Much like a lot of Gen X, some of the older Millennials in my life (particularly the white working professionals) are parroting the age old mantra of “I don’t care about passing my skills on to the younger generations or helping those in need, no one ever helped me in my life.”. My response is always “That’s not a good thing!” because I never know what to say. Debate is not my strength.
My working class grandparents were never like this. They lived through the great depression and two wars and never wanted anyone to suffer as much as they did. I miss them and their kindness dearly. It’s only from boomers and younger that I’ve seen this attitude. Capitalism is crushing our instincts as a social species. If we can’t stand on the shoulders of giants… well then we will stop advancing as a species. We will stagnate and go extinct because the challenges we face now need all of us. It goes against everything that is human to be this alienated and antagonistic to one another. Particularly frightening is the hatred and contempt modern society has towards children.
This is not going to end well.
I appreciate all the people here, whether you’re 20 or 60, for not becoming the thing that hurt you. We need people with a soul more than ever.
I’m an older millennial too, old enough to have a lot of Gen X around me that became junior Boomers to the point of being nearly indistinguishable recently.
I’ve seen the same thing you have, @Dirt_Owl@hexbear.net . Older millennials like myself, even if they used to be at least sympathetic to leftist (or as they preferred to put it, “progressive”) causes, more often then not, often when they found their first “real job” (as in, less marginalized and derided by wine-clinking liberal petite bourgeoisie), suddenly decided that people that didn’t get there yet (or never would) were just “lazy” or some other bullshit excuse, anything to feel justified in disavowing them of their own common roots.
I wish I had a more heroic and saintly reason for why I take the stands I do, but in truth they started as spite. I hated the selfish fascist assholes that raised me before I even know what to call their ideology, but definitive fascists, up to and including admiration of fucking Hitler all the same. That’s especially rich because I have a fairly complicated ethnic background that involves people that were chased down and exterminated through both world wars from the very same people that their surviving successors now retroactively feel nostalgia and admiration for.
Shit’s fucked.
Yeah, shits fucked. I’m a “younger” millennial (early 30s) so I’m scared that when I get closer to 40 I’ll become more fash or something
I’m a bit over 40 and have moved fully to the left just in the past years. Getting a better paying job has just made me see the contradictions better.
As long as you are aware of the brainworms around you, they can’t get to you.
I also very much choose to focus on humanity, in my choice of media and in the things I pay attention to. I’d much rather make a note of the person helping someone else cross a street than a person behaving selfishly, because it matters. I feel the most nihilist people around me just pick and choose the most negative things that affirm their already shitty worldview to justify and uphold said worldview and through that their own apathy and lack of kindness.
I’m in my 40s.
Guard your heart well and never stop caring about other people and you’ll preserve the best of you.
35 here and not in any danger of becoming fash. Wish I had time to read theory more and get back to organizing but have two young kiddos I’m going to do my best to raise without liberalism.