I Just Came Back From 2044, Here’s What It Looks Like by Solo Ceesay

“What’s next for the average American?” is the million-dollar question, when we’re thinking about the future. I’d go as far as saying the answer has been underneath our noses since long before the current feelings of anxiety and hopelessness started to weigh on our population, most specifically younger generations like Millennials and Gen Z. There are added pressures from historical precedents and dreams that motivated these generations in their early years that have now been reduced to fabled dinner-time stories of yesteryear’s past from out-of-touch Boomers.

Unfortunately, Americans are scratching their heads wondering when, or in more severe cases, if they’ll ever truly reap the benefits of their unwavering nationalistic pride. As a former banker and graduate of Wharton School, I have a deep understanding of how the debt crisis is reaching new heights, social security is eroding in front of our eyes, and fancy degrees and certifications no longer guarantee a $100,000 income. Even so, $100,000 still isn’t enough to comfortably raise, feed, and house a family in most places. That doesn’t even take artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on jobs into account! As a former banker and graduate of Wharton School:

We’ve finally made it to the closing act of the ‘American Dream;’ however, all’s not lost.

Work Harder?

Not once in America’s history has there ever been a more talented workforce. More than 37.5% of U.S. adults are college educated, nearly 5x the 7.7% figure we saw in 1960. Over the same period, the percentage of high school graduates more than doubled as well. During this time, we soared to unprecedented heights through decades of economic prosperity. Rising demand for goods and services accompanied by technological advancement fueled demand for skilled workers — the perfect foundations to sell incomprehensibly expensive college educations. But what happens at saturation? What happens when companies struggle to innovate? Simple. Layoffs. Some gaslighting. Followed by more layoffs.

It was reported in 2023 that 20% of Harvard MBA graduates were jobless three months after graduation despite unemployment hovering around the Fed’s goal of 3.5%. The rise of AI and consolidation at the world’s leading consulting and technology companies has narrowed the playing field, but it’s almost laughable that society’s come to accept this as the ‘new normal.’ Companies like McKinsey have gone as far as paying current employees nine months’ salary to leave to maintain the facade of nonstop growth and expansion. This is a far cry from the recent past when companies begged MBA summer interns to forgo their final year of school in hopes of stopping top talent from reentering the job market. Time’s ticking.

Historically, Americans have been told the secret to success is education. Over the past few decades, this was more or less true. However, in recent years the benefits of a traditional, formal education have become harder to prove. Education is no longer about enriching an individual and subsequently boosting their earning power. Now, the American college system is geared more toward sustaining the system of higher education, itself. The powers that be appear to want more students to blindly invest in a system that yields fewer rewards over time. There’s a reason for this: If the merits of higher education are challenged at scale, financial lenders, universities, and countless other stakeholders will lose a lot of money and governments might lose the trust of their communities.

So What Happens Next?

America was built on the ideology that anything is possible. We were told that hard work and dedication were all anyone ever needed to manifest the life of their dreams. On the back of this simple yet powerful narrative, America became the world’s most powerful country — the land of the free as we like to call it. The U.S. dollar became synonymous with safety and security while countless emigrants fled their homelands in hopes of a better life. Decades later, even the most privileged Americans are struggling to make ends meet, let alone purchase a home — the most prominent staple of that fabled dream. It’s been reported that more than 30% of millennial and Gen Z homeowners received down payment assistance from their parents.

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To understand what’s next, one must understand the incentives of all relevant stakeholders. In this case, that’s the average American, financial institutions, corporations, the government, and various other parties. As the average American grows more hopeless, I believe the risk of economic turmoil grows dramatically. Should there be a large exodus of people who choose to seek opportunity elsewhere, America’s foundation, which always has been built on the back of its people, will increasingly show signs of instability. In many ways, America’s growth was a leveraged bet funded by borrowed funds that went wrong at the expense of future generations. Poor monetary policy and the short-sighted pursuit of unsustainable growth influenced by poor incentives and self-interested political agendas created what we see today. Ultimately, augmented and less ambitious iterations of the American dream allowed the top 1% to extract as much value as possible from the middle class over time. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe that third degree they suggest you get will rid us of inflation and create demand for more jobs.

In Conclusion

It’s hard to say how everything will play out. One thing’s for sure, nowadays anything is possible and within a matter of seconds, everything can change. It has never been more important to question every move you make.

During times of euphoria, it’s easy to follow the trends, and a lot of the time it works out. However, that still doesn’t change the fact that one should only invest in an asset after getting comfortable with it. Similarly, today’s reality isn’t one where the average person can live on autopilot.

We must learn, criticize and assess the situation in front of us if we plan on beating the odds. That may well mean pursuing alternative forms of education or potentially learning a new language and finding work elsewhere. As I said at the beginning, all’s not lost but I’d be willing to bet that future generations won’t get very far doing what their ancestors did.

Originally published at https://www.rollingstone.com on July 25, 2024.