Bill Wheatley

Washington Nationals fan. Tech and history geek. IT guy. Love dogs.

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@MatthewBerman Amen

[Mike Netter @nettermike]

This article was written by a 26 yr old college student by the name of Alyssa Ahlgren, who's in grad school for her MBA. What a GREAT perspecitve..👍🏽

My Generation Is Blind to the Prosperity Around Us!
I'm sitting in a small coffee shop near Nokomis (Florida) trying to think of what to write about. I scroll through my newsfeed on my phone looking at the latest headlines of presidential candidates calling for policies to "fix" the so-called injustices of capitalism. I put my phone down and continue to look around.

I see people talking freely, working on their MacBook's, ordering food they get in an instant, seeing cars go by outside, and it dawned on me. We live in the most privileged time in the most prosperous nation and we've become completely blind to it.

Vehicles, food, technology, freedom to associate with whom we choose.These things are so ingrained in our American way of life we don't give them a second thought.

We are so well off here in the United States that our poverty line begins 31 times above the global average. Thirty One Times!!!

Virtually no one in the United States is considered poor by global standards. Yet, in a time where we can order a product off Amazon with one click and have it at our doorstep the next day, we are unappreciative, unsatisfied, and ungrateful. ??

Our unappreciation is evident as the popularity of socialist policies among my generation continues to grow. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said to Newsweek talking about the millennial generation, "An entire generation, which is now becoming one of the largest electorates in America, came of age and never saw American prosperity."

Never saw American prosperity! Let that sink in.

When I first read that statement, I thought to myself, that was quite literally the most entitled and factually illiterate thing I've ever heard in my 26 years on this earth. Many young people agree with her, which is entirely misguided.

My generation is being indoctrinated by a mainstream narrative to actually believe we have never seen prosperity. I know this first hand, I went to college, let's just say I didn't have the popular opinion, but I digress.

Why then, with all of the overwhelming evidence around us, evidence that I can even see sitting at a coffee shop, do we not view this as prosperity? We have people who are dying to get into our country.

People around the world destitute and truly impoverished. Yet, we have a young generation convinced they've never seen prosperity, and as a result, we elect some politicians who are dead set on taking steps towards abolishing capitalism.

Why? The answer is this,?? my generation has only seen prosperity. We have no contrast. We didn't live in the great depression, or live through two world wars, the Korean War, The Vietnam War or we didn't see the rise and fall of socialism and communism.

We don't know what it's like to live without the internet, without cars, without smartphones. We don't have a lack of prosperity problem. We have an entitlement problem, an ungratefulness problem, and it's spreading like a plague."

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@kpatrickpayne Do you like waking up at 4am?

[AG @AGHamilton29]

These kinds of posts drive me crazy because they are so disconnected from reality.

1) They misunderstand the problem and the solutions available.

The government already spends more money on these issues than people like Musk and Bezos ever could.

The United States spends 40-50 billion USD every single year on homelessness. This spending has not solved the issue. We spend another 32 billion USD annually on just child nutrition programs. That spending has also not solved the issue. Even if Musk and Bezos could magically liquidate all their assets and ignoring the severe consequences to millions of doing so, why would a few hundred more billion magically solve these issues?

That current tax spending btw is at least partially available because of the tax revenue created by the economic activity that Bezos and Musk help create.

2) This also ignores the actual value people like Musk and Bezos bring to so many people, and even on the very issues mentioned.

Jeff Bezos already committed 102.5 million USD just in 2025 to organizations fighting homelessness (which the original poster magically ignores), but that's not where the real value is.

Amazon employs about 1.58 million people. The activity they create is responsible for far more jobs. Not only does that mean a service that millions now rely on and improves the lives of Americans, but that's a lot of families avoiding homelessness, unemployment, and hunger.

Elon Musk's companies employ over 150K people. Again, they are also responsible for far more upstream jobs.

He's done more to encourage the shift from gas to electric vehicles than any government mandate ever could, which should please environmentalists. The spaceship stuff is about long-term sustainability and finding solutions to Earth's resource scarcity that could save billions of lives in the long term. I haven't even mentioned the number of lives Starlink has helped and saved, including in war zones and after natural disasters.

It's insane that none of this is ever taken into account by the people who are hyper-focused exclusively on the fact that Musk and Bezos have simultaneously created a lot of wealth for themselves while helping so many others. You don't have to worship billionaires or like these specific individuals to recognize the value they have brought and the fact that they already do a lot to help solve the very issues you claim to be concerned over.

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@UziCryptoo I, too, support the abolition of property taxes.

[WeRateDogs @dog_rates]

This is Natty. He's the first official team dog for the Washington Nationals. He makes his big-league debut on Friday and will learn basic skills and socialization with the team before he goes on to formal service dog training with Canine Companions. 13/10

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@micheal_ws18 Make it $250MM and you've got a deal.

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@globogym1969 @ejmaroun It's like saying someone should pass up $100K for a $100MM lottery ticket. The odds of the latter is essentially zero. Take the free money.

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@MarioNawfal @Tesla Do these have regulatory approval? I could see some states having a hissy-fit about no steering wheel or pedals.

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@JonErlichman How is Meta still making money?

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@kaaaash____ Both cloud and local is a must.

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@ChrisMartzWX Yeah, I’m with you. Love all the tech, but it’s just too ugly. I might even be ok with it if I could get it in something other than stainless steel. Sticking with my Tundra for now.

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@durreadan01 I’ve tried switching back… can’t.

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@SleeperNats Better than expected. But still disappointed they blew a 9th inning lead 😁

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@DukeEchoes @UsherNBA Can we stop with all the bold colors and patterns on the basketball court? Nobody thinks that looks cool.

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@gatorsszn Can’t point to one bad call. 🤡

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@JonDoe19751975 @Sparertime @StJohnsBBall Amen.

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@MatrixMysteries This is complete ragebait bullshit. The receipt is obscured so you can’t even see where it’s from, much less the itemized cost of each item. Panera sandwiches are $5-$7 and roughly the same for the soups. Only way that’s $71 is if you left a $35 tip.

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@ClayTravis Every inning!

[Bill Wheatley @billwhe67]

@realDailyWire @michaeljknowles @LeftistBlondie I had to turn that episode off. That twit just kept yelling “37 felonies” to every argument. Insufferable an not a serious thinker.