maxed out generation

The Village Voice reports that college graduates are joining the uninsured masses

I just do not understand how a culture that prides itself on being the most advanced one on this earth can still deprive its citizens of something as fundamental as basic health care. Years ago, whenever I found out that someone I knew didn't have health insurance, I was aghast, especially when that person was educated and employed. Our deplorable health care system now affects a much wider demographic, among them young college graduates.

This is the subject of "One Sick Fall" (by Solana Pyne), the latest in a series of articles in The Village Voice on Generation Debt - The New Economics of Being Young. As this piece points out, today's graduates face gloomy prospects as they go out into the workplace, where, because of the rise in insurance costs, employers are less likely to provide health benefits. For many students, who already have the weight of huge student loan and credit card debts on their minds as they go into the world, this is just another mind-boggling blow. I don't remember it being this tough when I left school. Back then, tuition at the private university I attended was a fraction of what it is today (not so preposterously out of line with what my family could afford), financial aid in the form of federal grants covered a meaningful portion of my tuition and expenses, and many entry level jobs I was qualified for paid enough to cover rent and other living expenses in addition to providing full health insurance coverage at no cost to me.

I have deep respect for college graduates who have to face such a hostile world(never mind what those who go on to graduate school have to face). When health insurance has become a luxury, I have to wonder how we're better off than people in third world countries.

Let's make a deal.

I get alot of emails from people who can no longer make their minimum monthly payments on credit cards due to interest rates that have risen as much as 10% from the original rate they were paying. We live in a culture where we don't bargain for most things (cars and houses are the exceptions). When I travel to other places in the world, I'm always surprised to find that outside of the U.S., the price of everything in the marketplace seems to be open to negotiation. In this country, people tend to think that bargaining is pathologically tacky, unless a lawyer or agent is doing it for us.

From personal experience, I know that the interest rate on my credit cards can go up astronomically within a very short period time if I forget to pay them on time for a couple of months. I finally got smart, and now I pay most of my bills online and get my reminder notices by email. Even though I've been on the straight and narrow for a long time now, I found that my interest rates weren't going down in recognition of my good payment behavior. In the spirit of the cobbler's children who have no shoes, I had fallen victim to inertia about my own financial concerns. So, I recently called one of my credit card companies and negotiated an 8% reduction in my interest rate, reminding the customer service department that I'd been a damned good customer, especially after I got my act together and started paying online.

Now, I'm going to apply my bargaining techniques everywhere (well, maybe not at the grocery store - that might be a little tacky).

Award-winning documentary filmmakers highlight the true price of the American dream.

Earlier, I wrote about Trueworks, an independent documentary film production company that is in the process of shooting a new film called "Maxed Out," about the real lives of people in debt. A previous film by Trueworks, "Parents of the Year," just picked up the Audience Award at the AFI/Silverdocs documentary film festival in the short film category. The film is about an immigrant family from Mexico, the Garcias. The parents finance their dream of putting their three children through college by picking up recyclable cans and bottles in trash cans in Venice Beach, California. The extended version is scheduled to air on HBO this fall.

I went to one of the screenings at this festival and caught up with Trueworks' producer-director, James Scurlock. "Maxed Out" will be shot in various locations throughout the country, and the filmmakers are still talking with individuals who are willing to be a part of this documentary. If you have a story to tell, contact Lee Thompson at trueworks by email: lee@trueworks.us. Or, feel free to send me an email, and I'll pass along your story and contact information.