Generation R

I was reading the New York Times and came across this article.

I didn't know whether to laugh or sigh, so let me just quote the best line:

". . . millions of young Americans are facing the reality that manufacturing will no longer serve as a conveyor belt to the middle class."

The article is written as if this is a revelation. The tone gives a sense that those $28 an hour jobs were a right, not a gift they should have known wouldn't last much longer.

But there is a silver lineing in everything. This article is a good demonstration of how people respond to incentives: "Since the recession began, enrollment at [the local community college] has jumped 14 percent, largely because many laid-off workers have returned to school and because the uninviting job market has pushed many high school grads into college."

That being said, we can probably find better incentives than depressingly low wages at Wal-Mart and the grants administered through our arcane financial aid system.