Most of us know someone who constantly complains about millennials, claiming that all they want is “free stuff.” “Jimmy Rat” is one of those people. He recently posted a photo to his Facebook page of a military recruitment facility with a caption that read, “This is the government office where you can apply for your free college.” His post was an attempt to mock Bernie Sanders supporters, but an anonymous user took one look at it and destroyed him!
The anonymous user’s response is not only a clever take down of Jimmy Rat, but it is also a brilliant response to all of the older generation who likes to think of millennials as entitled. Clearly, the anonymous response resonated with a lot of other users because it rapidly went viral.
Here is what the anonymous commenter had to say: “The whole ‘join the military if you want free education’ thing is bs. You shouldn’t have to go through severe physical and psychological reconditioning, risk your life, or sign up for a war that you are morally opposed to in order to get an affordable education.”
That was just his opening line. As the conversation continued, he decided to drop in some statistics to support his statements.
“Annual tuition for Yale, 1970: $2,500.
Annual tuition for Yale, 2014: $45,800.
Minimum Wage, 1970: $1.45.
Minimum Wage, 2014: $7.25.
Assuming you work every single day for the 4 years of your undergrad (1460 days) and every single penny you make goes to tuition (and tax deductions aren’t factored in)…
Daily hours at minimum wage needed to pay for tuition in 1970: 4.72
Daily hours at minimum wage needed to pay for tuition in 2014: 17.31.”
These numbers prove that the older generation had far better conditions to receive an affordable education than the so called “entitlement generation” does today.
As powerful as his words are, we all know it is easy to read someone’s Facebook post and form an opinion. How can we be sure this anonymous user is correct? Thankfully, the Yale Daily News has performed and published its own studies on this topic so there is additional proof to back him up.
The facts are on his side, and he is serving up a huge helping of truth. He continues his commenting, and he shows how the older generation is actually responsible for America’s current economic situation. Then he finishes his post with this powerful conclusion:
“So no, I’m not asking for ‘free’ anything. I’m aware that such things don’t exist. I’m simply asking that we be given the same opportunities as the generations before us without being called the ‘entitled, selfish, lazy generation.’ We are adapting as best we can to the mess that was handed to us by a generation far more entitled than our own.”