Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

A mini-break from my usual hilaaaaaaaaarity:

I'm blogging at work today because I'm feeling rebellious. 

Most days, I just read the news in between spurts of work-related activity.
(Juuust kidding, if my boss is reading this!) 
But I don't dare blog because that seems too brazen.
Today, I make an exception. 

Today, Human Events featured this article

about this study performed by the Young America's Foundation.

According to the YAF study:

 At no point in recent history has life been harder for America’s young people. The Youth Misery Index adds together youth unemployment, average graduating student debt (in thousands), and national debt per capita (in thousands).  

Youth unemployment is at 16.3 percent—one of the highest levels since World War II. Average graduating student debt has reached a record-breaking $29,400. National debt per capita is $52,948—the highest ever. Add it up, and the Youth Misery Index comes out to 98.6 (16.3 + 29.4 + 52.9 = 98.6).

Apparently, we're the most miserable youth in "recent history".
Do we get a prize? Is this tax deductible?

(I don't know what "youth" means to them, but I'm including 

people my age because I still feel like a child.)

I guess this is true if you have narrow definitions of "recent" and "misery". 

From reading the article, I would take their meanings to be 

"post-WW2" and "financial hardship".

For them to use any other definition of misery would trivialize any
real suffering of young people in the past 60-ish years. 
Because here's some actually miserable youth from said "recent history": 
 

I'm not trying to make some statement about 
the rightness or wrongness of the Vietnam War.
I'm just saying that there were a lot of "youth" in "recent history" who
were pretty damn miserable in a way, God willing, I'll never know.  

I tend to be the Voice of Doom when it comes to the state of the Union, 

but this is one opinion I can't get behind. 
Sure, we inherited a lot of debt. 
A lot. 
And the unemployment rate sucks. 
A lot.
And the people in power are only making it worse. 
A lot worse.     

But things could be worse.

For a bunch of people who don't have to worry about 

being drafted and sent to die in a foreign country, 

we sure are miserable. 

As my lovely friend over at Human Events put it during our discussion of this article, 
we don't know what misery is.   

I'll be back on Sunday-ish with the scheduled frivolity. 
I just couldn't help myself with this one. 
You know how I love my rants.