The End of Opportunity

America’s youth are drowning in a society which cannot adapt

America is in transition. From physical to digital. From on-location to remote. From offline to on.

But there’s a more significant transition going on which is worth talking about.

Our economy now no longer provides opportunities for the average person. This is an issue larger than income disparity. It is also not one which can be solved politically, through more robust social welfare policy or something of that nature.

It’s a sign of a world in flux. The powers that were are no longer the powers that be. Power is shifting overseas, whether we like to admit it or not. And here we remain, clinging to the glory of a time long past, unable to move on, move forward. The solution is not protectionist trade policy, or banning foreign labor; the solution is diversification. But those in power are resisting the only right solution. And that leaves us, the young generation, gasping for air in this sinking economy.

University education is overpriced, and valueless. The things we learned in school do not benefit us in this new economy. The jobs of the elite are still there: the engineers, the bankers. But most of us are not elite.

So we either have to cave and conform. Mold ourselves to the only opportunities left. Or rebel. And rebelling is equivalent to giving up.

Conforming only makes the situation worse. An acceptance of the fact that the opportunities are concentrated in one or two sectors and that if we want to pursue something different, we know the chance of success is low, and so we don’t try.

The days of taking risks are over. Industrialization has had its moment. The tech boom is now led by the big four, or five. But really it is one. The establishment. A rigidity of culture which if you do not conform, you have nowhere to turn.

And so we rebel. More and more we turn to ideologies. We work to make ends meet while spending our free time fighting.

But it’s a fight we cannot win. Because there is nobody with the power to change things.

The more we fight, the more we lose.

Opportunity no longer exists in America for the large portion of us. What do we do, then, if we’d rather not fight? If we rather not conform? Is there anywhere to turn?

Yes.

To find opportunities in the future, we will have to start accepting a globalized world. We will have to integrate, collaborate, cooperate with other countries. We will have to learn new languages, and understand different cultures.

The way out is right in front of our eyes, but we refuse to accept it. If we want to get our country back on track, and find opportunities to realize our potential in this lifetime, we will have to embrace being apart of a larger whole, and not block out the rest of the world, because soon, we will have no choice but to do so.