There are parts I agree with when it comes to older people being out of touch - but I'm going to go a bit against the grain here even if some don't like it.

I have rarely met someone with a STEM degree who was entirely unable to get a decent paying job.

It is not unreasonable to say that some degrees are not as valuable as others and will be more likely to struggle financially. Its a game of statistics. You are more likely to struggle financially with a degree in philosophy than a degree in engineering. Because even companies themselves when hiring for completely unrelated positions to a persons degree will take into account the fact that the engineering graduate probably worked a lot harder than the philosophy graduate.

But I do agree that the average non-degree or "less valuable" degree holder from the past had a much larger chance of making it out okay than nowadays.