In his Sept. 15th article, Tyler Laferriere lambasts millennials’ “moronic love affair with Marxism,” and writes that he cannot take his Marxist peers seriously. To support this sweeping dismissal, Laferriere accuses millennial Marxists of overlooking the wealth “brought to all [by capitalism] in the booms of the 1990’s and early 2000’s.” However, this criticism is specious. Real hourly wages for non-managerial workers have hardly varied since the 1960’s, even during the aforementioned “booms.” Median income is likewise sluggish: at its peak in 2007, just before the recession, it had only grown by 5 percent since 1989, even as the GDP per capita grew by 37 percent. Meanwhile, the cost of living has increased by nearly 50% since 1990. Wealth, it seems, has not been brought to all as stated by Laferriere.

In addition to misunderstanding the distribution of wealth in America over the past decades, Laferriere mistakenly describes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as public banks. While it is true that both are publicly chartered, they are nonetheless private corporations unlike, for example, the BPA or TVA. Common ownership is likewise misrepresented: the USSR had plenty of bosses. Indeed, if common ownership precluded organizational hierarchy, then companies like Schweitzer, WinCo, and the Moscow Co-Op would fail quickly.

The Millennial’s growing interest in unconventional economics is symptomatic of serious economic woes. Rather than be casually dismissed as a childish dream, the resurgence of Marxist rhetoric ought to be recognized as a canary in the coal mine.

The opinions expressed in this Column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of The Office of Student Media.