We see a lot of younger generation, especially Gen Z being unhappy and not wanting to do anything. Is there a reason for this? Let’s see
Lack Of Purpose Makes Them Unhappy
In the previous century, we had a lot to look forward to. The world was still developing new technologies and there were a lot of new things to discover, it was an age of discovery and curiosity. Something to look forward to from airplanes, cars, refrigerators, air conditioning, software technology, etc, all of it was in a nascent stage of development,
This gave people a sense of purpose and reason to work, in order to do something as they felt part of something bigger. They didn’t feel like what they were doing was meaningless, and that is another thing, they found meaning in their work.
Another thing was the pride in one’s nation and beliefs. We saw the most devasting wars in the present times, including the world war 1 and 2. A sense of serving and protecting the ones you love gave most men a sense of pride and purpose that is unmatched in any other thing. Although we see the same vigor in people’s hearts during a sports game, most people have lost sight of the need to have knowledge and pride in their own country.
Life was also simple back then. Finish high school, get a degree, have a job, get married, have kids and then retire. The low population compared to what it is right now made this a reality. Almost all our grandfathers owned houses at some point in their lives, most people at least did. Even if we look at the job market, the criteria weren’t that high.
Even if you didn’t know something, if you showed enough interest and intelligence, you would be hired even if you didn’t have experience. There were plenty of opportunities for those who wanted to do something, but sadly not the case today. You will need connections and tons of internships to be even listed for an interview right now.
We also didn’t have much technology, so we manually had to do most of the work, so it made us slightly healthier. We also ate home-cooked meals more than outside ones, like we do today ordering from food apps.
You had to physically go outside to eat in order to do so. We also had friends that were small but our relationships with them were deep. Happiness was derived from simple things in life as much wasn’t needed, which brings us to today.
Too Much Stimulation And Unrealistic Expectations
Internet and social media have definitely brought us closer than ever before. Not to mention the knowledge that we have at our fingertips is astounding. In human history, nobody would have thought this would be possible. But like all things, it also has a dark side. Just like a sword that can be used to defend, or harm someone, it depends on who is using it.
Social media has made people forget reality in a sense. We see pictures of these pretty perfect people living their perfect lives in dream destinations that ordinary people like us can only dream of. They also seem to make it look effortless in a sense, which is not true. Becoming an Instagram influencer is a daunting task, you have to churn out content day after day, and few of them need to be viral for you to be noticed by people. If you are not doing content-driven things, then you must be pretty looking, there is no helping it.
It has also given rise to this unrealistic view of what success ought to be. As a man, if you are not living in a mansion, having a sports car with money to spend on other stuff like branded watches and clothing, you are not successful. This kind of expectations make young impressionable men doubt themselves and feel worthless about themselves as they have not achieved this perceived goal.
The truth is, success is whatever you deem you should achieve in life. If you are happy working in a 9-5 job and coming home to your family every day by 8 pm and having dinner with them, you are successful! If you want to own a small farm in the middle of nowhere along with your wife and kids so be it!
Ask yourself what you want to do and not what someone has put inside of your head and what you should do and start doing it, you will be much more satisfied and also successful. Not everybody will have their names written in history and that’s okay, it is fine to live an ordinary life and die an ordinary death, it is not however acceptable to be mediocre, you should achieve the highest possible outcome you can through your life.
It is not a secret that social media negatively affects the mental health of teenagers, especially girls. It makes them feel inadequate with the perfect figures of Instagram models which most of the time leads to mental or food disorders to meet this rigid expectation of beauty. It doesn’t help the fact that their lives seem to be quite interesting compared to them.
At a young age, we don’t have much experience and can be easily fooled. As an adult, we understand most of the things shown on social media are fabricated to enhance their own brand image. Most social media influencers are driven by their looks and looks fade away, so their thing is short-lived as a new younger more beautiful person comes around. But, if you start seeing the lies over and over again as truth, your reality can get distorted.
Most of the younger generation is finding out that reality is not that simple and it is hard to get to the position pedaled to them. Sometimes there are shortcuts if you are born lucky with good looks or from an influential family with connections or money, but most of the time, it is a struggle to achieve what you want to achieve. The younger fold can’t seem to accept the reality that their fantasy world is not real and it would take a lot of effort in order to make it a reality, they want things simple, but life is much more complicated than that.
Rising Economic Burdens
In the case of things being expensive, things are not the same compared to our father’s and grandfather’s time. Things were affordable for a common man and there are some reasons for this.
One of the reasons was that there were fewer people to begin with, so the resources that we had were able to satisfy our needs and there was a lot to go around. In fact, it was not uncommon for most working individuals to own a house, right now, it is difficult to even pay your rent forget living a good life. Another thing is that a family could live on just one person’s income, which is unheard of today.
One of the things plaguing the western world is the student loan debt by people who enrolled for a degree. If you are not in a demanding field like STEM, there is a high probability you won’t be able to pay your debt back, making your everyday life even more miserable.
Money seems to be the main reason for stress in today’s generation and you can’t blame them. The things that were available to our forefathers, are now only accessible to a select few individuals, who won’t be angry?
It is extremely difficult now to start your own venture. Think about it, the ones who pioneer their industry have lobbies that won’t allow other players to compete, it happens all the time.
Take for example, the handloom industry. Some time ago, countries from Asia were famous for their world-renowned handloom clothes, after the Britishers colonized them, they destroyed their looms, sometimes even the trader’s thumbs, and replaced them with machine-woven fabric which were cheaper and could be mass-produced effectively destroying the industry. Many families had individual businesses of their own, but due to the monopoly of some giants, it is not possible, so people are stuck doing what they can in their lives. But this problem is less serious than the next one.
Relationships Have Become Worse
Compared to previous generations our romantic relationships fare badly. It is surprising and even praiseworthy for someone to be married for 50 years which is a common occurrence in other parts of the world like countries in the continent of Asia and Africa.
Most of the partners that we chose were known to us sometimes for years before people started dating. The biggest difference was people were interested in getting to know someone, most people do dating to show off. A person was treated as a person and not a commodity which is sadly a reality of today.
If you look at today’s divorce statistics and previous generations you would know the difference. Marriage is not considered important anymore, and rampant affairs are common. This is not the case for adults, teenagers are also replacing their partners like crazy, making it difficult for them to pair bond and have a lasting relationship in later life as they have never seen a healthy relationship before.
It doesn’t help that parents and children rarely interact nowadays. Parents are not raising their kids anymore, the teachers or schools are as both of them are working. The end result is children mixing with the wrong crowd, and making wrong decisions, and ruining their lives as they have low self-esteem issues stemming from the lack of love and support shown at home. It doesn’t help that men and fathers are villainized nowadays.
Fathers are an important part of a child’s development and their presence makes a difference. Boys who have fathers in their lives have seen to have less incarceration rates and also girls have a low probability of becoming a teenage mom. It is an uphill battle as most of the court system is designed to keep the fathers away from family resulting in kids growing up in broken families and eventually into broken adults who seek validation from the outside world instead of within themselves. Is there a wonder why the young generation feels hopeless and unhappy?
What can be done about their unhappiness?
Some things are not in their control and they are understandably upset about the hand they are dealt with, but they are not completely faultless. Some points make sense like giving everything to your work is not a good idea as the previous generation thought but not working and upskilling yourself to keep up with the market is also a terrible idea as you are not giving a reason for an employer to keep you hired.
Although some points that Gen Z makes are thoughtful they are over-shadowed by their over-estimation of themselves. The primary reason is that they were coddled up for too long and were shielded from reality too often as it might be harmful (case in point, trigger warning). To change things, a large and complete overhaul of the system all over the world would be needed to bring back the earlier times which seems not possible.
The best way, in my opinion regarding money would be to try to get a remote job and switch to another country where its value is high, thus giving you an advantage. If you are in the US and can only afford 1 room apartment with roommates, in an Asian country, you would be able to afford a house on your own. In the case of relationships, before getting into one, make sure you have worked on yourself first, you can’t expect love and respect from someone else when you don’t have that for yourself. For the purpose, you can aim for a simple life instead of one with vanity, to achieve this, try to be content but don’t mistake content for being lazy, be the best version of life you can have and be happy with it.