A Tree Somewhere

So you know those news stories about how Millennials don’t buy enough breakfast cereal or paperback books or homes or whatever the hell that Boomers are complaining that “kids these days” don’t spend money on?  And y’all are like “LOL, no cash my pal”?  

I think there’s something more insidious going on.  You see, they thought they had you.  Forget the Saturday morning cartoons of my childhood, they had Disney Channel and Nickelodeon feeding you ads all day long.  Your generation got advertising in your schools.  Your parents took you to prosperity doctrine spewing MegaChurches (it’s Mega so it’s gotta impress the kids, right?).  

They thought you were going to be their generation of super-consumers.  

You are generations distant from the great depression, and the 1979 energy crisis.  Boomers want to pretend that the 2008 housing bubble wouldn’t affect the little kids.  And plus, we had grown past the era of Yankee thrift and hippie DIY frugality.  Right?  And there was no mopey Kurt Cobain glamorizing thrift-store flannel shirts.  You guys were going to out-consume the Boomer generation.  They were sure of it.

Those think pieces?  They’re Boomer disappointment that you have found value in something other than your place as a mindless consumer.

And yeah, I’m not going to pretend that y’all have more cash than you do.  It was fucking idiotic to think they were going to raise a consumer generation without having to pay them the money they would need to buy even life’s necessities.  And I could write a book about how my generation was complicit in destroying the old values around work and loyalty that left your generation screwed.  Really, I’m genuinely sorry for the mistakes we made.

We then grew up to see all the systems that were put in place to help us ascend begin to be dismantled, one by one, before we were old enough to make use of them. By the time we got there they had been cut back, taken apart, replaced with nothing altogether or perhaps even worse, ineffectual, labyrinthine nonsense designed to discourage us from trying to get the help. Seriously, have you ever tried to apply for disability or even just unemployment? Heaven help you, because the DWP won’t. In fact, they won’t help you to such a degree that you might be found dead in your apartment, unable to feed yourself or keep the fridge running that kept your lifesaving insulin cool, and a pile of CVs next to your body. Not kidding. Real thing. Guy’s name was David Chapman and he is not alone.

The scales fell from all our eyes long ago, as we were children, and as we watched the shining futures we were promised grow tarnished and rusted before we could even grasp them, we grew angry. Immeasurably angry. As we listened to the Gen Xers denounce us as “lazy” for not buying houses and diamonds, whilst simultaneously tearing us apart for not taking vacations and creating a workaholic precedence in the workplace, we grew incensed, but also tired. Still they refuse to pay us a living wage, still they cite shareholders over living people, and still they sit upon their mountains of gold whilst we can only dream of owning a house.

It’s not because we don’t want to buy useless shit. We do. We buy designer sneakers and handbags and iPhones, the neurotypicals buy enough boxes of fidget spinners to get them banned. It’s just the big stuff in life, the engagement rings, the apartments, the new cars, hell even the rent half the time is out of reach and we’re all grasping for something to fill the hole inside of us that’s been left by the acrid ache of the dead dream. The dead dream of owning a home, of not having to work multiple jobs, of having time to improve ourselves and just not feel stressed for one waking second.

A new videoseries talking and reacting to and about feminism. The first episode is about porn so make sure your headphones are on. It’s not graphic but it isn’t quite what I’d call Safe For Work, either!

It bothers me that what once started as spiritually identifying as an animal has become nothing more than buying and selling products. It has become about consumerism, fashion, trendiness, and wanting stuff instead of looking deeper into ourselves. But that’s the evil beast of consumerism. Your next purchase will fulfill your life, for a short amount of time, until you feel dead and empty inside again and you need to purchase the next thing to validate who and what you are for a little while. It’s sickening.

Normal people buy and wear this stuff too. There is nothing special about most of the clothing, jewelry, and accessories that I see in these posts. Those items are just products. They are things. And a lot of them cost a lot of money. Money you should probably be saving for your future. If you’re asking your parents or family members to buy this shit for you, please stop. Your parents and family are probably sacrificing enough. Stop and think about that before being a selfish, self-centered brat. Most of you aren’t adults. You don’t know how hard life really is. Don’t stress your parents out wanting tails and ears, and candles, and stuff you see in these aesthetic posts.

A lot of this comes off as judgmental in a way that I personally find very unpleasant. So what if someone gets some clothes that remind them of their kinselves? Especially if those who are adults, and are cognisant of all the meanings behind it, choose to participate?