This 100% is the sentiment most Gen Z, including me, share. The amount of people my age who feel society broke it's promise and social contract to the younger generation to benefit themselves is astronomical.
But, it has gotten to the point where we take our idea “we got shot in the foot at the start of a race” and decide to shoot ourselves in the other foot.
Excellent post, and from my perspective as a Gen Xer, that's exactly how I see Gen Z. Yes, western civilization is collapsing all around you. You were not born with the same stability or "guarantees" as I was, and some members of the older generations have essentially become an entitled parasite class gorged on wealth and comfort that no longer feels the need to produce anything of value and seems hell-bent on turning everyone else into serfs.
But on the other hand, like, this still ain't that bad. If you want to see really bad, go check out Liberia or Haiti or something. I think it's not so much that actual physical needs are not being met, but that society has become a spiritual/moral wasteland in which young people feel lost, directionless, and hopeless. As I mentioned earlier, there's no guiding star up above for everyone to look up to and follow now, so it's understandably very easy for Gen Z to descend into nihilism and misanthropy.
No, it's not your fault that things are like this. But you still get to make choices. And you can choose not to give in to self-pity, envy, hatred, resentment, hopelessness, etc.- even though I do understand that's easier said than done.
Above all, while it's fine to criticize and call things out, I think it's important not to lay all of the blame at each other's feet. We are all responsible for the way things are to some extent, whether we like to admit it or not. And we are caught up in very real natural forces that play themselves out throughout history time and time again that we can do little about as individuals. We're literally checking every single box on the "Dying Empire" list. None of this is new or unique and unfortunately, it's only going to get worse. You've go to decide how you're going to respond to it.
That's my steroid forum soapbox speech for the day.
