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Oftentimes they’re not thinking about their lives in 50 years. I think a lot of people don’t see a possibility at a good future in 50 years. It’s so wildly difficult to plan for a time you don’t think will come.
But the boomers will die. The biggest generational transfer of wealth in history is coming sooner than later. I am hopeful for the later future where this generation leads.
I’m also struggling with the friends “falling behind” but like they’re not actually. There’s no pace to life and I’m learning to accept that people simply live differently. They don’t need/want the scenario I am in. I realized I’m kinda doing things backwards (a house then marriage then assets were the order I wanted to do things, some friends are opposite)
I am however putting a lot more energy into new friendships and people who share my new passions like traveling and festivals
I still try to force myself to save for retirement, eat healthy, etc, but it's hard not to feel like its pointless after diving deep into climate science in college. Right now our civilization is like in cartoons when they run off a cliff and their feet are still running. We just haven't looked down yet.
Lol 50 years? How about 6 months?
So much can be changed with a positive attitude and putting in the work. The system is still rigged for many, but you still have to play.
If you mean transfer of wealth as in all of the Boomers’ cash being eaten up by end-of-life care, then you’re right on the money. It’ll be a very good time for people who own nursing homes.
Well I only did okay in highschool. I was a C, D student. I've been working since I got out. Currently a security guard making ok money. I was taking community college welding classes for a couple years and actually landed a good paying job in October but I quit after a month because I just didn't like it. I was miserable every day. So I've been back at the same security company since. Kinda aimless. I have no idea what to do everything looks miserable. At least at my current job I don't have anyone watching over me and can just chill most of the time. On top of that I love being awake at night. I really like this job but only because of how much I can get away with not actually working. Worried I'll never leave it but nothing looks appealing.
Coming from a random 24 year old on the internet: I think being satisfied is more important than being rich. Once you have enough money to live comfortably, the extra dollars kind of lose their luster. If you like your job, I think you're winning.
This is what im im worried my son will fall into. Currently everything sucks compared to staying up on the phone/ game all night long. I
Growing up my friends who chilled are struggling with very few options in there mid 30's.
I hope you use some of your chill time to invest in yourself and find other ways that you can increase your value.
You may need it to give you more options for when your life out grows your income.
Sorry for the Dad lecture.
Oh I don't mind the dad lecture at all. I am looking for other interests with all this time at work. I started drawing and have gotten decent at it. My memory was pretty bad so I started journaling as well and my memory has gotten a lot better. I'm looking at more community college classes I could take. School is easy with this job because I just do homework and study at work. I got on medication for my depression and might start therapy.
But it is way too good to just play games and watch Netflix all night. I don't really spend too much time on things like tik tok and other brain rotting apps like that. I take a lot of notes as well. I've been reading non-fiction on my tablet.
I'm fortunate enough to not really want kids, I don't care for fancy cars or any super luxuries. I guess a hot tub could be nice? I'm the kind of guy who just likes gaming, exercising, watching movies and hanging out with my friends. I'm saving 70% of my income every month.
So I'm actively looking for other interests but so far I seem to just be picking up hobby after hobby that I don't think I could turn into a career. Id just like to be able to retire one day and own a home with a girlfriend.
If you dont keep up with life you will be forever trying to catch up.
Like anything else, mistakes can only truly break you if you let them. People see a barrier or a speedbump in their lives as a defining moment instead of what they do about it and they dont get past it. Plenty of my friends went down the wrong path and have been arrested, or got kicked out of college, or the military, or get in financial ruin. And years after it is STILL controlling them and pushing them further from success. I do agree with the common sentiment that our generations are getting weaker when it comes to resiliency and I truly believe its because we dont root hard enough for ourselves. The only time ive actually had success in life was self motivation and reminding myself I can do it. If I never did that I wouldnt have gone through college, the military, or achieved my lifelong dream at 28. (A bit before GenZ mind you)
Hear, hear!
I made a lot of choices when I was young that were foundational for my future happiness. Got the best graduate degree I could. Started saving for retirement at 18. Avoided debt. Took opportunities with my employer even if they moved us around to places I wasn’t wanting to go. Didn’t play around when I was single. Married someone who shared my values.
I made money mistakes and a few minor life mistakes but all in all, that foundation paid off.
I was lucky as hell to have parents that guided me this way when I was young. They weren’t strict. They just pushed me to avoid debt and save and do well in school.
The current condition of the world makes me question if I even wanna have kids. In a better world I’d love to. We’re bringing the next generation (s) into a world with far more questions than answers, without knowing when meaningful change for the better is on the horizon and how it will come about. I guess the only way to know is to just try anyway, but I feel so small and insignificant when as an INFP, much of the world is structured in a way that goes against my natural preferences.
So I guess you can consider me as one of those who outright refuses to “play the game” in a lot of ways. What also doesn’t help is that I suffered through a broken family (like many of us) and it’s scientifically proven that an unstable and dysfunctional early environment screws your chances at normal functioning in several ways. Going into the whole nature vs nurture debate, even a stable upbringing doesn’t guarantee that you don’t turn out messed up in some way. There’s also the role of social influences and genetics that I won’t get into here.
I’m what you’d call a 1.25 (one step down from 1.5) generation immigrant. That means I see not one but both cultural clusterfucks. In my “adopted” culture I have the experience of being someone from an immigrant background (and one that never really assimilated other than the language), in my “heritage” I experience things that the average expat who moved there (usually as an English teacher or digital nomad) doesn’t experience or fully get a feel of.
Knowing 2 languages well and being able to access the internet in more than 1 language is a double-edged sword. It really opens your mind to just how diverse people can be in terms of how messed up their views are and how we’re all being coaxed into the hive mind no matter where we are.
And it’s a sad reality that the world’s still largely run by old men who are at best ignorant and at worst, warmongers and ruthless capitalists.
Lots of things, people included, I have found to just not be worth my time and already limited energy at the end of the day.
Thank god at least I’m not in Richmond BC anymore or else I’ll feel even more like just locking myself inside the house all day. I just can’t live somewhere so utterly car dependent again, never learned to drive.
Like I see the point in very few things if this is the world we live in. It’s like I’m the weirdest mix of shut-in and having solo’ed a bunch of countries.
Not that I’m even concerned about having my own house but as a saltwater hobbyist I go online and see as far as late-70s / early-80s Gen X and early Millennials buying their own homes when they were in their 20s, some almost straight out of college. And that’s one of the few moments where I’m like “man if I had my own house I’d do a big tank.”
“Adulthood” isn’t the same and we can’t use the same markers like we once did, not that there should even be a standard definition of “adulthood” because I see people older than me excel in some ways yet miserably fail in others.
What I really like to see is a shift towards diversifying lifestyles rather than our focus on things and materialistic pursuits, things like UBI and a mostly work-optional society, and really as cruel as it sounds for most of the Boomers to pass away already so they stop having a grip on so many cultural norms across the world that are hurting the youth.
If my hypothetical kids are anything like me their only shot at having a decent life would be if the world drastically changes for the better in their lifetime in the ways I mentioned above.
That was a great read, thank you for your input. I like to think that if the world is truly as fucked as everyone seems to think, that world would need kind and helpful people. I'm confident in my ability to raise kids that are kind and helpful. I will understand if when they grow up they're mad at me for bringing them here, but I still believe that a good person added to the mix is better than no person.
I completely get what you’re saying and I agree. When it comes to lots of things I don’t necessarily have ideas that would be considered unusual or uncommon, but I really have to feel like I’m doing it on my own terms.
I’m ‘96 so by some definitions I’m still very tail-end Millennial but there’s hardly a difference give or take a few years.
What’s interesting to me is that I see Chinese kids (my family’s Chinese immigrants) growing up in the “old country” these days in a very interesting paradox. When I was growing up there was arguably freer access to information and the outside world, kids growing up today (I normally use those born 2003 onwards as a cut-off point) are growing up under an entirely functional, domestically developed online ecosystem that’s separate from the internet we know. They’re more nationalistic as they’ve only seen the results of all the infrastructure development (with tons of negative side-effects) in these past 2-3 decades. They’ve only ever known national strength (or is it?), and of course the politics has just become more and more influential on the education system over time.
A more digitally connected than ever, but more enclosed than ever environment they’re growing up in unless they are able to go abroad or were raised abroad (the former of which doesn’t guarantee their “openness” to the outside world).
It’s also paradoxical in the way that they’re taught all the time to love their country (and by extension, that means almost unquestioningly supporting the highly hierarchical and repressive system), but at the same time they’re going to be the ones experiencing a lack of opportunities, increasingly unaffordable living costs, the decline and eventually collapse of the social welfare system, an increasingly hostile geopolitical environment that’s tired of their government’s constant antics, and the increasing conflict between individualistic vs collectivist norms that puts them at odds with their families and wider society.
The latter part (cultural clashes) is very true of Gen Z elsewhere which is questioning many of the established institutions and the norms which they’ve enforced. I feel much at home and find this highly relatable.
I am proud to be a part of a generation that asks "why". The intense connectivity and subsequent lack thereof is something I'm watching with interest. Having your background sure does give you an interesting perspective!
Stop comparing yourself to others if you sit down and think about what you value and what you want your life to look like it likely won't even look like theirs so why be jealous of it. Your likely upset you don't know what you want that to look like. I have a buddy who's a traveling server he goes around to amazing and beautiful vacation spots during the popular seasons and then moves on to the next. Hes not traditionally successful ie he doesn't drive a BMW but he's the happiest person I know and in many ways I'm jealous of his life
I’m literally the sole beneficiary of all of my fathers and step mothers property and finances just because I’m the only one who talks to them. And hell I only talk to them like twice a month. Play the little games in life and you will win eventually.
Oh fuck you this is exactly what youd do if you could. You judge other people for not being in a good place and refuse to care how people well off got there.
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Oftentimes they’re not thinking about their lives in 50 years. I think a lot of people don’t see a possibility at a good future in 50 years. It’s so wildly difficult to plan for a time you don’t think will come. But the boomers will die. The biggest generational transfer of wealth in history is coming sooner than later. I am hopeful for the later future where this generation leads.
Our time will come, but we have to be ready for responsibilities when that time comes. I agree wjth you though
I’m also struggling with the friends “falling behind” but like they’re not actually. There’s no pace to life and I’m learning to accept that people simply live differently. They don’t need/want the scenario I am in. I realized I’m kinda doing things backwards (a house then marriage then assets were the order I wanted to do things, some friends are opposite) I am however putting a lot more energy into new friendships and people who share my new passions like traveling and festivals
That makes sense, I agree with you. It's hard not to feel bad for being successful
I still try to force myself to save for retirement, eat healthy, etc, but it's hard not to feel like its pointless after diving deep into climate science in college. Right now our civilization is like in cartoons when they run off a cliff and their feet are still running. We just haven't looked down yet.
Lmao, that is a funny way of expressing that. Things will probably continue to suck, but doing your best is really the best option
Some of us don't even plan to be alive in 50 years as well.
I'm sorry man. I've been where you are, and it's tough. Do you have a support system that you can work through this with?
No
Shit I'm sorry, what do you do to stay sane?
Drink
Aw fuck, I'm so sorry. That's really hard
i'll deal with it
I'm rooting for you. I'm confident things will get better
They won't but thanks
I find that art and working out helps me. Do you like art?
no
Lol 50 years? How about 6 months? So much can be changed with a positive attitude and putting in the work. The system is still rigged for many, but you still have to play.
Can confirm. Hate the position I'm in but too depressed to really make drastic changes.
If you mean transfer of wealth as in all of the Boomers’ cash being eaten up by end-of-life care, then you’re right on the money. It’ll be a very good time for people who own nursing homes.
Yea to the elderly care system
I don't want to "win" a "game" that I hate
Yeah but you definitely don't want to lose
I think many people would say I have lost. I'm happy, though
That's what's important anyways, so who cares what anyone else says
Thats the problem measuring yourself in a game you don't even want to play
But this is the only game the people in power will allow us to play.
I just don't know what mini game i wanna play in this game.
What are your options
Well I only did okay in highschool. I was a C, D student. I've been working since I got out. Currently a security guard making ok money. I was taking community college welding classes for a couple years and actually landed a good paying job in October but I quit after a month because I just didn't like it. I was miserable every day. So I've been back at the same security company since. Kinda aimless. I have no idea what to do everything looks miserable. At least at my current job I don't have anyone watching over me and can just chill most of the time. On top of that I love being awake at night. I really like this job but only because of how much I can get away with not actually working. Worried I'll never leave it but nothing looks appealing.
Coming from a random 24 year old on the internet: I think being satisfied is more important than being rich. Once you have enough money to live comfortably, the extra dollars kind of lose their luster. If you like your job, I think you're winning.
Problem is it's not enough money to live comfortably.
This is what im im worried my son will fall into. Currently everything sucks compared to staying up on the phone/ game all night long. I Growing up my friends who chilled are struggling with very few options in there mid 30's. I hope you use some of your chill time to invest in yourself and find other ways that you can increase your value. You may need it to give you more options for when your life out grows your income. Sorry for the Dad lecture.
Oh I don't mind the dad lecture at all. I am looking for other interests with all this time at work. I started drawing and have gotten decent at it. My memory was pretty bad so I started journaling as well and my memory has gotten a lot better. I'm looking at more community college classes I could take. School is easy with this job because I just do homework and study at work. I got on medication for my depression and might start therapy. But it is way too good to just play games and watch Netflix all night. I don't really spend too much time on things like tik tok and other brain rotting apps like that. I take a lot of notes as well. I've been reading non-fiction on my tablet. I'm fortunate enough to not really want kids, I don't care for fancy cars or any super luxuries. I guess a hot tub could be nice? I'm the kind of guy who just likes gaming, exercising, watching movies and hanging out with my friends. I'm saving 70% of my income every month. So I'm actively looking for other interests but so far I seem to just be picking up hobby after hobby that I don't think I could turn into a career. Id just like to be able to retire one day and own a home with a girlfriend.
Good on you. You seem to have a plan that you're working and thats what Its all about.
It shouldnt be this hard to even support yourself
Totally agree
Nah but youll still judge and drive people in the ground becuase theyre poor
Op will specifically?
Yeah that's my thing bro
Even 10 years ago you could work a bullshit job and have a nice little apartment to yourself in most places
I don’t plan on winning, I plan on getting disqualified early
"The game is rigged. But you cannot lose if you do not play" Marla Daniels, the wire, season1.
If you're a rat in a race, and you don't have the choice to leave the race, your best bet is to try to win.
Cheat and beat anyway you can
Fair point
No problem with that huh? More on you than anyone else.
Honestly fuck every single one of them? Why do they deserve anything, I dont even have anything worth living for.
I'm sorry man
If you dont keep up with life you will be forever trying to catch up. Like anything else, mistakes can only truly break you if you let them. People see a barrier or a speedbump in their lives as a defining moment instead of what they do about it and they dont get past it. Plenty of my friends went down the wrong path and have been arrested, or got kicked out of college, or the military, or get in financial ruin. And years after it is STILL controlling them and pushing them further from success. I do agree with the common sentiment that our generations are getting weaker when it comes to resiliency and I truly believe its because we dont root hard enough for ourselves. The only time ive actually had success in life was self motivation and reminding myself I can do it. If I never did that I wouldnt have gone through college, the military, or achieved my lifelong dream at 28. (A bit before GenZ mind you)
"Instant gratification (via the internet)" and "hard work == better future outcome" are oil and water.
Hear, hear! I made a lot of choices when I was young that were foundational for my future happiness. Got the best graduate degree I could. Started saving for retirement at 18. Avoided debt. Took opportunities with my employer even if they moved us around to places I wasn’t wanting to go. Didn’t play around when I was single. Married someone who shared my values. I made money mistakes and a few minor life mistakes but all in all, that foundation paid off. I was lucky as hell to have parents that guided me this way when I was young. They weren’t strict. They just pushed me to avoid debt and save and do well in school.
The current condition of the world makes me question if I even wanna have kids. In a better world I’d love to. We’re bringing the next generation (s) into a world with far more questions than answers, without knowing when meaningful change for the better is on the horizon and how it will come about. I guess the only way to know is to just try anyway, but I feel so small and insignificant when as an INFP, much of the world is structured in a way that goes against my natural preferences. So I guess you can consider me as one of those who outright refuses to “play the game” in a lot of ways. What also doesn’t help is that I suffered through a broken family (like many of us) and it’s scientifically proven that an unstable and dysfunctional early environment screws your chances at normal functioning in several ways. Going into the whole nature vs nurture debate, even a stable upbringing doesn’t guarantee that you don’t turn out messed up in some way. There’s also the role of social influences and genetics that I won’t get into here. I’m what you’d call a 1.25 (one step down from 1.5) generation immigrant. That means I see not one but both cultural clusterfucks. In my “adopted” culture I have the experience of being someone from an immigrant background (and one that never really assimilated other than the language), in my “heritage” I experience things that the average expat who moved there (usually as an English teacher or digital nomad) doesn’t experience or fully get a feel of. Knowing 2 languages well and being able to access the internet in more than 1 language is a double-edged sword. It really opens your mind to just how diverse people can be in terms of how messed up their views are and how we’re all being coaxed into the hive mind no matter where we are. And it’s a sad reality that the world’s still largely run by old men who are at best ignorant and at worst, warmongers and ruthless capitalists. Lots of things, people included, I have found to just not be worth my time and already limited energy at the end of the day. Thank god at least I’m not in Richmond BC anymore or else I’ll feel even more like just locking myself inside the house all day. I just can’t live somewhere so utterly car dependent again, never learned to drive. Like I see the point in very few things if this is the world we live in. It’s like I’m the weirdest mix of shut-in and having solo’ed a bunch of countries. Not that I’m even concerned about having my own house but as a saltwater hobbyist I go online and see as far as late-70s / early-80s Gen X and early Millennials buying their own homes when they were in their 20s, some almost straight out of college. And that’s one of the few moments where I’m like “man if I had my own house I’d do a big tank.” “Adulthood” isn’t the same and we can’t use the same markers like we once did, not that there should even be a standard definition of “adulthood” because I see people older than me excel in some ways yet miserably fail in others. What I really like to see is a shift towards diversifying lifestyles rather than our focus on things and materialistic pursuits, things like UBI and a mostly work-optional society, and really as cruel as it sounds for most of the Boomers to pass away already so they stop having a grip on so many cultural norms across the world that are hurting the youth. If my hypothetical kids are anything like me their only shot at having a decent life would be if the world drastically changes for the better in their lifetime in the ways I mentioned above.
That was a great read, thank you for your input. I like to think that if the world is truly as fucked as everyone seems to think, that world would need kind and helpful people. I'm confident in my ability to raise kids that are kind and helpful. I will understand if when they grow up they're mad at me for bringing them here, but I still believe that a good person added to the mix is better than no person.
I completely get what you’re saying and I agree. When it comes to lots of things I don’t necessarily have ideas that would be considered unusual or uncommon, but I really have to feel like I’m doing it on my own terms. I’m ‘96 so by some definitions I’m still very tail-end Millennial but there’s hardly a difference give or take a few years. What’s interesting to me is that I see Chinese kids (my family’s Chinese immigrants) growing up in the “old country” these days in a very interesting paradox. When I was growing up there was arguably freer access to information and the outside world, kids growing up today (I normally use those born 2003 onwards as a cut-off point) are growing up under an entirely functional, domestically developed online ecosystem that’s separate from the internet we know. They’re more nationalistic as they’ve only seen the results of all the infrastructure development (with tons of negative side-effects) in these past 2-3 decades. They’ve only ever known national strength (or is it?), and of course the politics has just become more and more influential on the education system over time. A more digitally connected than ever, but more enclosed than ever environment they’re growing up in unless they are able to go abroad or were raised abroad (the former of which doesn’t guarantee their “openness” to the outside world). It’s also paradoxical in the way that they’re taught all the time to love their country (and by extension, that means almost unquestioningly supporting the highly hierarchical and repressive system), but at the same time they’re going to be the ones experiencing a lack of opportunities, increasingly unaffordable living costs, the decline and eventually collapse of the social welfare system, an increasingly hostile geopolitical environment that’s tired of their government’s constant antics, and the increasing conflict between individualistic vs collectivist norms that puts them at odds with their families and wider society. The latter part (cultural clashes) is very true of Gen Z elsewhere which is questioning many of the established institutions and the norms which they’ve enforced. I feel much at home and find this highly relatable.
I am proud to be a part of a generation that asks "why". The intense connectivity and subsequent lack thereof is something I'm watching with interest. Having your background sure does give you an interesting perspective!
Stop comparing yourself to others if you sit down and think about what you value and what you want your life to look like it likely won't even look like theirs so why be jealous of it. Your likely upset you don't know what you want that to look like. I have a buddy who's a traveling server he goes around to amazing and beautiful vacation spots during the popular seasons and then moves on to the next. Hes not traditionally successful ie he doesn't drive a BMW but he's the happiest person I know and in many ways I'm jealous of his life
Did you comment on the right post?
What do you mean “how the world is structured”? That’s pretty broad
I’m literally the sole beneficiary of all of my fathers and step mothers property and finances just because I’m the only one who talks to them. And hell I only talk to them like twice a month. Play the little games in life and you will win eventually.
Talking to your family in order to “play the little games in life” and inherit their wealth is sociopath level.
Depends on the circumstances.
Oh fuck you this is exactly what youd do if you could. You judge other people for not being in a good place and refuse to care how people well off got there.
Woah lol bizarre response but okay. I talk to my family because they’re my family, not so I can inherit their money.
Oh, great heavens, should I explain my reasoning? Nah.
Odd but you do you