[kortilla]

> A fast food job might be $17/hr, but the cost of gas is >2x what it was when that same job paid $8/hr

This is probably the worst example. In 2008 gas cost as much as it does now and fast food did only pay $8/hr. https://www.creditdonkey.com/gas-price-history.html

> Millennials are, if anything, brutally realistic

No, your entire post is an example of the dramatic doomerism waxing on the anxieties of normal life. Complaining about anxiety is one of the hallmarks of a millennial.

[bitwalker]

> In 2008 gas cost as much as it does now and fast food did only pay $8/h

Did you deliberately pick the time where the cost of gas skyrocketed before eventually coming back down to more normal levels? Gas where I lived at the time went from like $2/gal to $4/gal for months, then came back down to ~$2.75 but never fully returned to where it was. You're cherry picking your facts.

> your entire post is an example of the dramatic doomerism waxing on the anxieties of normal life. Complaining about anxiety is one of the hallmarks of a millennial.

Where was I complaining about anxiety? I do think many people are anxious, and have reason to be - but if I'm complaining about anything, it's greed. Dismissing the extensive evidence of its pervasiveness in our society today, and the negative outcomes it is producing, is the mindset of someone that doesn't care about anyone or anything that doesn't affect them personally.

[kortilla]

Inflation adjusted gas prices have been on a slight downward trend for a long long time: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/gasoline-prices-adjust...

With the increase in fuel economy, the cost of gas as an actual pain point is close to the lowest level it has ever been for the vast majority of the US. The only real exception to this is places like California where additional costs are added for tax revenue or additional emissions controls.

> I do think many people are anxious, and have reason to be

Previous generations had just as many reasons to be anxious, they just didn’t sit around crying about it non-stop in victimhood perpetuity.