it's anecdotal but mostly relates to the conversations I have with people - daily - who view their long term prospects as nil, no matter how hard they work or d

it's anecdotal but mostly relates to the conversations I have with people - daily - who view their long term prospects as nil, no matter how hard they work or don't. It's recognizable to me as an extension of the Gen X dread of having lower economic expectations than your parents, but it lacks the DIY ethos or even the willingness to bite the bullet and try. I could recount a book's worth of these conversations I've had weekly since before the pandemic among the privileged white college grads in my neighborhood. I was also a wanderer and a slacker and a musician and an artist and I have plenty of sympathy for the sentiment. But at the end of the day I knew I had to work, and they don't have that feeling.