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Like It or Not…
Disclaimer: I see a lot of fixes that the military/DoD as a whole could apply to the civilian sector when it comes to social safety nets—benefits we’ve had the luxury of using for decades. And yes, I know I preach it a lot. But here’s the thing: we’ve been living socialism as the less-than-1% for generations, and frankly, it works. So why can’t we apply it to a large-scale civilian effort? It would be just Glorious, in my opinion, if DoD policies could actually benefit the citizenry of the USA instead of just killing people outside of it. Just a hot take. Maybe it’s redemption. Maybe it’s reparations. Either way, as a GWOT vet, it’d be one hell of a way to show that my service meant something.
So anyway…
In the military, they used to say:
"Don’t bring me a problem unless you’ve got a solution."
At the time, it felt dismissive—like leadership didn’t want to hear anything unless it came prepackaged with a 12-point plan. And as I got higher in the ranks, I understood more and more why that was the better route forward.
And out here in the civilian world, I see the wisdom in it.
Because out here, in the real world, in this America—everyone’s shouting about what’s broken.
What sucks.
What’s rigged.
And they’re not wrong.
I mean here I am, yelling into the void!
But what comes after the yelling?
What’s the preferred future—and who’s building it?
We don’t need more people pointing at the cracks in the house.
We need people fixing it!
Millennials…
Like it or not, Millennials are the adults in the family now.
We’re the ones raising the kids, balancing the budgets, running the teams, making sure mom and dad have everything to live their twilight years comfortably, and showing up to bury them when it happens.
We're not “up next.”
We're up now.
And ready or not, we’re inheriting it all.
In ten years, Boomers hit peak life expectancy.
That’s not morbid—it’s math.
And when they go, they’ll leave behind their policies, their pensions, their unfinished wars, their bloated systems, and whatever’s left of the planet after deregulation and denial.
That’s what we’re being handed.
If that doesn’t light a fire under you, I don’t know what will…
Sorry Generation X…
If we don’t want to be ignored like Gen X is and was, we better start showing the hell up.
Because right now, we’re watching it happen in real-time:
Gen Z is organizing.
They’re running for office.
They’re building coalitions inside both the young Democrat and young Republican parties.
Say what you want about their methods—but they’re moving.
And Boomers?
They’re still clinging to the wheel with bony knuckles and Fox News talking points.
So, guess what happens if we keep sitting in the middle, dumbfounded and dazed by the chaos?
We get passed over.
But it doesn’t have to go down like that.
We are one of the most emotionally intelligent generations—because we saw how it was with our parents. We saw how the Boomers raised us and we said… no, that’s not for me or my kids.
And while that was a huge fucking step—it’s not enough.
We have to be the bridge.
The builders.
The ones who walked so Gen Z could run—
That’s not gonna happen on social media alone though…
We have to run for office.
Sit on school boards.
Start neighborhood co-ops.
Fundraise for causes we believe in.
We have to stop saying “somebody should do something” and realize… we’re that somebody. We HAVE to do it!
Do the Volunteer Bullshit
We have to do the volunteer bullshit we never wanted to do.
Not because it’s glamorous.
Not because it pays.
And definitely not because we like it—you know we don’t.
But because someone has to.
Because, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Yeah, it’s a Spider-Man quote—but that doesn’t make it wrong.
This is the unsexy, unpaid part of change.
Sitting through zoning meetings.
Being apart of the local library council (yep that’s a thing!)
Coaching the soccer team.
Showing up to the PTA when you'd rather be on your couch.
It’s uncomfortable. It’s tedious. It feels like shouting into the void.
But if we don’t take these roles, someone else will.
And we’ve seen what happens when the wrong people grab the wheel and call it “community service.”
I think the biggest gripe I’ve heard with the last 2 election cycles was “there’s no one worth my vote running” And I think the answer to that statement is… you have to do it. You have to run, you have to be loud and offer solutions. But it’s You. No one else.
Who’s Coming to Fix It?
And nobody can fix this shit alone.
That’s the part folks seem to miss.
We act like there’s some chosen fixer out there—a perfect politician, a viral savior, a billionaire with a conscience. But there isn’t. There never has been.
It’s us.
The ordinary, tired, cringey, overworked, underpaid, perpetually-online “us.”
And we don’t have to fix everything. But we do have to fix something.
You don’t need a degree in public policy to clean up a park.
You don’t need a trust fund to show up to a school board meeting.
You don’t need to run for office to help your neighbor, or to speak up when injustice is happening two feet in front of you.
What you need is the willingness to try. To roll up your sleeves.
To build something better instead of just complaining about what’s bad.
So Here’s the Ask
What are you building?
Yes, you! My readers!
What piece of the work are you carrying?
Because look around.
The wheels are off.
The road’s bumpy.
And no one is steering this thing but us.
So yeah—tell us what’s broken. But don’t stop there.
Show us how you’re fixing it. Or what you would like to see as a viable fix and at the very least, how you’re trying to advocate for it.
Drop it in the comments. Or better yet, in the Chat!
Tell me what you're working on. What you're dreaming up. What you're showing up for.
And you may say—Nomad, what are you doing? What pots do you have on the proverbial burner?
Well:
A. I’m in the very baby stages of starting up this platform. After I hit 100 subscribers, I’m planning on gritting my teeth and getting into the video posts as well as the two articles a day.
B. I’m also in the baby stages of getting involved with my Very Small local parties. I will happily run for anything they need me for. I’m sad that my state has turned from a place that I used to be deeply proud of—a purple state in a sea of red—to what it is today. So I plan on running. All they have to do is point me in the right direction.
So what are y’all doing?
Because this isn't the warm-up round anymore.
This is the part where we ride.
So mount up!
Bibliography:
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