Munch on a Bunch (of links) for Lunch

Since you're already here, you should:

A) "Like" us on Facebook, it takes one move of the mouse and one click in the right sidebar

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B) Check out Steve and Matt's e-mail debate on the White House Secret Service Scandal below

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Kthx. And in general, just be a good scout on this wonderful Tuesday afternoon. Which involves performing the above steps with all due haste and diligence.

Now get this:

1) 1 in 2 recent college graduates in the United States are unemployed or underemployed (i.e. half, 50%, for those of you who are statistically challenged, of recent graduates are jobless or waiting tables at the local Applebee's despite having a B.A./B.S.)

Also, the net worth for young people aged 20-30 in this country is now a whopping $3400 (three-thousand four hundred dollars) plus change.This, accounting for student loans (totaling over $1 trillion nationally), credit card debt, mortgage and automobile loans (i.e. liabilities, so even if you had a job, you'd have to make more than the interest on your various loans combined PLUS all your expenses to save anything at all).

There are tons of articles talking about this tragedy of youth all over the internet. We've really just hit the tip of the iceberg on this issue.



As did they.

More links after the jump...

 2) On the other hand, here the Wall Street Journal laments how the decline of the American economy has reflected the decline of American culture...isn't this basically a chicken-and-egg problem though?

3) Plus, with all this talk of competition, what is the role of creativity in the American economy? A lot, actually - according to Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal, who is a massive genius in putting the monopolizing power of creativity vs. competitiveness in real simple terms:

If you can't beat 'em, out-invent 'em.

I've long argued that too many industries (especially in the U.S., where the competition is second-to-none and the best talent is always in excess supply) compete in zero-sum business environments, leaving very little public benefit behind after a flurry of bankruptcies, mergers & acquisitions, mass layoffs, "restructurings," and hostile takeovers. Any of that ring a bell?

It should, since we pay for all of it in our tax dollars. Just another excellent reason to get out and vote in the coming local, state, and national elections. A vote today could save you THOUSANDS in future tax dollars, or an entire "lost generation" of youth. That is all - draw your own conclusions on who and what to support. But if you can vote, you already have a voice, you just have to use it...or lose it.

Yeah well even if you don't wanna, you still gotta to set a fine American example for all the people still suffering under regimes in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, China, North Korea, Iran...etc. etc. Hey it's all of our favorite places! The places that pretty much loathe us the most! (well Iraq is debatable. And as for China, we definitely have a love-hate kind of thing going on with them)



Then again...we kind of deserve some of the vitriol we get...Or maybe just this fine specimen of the American populace as pictured above does. Also: Ke Sha means "Can Kill" in Chinese #epicwin

Could it be...? That dem hatas..just gon' hate us for having and doing things they never will?? And that we threaten dictatorial regimes and reigning terrorists by our mere existence?? And doing BETTER than them in most if not every meaningful category (with the possible exception of math scores and national savings rates), ALL the time, EVERY time?

*Mind = Blown*

Isn't that how the Soviet Union collapsed? Out of economic jealousy and mismanagement?

I know it may be hard to believe from what's been mentioned in this post earlier, and what you often see even on the streets of Washington D.C. or in your own hometowns...But even after all this political nonsense and global economic turmoil, we're still the economic and technological darling of the world, not to mention a globally-deployed military force to be reckoned with...at least for now.

So let us instead, take this moment of great dejection and often abject despair, and turn it into our finest hour, one that will forever dictate our destiny as the next "Greatest Generation."

Stay hungry, but not to the point of cannibalism.

Thanks for listening and I'm sure your friends and neighbors will also appreciate not being eaten,

- Phil Hsu (Shoe)