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>Summary: the anxiety is driven by pressure to do well in life, amplified by technology constantly reminding kids of this.

And by the shredding of the safety net, meaning that failure will result in a lifetime of indignity and struggle that you will likely never claw your way out of.

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There never was a "safety net." It was just that times were good and there was other opportunity. If you failed out of college in 1950 you could still get a good job in a factory without being crushed by debt. If you committed a crime you could move across the country and not tell anyone.

That's the biggest difference between now and then. Back then if you needed to you could easily get a job doing something that paid decently and work your way up. Taking a risk is a lot easier if you have a reasonable plan for getting back on your feet should your fail. Nowadays it's all about not having gaps on your resume, making sure your involved in clubs, in open source, or that you're blogging and we'll known. Kids, I think, feel as if they need to have a plan for their lives at a young he and that they need to execute on it. It's not enough to just live this days.

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