Recently a young person who was born in 2000, who has a good life compared to most of the world, stated that Boomers had ruined the economy and his generation was screwed. I chuckled and let him know the wrongness of the propaganda he was repeating. “You’ll have to go back several centuries if you want to blame “greedy capitalists” for today’s economy. However, I explained, without those early business men and investors you’d have a much lower standard of living. And you can complain about the imbalance of power in the employee/employer relationship and the wide gap in pay, but are you willing to build your own business?

The real world is not a mythical kindergarten where everyone is provided the same crayons and snack and juice and a turn on the swings and then put down for a nap. But thanks to generations of entrepreneurs and inventors and investors and hard-working business owners, you young people have the luxury of complaining that you’re not paid enough for job that could easily be eliminated.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your expectations for an easy and “equal” life have been artificially created by social media. Reality can be a shock, I know. But the good news is that you have been provided with a very good starting point for your future. You get free education, plenty of food, internet access to more information than you can use, laws that protect you from discrimination and criminals, technology that performs formerly back breaking and tedious labor at the push of a button, antibiotics and pain medication, cars, roads and GPS to find your way, and the list of modern marvels goes on. These things are available for a much lower price than you might expect thanks to the power of the free market. In the past only rich people had such luxuries. But the standard of living even for the poor is better now than it was for the rich just a century ago! Americans are actually more equally prosperous and free than they ever have been , thanks to Boomers.

The reason things seem bad is because the global economy is changing. Your generation is going to have to face some hard times but it’s not because of Boomers. As more countries enter the global market, there will be more competition, and prices will come down, along with profits. But competition will benefit us all in the long run.

The Bible talks about people whose “god is their belly.” In those days the belly was considered the source of emotions. So if your god was your belly , you were controlled by your emotions. That’s not good . Being too emotional makes you a slave and over reactive to challenges. It steals your ability to solve problems and help others and leads you into depression and hopelessness. It distorts your perspective on reality.

The solution is to make the true God your god, then practice self-control, self-discipline, love, patience, peace, gratitude, kindness, etc. work hard to help others , stop being envious, lazy, and offended, and selfish. If you do this, you will be able to see how blessed you are and find opportunities for improvement and growth. Pray, seek and praise the Lord daily and you won’t be disappointed.