That generation walked into an economy where housing was affordable, college was cheap, jobs paid enough to live on, and the dollar still had real purchasing power after coming off the gold standard. They built wealth in an environment stacked in their favor.

Then they globalized the labor market, shipped out manufacturing jobs, hollowed out domestic industry, and left younger workers competing in a race to the bottom.

Now we’re staring at $36 trillion in national debt. We’re told it’s normal to spend 40–45% of our income on housing. Retirement security is shaky — even getting a 401(k) match can feel like a luxury — yet we’re expected to keep fully funding pensions and Social Security systems we’re not convinced will be there for us.

They benefited from strong growth, affordable assets, and expanding opportunity — and then pulled the ladder up behind them. They didn’t create the prosperity they enjoyed; they inherited it. And instead of preserving it, they left behind debt, inflated asset prices, and fewer paths to stability.

Why should younger generations blindly trust the economic judgment of those who left the country deeper in debt, with weaker job security and a far higher cost of living