As a child, I would sit and imagine what life would be like as an adult. For example, things my imagined older self would buy and faraway places I’d travel when I had the funds. All the places I saw on the Discovery Channel and PBS as a kid I wanted to go as an adult. As an elder millennial, I wish I could tell my child self that things are expensive as fuck and all that was a pipe dream. Too damn expensive and it’s everything that’s costly these days, from food to cars, rent, mortgages, gas, or going to the movies.
I’m in a dual-income household, too. But my wife and I always comment on how much money it costs to go outside to do anything these days. According to the data in 2025, over 60% of families in the United States can’t afford the basics for living in this nation. This isn’t a surprise; since the decade of my birth, the cost of everything has grown. We’ve seen poverty and homelessness increase by 30% since 2020, when the global COVID-19 pandemic brought the world economy to its knees.
“Houses were never cheap, even in 1985, when the median new-home price…was $82,500. Still, in some of today’s hottest real estate markets, such as San Francisco, $82,500 may not get you a parking space. The inflation-adjusted equivalent of $82,500 is $201,951, a relative bargain, compared with today’s median home price of $330,800.”
I currently live in a community that is being gentrified. Over a decade ago, you could get a home in this neighborhood for as little as 100K, but those days are long gone. In Southwest Atlanta, in the so-called hood, many houses sell for 500K or more. Since 1970, housing costs have increased 150% more than inflation. Prices for milk and gas have risen. Home prices have risen faster than other goods and services over the last 50 years. Yes, everyday people are being priced out of having a roof over their heads.
Food prices are sky-high. The once-vibrant colors of the market now feel muted, reflecting the heavier hearts and emptier stomachs of those struggling to afford sustenance. Droughts, floods, and extreme heat have devastated crops across key agricultural regions such as the U.S., Brazil, India, and Europe. Reduced wheat, corn, and rice yields have caused tighter supplies.
Rapid population growth, most notably in developing nations, maintains a relentless and high demand for goods and services, straining global supply chains. Growing meat consumption adds pressure on grain supplies. Export bans and reduced subsidies strain global food markets. Improved weather and supply chains may stabilize food prices one day. But long-term pressures like climate change, trade wars, currency rate fluctuation, and political instability will probably keep them volatile. Hence two bags of groceries will run you about 500 U.S. dollars these days.
Young adults are increasingly living with their parents, citing financial strain. Young adults returning to live at home with their parents doubled from 8% in 1971 to 17% in 2021 (Pew). This doesn’t bode well for us Millennials and Zoomers. I know the old heads on CNBC and Fox News will wag their fingers and say, “You young people need to stop buying Starbucks and eating all that fancy avocado toast.” Well, fewer people are buying Starbucks because #FreePalestine.
Also, these Boomer commentators and political talking heads will be like you, entitled millennials and Zoomers, want someone to pay for your student loans. You need to pay back your debts. Funny coming the same crowd who had their PPP loans forgiven. Well, assholes, many folks who enter college don’t graduate or are underemployed. Those that have degrees still have a hard time finding work in their field because the United States has a recession every few years. We had the Great Recession of 2007, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, or in the era of Trump Tariffs and high inflation in 2025, the year of our Lord and Savior K. Dot.
College costs have more than doubled since 1972. High tuition costs burden millions with unmanageable student debt, hindering their ability to buy a home or start a family. Graduates struggle with rising costs and loan debt. Because of the pandemic, the Government postponed student loan payments and interest, but these obligations have restarted. The Trump Administration has unleashed the power of the federal government’s debt collection abilities on defaulted loan borrowers. $1.75 trillion in student loan debt burdens U.S. borrowers. God bless America!
The wealthiest 1% in the U.S. experienced the most rapid income growth and the sharpest income gains in the last 40 years. From 1979 to 2021, the top 0.01% saw income growth 27 times faster than the bottom 20%. I’ve discussed this in depth in my 2022 article, The United States of Poverty. I’ve also offered solutions, and I’ll provide those exact solutions to help the average citizen combat the massive wealth gap gripping the United States.
First, we can raise the minimum wage instead of making it a minimum. We can do a wage that ebbs and flows with inflation, which is running wild nowadays. Let’s call it the maximum wage. We demand that Congress pass the ProAct to ensure that workers can benefit from unionizing without retaliation from their employers. Shout out to the Amazon workers! Also, give working people paid maternity leave, no matter if they’re white-collar or blue-collar.
Unionize your workplace. To all the idiots who said you can’t raise the minimum wage, because all the prices will rise too. Please go play in traffic and spare the rest of us. The prices of everything have gone up in the last 40 plus years, and real wages for everyday Americans have remained stagnant. So, I strongly encourage folks to keep the 2020 unionization trend strong. If the working class gets a raise, all our wages will go up. The best path for that real wage increase is to unionize. Fortunately, we talked to an experienced union organizer about the steps one must take to unionize their workplaces on our Question Culture podcast.
A fight for real affordable housing in the United States is crucial. One organization in New York City is already taking the proper steps in this fight. At this time, gentrification and a bloated housing market are making living costs unaffordable. Not to mention, private equity firms are buying up entire communities. All while hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans sleep out on the streets or in their cars every night.
Medicare for all and student loan cancellation will ease the financial burdens for millions overnight. That requires canceling U.S. medical debt. And also making all public colleges and trade schools free for all students. This will prevent future generations from acquiring debt for getting sick or furthering their education. We can pay for it with taxes, such as a wealth tax or a vice tax.
Medicare for All would also allow people who usually can’t afford mental health services to access life-saving help. Think of the Veterans Affairs Hospitals as a model for the entire country. You shouldn’t have to serve in the Armed Forces to get access to basic medical services. We have no problem with the Government handling the fire or police department, so why not healthcare? What the hell do you think the VA Healthcare system is? You’re right! It’s an evil socialist government healthcare program!
For those who will argue, but Lornett, how would we pay for such massive programs? We can’t afford it. Nope, we can. First, I would rather my tax dollars benefit society versus the U.S. bloated Defense Budget. Even if we cut the Defense Budget by 10%, it would save 100 billion a year. We can use those billions for the programs and initiatives I mentioned earlier. Also, we could tax those rich assholes who have made trillions during the pandemic. Of course, liberals and moderates would challenge these proposals as “pie in the sky”, but the liberals forced Jim Crow Joe on us in 2020 and now we’re dealing with The Donald as president yet again. All because the DNC failed to acknowledge it was the economy stupid. And thought funding a brutal genocide in Gaza was more important than winning an election. Conservatives will call these proposals communism or socialism or woke or some other thing they don’t really understand the meaning of but hate, anyway. Just because things seem impossible doesn’t mean it cannot be done.
My little kid self thought I’d be rolling in dough as an adult. But like far too many of my peers, I’ll be working until the day I die. Since the political leaders will spend all our millennials, Zoomers, and Gen Alpha’s social security money to continue their funding of mass genocides and bailouts for their corporate owners. The current GOP controlled Congress new budget plans to gut Medicaid, that will kick millions more off healthcare, all to pay for more sweet ass tax cuts for the rich. Because it’s all about priorities.
Until the day comes when Americans will finally realize that it’s not black people or migrants causing their current financial burdens. Nope, the corporate elites making sure the rent stays too damn high! Late-stage capitalism will continue this downward spiral. I hope we realize that the so-called Land of the Free isn’t so free. It’s pretty fucking expensive. To quote the late great comedian Bill Hicks, “If America is so free, you try moving somewhere with no money.”
Evolving Folks Project 