• Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
      21·
      10 days ago

      I think the worst part is that we do, in fact, know it will get worse… But we were raised thinking we’d all live in big houses and be free of debt by now.

  • DarkFuture@lemmy.worldEnglish
    45·
    10 days ago

    Millennial about to turn 41.

    I’m tired.

    I’m not particularly fond of my fellow Americans anymore.

    And I don’t have an ounce of patriotism left.

    This country can go ahead and fuck itself. Which it appears to be doing pretty thoroughly. Dumbest fucking country in the history of the world if you take into account its wealth and influence compared to its quality of life and happiness index.

    Weighing how much effort/money it would take to get Canadian citizenship and whether I have that kind of energy left in me.

    • DarkFuture@lemmy.worldEnglish
      26·
      10 days ago

      Masks off.

      This country has always been pretty awful.

      We just had a short golden age where we taxed the fuck out of rich people and were simultaneously benefitting from the spoils of a World War.

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
        12·
        10 days ago

        I wish I could upvote this more than once.

        The economic boom the US experienced in the 1950s and 1960s was the result of:

        • Pro-worker economic policies enacted during the great depression that were kept in place through WWII and remained in place until they started getting killed off in the 1970s and were fully killed off in the 1980s by Reagan.
        • The top tax bracket being set at 90%.
        • The US being one of the only countries that didn’t have its infrastructure absolutely trashed during WWII.

        Even if the US went back to pro-worker, anti-oligarch policies, we’re unlikely to see another golden age unless there’s another world war that doesn’t damage the US. When people talk about their grandfather supporting 4 kids as a plumber, that was wonderful, but it was never the norm.

        Let’s see: !lemmysilver

    • booly@sh.itjust.works
      8·
      10 days ago

      1987: Black Monday

      That one didn’t really matter that much to regular Americans. Less than a third of Americans owned stock back then, and that crash didn’t have an obvious cause from actual economic fundamentals. And the Fed managed to contain the liquidity crisis, as your linked Wikipedia page describes, so that the broader economy was largely unaffected.

      Recessions matter. Stock market crashes only matter when they are caused by, or are the cause of, an actual recession in the real world.

    • Lovable Sidekick@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      10 days ago

      It’s almost like the term for a series of crises is “history” or maybe “life”. TBF, wanting to feel special is normal.

  • Cocopanda@futurology.todayEnglish
    27·
    10 days ago

    I’m about to turn 39. I just want a home or apartment of my own. Why is this happening? Why did the stupids get so powerful?

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      10 days ago

      Why is this happening? Why did the stupids get so powerful?

      This isn’t unique to the modern moment. Your parents called their elders stupid. Alphas will call Millennials stupid. But if we want to get to the real disparity between ideologies - the reason so many people are getting MAGA pilled in the face of seemingly obvious disaster - it really does just boil down to our mass media poisoning our brains.

      Fifty years of misinformation, con-artistry, and industrial scale commercial fraud has given birth to a population that is simultaneously desperate for a White Knight to come save them and so steeped in cynicism that they accept idiots and assholes in power as the best we’re capable of doing. Whether its Trump or Biden, Bezos or Musk, Wolf Blitzer or Alex Jones, there’s this baseline understanding that “My guy might suck but the other guy is so much worse”.

      And the deadliest poison of them all is the pride - the implicit assumption that you can’t trust anyone but yourself because you’re surrounded by morons. We’re increasingly alienated from one another and exposed to manipulation by computerized algorithms A/B testing us for our biases. Divided from one another, with our hatreds toward The Other inflamed while our access to basic necessities increasingly gated, we’re pushed into deeper and more vulgar polarized camps micro-managed by demagogues and other influencers.

      “The Stupid” is just the fear - of our looming poverty, of our dangerously polarized neighbors, of declining health and diminished free time. It’s not idiocy, its anxiety. We’re acting rashly because we all seem to know we’re being boxed in for the slaughter and none of us trust anyone else to recognize that we need to work together to escape it.

    • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
      4·
      10 days ago

      It’s not the stupids, but the greeds first and foremost. You can look back at the greedy mf’s that started every single thing and they weren’t punished.

  • HexesofVexes@lemmy.world
    16·
    9 days ago

    Millennials were also the generation that got to watch the surface web turn into an abandoned mall.

    Good times.

    • Dozzi92@lemmy.world
      6·
      9 days ago

      Early 2000s internet was so good. I don’t know that it’s possible to go back there. You needed it to be a little bit wild west, you needed to say “Hey, if I click this website, am I going to regret it?” But folks were generally real (except apparently the girls I talked to in AIM chat rooms, but hey, I survived).

    • BreadOven@lemmy.world
      1·
      8 days ago

      Agreed.

      But I still debate whether or not unrestricted internet access as a older kid/teen was a good thing or not haha. I’m sure we’ve all clicked links we regretted or went to those sites (rotten, or other shock sites). If we didn’t see all that shit growing up, would we be different? I’m not sure, but would be interesting to see some research on this (there may be some already, I haven’t looked).

      Anyways, I recently found a great website for lemon-themed recipes. It’s www.lemonparty.org, check it out!

  • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
    13·
    10 days ago

    I keep telling myself: could be worse. Could also be better, but could be worse 🤷😬

    Not sure who I’m trying to convince haha.

  • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.caEnglish
    141·
    9 days ago

    I’m an “elder” millennial… I’m 40+.

    Pretty much everything went to shit right after I got to the workforce. It was somewhat subtle at first, but it’s only gotten far worse and far more obvious as time has gone on.

    Kids? Nah bro. Have you seen the world? I don’t want to live here, why would I subject someone that I care about to a life, living in this hellscape? Like all parents, I’m sure I would love my children if they existed and even though they don’t exist, I still love them enough to not subject them to gestures at everything this.

    I haven’t gotten a meaningful raise since starting work. I was originally hired at basically minimum wage, a bit better than it in my area (ironically, my starting wage in my career is now below what minimum is now), and the only time I went up in salary is when I changed jobs.

    With more than half a dozen years of experience (this is a while back) I was fighting for anything over $60k/yr (it gets worse), while housing in my area was skyrocketing above $400k for a modest home…

    After the usual expenses of food and rent, I’ve been robbed blind by being given no choice but to buy things “as a service” and own fucking nothing. I’ve pushed back against it as much as possible and after years, I paid off my vehicle and absolutely, positively, 100% own this now 13 year-old car. Whoopee…

    I’ve lived through everything from 9/11, to Trump… Twice… And nothing has ever quantifiably gotten “better” without getting worse in some other way.

    Better, faster, more capable computers? You’re obligated to run software that spies on you. Better cars with fancy tech that makes them basically drive themselves? Only if you subscribe to activate the seat warmers for a nominal yearly fee… Phones are more capable, better, faster, more connected and overall significantly improved? These are now devices used by companies to harvest every meaningful ounce of information from you, selling it to the highest bidders (multiple times, I might add), and giving you nothing for your contribution. Congratulations, someone has monetized your existence via an app on your phone.

    Everything is worse. You never have time off work anymore. Even if you take vacation, the expectation is that if they call you, you’ll answer, then you’re working for free. But if you don’t answer, then your job is at risk.

    Fuck everything. This world sucks. I’m fucking sick of all of this shit and I’m mad as hell about it.

  • Bytemeister@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    10 days ago

    Yeah. I want to run for Congress in 2026 on a platform of “I can’t trust you fucking fucks to not fuck up this fucking fucker any fucking more.”

    • ivanafterall ☑️@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      10 days ago

      Enough with the pretty words and speeches. Where’s the candidate who’s willing to just finally say what we’re all feeling: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!

    • kreskin@lemmy.world
      5·
      10 days ago

      Grey beard hairs were sad but people said they made me look wiser. Grey chest hairs were weird. Grey pubes were kind of terrifying. The only properly colored hair on me is on my back now, and there didnt used to be hair back there. Its itchy.

      Life is all a big joke. Still wouldnt go back to being young though in the current world if a genie gave me the choice. eff that.

      • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
        1·
        9 days ago

        It’s not all roses on the other side

        If I could go grey then I might not have to shave before going to the airport

      • Dozzi92@lemmy.world
        1·
        9 days ago

        Yes, I remind myself that each gray is at least there. I have a wonderful, full head of hair, and I never take it for granted by shaving it off. It’s an insult to all of my bald and balding friends.