I’m really sad to read this. The OP is not alone in her situation, and it’s not her fault!

I can relate to the sense of worthlessness and “no future” she describes, though I’m very fortunate to have a more solid support system. I did everything “right,” was a great student throughout undergrad and graduate school, participated in national professional groups and projects, have good recommendations, have worked almost 5 years in my organization plus earned the master’s degree required for promotion, and even passed my final promotion interview as the top candidate. One year after all this, because of budget crises, I’m still stuck in my original dead-end high school level job making less than 10K/yr. Even in the middle of this economic collapse, I have the “bright-siders” in my profession telling me there’s no problem and jobs are right around the corner. Underneath this cheerfulness is a darker undertone, the attitude that “The economy has nothing to do with it; you just can’t get a job because you whine too much/you’re unwilling to pay your dues/you’re unwilling to relocate anywhere in the country[I can't afford it!].” I understand that a negative attitude becomes self-fulfilling, but I also know that we can’t fix anything until we admit there’s a problem.

To the OP and others like her–There is this sick, sick focus in our culture on jobs and careers which tells you that if you haven’t had professional success, you’re worthless. You have to eradicate this programming or it will poison you. If you are peak aware you’ll understand that a lot of these factors are beyond your control. Don’t base your self-worth on your crappy job–try to develop skills for self reliance and support systems that will cushion the collapse. Most of the things you can do to prepare for peak will also help with economic survival. Can you live with roommates or in an ecovillage situation? http://www.laecovillage.org has a list of intentional communities, and some focus on affordable housing. I’ve read about informal urban communes in the sixties, when housemates would pool resources–someone might work in a restaurant and bring back leftover food. Dumpster diving might be an option.

I wish I had more to offer. Just please don’t buy into the lies of this criminal system. You are a valuable and hardworking person and you deserve much better than this.

All I can say to these unfortunate young people is that I am so very sorry for their pain. I have young adults also in my life that could be one day facing the same thing. My kids have bitten the hook despite some of the creative type of upbringing they had on a commune and they fight the knowledge that I once told them of “the world going under”. They do have some skills they could possibly fall back on if only they wouldn’t blame themselves and pretend it wasn’t happening even though it is all around them. Cognitive dissonance runneth deep but the facade is crumbling and as their peer group continues down the lemming path it will become more evident that it is truly not their individual faults, it is humanity’s ruin. Like “Straw Dogs” we as a species are really not conscious and aware most of the time and pretty much have made up our minds awhile back how we assume life will be until it slaps us back upside the head. My only advice would be to unplug from the MSM and go with gut instincts on all levels if you can somehow sort them out. Unwind a little. Don’t take the old stuff too seriously anymore . It is a new time and a new day and the old world has crumbled. Old patterns and concepts have stopped working. There is a new precedence beginning to arrive. And a new energy emerging. Seek it out. Then connect with a few enlightened individuals in your group to discuss and implement a plan. And PRONTO is what I have to add as this is a quick running stream that’s dragging everyone under faster than one can respond. But along the way definitely have a good time: PARTY LAUGH CRY MAKE LOVE. Go to sleep , get up and DO IT AGAIN. This is what we will have left to our names: Friends, emotions, fear, sunlight, sanity, laughter, anger, water, insanity, food, shelter, and tender love.

Amen! This has been my story since I earned my Bachelor’s. I worked two jobs at a time for the better part of six years after finishing college, and that was just to stay poor. I finally had to move in with my parents, back into my childhood bedroom, to pay off debt and finally set aside some money into savings. Then I was able to move back out on my own, and guess what? I’m back where I was years ago. I lost my job at the beginning of this year, on top of it, and eventually had to move in to an undesirable living situation with my in-laws because I couldn’t afford to pay rent anymore, I’d used up my savings, and I amassed a ton of credit card debt trying to stay afloat. I felt like a loser for so long, so I had to finally sign up for more debt in the form of student loans and return to school for a second degree in a science field that is more “useful” than my BA in Communication. In less than a month I’ll be turning 30, and I’m finally putting an end to the “screwing around” (struggling without a living wage or a direction in life), though school is difficult and I fear the consequences of flunking out. It’s not right!

Dear Peak Shrink,

Is it logical to simultaneously condemn the older folks for the creation of a corrupt system and lament that the younger folks are not going to get what is due them of the spoils of said system? We need to stop obsessing about who is responsible for what, it’s just another excuse to do nothing. People lied to us, we believed the lies. Now we know the lies for lies. Time to stop wishing the lies were true. We all have strengths and weaknesses. I could make a case that being young means a more flexible skill set and a more adaptive mind. Or that being young means one has a longer time to exit this cheap oil detour in favor of a more satisfying life. Or that a lack of offspring frees one from the guilt of adding more human life to an already overburdened planet and provides time to choose not to do what we perceive our parents have done to us; invite us here, heedlessly teach us to live an unsustainable lifestyle then throw their hands in the air as the rug is pulled from under it. A professor once said in a class, addressing the tendency of students to procrastinate on assignments “Remember, the sooner you get behind, the more time you have to catch up.” I know plenty of people who are a lot older than this young college grad but who are just as or far more mired in the consequences of poor decisions supported by a very sick culture. They really aren’t likely to find much silver lining in the coming storm cloud.

Also, what is a GOOD job, with a future? One that supports a person’s long-term “right” to live a life based on energy slavery, that destroys the earth, that fosters consumption as the only meaningful activity? Is a GOOD job one that the worker likes? When did it become the norm to make decisions on what we like rather than what we need and what is good for us? About the same time we started getting addicted to TV, drugs, sugar, alcohol, sex, shopping, credit, money, etc. and began divorcing ourselves from interactions with anyone different from us? Through most of history, work was just what needed to be done. We didn’t spend our mental time loving it or hating it, we just did it. And we didn’t go home and self-medicate over feelings of meaninglessness. Mostly we were just too damned tired!

I would define a GOOD job as one that combines work with hands and brain, that is community based, that is eco-logical. It must be healthy for those engaged in it and transparent in its respect for the planet. How much does a job like that pay? It is unfortunate that this is the relevant question, especially since so many young folks find themselves well in debt before they can even ask if it IS relevant. I don’t know what path will lead from a place of seeming hopelessness to one of healthy empowerment. I do know that it will start with a desire to have an eyes-wide-open look at the lies that make us willing slaves to an abusive culture and a corresponding change in what is deemed valuable.

Regards