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This blog post is an incredibly Conservative (capital C) take on social issues, to the point where it reads like it was written by the very same kind of person

This blog post is an incredibly Conservative (capital C) take on social issues, to the point where it reads like it was written by the very same kind of person that and Gen Z and millennials are often griping about to begin with. It starts out, off the bat, by reframing structural social issues as individual failures: it's mental illness, suicide, anxiety, cancel culture, coddling. Then it tries to make the point that phones enable this sort of collective doom-scrolling escapism. Then it tries to present an actual anecdote from a Gen Z person to reinforce the viewpoint that liberal ideology (non-monogamy, shame about American issues, quiet-quitting, climate change, anti-religion) are the cause of this discontent... but then instead of addressing any of them, it tries again to reframe those issues as a personal addiction to smartphones. As if Gen Z would be happier simply by turning off their phones (which is probably true, granted, but doesn't really address any of the underlying social issues). It's a weird strawman: Nevermind that the world is broken. You're just on your phone too much. Then what happens after they turn it off? Still a shit economy, no good jobs unless you want to work in tech or finance (and even then...), climate change getting worse, nobody can afford housing, education is increasingly worthless, culture wars are getting more polarized... I'd argue the opposite cause/effect: People are on their phones so much because that's all that's left to do in a dying world, because previous generations hoarded so much for themselves there's nothing left for the future.

itsoktocry 3y ago
>It's a weird strawman: Nevermind that the world is broken. You're just on your phone too much. You've missed and/or are proving the point. Would it shock you to learn that there are large segments of the population who aren't in a doom loop of "the world is broken"?
- solardev 3y ago
  Would it shock you to learn that there are in fact significant structural issues that continue to exist even if you turn off your phone?
  - I_Am_Nous 3y ago
    There are real issues in the world for sure, but stressing about them as if I can actually DO something about them is wasted energy. Reading about the significant structural issues I can't fix is stressful. The only way I can reduce that stress is by not reading it. It doesn't go away if I don't read about it, but why subject myself to such needless anguish in the first place? Doomscrolling is a choice. Reading the news is a choice. Yes, this is my privilege speaking because I live in the middle of nowhere where nothing ever happens so I don't have to stay informed for my own safety. I choose to live somewhere with that level of safety cushion, and I give up all the "benefits" of living in the city for this privilege.
    - solardev 3y ago
      I don't think there is any disagreement that addictive doom-scrolling is bad for you -- regardless of your age & generation & political leanings. It's just not a complete (or, I'd argue, majority) explanation for the hardships of younger people today. It's also confusing cause and effect. It makes no sense to blame these generations for the simple act of learning about what's going on around them, caused by people other than them. Even if you turn off your phone, all those social issues making it hard for these generations will still be there, in a way that wasn't the same for our parents and grandparents. Even if you can't do anything about these, they still directly affect your livability and haunt your life in profound ways. All the generational peers I know are basically separated into two groups: the tech people are fine (or better), and everyone else is struggling. Of the latter group, the better-off among us can rent alone or with a partner, maybe buy a cheap house in a rural area. The majority cannot. And our predecessors' political and environmental failures compound every year to the point where they can't just be ignored even if we wanted to just hide, between wildfires and shootings and abortion and homophobia and transphobia... these have real everyday impacts to many of the people I know, even though none of them are doomscrollers. You can't just hide from the world and pretend like there are no issues when they're actively affecting you.

itsoktocry 3y ago

>It's a weird strawman: Nevermind that the world is broken. You're just on your phone too much. You've missed and/or are proving the point. Would it shock you to learn that there are large segments of the population who aren't in a doom loop of "the world is broken"?

solardev 3y ago
Would it shock you to learn that there are in fact significant structural issues that continue to exist even if you turn off your phone?
- I_Am_Nous 3y ago
  There are real issues in the world for sure, but stressing about them as if I can actually DO something about them is wasted energy. Reading about the significant structural issues I can't fix is stressful. The only way I can reduce that stress is by not reading it. It doesn't go away if I don't read about it, but why subject myself to such needless anguish in the first place? Doomscrolling is a choice. Reading the news is a choice. Yes, this is my privilege speaking because I live in the middle of nowhere where nothing ever happens so I don't have to stay informed for my own safety. I choose to live somewhere with that level of safety cushion, and I give up all the "benefits" of living in the city for this privilege.
  - solardev 3y ago
    I don't think there is any disagreement that addictive doom-scrolling is bad for you -- regardless of your age & generation & political leanings. It's just not a complete (or, I'd argue, majority) explanation for the hardships of younger people today. It's also confusing cause and effect. It makes no sense to blame these generations for the simple act of learning about what's going on around them, caused by people other than them. Even if you turn off your phone, all those social issues making it hard for these generations will still be there, in a way that wasn't the same for our parents and grandparents. Even if you can't do anything about these, they still directly affect your livability and haunt your life in profound ways. All the generational peers I know are basically separated into two groups: the tech people are fine (or better), and everyone else is struggling. Of the latter group, the better-off among us can rent alone or with a partner, maybe buy a cheap house in a rural area. The majority cannot. And our predecessors' political and environmental failures compound every year to the point where they can't just be ignored even if we wanted to just hide, between wildfires and shootings and abortion and homophobia and transphobia... these have real everyday impacts to many of the people I know, even though none of them are doomscrollers. You can't just hide from the world and pretend like there are no issues when they're actively affecting you.