this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2023
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Legacy News Media: We literally have no idea why Gen Z has given up on literally everything, has decided to not save for the future, and instead is trying to live and enjoy their life now.
Real World: Dearth of opportunities to make a life for yourself, every industry has reached is maximum zenith and now makes money by wringing pennies out of consumers, you need money to exist anywhere, there are no more places to just be, and the government is clearly corrupt and about to be taken over by a literal fucking fascist party because the other party is full of pussies who don't want to "upset the status quo" and keep letting the fucking fascists get away with shit, because "we have to follow the laws, even the ones that clearly benefit the fascists, passed by fascists. It's the law and if we don't take it seriously, everything falls apart. Sorry that means the fascists will win." Oh, and climate change is about to destroy our ability to even have a functional society.
As a millennial, I'm ready for a fucking dirt nap. Things just keep getting worse and fuck nobody is coming to save me or anyone else. Everyone is so caught up in their own lives and problems no one has the time or effort to give anyone else, meaning we're all suffering alone.
Literally what is even the fucking point of struggling to the natural end of my life? There isn't one.
It didn't have to be this way, but a lot of old selfish pieces of shit decided that it was more important to trash the planet and live the high life during their hayday, and then give all their children and grandchildren a swift kick in the ass and says "Children are our future! I just made that up! Now go fix the fucking messes we made for you! We're not concerned with mass extinction, because we'll be dead and it won't be our problem! Good luck, or not!"
Fuckin preach. I'm 33 and have spent the last 8 years in near total isolation because I simply do not have time for anything other than work, chores, feed and bathe myself (if I have time), sleep. That's it. It's deepening my depression and sense of total desperation in ways that I'd never imagined. But hey, at least my company is making billions because that's the truly important part. I'm ready to just say fuck it and go the way of Gen Z. I've saved and saved and worked my ass off, played by the rules, got my degree and it's all been for nothing. I still have nothing. In fact I literally have less than when I was in my 20s. There's nothing I can do to stop another economic crisis and I'm no where near having enough to survive one so fuck it. I'm ready to just do what I want and if that gets me fired or Im in debt because I finally decided to just take the hit and travel wherever I want then so be it. There's nothing we can do, we're on the ride, the clicking of the chains has already started and we are buckled in. Time to just enjoy what we can I guess, even if it sucks the entire time.
40 here. Yep.
I had an existential crisis in my early 20's based entirely around how futile existence is. We live, and work and make babies, so that the next generation can live and work and make babies.... Etc. What's the point? There's no long term plot line of humans that I know enough about or care enough about that I'd willingly subject myself, or my offspring to a life of existence in this, just to further.
Nearly decided to off myself right then and there.
Last year, finally purchased a house, with help from the resulting life savings of my father (may he rest in peace) and with my brother and his wife. Four fully grown adults in one house, just to afford to live. The only cherry from the whole thing is that interest rates skyrocketed immediately after we signed our fixed mortgage, so we dodged that bullet and we have two more years (as of now) for them to come down before we need to arrange for renewal or something.
But we all eat, sleep, work, repeat. That's it. The only nice thing I have going for me in all this is that we now have a definite timeframe for when our housing will be ours and costs will finally taper off. In another 24 years. I'll be 64. If I manage to get underpaid little enough, who knows, I might have some retirement savings by then. Freedom 75.
The corporations have turned multiple generations of people into wage slaves, jacking up the prices for consumer goods while keeping wages stagnant or even reducing wages. It's fucking disgusting, on top of that, they've not so slowly destroyed the planet with pollution. The entire time acting as though they're the victims and getting bailed out with our tax dollars for mismanaging their respective organizations, prioritizing CEO pay and dividends and stock prices over employee health (especially mental health), employee pay and livable wages. They get all the benefits from automation, computerization and mechanisation and what did we get? Nothing. This fancy machine does the work of 20 workers and will do so forever, and only needs 2 people to run, and only costs 10 people's salary for one year to pay for, and one person's salary to maintain, where did the extra money go? Well, the CEOs third yacht isn't going to pay for itself.
Eat the rich.
I'm just glad that millennials and Gen Z are educated enough to be killing off organized religion.
A big component of earlier generations accepting how bad things are is expecting them to get better in the afterlife.
"It will be fine as long as I'm forgiven of my sins and go to Heaven! Why would I worry about Earth?"
Thank fucking goodness there's enough education for people to see through that absolute horseshit, a lie fed to the working populace to keep them compliant until the day they die.
(To be clear, nothing against general spirituality. Mostly issues with organized religion and promising eternal life after death, which not all of them do.)
Honestly, with how loud and nasty organized religion has been in North America this decade, it reminds me of a concept in training I came across recently called Extinction Bursts (https://study.com/learn/lesson/extinction-burst-psychology.html).
Basically tantrums because the thing that used to work, doesn’t work anymore, and testing if just Trying the Same Thing Harder will get them what they want.
Interesting stuff! I'd say the main difference is children are able to be controlled, while we're dealing with adults who are cunning and willing to stop at nothing to change the system to benefit them and only them. In other words, their Extinction Bursts are capable of being effective, and Just Doing It Harder may work. Especially when "doing it harder" is cheating the system.
That's been the last 25 years for me. Just work... Gotta pay the bills so I can live, so I can... go back to work.
You can be positive at end because you have save something with your work. I have your age, never work a single day of my life, I don't have a bank account, I'm just living with my 70yo parent and keep going with his money that is the wage of essential worker. Where I am going? Enjoy what? What ride? I only see that probably I have to work like a slave in future, and that's it.
I feel you. Just got my letter what kind of pension I can expect. If it ever happens. Let's just say it's not looking good. It does make you wonder why you didn't just chose a much easier job when the stress and additional hours net you ~100 € more that won't save you from being meh financially at best anyway.
One friend of mine was lucky enough to get a real good job. He was able to buy property and have a family. The rest of my friend group, we all worked just as hard. But we weren't lucky so no family or peace of mind for us I guess. It's demotivating.
Maybe eventually when time marches on and we become the majority (I’m 23) we can make good positive social change. In some ways, while living through it is bad; the hardship and unfairness of the system is preventing the usual trend of people becoming more conservative as they age; so perhaps there is hope for things getting better in the future. We just have to keep trying; we can’t give in to cynicism.
I'm 32 and no way in hell am I turning conservative. Fuck that we need change and we need it now.
The problem is it is not a generational issue. It's a class issue. Rich millennials, and Gen Z will be no better than the rich Boomers. They will die believing they are just more special than everyone else and that is why they deserve so much more.
Generations won't change shit about who is in charge, sadly.
I dunno man, I've met some of my peers. The vast majority of them are just normal people, right, living their lives, totally nice, but then some of them are really fucking stupid or mean, and I kind of wonder if this narrative that gen Z will save the world is true at all, or if it's just that same sort of nonsense, that all we'll have to do is wait and things will somehow get better.
Studies have apparently shown that the trend of people becoming more conservative as they grow older isn't even true. The data says that the Boomers were just as conservative when they started voting as they are today. If anything, people consistently become more conservative as they get wealthier.
I believe it. Majority of white boomers hated the Civil Rights movement.
Yup. I imagine that's the kind of reason why they started that myth in the first place. So they could avoid taking the blame by claiming they were more liberal when they were younger.
Truth.
You know all this is worst in America, and I think it's the systems.
The rest of the British colonies used highly conservative parliaments, where parliament is diverse and consensus is needed
America's system was different, giving veto rather than encouraging consensus, focusing all power into two parties, removing the diversity
My country gets green policy by the green party gaining enough seats in parliament to makes it worth the bigger parties negotiating with them, that can't happen in a two party system
You can't have a bold party on the left because you have no room for a new, different party (that's why the conservative side changed rather that a brand new party forming)
We are protected by the more stupid ideas the greens have, as the greens must negotiate to get any of their ideas up
Doomer
Look I was alive and paying attention when carbon dioxide passed a threshold that is impossible to go back to. (Over 400ppm in the atmosphere.)
That was ten years ago.
Every climate scientist on the planet predicts society will collapse in the face of climate change.
But sure, keep your head buried in the sand by calling other people "doomers" because you can't be fucked to look up publicly available scientific research.
I hope you are young so you get to see exactly how bad it gets and to question if maybe you were a dumb fuck to ignore it.
Because yes. Yes you were.
The idea that nothing can be done and the world is already ended is literally oil company properganda.