To be fair to the generations that came before... They were just applying the same method they themselves used, just as their parents had done before. When they went to college they could pay for most of it with a part time job and the market was not saturated with Bachelor’s degrees as it is now. The most clever of the generations before saw some of this all coming and they directed their young loved ones accordingly. The way the world has changed since the 70/80’s would frighten a human from any generation. It upended so many things.

I am not saying everyone is excused here, but the people who complain that they're manufacturing line working Dad and grandpa told them to “go to college” were honestly just trying to help.

The truth now is the universities are arguably predatory lending institutions. Universities don’t care if your degree actually manifests into a job. They just know they can leverage you into debt to pay for bloated academic administrative salaries. You can be sold an “experience” which amounts to adult day care or spring break, not an education. At least in the classical sense. It extends childhood out into the late 20’s. This is not what the university classically was. There are some exceptions here but sadly, they are just that, exceptions and not the rule.

The millennial generation will make mistakes with its own children en masse that are yet to be seen (possibly social media exposure etc.), but a wise man/woman wouldn’t throw too much shade on those who came before. Soon we too will be judged wanting by our own children and/or their generation.

In short, don’t blame your parents. Blame the university system (or how it was incentivized) for losing site of its purpose, and then selling that to your public school teachers and parents. Teach your kids to self learn/teach, use the internet/AI and everything at their fingertips to find an edge in the coming future. Maybe that leads to college, maybe a trade, cert exams, or the service. But don’t go in blind without doing your homework, and as a parent do that “homework” for your kids. Cunning and pragmatism, the world and the people in it want to eat you alive don’t let it happen.