Scarlett Says No

Clear information. Sharp Opinions.

Category: Millennials

  • When Did Everything Become Your Problem?

    When Did Everything Become Your Problem?

    Somewhere Along the Way, They Changed the Deal

    Nobody announced it.

    There wasn’t a national speech.

    No parade.

    No headline.

    But somewhere along the way, America quietly changed the deal.

    There was a time when employers took responsibility for more than your paycheck.

    If you worked hard and stayed loyal, many companies promised a pension.

    Healthcare in retirement was more common.

    College didn’t require decades of debt.

    A single income could often buy a home and support a family.

    Was life perfect?

    Of course not.

    But something fundamental has changed.

    Today, if you can’t afford college…

    That’s your problem.

    If your medical bills bankrupt you…

    That’s your problem.

    If housing prices outrun your paycheck…

    That’s your problem.

    If your retirement account loses half its value because the stock market crashes the year before you retire…

    That’s your problem too.

    Look closely and you’ll notice a pattern.

    The risks didn’t disappear.

    They changed owners.

    The responsibility that businesses and institutions once carried has been steadily shifted onto ordinary people.

    When pensions gave way to 401(k)s, companies didn’t just change retirement plans.

    They changed who carried the risk.

    If the investments failed, workers paid the price.

    Not the company.

    That wasn’t an accident.

    It was a business decision.

    And it wasn’t the only one.

    Over the past forty years we’ve watched more and more of life’s biggest risks land squarely on the shoulders of the people least able to absorb them.

    Healthcare.

    Housing.

    Higher education.

    Retirement.

    Meanwhile, corporate profits reached record highs, CEO pay exploded, and workers were told to budget better, skip the avocado toast, and somehow invest their way to security.

    Here’s the question I can’t stop asking.

    When did America stop asking, “How do we build a country where hard work leads to security?”

    And start asking, “Why didn’t you prepare better?”

    Some people will tell you that’s just capitalism.

    Others will tell you that’s just life.

    Scarlett calls it something else.

    A broken deal.

    And maybe it’s time we stopped pretending nobody noticed.

    Scarlett says no.

  • The Generation War Is a Distraction

    The Generation War Is a Distraction

    Spend five minutes online and you’ll find someone blaming Boomers for everything.

    Housing prices.

    Student debt.

    Healthcare costs.

    Stagnant wages.

    Retirement insecurity.

    Climate change.

    Pick a problem and somewhere, someone is explaining why an entire generation is responsible.

    It’s a convenient story.

    It’s also a distraction.

    Most Boomers weren’t CEOs. They weren’t senators. They weren’t hedge fund managers, corporate lobbyists, or billionaires writing tax policy.

    They were teachers, mechanics, nurses, factory workers, office staff, firefighters, truck drivers, small business owners, and parents trying to keep food on the table.

    Just like most Millennials.

    Just like most Gen Xers.

    Just like most Gen Z workers today.

    The average person wasn’t sitting around in the 1970s plotting how to make housing unaffordable fifty years later.

    They were working.

    Raising families.

    Paying bills.

    Trying not to drown.

    That doesn’t mean mistakes weren’t made. Policies were passed. Industries changed. Wealth became increasingly concentrated. Labor protections weakened. Housing became an investment vehicle instead of simply a place to live.

    But those decisions weren’t made by millions of ordinary people acting in unison.

    They were made by people with power.

    And that’s where the conversation should be.

    Because while we’re busy arguing about whether Boomers ruined everything or whether younger generations are entitled, the people who actually shape the rules rarely face the same scrutiny.

    The generation war is useful because it redirects anger.

    Instead of asking why housing is increasingly unaffordable, people blame Boomers.

    Instead of asking why wages haven’t kept pace with productivity, people blame Millennials.

    Instead of asking why young adults are struggling to get established, people blame Gen Z.

    Everyone gets a villain.

    Nobody examines the system.

    The truth is that most Americans, regardless of age, have far more in common with one another than they do with the people making the biggest decisions.

    Most people want decent schools.

    Affordable housing.

    Accessible healthcare.

    Safe communities.

    A fair shot.

    The generations aren’t the enemy.

    They’re simply different groups of people trying to survive under the same set of rules.

    And the longer we spend fighting each other, the less likely we are to ask who benefits from the fight in the first place.

    Maybe that’s why the generation war never seems to end.

    It’s a remarkably effective distraction.

    Scarlett says follow the money.