I think part of the problem is disillusion. Millenials in the west grew up in a period where it looked like tech was going to benefit society, and climate change was going to be addressed, and ethical consumerism was somewhat meaningful, and social mobility would still exist. We are having to downgrade our expectations and it hurts.
Yeah, I remember pretty much 1992 on really well, and they were prosperous, carefree years. Everything was good (save some snags, nothing is 100%). We even turned the corner into the millennium and things were just great. I go into high school and we’re just chugging along, the biggest problems we have are which cable internet provider to choose to download viruses on limewire.
Then, boom, 9/11. And the world just hasn’t seemed to have gotten its footing since then. And perhaps that was naivety and my 14-year-old perspective, but that seemed to be the turning point for me, where the unprecedented became precedented.
For sure, I think the patriot act was a turning point in trust of government in the US. It filtered though to our government in Australia during the Howard years. Similar to the US, around the GFC we had a hopeful change of government, but that hope for progressive values (Obama for you guys, Rudd for us) turned out to be misguided. I tend to think of those “centre left” governments as representing managed societal decline as opposed to the accelerated decline of the right wing parties.
Those center lefts maintained a status quo that did not serve it’s constituents, plain and simple. Say what you will about Trump, hate the dude and his policies, but he has a base who has some very regressive desires, and he’s hitting them. Democrats have a pretty large progressive base, and they have essentially failed to meet those desires for as long as I’ve been alive. But maybe they needed a dog in the white house to bite them in the ass. We will see. Or we won’t and the world ends, whatever!
I had (and have) some crazy Evangelical family in the South. Climate denial, anti vax, Democrats burning in hell, unspeakable acts from their pastors they worship, the whole nine yards. Simplifying drama, I’d wince, then chuckle, and dismiss them as relics the US (and maybe Christianity?) would move past.
Best part is, it’s not only US lol. I am from EU, one of countries that back in 2000 were…let’s say backwater (thanks USSR). I remember as a kid watching news about new tech, seeing the new, bold designs, getting hands on west tech, everyone talked how it gets better, ozone layer hole? BOOM, nobody cares cuz fixed, we can do anything!
And then I grew up and and, except for internet getting faster and more bland, nothing happened. I love e-bikes, or EV overall but…don’t take me wrong, it felt like this would be common by 2010. Games got so photorealistic that I turn to indie because if I wanted photorealsitic I’d go touch grass, I’d rather have…you know, the story and wordbuilding progress keeping up. The bold and rabid culture in the net shifted towards defeated and tired. Even news…once something that irked most politicians and was a thorn in the side of everyone for the joy of the public turned into some damned advertisement machine.
Your point about the ozone layer response is very relevant to our expectations of solving climate change. I think replacing CFCs was just low hanging fruit, which I didn’t understand as a kid. I just assumed if we kept recycling and not consuming so much it would put us on track. So naive.
It’s easier to delete an account than avoiding conscription and bombs. The mental health impact of social network is bad, but not comparable to world war times.
Still better than being a young adult in the 1910’ or the 1940’, so far.
I think part of the problem is disillusion. Millenials in the west grew up in a period where it looked like tech was going to benefit society, and climate change was going to be addressed, and ethical consumerism was somewhat meaningful, and social mobility would still exist. We are having to downgrade our expectations and it hurts.
Yeah, I remember pretty much 1992 on really well, and they were prosperous, carefree years. Everything was good (save some snags, nothing is 100%). We even turned the corner into the millennium and things were just great. I go into high school and we’re just chugging along, the biggest problems we have are which cable internet provider to choose to download viruses on limewire.
Then, boom, 9/11. And the world just hasn’t seemed to have gotten its footing since then. And perhaps that was naivety and my 14-year-old perspective, but that seemed to be the turning point for me, where the unprecedented became precedented.
For sure, I think the patriot act was a turning point in trust of government in the US. It filtered though to our government in Australia during the Howard years. Similar to the US, around the GFC we had a hopeful change of government, but that hope for progressive values (Obama for you guys, Rudd for us) turned out to be misguided. I tend to think of those “centre left” governments as representing managed societal decline as opposed to the accelerated decline of the right wing parties.
Those center lefts maintained a status quo that did not serve it’s constituents, plain and simple. Say what you will about Trump, hate the dude and his policies, but he has a base who has some very regressive desires, and he’s hitting them. Democrats have a pretty large progressive base, and they have essentially failed to meet those desires for as long as I’ve been alive. But maybe they needed a dog in the white house to bite them in the ass. We will see. Or we won’t and the world ends, whatever!
+1, with an addendum.
I had (and have) some crazy Evangelical family in the South. Climate denial, anti vax, Democrats burning in hell, unspeakable acts from their pastors they worship, the whole nine yards. Simplifying drama, I’d wince, then chuckle, and dismiss them as relics the US (and maybe Christianity?) would move past.
I’m not laughing anymore.
deleted by creator
Best part is, it’s not only US lol. I am from EU, one of countries that back in 2000 were…let’s say backwater (thanks USSR). I remember as a kid watching news about new tech, seeing the new, bold designs, getting hands on west tech, everyone talked how it gets better, ozone layer hole? BOOM, nobody cares cuz fixed, we can do anything!
And then I grew up and and, except for internet getting faster and more bland, nothing happened. I love e-bikes, or EV overall but…don’t take me wrong, it felt like this would be common by 2010. Games got so photorealistic that I turn to indie because if I wanted photorealsitic I’d go touch grass, I’d rather have…you know, the story and wordbuilding progress keeping up. The bold and rabid culture in the net shifted towards defeated and tired. Even news…once something that irked most politicians and was a thorn in the side of everyone for the joy of the public turned into some damned advertisement machine.
Signed, defeated and tired
Your point about the ozone layer response is very relevant to our expectations of solving climate change. I think replacing CFCs was just low hanging fruit, which I didn’t understand as a kid. I just assumed if we kept recycling and not consuming so much it would put us on track. So naive.
Physically, yes. But the psychological warfare possible with the internet really hasn’t been quantified.
It’s easier to delete an account than avoiding conscription and bombs. The mental health impact of social network is bad, but not comparable to world war times.