this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2023
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[–] [email protected] 185 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (7 children)

Legacy News Media: We literally have no idea why Gen Z has given up on literally everything, has decided to not save for the future, and instead is trying to live and enjoy their life now.

Real World: Dearth of opportunities to make a life for yourself, every industry has reached is maximum zenith and now makes money by wringing pennies out of consumers, you need money to exist anywhere, there are no more places to just be, and the government is clearly corrupt and about to be taken over by a literal fucking fascist party because the other party is full of pussies who don't want to "upset the status quo" and keep letting the fucking fascists get away with shit, because "we have to follow the laws, even the ones that clearly benefit the fascists, passed by fascists. It's the law and if we don't take it seriously, everything falls apart. Sorry that means the fascists will win." Oh, and climate change is about to destroy our ability to even have a functional society.

As a millennial, I'm ready for a fucking dirt nap. Things just keep getting worse and fuck nobody is coming to save me or anyone else. Everyone is so caught up in their own lives and problems no one has the time or effort to give anyone else, meaning we're all suffering alone.

Literally what is even the fucking point of struggling to the natural end of my life? There isn't one.

It didn't have to be this way, but a lot of old selfish pieces of shit decided that it was more important to trash the planet and live the high life during their hayday, and then give all their children and grandchildren a swift kick in the ass and says "Children are our future! I just made that up! Now go fix the fucking messes we made for you! We're not concerned with mass extinction, because we'll be dead and it won't be our problem! Good luck, or not!"

[–] [email protected] 90 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (5 children)

Fuckin preach. I'm 33 and have spent the last 8 years in near total isolation because I simply do not have time for anything other than work, chores, feed and bathe myself (if I have time), sleep. That's it. It's deepening my depression and sense of total desperation in ways that I'd never imagined. But hey, at least my company is making billions because that's the truly important part. I'm ready to just say fuck it and go the way of Gen Z. I've saved and saved and worked my ass off, played by the rules, got my degree and it's all been for nothing. I still have nothing. In fact I literally have less than when I was in my 20s. There's nothing I can do to stop another economic crisis and I'm no where near having enough to survive one so fuck it. I'm ready to just do what I want and if that gets me fired or Im in debt because I finally decided to just take the hit and travel wherever I want then so be it. There's nothing we can do, we're on the ride, the clicking of the chains has already started and we are buckled in. Time to just enjoy what we can I guess, even if it sucks the entire time.

[–] [email protected] 72 points 10 months ago

40 here. Yep.

I had an existential crisis in my early 20's based entirely around how futile existence is. We live, and work and make babies, so that the next generation can live and work and make babies.... Etc. What's the point? There's no long term plot line of humans that I know enough about or care enough about that I'd willingly subject myself, or my offspring to a life of existence in this, just to further.

Nearly decided to off myself right then and there.

Last year, finally purchased a house, with help from the resulting life savings of my father (may he rest in peace) and with my brother and his wife. Four fully grown adults in one house, just to afford to live. The only cherry from the whole thing is that interest rates skyrocketed immediately after we signed our fixed mortgage, so we dodged that bullet and we have two more years (as of now) for them to come down before we need to arrange for renewal or something.

But we all eat, sleep, work, repeat. That's it. The only nice thing I have going for me in all this is that we now have a definite timeframe for when our housing will be ours and costs will finally taper off. In another 24 years. I'll be 64. If I manage to get underpaid little enough, who knows, I might have some retirement savings by then. Freedom 75.

The corporations have turned multiple generations of people into wage slaves, jacking up the prices for consumer goods while keeping wages stagnant or even reducing wages. It's fucking disgusting, on top of that, they've not so slowly destroyed the planet with pollution. The entire time acting as though they're the victims and getting bailed out with our tax dollars for mismanaging their respective organizations, prioritizing CEO pay and dividends and stock prices over employee health (especially mental health), employee pay and livable wages. They get all the benefits from automation, computerization and mechanisation and what did we get? Nothing. This fancy machine does the work of 20 workers and will do so forever, and only needs 2 people to run, and only costs 10 people's salary for one year to pay for, and one person's salary to maintain, where did the extra money go? Well, the CEOs third yacht isn't going to pay for itself.

Eat the rich.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

I'm just glad that millennials and Gen Z are educated enough to be killing off organized religion.

A big component of earlier generations accepting how bad things are is expecting them to get better in the afterlife.

"It will be fine as long as I'm forgiven of my sins and go to Heaven! Why would I worry about Earth?"

Thank fucking goodness there's enough education for people to see through that absolute horseshit, a lie fed to the working populace to keep them compliant until the day they die.

(To be clear, nothing against general spirituality. Mostly issues with organized religion and promising eternal life after death, which not all of them do.)

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 10 months ago

That's been the last 25 years for me. Just work... Gotta pay the bills so I can live, so I can... go back to work.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (8 children)

Maybe eventually when time marches on and we become the majority (I’m 23) we can make good positive social change. In some ways, while living through it is bad; the hardship and unfairness of the system is preventing the usual trend of people becoming more conservative as they age; so perhaps there is hope for things getting better in the future. We just have to keep trying; we can’t give in to cynicism.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm 32 and no way in hell am I turning conservative. Fuck that we need change and we need it now.

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[–] [email protected] 72 points 10 months ago (38 children)

Alternate viewpoint: We're forged in the fires of adversity. No longer are things easy or handed to us, we make our own road. We learn, teach ourselves, work our passions and figure things out against all odds. We're stronger, wiser and ultimately happier for it, despite outward appearances

[–] [email protected] 39 points 10 months ago

Stronger? Sure. Wiser? Definitely. Happier? Hell to the no lol

[–] [email protected] 35 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Yeah thats cool. But I'd rather be a white dude growing up in the 60s. 🤷‍♂️

Life on easy difficulty.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 months ago

Good take, but I think it ignores a lot.

We're stronger, wiser and ultimately happier for it, despite outward appearances

Mainly here. Yes everything people are getting is from their own actions, but it completely ignores the people that haven't gotten anything from the struggle, which is a growing number of people. It also disregards people that don't have the opportunity to carve their own way at all.

There is still a bar that needs to be met to get anywhere, and it is just getting higher in may places. Sure once you hit the bar, you're in a better spot and can see that the struggle paid off, but if you never get to the bar, if you never get to the point of "keeping your head at the water", there is no payoff. These people just get to struggle. That's all there is, and there is only so much of that before the struggle isn't worth the payoff anymore.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The saiyan viewpoint, just wait until the weights come off!

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

All of the baby boomers will be dead within 20 years, maybe then we can make some improvements?

(Sorry mom & dad, nothing personal)

[–] [email protected] 39 points 10 months ago (2 children)

How many of us do you think are gonna be around or capable of it, I'm pushing 40 and I'm fucked, the thought of another 30 years sounds exhausting.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Theres still time to fix things for our children before we die, so theres that.

Hmm, I should go plant a tree or something.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 10 months ago

(Sorry mom & dad, nothing personal)

Retirement and a nursing home are no longer economically feasible and my landlord doesn't allow additional residents, so good luck out there mom & dad.

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[–] [email protected] 44 points 10 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 47 points 10 months ago (10 children)

Jeez you made me think about how much fucked up shit I've been through.

  1. Publicized school shootings on TV 90s
  2. Watching the second plane crash on live TV on 9/11
  3. Medical trauma 1: had testicular torsion ,went in 12 hours after it started, they tried to untwist it by hand while I was conscious, morphine ain't shit
  4. Medical trauma 2: spontaneous pneumothorax, the ketamine they dosed me with didn't work so that chest tube insertion fucked me up
  5. PMTSD related anxiety and depression
  6. 2 more pneumothorax
  7. 2008 financial crisis
  8. college went well, but first job out of college after I got my computer engineering degree payed a fucking grand total of $51k.
  9. 2016 election
  10. Hit 250lbs
  11. 2019 my highschool sweetheart wife cheated on me
  12. COVID-19
  13. Hit 280 lbs
  14. Jan 6 insurrection
  15. Stagflation
  16. Lost 70lbs because of cutting back on food spending and weightloss medication
  17. discovered my wife sexting the guy she cheated on me with after being in marriage therapy for 4 years
  18. hit 250lbs again

Jesus christ, is this resilience, or are we all so burnt out that we just accept everything getting worse always.

Like I get the joke in Russia is "and then it got worse." But Jesus christ, it can't get worse if it's always bad can it?

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago

In 20 years. We are working on the speed run.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Damn, there’s a lot of angry, self-harm promoting people in this thread. Take care of yourself people. Take it one day at a time. The Earth is still here, for now.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (2 children)

The Earth will always be here. We, on the other hand...

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Millennials these days:

We are old now.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm a millennial, just trying to not let the world's ills bother me now. Life is too short and what you make it.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Same here. Recently went to a doctor for some internal stuff, and she's like "well, we want to prevent x, y, and z from progressing too fast because..."

And part of me wants to just interrupt and be like "what's the fuckin' point? Have you seen outside?"

[–] [email protected] 31 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"I'm so sorry to hear your having these..."

Type type type

"Suicidal ideations. We're going to recommend..."

Type type type

"A Psychiatric evaluation. There is one psychiatrist in the tri county are and they are out of network. The evaluations are in 3 30 minute sessions. The psychiatrist will be 45 minutes late at a minimum. The first two are $1200 each, and the third is $1600. I can get you in on...march 29th, 2025? Does that date work for you?"

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I recognize those dead, glazed over eyes! They look like mine. Oh...

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 10 months ago (2 children)

And in ongoing efforts to kill the economy for 5th time.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago (2 children)

They'll do it again, I'm sure.

And the government will take our tax dollars and bail them out again, I'm sure of that too.

We'll get nothing except the right to continue to work for minimum wage, and we're expected to thank them for the "privilege" of having a job.

It's a wonderful life.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Speak up, call your government reps. Your apathy is what they are counting on to avoid change

[–] [email protected] 30 points 10 months ago

Citizens United baby, we were removed from the equation.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Implying they'd give a damn anyway.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Me but green tartan skirt, also I'm a dude.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago (6 children)

That pizza looks delicious. Lots of cheese. Toppings. 🤤

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I liked the anime version better

[–] [email protected] 16 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

You can't just say that and not post it lol

[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

I meant a version where a cosplaying woman is chugging vodka, but can't find it. Just saw it as a common reaction pic on 4chan. I tried to find it, but my wife giving me weird looks stopped me.

I tried to explain it but it didn't help. I'll edit when I am successful.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago

As a wife myself, this amused me

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 10 months ago

There are decades where nothing happens and there are weeks where decades happen.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Yeah, this also explains why we feel over 400 years old.

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