The "Special Snowflake Generation"
Why don't we want to procreate?
47% of Gen-Z does not want children. Reasons involving finance, environmental conditions, feelings of apathy and depression, not wanting the responsibility, wanting to spend more time and money on themselves and/or simply “not liking children”.
Many confessed to wanting to spend their money on themselves instead of a child. As America specifically becomes more individualistic and as this generation becomes more materialistic this makes sense to an observer.
Growing up in the age of Tumblr with dark media circling the internet it became both trendy and expressive to be sad, show pain in a very physical way and internalize the pressing problems of the current outside world. Sub-cultures being pro-ana, idolizing self harm, drug use and being of a marginalized group.
Each generation gets less religious, moving away from God or a higher power and more into self. Depression and addiction rates are higher than ever with over 60% of teens ages 14-17 struggling with depression. If there is no definite good or bad, no after life and no one more powerful then one’s self; what is the point to life?
We are the guinea pig generation of social media with the need for instant gratification being more prevalent than ever. With the click of a button you can get anything delivered or ordered to your door step, have transportation on the way and communicate with anyone. Not only does this create ADHD, focusing on too many things at once and making it difficult for young people to focus on something that takes longer than 15 seconds but also creating great apathy when having to do something worthwhile. As the generation that raised us knew that had to work hard and long to have any level of success but Gen-Z has a different experience.
With the flux of images of celebrities, influencers and wealthy people it would only make sense that this “special snowflake generation” would envision themselves as the next big thing or not envision themselves at all. Furthermore, with Bitcoin and NFT’s, young people are making fortunes overnight. Peers see this and become depressed due to not having a similar experience.
An obsession with death:
With climate change and resources running out it makes sense that Gen-Z doesn’t look too far into the future. Some might say the planet is dying along with us.
The Trump era polarized America more than ever as most are aware of. Trump stood for the middle American, Christian white man who worked a 9-5 had a wife at home taking care of their two kids and a dog. TV dinners, shooting ranges, hunting, Church on Sundays, cisgender roles in the home and a “clean presentable” look to the public. How did Gen-Z respond to this? With the polar opposite. Gen-Z responded with colored hair, tattoos, middle fingers, music and art about pain and suffering, questioning the idea of gender, ect. Did we go too far? Is there a happy medium? Is there a right or wrong answer to this? No. These are things to discuss and think about with your friends and family.
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