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One Millennial's Thoughts from the Coffee Shop


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My Dad sent me this.  I didn't know where to put it so ding dong - I started a thread for it. 

I'm not familiar with the website but I liked her perspective.    She reminds us that for all of our issues, America is blessed beyond any other in so many ways.  She notes that we have an 'entitlement and a ungratefulness' problem.

From their website:

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Alpha News uses advanced social media and online technology platforms to deliver important news programming to audiences everywhere in Minnesota. Alpha News reports on issues relating to local, state and federal government, as well as the people and personalities involved. Unlike traditional media, our programming goes beyond the headlines and focuses on issues of local interest that consistently go unreported.

Our news is fueled by citizens and their interests. If you have an idea for a story, please email us at contactus@alphanewsmn.com. We often feature stories from many writers and encourage citizens of Minnesota to submit original content

 

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https://alphanewsmn.com/thoughts-from-a-hipster-coffee-shop/

from the article:

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I’m sitting in a small coffee shop near Nokomis trying to think of what to write about. I scroll through my newsfeed on my phone looking at the latest headlines of Democratic candidates calling for policies to “fix” the so-called injustices of capitalism. I put my phone down and continue to look around. I see people talking freely, working on their MacBook’s, ordering food they get in an instant, seeing cars go by outside, and it dawned on me. We live in the most privileged time in the most prosperous nation and we’ve become completely blind to it. Vehicles, food, technology, freedom to associate with whom we choose. These things are so ingrained in our American way of life we don’t give them a second thought. We are so well off here in the United States that our poverty line begins 31 times above the global average. Thirty. One. Times. Virtually no one in the United States is considered poor by global standards. Yet, in a time where we can order a product off Amazon with one click and have it at our doorstep the next day, we are unappreciative, unsatisfied, and ungrateful.

Our unappreciation is evident as the popularity of socialist policies among my generation continues to grow. Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said to Newsweek talking about the millennial generation, “An entire generation, which is now becoming one of the largest electorates in America, came of age and never saw American prosperity.”

Never saw American prosperity. Let that sink in. When I first read that statement, I thought to myself, that was quite literally the most entitled and factually illiterate thing I’ve ever heard in my 26 years on this earth. Now, I’m not attributing Miss Ocasio-Cortez’s words to outright dishonesty. I do think she whole-heartedly believes the words she said to be true. Many young people agree with her, which is entirely misguided. My generation is being indoctrinated by a mainstream narrative to actually believe we have never seen prosperity. I know this first hand, I went to college, let’s just say I didn’t have the popular opinion, but I digress.

Let me lay down some universal truths really quick. The United States of America has lifted more people out of abject poverty, spread more freedom and democracy, and has created more innovation in technology and medicine than any other nation in human history. Not only that but our citizenry continually breaks world records with charitable donations, the rags to riches story is not only possible in America but not uncommon, we have the strongest purchasing power on earth, and we encompass 25% of the world’s GDP. The list goes on. However, these universal truths don’t matter. We are told that income inequality is an existential crisis (even though this is not an indicator of prosperity, some of the poorest countries in the world have low-income inequality), we are told that we are oppressed by capitalism (even though it’s brought about more freedom and wealth to the most people than any other system in world history), we are told that the only way we will acquire the benefits of true prosperity is through socialism and centralization of federal power (even though history has proven time and again this only brings tyranny and suffering).

Why then, with all of the overwhelming evidence around us, evidence that I can even see sitting at a coffee shop, do we not view this as prosperity? We have people who are dying to get into our country. People around the world destitute and truly impoverished. Yet, we have a young generation convinced they’ve never seen prosperity, and as a result, elect politicians dead set on taking steps towards abolishing capitalism. Why? The answer is this, my generation has ONLY seen prosperity. We have no contrast. We didn’t live in the great depression, or live through two world wars, or see the rise and fall of socialism and communism. We don’t know what it’s like not to live without the internet, without cars, without smartphones. We don’t have a lack of prosperity problem. We have an entitlement problem, an ungratefulness problem, and it’s spreading like a plague.

With the current political climate giving rise to the misguided idea of a socialist utopia, will we see the light? Or will we have to lose it all to realize that what we have now is true prosperity? Destroying the free market will undo what millions of people have died to achieve.

My generation is becoming the largest voting bloc in the country. We have an opportunity to continue to propel us forward with the gifts capitalism and democracy has given us. The other option is that we can fall into the trap of entitlement and relapse into restrictive socialist destitution. The choice doesn’t seem too hard, does it?

 

 

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This is the dumbest kind of conservative propaganda, but the kind grandma and grandpa eat up and forward on because it's all "Rah! Rah! 'MERICA!" and stuff.

 

Because America is more prosperous than poverty-stricken countries, no one in America can be downtrodden?

 

Because some impoverished countries have small income inequality, Americans can't be adversely affected by income inequality, or income inequality isn't a problem?

 

Because some socialist countries have had tyranny and suffering, it will always lead to that, while (the implication is) capitalism won't?  Sweden and Iceland say hello from the world of socialism. Greece and Portugal say hello from the world of capitalism. These kinds of absolute statements are stupid.

 

But, consider the source:

 

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In review, Alpha News reports news with poor sourcing such as using a Facebook page as a primary source: Gun-Control Group Issues Apology after Blaming Pro 2nd Amendment Groups and referring to their own experiences such as here: Anti-Sharia, ANTIFA, and Assault. Story selection always favors the right with almost daily negative coverage of Muslims and in particular Rep. Ilhan Omar. When reporting on Muslims it is always negative, typically focusing on crimes they have committed or to illicit fear.

 

Alpha News routinely makes questionable claims such as this: New Evidence Supports Claims That Ilhan Omar Married Her Brother. This is an unproven conspiracy theory. In general, Alpha News reports news that is always favorable to the right and denigrates the left.

 

Overall, we rate Alpha News Questionable based on extreme right bias, poor sourcing of information, promotion of conspiracy theories and anti-Islamic propaganda, as well as a lack of transparency regarding ownership. (M. Huitsing 8/16/2017) Updated (4/19/2019)

 

 

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I believe people should take an inventory of their lives and find things they can be grateful for.  But I also believe at the same time people should take an inventory of their lives and find things they can make better.

 

It is possible to be grateful and want more at the same time.

 

 

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21 minutes ago, RedDenver said:

knapplc covered most of my reply, but I'll also add that millennials are the first generation that's expected to have a worse life economically than the generation before them. And that's despite millennials being better educated on average.

America’s Millennials Are Waking Up to a Grim Financial Future

The millennial disadvantage is real: Most millennials are worse off financially than parents

 

It is heavily caused by the greed and entitlement of the Baby Boomer generation, who has caused many of the problems that this editorial claims are not problems.

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I dont' necessarily disagree with some of her thoughts - but will add that the time that American was seen to be the "greatest" was exactly when many 'socialist" ideas were put into place to make it so.  

 

She's just young - I say good on her for having some opinion or at least being open to discussion.

 

And I echo RedDenver - she's going to have a rude awakening unless she's born into a wealthy family.  All that "prosperity" she sees is short lived for her generation.

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I agree that we often take our historically privileged position for granted. Maybe we're even spoiled. Horribly spoiled.

 

But please.

 

Her anecdotal observations in a coffee shop where she is admittedly scrapping for something to write about, is the definition of shallow, and the moment she hangs this on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she exposes her one-note agenda. 

 

I'm 59, and I'm genuinely sorry for the s#!t my generation has laid at the feet of Millennials. Income inequity is most definitely a thing. The next generation will be spending a third or more of their income on healthcare --- that's a different America and it's insane. They will likely make less money and die younger than their parents, the first generation in modern times to regress. America is tumbling down the first world standings on any number of things, mostly troublingly in how we educate and treat our children. The same children who are at a statistically higher risk of being killed by gunfire than active U.S. service members. That's neither good, nor normal. The definition of "prosperity" has also shifted dramatically, and that's where the 1% vs 99% thing comes in. Her publishers at Alpha News court working and middle class Americans to feel sorry for the real victims of class warfare --- the billionaires. Again: insane. 

 

We also f#&%ed up the Earth pretty bad, but by her reasoning if you can afford a latte and a cell phone you have no room to complain. 

 

And if you really want to dig into this, her "universal truths" about America's greatness are not necessarily universal or truthful. 

 

Interestingly enough, it was Donald Trump who ran on the platform "The American Dream is Dead!"

 

Look it up, coffee shop girl. 

 

 

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My thoughts in posting it was to emphasize  the positive. In the era of Trump and in spite of him, there are still things to be positive about.   Yes there are major issues to resolve and yes we have a dufus in the WH that makes it worse but we still have a lot of benefits in this country to not take for granted.  We should not discount the issues that need to be resolved (as mentioned by several above) but yet at the same time - only looking at the issues and not the blessings makes for one negative person.  On HB we are too often focused on the negative- me included.  

 

 

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In fairness, I remind my teenage kids all the time how lucky they have it. Given the times and places a young person could have lived in this world, they hit the jackpot -- with the possible exception of still looming catastrophic climate change and return to violent nationalism.

 

That's why I'd never tell them to shut up and be grateful. There's a lot out there worth fighting for. 

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3 minutes ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

In fairness, I remind my teenage kids all the time how lucky they have it. Given the times and places a young person could have lived in this world, they hit the jackpot -- with the possible exception of still looming catastrophic climate change and return to violent nationalism.

 

That's why I'd never tell them to shut up and be grateful. There's a lot out there worth fighting for. 

Amen.  I was talking to a friend the other day and we were concerned about those 2 items for our kids and grandkids - what kind of world will they get. 

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17 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

My thoughts in posting it was to emphasize  the positive. In the era of Trump and in spite of him, there are still things to be positive about.   Yes there are major issues to resolve and yes we have a dufus in the WH that makes it worse but we still have a lot of benefits in this country to not take for granted.  We should not discount the issues that need to be resolved (as mentioned by several above) but yet at the same time - only looking at the issues and not the blessings makes for one negative person.  On HB we are too often focused on the negative- me included.  

 

 

 

 

The tone of her writing was extremely negative, trying to minimize legitimate issues people in this country face and the country itself faces. The whole point was to belittle those people.

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17 minutes ago, Moiraine said:

 

 

The tone of her writing was extremely negative, trying to minimize legitimate issues people in this country face and the country itself faces. The whole point was to belittle those people.

 

Negative and just flat out wrong. No elected politician is attempting to "Destroy the free market" like she says. Trying to enact policies so people don't drown in obscene student loan debt, or medical bills isn't an attempt to create a "Socialist Utopia" it's an attempt to get us caught up to the rest of the developed world. Most policies proposed by the left have been proven effective through out our contemporary nations. Blatantly uninformed articles like this do not further any kind of dialogue.  

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It honestly reads as someone who can't or won't tolerate any critique of capitalism whatsoever. We can only consider the good aspects of capitalism and the bad aspects of socialism. The free market itself, left alone, will forgive all sins and provide all that we need.

 

Pieces like this are meant to head off any legitimate criticism of American capitalism, because the flaws and imperfections are becoming more and more apparent.

 

 

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