Posted 11/02/2007 05:10:00 PM by Douglas

The whining of 20-nothings knows no bounds. You want to eschew a "job" like the one that's oppressed your parents? Fine, but don't start whining when you don't make any money.

Numerous young Washingtonians bemoan the improvisational and protracted career track of the area's public interest profession. They say the high competition for comparatively low-paying jobs saps their sense of adulthood, forcing them to spend their 20s or early 30s moving from college to work to graduate school and back to work that might or might not be temporary.

These wannabe world-changers, ubiquitous in Washington, New York and San Francisco, appear to be part of a larger demographic trend in which this age group is pushing off marriage and kids. The do-gooders' wanderings often clash with the expectations of parents who want them to stay longer in jobs and settle down.

"The public interest sector is a poorly funded one, and its organizations cannot afford to pay highly educated young people anything like what they would command on the open market. That makes it difficult for these young adults in their 20s to contemplate long careers," said William Galston of the Brookings Institution, author of "The Changing 20s," a study published last month. "But that doesn't mean they're willing to forgo the opportunity to work there."

"Changing the world" really isn't a job description, but good for you if that's what you want to do with your 20s. Just shut your freakin' pie hole because no one is willing to pay you for it. Get a job or save the world: don't expect that you can do both.