Ah yes...realistic expectations. A generation ago it was a realistic expectation that one could complete public school (or not quite), get a job in a factory where one would work hard, but get decent pay. Enough pay to raise a family, own a modest home, have enough to eat, decent clothes to wear, and some occasional good times on a family vacation.

Those days are no longer. Even people who have completed a 4 year university degree have trouble finding employment because there are too few jobs. They can't even resort to factory work because there are no more factories. Many resort to minimum wage service jobs that do not pay enough to enable them to move out of their parent's home. They put off marriage and having children and have given up on the dream of owning their own home---even a modest one.

The sad thing is these kids could be anything they wanted to be--except for the reality that there are not enough working class jobs to go around and there are not enough middle class jobs to go around. Perhaps for the first time in history, today's youth must compete against their parents AND their GRANDPARENTS for jobs.

These are difficult times, and they are not going to get better.