Man, that sucks that you're getting all that flak about your generation. I'll be honest - I'm surprised to hear it; myself and every other millennial I know is so proud of gen Z. You guys are such genuinely no-nonsense people, it's really refreshing.
I've got a few gen Z coworkers now, and I'm always surprised how they can nonchalantly swear in front of their supervisors, and just straight-up say when too much is being asked of them. And they do it with such confidence that nobody confronts them about it! It's nice to see a generation that hasn't been beaten into submission by the rhetoric that they need to grovel at the feet of anyone that society claims is their "superior."
I don't have a lot of hope for the future of my country, or the world at large, but I think that if anyone can find a way to bring people together and make a change, it's you guys. I wish it wasn't something that needed to be hoisted upon your shoulders, but I really don't see millennials making that kind of positive change. And if y'all want to say "Fuck no, I'm not doing all that." I'd say fair enough, and still think highly of you.
The world sucks, and every generation knows that better than the last. Don't let people who had it easier than you tell you that you should be someone you're not.
Elder gen X. Your generation does seem unmotivated. But I think it's justified. Jobs expect a lot and offer very little to your generation. Why toil for little reward for a company that dump you the moment something better comes along. Why try to save for a house you will probably never be able to buy in world on fire.
It's like when employers say people don't want to work anymore. Well yeah people don't want to work. That's what wages are a bribe to get you to do something you don't want to do. If the bribe isn't good enough then people won't take it.
I don't know man, they called us the Slacker Generation at the time. The world Gen Z is inheriting is a goddamn disaster. At least we could get a degree in something silly like Philosophy and still expect to get a well-paying job, because a degree (any degree) was a ticket to a nice life, and it didn't put you in the poorhouse. Gen Z is fucked.
I feel your pain. I've lost faith in humans. I saw a post on here saying something like "I actually think people are great", and just thought wow, ignorance is bliss.
Thankfully older generations are dying. You said some disparaging things about your generation at the beginning of your post, and that's not how I see you. I see hope in your generation. I'm excited for you to grow up and take over from the shitheads running the show now.
For what it's worth, remember that older generations have heavy metal and other pollutants in their brains. Also, it takes time for societies to change.
Millennial here. Your complaints are absolutely justified. FWIW, I fucking love zoomers. At the workplace, y'all are consistently the happiest (infectiously so!), while simultaneously refusing to just bend over and take the bullshit that the rest of us have been conditioned into. We lost or never had the self respect that zoomers wield like fucking armor.
Can't really pitch a good outlook for things like the climate disaster or neonazis coming out of the woodwork. We're kinda fucked there. And you're fucked even harder. And your kids are beyond fucked. Etc.
But even within the turd this planet is becoming, there are still a few gems. YOU give me a hope that not much else does now-a-days: if we can survive long enough to meaningfully tackle the climate, then we can tackle the toxic elements of our society too, and y'all are already pros at that.
Aside from boomers that are literally regressive and are still actively voting for the worst humans available... I don't think generational hatred is really a thing anymore. All my fellow Millennials joke about the weird shit you do (as did we), but actual judgement and condemnation? Naw, it's just not there, IMO. We're all in this together...
Take comfort in the fact that everyone who hated Elvis didn't change their minds, they just got old and died. No one thinks Elvis is literally the devil anymore.
Eventually people who fawn after and put up with billionaires will eventually get old and die, falling into the minority and become forgotten.
I mean, I know I'm raining on an already pretty despairing post, here, in times that very well do lend themselves to despair, but that sentiment has been around as long as I've been alive and I'd bet good money decades longer. It's probably one of those sentiments that's as old as people.
But no one (or at least, comparatively very few) was rewarded for hating Elvis. He hasn't been a thing in a long time. Same with any other risque entertainer that was also satan, they fall by the wayside after everyone gets bored. People are rewarded very well when they bend over for billionaires. As long as sociopathy is rewarded, there will always be rampant sociopathy.
I'm not saying it's so ingrained that there's no point in fighting it -- forcibly changing the culture is of the utmost importance, especially now. But that sentiment, the battle plan can't just be "wait around and it will work itself out." It's not like billionaires either of the actual or the temporarily embarrassed sort don't have kids. I'm starting to see that's the fatal flaw the more liberal-minded seem to have. It's like we believe so hard that everyone is inherently good and that things will work out in the end that we never bother to make a move. It's the death of us.
As a younger millennial y’all have weird behavior and music and slang and you’re doing ridiculous things with your facial hair. And so did we. Our parents did it too as did our grandparents.
Fixing this world is on all of us and I’m sorry we haven’t been able to save you from having to help or carry that burden. Lot of assholes and all that. You didn’t deserve this any more than we did.
So fuck shit up. We did. I’ll stand with you as you do it. Be angry, but be pointed in your anger and don’t let us discount you. You’ve got more time to live with the consequences than we do.
Take (bizarre) comfort in the fact that all older generations have looked down on the younger generations. We have evidence of it in newspapers from the 1700s.
The oldest will die soon. As will mine (whatever. I'm Gen X, okay?) Eventually your generation will be the oldest, looking down on the younger generations for being dumb and lazy.
Don't feel bad for being tired of the wheel that continually crushes us all.
I came here to say this -- I admire the younger generation. My generation just wanted good jobs, and past the age of about 25, forgot all about what happened to the world or anything like that.
The "Occupy Wall Street" generation for the most part still had the option of good participation in the economy but quite a lot of them rejected the whole premise and got involved in productive protest, to the point they almost got a socialist elected president.
Gen Z as far as I can tell is a lot more fucked than whatever came before them, and is staunchly refusing to play the game of flipping burgers and renting apartments for their whole life. Not like they have much choice but good on them for reacting accordingly, and fuck the haters
I'm almost 50 and I feel terribly sorry for absolutely anyone younger than me for what's been done to the world.
I do have a house... but will also probably never retire. I don't envision a long life in part because of climate change and all the reactionary politics that have come with it. (I wanted to add that I'm not sorry to the alt-right kids but... did the world leave them better outlets?)
It's fucked. I didn't break it and can't afford to buy it.
I hope the ants can do well in the inevitable war against the cockroaches.
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I don't think anyone should have to feel that way, to be honest.
I'm sorry for making you feel that way today. This was intended to be aimed towards the people who do say those things about the younger generations. I'll edit that in. Not everyone who is an older adult is bad, not by a long shot. Many of you are awesome.
I've never heard a millennial talk down about Gen Z in real life aside from a few cultural comments that every generation deals with. Stuff like "why are they so into anime?" The rest of what you're talking about seems more like internet drama to me than widely held beliefs.
Fidget spinners were the first fad that had me going "kids these days are weird." And I'm sure some old dude said that about my generation when Pogs were huge.
I've seen a headline from a really old newspaper that was like "DO BOOKS CAUSE VIOLENCE IN YOUTH?" and it read like the kind of article you'd see applied to video games now. But with books.
Note from moderator: The comments here are walking a thin line and I'm not always sure which to remove. But here's my advice for y'all:
I'm not against people saying OP likely has schizophrenia and has paranoid delusions. I'm not sure how insensitive it may be to make those arguments. But for the love of god please watch your tone and phrasing, and use some common-sense empathy when people are struggling with mental health. I'm removing a few of the more callous-sounding comments, but I'm not sending any warnings unless they're really mean. Thank you.
Update: also feel free to report comments if you think they are too mean.
Gang stalking or group-stalking is a set of persecutory beliefs in which those affected believe they are being followed, stalked, and harassed by a large number of people.[1] The term is associated with the "targeted individual" ("T.I.") virtual community formed by like-minded individuals who claim their lives are disrupted from being stalked by organized groups intent on causing them harm
Not sure if you knew that or thought it was an insult.
But it's highly relevant and people experiencing this can benefit from seeing that it is a relatively common thing that can manifest from paranoia. Just being aware of it can help break them out of it.
That's not why I removed it. If you're trying to post a helpful comment in response to a mental health issue, I recommend phrasing it in a way that doesn't sound ambiguously toxic. That's not a rule or demand, it's just why I removed it.
Update: For context, it was a minimalistic statement along the lines of "I thought all the gang stalker victims were on Reddit" or something-- I forget the exact phrasing. I only removed that and one other comment here, and performed no other moderator actions; because I couldn't tell the intention of the commenter, and I'm not here to "crack down" on people unnecessarily. If I took the nature of the comment the wrong way, then 1. so could OP, which is the point of the removal, and 2. you can always try posting again in a different way. We're all chill here, or so I hope, fam.
Welcome to being a mod-- people will always think you either do too little or do too much, and your decision is always wrong. I've accepted this. But I do like to be transparent and chill.
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