The Lost Generation

A recent survey of college students asked what places they wanted to work had the number one result as Disney. Number two was Google. Also in the top five was the State Department, the FBI and the CIA. The study indicates that college students want to devote their time to public service. However, there is still a question as to what parts of public service will be filled by Generation X and subsequent generations.

New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney, Chris Christie, gave a speech during which he recited a story from when he spoke to an elementary class. At that time he asked how many of them wanted to be President of the United States when they grew up. According to the U.S. Attorney, none of the students raised their hands. The U.S. Attorney attributed this lack of desire to be in politics and public service to the perception of corruption in politics. While his address focused on the corruption in New Jersey, the national news has been focusing on Abramoff, Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Delay, Porter Goss’s attendance at poker and hooker parties, etc. Their actions and all of this Administration’s the misdeeds has taken a toll on those who may come afterward.

Kennedy inspired a generation of people to want to become part of government and make a difference in others lives. Reagan began killing this idea by espousing tax cuts and destruction of the social safety net that was built during the Johnson and Nixon Administrations. These beliefs have crescendoed with this Administration and the belief that starving the beast and destruction of government is necessary. The past twenty plus years has made the government the villain which has reduced people’s desire to be part of government.

Another impediment people becoming governmental leaders is the financial aspect. As government starves the beast higher education has suffered. The grants that used to be given to students to pay for school have dried up because the federal funding has been reduced. Now students are ever more reliant on loans that need to be paid off upon graduation. Further, the Administration has made the loans more expensive by removing the government subsidy of interest payments while the student is in school. Thus, the students will have the interest compound on the loan for the four to five years they are in school and will be in greater debt upon graduation. Lastly, public institutions have lost funding from the federal government and have had to pass the additional costs onto the students thereby making it more expensive for the students to go to school, which means the interest that is getting compounded into the student loans is increasing faster because the principal is higher. In the end, the banks are going to make a lot more money than they used to and the students will be saddled with a significantly larger debt than they would have had just a generation ago. The end result is that the debt forces people to seek out the higher paying jobs, not the jobs they want to take which may be with the government or a non-profit organization.

The inspiration of a generation ago is gone. Piece by piece the past twenty years of leadership has dismantled what we were and what we wanted to be. The leadership has catered to businesses to ensure them profits and a beholden workforce by removing the government as a competitive or desirable employer. It is no surprise that the number two place college students want to work has the motto of "Do no evil" and pays a lot. Maybe its time for the government to adopt a similar motto and become part of the solution as it was trying to be under Kennedy’s watch.