General Discussion

Last edited Tue Dec 23, 2025, 11:07 PM - Edit history (1)

Columbine was my senior year of HS. That was really shocking at the time.

That this would later become almost endemic and nothing changed in terms of politics or legislation, is truly shameful. Hell, the victims have just got younger since then. Even more sickening.

Coming back to this poll, the reality is that we have a lot of investment and trading platforms and tools that simply did not exist in the past. For better or worse, this does make the younger generation more likely to believe they will gain a return greater than what SS is going to provide them.

It’s going to be a challenge to simply say, “trust the system”, because as you stated the system has failed. Just to reiterate what 2026 will be about — affordability. That goes for everything — education, health care, housing, food. Everything not only pushes upward, but the wages don’t keep up. It’s not going to get any easier because the entry level jobs they are vying for are most likely to be replaced by AI. In tech, the H1 visa lowers salaries, and pulls down the wage structure especially for entry level workers. I’d be surprised if the H1 lasts much longer given the bipartisan backlash, but a lot of those jobs will likely be outsourced then.

Addressing this will require a new way of thinking about how we provide for our retirements. This isn’t to say, we need to get on board with privatization (a non starter), but taking a less patronizing view that provides for some flexibility on how we save and invest may help.