The wealth divide is exacerbated by two different types of inflation. While wages are benchmarked against CPI (consumer goods), wealth for asset-holders grows with "asset price inflation" (stocks, real estate), which compounds much faster. Young people paid in cash cannot keep up.

Current fiscal policies represent a massive wealth transfer from young to old. Framing national service as a direct, large-scale investment in youth counteracts this economic imbalance, shifting national priorities and resources back to the next generation, effectively fighting a 'generational war' through policy.

Young people feel a sense of betrayal after following the prescribed path—good grades, college—only to graduate with immense debt into a job market with few opportunities and an unaffordable housing market. This broken promise fuels their economic anxiety.

Economic policies benefiting older, asset-owning generations at the expense of younger ones are reshaping politics. The traditional left-right divide is becoming less relevant than the conflict between classes, which is highly correlated with age, creating unusual political alliances between formerly opposed groups.

Social Security is framed not just as a successful anti-poverty program, but as a system that annually moves over a trillion dollars from the younger, less wealthy working-age population to the most affluent generation in history, who are often asset-rich.

Pro-socialist views among millennials can be understood as a logical reaction to a "broken generational compact." When economic realities like crushing student debt and unaffordable housing prevent a generation from accumulating capital and gaining a stake in the system, they are naturally inclined to question or reject that system.

The struggles and pathologies seen in young men are not just an isolated gender issue. They are a leading indicator that the broader societal belief in upward mobility—'we can all do well'—is eroding. This group is the first to react when reliable paths to success seem blocked.

The widespread feeling that the system is "rigged" stems from specific government policies. Deficit spending and inflation systematically devalue labor and make key assets like homes unaffordable, robbing non-asset holders of their ability to build wealth and achieve upward mobility.

Broad, non-means-tested stimulus programs, like the COVID CARES Act, function as the greatest intergenerational theft in history. They overwhelmingly benefit asset-owning incumbents by inflating housing and stock prices, while burdening younger generations with the debt used to finance the bailouts, effectively locking them out of asset ownership.