5 ms·

I too have a different take on why we want to see the world burn. We’re watching as we get trapped into the void, the proverbial rat race. We have a specific va

I too have a different take on why we want to see the world burn. We’re watching as we get trapped into the void, the proverbial rat race. We have a specific vantage point, dead smack in the middle. We see both ends of the race clearly, with boomers in retirement at the end, and GenZ/Y at the beginning. All racing. At the beginning of the race we see the incessant vain jockeying of a group trying to socially manipulate constantly and fit in, and on the other end (the actual end of the race), you see a group constantly trying to justify and protect what scraps the race allowed them to keep. And in the middle you run as fast as you can, hoping you escaped the beginning of the race, hoping you make it to the end with some scraps you can call treasure. You run away from the beginning of race, disgusted at what you once were, and disgusted at what you need to become to survive until the end. It’s in that moment of realization you wish the universe imploded. All that running kills the soul.

badpun 4y ago
It as always like that, so it doesn’t explain why more people want to see the world burn now.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- onos 4y ago
  I think this is a good challenge. But also nobody here really proves or argued that millennials are uniquely nihilistic either.
  - jesuscript 4y ago
    It can’t be proven, but common sense would say GenZ are the most nihilistic because they have to work the hardest to even get to the middle, let alone the end. I’d say the people in the beginning and end have a tangible resentment, and not necessarily an existential crisis. In other words, GenZ would be resentful of having to start fresh against the barbarian Millenial/Boomer horde, and Boomers would be resentful of any attempt at reformation where their scraps from the race would be worth less. It’s only Millenials who would neither resent GenZ or Boomers because they were already GenZ once upon a time, and know they have to become Boomers to survive. That would be my best argument for why Millennials are in some deep psychological shit.
    - glogla 4y ago
      I think GenZ is less nihilistic, because they are younger - they are not as burned and scarred as millennials yet, and they still believe that things can be changed, that world can be saved. Millennials already tried, found it didn't work, found it was for nothing, found it will never work because the systems of humanity don't allow for it.
      - jesuscript 4y ago
        I think one thing to note about generations prior to GenZ is that when those generations gave up, they mostly gave up on the system (too big to be changed). The cynic comes from the death of the idealist, so at some point these people believed in evolving the system. GenZ believes in people. When they give up, they won’t give up on the system, they will give up on people. I’d keep a watchful eye on that development.
      - achenet 4y ago
        > Millennials already tried, found it didn't work, found it was for nothing, found it will never work because the systems of humanity don't allow for it. speak for yourself. I'm changing the world, one kind gesture at a time ^_^
    - MockObject 4y ago
      I'm always astounded when lengthy generational analyses invalidate themselves by neglecting even the briefest mention of Gen X.
      - Apocryphon 4y ago
        Haven't Gen X, so used to being the overlooked generation, who dropped out and laid flat decades ago as the slacker generation, already invalidated themselves?
  - jefftk 4y ago
    > nobody here really proves or argued that millennials are uniquely nihilistic either. The comment starting this thread had: I am an "official" millennial, born 1989. One thing I have noticed (in an anectodical, personal and subjective way) is that my age bracket, especially those I would consider higher on an intelligence/success curve, appear to be so much more closet-nihilist than everyone else around.
- danuker 4y ago
  In the 60s you could buy a median home with 2.1x the median income. In 2019, the ratio is 3.5x. https://themreport.com/news/data/02-02-2021/pressing-housing-matters-in-the-1960s-and-today https://themreport.com/news/data/02-02-2021/pressing-housing...
  - ajmurmann 4y ago
    I think this here is the key. Automation (not globalisation) has removed many entry level and low so jobs. At the same time we have artificial scarcity through regulations in the housing market to keep neighborhood character and see the cost of required services that cannot be automated easily like health care and education go up and up. Instead of increasing wealth redistribution to compensate for the wealth centralization from automation, we reduce mechanisms that transfer wealth to supposedly cut cost and because regulation is local but capital is global.
    - danuker 4y ago
      > education I argue it can be automated. I have learned more from ML MOOCs than from my Romanian college.
      - ajmurmann 4y ago
        100% agree that we could, but social dynamics seem to prevent it from happening.
    - kneebonian 4y ago
      I'd argue it's the other way all of the things you listed, healthcare, education, and housing are hugely subsidized by the governemnt. Healthcare through medica(r|d)e, education through pell grants and loans, and homes through the tax breaks associated. These things all together result in the massive increase in cost of these things, because the government is redistributing wealth from others to those industries.
      - ajmurmann 4y ago
TheFattestNinja 4y ago
But why wouldn't disenchantment towards the rat race lead us more towards a "I'm just not going to play the game and enjoy myself doing art or whatever" rather than a "maybe the current conflicts will explode spectacularly and destroy the status quo" mindset? As mentioned, this seems to be more prevalent in people who are, objectively, well-off in the financial department, so it's not like they "hate" the system per se and could afford degrees of financial independence that many others will never be allowed to.
- jesuscript 4y ago
  You have to play the game to understand how weird it is, even if the weirdness benefits you. There are financial constraints to being off the grid of the game. Even if I wanted to run off into the woods and live in a cabin, I don’t know if I could live off the current amount I have. So back to the grid, hence the resentment.

badpun 4y ago

It as always like that, so it doesn’t explain why more people want to see the world burn now.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
onos 4y ago
I think this is a good challenge. But also nobody here really proves or argued that millennials are uniquely nihilistic either.
- jesuscript 4y ago
  It can’t be proven, but common sense would say GenZ are the most nihilistic because they have to work the hardest to even get to the middle, let alone the end. I’d say the people in the beginning and end have a tangible resentment, and not necessarily an existential crisis. In other words, GenZ would be resentful of having to start fresh against the barbarian Millenial/Boomer horde, and Boomers would be resentful of any attempt at reformation where their scraps from the race would be worth less. It’s only Millenials who would neither resent GenZ or Boomers because they were already GenZ once upon a time, and know they have to become Boomers to survive. That would be my best argument for why Millennials are in some deep psychological shit.
  - glogla 4y ago
    I think GenZ is less nihilistic, because they are younger - they are not as burned and scarred as millennials yet, and they still believe that things can be changed, that world can be saved. Millennials already tried, found it didn't work, found it was for nothing, found it will never work because the systems of humanity don't allow for it.
    - jesuscript 4y ago
      I think one thing to note about generations prior to GenZ is that when those generations gave up, they mostly gave up on the system (too big to be changed). The cynic comes from the death of the idealist, so at some point these people believed in evolving the system. GenZ believes in people. When they give up, they won’t give up on the system, they will give up on people. I’d keep a watchful eye on that development.
    - achenet 4y ago
      > Millennials already tried, found it didn't work, found it was for nothing, found it will never work because the systems of humanity don't allow for it. speak for yourself. I'm changing the world, one kind gesture at a time ^_^
  - MockObject 4y ago
    I'm always astounded when lengthy generational analyses invalidate themselves by neglecting even the briefest mention of Gen X.
    - Apocryphon 4y ago
      Haven't Gen X, so used to being the overlooked generation, who dropped out and laid flat decades ago as the slacker generation, already invalidated themselves?
- jefftk 4y ago
  > nobody here really proves or argued that millennials are uniquely nihilistic either. The comment starting this thread had: I am an "official" millennial, born 1989. One thing I have noticed (in an anectodical, personal and subjective way) is that my age bracket, especially those I would consider higher on an intelligence/success curve, appear to be so much more closet-nihilist than everyone else around.
danuker 4y ago
In the 60s you could buy a median home with 2.1x the median income. In 2019, the ratio is 3.5x. https://themreport.com/news/data/02-02-2021/pressing-housing-matters-in-the-1960s-and-today https://themreport.com/news/data/02-02-2021/pressing-housing...
- ajmurmann 4y ago
  I think this here is the key. Automation (not globalisation) has removed many entry level and low so jobs. At the same time we have artificial scarcity through regulations in the housing market to keep neighborhood character and see the cost of required services that cannot be automated easily like health care and education go up and up. Instead of increasing wealth redistribution to compensate for the wealth centralization from automation, we reduce mechanisms that transfer wealth to supposedly cut cost and because regulation is local but capital is global.
  - danuker 4y ago
    > education I argue it can be automated. I have learned more from ML MOOCs than from my Romanian college.
    - ajmurmann 4y ago
      100% agree that we could, but social dynamics seem to prevent it from happening.
  - kneebonian 4y ago
    I'd argue it's the other way all of the things you listed, healthcare, education, and housing are hugely subsidized by the governemnt. Healthcare through medica(r|d)e, education through pell grants and loans, and homes through the tax breaks associated. These things all together result in the massive increase in cost of these things, because the government is redistributing wealth from others to those industries.
    - ajmurmann 4y ago

TheFattestNinja 4y ago

But why wouldn't disenchantment towards the rat race lead us more towards a "I'm just not going to play the game and enjoy myself doing art or whatever" rather than a "maybe the current conflicts will explode spectacularly and destroy the status quo" mindset? As mentioned, this seems to be more prevalent in people who are, objectively, well-off in the financial department, so it's not like they "hate" the system per se and could afford degrees of financial independence that many others will never be allowed to.

jesuscript 4y ago
You have to play the game to understand how weird it is, even if the weirdness benefits you. There are financial constraints to being off the grid of the game. Even if I wanted to run off into the woods and live in a cabin, I don’t know if I could live off the current amount I have. So back to the grid, hence the resentment.