Excellent analysis
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/generation-c-as-in-confused-7d224d24
Generation C as in ‘Confused’
Lucidity will come when they figure out that capitalism will solve their problems.
ET
Recent college graduates are moaning about their struggle to find jobs. Fair enough. But now there’s a backlash on campuses over “career funneling”—schools only allowing interviews on campus for what students consider objectionable jobs, like finance and consulting. Can you spot the contradiction?
A Wellesley College junior, majoring in economics as well as “peace and justice studies,” complained to the Journal about narrow job opportunities. While Wellesley’s economics department offers solid macro and micro courses, even “ECON 312: The Economics of Globalization,” peace and justice studies was new to me. So I did a little digging and found these courses: “PEAC 346: Decolonizing the Bible” and PEAC 205, which lectures students on “how gender as a symbolic construct configures how we make sense of war making and peacebuilding.”
What a disconnect. You’d think learned professors would teach that capitalism drives peace and justice, while constantly failing socialism delivers, I don’t know, human-rights-abusing Cuba and Venezuela? No cap, that’s sus (translation: no lie, that’s suspicious). Universities are living contradictions.
I fear we are turning out the most confused generation, with an affliction of contradiction. I’ve written before about Cy-Bos—cyber bohemian quitters—and Gen G—generation guilty. Now we have Gen C, for confused. You can’t blame them; look at the Sybil-like multipersonality splits at Wellesley and most universities.
I have to believe that most corporate recruiters by now see “peace and justice” and other squishy majors as red flags after marketing disasters by social-justice warriors. You know, how marketing executive Alissa Heinerscheid destroyed Bud Light, how Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino botched a logo rebranding, and how Target offered “tuck-friendly” product selections. Billions of dollars were lost in stunts like those. Justice jobs are sparse for a reason. And this before artificial intelligence kicks in.
Maybe government can help. Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) tweeted, “We need regulations that prevent companies from using AI to eliminate jobs to extract greater profits.” Mr. Khanna was the 2020 campaign co-chair for democratic socialist (another contradiction) Bernie Sanders. He somehow represents prosperity-creating Silicon Valley. Make sense?
Young people complain (and yes, I’m generalizing) about affordability and food deserts while sipping Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccinos at Starbucks. They demand land acknowledgments but have no sense of history. They stand for “gender equality” but sing along to vile and misogynist music. They love actress Sydney Sweeney in shows like “Euphoria” but hate her for not apologizing for her great jeans or genes. They love to be influencers but are closed-minded and uninfluenceable. They abhor violence but play gory videogames. I recently learned of “classy trashy” parties. I overheard, “Let’s dress up, like, for an Oscars party, drink champagne and then order in pizza and wings.” For the record, Buffalo chicken wings are messy but never trashy.
Capitalism is messy, so it’s considered trash. And Gen C will loudly and proudly tell you this via Instagram and TikTok from their $1,000 parent-bought iPhones as if these things magically appear. No way were they created from the blood, sweat and beers of toiling engineers, massive amounts of human ingenuity melded with trillions in capital delivered along land, ship and jet trade routes.
Gen C hates the newly minted billionaires who provide these products and services because, well, it isn’t fair. So they vote for democratic socialists like New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, demand free goodies, and agree there shouldn’t be billionaires because everything they have all magically appeared, remember? Yes, even Wellesley econ majors must recognize they’re voting for their own demise via expensive free stuff.
Gen C want jobs that make the world better. Who doesn’t? Yes, we need museum curators to spread history and knowledge, but not ideology. Yes, we need artists to inspire but not twist their work to advertise the justicey message du jour. We even need the Greta Thunbergs of the world to champion issues from start to finish, but not angrily hop from one to the next, green to Gaza, to feed the news cycle. I respect their passion but sure wish it were directed to something useful.
There is poverty. Capitalism is solving it. U2 singer Bono reluctantly admitted this in 2022. “There’s a funny moment when you realize that as an activist: The off-ramp out of extreme poverty is, ugh, commerce, it’s entrepreneurial capitalism.” Ugh?
There is pollution. Capitalism is solving it. It’s helping the move from coal to fracked oil and natural gas to nukes. High-school reading levels are atrocious. Capitalism can fix it—especially if we could break the stranglehold of teachers’ unions and allow self-paced and technology-reinforced education.
There is disease and human suffering. Capitalism is solving it. Not by giving away free stuff, but by rolling up our sleeves and doing the hard and expensive work of drug discovery and disease eradication.
When Gen C eventually figures this out, their confusion will end.
Write to kessler@wsj.com.
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