Is there a too young to care?

Mark Twain has said that "history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."

We are in a challenging environment that echos of the Great Depression. The greatest theft of our lives didn't happen with a $700 billion dollar bailout legislation - it happened with our future. The prosperity of the young, up and coming, professionals has suffered a major heart attack at the hands of the expiring generation and no one of my age seems to care. It makes me question, at what age do we begin to care about our future?

You are lead to believe that there is pride and honor in selling yourself for monotonous labor. If you staple enough papers or answer calls with extra chipper, you are a valued member of a society that honors your life. But the moment business slows, the first action is to leave you jobless. Leaders hail soldiers as heroes and patriots, yet 1 in every 4 homeless people are veterans. It's a sad deal. Your loyalty is sold and never returned. And still, we love to point our noses above others because arbitrary seniorship was added to our title.

The truth is that you are an indentured servant. You are a slave with pay. Corporations, companies, and entrepreneurs are the machines that add value to society. The rest of us are merely the grease between the wheels.

We should be mad as hell and not take this anymore. We should be using our voice and sharing our thoughts to create a future we deem fit, rather than simply accepting the scraps our elders are leaving us with. This is supposed to be a democracy where our voice can be heard. Why do we choose to be silent and complacent with the robbery of our future?

The American system certainly does reward those with ambition. But it also punishes those stuck in the middle class. If you knew the rules of the game, you would see that working a typical 9 to 5 is among the worst of decisions.

Did you know that Social Security tax is only paid on income of up to $90,000? That's right! The rich pay LESS for the welfare of retirees than most of us.

Who's looking out for you? The person that manages your 401k? Ha! The truth is that no one is looking out for your well-being. And still, you pride yourself on filing enough papers to ensure the well-being of your boss.

If you were to invest solely in US treasuries, you can actually save a healthy amount of money for retirement with almost no risk. Has anyone ever taught you how? I doubt most of you know. Everyone just talks about their 401k or IRA, but few of us really understand the rules. A 3% annual yield on a savings bond can equal a little under a 6% annual yield in a bank savings account. But heck, you don't want to be a person...you'd rather be an associate...

Do you even know who the BEST business customer in the nation is? It's the US government. Did you honestly believe that tax dollars were all spent on salaries and fixing roads? The federal government AND the state government operate by contracting business with Joe Schmo. Best of all, the government never defaults on payments for these contracts. There's even a secondary market for these deals.

For a monetary culture, it's astonishing how little is taught in personal finance. The system doesn't teach you the fundamentals. What is taught is how to obey orders (whether it's in a classroom or anywhere else). Our parents were once able to provide for a family with a high school education. How far has your bachelor's degree gotten you? The unemployment rate for new graduates is over 7%, and the number of graduates whose work dramatically undervalues their education is speculated to be very significant. Unless you rank among the top 10% of your class, it might not make financial sense to expand your education before beginning your career.

It's unfortunate how near-sighted our values often are. Ben Franklin has said that "they who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." The power of his words ring more clear with recent events.

Too often are we quick to act petty when there are pennies left on the table. If only we realized that competition is global, maybe there would be less deceit and more cooperation among neighbors.

America does not want a nation of employees. America loves entrepreneurship and ambition. The American dream is to create your life the way you want it. The dream was to assemble with those of similar ambitions and prosper through cooperation. Why have we been lead to believe that we deserve less?