A Historian Explains Being Gen-Z.
video description
Anyway, I feel like a lot of the issues that arise are due to a general lack of purpose in life. Back then you had few paths in life. Go to school, graduate, get a job, find someone, marry, form a family, raise your kids, retire. Now we have so many options and career paths to choose, and alternative lifestyles, many of which are covered by the motto of you only live once that it is bound to cause a Paradox of Choice. Especially considering we're pushed to decide most of our lives at age 15 or something, with little room for error and course correction.
And perhaps this also links to one of the major issues with people my age: search for identity. Be it a group to latch on or an individual identity that allows you to stand out, gen z is always going on that cycle of pursuing some trend, only for someone to break it, thus causing it to be the new trend. That coupled with the vapid nature of the internet can only lead to an amorphous blob that constantly shapeshift and never settles for anything. Nothing is ever enough, and we constantly jump to the newest thing without batting an eye. Hell, memes these days have a week's span before being overused and cringe, probably because we're interacting with billions of people at the same time at all times. This desperate search for uniqueness and identification at the same time, and a concerning desire to destroy anything that is older than your existence are probably the greatest flaws of our generation
Date: 2022-07-15
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Comments and reviews: 9
Frank
Apathetic Gen Xer here. So, I have watched and enjoyed a number of your videos now and am in broad agreement with most of what you say BUT. I have some issues with your portrayal of radical leftism. You seem to suggest that post modernism springs from either nowhere or no where good. In reality, the Frankfort School, ground zero for the post WWII left, was in reaction to two 8nterlocking factors; 1. The difficulty in convincing the working class in realitively alfuent societies like the U. S. that socialist revolution was in their best interest and 2. (and FAR more important to the subject at hand, the fact that strict adhearence to traditional values was the predicate of all manner of injustice toward marginalized people from blacks and natives in America to the Jews in Germany. I can tell you that when I was In school in the 70s, my black friends were already asking why, for example, men like Washington and Jefferson were held up as near saints of democracy but no mention at all was made of their, errr, Racial politics. I submit that the admittedly over heated rhetoric of SJWs is partially the result of generations of denial and obfuscation regarding the history of atrocities against non-western peoples.
At a more macro level I would like to suggest that the decadence of our western society is a kind of organic function. My grand parents' generation worked hard and sacrificed so that my parents' generation could have a better life. While all that hard work and sacrifice certainly built moral fiber it also created a generation of emotionally stunted men, women who were drudges by age 35 and a general sense of joyless duty that kids in the 60s naturally rebeled against. What does it mean to have a better life than your parents if not freedom from drudgery, conformity and toxic stoicism.
And yes, that attitude on the part of boomers meant that lots of us born In the 60s gad little to guide or ground us.
What if history is SUPPOSED to be like this?
reply
Apathetic Gen Xer here. So, I have watched and enjoyed a number of your videos now and am in broad agreement with most of what you say BUT. I have some issues with your portrayal of radical leftism. You seem to suggest that post modernism springs from either nowhere or no where good. In reality, the Frankfort School, ground zero for the post WWII left, was in reaction to two 8nterlocking factors; 1. The difficulty in convincing the working class in realitively alfuent societies like the U. S. that socialist revolution was in their best interest and 2. (and FAR more important to the subject at hand, the fact that strict adhearence to traditional values was the predicate of all manner of injustice toward marginalized people from blacks and natives in America to the Jews in Germany. I can tell you that when I was In school in the 70s, my black friends were already asking why, for example, men like Washington and Jefferson were held up as near saints of democracy but no mention at all was made of their, errr, Racial politics. I submit that the admittedly over heated rhetoric of SJWs is partially the result of generations of denial and obfuscation regarding the history of atrocities against non-western peoples.
At a more macro level I would like to suggest that the decadence of our western society is a kind of organic function. My grand parents' generation worked hard and sacrificed so that my parents' generation could have a better life. While all that hard work and sacrifice certainly built moral fiber it also created a generation of emotionally stunted men, women who were drudges by age 35 and a general sense of joyless duty that kids in the 60s naturally rebeled against. What does it mean to have a better life than your parents if not freedom from drudgery, conformity and toxic stoicism.
And yes, that attitude on the part of boomers meant that lots of us born In the 60s gad little to guide or ground us.
What if history is SUPPOSED to be like this?
reply
Rich
I agree a lot about what you say about self employment. I don't think your story line about poor me is really accurate. You should look back further in time to see how average people lived in the 1800s or early 1900s. America has come out of the post WWII Golden years were the rest of industrialized society was completely demolished. America did not have destroyed factories and cities. As you know Japan had 2 cities destroyed by nuclear bombs. Many other cities in Europe were bombed into ruins.
So don't cherry pick your start date for comparison of economic well being.
Point 2 is that people I know did not start out with such a great lifestyle as you pretend. We brought paper bag lunches to work, we lived in crummy apartments, we drove used cars that were rusted out and did not have any features - no ac, no auto windows, no gps, no seat belt, manual steering, manual brakes etc. We also did not eat or go to theatre, spend a lot of money on cell phones or internet. We would never dream of spending a dollar on a bottle of water. So you should recheck how well you think we were living.
Point 3 is there a many jobs or professions begging for people with some skills. Not just office work (we do not need liberal arts majors to run payrolls. But also trades like electrical, plumbing, carpentry etc. The bombers are retiring and are taking their knowledge with them. As far as IT skills go, I can't find people who can do anything useful to repair laptops etc.
So quit complaining, I doubt your life will be worse than the last depression or WWII or the civil war. I am retired and am working part time to pay for my medical costs.
Last, over the forty sum years of work I always worried about keeping my job and losing what ever I had saved.
Just keep your head and keep working. If you like your job that's great, but no one I know loved their job. That's why we call it Work and not Play
reply
I agree a lot about what you say about self employment. I don't think your story line about poor me is really accurate. You should look back further in time to see how average people lived in the 1800s or early 1900s. America has come out of the post WWII Golden years were the rest of industrialized society was completely demolished. America did not have destroyed factories and cities. As you know Japan had 2 cities destroyed by nuclear bombs. Many other cities in Europe were bombed into ruins.
So don't cherry pick your start date for comparison of economic well being.
Point 2 is that people I know did not start out with such a great lifestyle as you pretend. We brought paper bag lunches to work, we lived in crummy apartments, we drove used cars that were rusted out and did not have any features - no ac, no auto windows, no gps, no seat belt, manual steering, manual brakes etc. We also did not eat or go to theatre, spend a lot of money on cell phones or internet. We would never dream of spending a dollar on a bottle of water. So you should recheck how well you think we were living.
Point 3 is there a many jobs or professions begging for people with some skills. Not just office work (we do not need liberal arts majors to run payrolls. But also trades like electrical, plumbing, carpentry etc. The bombers are retiring and are taking their knowledge with them. As far as IT skills go, I can't find people who can do anything useful to repair laptops etc.
So quit complaining, I doubt your life will be worse than the last depression or WWII or the civil war. I am retired and am working part time to pay for my medical costs.
Last, over the forty sum years of work I always worried about keeping my job and losing what ever I had saved.
Just keep your head and keep working. If you like your job that's great, but no one I know loved their job. That's why we call it Work and not Play
reply
Cobbler91
This will in all likelihood get buried in the masses of comments but as a millennial born in the early 90s let me try and give some advice to Zoomers:
1. Focus on yourself first. By improving things in your own life, you will more often than not improve things in the lives of those close to you which in turn can improve other peoples lives too.
2. Curtail social media usage. I wouldnt necessarily say delete it as such, but just cut back on it. Limit yourself to 1-2 hours a day and try other things you can be passionate about.
3. Its much easier to destroy than build. More so for the SJW types on here, but be careful about tearing down statues or trying to fundamentally change our civilisation. It took centuries to get to where we are now and the alternatives are far worse objectively.
4. Its okay to be ordinary. Youll probably notice this as you get older, but its perfectly okay to settle for a decent job with a family and house. I appreciate that last one is very difficult (speaking from experience, but you dont need to be a CEO or Influencer in order to lead a happy and meaningful life.
5. Its okay to fail. The issue isnt about failing in of itself, its how you respond to it that matters. You will fail often in life and it will be painful, but it is how you come back from it. Also, support others in that position and they will support you.
reply
This will in all likelihood get buried in the masses of comments but as a millennial born in the early 90s let me try and give some advice to Zoomers:
1. Focus on yourself first. By improving things in your own life, you will more often than not improve things in the lives of those close to you which in turn can improve other peoples lives too.
2. Curtail social media usage. I wouldnt necessarily say delete it as such, but just cut back on it. Limit yourself to 1-2 hours a day and try other things you can be passionate about.
3. Its much easier to destroy than build. More so for the SJW types on here, but be careful about tearing down statues or trying to fundamentally change our civilisation. It took centuries to get to where we are now and the alternatives are far worse objectively.
4. Its okay to be ordinary. Youll probably notice this as you get older, but its perfectly okay to settle for a decent job with a family and house. I appreciate that last one is very difficult (speaking from experience, but you dont need to be a CEO or Influencer in order to lead a happy and meaningful life.
5. Its okay to fail. The issue isnt about failing in of itself, its how you respond to it that matters. You will fail often in life and it will be painful, but it is how you come back from it. Also, support others in that position and they will support you.
reply
Evan
I trace our current social justice ills to RIAA and their successful '00 campaign to convince millennials that copyright infringement was larceny. Once the idea had taken hold that one could steal a cultural artifact merely by partaking in it it wasn't too far a leap to adopt the notion that culture itself could be stolen by the same means. About 10 years ago I had a conversation with one of my kid's high school friends; she was asking about cultural appropriation which I held could not exist as culture is free. Clearly she was applying lies about statutory monopoly, which had been popularized by RIAA, and was applying them to culture. I told her that no man held a natural right to exclusive use of his own ideas, or culture, because they could be freely adopted by others without being dispossessed of them himself, whereas the statuary monopolies of patent and copyright were established by positive law (and only in an effort to encourage publishing) and interfering with that monopoly made one an interloper, not a thief. I believe the idea that culture can be stolen and that those so dispossessed are entitled to reparations is the foundational error of the social justice movement today.
reply
I trace our current social justice ills to RIAA and their successful '00 campaign to convince millennials that copyright infringement was larceny. Once the idea had taken hold that one could steal a cultural artifact merely by partaking in it it wasn't too far a leap to adopt the notion that culture itself could be stolen by the same means. About 10 years ago I had a conversation with one of my kid's high school friends; she was asking about cultural appropriation which I held could not exist as culture is free. Clearly she was applying lies about statutory monopoly, which had been popularized by RIAA, and was applying them to culture. I told her that no man held a natural right to exclusive use of his own ideas, or culture, because they could be freely adopted by others without being dispossessed of them himself, whereas the statuary monopolies of patent and copyright were established by positive law (and only in an effort to encourage publishing) and interfering with that monopoly made one an interloper, not a thief. I believe the idea that culture can be stolen and that those so dispossessed are entitled to reparations is the foundational error of the social justice movement today.
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Nick
Why do Gen Zers talk about Millennials and Boomers and skip Gen X almost all the time? Gen X is as different from the Boomer generation as they are from the previous generation.
18: 25 This has more to do with age than anything else. People in their 70s generally don't worry about anything anymore. Boomers are mostly retired and either sitting pretty with real estate that is worth millions and/or big fat pensions and retirement saving plans gained through generally fantastic markets during their lifetime. Gen X is experiencing some of the same as the Boomers except they're still a little ways from retirement and are finding life getting harder instead of easier as they reach their twilight and worry if a collapse now will destroy what they've gained. Millennials are often able to have made some gains before things got out of hand, but have similar concerns to the Xers. Z is just starting out and that's not easy in a world as messed up as this one with everyone constantly telling you the world is going to end in one way or another. The younger the generation (not including the current one, the more likely they are to have kids they are concerned about as well.
reply
Why do Gen Zers talk about Millennials and Boomers and skip Gen X almost all the time? Gen X is as different from the Boomer generation as they are from the previous generation.
18: 25 This has more to do with age than anything else. People in their 70s generally don't worry about anything anymore. Boomers are mostly retired and either sitting pretty with real estate that is worth millions and/or big fat pensions and retirement saving plans gained through generally fantastic markets during their lifetime. Gen X is experiencing some of the same as the Boomers except they're still a little ways from retirement and are finding life getting harder instead of easier as they reach their twilight and worry if a collapse now will destroy what they've gained. Millennials are often able to have made some gains before things got out of hand, but have similar concerns to the Xers. Z is just starting out and that's not easy in a world as messed up as this one with everyone constantly telling you the world is going to end in one way or another. The younger the generation (not including the current one, the more likely they are to have kids they are concerned about as well.
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Kaleo
Ok! I may sound like some hack historian but here goes.
There is a bigger pool of people in the labor force, but the demand for jobs isnt as great. The problem is that developed countries are the only ones with innovation that creates demand for more well paying jobs, and proper education for the population to fill these jobs.
But the developing has very little innovation to create more jobs and terrible education, but a very high birth rate (take Africa and Central America for example. So these excess people in the developing world do all they can to emigrate to developed countries to seek opportunities. But then, they get to compete with locals who are not doing so well.
If only the developing world became developed then there, would be little to no immigration. Not only that, there would be a higher demand for labor since the poor countries now being developed would be hungry for qualified labor.
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Ok! I may sound like some hack historian but here goes.
There is a bigger pool of people in the labor force, but the demand for jobs isnt as great. The problem is that developed countries are the only ones with innovation that creates demand for more well paying jobs, and proper education for the population to fill these jobs.
But the developing has very little innovation to create more jobs and terrible education, but a very high birth rate (take Africa and Central America for example. So these excess people in the developing world do all they can to emigrate to developed countries to seek opportunities. But then, they get to compete with locals who are not doing so well.
If only the developing world became developed then there, would be little to no immigration. Not only that, there would be a higher demand for labor since the poor countries now being developed would be hungry for qualified labor.
reply
Ps
I get the strong sense that this video is a rehash of Requiem for a Dream. Socializing in our society has been bad for a while, and seems to be getting worse. We don't value socializing enough. I know I don't. I end up socializing by writing dozens of comments every day online. Am I happy? Mostly. But yeah, my life could be better if I socialized more with a healthy, local community. We ought to build more, healthy communities.
I enjoy my coworkers, my few customers (it's a private business that sells direct to manufacturers, so we don't get a lot of in person customers, my vendors, everyone I talk with online, and my gf along with her family & friends, but I don't really have a community or anything going on. Which is too bad, because I would likely perform very well with other people in a local, healthy community.
reply
I get the strong sense that this video is a rehash of Requiem for a Dream. Socializing in our society has been bad for a while, and seems to be getting worse. We don't value socializing enough. I know I don't. I end up socializing by writing dozens of comments every day online. Am I happy? Mostly. But yeah, my life could be better if I socialized more with a healthy, local community. We ought to build more, healthy communities.
I enjoy my coworkers, my few customers (it's a private business that sells direct to manufacturers, so we don't get a lot of in person customers, my vendors, everyone I talk with online, and my gf along with her family & friends, but I don't really have a community or anything going on. Which is too bad, because I would likely perform very well with other people in a local, healthy community.
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Ecclus
i am Gen Z (2005) and honestly, most of the points here are definetly valid. most things i do are online, however my father and i hold a strong bond, and have been doing outside exersizes, howver i am still trying to become more social and sometimes even talk to random people on the waiting lines on theme parks etc. considering in the future meeting my close and personal friend circle online. i am just trying to better myself and prepare for the world i am going to end up in, maybe make a change or two however my main cerncern is a job and living a proper life. since housing and other things have become ridicolus. the one good thing is i am a furry artist and can make quick money by making high prices, however i want to get a proper job i love ontop of comissions on the side. and i am hoping i can pull through.
reply
i am Gen Z (2005) and honestly, most of the points here are definetly valid. most things i do are online, however my father and i hold a strong bond, and have been doing outside exersizes, howver i am still trying to become more social and sometimes even talk to random people on the waiting lines on theme parks etc. considering in the future meeting my close and personal friend circle online. i am just trying to better myself and prepare for the world i am going to end up in, maybe make a change or two however my main cerncern is a job and living a proper life. since housing and other things have become ridicolus. the one good thing is i am a furry artist and can make quick money by making high prices, however i want to get a proper job i love ontop of comissions on the side. and i am hoping i can pull through.
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Andre
Another factor as to why gen z is so nihilistic is also because of our heroes in fiction. Alot of people tend to ignore stories/movies because they think its not all that important but Mankind has been telling stories since we were in caves, these stories (whether fictional or real) can inspire people to do great things or at least attempt to great things. Our movies have been taken and bastardized by people who are idealogues, nihilist and narcissits who believe they are better than those who came before them. The creatively bankrupt hollywood keep rebooting beloved franchises and keeps ruining them. Generation z is addicted to entertainment and if the entertainment your viewing is also nihilistic then ofcourse the kids are gonna be nihilistic. You can't even run away in fantasy.
reply
Another factor as to why gen z is so nihilistic is also because of our heroes in fiction. Alot of people tend to ignore stories/movies because they think its not all that important but Mankind has been telling stories since we were in caves, these stories (whether fictional or real) can inspire people to do great things or at least attempt to great things. Our movies have been taken and bastardized by people who are idealogues, nihilist and narcissits who believe they are better than those who came before them. The creatively bankrupt hollywood keep rebooting beloved franchises and keeps ruining them. Generation z is addicted to entertainment and if the entertainment your viewing is also nihilistic then ofcourse the kids are gonna be nihilistic. You can't even run away in fantasy.
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