stuff that falls apart.
Check out Katy Bowman's shoe list! Biomechanically friendly, well-made, and in some cases, made in America!
https://www.nutritiousmovement.com/articles/minimal-shoes-the-list
I found Fitville shoes on Amazon (had been looking at $100+ Hopa), I have foot issues; they fit great, have wides and lots of cushion. And they go on sale occ. Once they start wearing in, you can add a great shoe pad and they perk back up.
But I can buy 6 pairs for the same price! Lol. Actually, I'd much rather buy decent quality stuff that lasts, and usually do, but these were bought for me.
😮😮😮 WoW! 😆
Made in Chyna of course, probably by kids...
Dan Crenshaw thankfully, is now gone as well.
That man is an absolute tool! A cuck! False Republican. I don't even consider myself a Republican anyway, I am a constitutional conservative. If it's in the Constitution then that is all the Fed gets to do, everything else is left to the States. We need a Milleil here and have him reduce the federal gubment by 50%. And congressmen don't get paid if there is a shutdown and don't get back pay when the govt is again funded. Same laws for them as for the rest of us. I hate those fuckers, so few of them I believe in.
Said in a way I wouldn't have, Kaycee, but you are correct. As congress recesses for another 5 week break. No wonder these people spend a million $'s to be re-elected.
I think the new president of Argentina proposes no gov rep pay when budget is NOT balanced?
That is even better!!!
Cassidy, a huge hemorrhoid to us all.
As a fellow Texan -- be excited all you want for seeing Cornyn pushed out, but Paxton is a horrible, horrible, horrible replacement candidate. And that is now coming to fruition in the polling. Independents matter, folks! My center-right children who live in Texas will not be voting for him. They're all voting third party.
Talarico, who would have a snowball's chance against Cornyn, is polling higher than Paxton in numerous polls. Can Paxton pull it out? Maybe?? But if so, it will be even more razor thin than Cruz's victory over O'Rourke. And how much of the Republican war chest will have to be spent in Texas to do this? Which is NUTS to have to do in Texas -what a waste. So we might gain Michigan, but it is hardly a foregone conclusion we keep Texas.
I don’t share your view of Paxton. I will be voting for him because he has tirelessly fought for conservative values.
me too
My kids who live in Texas are Voting for Ken Paxton!! They liked him as AG
You believe polls? The polls showed Harris by a landslide. Additionally Paxton is not horrible. You are woefully uninformed. During the Biden years he was a ray of light during dark, dark days. In his role as AG he fought creatively and tirelessly until the tide began to turn. And his reward was vicious attacks by the press and now people like you.
That is not accurate. The polls showed it to be pretty neck and neck.
😴
I don’t know where you are coming from with the 3 horribles about Paxton. Be specific. I have listened to him interviewed a few times, and he came across as thoughtful and a fighter. Voting for a third party right now only assures that the Democrat wins.
Why is Paxton a "horrible, horrible, horrible" candidate? I'm in the midwest so not familiar with Texas issues.
Paxton is a "horrible, horrible, horrible" candidate because that's what the TV says.
And if you don't trust the TV you simply must be some kind of cheating on your wife nazi.
Talifreako makes Beto look sane. Which quite a feat.
Well, maybe that's right, but can you argue that he is not really flawed? In the current environment, that is not good enough for a win. We have too many blue-state transplants and Independents since 2020 for complacency.
I would agree that he has fought for conservative values, but does he do that because he's in Texas or because he believes them? My kids say he's the epitome of a "slimy politician" - he knows how to read the room and move on that, but you have no idea what he really stands for. His finger is to the wind.
Conservative values does not mean having an alleged affair (in process of divorce because of this), not answering questions from the press, not being transparent, being embroiled in numerous personal/financial/political scandals over many years (just google to find out all of them) that have never really been explained, and being renowned for eschewing press conferences - I would suppose because he doesn't want to answer uncomfortable questions.
Talarico has triple the money that Paxton has right now -- with that money, his campaign is digging into Paxton's past, exposing it, and asking questions that Paxton is not answering. Talarico - with his good looks and seminary background (no matter that "God is non-binary and there are six genders") --is hammering with talking points on political corruption and favoritism, a rigged system that works against working Americans, and that Paxton is part of all that.
Republicans should not take our red-state for granted -- I live in a previously red northern Dallas suburban district that is now purple-and-getting-bluer -- in 2022 our district voted in for the first time a Dem state rep who hasn't been voted out (and won't lose in 2026), in part because the Republican candidates have been extremely weak. FWIW, during my daily walks I'm seeing more Talarico yard signs pop up in my large neighborhood ---- during the primary there were only two.
Any splitting of Red votes WILL allow Talarico to win. Do you want that???
I'd vote Paxton just to keep Talarico out. We have very little margin for error. I've seen God use very imperfect people for his own.
Say a prayer before you vote Kathi, for him, your family and our nation.
Again, amuse (Alexander Muse) has written extensively, fairly on Tx politics. He is highly informed, very knowledgeable on law, military and writes extensively. He does not have 'shares' like this on C&C. His X account does allow comments. Based on those judgements I would strongly recommend Paxton, NOT the media narratives you recount.
Do you need more stones Kathi? So happy to hear Texas has one perfect resident. Perhaps prayer for Paxton will be better than criticism and gossip.
I still didn’t see any specifics about Paxton. Slimey is the last word I would say about him in listening to interviews. If you are going by tv “water carriers for the Dems”, then realize it’s the same everywhere.
So the kids must want Talerico.
Then they are ok with Talerico winning? Third party votes just help him.
Kathi, don't where you are in TX but I'm in Baytown, east of Houston. I'm an Independent since 2007, will be voting for Paxton over Talarico even though I can't stand him really. I call him Ken "I'll sue anyone and anything" Paxton affectionately because I do like that about him, lol. You are correct about the threat! This year alone, the fallout from the Camp Mystic flooding, the Data Center threats, the Flock cameras, and then there is last summer's Ban THC For The Children (even though it was for the liquor lobby). I will also be voting for Abbott because even though he has been a bad boy encouraging DC's and the Muslim centers, when the people have screamed he does respond to them and has reversed course on some things. So at least he does that. The one I want gone at all costs is Dan Patrick. I'm voting for Vikki Goodwin for Lt. Gov to send that message, she won't have that much effect bc the Lege' will limit her power (which they should have done with Patrick). Patrick is toxic: stubborn to a fault with a greased palm. I can remember decades ago watching the local CBS Houston KHOU with him as their sportscaster. Every week he threw some kind of ridiculous tantrum on-air about some sports issue he couldn't do anything about. He was an immature control freak even then. At any rate, if Texas turns blue this fall, we warned ya! Talarico has a lot of people fooled! And the rising problems we are facing could kick out all incumbents. And Trump dissing Abbott for trying to appease his citizens on data centers is not helping!
I read Alexander Muse on Texas politics and understand there was about as much lawfare against Paxton as Trump got. Does anybody else get more vehement and exaggerated attacks for moral lapses than conservatives?
I pray for and try to get GOOD candidates in the run. I may withhold a vote at some point in the future.... The WORLD of difference between parties at this point is so vast that I do believe the large picture is of great significance.
PS. I certainly wish TX to eliminate OPEN primaries! A PARTY should able to choose its candidates.
I largely agree with this, but I also think Gen Z bears some responsibility for their predicament. I'm 30, right on the Millennial/Gen Z edge, often in what's called the "Zillennial" window, and the number of people my age or younger who cannot cook, cannot do basic financial math, and cannot tighten the belt at all astounds me.
You're correct that the $20 burrito is not actually about the burrito, but that goes both ways: there is also no $20 burrito in this nation, certainly not from Chipotle or other standard wrapped meat and rice emporiums. Which means the $20 burrito is as much a stand-in effigy for the financial illiteracy of the younger generation, as it is for a broken housing market, and both issues need to be fixed, not just the housing market.
And young people bear some of their own responsibility for that illiteracy. Sure, schools and parents failed them on that, but we also live in the most information-accessible era in human history. Not knowing what an interest rate is, or how to budget, or how to hold debt in ways that are less costly, is a choice that too many young people are still making.
I am afraid there may be another explanation to go with yours., I know absurd numbers of these otherwise poor are too pathetic to even do pick up, let alone cook, so maybe $20 is the price if you order from Door dash .
Our nephew is a decent good man, but zero ambition. He ran up his credit card, then walked. He works enough to get the few things he wants. Lives with his mother, helps his dad, occasionally does things for us for which we pay him. We could keep him busy full time, but he is just not interested. All too common these days. Life is still too easy in this country when it comes to not starving or freezing to death if you don't work.
Yeah I didn't even bother to go into the gig economy side of the equation. In my mind, that rolls up to "cannot budget". Delivery of anything other than a pizza (or groceries, which was actually standard prior to the second world war) is and has always been a luxury that comes at a premium, and I cannot fathom why it's not being treated as a staple.
Don't get me wrong, I have those nights where I just really want the Chicken Parm Fairy to knock on my door, but I also can't drive due to a neurological condition and I make enough money to splurge.
It's like kids growing up are just in a daze. A screen daze. They don't really care, numbed out. I know when I was growing up I couldn't wait to get out of the house. The freedom of getting your license. It is becoming more and more common for kids not to get their drivers license. Learned helplessness? It certainly is sad.
The good news for the kids who aren't worthless - it should be fairly easy for them to have a bright future.
I hear you. I cannot relate to anything in this new world, and thank God every day for living when I did
re: the driver's license thing, that's mostly a downstream effect of teenagers largely being banned from outdoor public life these days. Shopping malls are either dead or will arrest you for loitering, which is now a crime. "Cruising" (i.e. just driving around) is now illegal in most towns to tamp down on prostitution (instead of, you know, arresting the hookers and pimps and traffickers). Parks are riddled with dangerous crackheads. Third spaces in general which aren't bars (which you need to be 21 to enter in most cases) just basically don't exist anymore, so what's there to drive to? Your friends are online.
I have a friend whose son is exactly the same.
“ lives with his mother” might tell us all we need to know about how he got where he is.
Also paying burrito makers $20 an hour so they can have a ‘living wage’ when those jobs were not meant to raise a family on. They were for teenagers and college students, increases the cost.
What do you think of food prices at the airport or at a sports arena? The burrito there costs even more than $20. The elevated food prices at sporting events are one that grinds my gears
Went to my first MLB game in years recently (only because friends from out of town really wanted to go). Tickets at the very top of the park, the nosebleeds: $60 each. Parking: $50. Hot dogs about $10 each, beers $20. And yet we saw many families there. No idea how they can afford it.
I go to 2 to 3 collegiate / pro events per year. And try to bring in my own beverages. Nowadays have to use the transparent plastic bag totes. Usually I bring empty water bottle and fill it up at stadium. I can afford to pay the counter prices, but generally try not to. I enjoy watching minor league baseball in summers, and they are pretty lenient on bringing your own food / beverage from home.
I only know you are correct because I talk to family and friends that occasionally attend entertainment events, PhD Mom. I was priced out of most entertainment long ago. And I don't like crowds of rude people.
I don’t go to sporting events but I shudder when I see the prices at concession stands at movie theaters. I refuse to buy anything there but the admittance ticket. And it is rare to find a decent movie- I usually attend the films by ‘The Chosen’ Production company.
Angel Films are also putting out great films,.
And I find the costs very sad - how many of us went to the movies on dates? Kids today (even in their 20s) may not be able to afford that. We also had drive ins, that would charge $5-10 for a carload. Young men have no chance just starting out.
I wouldn’t know, I refuse to pay the entry price. 😂
Your reply makes Jeff’s point even sharper. Can’t afford the entry fee, can’t afford the food when there. Sad for our youth parents and their kids.
I think Jeff’s post today took people out of their comfort zone. That doesn’t happen here all that much. But would suggest we need more of that to truly MAGA for the generations coming after us.
Matt, good points - except that the grossly spreading Data Centers seem to be getting a pass from Jeff C. Talk about a tiger escaping from its cage...
He may get there some day… for now he at least sees the danger of the flock cameras
Apparently in Atlanta, there is a commitment that food prices should be kept to affordable levels. I was amazed to hear what people were paying during the World Cup games there! And that is apparently the norm there regardless!
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2026/06/09/2-hot-dog-mercedes-benz-stadium-keeps-affordable-concessions-during-world-cup/
Yes, there are a smattering of wealthy sport team owners that are tuned in to the middle class and families. I’d like to see this low-cost ‘Costco hot dog’ model be replicated around the country.
US sports fans have seen high cost concessions become normalized due to many locations and many years of this gouging. I love capitalism, it’s the best system out there, but bending over your fanbase for just a wee bit more makes me shake my head. For the youth, they shake their fist.
That's awesome!
Look at the priorities; tatoos, Tik Tok, the latest electronic gadgets, wanting "it all" without earning anything. And saddest of all, no personal, spiritual relationship with our Creator.
Some younger people spend a lot of money on tattoos, and have high end phones.
But you cannot assume every younger person struggling financially is doing that. As I ranted at Catturd yesterday, if "everyone" was getting a new Iphone every year or two, they would have almost no resale value - one could get a two year old Iphone Pro for $50. Nope, Iphones have almost half their value three years later because so many people want the used phones.
And on the Android side of things, you can get a $1000 Samsung, but Samsung also has phones from about $150 that look pretty similar from the outside.
AMEN!
Have you tried to buy a decent lunch in NYC? Governments cause inflation for the most part. The idea that demand is the main driver is economic fallacy foisted upon us by bad economists. Bad layers of government like in NYC which also has NY State bad government makes the issue even more pronounced. People have been saying things 'need to be fixed' for decades, but Congress isn't equipped with people who want to really fix it. They just want to get re-elected.
I mean, I live in a blue downtown (albeit in a red state) and the locally-owned, high quality burrito place is $11, not $20, and is portioned heartily enough to keep me for most of a day without any other food. Can double the protein for another $2, and I basically don't need anything else to eat that day.
That's my point, is that the hypothetical nature of the $20 burrito reveals as much about the financial illiteracy of Gen Z as the reaction to the possibility of its existence reveals about their reasonable frustrations about generic cost of living (most of which is being driven by housing, insurance and healthcare costs, not food if you normalize against increases in median wage).
Inflation is absolutely a result of policy (namely, monetary policy), but there is a serious expectations issue within Gen Z that needs to be addressed at the same time, or literally nothing will ever be good enough for them. A chart going around recently showed that while most generations see $100,000 or perhaps less as "successful" annual income, Gen Z sees $600,000 instead. Until those expectations are re-set, Gen Z will never be happy with anything. They will be prisoners of their own minds, subject to suffering that is ultimately self-inflicted, and it breaks my heart to imagine.
I hear you on expectations. When it comes to food though, we need to compare apples-to-apples (and not apples to food-grade shellacked apples which basically means apples long past their normal due date).
There is 'sustenance' and there is healthy eating. Something can 'sustain' you now, but you are going to 'pay the piper' at some point. And there is the concept of food 'substitution'. Where a restaurant or food processor will take our something of higher health value and replace with something more harmful, to keep a price point. We know most people don't read labels, let alone learn about what those terms they see mean. So in the case of a burrito (I've eaten, but rarely):
1. Corn - is it gmo? Any other adulterations? Glyphosate used?
2. Beef - Healthy beef is grassfed, not corn fed. I don't think your 'high quality' burrito is using grassfed beef. Cornfed has a bad Omega 3-to-6 profile. The meat in your burrito is causing inflammation you will pay the price for either/and in the short term and long term. And that doesn't even take in to consideration where the beef was sourced (here or overseas where you can be getting old beef). The restaurants often do not know what is in their beef or the true source They just buy from Sysco. Now, we have supermarket chains like Sprouts Farmers Markets, supposed to be healthy, who have approved the selling of labgrown meat. They don't put that on the label. Instead it will begin showing up as "Cultivated" "Cultured" "Cell cultured". Created with techniques cancer cells use to propagate. Easier to hide that creation in 'ground beef'. Who's checking where the beef really comes from? This is 'substitution'.
3. Cheese - How many know that most shredded cheese is now treated with an antibiotic so it 'stays fresh' longer without molding. Any anti-biotic will mess with your gut biome, which scientists are only now starting to understand the symbiosis of.
4. The sauces used for the most part are additional chemistry experiments, and often loaded with seed oils and soybean, not something healthy like unadulterated olive oil or organic avocado oil.
So, to truly eat a healthy burrito, assuming you can find one in a restaurant that is diligent, would cost about $20 when you factor in food costs are often only 1/3 the final cost. And if you want to eat that healthy at home, you better find a way to buy in bulk those unadulterated ingredients because getting each of the above in a truly healthy format will cost you if you only buy periodically so as to not have it expire.
People know shrinkflation, but few know substitution dangers and what it does to their health.
If we're limiting ourselves to discussing healthy food, then eating out shouldn't even be in the equation, frankly. It's a pointless contention because there are vanishingly few places which even offer half of what you just had to list to stretch the final cost above $20.
That's kind of the point, is that those expectations are absurd. Trying to find premium meals (i.e. organic, grass-fed, sustainably raised, no chemicals at all involved in any stage of the process/completely fresh, and prepared by someone else) at non-premium prices has always been a fantasy, that's not suddenly a new phenomenon. If you want completely healthy and completely cheap, then it's back to my point about needing to learn to cook; that's always been the case.
Here in the northeast GA mountains, there are two so-called farm-to-table eateries, both of which are centered on healthy grass-fed BEEF.
Roger, The PNW has them, too. One only needs to be discriminating - heads up.
It is a sad era that we live in when we can't have unadulterated food - or it is hard to come by unless you are cooking from scratch and are hyper vigilant.
and garden
No Sherlock: You make all informed, important points. I agree totally. So odd that some folks are discriminating about which injections they allow in their bodies, yet indiscriminately consume mystery meats and factory food.
💯 %!! Why I don’t eat out!
Thank you for the education. Seriously. I know some, but you remind me to be more diligent. As a child near Grandma's farm I KNEW what I was eating (pre1970 BEFORE the food industry went high fructose.../chemicals). My son tends a HUGE organic garden in his back yard. I have been intending to go to my nearby (45min away) farm which sells their organic meats. Prompted by your comment, I WILL go this week! :) (Better than Sprouts)
You're new here, I think - never saw your handle before. I bid you WELCOME as a scribbler of first-class comments!
I've been around a while but mostly lurk. Nonetheless, thank you!
Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University is such a great resource for basic instruction in budgeting and building wealth. It’s even offered in an online format now. https://www.financialpeace.com/app/classes/guide
He is a terrific counselor of money. My dad always said, “you want to double your money? Take that bill out of your wallet, fold it in half and put it back.” When we actually pay cash for something, it is much harder to see it go in one $20 burrito.
I have been fiscally responsible since my grandfather said “if you can’t afford to pay cash you can’t afford to put it on a credit card.” I was a young teen and that always stuck with me.
They have a teen version, too!
My burritos regularly cost over $20 at Chipotle, such being the result of an extra spoon of meat for $6 (extra protein for me).
But I question how well such a generation can do as home owners (with repairs and maintenance) if they can't do basic food prep, do math, etc.
All people can learn skills for some degree of Independence and a sense of accomplishment. But they're much more likely to be successful if they're married, or are willing to have responsible roommates, and sacrifice for the long term instead of whining about short term types of luxuries. (that's a broad brush stroke, I understand. I'm trying to convey that there's a need for sacrifice.)
I've only ever bought a new car once in 1993. All others, including my first pulled from a junk yard and rebuilt, were used and required skills to learn to maintain, instead of chasing more debt to look cool. A car also enables people to go to school, reach jobs they couldn't otherwise get via public transportation, and you can pick up tools and parts for maintaining or building things.
I BARELY got into a house in a buyer's market with a VA loan (for sellers, one of the worst to sell to because of seller conditions). That meant it wasn't a cream puff house, was old in style and interior kitchen, bath and carpets.
Over 10 years, we've replaced most of the floors ourselves, did demolition and upgrades (paint, upgraded hinges and knobs) we could do ourselves, and leveraged a relative's contractor discount for counters we couldn't afford, but fell in love with after wandering outside the cheap counter material area in a warehouse. The bathrooms still need updating, but we've remodeled one with paint, switching out lights, curtains and mirrors, and exercised creativity.
In other words, it's taken time and I've learned skills along the way. My purchased tools and learned knowledge have been an investment to save money elsewhere. I have 3 vehicles, two over 20 years, one at 14 years, all paid off and I maintain them. Two look a bit worn, and I'm toying with the idea of painting them myself.
The point is... There are sacrifices I have to make. And skills to learn. Investments in myself to allow me to have what I have, over time. My wife is about to retire, and we're facing having to tighten up a bit more. I will need to work a few more years. Hopefully there is a retirement to look forward to.
Oh, and my smart phone is 10 years old. Yes, I replaced the battery once. It still functions well. You don't HAVE to buy into a consumer mindset. Buy the best you can at the time (quality) and make it last. Some people say 'But once, cry once. "
You sound content. And blessed, because you work and live creatively.
Thanks you It's what I can do to get by, leveraging many skills I've picked up over the years. I fix a lot of my own stuff. Constantly learning is a huge deal, to help enable me. Buying used appliances, and cars, etc. doesn't bother me because I know what to look for, and can fix (or avoid) them. Having gotten divorced and remarried (15 and 10 years ago, respectively,) had me renting rooms from other people for 5 years, so I get the struggle many face, but there are options to lower some costs of living, albeit, not with the benefits I'd always like. Thankfully, I haven't been driven to homelessness.
Bingo. I said in another post this is what I call adulting. Basic societal survival skills are missing from Gen Z's arsenal as an adult. Some of this is the result of being lazy, because as you mentioned pretty much every tool you need and how to use it is accessible by numerous methods.
In college I lived off Kraft Mac and Cheese and cans of tuna, lol.
And I can make a burrito at home for under $3.
I would make a grilled cheese sandwich using velveeta (!) and an iron in my dorm room. Good times.
I once cooked, in my dorm room, an entire macaroni beef goulash dish using an old style popcorn popper 😊
But was it mayo or butter on the outside? lol
When they get a little older though, their “useless degrees in woke nonsense” encompasses computer science and engineering.
H1B, OPT, ands that other student visa is robbing them of any chance that had at a good job.
The H1Bs tether the immigrant to the company like a slave, and with the student and temp worker visas, the company and employee together save 15.3% because they don’t owe FICA taxes on those wages.
We’re making our young people compete against all 8 billion people in the world for a job when they did nothing wrong.
If we don’t protect our youth, where do we get off asking them to sacrifice for our SS and Medicare?
Ehh, this is kind of overblown, frankly. I'm white, straight, male, and have a STEM degree. I'm gainfully employed in a career with upward mobility, own my home, etc. The same can be said of basically everyone I know from college, and several are married with children, or at least children on the way.
Even within tech, only ~5% of the jobs are held by an H-1B, and amongst the population at large, it's closer to 0.15% of jobs in the US. While yes, they need to go back and that program needs to be shuttered, it wouldn't free up nearly enough jobs to make a dent in the underemployment problem.
Ultimately, the issue was we oversaturated the tech jobs market. We told everyone to learn to code, and assumed that both they'd be good at it, and that you can maintain an entire economy on B2B web development indefinitely, and neither were true. Most people don't actually make remarkable programmers, and economies cannot infinitely scale up more and more B2B Web software; there are upper limits on just how much connectivity and integration work there can be in an economy that's largely stagnating everywhere else.
Congrats. You're definitely proof that Gen Zers can make it and survive in today's society!
I think some of that learn to code thing was a bit tongue in cheek; but at any rate AI seemed to knock the sheen off of many who went into programming. The market is oversaturated with a certain type of software engineer; but there are still needs for other types. UX, apps and streaming seem to be easily replaced; while military and edge type applications not so much.
Whatsit Tooya, you sound like a critical thinking soul. May I suggest you look into PrometheanAction as they support the AMERICAN SYSTEM of economy which is neither 'Free market' capitalism (as has been employed for several decades now via the pairing with Globalist banking manipulations). Nor is it socialism (or any of the other CONTROLLING -isms). Trump with his unusually capable cabinet (Bessent, Rubio, Vance Greer, Wright, ETC) is making great strides toward restoring the principles of American System economics. It has always produced prosperity wherever it is utilized because of the REAL principles on which it is based. NOT elites controlling the bestial masses (or culling or even eliminating them)
Oh don't worry, I'm quite aware. I run in some circles that helped get them exposed to the MAGA movement in the first place.
Well said!
I keep wondering if there is any way President Trump could offer some degree of student loan forgiveness by sticking the universities with at least part of it. After all, they ran the grift in the first place; they should be on the hook, no?
That would have the additional political benefit of further dividing parts of the Democrat constituency.
I like that idea. Universities can use those generous alumni donations they have lying around.
Or tap into their endowments.
I never understood why they all kept building more huge buildings. They have to be maintained and airconditioned and what all, when we were already in the age of virtual classes and virtual degrees.
I am a boomer, and when the computer age hit, I taught myself everything I needed to know to get ahead in my job and to do things more efficiently.
Teach kids how to read. After that, they can teach themselves everything they want or need to know.
While they're at it, also teach those kids how to write in cursive.
They (anti-Americans) don't want future generations to be able to read the Founding documents.
No don't teach them cursive. That is our secret code language!
I hadn't thought of it that way! Our grand kids cannot write in cursive and one of them was just hired as a second grade teacher. I always write notes to them in their birthday cards in cursive and it annoys their mother (my daughter). Best part is, she's a teacher too! Ay yi yi.
That’s really sad!
The arenas and the student center buildings are part of the scam, a way to take those excess funds the students borrowed to get, and pass them to building contractors.
I have no doubt that there were kickbacks and grift involved.
I remember that Diane Feinstein's husband was involved in a UC "new arena" scam, and made a lot of money from it.
Mrs. RW
I always told my kids that if they can read well, they can learn anything they want to know!
Same here! Good reading comprehension opens up the world via books. Yes, I still prefer the feel of a good book in my hands as supposed to staring at a lit screen. 😁😄
And how to think, not just what to think.
Curtis, Yes. And that makes all the difference!
Many universities have endowments worth billions of dollars - tax exempt dollars - so they sure as shinola have the money.
Student loan forgiveness is a terrible idea! Nobody held a gun to their head.
In student loan offices on every campus it is carefully explained AFTER students have been told to read the documents they are about to sign that student loans are non-dischargeable for any reason. They are told and sign off on provisions that the loans can be taken from their paychecks and Social Security, and probably other sources as well. I remember at age 18 understanding what that meant, but then I didn't major in Left-Handed Puppetry.
they weren't explained to me back in my day. I never knew any of that until years later. Man, I'm GenX...life is hard for us as well once corporate gives you the boot...no one will hire you. We at least know how to make due and save $, but it's still a kick in the teeth the prices of everything compared to earnings (or lack thereof when you are jobless and there's just no one hiring you no matter what you apply for).
Honestly, I never heard of anyone getting a loan for anything (home, car, college) who wasn't ask to read the loan terms and have it explained to the person taking out the loan that there were consequences for non-payment! And it's super important that a college loan officer explain that college loans are non-dischargeable unlike other loans.
I mean they told me it would have to be paid back and the interest rate, but that was it. Never knew you couldn't clear it ever (of course I didn't know about bankruptcy either...never was taught that in school). The only concept I had was borrowing $ meant I had to pay it back with interest. Nor did they tell me that the minimum payments would basically just be interest only so there were lots of fun years of working FT and going to school FT and just paying what the bill said for the loans and never making any headway. LOL I still believe to this day 95% of 'adults' out there aged 18-22ish (maybe 25) are really not ready for the world maturity wise. They still make dumb decisions and can't fathom the future of those decisions. I know I didn't and I was considered a smart, mature kid of my age. Of course, I was also told I had 100% scholarship coverage via FL Bright Futures, but then after receiving it for my 1st semester they put it down to 75% because "too many received the scholarship" and they could no longer afford 100% for everyone, which I thought was wrong because I was promised one thing and they took it away but you can't argue with the gov't so it was what it was.
The reason college loans are non-dischargeable is that a college degree can't be re-possessed like a car and you can't be evicted. There was also the problem years ago that doctors who had taken out huge loans for med school had got into the habit of not paying them back.
The loans are technically dischargeable - but in practice it only happens if someone is in a permanent coma, or is otherwise clearly never going to be able to pay off the loan, or even be able to make an effort.
I seriously doubt the nuances of almost completely non-dischargeable student loans are explained to the borrowers.
You will have to trust me on this, but yes, students are fully advised of the consequences of not paying back their student loans. The loan officer explains that after which the student is asked to read and sign the document. Many children anymore are brought up without any understanding of consequences.
They should be dischargeable in bankruptcy. They were dischargeable until about 1995 or so.
Almost every other kind of debt can be discharged.
The Old Testament clearly set up guidelines for forgiveness of loans. It's recommended in the New Testament too.
I didn’t go to nursing school because I couldn’t work two jobs and go to school. Years later I found that I really loved the Legal field and got my paralegal certification. No debt either.
The Obama administration ran the grift. It was how he jacked with the employment numbers to hide the truth. At the time you could not go on social media sites without a flurry of pop-ups touting cheap degrees.
If you think you are getting accurate numbers from ANY administration I have some beachfront for you down here in AZ.....
😴
Or you can keep believing nonsense. It is a free country. Well, kind of....
https://donaldjeffries.substack.com/p/free-speech-on-life-support
So they can get more tattoos?
It is the universities fault we are becoming a banana republic? They share blame for the cost of an education, but they didn't create the shitty economy.
En masse, they also share blame for MIS-education, but that goes down to all grades now. Not as good as my parents had or even what I had. The Unions - people who PROLONGED the covid closures - have greatly diminished the quality and CONTENT of education. There needs to be competition. Reward where actual outcomes of learning success are achieved. Vote carefully for school boards and State Superintendents of schools. Find those who prioritize learning to read, compute and THINK critically - first... children and teachers.
No everyone should get participation trophies. Oh crap, that's what a high school degree basically means anymore. Sad.
The loans need to be dischargeable in bankruptcy. That's how it was until 1995 or so.
great idea!
✝️✝️✝️
My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh,
And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.
Praise Yah!
Praise Yahweh, O my soul!
I will praise Yahweh throughout my life;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
— Psalm 145:21 - 146:2 LSB
✝️✝️✝️
Thank you for sharing this wonderful, encouraging verse!
Thank you for being willing to say hard things!
Are there a fair number of young people with unrealistic expectations and a poor work ethic? Yep...but there are also a LOT of young people who worked hard, studied hard, followed the rules that were given to them, and are now PI**ED that none of the promises they were given are even remotely close to coming true!
When we denigrate them and belittle their understandable frustration we are only pushing them straight into the arms of the waiting DSA, who is also making unrealistic promises to them, but from the other side of the political divide! IMHO, there are far too many Boomers (sorry, but that is the age demographic), both Democrat AND Republican, who have zero empathy or understanding. They are NOT helping the situation when they condescendingly tell the kids to sit down, shut up, and quit whining! It is not helpful and it will not end well for ANY of us if we keep ignoring what they are trying to say, simply because we don't like their tone!
I am sure I will get a ton of pushback for these comments but I think Jeff said some things that need to be said and I appreciate him having the guts to do it!
I'm with you and Jeff. Condescending responses don't acknowledge the real problems these young adults face.
I agree with your analysis but you, and others, are wrong to lay the blame on Boomers. What you really mean is just old people as indicated by your politicians over the age of 50 comment because politicians under 62 are not Boomers and politicians over 80 are not Boomers. Truth be told politicians have been selling the American citizen out for well over a century, including the Social Security Ponzi scheme. If we really cared about the young people we should free them of that yoke.
Good points!! True points!!
Reframing the message would go a long way too. I keep hearing Trump tout how he stopped inflation and prices are dropping. Food, gas, services etc. It is simply not true. Gas in central florida is up to $4 per gallon! Our food bill has not gone down even a little and good luck finding help with services you can’t do yourself for a reasonable cost.
Framing it better would be to acknowledge what we all know we are experiencing. Validate us! Don’t gas light us. We waded through the gas lighting and don’t believe your lying eyes for a while now. We see it. Maybe SOME states have it a little lower -but were they already the states that were lower anyway? I drove through Georgia in the height of biden. Gas was STILL lower than everywhere else. So people in Georgia telling me what their gas prices are (lower) doesn’t help. Not sure if that makes sense.
Anyway. Voted for Trump every time. But he needs to stop telling me to not believe my lying eyes. That would go a long way.
When Trump bragged about rents decreasing, that hit a sour note with me.
Our base rent went up $150 this last lease renewal. That's over 10%, on top of large increases the year before and the year before that.
As things currently stand, if I were to pay our rent out of my Social Security check, there would be a whopping $115 left over.
We live in a low cost part of the country, and I was paid at least somewhat well through my career.
When my husband retires, he'll get a somewhat larger check. I'm afraid he's likely to die not too many years after retiring, though.
I see Jeff is still pushing the "Get a STEM degree" line. That is SO last decade.
When the economy crashed in 2001, the newly unemployed were told "Be a nurse".
As a nurse, I didn't like the sound of that one. And yeah, a new influx of nurses willing to work 12 hour shifts, who weren't all that interested in actual nursing, ensued.
Then when the 2008 crash hit, the newly unemployed were told "Learn to code" and scorned for their college ambitions, with the "You should have gotten a STEM degree, not gender studies". (Jeff is showing his age with that one.)
So the STEM departments filled up with young people eager to get a useful degree.
And then they graduated with $100,000 debts and found out about H1B visas.
Meanwhile, Obama and the Congress after 2008 rebooted the all-important stock market by handing over billions to the bankers, and putting it all on the public debt.
Now the debt is skyrocketing, as is inflation, since inflation is actually caused by too much money in the system, not young people making a living wage.
Obama foreshadowed this in another way, when he announced that American workers were going to be forced to be "competitive" with Chinese workers, who worked long hours with no regulations on pollution or dangerous conditions.
That meant going back to the 1880s, when Americans worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, for lousy wages, and dangerous working conditions.
We're always told "We're a nation of immigrants". Yeah, because they needed to replace those workers who died in the mines, the mills, the factories, and the railroads.
I'd rather cut off Wall Street than screw young people. And the attitude that young people should be screwed instead has led to the point where they are openly talking about cutting off Social Security to the elderly.
Divide and Conquer. George Carlin nailed it over a decade ago, because he was an intelligent man, and could read the tea leaves of the propaganda we are fed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5K2bozek00
Mrs. RW
All kids should look with jaundiced eye at the media (et al) when they say the kids should all go into xxx careers. Everyone is a mix of different aptitudes, desires, likes, etc. Those are the criteria we should be telling our kids to use. I wanted to be an engineer about as soon as i learned what an engineer does (around 6th grade). Was gonna have to work a year or two to get enough for first year college, but discovered General Motors Institute and co-op programs which made it possible to realize my dream. As it turned out, i didn't just have the desire, but also the aptitude and personality to understand how things work and can be designed/realized. 24 yrs retired and i still enjoy designing tools, gadgets, gifts i 3D print or build in my shop. On the other hand we have a young friend who decided she wanted to be an engineer after trying hairdressing and nursing. While she had some aptitude for it, she didn't have the vocabulary or the personality and I strongly suggested she not go that way. Unfortunately she didn't listen to advice (one of the non-engineer traits i'd mentioned to her) and started. Fortunately she failed early and didn't waste too much time or money and went back to hairdressing. We should be getting kids to really think about what they want, can, enjoy to do, not push them into the latest fad career!
I have 3 carpenters work on my house over the years. One had a master's in philosophy (boy, did he talk a lot), and the other two had bachelor's in Liberal Arts and History, respectively. But they all were good with tools and had the eye for artistry, so carpentry worked out for them.
Mrs. RW
You can see how the debt skyrocketed after Congress started comping Wall Street gamblers in this chart.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEBTN
Mrs. RW
Between off-shoring (for decades), '08 bank bail-out travesty, covid bail-out/closures DOUBLE travesty, there is plenty of blame/shame, but it's not usefully directed. Each election measures the current economic FEELING, not the large SCOPE of policy. MSM has proven UNHELPFUL in that regard.
While I'm grateful that we have much freer, wide-ranging discussion formats and vast amount of media sources now, that also contributes to a sense of disjointedness, rather than consensus.
The alleged purpose of the university was to enable ACTUAL learning and dissemination of knowledge. I'd rather be here than anywhere else, especially China, Iran, Russia, Europe, or ...... anywhere else.
From this discussion, coping skills, disciplines, and flexibilities are always valuable. And never discount spiritual grounding in Truth.
I agree! Susan Kokinda and Barbara Boyd with Promethean Action have been making this point for several months. Condemning communism is not enough. We must highlight the infrastructure that is coming and being built from Trump's policies. Manufacturing, mining, etc. was gutted for 40-70 years. It cannot be rebuilt in two years.
As parents of those hard working children, if we can financially assist them into housing, business, etc., that would be an enormous encouragement. A starter home not the home we ended up with after decades. Earlier generations did that. An early partial inheritance. When my husband passed away three years ago, I gave my six hardworking children part of the life insurance.
For those of us who know how to economize, cook, etc., we need to start a class or mentor one-on-one to train these young adults who failed to learn the basic life skills needed to survive and flourish in life. My mother started a cooking class when she was helping a community pantry a couple decades ago. The difference she made in those adults was profound. We can make a difference.
Love all of your ideas! My dad used to say, "Do your givin' while your livin' so you're knowin' where it's goin'" My parents helped us get into our house and we are doing the same with our kids! And yes, teach them HOW to succeed as adults instead of berating them for not doing it "right"!
I am a Boomer. I spent my life being remarkably empathetic and compassionate. Sometimes to my detriment. But I feel absolutely attacked by the younger generations. And they are remarkably ignorant for the most part in doing so. Boomers did not have anything handed to them other than the good fortune to be born into an economic boom. Well that and pre-Department of Education education. But that boom was over by 1971 when Nixon (who was not a Boomer) removed the US from the gold standard. Look at the economic stats pre- and post- 1971. The interest on the mortgage on my first house was north of 14%. That being said young people do have considerable economic (and social and other hurdles) but they seem woefully unprepared to address them. And voting for the DSA will not help them. He'll voting for Democrats will not help them. Democrats have, and the DSA will squash them far more mercilessly than they (erroneously) think Boomers have. Maybe it is just that they are the soft men created by the good times created by strong men.
I tried very hard to come up with a different phrase other than Boomer in my reply because I think it's a pejorative that has been unfairly applied in some cases. But, there are far too many people in a certain age range who seem to be unwilling to engage with the younger generation and that is my concern!
My husband and I are generation Jones - between the Boomers and Gen X- and we too worked hard, lived within our means, and tried very hard to adapt to world that just kept changing around us!
I think politicians of both parties have sold out successive Generations of Americans in order to enrich themselves and their lobbyist friends! I think it's important that we all be willing to acknowledge that today's young people, especially those who were just starting out when Covid hit, have been dealt a pretty crappy hand and they're not doing very well at playing it, sometimes because they're lazy and entitled for sure, but sometimes because the rules keep changing so they throw the dice across the table and walk out of the room .
And that is not good for any of us! Social Security is predicted to run out of money the year I'm slated to start taking it so I feel like I have a vested interest in helping and encouraging young people. I don't feel like many politicians above the age of 50 understand or care about them and that is the demographic I was trying to target in my comments.
Viking Mom, I agree with you completely!!! The large contingency of Boomers, especially those that should have stepped down from Congress (because it was supposed to be a job for a few terms and not a career) have kicked the can down the road on social security and generally doing anything positive other than to secure their lifetime healthcare and pension, and their healthcare ain't what you and I get. So I am not very fond of the boomers that have done this to our nation. I am also in the age range to begin collecting SS when it is due to run out. I paid in, I should get paid out. Don't see that happening. Thanks to who, yeah, Boomers in Congress because they will never have to worry about that when they qualify for their pension after only 5 years of their job (I was about to say service, but the majority no longer serve us). But again, they seem to have little idea of the reality of what is "affordable" so if their feelings are hurt by this then oh well.
You are utterly and completely ignorant. A trained seal clapping and barking “Boomers”. It is your ignorance that offends me. Nancy Pelosi is not a Boomer. Mitch McConnell is not a Boomer. John Conyers was not a Boomer. Kevin McCarthy and Mike Johnson are not Boomers. Tip O'Neil, Dennis Hastert and Newt Gingrich were not Boomers. Harry Reid was not a Boomer. Dick Durbin is not a Boomer. … Clap and bark on seal. But remember, if you are capable that “[T]here is none so blind as he (or she in your case) who will not see”. Sorry if this offends you.
You're not sorry. And I don't care what you think or your ignorant assessment of me. You don't know me at all to determine this.
We suffer from young soft men syndrome in this country. They need to regrow balls.
Frankly, comments like yours are not helpful! Young men have been told for the last two decades, at least, to sit down and shut up, because they are "too entitled" "too masculine" and "toxic" but your answer is to tell them "regrow balls"? Have you ever read this book? I would highly recommend it!
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/27996.The_War_Against_Boys
How about we all start talking about the very real struggles that almost everyone in their 20s/early 30s are facing financially and relationally and figure out ways that we can ALL offer better solutions without calling names?
I think that is what Jeff was trying to say and I think it's a worthwhile conversation! The Republican Party has a great opportunity to step in and offer real life solutions that will bring back jobs (which many of these kids DO want) and opportunities in a way that recognizes the inherent dignity of hard work and personal responsibility.
The Democrat/DSA solution is to go after "the rich" and offer MORE useless government funded programs. We have to be willing to listen, to correct where necessary, but to encourage young people to take ownership of the future in a way that gives them hope rather than just makes them angrier!
Yes. And please read what PrometheanAction has to say regarding the need for a different FRAMING of economic system, neither crony capitalist NOR socialist/communist/Islamist, but AMERICAN SYSTEM. Our system which has been corrupted by everything you say. Recognizing dignity of hard work, human creativity, and personal responsibility. There is also an organization - ARC Alliance for Responsible Citizenship that promotes a truthful approach to developing civilization for GOOD. Based on Truthful foundations, not utopic ideologies.
I think capitalism is good. Not perfect but by fair better than the alternatives.
My complaint is with rampant corporatism and extending personhood to corporations. There is a good book, The Corporation by Joel Balkan. People fret about AI replacing humans but in a way corporate structure is much further down the road.
Thanks for the Promethean referral. I will check it out.
You are right on both counts.
I just had this conversation ( convo as Zillenials say) with other Boomer parents that told us they are becoming MORE left. Unreal. Yes I'm in VERY blue city. My friends are livid Michigan wasted 14 million trying to stop El Sayed, whom they said attended medical school and was an Oxford Rhodes scholar. Sheesh, I had to look that up and it's actually true.. but they were missing all his "communist" radical platform points and dismissed Michiganders as being racist not supporting him.
They think Talarico is great, they are grasping looking for good LEFT news and we were very quiet and just listened. I am practicing listening more, so thank you for letting me let of steam and Thank God for C&C.
When we spoke of both our married w/kids in their mid- 30s and realized a starter home in our metropolitan city is unaffordable again, as Jeff says, the math doesn't math. Starter houses are over a million and a thirty year loan comes out at easily $9K + a month. I sure hope this Democratic polycrisis is real and continues.
Favorite lines by Jeff, "the 'burrito' is the proverbial bean-stuffed canary in the coal-mine" AND
"It's about the fact that an entire generation of Young Americans are drowning , and they are beginning to stop caring about who threw them the anvil."
I want to memorize those lines and I I pray that we can experience a great Christian Awakening of the blessings of our country and political system....
I'm reading Eric Metaxas, Revolution. We are so blessed with this country and I pray that Zoomers are awakened to see that.
Where are the Promethean people who usually comment?
Cecil Rhodes established the Rhodes Scholarship to find smart young people who could be groomed into furthering the agenda of the ruling class, in England and in the US.
Bill Clinton was a Rhodes scholar who presented himself as a man of the people, then pushed through NAFTA (resulting in thousands of jobs sucked to Mexico and 7 million Mexicans pushed off their small farms, who came to the US).
He also demolished the 1933 Glass-Steagal Act, which forbade banks from speculating with depositor's money, leading to the 2008 crash.
Watch what they do, not what they say, and that includes Rhodes scholar, el Sayed.
Mrs. RW
Over the target as usual, Mrs. RW. Cecil was a Rothschild darling.
RW, I was just going to reply that being a Rhodes scholar is a perfect explanation of how someone would develop 'communist' ideology.
For those who think 'Rhodes scholar' is a badge of exemplary educational standards. NO! Cecil Rhodes was the key figure of British infiltrations that have been corrupting our foreign and domestic policy ever since and preceded Rhodes as well.
EVERYONE should read Richard Poe's extensive 2024 book documentation: 'How the British Invented Communism (And Blamed It On the Jews). I thought it a rather startling title until I read it. I'm proudly of English heritage, but the political and cultural influences - specific facts and personal menotships..... - should be LEARNED thoroughly by all.
YES! removing Glass-Steagal was a huge error!
Viking, Yes, a condescending attitude toward anyone, including the kids, helps no one. But perhaps being helpful is not their goal...
Not from me. I have two Gen Z kids and one is pretty conservative but also doesn't stop and say no, we can't afford to order supper out multiple times a week (husband is part of the blame here). Put the money in savings and cook in. The other is all over the map on living wage (which is to livable here in New England), rent is astronomical here, gas prices haven't been below $4 a gallon in a long time, utilities high, food costs high. Boomers say get another job and STFU and have zero understanding that life, especially post Covid, has gotten too expensive to live alone. And rent never decreases here. Also, when I was their age i could afford all my bills on $1200 a month before taxes. So no, the boomers need to look at reality and not what they like to preach. And the boomers in Congress need to be thrown the fuck out!
New England. AH!!! I have lived in 4 midwestern states - which are all cheaper than coasts. I was in Chicago 11 yrs though, which is, they say, "the 3rd coast".
I wonder if the policies of the these Left enclaves use the ClowardPiven strategy of CAUSING societal devastations to produce collapse that REQUIRES their take-over. It seems to be working that way.... EU....CA... Biden.. 'Green' & Open borders- that combo alone - would destroy a nation. Deny REALITY.
Those condescending responses are exactly where the “Okay Boomer” memes originated
😆 Love that meme!!!
Much of what Jeff said was exactly what Nick Fuentes has been saying as well. And yeah, he gets a LOT of pushback!
Catturd went on a rant yesterday about all the people with $1400 phones.
He seems to think anyone who struggles financially is only struggling because they get the latest phones and spend lavishly in other ways.
He a real ugly boomer.
I was a mechanic. Ever since I was six or so. And I did that until I was 40. God, I miss those days. Life was easy, stuff was cheap. I married a pretty girl and fixed up a starter home. We raised three kids and felt genuinely middle-class. I want this for the zoomers.
A quick AI search of the phrase "ride the tiger" got me this:
It comes from the Chinese saying roughly translated as “He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount” (recorded in English by the late 19th century, e.g., in W. Scarborough’s 1875 Collection of Chinese Proverbs).
Imagine waking up to the fact that you've been riding a very wacky Tiger and you need to jump. Wow... sucks to be them.
The commies’ challenge that Carville and Fetterman “start their own party” reminds me a bit of that CA congresswoman who told Elon to F off. He tweeted back “message received” and the rest is history. And karma.
The tiger we've been 'riding' is the Republican leadership one in Congress. Do nothings for main street people. Have voters too scared to dismount for the apocalyptic fear placed in them every 2 years while nothing really changes from Ryan to McCarthy to Johnson, or McConnel to Thune.
Lotta truth there without question. But I’ll that as opposed to what’s on the other side.
Sad thing is, God allowed the Biden administration as a way for us to wake up and wise up. We thought that is what happened in Nov. 2024, only to discover basically the same old same old in Congress. If they literally just did what they said they would do, we wouldn't be in this position. But like a battered spouse married to an alcoholic, we just accept things over and over because "what else can we do".
Why is Thune still in power blocking us? It is because we have a deep problem in the Senate with 80% of the Republican Senators. 6 years was supposed to protect us from immediacy of an election. But it hasn't. It calcified people into positions of ease, prestige, and power.
I am reminded of a famous quote by Archbishop Fulton Sheen, "Sometimes the only way the good Lord can get into some hearts is to break them."
I think it has applicability here in the political scene too.
Primaries got rid of 2 - Cornyn and Cassidy. NC one just saw writing on wall and declined to run anymore. It would be good to get Mike Rogers in MI. Senate should not have moved to elections which are now financed by national (well, private from nationwide) money instead of by state elected legislatures. Amendment # ??.
I surely believe God allows earthly situations to educate us. We are very slow learners!!! I also believe we have a good and special Constitution. But it does need a Godly people, as our Founders knew. PRAY for humility - repentance.
**sweet Scandinavian-style socialists,**
That socialism was made possible by the security umbrella provided by the USA.
Scandinavia socialism had ended up being just as destructive as every other variety. And to think the Swedes guarded themselves for decades from Soviet Communism, only to invite other destructors into the country themselves.
I don’t know if this is true, but I read once that about 20% of the Swedish population is now Somali.
What is wIth all the losers here who think only the war and Epstein files should be written about every freaking day? Go read your commie heroes' stacks. Maybe go back and look at THE LIST!
President Trump should be touting Mike Rowe's program every day and warning young people college isn't the best course if you're taking dumb classes that won't result in a living wage. Parents need to wake up and steer their kids in a better direction!
Here is the link to Mike Rowe’s build freedom jobs program. I’ve sent this to several young people and they’ve already put in their applications. It’s quite amazing 🤩
https://www.buildfreedom.us/?ref=prometheanaction.com
Pass it on let’s help spread the word! 🫶🇺🇸🫶
Vance was recently on Mike Rowe's podcast. Mike said that he'd approached "DC" about his program but didn't hear anything back for 10(?) years until just recently. The Trump admin is now fully supporting this program!
Riley Moore is a West Virginia U.S. Congressman, who learned the trade of welding before getting into Congress. Mike Rowe interviewed him and it was fascinating. He is talking about how many businesses are looking for portable welders. They don’t need full time, long term welders but are always looking for welders with their own portable set ups. He’s trying to find monies to help these new apprenticed welders buy the tools they need to go into portable welders. There are so many ingenious young people who can do great things in the trades if we give them the chance. But the whole mindset has to change. Thank you, Mike Rowe, and the Riley Moore’s, JD Vance’s, leading the way.
The initial news I saw about the Trump admin fully supporting Mike Rowe's program was Mike's program to help provide workers to build AI Data Centers around the country. Not a fan of data centers myself.
Mike Rowe just announced a multi billion deal with the DOD to rebuild the military. He and Hegeseth announced it. That’s what I’m talking about!
Hubby and I watch Mike Rowe on YouTube all the time and he is doing a great job helping today’s young people and the newest program is terrific!!! Yes- spread the word! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
He also has a requirement that there is a love of our country and it's values of hard work, gratitude for our communities, etc. He said if that's not there, it's a tough climb in getting financial assistance.
I blocked all of them long ago. I don’t see a single post like this. I feel bad for those who do.
Same! It's just repetitive and meant to demoralize and discourage, nothing more. Boring and tedious.
Whats with the losers here who turn a blind eye to massive corruption at a global scale because a president tells them to? Or who ignore the massive and repeated campaign promises about no new wars, no regime change, etc?
Now go lick some more boots.
Can we just call Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins Democrats already? When do they actually vote republican?
Their sole job is to fill the R slot in the general election so a real R can’t get elected.
Lol. Right?
Fantastic article.
However, Home of the Brave is underpinning the burrito wars (likely a little ccp money, too). Zoomers' parents have absolutely failed them in teaching any sort of fiscal accountability. As for corporations bemoaning the lack of smart hires due to dumb dei crap in colleges, I know one big one that lost a great kid last year because even though he was perfect for a position, no degree/don't bother. Well, someone else swooped him up and his potential knows no bounds. Warm bodies are nothing if they're incapable of problem solving.
@lis1242498 It’s true that parents have failed to teach their children fiscal responsibility. Yes, everything is more expensive, but young people in America today have so much. Few of them know what true poverty is. They walk around in designer clothing carrying the latest smart phone. In our city, there are food banks in every neighborhood. I was in a rural area in NC recently, wearing jeans with a hole in the knees. An elderly man I was talking to told he that when he was a kid, he had to have patches over the patches on his pants (because his family was so poor). There is a disconnect between what people need, what they think they are entitled to, and what they are willing to sacrifice and work for.
We've met that guy, several times, at a Hayesville food pantry.
I will keep saying this: get foreign investors out of our real estate market. It should be a right of citizenship to own any kind of property in the US. Everyone else should rent from an actual American.
Hello Blackrock!
Since the 80s, housing has been a favorite speculative move for the investor class, in America and also foreign investors who prefer real estate to treasury bonds.
It has skyrocketed since the 2008 bailout, and ongoing funneling of tax money to the speculators.
All those increases in the price of housing go into the coffers of Blackrock and other speculators. And they respond "Thank you, suckers".
Just kidding. They don't say thank you. They feel entitled.
Mrs. RW
I LOL'd!
Rational thinking delivered in a sensible, non-confrontational way, is a beautiful thing.
Thanks for the reminder and the example, Jeff Childers!
Jeff is correct about the Democrat polycrisis, which is partly created by Trump, quite intentionally. He likes to troll them and rile up their radical wing, by (e.g.) bright lines that put him and MAGA on the majority side: deport illegals, two sexes, law and order, etc. Democrats are forced to either agree or be stuck with the unpopular side.
This puts Democrats at a major disadvantage. The DSA is now too big and loud for them to ignore. They’ll have to embrace or denounce them, and either choice hurts their party at the box office.
Too bad Scott Adams is not around to see this. It’s the result of Trump’s brilliant Sun Tzu politics.
Blanche to keep breaking the law and covering for the Epstein class. I remember saying months ago we would never see the meat and potatoes of the files. Yet another broken promise. TAW
Trump Always W ... Wanks? Whines? Wrecks? Wusses-Out? LOL.
You still talking about the Epstein files?
Epstein? What's an Epstein? Didn't you notice that everyone is cheering Operation Epstein ForGetAboutIt? LOL. Distraction da'jour.
Like Massie said "Trump isn't in the files but his billionaire buddies from New York are". Let me translate that for everyone "Trump has the goods on a lot of very powerful people some of whom are above him in the Zionist banking cartel".
America usually has a Rockefeller controlled president but this time you've got a Rothschild controlled president.
Pretty damn close to the truth!
Who has been locked up?
"Her??" Oh wait
That was when I knew the gig was up. One month after winning the biggest upset since Dewy vs Truman, Trump goes from "Lock her up" to "I don't want to hurt the Clintons. They're good people".
Bill Hicks for the win baby.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIiCjhCBDaM