Book Review — The Plight by Timothy Cook

Mechanical engineer and investor Timothy Cook raises the alarm on how Millennials and Zoomers should avoid repeating the mistakes of their elders

Amidst my intergenerational “reading tour,” the subjects of my research are becoming younger and younger. Two years ago, I wrote a review of Anne Helen Petersen’s 2020 book Can’t Even, which focuses on Millennials (“Generation Y”). I’m positioned at the front end of this generation.

It was only through happenstance that I wandered across an Amazon listing of a self-published book that serves as a “bridge” between the experiences of Zoomers (“Generation Z”) and Millennials. Today, I’m going to review that project.

Released in 2022, The Plight: The Generational Battle Facing Millennials and Zoomers was written by a largely-unknown writer named Timothy Cook (not to be confused with the Baby Boomer entrepreneur). While not a mainstream release, Cook’s commentary offers up far more insight than is demonstrated by generic pundits of the generational wars (looking at you, ladies of The View!).

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK

I wasn’t able to learn much about Cook’s background, via the Internet — other than how he appears to be a mechanical engineer and an investor in Bitcoin, gold, silver, and other dividend stocks. His investment habits would explain why he is so high on those commodities in the second half of The Plight.

However, even though I don’t share Cook’s passion for those alternative currencies, there is a lot of truth and clarity throughout this book…especially in its first half. He sounds the alarm for folks from older generations who are inclined to underestimate either Millennials and/or Zoomers — while also offering advice and support to members of younger generations who wish to take their destinies into their own hands.

STYLE / FORMAT

Cook’s self-published book spans a mere 84 pages. Yet, he is able to pack an incredible amount of substantive content into such a compressed space. The Plight is divided into eight succinct chapters, each one building on the information discussed in those before it.

Chapter One — entitled “Introduction,” the author makes a point by characterizing a fictitious Millennial named “Justin.” In Cook’s allegory, “Justin” comes from a modest family background, majored in Business, and attended his local four-year state university while living at home to save money. Yet, only two semesters of college expenses were covered by the college fund his middle-class parents set up for him along with the salary he’d earned through part-time work. As a result, “Justin” had to take out $20,000 in student loans at a 5% interest rate, which took him ten years to pay back. This meant it would be a long time before he could even think about affording a home loan.

Cook juxtaposes that with a second allegory about another fictitious Millennial named “Amber.” She went into college undeclared (living on-campus for awhile) and ended up trying out several different majors at different colleges before deciding she wanted to be a medical professional. Some credit-transfer technicalities impelled her to attend a private university; she rented an apartment while working full-time and also attending classes full-time. Consequently, she also had to take out student loans. Much like “Justin,” it also would have taken “Amber” ten years to pay off her student loans under normal circumstances — although some of “Amber’s” loans were private, in addition to her government-subsidized loans similar to the ones “Justin” took out. However, “Amber” was able to finishing paying those loans in three years by making additional cost-of-living sacrifices related to her geographic residence. Yet, while “Amber’s” duration of debt was shorter, overall, than “Justin’s” was — she still spent seven years of her young adulthood missing out on other opportunities.

I believe Cook paints these character sketches in order to illustrate how dramatically American college expenses have changed — for the worse! — since the eras of relatively-cheap education that Traditionalists, Boomers, and some GenXers were able to enjoy.

Chapter Two — entitled “Definitions, Context, Problem, Expectations, Solutions,” Cook explains how he will be focusing on four main generational cohorts: Boomers, along with Generations X, Y, & Z. He lays out the types of financial challenges that Millennials and Zoomers should keep in mind as they tread deeper into the decision-making processes of adulthood. He previews how readers should adjust the relevance of his proposed solutions with their own individual needs and realities. This is primarily a transitional chapter.

Chapter Three — entitled “Definitions: Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, Generation Z,” the author makes a mostly-accurate assessment of the historical circumstances with which Boomers were faced…although his embrace of the 1946–1964 birthdate range (similar to Philip Bump’s classification) for who qualifies as a Boomer is debatable. He also seems to be rather flippant about the ageism endured by Boomers and older generations.

When outlining Gen X culture, Cook underestimates the ways in which Xer lifestyles diverged from those of Boomers…and he is depressingly glib when referring to Millennials’ suburban environments and so-called participation trophies. Cook clarifies that Boomers tend to equate “good jobs” with good work benefits; yet, many Millennials understandably find those careers to be unsatisfying and scarce. Finally, he observes the double effect of the 2008 financial meltdown and the 2020 global pandemic on Zoomers’ upbringing — advising Gen Y and Gen Z to view one another as natural allies.

Chapter Four — entitled “Context,” Cook recalls how the 1960s saw the U.S. Federal Reserve print more money that could still be backed by gold — until other countries came to collect their shares of that American debt. He criticizes President Richard Nixon for closing the gold window in 1971 and creating the petro-dollar system with Saudi Arabian allies. These changes ultimately created the inflation crisis of the late-1970s. Cook implicates Carter-appointed Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker as having almost singlehandedly created the economic recession of 1981.

In the long run, lower interest rates have led to higher prices. The added heft of speculative banking and high-risk loans erupted in The Great Recession of the late-aughts. Almost a decade later, Cook believes the Federal Reserve (under Jerome Powell) made a major mistake by lowering interest rates in 2019 as a knee-jerk response to what Cook describes as a “taper tantrum” in the markets. In this vein, the GDP had kept spiking after each new crisis, including the COVID-19 outbreak.

Chapter Five — entitled “Problem,” the author narrates how, after the gold standard ended in 1971, American wages increased much more slowly than did GDP growth. To paint another analogy, Cook portrays wages and salary to be the U.S. economy’s “battery” while household wealth is its “battery storage power.” This, he says, shows how inflation steals American livelihoods. Since more and more Boomers are retiring in greater numbers, younger generations are going to have to financially compensate for the increased need in elder care. He predicts that, in order to accommodate America’s ballooning national debt, Millennials and Zoomers will have to work longer hours for less pay. He likens Millennials and Zoomers who’ve incurred massive student loan debt to, essentially, modern-day indentured servants.

Chapter Six — entitled “Expectations,” Cook makes another prediction: In the coming election cycles, Boomers will demand more funding for social programs that specifically benefit them and their needs as aging citizens. Comprising the new bulk of our future workforce, Millennials and Zoomers will be forced to pay for those costs with no guarantee that they themselves will ever be able to reap those same benefits (Medicare, Social Security, lower property taxes, and lower income tax rates for retirees) when they reach that age in the 2050s and 2060s. There will be a massive need for even more forms of cheap labor.

Cook laments how young people are still dealing with the trauma of isolation from during the COVID-19 pandemic plus the resistance of many older people to upgrade legacy systems. He stresses how Millennials and Zoomers must identify places in which social/financial programs are short-sighted — and then review them for shortfalls so they can advocate for themselves, politically, to avoid falling through the cracks. Due to the reality of our tax brackets, Cook asserts that income doesn’t automatically equate to wealth. We shouldn’t assume that the ceiling for earning potential will keep up with future inflation.

Another important question Cook asks is: Can there be innovative ways in which to reform America’s academic systems? Does present-day technology provide new monetization opportunities? He urges young folks not to take “legacy advice” to heart from older generations when those individuals are stuck in the past. As the overall debt burden increases, Americans’ overall purchasing power will decrease. Pensions are running out, and property rights are in trouble (such as what we saw with the eviction moratorium during Covid). These realities are either unknown by many Baby Boomers — or completely ignored by them!

Chapter Seven — entitled “Solution,” the author emphasizes that useful skills are, on average, more valuable than academic degrees. Some of these skills can include manual labor or developing physical matter — but they can also involve media, ideas, or intellectual property. He urges the reader to develop the specific crafts at which we individually excel and that we enjoy. Millennials and Zoomers will need to become the filling for an even bigger “club sandwich generation” than Boomers and GenXers have been. Debt, he says, can be used smartly if it purchases cash-flowing assets…but the return had better exceed what you’ve borrowed!

To further elaborate: Cook refers the reader to Robert Kiyosaki’s differentiation between an asset and a liability. Assets can include gold, silver, real estate, stocks, bonds, collectibles, business equity, cryptocurrency, and Bitcoin. Cook admits that different options will be a better fit for different people. Their cash flow is the most important factor when someone evaluates which assets they’re going to pick.

Finally, he cautions Americans from relying solely on cash for our rainy-day funds…as the purchasing power of today’s saved dollars can deplete, several years down the road. Cook makes the analogy that risk management is like the distinction between how cautious a kid or an octogenarian is when deciding how carefully to walk over (or around) an icy surface. Someone’s grandkids may be more inclined to run or slide across the ice, if they have that level of confidence. Their grandparents, by contrast, would tread more slowly due to their fears of falling and breaking brittle bones.

Chapter Eight — entitled “Conclusion,” Cook recaps major points from each of the previous seven chapters. His final message to Gen Y and Gen Z is for their members to advocate for themselves as the federal government seeks to craft new fiscal and budgetary policies.

As I said earlier, I’m not a fan of alternative currency — so I don’t share Cook’s personal fondness for those investment options. Nevertheless, he doesn’t get too bogged down with discussing those possibilities. Instead, he rightfully keeps most of his focus on the value that Millennials and Zoomers can bring to our world…and how the generations who came before them need to stop selling Gen Y and Gen Z short.

If anything, my greatest criticism of The Plight is that it isn’t longer. Granted, I realize that Cook may have been up against extreme word-count limitations seeing how he was self-publishing it. But that just speaks to how his voice is needed amongst those high-profile commentators who’ve netted lucrative book deals through which they opine about generational stereotypes. I really craved the opportunity to hear more of Cook’s expanded solutions on what type of legislation and public advocacy movements would pointedly benefit Gen Y and Gen Z.

On balance, this book spoke to me as a Millennial at the tail-end of the “Xennial” microgeneration. Despite the gloomy artwork on the book’s cover, Cook avoids the tempting pitfall of falling victim to the self-gratifying allure of Dystopian Porn. His grasp on the basic history surrounding generational cohorts is knowledgeable but not pretentious. He breaks down many of these cultural differences in a digestible manner for the layperson. At the same time, Cook treats Millennials and Zoomers with far more intellectual honesty than the curmudgeons who drone on about “avocado toast” and “safe spaces.”

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