Nearly 1 in 6 young men (between 18-34) in the U.S. were either jobless or incarcerated in 2014

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by bryan85

Says a lot about our young men. They may be jobless or in jail- but they have their cell phones, beer, pot, and other electronic gadgets to play with! This can't be their fault- let's make sure they do not take any personal responsibility for their situations!

This is what I thought as well.

As a woman, I'll state that IMO men are sliding down the totem poll in the younger generations. Many men will try to blame women or feminism for their decline, but feminism doesn't stop a young man from getting a job.

I know MANY young men who spend a large amount of their time (even men in their 30s) playing video games and being unproductive. Too many males today are too fixated on gaming and porn and not enough on education and employment in the younger generation.

Hopefully they'll mature and get themselves together.

However, I will note that my family is predominantly males and we have quite a few young men in that age group and all of them are employed and none of them are in jail/prison.

I will also point out that I felt it played on people's emotions to say that the young men were "jobless" or "incarcerated." People will and did focus on the incarceration point (hence all the "drug offenses" talk) when the article in its first paragraph stated that of the 16% of this male population, that 13% are unemployed and only 3% incarcerated. The unemployed/jobless factor is MUCH greater than the incarcerated one and is much more indicative of a trend of shiftlessness amongst the men in our younger generation.

[Mircea]

Originally Posted by residinghere2007

The unemployed/jobless factor is MUCH greater than the incarcerated one and is much more indicative of a trend of shiftlessness amongst the men in our younger generation.

Good point.

The Earnings Curve for the 18-34 crowd is heavily skewed. They won't earn as much in real terms as their parents did, and that has ramifications on public polices later on down the road, especially Social Security and Welfare.

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by yueng-ling

It somehow proves the education system failed.

Don't blame it on education, blame it on the family breakdown. Especially Black families.

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by Rakin

Don't blame it on education, blame it on the family breakdown. Especially Black families.

LOL, they did not mention black males specifically. Black males are a VERY low percentage of the 16-34 male age group in this country. The vast majority of those shiftless males are white.

ETA: Also, I am black as are my 3 brothers and 8 nephews. All of them are employed and not in jail and all of them (save one) is between 16 and 34 years of age. We also were born to a single mother!!!

[Loveshiscountry]

Originally Posted by Cliftonpdx

Congress needs to end the drug war, all Obama can do is pass an executive order that would hinder the police more than it would decriminalize drugs. Maybe it is time for Congress to do their job.

The president can do more than that. The President appoints the Head of the DEA. At least the Feds wouldn't be wasting their time.

[Cliftonpdx]

Originally Posted by Loveshiscountry

The president can do more than that. The President appoints the Head of the DEA. At least the Feds wouldn't be wasting their time.

That is true, though even that still wouldn't be very much. We need Congress to pass a bill that at least decriminalize drugs in general, and even better would be making marijuana legal and treated like alcohol and cigarettes.