I think a big part of why gen z culture is like this is because we’re almost too aware of our own insignificance. We are bombarded each day with news depicting how the world is ending, history repeating itself, injustice everywhere, morality gone and no real way to save or solve anything. We grew up on dystopian books, apocalyptic worlds, rebellion, death and fallen empires and then we see it play out in reality. It’s depressing, it’s shoking, it’s infuriating, and most importantly – we can’t do anything about it.
Like, I recently watched Interstellar, and while my mother complained about not understanding the sub-plots, I was sitting there, trying to process the fact that the world is dying in real life. Perhaps not the same way, but it is. (With global warming, we’re halfway to the critical temperature. Perhaps, our children will know that conifers existed only from books and from stories. Think about that for a second.)
But we have no miracle “flying to another inhabitable planet” solution here. We aren’t even close. Even if we had, nobody would be using it because the world is ruled by the rich and ignorant, and losing money in saving people is the last thing people like that want.
So we, here, children who should be first and foremost caring about grades and first crushes and learning are instead stuck in this hellstate of helplessness.
And that makes us angry. Furious. Depressed. Exhausted.
All of that.
We are like this because of one simple fact: We don’t want to die in a world we couldn’t save.
artherra 