Will the kids wake up one day soon? Will anything be done to save them from paying their elders’ bills in addition to the hefty bills for other responsibilities and desires like having a family or buying a home?

This is partly because we’ve had two generations of older people behave with extreme shortsightedness and selfishness: the Boomers and their immediate heirs have been chasing unicorns and building their self esteem while neglecting their basic duties. But as Miller acknowledges it’s also partly because the challenges we face today are unusually hard. Many of our core systems — government, education, health care — are becoming impossibly expensive and unproductive given the demands that contemporary life puts on them.

America needs an upgrade, and young people need it more than anybody else. The old ways of doing things are gradually choking the life out of the country and making it harder and harder for people to do very simple things — like starting a family, raising, kids, preparing for retirement.