The 3 types of young people today
Our response to the collapse of American greatness
I think everyone feels like our current society is flawed.
We’re at all time levels of inequality, mental illness, substance abuse, and homelessness. Our infrastructure is decaying. The social fabric holding us together is fraying - people don’t trust each other anymore and political parties force us to point the finger the other way.
The sad thing is Gen Z and millennials are left to deal with the problems previous generations created. Problems we didn’t choose.
I think most people want the same thing. Health, safety, time with people we love, doing things we enjoy, and having a little alone time every now and then.
Today’s American culture does not prioritize those things. We prioritize productivity and profits. Because of this, many people are losing their way. Instead of changing society for the better, we cope with reality of living in a society where our humanity is sacrificed for progress and innovation.
Our responses determine the kind of life we live and the kind of people we become. Right now, Gen Z and millennials are responding to our current way of life in 3 different ways:
1/ The Quiet Quitters.
The people who are sick and tired of the rat race but understand they have to participate or else they can’t feed their families. Instead of completely leaving, they emotionally and mentally tap out.
You see visual representations of this group in the trends of quiet quitting, The Great Resignation, burnout, and the subreddit, antiwork.
We aren’t designed to thrive in the current system.
Wake up, check your feed, check your texts, read your emails. Start working in your room, or go into an office or workplace where you stare at a screen for 8 hours or deal with angry people.
Then we’re told to go home and do it all again tomorrow. Even after we go home, are we ever really off? We try to make time for our chores, hobbies, and friends. But, I don’t know abotu you, I never achieve any of these ‘goals’.
The solution? Mental health care, stoicism, medication, and “fun things to do after work.” They’re all band aid solutions for a problem much bigger than we can control.
Only in America, is eating your lunch outside considered quiet quitting. Things like this will only make the quiet quitting crowd bigger. When people work hard, get a degree, and can barely make a living wage while not having time to actually live, expect more people to chose the life of barista, living in Australia or Europe, and putting in the minimum effort.
2/ The Hustlers
These people lived through the GFC and COVID. They’re a part of the system, just like quiet quitters, however they respond in the opposite way → To go harder.
These are ambitious people. They start companies, run agencies, and create content to break out of the matrix. They think they can outwork inequality and create a life where sometime in the future, they’ll have the time and resources where they can chose how to live.
Examples of this response include.
Financial Independence / Retire Early subreddit. One of the fastest growing subreddits. The description is in the name. Every member of FIRE has a “NUMBER” (how much they need to make to retire) and an “AGE” (to retire at). They want to make as much money as they can, so they can live off passive income and savings for the rest of their lives.
Money twitter. A group of entrepreneurs and creators making 5 figures+/month from their phones. Some of these guys make the average salary of a corporate 9-5, work 80 hours a week, and call it freedom. They will help you escape the matrix too! But only if you sign up for their $100 Discord Server. Remember, rule number 1 of the system, there are no handouts.
Corporate mindfulness. The group of business influencers headlined by guys like Alex Hermozi and Grant Cardone. They tell you how to be productive, successful, and happy. Most of these people will tell you money isn’t the #1 goal, while simultaneously suggesting you should disregard your passions, get rid of things that don’t serve your productivity, and work until you’re happy with the numbers in your wallet.
Many people realize the ludiocrisy of hustle culture. Work on the weekends. Make it the center of your life. Measure your worth by productivity.
This is why shitposts from people like Jack Raines go viral. Great sarcasm is funny and true. It can’t be so absurd you know it’s fake and it can’t be so real you it takes 10 reads to finally see through the BS. It has to teeter on the line of, “this is absolutely insane,” and it’s “not that far off from reality.”
The only truth I know about the system and hustle culture is exploitation. You’re either being exploited, or are doing the exploiting. I’ve had two full time jobs so far (and countless side hustles and internships) and all of them included some level of exploitation.
I was the #1 salesperson at my first job and made less than people doing half the work and getting a quarter of the results. I helped scale the largest newsletter in crypto in my last job that sold for 8 figures and barely made a living wage. This is why quiet quitting is attractive. Even if you buy into the ‘hustle harder’ mentality, you are oftentimes not compensated for your extra work.
The thing about the game is you’re either the one eating or the one getting ate. This group of people wants to eat. They make us cringe, but they also make money.
3/ The Rebels
These people think there must be an alternative to the system. That the current one is unsustainable and unhealthy for humanity and wants to do something about it. They believe there is a better way to live and they will rewrite the future until that better way exists.
Even the quiet quitters exist, although passively, in the system. This group is unabashedly against the system.
The more I think about my life experiences, the more I realize how naturally rebellious and disagreeable I am. I always went against authority, broke rules just to break rules, and spoke out when I wanted to however I wanted too.
This behavior got me in a lot of trouble, made enemies, but it also gave me the respect and admiration of people.
How do we empower change? How do we become the rebels to change society and end the constant wheel turning rat race?
You see examples every day.
Starbucks employees organizing a union.
Government’s passing pay transparency laws.
The work from home movement that has upended the traditional work place.
Gen-Z for Change is a collective of Gen-Z activists that leverage the power of social media to drive progressive change.
Maybe my next, BIG THING, is finding a way to rebel.
Reach out to me if any of this resonated or you disagree with me.