just another random thing i've been thinking about a lot lately.
i feel like a lot of people love to talk shit about "the zoomers" and "gen z is going to be the downfall of society" and weird ass takes from people our age and older, but most people refuse to acknowledge that "gen z" is basically just the result of "the future" being beta tested on our generation (millennials).
like, why do you think Kids Are Always On They Phone? our generation was the first one to be exposed to the Smartphone; The Phone That Does Everything For You. we are Always On Our Phones. but we had to get taught to be always on our phones. kids of the gen z and following generations are born into a world where their parents are always on they phones. their parents get them phones at a young age and teach them how to watch YouTube Kids on their iPad because their parents are working 3 jobs to make rent and groceries and bills. it's completely normal for these kids, they're born into a world where this technology already exists and is already deeply integrated into our society.
and gen z wouldn't have "had to be" the way that it is if it wasn't due to what we welcomed (and what was pushed on us) in our own generation.
most of us in the Millennial Generation are in our 30s, 40s. we are essentially "up next" in the seat of power and influence (one could even argue we are the influence). to a degree, we do control how our youth are going to grow up and develop. and yet, despite this, so many of us talk about how we "don't get the kids" or how "the kids are fucked" or how "this generation is '''too soft'''". now, really think about it, how do you think that happened? do you really, genuinely believe that zoomers are "like that" completely of their own volition?
we spend so much time blaming others for being how they are, but we don't look inwards at how we were basically used as test dummies in order to create the generation that will follow after ours, who will follow after theirs, and who will follow after theirs. our generation was the blueprint, theirs is the beta test, and the generations to follow will be the ones to "go gold."
and don't even get me started on the "pandemic kids" conversation. that is so loaded of a topic it would need its own post.
