LETTER: Stop pointing fingers, make U.S. better for young people

To Ozaukee Press:

I found the letter to the editor from an independent voter in last week’s Ozaukee Press criticizing proposed government aid programs, including those that would help college students, very interesting. I had just finished reading an article in The Week magazine about the cost of home ownership and the growing housing crisis in America.

I live in a condo overlooking Lake Michigan, and after 53 years of marriage enjoy a comfortable retirement, one my husband and I worked hard to achieve.
But we’ve talked so many times about how, when we left college, the American Dream stretched out in front of us and step by step we walked along that road, finding stability and success with each opportunity. We owned homes, raised two kids and sent them to college (paying for it with our savings). Everything worked out just fine.

Today, according to the The Week, “Young adults are one-third less likely to be homeowners than the previous generation was at the same age, and nearly two-thirds of renters say they cannot afford a house.

“Nearly half of all renters are cost-burdened, meaning they spend at least 30% of their income on rent. Since 1960, renters’ average earnings have increased 5% as rents have jumped 61%.

“Today, a full-time minimum-wage worker can afford a two-bedroom apartment in precisely zero U.S. counties; on average it would take clocking 127 hours a week at the federal minimum wage to make paying for one possible.”

We were stunned by this information and contemplated what these conditions would have meant to us when we left college and Dave started his career in commercial insurance.

When my husband and I graduated from Ripon College in 1968, he had a student loan and work grant; I did not. Room, board and tuition were aboutm$3,000 per year at the time. Today a year at Ripon costs $54,588. (We slowly paid off his loans, which totaled less than $8,000 for his four years at Ripon.)

So, today, just how does a college grad contemplate paying off huge student loans so that he or she can purchase a car, buy a house, take a vacation, buy clothes and do all the other daily things that keep America’s economy running.

Might we need, as a country, to come up with ways that make college more affordable? Do we need to find ways to assist our citizens? Is our current gap between the haves and the have-nots sustainable? Does putting a label on a program (socialism) make it evil? Do we need our elected officials to find ways to work together to maybe change a system where it needs to be changed and support the system where it is working well?

I don’t care what you call yourself. Democrat, Republican, independent and  democratic socialist are all just labels and they have changed over time. Republicans just after World War II supported many of the platforms now labeled Democratic or socialist.

Let’s stop pointing fingers. Let’s reach across the aisle and find good ideas and programs no matter who comes up with them. And let’s make America better for today’s young people and future generations. Let’s try talking to one another. Or better yet, let’s listen to one another.

The American work ethic worked for us; it may not be enough for today’s young generations.

Linn Woodard
Port Washington