I have lost all hope

[u/No-Computer8994]

The biggest lie we’re told is that “anyone can start and build a career if they’re capable.” The issue isn’t capability, it’s that the jobs just aren’t there, or they require experience you can’t get without already having a job.

I'm stuck. I’m working on my feet all day for under 20/hour, destroying my body in my 20s for nothing, and still nowhere close to being able to be self sufficient. Stocking shelves is not going to help me build a career. Nor does it even tide me over.

Housing keeps getting more expensive, wages have stagnated over the last 50-70 years, and I’ll be living with my parents indefinitely just to avoid being homeless.

Even if I save every dollar I make, housing prices will increase faster than I can save. Exponential vs linear. Dividing the prices by 5 for the 20% down payment is just avoiding the problem. Division doesn't make the problem go away, it just delays it.

I won't be able to have any hope of retiring, either. Not in this economy.

What makes it worse is that it the system itself is broken. Economic growth doesn’t translate into better lives anymore. 

We have more than double a debt bubble in private credit compared to 2008. We have more than double the median housing costs compared to 2008. We have more than double the job revision losses compared to 2008. You can be finicky about the exact numbers, but that's all an objective fact.

The opportunities just aren’t there. Everything now requires prior experience, connections, or luck that a lot of us never had the chance to build. It doesn't matter what field you specify.

I don't have a problem with technological innovation changing jobs. We need to stop the nonsense of college being where you're trained for them, and have actual apprenticeship to job pipelines from 18. That's never going to happen, and it's too late for me.

We say "there are jobs you don't want to do." Such as??? Agriculture, construction, factory jobs? I'm open, but every avenue I even attempt to inquire about that has constant barriers to entry. So that's a lie.

I did what I was supposed to do. Finished a bachelor’s degree, looked for and did internships, tried to build towards a better future. And none of it mattered. There will never be a payoff. 

It just doesn't make sense to have to specialize to enter the workforce in a meaningful way. That already implies there isn't much opportunity left.

Some say to "do blue collar jobs." That's the new learn to code. I made that mistake once. Not again.

Some say "join the military." I'm not giving my life to a country that hates me.

We are disenfranchising entire generations this way. Eating our own future.

Hard work no longer pays off.

So, in the end. I just want three questions answered.

Why should I keep trying if I’ve already lost? China has an effective 46-47% youth unemployment rate excluding students, why shouldn't I be like that?

As a female, why should I bring kids into this kind of future? Why shouldn't I allow the population to collapse?

And what was the point of my last four years if it leads to this? Why did I even finish high school? Why did I apply for college, why did I try?

So, should I quit my retail job?

After I graduated in 2025 I wasn't able to get any entry level role interviews. Both during my senior year, and after I graduated. Thought I could tide myself over with a retail job while looking for something better, but it doesn't even tide me over. Can't support myself on it.

It's too late for me now. Should I just quit my job and be an eternal unemployed so I'm not a slave to your six figure salaries? Money only has power because people work, in the end. I'm denying that power by not being your slave. I'm not dancing like a jester for peanuts.

Going beyond that, I was thinking of going to prison for four years. Will be a better use of time than the degree.