The top story today is the NPR report on the broad anxiety felt by young people of high school and college age in the Covid-19 economy. Mental health experts have been raising warnings for months.
This comes home whenever I talk with my three youngest kids. They say everyone they know is living with their parents, unable to find work and missing the networking they would normally be doing. Their friends are drinking to excess, retreating to the safety of video games, and delaying all decisions about the future.
There are various policy proposals, like forgiving some college loan debt, that would help this generation cope with the situation they find themselves in, which is unique for any generation since the Great Depression.
But I'm not sure we are yet able to gauge the impact of the mental health crisis they face. Anxiety is both widespread and pernicious. Prescribing medications may blunt the symptoms but the underlying problems remain. I'm concerned about our youth's confidence that there is any obtainable dream within their grasp.
The problem is that every living generation before theirs faced its own challenges and a broad sense of empathy is lacking. "I had to struggle too; they'll be fine" seems to be the attitude.
I'm not so sure.
This is not hyperbole on my part or overly personal. My kids have resources others do not; if they are feeling so much anxiety about the future, it is time for the rest of us -- just this once -- to really listen.
***
Rather than helping deal with this in any meaningful way, I've simply chosen to escape for now.
So, greetings from San Luis Opisbo, 230 miles south of San Francisco and 190 miles north of Los Angeles. I worried it might be like National Lampoon Family Vacation as the six of us and Betsy (the dog) piled into the car to head south.
Packing for such an elaborate trip takes many hours; the neighbors had a betting poll as to whether we'd get away by noon.
We made it, but the luggage unit belted up top generated a low roar like Moaning Myrna in Harry Potter, somehow a strangely comforting accompaniment as I considered my role in the venture.
Usually the old person drops dead in such stories -- that's part of the fun. I suppose the excitement is too much for the elderly in Hollywood, but I didn't audition for that role so hopefully I'll make it through this time.
The five bikes made it through, always a miracle in my view as I don't get how your standard bike rack actually works. Back when I was in the Clark Griswold role, my specialty was buying up every bungee cord in the Pacific Time Zone and pray.
Even then I'd manage to back into a tree at our destination and crush the vehicle's rear window. My vacation's playlist sounded like that commercial: U-S-A-A...A tow truck from some distant rural outpost would show up in paradise with a beefy fellow who would just shake his head and mumble.
"Another one, eh?"
Our drive down good old highway 101 was mostly unremarkable as we passed San Jose, Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Salinas, a national guard facility known as Camp Roberts, oil derricks, and Atascadero before cruising into this coastal city.
It is another of Junipero Serra's Mission outposts, founded in 1772, and currently has around 47,000 inhabitants.
It's easy to tell that we're not the only restless Californians to hit the road after a year of the shut-in pandemic blues. The highway was crowded and this city, a tourist destination, is too. Is there anything more American than a road trip?
Here in what we lovingly call SLO, my roommate is my 12-year-old grandson. We've got pizza, sports on the widescreen TV, and now all we need are for some genuine California girls to show up to make our escape complete.
***
The news headlines:
* Generation Unemployed: Another Class Of Graduates Faces Pandemic-Scarred Future -- Although the overall jobs market is starting to come back, youth unemployment remains stubbornly high, creating a lot of anxiety among the latest class of college and high school seniors. (NPR)
* Half of Republicans believe false accounts of Capitol riot: Reuters/Ipsos poll (Reuters)
* How White Evangelicals’ Vaccine Refusal Could Prolong the Pandemic -- Millions of white evangelical adults in the U.S. do not intend to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Tenets of faith and mistrust of science play a role; so does politics. (NYT)
* When police kill, they are rarely prosecuted and hard to convict (WaPo)
* Latest attack pushes US Capitol Police further toward crisis (AP)
*
Biden says higher corporate taxes won't harm U.S. economy
(Reuters)
* Biden Steps Up Federal Efforts to Combat Domestic Extremism (NYT)
* Yellen says slow vaccine rollout in poor countries poses threat to global economy (WaPo)
* U.S. COVID-19 cases rise for third straight week, hospitalizations also up (Reuters)
* Donald Trump's flailing campaign tricked small-dollar donors into signing up to give repeated donations, sometimes weekly, that maxed out credit cards and plunged many into deep financial trouble. Millions had to be refunded, but the scheme allowed the campaign an interest-free loan. [HuffPost]
* Biden Effort to Combat Hunger Marks ‘a Profound Change’ -- As millions of Americans lack enough to eat, the administration is rapidly increasing aid — with an eye toward a permanent safety net expansion. (NYT)
* Corporate activism is pushing back on Republican efforts to restrict voting, but a watchdog group's report shows what voting advocates are up against: State lawmakers across the U.S. who are pushing for voter suppression and backing ex-President Donald Trump's election lies reaped more than $50 million in corporate campaign donations in recent years. [AP]
* Legislatures in dozens of GOP-controlled states are considering bills targeting transgender teenagers, amplifying hateful dog whistles and putting vulnerable kids at risk. Bills in at least 17 states would limit access to health care for young transgender Americans, and 28 more have bills excluding trans kids from school sports. [HuffPost]
*
S&P 500, Dow at all-time highs after robust economic data
--
Wall Street's main indexes jumped more than 1% on Monday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow at record highs as investors cheered strong jobs and services sector reports which bolstered views that 2021 could see the best economic growth in nearly four decades. (Reuters)* Inside Corporate America’s Frantic Response to the Georgia Voting Law --Companies like Delta are caught between Democrats focused on social justice and Republicans. They face major political consequences no matter what they do. (NYT)
* The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday brought an end to a legal fight over former President Donald Trump’s effort to block critics from following his now-frozen Twitter account, deciding the dispute was moot and throwing out a lower court’s decision that found he had violated constitutional free speech rights. (Reuters)
* ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Should Give Theaters Some Muscle (WSJ)
* Florida Reservoir Breach Could Cause Severe Flooding, Officials Say (NYT)
* ‘Trial of the Chicago 7’ takes top honors at SAG Awards (AP)
* Dazed Jeff Bezos Realizes He Spent Entire Conversation Thinking About How To Automate Person Talking To Him (The Onion)
***
I really dig those styles they wear
And the southern girls, with the way they talk
They knock me out when I'm down there
Really make you feel alright
And the northern girls with the way they kiss
They keep their boyfriends warm at night
I wish they all could be California
I wish they all could be California girls
And the girls all get so tanned
I dig a French bikini on Hawaiian island
Dolls by a palm tree in the sand
And I've seen all kind of girls
Yeah, but I couldn't wait to get back in the states
Back to the cutest girls in the world
I wish they all could be California
I wish they all could be California girls
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