Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: Dealing with Reality

Over the past few weeks I’ve come face to face with the realization of just what faces many of America’s youth today (myself Included) and it frightens me.  Aging in this world where nothing is what it seems, and knowing exactly how to plan or prepare for the future seems antiquated and depressing.  For many friends and some family members of mine, finding work in today’s economy has become a task filled with stress, frustration, and ultimately depression.

When I was a kid my parents kept drilling into me and my siblings heads that we go to school, stay on our books, and get a good job when we graduated.  The problem with that mode of thinking, I’ve found is while being educated is definitely better than not, the cost of education has gotten so out of control and the lack of high paying or even living wage jobs is such that the advice given by my parents no longer applies.

Quite frankly, it hasn’t applied for much longer than I think most people realize.  I listened to my parents got decent grades, graduated from school only to find that there were no jobs when I finished college.  I took whatever was available to me back then and hoped things would get better.

Years have flown by and now my younger siblings, nieces, and nephews are finding out just how hard it is to get by these days especially living in NYC.  Everything costs more and more as the value of the U.S. dollar steadily declines.  I’ve had jobs I never thought in a million years I’d end up having just to put food on the table and keep clothes on my back.  Then there’s the health insurance costs.  Staying healthy is where the real wealth is.

I’m not quite sure how “ObamaCare” will work or benefit us all in the long run but I do know that right now it’s critical that one has a skill/trade that can be used to make money because (personally) long gone are those old days of taking out large amounts of money on student loans for job fields that don’t pay even half what the educational costs are for those choosing to pursue higher education degrees.

It’s like degrees for what? There are no jobs when you’re done, unless you plan to create your own business or happen to find work in a high paying high demand field like nursing.  Sick people are big business.  And everything appears to be a hustle.