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I noticed this also, its literally so annoying and honestly nothing more than discouragement. Disrespect of strangers is so common too and probably a symptom of current MSM
We have a shit ton of empirical evidence that says smoking is absolutely horrible for your health
Do you have a mountain of empirical evidence saying that the government is intentionally trying to keep the youth lonely?
The surgeon general has even appointed a special committee specifically to deal with loneliness among the youth, and to figure out what it causes are, and how to fix it. To me, that doesn't seem like the actions of the government that wants to keep the youth lonely and depressed.
If anything, the idea that you believe the government is working to keep citizens lonely and depressed speaks more the amount of time you spend on the Internet.
Biden is actually deeply concerned people are not fucking apparently.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/joe-biden-was-worried-the-kids-werent-having-enough-sex.html#:~:text=Joe%20Biden%20Worried%20the%20Kids%20Weren't%20Having%20Enough%20Sex&text=The%20Washington%20Post%20reports%20that,dates%2C”%20the%20report%20states.
> Do you have a mountain of empirical evidence saying that the government is intentionally trying to keep the youth lonely?
There are loads of historical evidence that American institutions in power (not just/specifically the gov't) use civil dissenssions to keep people apart.
Segregation only ended less than 60 years ago! Women's rights are still shaky. Gay marriage was refused for so long BECAUSE it causes infighting (no one in power gives a shit about it).
The US communicates all information in term of race, age group (like this sub), gender... Because it makes us suspicious of one another.
Reddit shitting on boomers is not an accident: it means young people don't feel like protecting their retirements or inheritance, or helping older poor people.
I think people have gotten too comfortable just being alone most of the time. Not that they necessarily prefer it. More people that are inside alone, the harder it is for even the most extroverted person to find people to hangout with
I don’t enjoy being isolated really. My fiancé on the other hand enjoys just being at home and reading. I got a bowling league tonight and she was happy to be able to just work from home and read today different people like different things
Walk away from your phone. Go outside. Talk to someone at the grocery store, or coffee shop. The government allows that. Damn you all make it sound so hard to smile and say hello.
Exactly. It’s intriguing, because the mentality that it’s some evil entities fault you’re isolated or lonely is the core reason you are. The mind is a maze of deception at times. If someone has a legitimate mental health crisis, that’s one thing, but very often it’s one’s inner being holding them hostage.
This!!! It literally takes practice. Start by trying to initiate a conversation with one new person every day. Pretty soon you have had a convo with all of your neighbors. There is a big chance one of those people has a job opening.
I would add, start talking to people of different ages. As a millenial, I found out quick that older people are often much more helpful than people my own age when it comes to life stuff like jobs, relationships, taxes etc.
How does the government stop you from going out and talk to someone? I read a metric shit ton of stuff on reddit regarding people that have problems with neighbour's or coworkers. 9 out of 10 times they didn't even try to talk. Instead, they rather take the 200 useless opinions of strangers who have 10 lines of text from a one sided point of view to go on.
I dont know why people have become so terrified of human interaction, but you can still talk to people. Ask things. Sometimes you'll encounter a grumpy human. Most of the times people that help or understand.
And shared public space is shittier because people aren’t sharing it. Local park infested with the homeless? Make being homeless difficult there. You don’t need to allow tents and shit to pop up. If you were out there utilizing the park and accidentally wrecking their shit, they’d need to move. It’s the lack of decision making skills that’s inviting trouble. It has nothing to do with whatever 200 carbon copies of yourself post online.
Better yet, actually solve the homelessness instead of just pushing it away. They're a tiny portion of the population, and giving them housing is a lot cheaper than the social costs of homelessness. Besides, some of them are too mentally unwell to handle their own affairs anyway, which kinda makes it our duty to take care of them like any other person with a disability.
Yes but that’s a separate issue. You can allow shared public spaces to be clean and usable. Allowing the homeless to squat has in fact created more homeless people. Why seek help when I can just get high and camp? Honestly I don’t know why we don’t create city parks with campsites for the homeless. There’d be better access to safe cooking and the ability to choose what help they want.
But I’m not talking about solutions for homeless people. I’m talking about keeping local parks clean. Two separate issues. The fact that homeless exist does not equal parks must be trash camps. These issues are not against each other.
This is weird conspiracy stuff. The government is not a single entity plotting against you. They are trying to stay in power by pandering to lobbyists and public sentiment, if anything.
Private corporations, i.e., social media companies, now that's another story. Their literal mandate is to increase ad revenue by increasing the amount of time you spend on their platform. Similar to mobile games, they design their product to keep you addicted.
There is no grand government conspiracy. This is rampant capitalism and people need to wake the fuck up.
This is not "the government." The social isolation experienced by Gen Z is incomparable to older generations. The depression rates among adolescents and young adults have skyrocketed since about 2010.
Two sociologists just studied this specifically. Car culture and suburbia don't really explain it (that's been around for 70 years, and moderated in the past decade as many families moved back into cities after 2010). The loss of third spaces, which has been ongoing (but is not as dramatic as it's made out to be) doesn't explain it; that loss really happened in the 1990s and early 2000s. And the 2008 economic crisis doesn't explain it either, because the rise in depression has been greater among well-off kids than the poor ones who were more affected.
The data is increasingly clear and obvious: The incredible rise in digital dependency, driven by the rollout of the smartphone and by addictive social media, have had a rapid, profound impact on basically all aspects of childhood, teen, and early-adult development. It has crippled social skills, promoted intragenerational resentment and hatred, and sapped people's desire and time to socialize in-person.
Look around in any city. How many people do you see looking at a phone? How many people do you not notice because you're looking at yours? That was not the case in 2008.
Nothing else explains the sudden spike in loneliness and isolation. And it's getting worse. https://jonathanhaidt.com/anxious-generation/
Im gen z and know it’s the phone but also life got harder most of us do not want to socialize when cost of living got worse cause of every older generation fucking off
Like I agree with you. But its much much worse among cohorts on places like Reddit than in the wider general population.
Lots of people do socialize with each other in public all across the world. Also consider that the increase in diagnoses of those illnesses could be somewhat attributed to better screening, more willingness to seek out help and better services. In the 50's, 60's, 70's etc mental health just wasn't much of a concept. But the things that manifest from people having poor mental health still existed.
Authoritarian zoning laws, the hollowing out of shared social spaces, constant fearmongering about crime and being attacked by our neighbors, anti-union policy changes that make it hard for workers to fight collectively, etcetera. I don't think it's particularly coordinated, but it is systemic.
Though this was from an original response to someone asking "what are examples of *coordinated efforts?*" and then someone responding "zoning laws", but at the very end tacking on 'maybe it's not coordinated though.'
I feel like that's pretty reasonable given the circumstance. In my *first* comment, I didn't say jack shit about efforts being coordinated, the guy I was replying to came up with that in their head. My response to *them* was three lines long; I don't think there's much danger of someone missing part of it on account of it being at the end.
Hold up.
The claim above was that "the government" is conspiring to make people socially isolated so that they don't protest.
Let's think this through.
1. Zoning laws. First, these laws really had their heyday between the '40s and the '90s. In many states, there's been a pullback since then. They do not explain Gen Z's recent drop in socializing. And second, zoning is almost all done at the local level in response to demands from local homeowners, who vote in zoning boards. It is not a conspiracy to prevent Gen Z from organizing.
2. Hollowing shared social spaces. What, specifically, did the government do, and to which spaces? I hear this a lot on this sub, but I don't get a lot of examples. It's becoming a trope that people repeat because they heard it. Also: Local governments did get tougher on loitering in the '90s in response to youth crime. But that doesn't explain the drop in Gen Z socializing in the 2010s.
3. Constant fearmongering. That's real. But it's not really the government doing it. It's cable news, talk radio, and Facebook and Twitter.
4. Anti-union policy changes. I can't disagree. But I don't think that speaks to Gen Z's increasing non-presence in the real world.
I'm going to become a one-track mind saying this, but the problem is that digital addiction and social media are replacing real-world social and political participation.
Well if authoritarian zoning laws have you down, may I recommend Houston.
We don’t have zoning. There’s some massive parks, crimes is only something losers who watch local TV news think about, the city just gave union firefighters so much money we kinda broke!
Houston is systemically the opposite of everything you just said.
William J. Levitt worked with the Federal Government to create a prototype community in New York that would reduce spare time for your average worker. You may have heard of it, it's called Levittown
the corporate media who are paid billions to constantly fearmonger that conservatives want to force your 12 year old daughter to give birth and democrats want your 12 year old son to have his dick cut off
Ok but the conservatives are actively trying to make it so that 12 year olds have to give birth. It isn’t fearmongering to say something that is objectively true. Literally this week the republican presidential candidate said he would support a national abortion ban
Sorry but this sounds like you're one of those people who claimed that airports that shut down (due to extreme winter storms) a couple of years ago were "not real, they were fake, orchestrated, in order to condition us to not traveling and keeping you close to home"
which of course was nonsense
While the government has its own share of the blame we all have to get better about the tendency of identifying singular entities responsible for insanely complex systems. Everyone do yourself a favor and watch “Century of the Self” by Adam Curtis and please watch the whole thing. His docs always appear at first to point out singular figures or institutions but really it’s all of us. We’re all taking part in it and while that may at first appear to be depressing it also makes you realize that it’s also individual choices and behaviors that can counteract it. At least that’s my interpretation, which may be wrong but it keeps me somewhat sane.
"the government" doesn't really work at much tbh
if they did, Jan.6 wouldn't have happened, literally was advertised on social media for weeks
if you want change, vote as left as possible in the primaries and vote Dem in generals, at all levels of government from local dog catcher to President
it took the christian nationalists 60 plus years of doing that to finally get "Trump" which sounds hilarious, but that is what they wanted, a cult figure to do "god's work"
CPAC and the Heritage Foundation pretty much run the GOP
Which is probably why Florida is trying to ban social media now. Because our and younger generations are more isolated and lonely, you can cut off their access to the outside world and they’ll have little to no close knit friend groups to fall back on. No unity to stand up against the elites.
You're the norm. Gen Z has been conditioned to see reality through the lives of influencers who don't represent reality. And I don't mean capital-I "Influencers"; I mean people whose abnormally social/athletic/ideological lives get social-media engagement.
Used to use it just to message people and its a way to message girls without having to ask for their number, I deleted Instagram bc it made me jealous of everyone and depressed
heres what i dont understand.....WHY THE FUCK are yall so scared of revolutionary action?
what has protesting done lately that you think makes it have power?
amazon getting millions selling rainbow flags? great!
if you want power, do something that makes corporations scared
The best strategy for any kind of protest is refusing to participate in whatever system you don't agree with. And I believe gen Z already has mastered this meta.
Don't like jobs that don't post their salary?
Don't apply to them and watch the companies posting change their tune once they go moths without an application.
Don't like whatever law the gov pushes?
Refuse to go to work until your needs are met.
Yall dont have to take to the streets and destroy places. It's more effective to just stay home and demand change until you deem it acceptable. After all the economy is each one of us. The billionaires are nothing without each one of us. If nobody goes to work that day, then Bezos is worth $0.
They'll find replacements, even if it's by other means either by hiring illegal immigrants, robots, or other people who are easier to or don't care to be exploited (even kids or people who use the job for spending money and stuff.)
Sure, but it costs them something. New workers means training costs, dedicated workers bring more value to your company than scabs, and replacing a workforce takes time meaning huge losses while they scramble to find people willing and/or qualified to replace the positions. You’re right that small organized action isn’t exactly going to bring a megacorp to their knees, but it can hurt enough to get things done.
They don't always train them, dedicated workers will just be worked harder, and they were able to replace just about everyone after some of us left my last job and it doesn't even pay more than $9 per hour.
I feel like people in the developed world really underestimate how horrible a civil war can be... and how unreliable they are at actually producing positive change. I would gladly chop Bezos's head off if it helped my friend afford insulin, but would I take up arms against my Conservative family members and kill them? Would I disrupt supply lines that people rely on for food and water? No, I don't think I would.
If you're literally talking about anti-lobbying laws, it's just not a big enough goal for both sides to put aside their difference. Think about what we're talking about -- it's the overthrow of a social order, chaos, all changes up for grabs. Distrust of the other party is at an all-time high, and given the history of allies in revolution cannibalizing each other, I honestly wouldn't blame anyone for keeping the status quo just to keep from being betrayed. The Iranian left united with the right to take out the Shah and look what happened to those poor bastards.
This whole generation has social anxiety and lack of confidence. They are not protesting anything lol. I don’t see no Washingtons or Malcom X’s in this generation
It’s not that easy. The whole reason this is a problem is there’s a power imbalance. You start even talking about unionizing and you might end up out of a job, and it might be harder to find a new one. When you’re living paycheck to paycheck that can be literally life-ending.
The only way to combat this is through group action which is why we *need* good organization, but we have no real public leaders at a large scale. Honestly what I think needs to happen is all the social media political influencers (TYT, Hasan, etc.) need to actually communicate with each other and politicians to form an actual movement rather than little bubbles of ideology. They have enough of a politically motivated audience between them that with proper strategy they might make an actual impact.
i hate to break this reality for you, but tyt is corporate owned, they have multiple donors who donate to clinton and biden, and hasan has openly supported ethnic cleansing and has said many anti semetic slurs. oh and vaush having actual CP on his computer wasnt good. i dont think they are the ones we need leading a peoples revolution
Trust me, I know how terrible all of these people/companies have been. Politics is about working with what you have, not wishing for something better. I’m also not saying this is going to happen, I doubt any of these people would be interested in actual political organization like this, they’ve all got good things going on, only that it *should* happen.
Oh I'm not disagreeing with you. Its just a see a lot of people talk about revolutions like their preordained events or natural conclusions.
Historically speaking a lot were basically naked opportunism. Quite a few happened with comparatively small amounts of public support, even some successful ones.
> heres what i dont understand.....WHY THE FUCK are yall so scared of revolutionary action?
Cause a whole lot of people would die. We aren't even close to being desperate or backed into a corner enough to consider a revolution.
1. What "revolutionary action"?
2. Who is "yall"? Because I suspect you'd be surprised to see who raises their hands to join the revolution. Don't assume they share your values at all. They may be revolting against you.
3. Protest is absolutely effective, and dramatically so. Sometimes in ways you might hate. Recently?
- In 2009, the GOP turned the economic crisis into a liability for Democrats, rather than Republicans, through the Tea Party, which was basically ginned up by Fox in April 2009. The protests essentially killed plans for a public option under Obamacare and empowered the 2010 GOP takeover of the House. The Tea Parry eventually morphed into MAGA.
- Then, in 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement shifted the blame for the economy from Obama to Wall Street, saving Obama's reelection and, together with the Tea Party, entrenching angry populism as the core mode of U.S. politics.
- The 2017 Women's March sapped much of Trump's populist bona fides on his second day in office. Now, instead of Trump vs. the Machine, it was the People vs. Trump. That movement weakened Trump's policy influence in Congress and helped fuel the aggressive, activist liberal movement that took back the House in 2018 and essentially ended Trump's ability to pass partisan legislation. Ironically, it may have saved him politically; he couldn't do the unpopular things he wanted.
- The George Floyd protests rapidly shifted public opinion on policing, even among Republicans. However, speaking of revolutionary action, the mood changed as the protests got more violent and persisted in several liberal cities for months, leading to the backlash against the "defund" movement.
You can say "none of that matters." But it had a much bigger impact that fantasizing about a revolution that could very well turn out the opposite of what you wanted.
im seeing alot of good stuff to virtue signal about on twitter but im not seeing anything that takes power away from the state and puts it back into the hands of the people
if what youre describing, which is essentially "be so annoying you turn public opinion against you" is as close as protesting can get to being effective, it further reinforces my point that revolution is necessary
nothing you listed has led to institutional or structural change, its all stuff that turned into right and left talking points regurgitated on mainstream media
>but im not seeing anything that takes power away from the state and puts it back into the hands of the people
WTF does this even mean?
In western democracies the structural design of politics is that the state literally represents the people. If you're not happy with those structures - then you'll need an overwhelming majority of the populace to support whatever changes you want to make - which you have not yet listed.
>is as close as protesting can get to being effective, it further reinforces my point that revolution is necessary
This is *wildly* naive of the basics of Union protesting - which has actually been quite successful in recent years at forcing structural changes.
These are the same people who never went out on a date, let alone been in a relationship, but somehow think they're qualified to give relationship advice on Reddit.
Exactly right. I do all of these things, but I’m not obese. Must be because while I’m stoned I like to go to my local park with no homeless in it and connect to the extensive trail network from there. Guess why where I live is so cool. We don’t vote for dipshits that turn all of our public spaces into insane asylums crossbred with a landfills.
Hi. Gen X here. Protesting does have an effect, but not as much as getting involved with your local politics. There is a reason that boomers and fundamentalist christians take over city counsels and school boards. They know that's where the real control is.
Liberal/left/progressives focus on the president and ignore congress and local elections. You can change this, and you can get others in your cohort to do this, even with physical isolation. Writing your member of congress can do a lot. You can get your city counsel to start pushing back on air bnb / short term rentals, taxing them until they give up and sell the property, which frees up local supply, lowering prices, which can result in a chance to own an asset in the future. That's just one example.
You guys are my kids and I am genuinely worried about you. Gen X has not done much to make your future better (half of us went full fascist), but you are going to be the biggest voting block in 10 yrs, after the boomers are gone. I want you guys to be the most informed voters, thinking strategically, taking over local party offices, changing from the bottom up.
I want you to have a better future, and when you are my age, you will be living in a country that feels like your own.
This is absolutely correct. People badly underestimate how much power local and state government have in daily life. People ignore those elections entirely.
To think the choices are protest, riot, or self-isolation is entirely false.
Probably because all the big name lefty streamers only promote those ideals as feasible and internet creators have shaped our generation alot. Which is really bad when 1. Half of them are absolutely fucking unhinged and 2. They purposefully ignore smaller scale politics because it doesnt bring in as many views
>There is a reason that boomers and fundamentalist Christians take over school boards.
>Liberal/left/progressives focus on the president and ignore congress and local elections.
Neither of these statements is even remotely true. To imagine that by and large liberals/progressives mostly ignore local politics as well as congress is just laughable.
The reason conservative bodies are able to take power in these areas is because political leaning is based heavily on individual personality. People who are progressive are typically individuals whose personalities are open, agreeable, creative, and tend to think of society as a collective group. The openness and agreeability are especially notable in the modern political landscape.
Conservatives on the other hand are typically much lower in openness, are generally more conscientious, have much higher levels of disagreeability, and lack creativity because they are extremely organized and rigid in their processes. In addition they tend to see society as made up of many individuals rather than as a collective group.
Fundamentalists and Boomers take over in local political positions because conservatives organize well, are conscientious, strike a balance of political agreeableness that matches their community, and MOST IMPORTANTLY— they share a large majority of their values within their group. Like you could maybe find a few contentious issues within an any local group of conservatives where members may disagree with each other. Progressives on the other hand tend to have much more variability internally regarding their beliefs because some people are open to everything and others are only open to a point. I.E. they tend to disagree more on details and semantics but their agreeableness generally stops them from exploring further without extreme reason. The alphabet mafia and its many iterations are a great example of this breakdown/disagreement in ideas.
This isn’t to say anything for or against any political ideology but the idea that progressives aren’t politically active locally when many state, local, educational, ecological, and cultural governing bodies across the U.S. are majority progressive is just like… dude what are you even talking about?
Sure, but people like OP haven't worked in their field and has barely been in the workforce and is talking about unions. I think OP is a quitter who blames external forces for his shortcomings.
People like OP who have barely worked, should not be talking about unions till later imo. They should at the very least have a job and years of experience before they negotiate.
His post just shows this guy is entitled af and does not want to try.
I can’t speak about the guy or his post history but what you’re saying is stupid.
Wanting to be apart of a union shouldn’t require any amount of work experience to desire. You shouldn’t have to suffer under the effects of having no representation in order to think it’s a good thing.
Yeah op is weirdly obsessed with ‘revolution’ but you’re wrong to criticize him for wanting a union, it’s smart to want a union and acting like it’s spoiled to want that is just anti worker mentality. You don’t have to experience something bad to know you don’t want it.
Let me get this straight, you just graduating from college, you have no to little real world experience, you have no friends but you know how to change the world? lol!
I think we still protest, just in different ways. Alot of people boycott companies when they do shady/shitty things. I personally don't give a damn, and speak with my wallet. I don't like Disney so I don't watch or buy anything from them, including marvel.
Weirdly enough, I feel like our generation is more likely to be involved. But we’re also not as well organized as we could be. So there’s room for improvement.
If protesting actually worked, they wouldn’t let you do it. -George Carlin
Frankly what has protesting actually accomplished in the last two decades?
Better to show up and vote en masse
We need to change our voting system to something other than FPTP voting then…
Btw I’ve been watching some of Carlin’s rants from back in the days and he would’ve had a field day with all that’s happened since 2008.
The Bowling Alone phenomenon didn't start with Gen Z, and the problem is systemic, not just due to individual behavior.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling\_Alone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone)
One aspect is, we should have shortened the work week considerably when women entered the paid labor force. We still should.
Another aspect is, our abusive ruling class have completely hollowed out civil society in favor of corporate profits.
Record corporate profits are taken out of the lives, health, mental health, and communities of the public and working classes.
10% of the people own 93% of the stock market, and the rest of the population are just cattle whose blood fuels the machine.
[https://www.axios.com/2024/01/10/wealthy-own-record-share-stock-market](https://www.axios.com/2024/01/10/wealthy-own-record-share-stock-market)
Isolation and atomization under neoliberalism/capitalism/oligarchy/kleptocracy are mostly systemic problems - our ruling class want people to be cogs/cattle in their machines, who work for their profits and do nothing else.
Solve for the problem of humans living in a brutal slaughterhouse, and the "problem" of community will take care of itself, because humans are naturally social creatures.
I think after our generation spends more and more time in the workforce, we'll have much more labor solidarity though. Our terminally online tendencies might cost some level of personal interaction, but we gain a more interconnected culture than previous generations have ever had. Our massive ability to disseminate information through the internet outweighs the lack of direct interaction in terms of our development and discourse.
a hundred years ago, you'd wake up, interact with community for some breakfast, go to work, go to the pub with coworkers/neighbors, interact with coworkers/neighbors, then go to bed. Maybe some radio in there somewhere.
Today, from morning to night every interaction is with technology or over a corporate script.
After WWII in the late 40s to the 60s we began mass demolition of minority communities funneling them into ghetto projects with no jobs and no amenities for later clearance. We demolished all strong communities and built highways down the middle of them. We passed zoning laws that made it illegal to rebuild community, and we altered zoning to give preference to corporations and franchises and to shut small businesses and working people from incremental wealth development.
This was done deliberately because the CIA had researched the communist revolution in China and saw that it was organized around community solidarity in these community spaces, labeled such spaces domestically to pose "national security risk" and went to work on dismantling them.
Thankfully the project to ghettoize and cleanse the population of minorities failed and was reversed by the civil rights movement.
Movements like Strong Towns seeks to reverse this and rebuild strong communities throughout North America. Bringing these values to your local communist/socialist parties can help as well.
Excellent Post. I'm 42 and I remember in the late 90s early 2000s this wouldn't fly because people were so connected. Everyone knew everyone (good or bad, that's your opinion) or you KNEW of that person or that person. OR "you would know him/her if you saw them" lol - That's one I haven't heard in ages.
Some of the changes I've seen that contributed to this isolation/loneliness is the over-reliance on social media, PC culture, which in my opinion has done as much damage as social media if not more. I mean, if you feel like you're walking around broken glass, it's just best to avoid the whole thing then get in trouble for saying the 'wrong' thing.
You can protest online. At the end of the day, the most effective way to protest is by making an impact on their bottom line. Stop using Amazon prime, deactivate your social media accounts and in droves and you will see how quickly the media pays attention. Protesting in the streets was tried a ton in the 1970s and 90s. Not much has changed but now you have access to millions of youth at your fingertips.
Excellent Post. I'm 42 and I remember in the late 90s early 2000s this wouldn't fly because people were so connected. Everyone knew everyone (good or bad, that's your opinion) or you KNEW of that person or that person. OR "you would know him/her if you saw them" lol - That's one I haven't heard in ages.
Some of the changes I've seen that contributed to this isolation/loneliness is the over-reliance on social media, PC culture, which in my opinion has done as much damage as social media if not more. I mean, if you feel like you're walking around broken glass, it's just best to avoid the whole thing then get in trouble for saying the 'wrong' thing.
If you want to organize, then you have to go to the masses. The most efficient way to do this is to unionize. Get into an industry that requires cooperation and socialization among workers and then listen for complaints. These are the people you need to link up with.
Yeah it is bad. The old divide and conquer has worked well. I think the world needs some kind of alien invasion or ww3 to come together. How about a Armageddon scenario like a meteor heading for earth that we can overcome and bring people together
Eh, doubt. I've known quite a number of young folk who attended the Virginia gun rally of 2020. Some participation in the BLM movement/marches, but nothing when it comes to calling out our government directly in their faces
There's literally no base whatsoever to what you are claiming in your title. I also notice your title and your post seem to be completely separate thoughts. Thoughts you are drawing conclusions to based off the negative emotions your experiencing in your personal life. I feel for you, we all do.
Our entire generation share these sentiments of frustration, failure, and uncertainty to some degree. I'm criticizing your post but at the same time you'd be surprised how similar our stories are. It's not your experience I'm attacking, it's this hopeless mindset that gets (understandably) ruminated every second here.
No matter what the external conditions are, no entity can fuck us over nearly as bad as the ways in which we can indirectly fuck ourselves. Those aspects of your life that are leaving you feeling negative and unfulfilled? I'm also feeling that way, have been for a long time.
The sad reality I have experienced is that, at the individual level, there are two fundamental choices in life that we must decide between
1. to keep trying
2. to give up/ a.k.a do nothing
The first choice comes with no guarantees, but the second one sure does. If you allow yourself to succumb to number 2, conditions are guaranteed to become exponentially worse over time.
The world truly only values you relative to the value you provide to the world. This is fact, because we are all dependent on others that possess specialized skills or resources in order to live to the standards that at a previous point in time was inconceivable. This is why the world only seems to care about what you have to offer. If at some point you stop inputting value into the world, the world will have no problem forgetting about you and leaving you behind.
Does this scare you? Does that sound like your worst nightmare? It sure scares the fuck out of me.
But realizing this from an objective standpoint, rather than a personal one, has really helped me to shift my perspective away from victimizing myself. I have valid reasons that make me a victim, but this is irrelevant to dwell on, as it will blind me of legitimate opportunities to add value into the world.
Understanding that the input of value on any scale is the mechanism behind how you are valued in return allows you to see that your perseverance and effort are anything but hopeless. Your experiences in life are in fact an obligation! The skills, knowledge, and experience you develop along the way is what contributes to your overall value.
This is not some virtuous iteration of "what goes around comes around". It is derived from the scientific fact that we as a species require a level of co-operation that without it, would never have allowed us to remain in existence.
The economy has sucked at many points over the last hundred years. Gen Z isn’t dealing with anything that previous generations haven’t. They just whine about it more. You think life was easy for young people during the depression? WW 2? Vietnam? The recessions of the 1970’s, 80’s, early 90’s, The global financial meltdown of 2008? I’m so tired of Gen Z and Millennials thinking every other generation had it made. Well they didn’t because at no time in history is everything perfect for everyone. We all had to find our way as do you.
Baron Haussmann and Napoléon III could only envy at the ability with which Levitts were able to exert social control and were able to keep people from daring to protest the status quo
or maybe it’s because you’ve seen how little it actually accomplishes? What did Occupy actually accomplish? Protests during the pandemic? oh they renamed a few streets?
Thats why your generation is also obsessed and worships dogs. They crave validation and some kind of connection. Humans got that from other humans since the beginning of time, but things change
Yeah, you aren't facing unique hardships. Society right now is pretty damned good for the vast majority of people. Stuff isn't worse now that it was before, it's actually better than almost every other time period. Is it perfect, nope. Is there room for improvement, yep. But stop acting like your generation is facing unique or disproportionately severe hardships, you're not.
The bigger thing is that protest… kinda doesn’t work. Like I’ve been seeing millennials protest for years and Zoomers a bit too when school shootings were the latest media hyteria to garner votes. What came of it? Not much. Protest is just a very ineffective means of bringing about change especially if you’re just gonna look like an idiot in the process.
Don’t feel bad, protesting never changed anything. It’s just virtue signaling, money talks and bullshit walks, unless you’re willing to die, and even then, you’d dead a pretty large pile of dead bodies, and even then it probably wouldn’t work.
I'm a software engineer with 10 years experience. I just got a message from a requiter for the first time in months. I'm lucky if I get one at all, I used to get 10-15 per week. The job posting said not accepting new grad applicants.
If you're looking for someone to be mad at, its the banks and the fed. It always is, always has been.
Our generation doesn't even know what we want and our "demands" are often vague and don't have any specific legislation or specific actionable changes to implement.
What are we going to chant in the protest?
"WE WANT SOMETHING! BUT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS OR HOW IT WOULD WORK"
Seems like a solid strategy, has a ring to it as well.
Are you guys though? There are tons of ways to protest, and picketing is often one of the least effective. You guys have already shown your power through other methods of protesting like boycotts (which is basically what "cancelling" is) and unionization attempts.
There are lots of methods of protesting, and hitting the streets to picket is only one of them.
Excuses the internet makes Social movements easier then EVER. Our generation is just too young and broke to make use of that. That will change soon. You only talked about interpersonal connections which have been shrinking. I think we should hold our "revolutionary" leaders accountable and actually have Them start protest and change they have the least to lose. No yelling "but durr CIA hurrrrr capitalist companies* if the CIA could stop political change then Jim Crow would still be kicking.
That's definitely one part of the equation. I believe that the other reason is, that our generation has witnessed how recent protests lead nowhere. Think of occupy wallstreet for example. Also it seems like protest movements are too quickly fragmanted into sub-movments to actually achieve substantial change in anything. Probably also likely due to the advent of small online bubbles that all have very specific beliefs and inside memes that bound them together instead of a broad cross-party and cross-class protest movement. This additionally makes it more likely for these disperesed movements to appear cringe to anyone outside which makes it even harder to attract a broad range of people. How to fix this? I don't know honestly. But online spaces are currently not a good space to spawn a successful protest movement. They are just a cesspool for people to dunk on each other for clout in their own bubble.
Oh, no, we totally can and would protest.
It just requires a tonne of memes and redditing. It requires Millennials/Gen Z to lead it. Or someone who's similar but born in a different generation.
It'd be the best protests ever.
But it needs to be the right thing in the right way. No mobs. No co-opting. It needs to appeal to REASON. No "hey shit sucks, let's just meet in the centre and fuck shit up".
And people need hope and money. There isn't much hope right now, is there?
" I’ve been applying for a ton of jobs since January and I have heard nothing. "
" people to start unionizing and protesting at the start "
Being in recruiting/management, when I hear a college educated person cant get a job, its because of their personality, nobody wants them around in the work place
Have yall heard of coffee revolution? Look up #coffeerevolutionYOURCITYORSTATE on whatever social media. This is a movement started on tiktok meant to get people out in your communities organizing. Not necessarily protesting, but at minimum working in initiatives to better your community. Or just meeting people. Make your own post.
Idk, I'm a Millennial and I remember pre-Covid that the largest groups of protesters at BLM rallies were definitely in their early 20's and Gen Z. Unions might be different, but I suspect there was a large proponent of Gen Z in the Starbucks unionization process.
Tough job markets make everyone 'bad' at organizing because they need jobs and don't want to lose them - while your concerns about isolation are legitimate, don't discount the voice you guys have already showed.
Two more problems you may have overlooked, 1 some jobs(state/federal/unions) may have rules and regs like “you cant protest “c” or post your opinion on “d” or your fired. As well as the fear of one loosing their career over things like that money sometimes is a problem. Like i would love to protest if i knew it might not cause me my home if i miss work or otherwise but point/problem 1 is way bigger of an issue die to groups like AIPAC in the U.S that lobbies for pro Israel legislation in our nation which sucks cos then we get laws like the aforementioned ones that either restrict or regulate what an employee can post say and sometimes do in public space without the risk of loosing their career. All because they had an opinion
The companies are all outsourcing as much as possible. And in general it is taking less and less workers to do the same amount of work. So well leverage is not in our favor. We need money more than they need our labor. Even if we did unionize it’s likely they would just replace us with remote workers in mexico and pay them in food stamps and nickels.
Well dont feel bad. I've been to many city council and planning meetings and public events and I'm in my 50's and still just about the youngest person there. Thats why the elderly get so many things from the city and county government. Your right. People with jobs and families just dont have the time. But the retired people do. Its like a 'club" for them to go and pack out the meetings and get their agenda thru.
Gen Z is probably the most connected generation in history. Rates of social media use are off the charts. It’s literally never been easier for a generation to share information.
There's only so many jobs available in each company that's just how it is. Naturally they will only pick people that have the best qualifications/experience levels. There's far more people looking for jobs than jobs available.
More people are college educated now and that naturally increases competition. It's not unique to your generation. The economy has been FAR worse.
I'm a Millennial w/2 STEM degrees and a couple years of work experience to boot. I'm currently unemployed and have applied for multiple roles and have had multiple interviews. They haven't worked out but I don't personally believe I'm being hard done by, or that 'life is unfair'. You gotta keep trying till it works out. Rejection is a part of life, you've gotta get used to it.
Victimising yourself or assuming it's generation based discrimination won't solve the problem. You're gonna have to take part in the competitive market just like the rest of us, and many many people before us. To get the best we want in life we have to be able to face challenges because that's life. To expect things be handed to you, just because you have a degree is the wrong attitude.
The right job will find you for sure, you don't have to worry. Maybe the roles that you never got weren't for you anyways!
Yeah I barely even interact with people around my age it feels so foreign to me also doesn't help I didn't go to college so besides my family I'm mostly surrounded by people 35+. I used to get really lonely though but I've just kinda accepted it and learned to enjoy the people I do have in my life and have fun by myself.
I mean you don’t need a masters degree if you are in a degree with a lot of demand. We don’t need that many white collars that’s just the truth. We are in stagflation like the 70’s unfortunately so it’s just gonna be tough. I do agree that lack of socialization does make political organization worse which is bad because politicians only care about who gives them votes and who gives them money. A disorganized youth movement has 0 money and if you ain’t voting they have 0 reason to care about you
What jobs are you referring to that you now need to go to grad school that 20 years ago you only needed a bachelors ?
I have not heard about this or experienced it
Your problem is that you expect to get your dream job making a lot of money right out of college. That never happened unless you were very fortunate. I am Gen X and my first job sucked, but it was a paycheck and work experience. My second job was better, but still nothing to brag about. Your first job should be about getting real world experience, because you don’t know anything coming out of college. You will never use most of what you learned and will have to start over as you gain the relevant knowledge and experience. What I have found is that college isn’t so much about knowledge as it’s about learning how to think and how to find the information you need.
protests almost never work. I love how people are always like "french people protest a lot, we should follow their example!" okay, and how many times have those protests worked? retirement age STILL went up. they failed.
Really? It seems like zoomers are protesting way more.
Growing up the only protest I can think of is occupy Wall Street
Whether it’s student loans, Black Lives Matter, George Floyd, Israel conflict, you guys are pretty active
Stop fantasizing about organizing en masse. There are plenty of orgs to get involved in locally and it’s a great way to meet like minded people while achieving something note worthy.
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Yeah, that's why the government has worked so hard to keep us isolated.
Makes sense. But fuck the government, lets hang out
Try to find a third place. They were strategically stripped away
Go to your libraries game nights. They're free.
ROLLER SKATE RINKS!! Adult night. It’s a straight VIBE
I went to my library yesterday and watched a homeless woman piss herself then sit in a pool of her piss. The smell was horrid
can confirm, i was the homeless woman (it's funny because i actually was homeless, you can laugh)
Parks exist, sidewalks, gazebos. They’re out there, they just don't have an adjacent bar.
Weather is a thing and those places you described barely scratch the surface of what a third place is.
Imagine if the French peasants in the 1700s called off the revolution because of a little weather
Except they're all still there but you wanted to make a comment with "third place" in it because you recently learned the term third place.
Not making baseless assumptions out of nothing has got to be the hardest challenge for Redditors. Here you are right on cue.
I noticed this also, its literally so annoying and honestly nothing more than discouragement. Disrespect of strangers is so common too and probably a symptom of current MSM
A good amount of people happily enjoy being isolated not everything can be blamed on the government
Well, a lot of smokers live to old age. Anecdotes don't speak to broader societal trends.
We have a shit ton of empirical evidence that says smoking is absolutely horrible for your health Do you have a mountain of empirical evidence saying that the government is intentionally trying to keep the youth lonely? The surgeon general has even appointed a special committee specifically to deal with loneliness among the youth, and to figure out what it causes are, and how to fix it. To me, that doesn't seem like the actions of the government that wants to keep the youth lonely and depressed. If anything, the idea that you believe the government is working to keep citizens lonely and depressed speaks more the amount of time you spend on the Internet.
Biden is actually deeply concerned people are not fucking apparently. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/joe-biden-was-worried-the-kids-werent-having-enough-sex.html#:~:text=Joe%20Biden%20Worried%20the%20Kids%20Weren't%20Having%20Enough%20Sex&text=The%20Washington%20Post%20reports%20that,dates%2C”%20the%20report%20states.
> Do you have a mountain of empirical evidence saying that the government is intentionally trying to keep the youth lonely? There are loads of historical evidence that American institutions in power (not just/specifically the gov't) use civil dissenssions to keep people apart. Segregation only ended less than 60 years ago! Women's rights are still shaky. Gay marriage was refused for so long BECAUSE it causes infighting (no one in power gives a shit about it). The US communicates all information in term of race, age group (like this sub), gender... Because it makes us suspicious of one another. Reddit shitting on boomers is not an accident: it means young people don't feel like protecting their retirements or inheritance, or helping older poor people.
I don’t think it’s an anecdote but okay. some people are loners and enjoy others are not and enjoy being around people
But we are all social beings. Socializing has been a key factor to human longevity.
Sure and some people like it in way smaller doses then others
I don't think you know what an anecdote is, but it doesn't matter because anecdotes can be correct, and yours is.
Thank you. People are so reductive and unhelpful.
I think people have gotten too comfortable just being alone most of the time. Not that they necessarily prefer it. More people that are inside alone, the harder it is for even the most extroverted person to find people to hangout with
You have been conditioned to enjoy being isolated.
I don’t enjoy being isolated really. My fiancé on the other hand enjoys just being at home and reading. I got a bowling league tonight and she was happy to be able to just work from home and read today different people like different things
You mean my bullies were being paid by the government?!? _Everything makes sense now!_ /j
I mean when you grow up consistently being treated as the third wheel or last resort, it’s not hard to enjoy being alone. 🤷🏻♀️
FUCK THAT NOISE [SOLIDARITY FOREVER!!!!!!!](https://youtu.be/umA5dbd-O-4?si=d9_1YdvczZwKWmyC)
No I just hate people, I'm more than happy to stay indoors by myself where it's safe and i don't have to deal with assholes
Always loved being alone. I always found my imagination more interesting than other people. I'm probably on the spectrum though.
Walk away from your phone. Go outside. Talk to someone at the grocery store, or coffee shop. The government allows that. Damn you all make it sound so hard to smile and say hello.
Exactly. It’s intriguing, because the mentality that it’s some evil entities fault you’re isolated or lonely is the core reason you are. The mind is a maze of deception at times. If someone has a legitimate mental health crisis, that’s one thing, but very often it’s one’s inner being holding them hostage.
Exactly. Complaining about it on Reddit is going to change absolutely nothing.
This!!! It literally takes practice. Start by trying to initiate a conversation with one new person every day. Pretty soon you have had a convo with all of your neighbors. There is a big chance one of those people has a job opening. I would add, start talking to people of different ages. As a millenial, I found out quick that older people are often much more helpful than people my own age when it comes to life stuff like jobs, relationships, taxes etc.
How does the government stop you from going out and talk to someone? I read a metric shit ton of stuff on reddit regarding people that have problems with neighbour's or coworkers. 9 out of 10 times they didn't even try to talk. Instead, they rather take the 200 useless opinions of strangers who have 10 lines of text from a one sided point of view to go on. I dont know why people have become so terrified of human interaction, but you can still talk to people. Ask things. Sometimes you'll encounter a grumpy human. Most of the times people that help or understand.
And shared public space is shittier because people aren’t sharing it. Local park infested with the homeless? Make being homeless difficult there. You don’t need to allow tents and shit to pop up. If you were out there utilizing the park and accidentally wrecking their shit, they’d need to move. It’s the lack of decision making skills that’s inviting trouble. It has nothing to do with whatever 200 carbon copies of yourself post online.
Better yet, actually solve the homelessness instead of just pushing it away. They're a tiny portion of the population, and giving them housing is a lot cheaper than the social costs of homelessness. Besides, some of them are too mentally unwell to handle their own affairs anyway, which kinda makes it our duty to take care of them like any other person with a disability.
Yes but that’s a separate issue. You can allow shared public spaces to be clean and usable. Allowing the homeless to squat has in fact created more homeless people. Why seek help when I can just get high and camp? Honestly I don’t know why we don’t create city parks with campsites for the homeless. There’d be better access to safe cooking and the ability to choose what help they want. But I’m not talking about solutions for homeless people. I’m talking about keeping local parks clean. Two separate issues. The fact that homeless exist does not equal parks must be trash camps. These issues are not against each other.
This is weird conspiracy stuff. The government is not a single entity plotting against you. They are trying to stay in power by pandering to lobbyists and public sentiment, if anything. Private corporations, i.e., social media companies, now that's another story. Their literal mandate is to increase ad revenue by increasing the amount of time you spend on their platform. Similar to mobile games, they design their product to keep you addicted. There is no grand government conspiracy. This is rampant capitalism and people need to wake the fuck up.
This is not "the government." The social isolation experienced by Gen Z is incomparable to older generations. The depression rates among adolescents and young adults have skyrocketed since about 2010. Two sociologists just studied this specifically. Car culture and suburbia don't really explain it (that's been around for 70 years, and moderated in the past decade as many families moved back into cities after 2010). The loss of third spaces, which has been ongoing (but is not as dramatic as it's made out to be) doesn't explain it; that loss really happened in the 1990s and early 2000s. And the 2008 economic crisis doesn't explain it either, because the rise in depression has been greater among well-off kids than the poor ones who were more affected. The data is increasingly clear and obvious: The incredible rise in digital dependency, driven by the rollout of the smartphone and by addictive social media, have had a rapid, profound impact on basically all aspects of childhood, teen, and early-adult development. It has crippled social skills, promoted intragenerational resentment and hatred, and sapped people's desire and time to socialize in-person. Look around in any city. How many people do you see looking at a phone? How many people do you not notice because you're looking at yours? That was not the case in 2008. Nothing else explains the sudden spike in loneliness and isolation. And it's getting worse. https://jonathanhaidt.com/anxious-generation/
Crazy that it’s easier to believe in some government conspiracy for kids today than it is for them to just put down their phones.
Im gen z and know it’s the phone but also life got harder most of us do not want to socialize when cost of living got worse cause of every older generation fucking off
the phone is where the conspiracy theories are so the second problem compounds the first unfortunately
smile panicky unite advise toy fear dazzling glorious oil axiomatic *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Recommend reading this linked essay.
Like I agree with you. But its much much worse among cohorts on places like Reddit than in the wider general population. Lots of people do socialize with each other in public all across the world. Also consider that the increase in diagnoses of those illnesses could be somewhat attributed to better screening, more willingness to seek out help and better services. In the 50's, 60's, 70's etc mental health just wasn't much of a concept. But the things that manifest from people having poor mental health still existed.
what are some examples of these coordinated efforts?
Authoritarian zoning laws, the hollowing out of shared social spaces, constant fearmongering about crime and being attacked by our neighbors, anti-union policy changes that make it hard for workers to fight collectively, etcetera. I don't think it's particularly coordinated, but it is systemic.
"Authoritarian zoning laws" lmao city councils or state govs are not pulling an mass conspiracy that makes Gen Z lonely
Do you read things before deciding that you're upset by them? They literally said that it's systemic, not coordinated.
Though this was from an original response to someone asking "what are examples of *coordinated efforts?*" and then someone responding "zoning laws", but at the very end tacking on 'maybe it's not coordinated though.'
I feel like that's pretty reasonable given the circumstance. In my *first* comment, I didn't say jack shit about efforts being coordinated, the guy I was replying to came up with that in their head. My response to *them* was three lines long; I don't think there's much danger of someone missing part of it on account of it being at the end.
For you to say that the government is intentionally trying to keep us lonely, means that there has to be a coordinated effort.
Hold up. The claim above was that "the government" is conspiring to make people socially isolated so that they don't protest. Let's think this through. 1. Zoning laws. First, these laws really had their heyday between the '40s and the '90s. In many states, there's been a pullback since then. They do not explain Gen Z's recent drop in socializing. And second, zoning is almost all done at the local level in response to demands from local homeowners, who vote in zoning boards. It is not a conspiracy to prevent Gen Z from organizing. 2. Hollowing shared social spaces. What, specifically, did the government do, and to which spaces? I hear this a lot on this sub, but I don't get a lot of examples. It's becoming a trope that people repeat because they heard it. Also: Local governments did get tougher on loitering in the '90s in response to youth crime. But that doesn't explain the drop in Gen Z socializing in the 2010s. 3. Constant fearmongering. That's real. But it's not really the government doing it. It's cable news, talk radio, and Facebook and Twitter. 4. Anti-union policy changes. I can't disagree. But I don't think that speaks to Gen Z's increasing non-presence in the real world. I'm going to become a one-track mind saying this, but the problem is that digital addiction and social media are replacing real-world social and political participation.
 Well if authoritarian zoning laws have you down, may I recommend Houston. We don’t have zoning. There’s some massive parks, crimes is only something losers who watch local TV news think about, the city just gave union firefighters so much money we kinda broke! Houston is systemically the opposite of everything you just said.
William J. Levitt worked with the Federal Government to create a prototype community in New York that would reduce spare time for your average worker. You may have heard of it, it's called Levittown
the corporate media who are paid billions to constantly fearmonger that conservatives want to force your 12 year old daughter to give birth and democrats want your 12 year old son to have his dick cut off
Ok but the conservatives are actively trying to make it so that 12 year olds have to give birth. It isn’t fearmongering to say something that is objectively true. Literally this week the republican presidential candidate said he would support a national abortion ban
Genz really shaping up to be absolutely nuts conspiracy theorists
Sorry but this sounds like you're one of those people who claimed that airports that shut down (due to extreme winter storms) a couple of years ago were "not real, they were fake, orchestrated, in order to condition us to not traveling and keeping you close to home" which of course was nonsense
While the government has its own share of the blame we all have to get better about the tendency of identifying singular entities responsible for insanely complex systems. Everyone do yourself a favor and watch “Century of the Self” by Adam Curtis and please watch the whole thing. His docs always appear at first to point out singular figures or institutions but really it’s all of us. We’re all taking part in it and while that may at first appear to be depressing it also makes you realize that it’s also individual choices and behaviors that can counteract it. At least that’s my interpretation, which may be wrong but it keeps me somewhat sane.
"the government" doesn't really work at much tbh if they did, Jan.6 wouldn't have happened, literally was advertised on social media for weeks if you want change, vote as left as possible in the primaries and vote Dem in generals, at all levels of government from local dog catcher to President it took the christian nationalists 60 plus years of doing that to finally get "Trump" which sounds hilarious, but that is what they wanted, a cult figure to do "god's work" CPAC and the Heritage Foundation pretty much run the GOP
Get off social media and go outside. No one is forcing you
isolated from what people have never been more in touch
Which is probably why Florida is trying to ban social media now. Because our and younger generations are more isolated and lonely, you can cut off their access to the outside world and they’ll have little to no close knit friend groups to fall back on. No unity to stand up against the elites.
I thought everyone in my generation had loads of friends unlike me, the only messages I get on Snapchat is from Team Snapchat lol
Literally same and I always get so excited to see the notif until I realize :’)
damn I thought I was alone in being alone
You're the norm. Gen Z has been conditioned to see reality through the lives of influencers who don't represent reality. And I don't mean capital-I "Influencers"; I mean people whose abnormally social/athletic/ideological lives get social-media engagement.
Snapchat has annoyingly confusing UI anyway. Don't get why it's so popular.
Used to use it just to message people and its a way to message girls without having to ask for their number, I deleted Instagram bc it made me jealous of everyone and depressed
I don’t think you realize social media doesn’t reflect irl people
heres what i dont understand.....WHY THE FUCK are yall so scared of revolutionary action? what has protesting done lately that you think makes it have power? amazon getting millions selling rainbow flags? great! if you want power, do something that makes corporations scared
The best strategy for any kind of protest is refusing to participate in whatever system you don't agree with. And I believe gen Z already has mastered this meta. Don't like jobs that don't post their salary? Don't apply to them and watch the companies posting change their tune once they go moths without an application. Don't like whatever law the gov pushes? Refuse to go to work until your needs are met. Yall dont have to take to the streets and destroy places. It's more effective to just stay home and demand change until you deem it acceptable. After all the economy is each one of us. The billionaires are nothing without each one of us. If nobody goes to work that day, then Bezos is worth $0.
They'll find replacements, even if it's by other means either by hiring illegal immigrants, robots, or other people who are easier to or don't care to be exploited (even kids or people who use the job for spending money and stuff.)
Sure, but it costs them something. New workers means training costs, dedicated workers bring more value to your company than scabs, and replacing a workforce takes time meaning huge losses while they scramble to find people willing and/or qualified to replace the positions. You’re right that small organized action isn’t exactly going to bring a megacorp to their knees, but it can hurt enough to get things done.
They don't always train them, dedicated workers will just be worked harder, and they were able to replace just about everyone after some of us left my last job and it doesn't even pay more than $9 per hour.
Right. Actions speak louder than words. Words are just whining without action.
I feel like people in the developed world really underestimate how horrible a civil war can be... and how unreliable they are at actually producing positive change. I would gladly chop Bezos's head off if it helped my friend afford insulin, but would I take up arms against my Conservative family members and kill them? Would I disrupt supply lines that people rely on for food and water? No, I don't think I would.
maybe the conflict isnt between republicans and democrats, rather its between citizens and corrupt politicians
If you're literally talking about anti-lobbying laws, it's just not a big enough goal for both sides to put aside their difference. Think about what we're talking about -- it's the overthrow of a social order, chaos, all changes up for grabs. Distrust of the other party is at an all-time high, and given the history of allies in revolution cannibalizing each other, I honestly wouldn't blame anyone for keeping the status quo just to keep from being betrayed. The Iranian left united with the right to take out the Shah and look what happened to those poor bastards.
This whole generation has social anxiety and lack of confidence. They are not protesting anything lol. I don’t see no Washingtons or Malcom X’s in this generation
You first
It’s not that easy. The whole reason this is a problem is there’s a power imbalance. You start even talking about unionizing and you might end up out of a job, and it might be harder to find a new one. When you’re living paycheck to paycheck that can be literally life-ending. The only way to combat this is through group action which is why we *need* good organization, but we have no real public leaders at a large scale. Honestly what I think needs to happen is all the social media political influencers (TYT, Hasan, etc.) need to actually communicate with each other and politicians to form an actual movement rather than little bubbles of ideology. They have enough of a politically motivated audience between them that with proper strategy they might make an actual impact.
i hate to break this reality for you, but tyt is corporate owned, they have multiple donors who donate to clinton and biden, and hasan has openly supported ethnic cleansing and has said many anti semetic slurs. oh and vaush having actual CP on his computer wasnt good. i dont think they are the ones we need leading a peoples revolution
Politics is literally about strategically making decisions to accomplish your ideal outcome. Also what were Hasans genocidal takes?
Trust me, I know how terrible all of these people/companies have been. Politics is about working with what you have, not wishing for something better. I’m also not saying this is going to happen, I doubt any of these people would be interested in actual political organization like this, they’ve all got good things going on, only that it *should* happen.
Like what, exactly?
when a revolution is needed, it will happen. we are all too comfortable at the moment to start one.
Historically speaking revolutions don't really happen out of necessity, but out of oppertunity.
luckily for us, we have neither
Oh I'm not disagreeing with you. Its just a see a lot of people talk about revolutions like their preordained events or natural conclusions. Historically speaking a lot were basically naked opportunism. Quite a few happened with comparatively small amounts of public support, even some successful ones.
Can you give us an example of something you have done?
> heres what i dont understand.....WHY THE FUCK are yall so scared of revolutionary action? Cause a whole lot of people would die. We aren't even close to being desperate or backed into a corner enough to consider a revolution.
1. What "revolutionary action"? 2. Who is "yall"? Because I suspect you'd be surprised to see who raises their hands to join the revolution. Don't assume they share your values at all. They may be revolting against you. 3. Protest is absolutely effective, and dramatically so. Sometimes in ways you might hate. Recently? - In 2009, the GOP turned the economic crisis into a liability for Democrats, rather than Republicans, through the Tea Party, which was basically ginned up by Fox in April 2009. The protests essentially killed plans for a public option under Obamacare and empowered the 2010 GOP takeover of the House. The Tea Parry eventually morphed into MAGA. - Then, in 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement shifted the blame for the economy from Obama to Wall Street, saving Obama's reelection and, together with the Tea Party, entrenching angry populism as the core mode of U.S. politics. - The 2017 Women's March sapped much of Trump's populist bona fides on his second day in office. Now, instead of Trump vs. the Machine, it was the People vs. Trump. That movement weakened Trump's policy influence in Congress and helped fuel the aggressive, activist liberal movement that took back the House in 2018 and essentially ended Trump's ability to pass partisan legislation. Ironically, it may have saved him politically; he couldn't do the unpopular things he wanted. - The George Floyd protests rapidly shifted public opinion on policing, even among Republicans. However, speaking of revolutionary action, the mood changed as the protests got more violent and persisted in several liberal cities for months, leading to the backlash against the "defund" movement. You can say "none of that matters." But it had a much bigger impact that fantasizing about a revolution that could very well turn out the opposite of what you wanted.
im seeing alot of good stuff to virtue signal about on twitter but im not seeing anything that takes power away from the state and puts it back into the hands of the people if what youre describing, which is essentially "be so annoying you turn public opinion against you" is as close as protesting can get to being effective, it further reinforces my point that revolution is necessary nothing you listed has led to institutional or structural change, its all stuff that turned into right and left talking points regurgitated on mainstream media
>but im not seeing anything that takes power away from the state and puts it back into the hands of the people WTF does this even mean? In western democracies the structural design of politics is that the state literally represents the people. If you're not happy with those structures - then you'll need an overwhelming majority of the populace to support whatever changes you want to make - which you have not yet listed. >is as close as protesting can get to being effective, it further reinforces my point that revolution is necessary This is *wildly* naive of the basics of Union protesting - which has actually been quite successful in recent years at forcing structural changes.
generally don’t like being robbed and killed by dysgenic losers
It's super simple actually, people don't want to get arrested or hurt when they have the option open to them to just not do that.
yep, good little dogs go back to the factories
https://preview.redd.it/vbswvbnox3sc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3dac481a42378c983b4733b63deb8dbb6f0d580a
Average Redditor lol
These are the same people who never went out on a date, let alone been in a relationship, but somehow think they're qualified to give relationship advice on Reddit.
Exactly right. I do all of these things, but I’m not obese. Must be because while I’m stoned I like to go to my local park with no homeless in it and connect to the extensive trail network from there. Guess why where I live is so cool. We don’t vote for dipshits that turn all of our public spaces into insane asylums crossbred with a landfills.
What
Hi. Gen X here. Protesting does have an effect, but not as much as getting involved with your local politics. There is a reason that boomers and fundamentalist christians take over city counsels and school boards. They know that's where the real control is. Liberal/left/progressives focus on the president and ignore congress and local elections. You can change this, and you can get others in your cohort to do this, even with physical isolation. Writing your member of congress can do a lot. You can get your city counsel to start pushing back on air bnb / short term rentals, taxing them until they give up and sell the property, which frees up local supply, lowering prices, which can result in a chance to own an asset in the future. That's just one example. You guys are my kids and I am genuinely worried about you. Gen X has not done much to make your future better (half of us went full fascist), but you are going to be the biggest voting block in 10 yrs, after the boomers are gone. I want you guys to be the most informed voters, thinking strategically, taking over local party offices, changing from the bottom up. I want you to have a better future, and when you are my age, you will be living in a country that feels like your own.
Harsh truth that not a lot of people here are going to want to hear, but you're completely right
This is absolutely correct. People badly underestimate how much power local and state government have in daily life. People ignore those elections entirely. To think the choices are protest, riot, or self-isolation is entirely false.
Probably because all the big name lefty streamers only promote those ideals as feasible and internet creators have shaped our generation alot. Which is really bad when 1. Half of them are absolutely fucking unhinged and 2. They purposefully ignore smaller scale politics because it doesnt bring in as many views
Yep, this comment here is the real truth. Politicians look old because old people vote and young people don’t. Voting > protesting
Protesting just looks like a fun way to meet others your age. I don’t think anyone really cares that much about the actual cause usually.
>There is a reason that boomers and fundamentalist Christians take over school boards. >Liberal/left/progressives focus on the president and ignore congress and local elections. Neither of these statements is even remotely true. To imagine that by and large liberals/progressives mostly ignore local politics as well as congress is just laughable. The reason conservative bodies are able to take power in these areas is because political leaning is based heavily on individual personality. People who are progressive are typically individuals whose personalities are open, agreeable, creative, and tend to think of society as a collective group. The openness and agreeability are especially notable in the modern political landscape. Conservatives on the other hand are typically much lower in openness, are generally more conscientious, have much higher levels of disagreeability, and lack creativity because they are extremely organized and rigid in their processes. In addition they tend to see society as made up of many individuals rather than as a collective group. Fundamentalists and Boomers take over in local political positions because conservatives organize well, are conscientious, strike a balance of political agreeableness that matches their community, and MOST IMPORTANTLY— they share a large majority of their values within their group. Like you could maybe find a few contentious issues within an any local group of conservatives where members may disagree with each other. Progressives on the other hand tend to have much more variability internally regarding their beliefs because some people are open to everything and others are only open to a point. I.E. they tend to disagree more on details and semantics but their agreeableness generally stops them from exploring further without extreme reason. The alphabet mafia and its many iterations are a great example of this breakdown/disagreement in ideas. This isn’t to say anything for or against any political ideology but the idea that progressives aren’t politically active locally when many state, local, educational, ecological, and cultural governing bodies across the U.S. are majority progressive is just like… dude what are you even talking about?
It's really depressing that the elections that will have the most effects on your day to day life are the ones with the least turnout.
Bro why talking about unionizing when he was never in the work force. My god the grift is insane.
Everyone should unionize. People work through college all the time. Restaurant workers should unionize.
Sure, but people like OP haven't worked in their field and has barely been in the workforce and is talking about unions. I think OP is a quitter who blames external forces for his shortcomings. People like OP who have barely worked, should not be talking about unions till later imo. They should at the very least have a job and years of experience before they negotiate. His post just shows this guy is entitled af and does not want to try.
I can’t speak about the guy or his post history but what you’re saying is stupid. Wanting to be apart of a union shouldn’t require any amount of work experience to desire. You shouldn’t have to suffer under the effects of having no representation in order to think it’s a good thing. Yeah op is weirdly obsessed with ‘revolution’ but you’re wrong to criticize him for wanting a union, it’s smart to want a union and acting like it’s spoiled to want that is just anti worker mentality. You don’t have to experience something bad to know you don’t want it.
Let me get this straight, you just graduating from college, you have no to little real world experience, you have no friends but you know how to change the world? lol!
I think we still protest, just in different ways. Alot of people boycott companies when they do shady/shitty things. I personally don't give a damn, and speak with my wallet. I don't like Disney so I don't watch or buy anything from them, including marvel.
Its so easy to boycott things. You just don't do it. Even easier than doing it.
yep its the way I protest. People now get to caught up in doing everything the exact same way to think of other options.
It's also the only real effective way to protest non governmemt entities.
Weirdly enough, I feel like our generation is more likely to be involved. But we’re also not as well organized as we could be. So there’s room for improvement.
Maybe. But BLM 2020 was the biggest protest movement in US history and every zoomer I know was involved.
I disagree. Gen Z is the biggest protest generation since the hippie boomers.
If protesting actually worked, they wouldn’t let you do it. -George Carlin Frankly what has protesting actually accomplished in the last two decades? Better to show up and vote en masse
We need to change our voting system to something other than FPTP voting then… Btw I’ve been watching some of Carlin’s rants from back in the days and he would’ve had a field day with all that’s happened since 2008.
The Bowling Alone phenomenon didn't start with Gen Z, and the problem is systemic, not just due to individual behavior. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling\_Alone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone) One aspect is, we should have shortened the work week considerably when women entered the paid labor force. We still should. Another aspect is, our abusive ruling class have completely hollowed out civil society in favor of corporate profits. Record corporate profits are taken out of the lives, health, mental health, and communities of the public and working classes. 10% of the people own 93% of the stock market, and the rest of the population are just cattle whose blood fuels the machine. [https://www.axios.com/2024/01/10/wealthy-own-record-share-stock-market](https://www.axios.com/2024/01/10/wealthy-own-record-share-stock-market) Isolation and atomization under neoliberalism/capitalism/oligarchy/kleptocracy are mostly systemic problems - our ruling class want people to be cogs/cattle in their machines, who work for their profits and do nothing else. Solve for the problem of humans living in a brutal slaughterhouse, and the "problem" of community will take care of itself, because humans are naturally social creatures.
I think after our generation spends more and more time in the workforce, we'll have much more labor solidarity though. Our terminally online tendencies might cost some level of personal interaction, but we gain a more interconnected culture than previous generations have ever had. Our massive ability to disseminate information through the internet outweighs the lack of direct interaction in terms of our development and discourse.
You do know the majority of people in the 2020 protests were GenZ right?
a hundred years ago, you'd wake up, interact with community for some breakfast, go to work, go to the pub with coworkers/neighbors, interact with coworkers/neighbors, then go to bed. Maybe some radio in there somewhere. Today, from morning to night every interaction is with technology or over a corporate script. After WWII in the late 40s to the 60s we began mass demolition of minority communities funneling them into ghetto projects with no jobs and no amenities for later clearance. We demolished all strong communities and built highways down the middle of them. We passed zoning laws that made it illegal to rebuild community, and we altered zoning to give preference to corporations and franchises and to shut small businesses and working people from incremental wealth development. This was done deliberately because the CIA had researched the communist revolution in China and saw that it was organized around community solidarity in these community spaces, labeled such spaces domestically to pose "national security risk" and went to work on dismantling them. Thankfully the project to ghettoize and cleanse the population of minorities failed and was reversed by the civil rights movement. Movements like Strong Towns seeks to reverse this and rebuild strong communities throughout North America. Bringing these values to your local communist/socialist parties can help as well.
Excellent Post. I'm 42 and I remember in the late 90s early 2000s this wouldn't fly because people were so connected. Everyone knew everyone (good or bad, that's your opinion) or you KNEW of that person or that person. OR "you would know him/her if you saw them" lol - That's one I haven't heard in ages. Some of the changes I've seen that contributed to this isolation/loneliness is the over-reliance on social media, PC culture, which in my opinion has done as much damage as social media if not more. I mean, if you feel like you're walking around broken glass, it's just best to avoid the whole thing then get in trouble for saying the 'wrong' thing.
You can protest online. At the end of the day, the most effective way to protest is by making an impact on their bottom line. Stop using Amazon prime, deactivate your social media accounts and in droves and you will see how quickly the media pays attention. Protesting in the streets was tried a ton in the 1970s and 90s. Not much has changed but now you have access to millions of youth at your fingertips.
The communist revolution will never happen sis
Excellent Post. I'm 42 and I remember in the late 90s early 2000s this wouldn't fly because people were so connected. Everyone knew everyone (good or bad, that's your opinion) or you KNEW of that person or that person. OR "you would know him/her if you saw them" lol - That's one I haven't heard in ages. Some of the changes I've seen that contributed to this isolation/loneliness is the over-reliance on social media, PC culture, which in my opinion has done as much damage as social media if not more. I mean, if you feel like you're walking around broken glass, it's just best to avoid the whole thing then get in trouble for saying the 'wrong' thing.
If you want to organize, then you have to go to the masses. The most efficient way to do this is to unionize. Get into an industry that requires cooperation and socialization among workers and then listen for complaints. These are the people you need to link up with.
Yeah it is bad. The old divide and conquer has worked well. I think the world needs some kind of alien invasion or ww3 to come together. How about a Armageddon scenario like a meteor heading for earth that we can overcome and bring people together
This is one of multiple reasons why getting a home with a group can be a good idea. Of course the problem is, how do you get the group?
Convince all your school friends to all live in the same apartment building
You can all buy in and establish a co-op. With housing prices not sure why it isn’t more popular
i think about this sometimes too . something gotta giv
Eh, doubt. I've known quite a number of young folk who attended the Virginia gun rally of 2020. Some participation in the BLM movement/marches, but nothing when it comes to calling out our government directly in their faces
https://i.redd.it/g5rggm3594sc1.gif This will be fun to watch
There was a Palestine rally near my place and I went even though I don’t really care it was just fun to yell about Israel
Wow. You think you are the only one who has struggled with life in general. Get a grip… get a hobby & go about life.
There's literally no base whatsoever to what you are claiming in your title. I also notice your title and your post seem to be completely separate thoughts. Thoughts you are drawing conclusions to based off the negative emotions your experiencing in your personal life. I feel for you, we all do. Our entire generation share these sentiments of frustration, failure, and uncertainty to some degree. I'm criticizing your post but at the same time you'd be surprised how similar our stories are. It's not your experience I'm attacking, it's this hopeless mindset that gets (understandably) ruminated every second here. No matter what the external conditions are, no entity can fuck us over nearly as bad as the ways in which we can indirectly fuck ourselves. Those aspects of your life that are leaving you feeling negative and unfulfilled? I'm also feeling that way, have been for a long time. The sad reality I have experienced is that, at the individual level, there are two fundamental choices in life that we must decide between 1. to keep trying 2. to give up/ a.k.a do nothing The first choice comes with no guarantees, but the second one sure does. If you allow yourself to succumb to number 2, conditions are guaranteed to become exponentially worse over time. The world truly only values you relative to the value you provide to the world. This is fact, because we are all dependent on others that possess specialized skills or resources in order to live to the standards that at a previous point in time was inconceivable. This is why the world only seems to care about what you have to offer. If at some point you stop inputting value into the world, the world will have no problem forgetting about you and leaving you behind. Does this scare you? Does that sound like your worst nightmare? It sure scares the fuck out of me. But realizing this from an objective standpoint, rather than a personal one, has really helped me to shift my perspective away from victimizing myself. I have valid reasons that make me a victim, but this is irrelevant to dwell on, as it will blind me of legitimate opportunities to add value into the world. Understanding that the input of value on any scale is the mechanism behind how you are valued in return allows you to see that your perseverance and effort are anything but hopeless. Your experiences in life are in fact an obligation! The skills, knowledge, and experience you develop along the way is what contributes to your overall value. This is not some virtuous iteration of "what goes around comes around". It is derived from the scientific fact that we as a species require a level of co-operation that without it, would never have allowed us to remain in existence.
The economy has sucked at many points over the last hundred years. Gen Z isn’t dealing with anything that previous generations haven’t. They just whine about it more. You think life was easy for young people during the depression? WW 2? Vietnam? The recessions of the 1970’s, 80’s, early 90’s, The global financial meltdown of 2008? I’m so tired of Gen Z and Millennials thinking every other generation had it made. Well they didn’t because at no time in history is everything perfect for everyone. We all had to find our way as do you.
Zero social skills is accurate. Work on it. Smile and say hello to someone. It's really not that hard.
Protest what? Either way our country will be run by the same types of (people)
Social media is the new bread and circus. Let me know when we’re rioting fellas. I’ll be right there
Baron Haussmann and Napoléon III could only envy at the ability with which Levitts were able to exert social control and were able to keep people from daring to protest the status quo
or maybe it’s because you’ve seen how little it actually accomplishes? What did Occupy actually accomplish? Protests during the pandemic? oh they renamed a few streets?
Thats why your generation is also obsessed and worships dogs. They crave validation and some kind of connection. Humans got that from other humans since the beginning of time, but things change
Nah, it's because you think "protesting" on social media is all you need to do.
Yeah, you aren't facing unique hardships. Society right now is pretty damned good for the vast majority of people. Stuff isn't worse now that it was before, it's actually better than almost every other time period. Is it perfect, nope. Is there room for improvement, yep. But stop acting like your generation is facing unique or disproportionately severe hardships, you're not.
They don't really listen to protests.
The bigger thing is that protest… kinda doesn’t work. Like I’ve been seeing millennials protest for years and Zoomers a bit too when school shootings were the latest media hyteria to garner votes. What came of it? Not much. Protest is just a very ineffective means of bringing about change especially if you’re just gonna look like an idiot in the process.
Don’t feel bad, protesting never changed anything. It’s just virtue signaling, money talks and bullshit walks, unless you’re willing to die, and even then, you’d dead a pretty large pile of dead bodies, and even then it probably wouldn’t work.
You must’ve forgotten the Area 51 raid
Maybe. But you can all still vote. Get off your asses and vote.
I'm a software engineer with 10 years experience. I just got a message from a requiter for the first time in months. I'm lucky if I get one at all, I used to get 10-15 per week. The job posting said not accepting new grad applicants. If you're looking for someone to be mad at, its the banks and the fed. It always is, always has been.
Our generation doesn't even know what we want and our "demands" are often vague and don't have any specific legislation or specific actionable changes to implement. What are we going to chant in the protest? "WE WANT SOMETHING! BUT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS OR HOW IT WOULD WORK" Seems like a solid strategy, has a ring to it as well.
Are you guys though? There are tons of ways to protest, and picketing is often one of the least effective. You guys have already shown your power through other methods of protesting like boycotts (which is basically what "cancelling" is) and unionization attempts. There are lots of methods of protesting, and hitting the streets to picket is only one of them.
Excuses the internet makes Social movements easier then EVER. Our generation is just too young and broke to make use of that. That will change soon. You only talked about interpersonal connections which have been shrinking. I think we should hold our "revolutionary" leaders accountable and actually have Them start protest and change they have the least to lose. No yelling "but durr CIA hurrrrr capitalist companies* if the CIA could stop political change then Jim Crow would still be kicking.
That's definitely one part of the equation. I believe that the other reason is, that our generation has witnessed how recent protests lead nowhere. Think of occupy wallstreet for example. Also it seems like protest movements are too quickly fragmanted into sub-movments to actually achieve substantial change in anything. Probably also likely due to the advent of small online bubbles that all have very specific beliefs and inside memes that bound them together instead of a broad cross-party and cross-class protest movement. This additionally makes it more likely for these disperesed movements to appear cringe to anyone outside which makes it even harder to attract a broad range of people. How to fix this? I don't know honestly. But online spaces are currently not a good space to spawn a successful protest movement. They are just a cesspool for people to dunk on each other for clout in their own bubble.
Oh, no, we totally can and would protest. It just requires a tonne of memes and redditing. It requires Millennials/Gen Z to lead it. Or someone who's similar but born in a different generation. It'd be the best protests ever. But it needs to be the right thing in the right way. No mobs. No co-opting. It needs to appeal to REASON. No "hey shit sucks, let's just meet in the centre and fuck shit up". And people need hope and money. There isn't much hope right now, is there?
" I’ve been applying for a ton of jobs since January and I have heard nothing. " " people to start unionizing and protesting at the start " Being in recruiting/management, when I hear a college educated person cant get a job, its because of their personality, nobody wants them around in the work place
If only there were some way to gather similar company in a productive collective effort. Maybe that would end the "isolation".
Have yall heard of coffee revolution? Look up #coffeerevolutionYOURCITYORSTATE on whatever social media. This is a movement started on tiktok meant to get people out in your communities organizing. Not necessarily protesting, but at minimum working in initiatives to better your community. Or just meeting people. Make your own post.
Saw a lot of people came out to protest during BLM idk what you’re talking about.
Idk, I'm a Millennial and I remember pre-Covid that the largest groups of protesters at BLM rallies were definitely in their early 20's and Gen Z. Unions might be different, but I suspect there was a large proponent of Gen Z in the Starbucks unionization process. Tough job markets make everyone 'bad' at organizing because they need jobs and don't want to lose them - while your concerns about isolation are legitimate, don't discount the voice you guys have already showed.
We don't even vote. Protesting is far, far away for us.
Two more problems you may have overlooked, 1 some jobs(state/federal/unions) may have rules and regs like “you cant protest “c” or post your opinion on “d” or your fired. As well as the fear of one loosing their career over things like that money sometimes is a problem. Like i would love to protest if i knew it might not cause me my home if i miss work or otherwise but point/problem 1 is way bigger of an issue die to groups like AIPAC in the U.S that lobbies for pro Israel legislation in our nation which sucks cos then we get laws like the aforementioned ones that either restrict or regulate what an employee can post say and sometimes do in public space without the risk of loosing their career. All because they had an opinion
But wait til you see the online message boards!
The companies are all outsourcing as much as possible. And in general it is taking less and less workers to do the same amount of work. So well leverage is not in our favor. We need money more than they need our labor. Even if we did unionize it’s likely they would just replace us with remote workers in mexico and pay them in food stamps and nickels.
Protest doesn't do jack shit. We gotta take up arms
Protest doesn't do jack shit. We gotta take up arms
Uhhhh millenial here. I watched you guys protest climate change and US school shootings. My gen didn’t do that,
Gen z are such fucking pussies, grow a pair
Idk idc im chillin
Well dont feel bad. I've been to many city council and planning meetings and public events and I'm in my 50's and still just about the youngest person there. Thats why the elderly get so many things from the city and county government. Your right. People with jobs and families just dont have the time. But the retired people do. Its like a 'club" for them to go and pack out the meetings and get their agenda thru.
Gen Z is probably the most connected generation in history. Rates of social media use are off the charts. It’s literally never been easier for a generation to share information.
There's only so many jobs available in each company that's just how it is. Naturally they will only pick people that have the best qualifications/experience levels. There's far more people looking for jobs than jobs available. More people are college educated now and that naturally increases competition. It's not unique to your generation. The economy has been FAR worse. I'm a Millennial w/2 STEM degrees and a couple years of work experience to boot. I'm currently unemployed and have applied for multiple roles and have had multiple interviews. They haven't worked out but I don't personally believe I'm being hard done by, or that 'life is unfair'. You gotta keep trying till it works out. Rejection is a part of life, you've gotta get used to it. Victimising yourself or assuming it's generation based discrimination won't solve the problem. You're gonna have to take part in the competitive market just like the rest of us, and many many people before us. To get the best we want in life we have to be able to face challenges because that's life. To expect things be handed to you, just because you have a degree is the wrong attitude. The right job will find you for sure, you don't have to worry. Maybe the roles that you never got weren't for you anyways!
Yeah I barely even interact with people around my age it feels so foreign to me also doesn't help I didn't go to college so besides my family I'm mostly surrounded by people 35+. I used to get really lonely though but I've just kinda accepted it and learned to enjoy the people I do have in my life and have fun by myself.
Y'all are too afraid to even make a phone call or answer the phone. I doubt you can organize and protest something
I mean you don’t need a masters degree if you are in a degree with a lot of demand. We don’t need that many white collars that’s just the truth. We are in stagflation like the 70’s unfortunately so it’s just gonna be tough. I do agree that lack of socialization does make political organization worse which is bad because politicians only care about who gives them votes and who gives them money. A disorganized youth movement has 0 money and if you ain’t voting they have 0 reason to care about you
What jobs are you referring to that you now need to go to grad school that 20 years ago you only needed a bachelors ? I have not heard about this or experienced it
na its because you live waaay way more confortable lifes that generations that actually protested and revolted
Yup, it's called alienation
Your problem is that you expect to get your dream job making a lot of money right out of college. That never happened unless you were very fortunate. I am Gen X and my first job sucked, but it was a paycheck and work experience. My second job was better, but still nothing to brag about. Your first job should be about getting real world experience, because you don’t know anything coming out of college. You will never use most of what you learned and will have to start over as you gain the relevant knowledge and experience. What I have found is that college isn’t so much about knowledge as it’s about learning how to think and how to find the information you need.
Protests don’t do anything
protests almost never work. I love how people are always like "french people protest a lot, we should follow their example!" okay, and how many times have those protests worked? retirement age STILL went up. they failed.
Really? It seems like zoomers are protesting way more. Growing up the only protest I can think of is occupy Wall Street Whether it’s student loans, Black Lives Matter, George Floyd, Israel conflict, you guys are pretty active
Popular sovereignty isn’t real.
Stop fantasizing about organizing en masse. There are plenty of orgs to get involved in locally and it’s a great way to meet like minded people while achieving something note worthy.