The two things in life one says are guaranteed include death and taxes, but some come faster than others. For Millennials, is is the former, and at rates faster than their parents.
In the report’s intro, analysts from Moody’s Analytics write that, in examining “millennial health patterns,” they found “several interesting and concerning findings.” Well… Pardon mon Francais, but I’ll freaking say so! Using a combination of data from Blue Cross Blue Shield, the CDC, and prior health studies, the report predicts millennials will achieve the new triple threat of being sicker, broker, and dying younger than the previous generation, Gen X. My fellow millennials have been essentially predicting this very outcome for years, just without all the fancy data, regularly joking that our parents will outlive us. Turns out……we’ve been right the whole time!
The report refers to two potential futures: a “baseline projection,” or what can be expected if we somehow manage to majorly correct the course of things; and a far-scarier “adverse projection,” or what happens if things just continue bumbling along the current path of doom and destruction. According to that adverse projection, millennials can expect at least a 40-percent increase in mortality compared to Gen-Xers at the same age. We (and when I say “we,” I’m referring to my sick peers and myself) can also expect to pay a third more in healthcare costs than the previous generation at the same age, and because of that, make about $4,500 less per year. This all absolutely rips.
The big economic picture looks something like millennials being less able to “contribute” to the “U.S. labor market.” Because we’re expected to be sicker, we’re also expected to be less good at our jobs—because, turns out, sick people aren’t as “productive.” (source)
This one really hits hard for me, because I know it is the truth.
I talk about the Boomers, and while I criticize them hard, I sincerely do not desire ill will for them.
I want their conversion, their salvation, and all the good that they can do while they are still here. The same goes for all generations.
I also have to be honest, and tell things as I see them. I said I would, and I try to keep to that, and many times, the truth really does hurt.
I have said before that I fear there will be a massive Millennial suicide wave. You can read my reasoning in detail in the Shoebat archives, but the short answer is that a combination of debt, nihilism, irreligion, and no family or reason to live will destroy them.
There is a second issue that is also going to take place, which I have been noticing and given the above story, is germane at the time to talk about, and that is the declining health of the Millennials.
Millennials are not getting younger. The oldest is 37, and the youngest is 25. They are already working and in careers.
However, they know there is no future.
Every generation has its struggles. However, there is no economic future for the Millennials, and they KNOW it. The jobs are being outsourced or Americans are being forced to compete against foreign labor at rock-bottom prices, and when A.I. is factored into this, there is a huge consumer market but only the very wealthy to buy since nobody else can.
What does this lead to? As noted above, for those who do commit suicide, the combination of debt, nihilism, irreligion, and no family or reasons to live lead to substance abuse, overeating, depression, and immense amounts of stress that as one ages directly affects one’s health.
Likewise, many companies are getting rid of insurance, or what insurance that is available is only for at best emergencies, if even effective at all.
For many people, death- NOT suicide -is a financially affordable option as well as a relief from the misery of what has become a slavish existence to a cruel corporate master with no hope of living anywhere near like how their parents did. This becomes compounded when children are involved.
This is a source of the Millennial/Zoomer rage against their parents, for they can watch but cannot partake of the feast that was set for them but was already eaten by the time it was their turn to receive their part. It is not that they are just “spoiled” or “hate” their parents, but that they have legitimate grievances and feel they have no answer other than temporal vengeance, or just have to accept misery.
The fact is, as I have pointed out, there were a lot of factors that combined to create what is life today, and while one can be angry, feelings do not solve problems. Action does, and the only action that Millennials and Zoomers can take is (a) to work as hard as possible and get as much money as they can, (b) to live very simply, even simpler than their parents and sacrificing the good of the now for the future, and (c) to avoid debt by as many means as possible.
There is no easy way out of this situation. It is going to be hard. It is going to hurt one’s health, and from the Millennial perspective, one should not even look at this as helping oneself, but rather having children and using one’s suffering now to help those in the future avoid what is currently happening.
It may be unjust what happened to the Millennials and many Zoomers, but this is not something that could have been stopped by them. Rather, it is for them- speaking as a Millennial taking my own advice on this -to be grateful for what one has, to avoid fomenting intergenerational conflicts, to work very hard, and to pass on what one has earned to future generations so to leverage them back into a better spot.
This is the cross that the Millennials and Zoomers will have to bear. It is going to hurt their health, and at the same time, they should do as much as they are able to in order to care for their physical and mental health, as it can be very easy to “lose” one’s mind with a lot of stress. But there is no other answer to the current crisis, not forgetting the critical nature of prayer and fasting, that from a temporal perspective will have the greatest effect.
The Millennial and Zoomer way, for those who desire righteousness, will be suffering more than their parents. Suffering is not a bad thing, for if God would have His Only Son suffer, why is any man exempt from it? In the midst of the terrifying evils that are drowning society, the suffering, while very uncomfortable and not per se imparting temporal benefits, becomes a union with the suffering of Christ in a very small way that if used appropriately can bring spiritual benefits, for themselves and even their Boomer and Gen X parents.
I don’t say any of this flippantly, or without regard to the serious challenges that many face. Rather, it is the harsh assessment of reality. The suffering is going to happen, but it is for one to choose to suffer in anger and hatred, or to suffer in union with He who suffered for the sake of all men, the former bringing a yield of sorrow and misery, and the latter, while certainly having sorrow and misery, ultimately brings mercy and salvation for many, especially those who do not deserve it.
Millennials and Zoomers generally did not have a choice in the future that was given to them. They do have a choice in how their story will proceed and end.
Make the right choice.