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So according to a recent survey, a whopping 77% of Gen Z' ers have admitted to bringing their parents to a job interview. This is 100% a symptom of a full blown generational crisis. And we need to talk about it because Gen Z is cooked. Now, in my opinion, my generation's dependency on our parents, our insecurity, our instability, is a psychological shift that we are seeing primarily as a result of social media and the higher education system. But before we talk, make sure that you're following our podcast page and please rate the show if you're enjoying it and you wanna hear about more chaotic societal issues, just like this one. So before we get into that 77% and the other survey that we need to talk about today, I wanna start on another trend. So a different study, another recent study on personality traits shows another terrifying trend that has occurred over the last 15 years. As time spent online and social media has gone up, especially for young people like me, key traits like conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion have absolutely played plummeted for my generation. While neuroticism, meaning anxiety, worry and fear is unsurprisingly skyrocketing. Take a look at these graphs. There is no debating this in the slightest. And yes, in case you're wondering, our lovely generation is in fact represented by that red line which shows the most staggering results of all. Now, I wanted to start with that and show you guys that graph because obviously Gen Z has problems. We have talked about this at length, ad nauseam, we have talked about the mental health crisis, all of that. This is just another example of that. This is just another example of how we are essentially psychologically wired for anxiety. And that is now showing up in every other part of our life, especially in the workforce. And we're gonna get into that. But before we do, I wanna say the point of this episode and the other episodes that I do about Gen Z in my generation, it's not supposed to attack Gen Z. I actually just wanna spread awareness and shed light on all of these problems because all of us are feeling them. We feel them in ourselves, we feel them in our friends. We see the manifestations of these issues in our culture, in our society. And I think if we can shed a light on it and get to the root cause of a lot of these issues, then we can change for the better. Whether that means pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, trying to make things better for our friends, or at least, at the very least, making things better for the next generation. Then that is a net positive. And so that is why I do episodes just like this. Because if I can at least shed a light on how an entire generation was systemically failed by social media and a predatory university system and a culture that crippled their independence, then maybe, just maybe, we can stop it from ever happening again. But before we keep going, I want to thank today's sponsor. All right, guys, let's talk about upgrades. Shooting is great. It's super fun. But what about shooting suppressed? That is even better. Way better. If you are a responsible gun owner, you want to be in control of your accuracy, your recoil, your hearing, all of it. And that is where my friends over at Silencer Shop come in. They make it ridiculously easy to get a suppressor, the one upgrade that instantly makes your guns perform better. Shooting suppressed isn't just quieter. It means better accuracy, less recoil, and a ton more fun. Now, yes, before you ask, suppressors are 100% legal in most states and Silencer Shop has simplified the entire process. You just pick your suppressor, make your account, sign a couple forms, and they handle the heavy lifting. You can get your suppressor in just a few days. They've helped hundreds of thousands of shooters do it. And they are not just behind the counter. Silencer Shop is so great because they are out there defending our second amendment rights every single day. So if you are ready to make your shooting experience smarter, safer, and seriously more fun, head on over to silencershop.com cooper and get started. Silencer Shop. Because shooting suppressed makes you better. All right, so now we can officially get into it. That 77% that I mentioned at the top of the episode, guys, that is just the tip of the iceberg. 77% of these respondents brought their parents to a job interview. Now, to be fair, that statistic does require some more context because that 77% does include parents who were driving their children to interviews. And that could be a 15 year old gen zer trying to go get a job at McDonald's. Or on the other end of the spectrum, it could be a 25 year old that still lives at home and needs mommy and daddy to take them to their job interviews. And a lot of people on social media as this was going viral to they were using that fact to blow off the survey and say none of this is real. None of this is relevant. The problems aren't that bad. They are not that severe. But the fact of the matter is it kind of is that bad. Because the other information that was brought out in this report does not help their case at all. It actually just makes Gen Z look even worse because that same survey found that in addition to the 77%, 53% of respondents said that their parent had spoken with a hiring manager on their behalf. That is far worse than driving their child to a job interview on it. They said the dependence persists when young people enter the workforce. So after they have gotten the job because their parents have either gone with them or driven them and have spoken to the hiring manager after the fact, 73% of respondents said that they have had their parents help complete work assignments and 45% reported regularly having a parent talk to their current manager. But guys, I can't even comprehend a situation. Like I'm thinking back in my time at Daily Wire in like a corporate environment or when I was working at Young Americans for Liberty. I cannot even think of a time when it would have been appropriate for my mom to talk to anybody there. Not even appropriate, but where that would even come into play. Like there is no reason or way that that would have even transpired. Like she didn't even know who I was working with. She would not have even been able to find out how to contact them. And yet 45% say that their parents are regularly talking to their managers. Like these stats are insane. Again, I think that that is worse than the 77% that are getting driven by their parents. Like even at 40, 15 years old, I don't think that my mom ever spoke to my manager at Trader Joe's as a child actor. When I was like 8 years old, obviously my mom was in the room, she was with me. But I was the one speaking directly to my agents and my managers and the producers and the directors that I would work with. And that type of job is an anomaly. Like most people are not on set with their parents, which is legally mandated by the actors union by sag. So she had to be there. But that type of job is is not the case for most Gen Z. Like most Gen Z ers were not on film sets with adults at 8 years old. We're talking about part time jobs after school or jobs while you're in college or right out of college. These are the jobs we're dealing with in this survey and parents are heavily involved. So genuinely contrary to what commenters were saying on X, I do not see a single way to excuse this. Like genuinely, how is this happening? Is Gen Z just that much in trouble now? This Yahoo Finance headline really said it all. They summed up a lot of this. They said Gen Z really are the hardest to work with. Even managers of their own generation say that they're difficult. Instead, bosses plan to hire more of their millennial counterparts. Guys, what Yahoo was saying in this article is the Gen Zers themselves are even admitting to struggling with things like professionalism, motivation, and communication skills. They're saying, yeah, we're not that great at that. We have no idea what we're doing. Mommy and daddy do some of our work. They talk to our managers. We can't handle it. And even Gen Z managers who are working at these companies are saying, yeah, we cannot deal with this anymore. We are going to hire Millennials instead. Like, nobody wants to work with us. Later in the article, they said it's no secret that Gen Z often gets flack for, in the words of the sister act star Whoopi Goldberg, not busting their behinds at work quite like the previous generations did. And I feel like I don't even need to go into any more depth on that point. Like, we have talked about this at length. We have talked about Gen Z not being able to have small talk in break rooms, not knowing how to communicate with people in the workplace. We have talked about, I've told the story a million times now about taking that interpersonal communications class in school and being told that HR departments are preparing to welcome my generation because we, we are so anxiety ridden, we are so different than other generations, and companies have no idea how they're gonna have to deal with us. We have talked about that so much. But even knowing all of that, never in my wildest dreams did I assume that this would be manifested in or that this would result in parents having to step in and do their children's work for them or speak to hiring managers or current managers on their behalf. Like that is even lower than I thought possible. But unfortunately for all of us, the problems do not stop there. Because not only is my generation psychologically wired for anxiety and capable of handling basic workplace obligations and interactions, but we are also the product of one of the world's biggest scams that is leaving us thousands of dollars in debt before we even get a job. A scam that probably gave us more anxiety and dread instead of real preparation for the real world that would have mitigated all of these problems. Even as we deal with the results of social media, we'll dive back in. But first, a quick word from our sponsor. Now, you guys know that I take my sleep very seriously. Like, there is nothing I love more than being horizontal, relaxing in my bed. And the key to that, relax is my Helix Dusk luxe mattress. It is so good guys. It is so amazing that Alex and I even got more for every guest room in our house because everybody who visits us deserves to have the best night's sleep possible. And what I love about Helix, besides how comfortable the mattresses are, is how easy it is to find your perfect fit. Their sleep quiz matches you to the ideal mattress based on your individual preferences. And so whether you sleep on your side, your back, your stomach, whether you like a firmer or softer mattress, Helix has something for everyone. We chose the desk luxe for its perfect balance of support and comfort and we have never looked back. I genuinely have never slept better. Helix will deliver your mattress right to your door. You just unbox it and let it expand and then you are ready to go. Plus There is a 100 night sleep trial so you can make sure that that mattress is truly the right fit. So if you're ready to upgrade your sleep, head on over to helixsleep.com Brett for 25% off site wide this is exclusive for listeners and viewers of the Brett Cooper Show. Again, helixsleep.com Brett for 25% off site wide make sure that you enter our show name after checkout. You on over. Now, you guys probably caught on the moment that I said thousands of dollars in debt, but obviously we are talking about the university system and the student loan crisis. And one thing that I wanna say is that I think a lot of Republicans kind of revel in this crisis because we often see it on the other side of the aisle and we see these lesbian dance theory PhDs not being able to get a job and we laugh and we jeer and we point fingers. But this happened to young Republicans as well. This happened to young kids who were not trying to go into a ton of debt to become lesbian dance theorists or whatever the insane degree is that we want to laugh at today. They were just doing what society told them they should do that was going to bring them success and set them up for the real world. And I don't think we should laugh at the plight of any of these young kids that are now crippled under this incredibly exploitive system. And that is what I want to touch on here. Now, I don't know why all of this popped up on my X feed right now, but I have been seeing a huge debate over the last couple of weeks as a bunch of videos from young people and Gen Z ers have been popping up online about who, if anyone, should bail out my generation and help end this crisis. Because Obviously, something has to be done. Now, taxpayers clearly like, that is not the solution. We should not be on the hook for other people's poor decisions. Even if I empathize with them and sympathize and say, I wish that this never happened, I know that you were led astray. That is still not my job to bail you out. Forgiving student loans, that sounds like a beautiful, simple, glorious thing, like free health care. Everything's free. Money just grows on trees. That's not how it works. That is on the back of taxpayers. That should not be done. That is not the solution, especially not through taxpayer and government assistance, because we, you and I, did not cause the problem. The real villains here, in my opinion, are the predatory colleges that took advantage of this system in the first place. They took advantage of both the students and the loan system. And Robbie Starbuck pointed it out in this tweet. Now he is, quote, tweeting one of the many videos that has been circulating around of young people crying about their debt, crying about not being able to get their feet under them and get a job. And Robby said, let's really be honest. A lot of these college loans were absolutely predatory, and the kids had no idea what they were signing up for. Many of them have worthless degrees. Now, this is a real problem. A bank really should only give loans for degrees with real earning power. And I completely agree. And I know a lot of people will say, well, their parents should have told them better or they should know better. But think about your high school experience, Just the normal, conventional high school experience going through the public school system. They did not teach young Americans about loans. A lot of these parents might not have known any better. It basically just sounds like free money. When you're 18 years old, $250,000 doesn't seem like that much money because, oh, in a couple of years, after I get this amazing degree, I'm gonna make six figures immediately and I'm gonna pay it all back and everything's great. That's totally fine. I don't need to think about interest or anything like that. I'm not gonna have any worries because everybody told me this is exactly what I need to do in order to be successful. Nobody was realistic with them. Nobody told them what that actually looks like in 4 years, 8 years, 10 years, 15 years. Especially if they can't get the job that society and the culture is promising them they will get once they graduate. So I completely agree with everything Robby is saying here. Now, the other thing that I agree on is that, yes, These loans were predatory, but the colleges were even more predatory with how they exploited the system at the expense of the students that they were supposed to be protecting and preparing for the real world, for example. This is just kind of how it all started in my mind. But the government created programs like Government plus loans. So these are loans that are subsidized by the government and they are for graduate schools, and they are limitless. And what that means is that once you have graduated, you've gotten your bachelor's, if you want to go to grad school, if you want to do the lesbian dance theory master's degree, if you want to go to law school, if you want to get your PhD, the government will fund whatever it takes, whatever. However much that you know, however much that degree is, however much your law school is, there is no limit. There is no cap on what you can borrow from the government. Those are subconscious, subsidized, limitless loans. Now, obviously, this just like makes sense. It's like a math equation. University saw this and they realized that they could charge whatever they wanted for tuition because people would have somebody to fund it. And thanks to programs like this, they did not have to operate within the supply and demand system anymore. They could charge whatever they wanted. They could create meaningless degrees and expand their programs and have as many students as they wanted, because they didn't actually need the students to be able to pay for these programs themselves or have them be profitable once they went out into the workforce, because somebody else was always going to be footing the bill. And so they just kept expanding. They just kept increasing the tuition. And that is why, for example, every university and its mother has a law school now. That's why there are programs like the lesbian dance theory master's degree, because it does not matter to them if those programs actually translate into real life jobs or money. It doesn't matter to them that we have too many lawyers and not enough legal jobs. It doesn't matter that for a lot of these students, they will go into hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt and only make $50,000 a year as a lawyer and never be able to pay that back. They do not care because they got the tuition check, they cashed it, and they can move on. And thanks to the government and the lenders for creating the system in the first place, they were able to just make money and never face consequences. And to his credit, I think that this is an incredible thing that Trump is doing. This is some of the rot that Trump is talking about ending in his big, beautiful bill. You can see it here in this tweet that we have up on the screen. But Trump wants to end these limitless subsidized loans that allow colleges to rip off students because he knows that it is only increasing our debt and that it is only hurting students. And of course, even though this will only help students in the long run and will reign in universities, people online are incredibly upset about this, because in my opinion, they do not understand the root cause of the issue and because probably they just have Trump derangement syndrome. But one of these people said Trump's big, beautiful bill caps the amount of money law students can borrow at $50,000 a year. That doesn't even cover tuition at many law schools, let alone the cost of living. This is devastating. Okay? That's not Trump's fault. That is not his fault in the slightest. That is the fault of the universities. The colleges are the ones with the power to end these programs and end the insane tuition bloat that only they benefit from insane tuition. That genuinely does not make sense, even when you add in inflation. Like, what Trump is doing is objectively a good thing. It is going to force schools to have to think about supply and demand. It is going to force them to have to kind of work within a framework of capitalism instead of just believing that money grows on trees and that students will just be able to pay whatever they want. It will force colleges to rate everything in lower tuition so that students can actually afford it and so that they are only getting degrees that will make them money in the long run. And hopefully, with Trump trying to end this rot, going hand in hand with people really thinking critically about college and whether it's even necessarily necessary can start to change some of this, at least for the next generation. Because I think another lie that Gen Z was obviously told is that you have to go to college, that you have to be part of this predatory system, that you have to pay the insane tuition cost because it's the only way that you're gonna be successful. Okay, well, after years of this, we know that that's not the case. You don't have to, or you can at least do something that is not traditional. I'm not saying that you don't need to go get a higher education, but there are other ways. You can go to a community college and then transfer to a university later if you want. That's what I did. You can go through a certificate program. You can take a couple gap years and actually figure out what you want to do with your life and decide Whether this is actually the right path for you, you can go to trade schools. That's an incredible, incredible opportunity, especially for the young men who are watching out there. Because genuinely and I know you guys hear this a lot, but unless you want to be a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer, for a lot of people there really isn't a direct need for a degree. And yet we have convinced my entire generation that it is the only way to secure your future. But based on the jobless, crying and in debt gen Z ers that I have been seeing all over my TikTok and my ex feed for the last three weeks, obviously that is not the truth. And obviously something needs to change. And to be honest, who would want to pay for schools that spit out students just like this girl? Excuse my language, but to that I say fuck ice and fuck the Trump administration. I can't. With the friggin drama and the swelling music behind her, Okay, I have to. This is so embarrassing. That's ucla. That's my alma mater. That was the commencement address this past year in 2025. And this girl ended her college career by saying F Trump and F ice like this literally feels like an SNL skit. The. The crying. Oh my God, I'm doing something so brave. This is so amazing. Oh my God. Just like give it a break. Like really did. That really is how you want to end your college career? That tells us so much more about what college taught you versus what is going on in the world right now. And these are the types of students that colleges are spitting out. Students who are emotionally fraught and anxiety ridden over politics. Instead of being empowered and ready to take on the adult world with real life experience and preparation and genuine excitement, instead she is ending her college career like this. And the thing that stood out to me even more than her face and the swelling music and the drama and what she was saying was the smug, smiling professors in the background. If you didn't catch that, I'm gonna put that clip right back up here. You need to see both of those professors smiling and clapping as she politicizes her commencement address. They are getting rich off of this system. They are getting rich off of feeding these students lies. They take hundreds of thousands of dollars from students every single year. They teach them nothing of value about the real world. They do not set them up to be able to get jobs. They don't even set them up to be able to go to a job interview by themselves and interact with their managers on their own. They instead fill their heads with Anxiety and entitled victim driven ideologies that make them unemployable and impossible to work with. That and our social media addicted world is what has created this entire problem. I mean really, let's just put it all together. You have a generation that is psychologically damaged by social media, that has no attention span, that is unable to cope with their own problems. They are then funneled into a university system that financially cripples them while teaching them victimhood ideology instead of skills. And the end result is a generation that can't even handle a job interview without their mom and believes that their feelings are a substitute for reality. That is what we are dealing with with Gen Z. That is what my peers are living in every single day. So for lack of a better phrase, Gen Z is not just struggling, they are cooked. Literally like their brains are fried and they were set up to fail. And obviously at the end of the day, everybody is responsible for their own actions. Everybody has a responsibility to make their lives better. But I will always say that Gen Z was dealt a very specific set of cards that was unprecedent, that our parents were not prepared for, that our guidance counselors, that our teachers were not prepared for. And we are seeing the outcomes. So where do we go from here? Well, first of all, I think what Trump is doing is great. I think that we do need to hold the universities accountable. I think we need to end the government backed limitless student loan so that we can hold them accountable. That is a first step to forcing the universities to have any kind of skin in the game again. But all of that of course is a more systemic and institutional issue that is going to take years to cure, in my opinion. And so what do we do as individuals? My message to my peers would be that the only way out is to reject the world that was built for us, that we were born into. And I am genuinely so sorry that so much of my generation was led into crippling debt into these insane programs without fully understanding what that meant and what it meant for your future. And I do think that we need to find a solution that is fair for everyone and at least protects the next generation. But for now, at least, what you can control is how you respond to the situation and what you do next. So take care of yourself, please, for the love of God, log off and touch grass and focus on solutions, things that you can do in your young adult life. Because that anxiety that we all feel, that I'm sure many of you feel on a daily basis, that is a bug, not a feature of who you actually are. So take responsibility. Because while yes, there are systems that fail Gen Z, unfortunately no one is coming to save you. And that could either cripple you or it could empower you to completely change your life for the better. And I hope you choose the latter. So build real life skills, challenge yourself, push yourself out of your comfort zone, learn to handle conflict and not feel like a victim 24 7. And understand that at the end of the day, unfortunately this is not a comfortable fact, but that the world does not owe you or anyone else a sense of purpose that is on you to find and create. And I hope you do. And the first step, again, is rejecting all of this and for the love of God, logging offline.