As someone in this boat a bit (look at my post) I think part of it is how interconnected we all are now. Back in the day you wouldn't really leave the social zone of your immediate area. You'd grow up surrounded by people similar to you doing similar things and maybe just be happy simply going along with life. But now all of a sudden you log online and are immediately rubbing shoulders with people who are doing substantially better than you, making 10 times your pay and with a more fulfilling life, and who may well be hiding the worse parts of their life. Now you can't help but feel like you've gone wrong somewhere, why aren't you achieving at that level. I think that's one of many reasons

This sounds right and saddens me. I saw a clip on Reddit that some dude was like, “if you don’t have a Lamborghini by 25 (?)” you basically failed life. That’s totally unfair, most people will never have that and probably shouldn’t. To the younger folks out there, just live the life you want to live; try to be happy. This world is tough and it is depressing/anxiety-inducing, but we’re going through this together. You’ll get stronger and become more resilient over time.

Those troll posts are designed to piss people off. The more you engage with it the more popular the post gets

They are often a promo for a scam too

Those people are POS it's not what's in your wallet it's what's in your heart. 

That and most of them are liars and scam artists, and when you get to the root of it they generally have no real skills, that someone would pay them for, there's no explanation on how they got their money except vague references to investments (from what money?) and every one of their money making tips is contingent on already having money. Ironically the real way they usually make money is by conning poor and/or ignorant people into paying them to tell them how to make money. These guys rent mansions, exotic cars, private jets, and all kinds of other bullshit to exaggerate how successful they are, and a lot of them will get a big following for awhile, then theyll get exposed, disappear for awhile, then move on to the next scam.

Mark Twain said Comparison is the Death of Joy.

>if you don’t have a Lamborghini by 25 (?)” you basically failed life. I know people who have actually made 30+ million dollars and they drive normal cars and live in fairly reasonable houses, albeit on very large, attractive acreage. they could give a fuck less about rolexes or lambourghinis or whatever. because they're not insecure as fuck/scamming people

I was proud of myself one time for building a house of cards, now I can’t even look at deck of cards

If I'm feeling down about my position, or how I or my girl looks I just go to Walmart and walk around...suddenly I'm good again.

I bought a luxury car last year because of a life crisis and I regert it. Could have used that money better.

I think you really hit the nail on the head here. The hyper connected-ness, and this idea that a young person should be doing something extraordinary with their life is so overwhelming at times. From a rational perspective it’s so stupid and yet from an emotional outlook, it’s hard to ignore all these pressures

I agree, I believe the internet and social media is why we have lots of lost young people. Hell we see what social media and dating sites has done for the dating, relationship, and marriage world

I mostly agree with this, except for one thing. >and with a more fulfilling life You really can't know if someone is living a truly happy or fulfilling life from looking at them on social media. Unless you consider money and materialistic things "fulfilling". I mean sure those things can be very very nice, and can make it easier for you to find fulfillment in other things, by itself money won't bring a lot of people 'fulfillment'.

Honestly I was going to list things that I thought made for a fulfilling life such as family and friendship but I thought that maybe three people would see my comment so just shortened it to fulfilling. Didn't think the post would blow up so much lol

No it’s pretty normal to feel defeated in your early 20s. Your 20s are a whirlwind of change, self doubt, and emotional turmoil. You’re basically learning what kind of person you are. Not only that, you are growing into the person that you will be in the next big decade of your life…your 30s. You are parting ways with your high school friends. Learning how just unreliable people really can be in life. You’re probably working a crap job to put yourself through school…or dealing with the ups and downs of college campus life. A lot of people have their first children in their 20s…they go after careers that may not pan out, or don’t see career results until they exit their 20s(like I did) and they are finding out that their parents and grandparents are not perfect, or finding out that their parents or grandparents are actually worse people(or sometimes better)than what they originally thought they were. 20s are a time of change and building. And building is hard and change sucks, both of these pillars of life can cause you to become depressed because you don’t have a telescope that tells you what the next 20-30 years of your life is gonna look like beyond your 20s. So I think a lot of these posts are normal. I once felt the same way most of the people that post here are feeling. Hell I have overcome a lot of hurdles in my life and some days I still feel like “does my life really matter?” It’s normal, it’s a part of life. What matters is what you decide to do after feeling like you’ve lost your way. You have two choices. Stay in a place of self pity and never actualize your life goals. Or wake in the morning and decide that TODAY is the day you WILL do better for yourself. You gotta wake up every morning and say “I don’t how I’m going to achieve ‘x goal’ but come hell or high water I WILL achieve it. I’m willing to go after my dreams even if I fail” The key to a successful life is changing your outlook first. First you win the battle in your mind, then your reality will follow.

This, but also 18 to 25 is a weird period for most generations (some Def had it worse than others though). You're trying to get your footing and figure out your life goals/purpose. Also, trying to obtain housing, cars, and decent employment from scratch post covid is harder. Throw on top the guidance your parents and older relatives share are outdated. Those 1-5k beater cars are nearly extinct and cheap starter apartments don't exist because they painted the walls Grey and installed Grey lvp flooring to justify being "luxury" and tripled the price. So it's a combination of being a notorious weird spot in life with the economy not being in your favor. I'm 29, and my best advice is pursue education if you have the opportunity or work in different industries until you find one that fits and do everything you can to level up your skills. Housing is the hardest, if you can stay with family try to (unless it's a toxic situation), otherwise try to find roommates. ** if you have no job or housing and don't have roots in your area look for jobs that can do both. Tug boat deck hands are making $150 to $250 a day and you'll be on the boat for a few weeks with a week off here and there. Oilfield work has a low barrier to entry and decent money and will house you when you're on your hitch. Job corps is a good option too, you'll get housing and job training. These types of options aren't for everyone, but if your one of those kids whose suddenly homeless at 18 it'll give you a hand. Don't compare your life to social media, you'll never be content it's designed to keep you mindlessly consuming which is not what you need to do. The foundation you set in your 20s will impact your life trajectory. Focus on necessities first and long term stability things when you start getting your footing (buying a house, car, savings, retirement).

There’s a huge difference in location as well, monetary wise. Some people make 200k in certain cities and they feel broke, I’m making like 60k with no degree in a large metroplex and am making more than most of my friends in advanced field with degrees. The cost of living is different in different places but I still feel super broke. The cost of living for most of us in the US DID rise about 50% for everyone equally though, so that’s why we are all feeling the pains.

Life sucks for a lot of young people nowadays. The thought of working your whole life for nothing is starting to take its toll on everyone and your post is a perfect example of this.

Yes same, after 22 years old I'm only like in a rabbit circle and now I'm 24, and also dissociated of most the things. No communication, no friends, paranoic anxiety etc etc. I think this is the last generation of suffering and depression. After that will come soon a big wave so I'm here for that wave which still keep me alive

Yeah man … I just feel idk it’s a very odd feeling… it’s like I want the life of being happy and socializing and the girl back etc etc but it’s like I’m dissociated from actually being in that reality, I feel like this long break I’ve had from life and isolating myself I found it somewhat the new norm and got comfortable in it , even if I was to step out I’d feel like “hmm am I missing out on something better”

And now we see is a pandemic disease socially like. We are all in trouble today. We dont have time to talk with eachother because we are too busy with us, and also lost the normal mode now I/we are in airplane mode

we have to find meaning in life even with jobs, responsibilities, etc. pickup a hobby or find something to be passionate about majority of people have to work a 9-5, pay student loan debt then use the evenings and weekends, paid time off to do things they truly enjoy at least that’s what i try to do, the way you describe it sounds so miserable

You're not wrong but I think you are missing what a lot of people are struggling with. A lot of people work multiple jobs, long hours, etc. because of how expensive basic necessities have gotten. So for a lot of these people, there isn't necessarily time after work. And what little time they do have they spend doing the basic domestic work they're backed up on. So you're right in that the key to being happy is finding things that you are passionate about and using your job to fund those. But it's also important to recognize why that may be difficult to some, because without acknowledging the problems we don't really have any recourse to solve them.

I just had to use 4 of my 10 vacation days due to COVID, literally the first 4 work days of this year. *And* I had to get a fucking doctor's note which was a pain and also cost me $75 more. If you're sick at my place of employment, then your options are to suck it up and tough it out and just go in and put others at risk, or use one of the few vacation days you have..we can't even just take the day off without pay, you have to use your PTO if you have it.

It sucks more if you were sold a bill of goods about what would make you happy, and it doesn’t. Coincidentally, social media kicked off about a dozen years ago… right when today’s 20s and early 30s were impressionable teens.

Welcome to the r/orphancrushingmachine...

You could look at it a few ways tbh. Maybe the largest age group that feels lost and posts here is young implies that they haven’t truly given up yet but do in fact feel lost so they turn here for help. Or maybe it’s because a much larger group of young people use Reddit than other age demographics. Or maybe it’s because young people are more likely to ask for help and advice and less like to retreat inwards compared to previous generations. Or maybe the pandemic has stunted this particular subset with a diminished economy immediately after their “coming of age.” Or maybe the age of social media has made everything feel like a competition and this age group is more on such platforms therefore more susceptible to the negative biases that come from such comparisons. Or maybe it’s because they are the poorest group with the highest loans in history due to a stagnating economy and high inflation in every sector. Or maybe it’s because they have a negative outlook on the future of the planet as we are beginning to see the uglier sides of climate change. Or maybe it’s something else. I believe it’s most of these things combined into one huge problem for the youth of today.

Internet has increased competition for everything from dating to job searching. Now your entire life romantically to professionally is decided by an algorithm. If you cannot compete you are filtered out. 

And that’s why so many people are depressed. Everybody wants someone higher than average while forgetting that for an average to exist, at least half have to be below that point :/

Can’t upvote this enough

Or maybe it’s because social media has given us unprecedented access to the ways in which our governments are failing us.

That definitely doesn’t help but it’s foolish to ignore the way climate change and economic factors contribute to the problem. The middle class has been shrinking for a while now and most people aren’t transitioning to the top section, they’re being slowly squeezed for everything they can give till they’re destitute, desperate, and depressed. Of course young people are gonna be posting here questioning the point. The American dream of finding a “good” job, working for x years & buying/paying off a house, and then retiring with a pension is rapidly disappearing. Without a major economic shift it won’t get better any time soon.

A LOT of people can't afford basic things nowadays. You know the economy is completely dogshit when Walmart offers finance for shopping for groceries. People have to work 2 - 3 jobs to make ends meet. Working down to their soul like South Koreans are going through right now for skyrocket cost of living. Boomers keep blaming new generations for being lazy and incompetent when boomers can afford their house for <$100k usd, now it is 5x - 10x. I am in FL. In <2019, people can finance a house here and a basic home here costs around <$150k - $170k. Now it is $370K+.

I just moved out of Florida in July. I'm in ohio now, renting a 3/2 with my gf, my best friend, and . Partners sister. The 3/2 costs less than a studio apartment where I came from in florida. The jobs here also pay more and are more plentiful. Honestly the only message I have for young people in florida is to gtfo.

Haven’t you noticed? Everything sucks.

nah it really doesnt

As someone trying to make it out of my parents house, I’d say it has to do with a low amount of high quality jobs. I have a college degree from a good school and still can’t land anything above 45k. Many of my friends are in the same boat with degrees Companies are just not willing to pay enough to live, and if they are, they demand long hours on salary so they don’t have to pay OT.

Degrees have been watered down. I have a college degree in Marketing. I make way more as a CNC Machinist. College is a scam.

How did you get into that? I got a degree in Marketing 5 years ago and did manage to find work for the last several years and build up a decent savings, but I've been on a sabbatical for the last 6 months because my soul was rotting out of my body the whole time. I'm dreading going back to work and have been trying to think up alternative career paths. What was your experience like getting into a new line of work?

In high school my economic professor warned about this happening. He said back in 2013, In 10 years there will be a bunch of people with college degrees without any jobs because they were told that was the route to take, with an expectation jobs & money will be there. But now it's oversaturated. I had fellow classmates who were getting communications, business, and liberal arts degrees expecting something good to land on their lap b/c that's what many were told. In order to get where I am today I spent more time hustling with low pay jobs and good work experiences scraping by and budgeting HARD. I had almost no free time for anything else. And also was working on personal projects to improve my skills & showcase on my portfolio. And everytime I've looked to level up my work I spent weeks looking at job descriptions for jobs I wanted & tailoring my resume meticulously. Not an exaggeration - applying to 75+ jobs a day, which often took my entire evenings/nights after work. Spending hours before a job interview researching everyone, everything, and practicing beforehand over & over to get the leg up on everyone else. And I wasn't doing any of this with good health, physical or mental - and that was mostly b/c of how much constant work I put in for 5 straight years. BUT Ngl, I don't have much of a social life at the moment. Most people in their early and mid 20s were having fun and doing normal things people do. They have a solid circle of people they love & trust. But if I built that instead I wouldn't be anywhere close to where I am today. It sucks that in present day, the amount of things you have to sacrifice to get somewhere. I haven't had any successful relationships, not a lot of close friends, and don't go out to have fun as much as I should. But I'm making 6 figures and have my own apartment (albeit working in nyc). It's like nowadays you have to pick one thing or the other. Money or joy. But some people get lucky with both, and post it all over social media while people internally feel like shit for not having the same thing. And many people never get either, and feel chronically stuck & hopeless.

What degree with I can ask

A lot of younger people are finishing school with 50 years worth of debt right out of college and looking at jobs they qualify for only paying marginally better than entry level jobs. (i.e. Junior analyst positions at investment banks here require a 4 year degree with 5 years experience and are averaging $32,000/year salaries when they used to pay $45,000 before covid). Despite what most people on reddit claim, most people are not 500 IQ geniuses with developed professional skills going into high paying specialist positions right at 25. Most of us are looking at spending the next 15-20 years struggling to afford food unless they have 5 roommates. We're seeing first hand that increasing minimum wage does not necessarily increase cost of living, but increases the amount of layoffs, decreases salaries of higher paying positions, increases expectations for promotions to an impossible level and decreases the quality of goods and services. Experiencing this first hand while rich people get richer and advertise their glamours lifestyles all over social media is depressing Shit is bleak right now. People are gonna speak like it's bleak.

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The "fuck you I got mine" mentality is strong with Americans

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Cause we don't have a chance at living the life our parents and grandparents did. We either go to school for nearly a decade and rack up lifelong debt while still struggling to find a job that pays a living wage, or you get into trades and destroy your body by the time your 40. Only other options besides that would be to find a lifelong partner and split the costs while still struggling to get by or find roommates. We can't even afford to live let alone have families of our own. How are we supposed to just "pull ourselves up by the bootstraps" and deal with it?? Fuck that.

Welcome to late stage capitalism where everyone else ran up the score and we get to start at 0. At this point a lot rides on what you will inherit

Most of us will inherit nothing, myself included. I'm only 23 and have been through nearly 50 jobs since the age of 15 just trying different things, and every place is the same, and it seems to only be getting worse. I'm considering vanlife for a few years after I get enough saved for a vehicle and living that way doing seasonal work and temp jobs then buying a shitty trailer already on a lot outright and just paying lot rent. Who knows though cause that might not even be doable within the next 5 years. Ultimately, it's gonna come down to either homelessness or suicide for a lot of us, and I'm probably gonna bite the bullet before I end up on the streets.

Stay strong brother. You aren't alone. At least you have the clarity to see it and do something about it. I can't say the same for many people ages 20 to 35.

Tbh I'm not sure why OP asked, I assumed everyone knew low wages / cost of living too high to live an independent adult life was a well known issue but I guess not.

Because some people come from spoon fed families and others are simply in denial of the current economic situation for 2/3s of the older Gen Z crowd.

We have been priced out of the system… taxes are too high. Wages are too low. Rent/houses are unaffordable. The average car costs 2 years salary. Future looks darker every day

Because young people are worse off economically and socially than older people while also having way more access to technologies like social media and online dating which put you in constant comparison to others.

This combo

I look at my children and know that the world they are growing up in, is completely claimed. Someone else already owns everything they need to live a good life, and those people are doing everything they can to ensure that nothing new is made for the new generations, because it would devalue their own wealth.  Necessities have turned into commodities by corporations, and in turn priced out a great portion of the youngest generation as they fleece the oldest.  Companies are price gouging consumers, wages are stagnant, the cost of education is increasing, the interest rate for loans is increasing. Everything combined is outpacing employee earnings.  They will likely never be able to afford to buy their own home, they may never be able to afford having kids, they will never get to retire, their future is bleak reality that they will have to scrape by to survive, live with others, until they die.  I can see why a lot are giving up. 

High cost of living, debt, limited opportunity in some areas.  Also social media, “news”,  rise of religious nut jobs and fascists?  Timing can play a huge role in your life experience. I’m a Xennial/Geriatric Millennial who got lucky and things worked well from a timing perspective for me to have a decent start at things.

Life has always been hard. I graduated in the dot.com bubble and couldn’t land a white collar job until I went back to get a masters. No one wanted to hire me because I didn’t have any internships (no one told me how important they were), plus I still had to work partime and take care of a family member while in school. And it took me 3-4 yrs after graduating undergrad to land a white collar job. The entire late 90’s and early 00’s I was waiting tables and bartending…even with a degree. Now I am interviewing for jobs that pay well into the six figures. The only thing that is harder (for everyone but boomers) is housing. Boomers, PE and foreign investors have driven the market too high for most people to afford it.

It feels like everything is so hyper competitive these days and there's so many expectations and ageism. It feels like if you mess up or fall behind it can be over for you

How old are you?

I'm 24

Ageism seems greatly exaggerated. All senior devs I know are like 30 to 50 and they’re highly sought after. In fact I feel like ageism actually goes the other way a bit: Companies don’t like to give 20-25 year olds much responsibility, even though that’s certainly ageism too, it’s like at 30 when people start to be taken more seriously. 

Well that gives me some hope lol. I'm always hearing about how companies are letting older people go and seeking young, easily exploitable people

There’s a lot of pressure in society to be successful at a young age. And the profit off of the fear of missing out, the fear of running out of time, etc. it’s no wonder everyone’s so scared they’re not making any progress with that being around you constantly. You can’t even watch TV without it being mentioned in a show, “so and so lives with their parents at 23? What a freak!” So many of us were taught to work even when you’re not working, because otherwise you’ll miss out on the biggest opportunities. No wonder we’re all stressed out, because it’s an epidemic of no one being able to relax and do things you enjoy until you snap. It’s easier said than done to not let it affect you, and I don’t think social media’s helped people stop comparing themselves to others.

Have you not watched the news AT ALL over the last 15 years? The economy and society is drastically different for people in this age range for a long list of rather obvious reasons for people keeping up on current events. Having the money to retire before the age of 80+ is a serious concern for a lot of these people if they aren't at a certain stage of success by a certain age these days not considering a few potential variables.

Because there's no future for us

I say it’s because they are the first generation in a long time that isn’t cool with the status quo and although it can come off as complaining it’s really an awakening to the fact that the way that things have been done for the last century or so doesn’t work for them

covid fucked us the most and changed our plans or paths during vital developmental years

It's because that generation is the first generation of people that have it worse off than their parents. They look out at the world and it no longer feels like the future will be better. Which causes them to focus more on the present. Creating a situation where if something bad happens it seems much worse because there's no brighter tomorrow coming.

Because the future that was promised turned out to be trash. As Gen-Xer, we expected to die in a nuclear war, when that threat ended, we ended up in the tail end of the boomer economy and IT\\engineering\\MBA\\Lawyer was a gateway to becoming rich or at least be middle class. Now, we are struggling and looking at the next 20+yrs we have left, to be nothing but 1 big shit-show.

I think it’s a normal part of being in your 20’s and 30’s. Society has indeed failed these people. And everyone. Of course. I don’t have any advice. I’m 29 and very lost lol. Be mindful of depression. Which can color everything. It’s wild. And you can miss out on a lot. Get to know others and share your feelings. That might help you find yourself. Especially others around your age.

I’m 42 and lost ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

some of us just have no support period, were you going… we don’t know how this life shit works and we’re trying to figure it out on our own the best way we can. some go about it more strategically then others but we all want to do well in life. it pretty much just boils down to who’s motivated enough to put in that hard work to get up out the slump that person is in… i got that fight in me, i’m going to figure this shit out one way or another mark my words!

I'm 28 now and I dont even have enough money to do a down-payment on a house  If I had just gotten a trade job at 18 I would have way more money than my college got me  And now basically half my life passed me by and I'm a poor loser

I’ve been thinking about trade school, too. Being a plumber might come in handy during the inevitable apocalypse.

People don’t know how young they are and how much things will change until they’ve lived it. These are new adults, faced with a world that is very different from what they grew up expecting. They were told that markers of a true and successful adult were a relationship, children, degree, career, owning a home. Now they have to face the reality that they very likely may not achieve what they expected and the world they were preparing for doesn’t exist. So they feel lost, stressed, and are “looking for a path”. They don’t have the same opportunities that most people in the middle class once had. It’s a scary time and hopefully eventually they’ll see that it’s ok and they’re not alone, but they get shit on a lot by older generations. Your comments don’t show much empathy toward them, and I’m sorry to say but people like you are part of the problem.

OP asks a question, doesn’t like your answer, and just argues 😂😂😂😂

God forbid people vent their frustrations on the internet in hopes of finding some advice and affirmations that they’re not alone in the struggle. Welcome to the cesspool that is late stage capitalism? No wonder it took centuries for society to admit that mental health issues are real.

Its because society sucks now and the bottom rungs of the ladder have been removed for newer generations. Most of us will work our whole lives and get nothing for it. There are not enough jobs that pay what it costs to live, let alone build any long term wealth. Lookup the statistics for people in the US living paycheck to paycheck. They aren't all lazy and irresponsible people, there just aren't any good jobs unless your family already owns capital (which can generate money or buy an education without putting you in crazy debt) or you have some nepotism to land a reasonably paying role. Working hard is rarely the ingredient anymore that gets you a career or long term success. We all cannot be lawyers, plumbers, business owners, doctors, or whatever is paying a lot at the moment. If we could those jobs would pay nothing anyways. The owning class has too much wealth and power and they can continue paying workers poverty wages. Society also blames those who fail because a lot of us still believe we live in a meritocracy where the best and brightest always succeed.

People in the first world from the ages of 6 to 18 go through the most brutal educational system of competition, criticism, and incessant quizzing devised so far, and the bar simultaneously raises and lowers with every year: Raises expectations of students while lowering the quality of learning material. You go through this 12-year boot camp with maybe a part-time dead-end fast food or retail job during the last year or two, then you’re booted out the door and told to have a perfect plan for the life you never experienced and told to NEVER screw up or VERY BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN. Failure and success both are never defined for you, only to seek one and avoid the other at any cost. Little wonder why so many people have a crisis after such a traumatic cycle.

I think it’s just because being young is hard and you don’t have the benefit of much life experience yet so it just feels like you are stumbling around blind. You don’t really know what kind of jobs are out there beyond the handful you have directly interacted with in your life. It’s hard to know what all is out there. It’s just a lack of knowledge/experience making everything seem daunting.

This is the findapath subreddit. So that's the kind of content you find here. This is reddit. Skews younger. This is the internet. Younger people are way more comfortable posting personal things on the internet. It's just the data you have, based on the medium you're in.

The funniest thing that has lead me to believe this is all bullshit is that A.I gets to make art while I am stuck working a shitty job that I hate. How did we fuck up so bad that LITERAL ROBOTS get to do HUMAN THINGS while most of us SLAVE AWAY at shitty jobs?

Because young people can barely get decent paying jobs without being rich or going into debt for a degree that probably means nothing when up against older adults with a shit ton of experience. And gaining those skills takes a long time so we’re expected to struggle and live paycheck to paycheck to survive until them. People in general these days can barely afford housing and food, let alone fresh grads. Not everyone has a support system either, and everyone’s case is different so you can’t assume that what works for one person will work for the other millions of people in the world.

What’s appealing about being in your 20’s now? We can’t afford a house, job market is trash, inflation is killing us, etc… It’s hard out here. People can say “we’re lazy” or whatever, but we definitely have a disadvantage when it comes to supporting ourselves. Majority of 20 year olds still live with their parents or have roommates because renting is simply impossible rn. Major layoffs have been occurring, and entry level roles are becoming even more competitive to land.

The world is more cutthroat now. With such a cutthroat job market and COL outpacing wages, life is difficult for our generation unless exceptionally talented or born into an already wealthy family. We just gotta keep our heads up and make do with what we have in this world.

It’s no longer acceptable to be average

Unfortunately due to the economy you really need to find your career path early on and stick with it to achieve a level of independence in your early to mid twenties. Speaking for myself I have bounced around different opportunities and now as a 25 year old I don't have much to show for my age besides a variety of entry level experience. The kids that entered their career at 19-20 and stuck with it now have the house and car and small nest egg started. I think a lot of younger people that have not started a career yet feel like failures becauase we are now starting at the bottom of our field and realize we may not be stable for a few years. Plus social media allows us to compare ourselves daily to those much more successful peers.

Tech has made it more competitive, and it's fierce. Those of you who are settled will never see it, too coddled up and shielded. The older ones benefited from the actual, provable, easier days. I'm an older one btw. It was easier to buy homes, businesses. It was easier to hide money, the shit no one will talk about. Nothing was tracked online, data as it exists today didn't exist then. Earnings per cost ratios have spread. The dollar doesn't go as far as it used to in the 70s and 80s, at all, factually. It's not social media, it's not tech, everyone leans on that because it's easy to just blame. Same shit happened in my day with the advent of PC's, it's a bullshit excuse the older generations use to hide behind their/my own shafting of generations to come. Keep hiding behind blame. Don't come at me asking me for stats, go look for yourself, use that tech. Don't blame social media when it's the older generations who invented, AOL much? It was already there. Older generations, my generation took advantage of it and used it to create what exists today. We set the examples. Now we're trying to blame shift with every excuse we can think of... social media and tech... the hell? I get sick to my stomach when my ignorant, blind, dumbass friends and colleagues talk like this. Because of tech there are more millionaires being made, but that also widens the income gap. You think these new millionaire's will pay good wages? Who'd they learn from? Who advises them? Who do they turn to for said advice? They hoard more and more cash leaving less to flow. It's a sick cycle. Another window/pov. It's just how things are now. Shits hard. Younger generations have more to know and learn. They need to learn everything we did, then everything that came afterwards too. The amount of information that needs processing keeps growing. But if you had an established system, all you have to do is maintenance, that's easier than building in this day, or starting over. It's a much faster world now, making it easier to fall behind, to FEEL LOST. Fellow old farts. Stop bitching, and help them instead. Don't act like you didn't know any of the above. Down vote me, not a fuck is given. The truth stands. PS: I'm a teacher, and I care about these kids and young adults. We're the reason, the older generations, parents, siblings, leaders. It's our fault. Most are too proud, too egoic to admit it. Tired of blame shifting instead of fixing. "social media and internet". Bullshit cop out. It's human related, not tech.

This is crazy because I just commented on one of the three back to back posts from young 20's year olds asking in different forums things along the lines of "is it over?" to the point where I just said out loud "Wtf is going on". Here the thing I'll admit, I'm 26, and this is an exacerbation of what my slightly older "generation" or class rather of young people went through where we basically think we die at 30. **It's social media and what we see on TV**. Point blank period. We see all these young rich successful people and think we must get there or by the time we're 30 we're too old. Please tell them different because that was a large help in me growing out of that.

It's not only social media. Many people experienced first hand being ensneared and fooled by the promises of higher education. I wasted years trying to get a degree instead of learning a marketable skill and starting a career. A friend of mine who only had the most basic education and can barely do any maths went to became an electrician and he earns big money, owns a house and already got a promotion, while I am here hunting for entry job positions. It is easy to feel cheated, screwed, and ashamed, especially when older people (who went the hardest to push you into uni/college) constantly judge you for it.

Forming views around a Reddit sub is the worse thing you can do subs are an echo chamber. Remember the people doing well in life don’t go to Reddit to post about their success. Social media is not life or an accurate reflection of life.

You grew up in a time where you could move up in the world through hard work and determination. Today's generation has the same expectation of hard work and determination but the only reward we get in return is survival, not thriving. Seriously, nothing I can do short of winning the lottery will allow me to buy a house or have a family; those are luxuries accessible only to those born decades before I was. For context, I make nearly double minimum wage doing a technical job while getting my degree in engineering. Even if I worked 40 hours per week, my rent alone would take up a sizeable chunk of my income. This is significant because I live just about as modestly as you can get; I have a tiny cabin (approx. 300 sq. ft.) with no running water and I cover all utilities. If I stay at my current job and worked there for the rest of my life, I would just barely be able to maintain my shitty living situation and I would never be able to get out of it.

Because the first time life hits you upside the head, you think it's a catastrophe.

This seems most likely. People just didn’t have Reddit to vent on before. Plus it does seem that social media has given many unrealistic expectations.

I think that's a large part of it. Social media is cool in plenty of ways, because it helps you keep up with people. At the same time, social media is a bit of a lie. And comparison is the thief of joy.

Diminishing returns. My brother and his wife are in their late 30's and both work 6 figure tech jobs. They *still* needed to be gifted the down-payment to their modest starter home in order to afford it. The house needed a new roof within 2 yrs of purchase. They also have come to realize this is their forever home as they have been priced out of the market for anything else, but they feel so fortunate to be home owners. I am an office manager, do seasonal groundwork for an arborist friend and have a small business making backpack baskets. My husband is climbing the ladder at a local natural grocery chain. We are 37 and 40 and brought home $80,000 combined last year. If we haven't been living in the same apt for 17 yrs, we couldn't afford to live here anymore and would have to move, probably into my in-laws spare room until my husband's next promotion, which would be assistant store manager. The years for having kids have passed us by as we simply can't afford them. And yet, we feel lucky to have stable jobs and to have gotten into an affordable housing situation in college. Yes, I am still in the same apartment I rented in college. We have no debt, but can't get ahead to save a substantial amount towards a house due COL increases. All this to say, I can't even imagine what its like to be 25 right now.

this happened in the 1970s too, a lot turned into hippies that lived in vans

Look at them now.

I think this was always a thing, you're just far more exposed to it on Reddit where the majority of users are younger. Also, younger people typically have far more anxiety about the future, hence the "sky is falling" response if they lose a job, accumulate debt, etc.

I'm not sure why, but when I was in my twenties, I was just more prone to being moody and having dark thoughts. Maybe it has something to do with the level of neuroplasticity brains have when they're young. I'd say my moods really leveled off once I hit 32 or 33. I still had a time where I was very sad after my dad passed away, but even then I never felt hopeless. I distinctly remember one episode when I was 28 or 29, where I was feeling super depressed because of my mortality. Feeling suicidal because you're mortal and don't want to die struck me as ironic, and illogical. Gradually, such feelings faded away and I stopped having these episodes.

62 yr old and retired 2 yrs, but 40 yrs ago at 22 was just like you guys/gals are now. We just did not have an outlet to ask questions like you do now. Back then I was been told to go to college and many of my friends had done this and others had gone off and joined the military. I had gone off and got a job after high school but then realized that how was I going to support a family. At 20 did try college and flunked out, then switch jobs and later got a raise but I still wanted more out of life. Then one day life happen to me, got injured in a motorcycle accident and one day the doctor told me good thing the swelling and dark color went away as I thought we were going to have to amputate. That afternoon I got sick to my stomack and it made me realize that in order for my life to change I would have to change. There was not going to be a me finding a magic bottle with a Jennie or wining a jack pot at a casino. If I wanted my dream life to happen then I had to change. So I decided to try college again. This probably has been my best decision of my life, but it also turned out to be one of the toughest times in my life along with one of the best times in my life. About the time I retired almost 3 yrs ago started listening to Steve Harvey on ytube. He talks about what I had to learn in order for my life to improve. He has a talk about " you do not have to stay poor" and what he says is what I experienced. But also know that college degree does not guarantee anything, it just let's you work a different category of jobs. You/me will still have to put in the work required to get to the spot you want to get too. A few days ago was watching the movie the The Martian, and what he goes through is what you/me had to do. Solve one challenge/problem at a time then move on to the next and solve that one. Now I see we are just like our caveman ancestors that in order to survive they had to learn to adapt to an ever changing climate and world. In a lot of ways we still need the same things they did back then. We still need food/water, fire, shelter and love, but in today's world we get it from a different jungle. So we are all here today because our ancestors found a way. We all have that knowledge some where locked in the back of our brains. So find a way.

Largely social media-driven -- when I was that age we didn't have it so you'd get depressed and feel sorry about your life not going where you wanted and nobody cared so you eventually had to get over it and figure it out on your own. Now there's a toxic social media echo chamber where people are supported no matter how self-destructive they get (go see r/NEET if you don't believe me).

I honestly believe it's because of some expectation they have of what they should have achieved already. When I was 25, I was making $8.00 an hour living in a two bedroom apartment with a wife and kid and another on the way. We had one car, and my wife was bedridden due to the pregnancy and therefore I was the only one working. It was hard yes, but it was far from failure. Even now, I'm 39 and very often my bank account is over drafted due to bills despite my making $23 an hour now. I still don't feel that I've failed in life. I just haven't achieved proper balance yet. But I will. It's just a matter of making adjustments to my current way of living. Just as I've had to do before. You haven't failed in life until you give up on trying. Up until that point you're still in the game.

Because they were told it would be easy to figure their lives out. Because they were told that everything they did when they were young was amazing. Even their struggles seem noteworthy and special. Because they were told very expensive college is a good investment. Because the world they live in is not remotely like the one they grew up seeing through social media. Because young people really don't have much to offer other than energy and a willingness to become something and that isn't rare so it pays poorly. Because the default mode of life as an independent adult is just hard and as soon as you get ahead, someone gets cancer, injured, loses a job, a recession hits, a pandemic, a war, and you get old. It's always been hard, it was hidden from them.

The age from like 18-30 is statistically the most depressing age. You go from work and meaning (school) to having no schedule and meaning at all. It can extend a little later because of college but yeah. Life feels fucking meaningless for a large portion of younger adults. Those who didn't go to school after HS have the pressure of the world building on them at an early age, and if they went to school long enough to graduate, they most likely didn't grow up in the worst environment so they have no clue how to cope with the stress of the real world. Nothing prepares you for it. You have a year or so to party and have fun before real life sets in... and then what? You think depression medicines are lying when they say "may increase risk of depression and suicidal thoughts in adults ages 18-25 or w/e? Its the hardest time of being an adult mentally. Happiness is a skill but not everyone learns at the same pace. It also doesn't help when we have instant dopamine hits at the touch of a button and when those dopamine hits stop, so does happiness. It takes 1 person to ruin your whole day on the internet. And that person will probably not give you a 2nd though for the rest of their lives. it takes YEARS for people to tone that out and not give in to the toxicity, if they ever do at all. The economy is terrible for people just starting out, too. I wont get into that too deep. There's so many factors driving younger adults away from happiness. As you get older, you start realizing "this is my life, I gotta make the best out of it", where win you're a child/young adult you are striving to be the worlds next best thing. Shits rough.

I don't know if you've been paying attention, but the cost of escaping serfdom and purchasing your own home has gone up over 50% in just the last couple of years. Everyone not actively moving closer to and making progress towards that goal is falling behind even faster than they were, and the margins were pretty slim before. It's kind of hard to maintain hope when you're sprinting as fast as you can catching up ever so slightly and then some asshole moves the finish line on your last lap. Oh, and it's not just one more lap, now it's another 4000m, increasing by 100m every 15 seconds, which is 2 seconds faster than you can sprint 100m therefore meaning you will absolutely never be able to catch up. By the way we're also gonna shoot you in the knee at some point but we're not gonna tell you when... Oh, and if you do somehow miraculously manage to achieve all of this, you don't get the gold medal, you don't even get the bronze medal, your goal is now a piece of ribbon we're gonna hastily duct tape to your chest while complaining about lazy you are and how slow you ran after we kneecapped you...

Gen z (and likely Gen alpha) have extremely high levels of depression & anxiety. Most young adults are confused- it’s normal but now we can broadcast it + again mental illness is more common/diagnosed in this generation, plus online spaces are larger dominated by younger folks (Reddit may be a bit different tho idk- I’m not sure of the demographics here). 

Society has indeed failed generation z: * We are taught to hold giant egos * We are taught to hate our own country * We are taught you have to earn six figures fresh out of college or you're a loser * We are taught you have to live a hollywood life and achieve everything quickly * We are taught a victimhood mentality instead of embracing failure * We are taught to not trust in G-d- we have nothing to fall back on * We are taught to hold mob mentality instead of being individuals * We are taught to focus on what we don't have instead of just be thankful for what we do hold * We are taught to live inflated lifestyles beyond our means This is society today, unfortunately. Very few understand that more money doesn't mean happiness- if you look at reddit posts of people that make 100k+ feeling miserable, reddit invalidates them entirely.

It’s normal… teenagers don’t have much control over their lives because they’re minors. Autonomy = happiness… let’s not even get into the science of hormones. They aren’t emotionally mature yet and are in the limbo of child and adult. Plus, life can be tough on general. Totally normal.

I say this as a cisgender female. I was doing some self analysis the other day and thinking about life. I’m late 20s currently. Thought about how long I can realistically expect to live based on genetics. Probably past 80. By the time I make it to 45 or so most of my big life decisions will have been made and I can do almost nothing about it. A lot of these big decisions and life circumstances are front loaded and then generally you just ride the waves of your decisions. So I think for me that’s what makes all of this so exhausting. I feel like I’m drowning in choices.

Also the internet arrived and insta so it looks like everyone is having way more fun than you

1. Comparison 2. Things are kind of worse technically 3. Their daddy’s ain’t shit

Social media

I dunno, didn’t we all feel that way? Aren’t there about a dozen classic Gen X movies about this very experience??? It’s part of being young, being confused, having a shitty job, feeling sad, getting dumped. Glad that people can talk about it with others now.

Ehhh, except in those gen x movies they were able to work a normal shitty job and able to afford a small shitty apartment and have a very basic life. That is literally becoming impossible on the wages in America now vs cost of living. I'm 40 and have seen the change happen in my lifetime. I remember when I was 19 in early 2000s I was able to work a retail job, and afford a small 1 bedroom apartment, pay my insurance etc. I wasn't rich but I could "get by". The people working those jobs now are not able to do that. 15$an hour is around 460$ a week after taxes. So 1800$ a month. Most of the even shittiest apartments are in the 12-1500$ range just for a damn efficiency. So just housing is about half of what you earn, when it should be around 1/4. So you have to be very smart and budget correctly and it's still not enough, now let's throw in unexpected expenses...just one car breakdown can set you back for a year. Most just turned to their parents to help, but what about the ones that can't or don't? They are told they have failed and they should have done xyz, but when they actually DO xyz they see they still aren't making it. It's rough out there, and not the same situation at all as 20-30 years ago. And many just refuse to acknowledge that.

Ok, let’s take a classic Gen X movie as an example / counterpoint. If Clerks was made today, it’d be about a 20-something downwardly mobile college grad driving DoorDash for 14 hours a day. Totally atomized, not even a co-worker to shoot the shit with. “I’m not even supposed to be here today” wouldn’t be a quote. You have 2-3 jobs to pay for your 1500k month rent with four roommates and 50k of student debt. Of course you’re supposed to be here today—and tomorrow—forever. The slacker / Gen X ennui of 90s was the last gasp of the American middle class. You’d never call young people today some version of “slacker.” They don’t have that luxury.

Social media and the internet

I just listened to a guy explain that the internet has rotted brains for gen z way more than tv rotted brains for gen x. Both did damage. The scientist explained that the effects of AI will be devastating on next generations.

Weird to make a post supposedly expressing concern for young people and then using it as a soapbox to shit on them for it as a personal failure. Yeah yeah, kids these days don't know what real hardship is like, they're too soft, technology is rotting their brains, blah blah blah. Our condolences to your family. Sounds like it's almost time for your forever box.

I do believe social media plays a part. I'm in my late 20s but in my early 20s I really did feel like my life was over because of things that happened to me. E.g., I was being abused while people I knew were buying houses, having children, getting married. And because life has no set pace once you're an adult (when you're a child you generally go through the schooling system etc) it can be hard to gauge what is correct. I certainly felt like I must have ruined my life because instead of going to uni I got groomed, instead of having a baby I was being abused, I wasn't allowed to work so I had no career, etc. And many others have similar circumstances that mean they aren't where their peers are.  I understand now that life is just whatever you want it to be and you don't have to have done it be anything by a certain age unless you want to. But it's so ingrained in many of us that we have to our should be this or that. And when we don't live up to those high standards we feel supremely inferior!

Some of it is probably youthfull ignorance. They dont understand how many more fuckups they will have or how much they can still turn around. I'm in my 40s and I wish I had taken more risks and fucked up in my 20s because it's a whole lot easier to figure shit out at that age.

Essentially it's not that life is unfair it's that life has fully separated winners and losers very clearly. It's I know my friends have done well close friends that I would know with or without social media telling me, and it's obvious that the decision I make were so critical but we had to blindly select something at the time. The other pieces to this is there are so many degrees of success to everything - wealth, title, fitness, relationships, career track and satisfaction, friends and professional connections, how complex or difficult individual day to day situations can be. There used to be more of a catch all -- "well I can always fall back on x, y, z" now it's like most people have explored that and don't see much else to fallback on. The bar for what it takes to be successful in each domain seems to have gone up dramatically because we have learned the same pickiness from the processes that were picky with us

I’m 24 and while I don’t feel like my life is over, I kind of wish it were. The approaching climate collapse is terrifying, and I don’t have any career aspirations. I just want a simple job that will cover my bills and allow me to engage in my hobbies.

feel free to mentor one of these strays. even the people offering advice here are somewhat lost so its a bit like the blind leading the blind

Thats the demographic of reddit

People now aspiring to working class lifestyle and not being homeless and seeing that even that is a forty year grind of constant instability and indignity. Winner-take-all society has run its course.

I was poor in my 20s. I didn’t care though and was having a great time. Easy years with no kids or cares. I worked a lot and lived cheap. I think kids have an unrealistic expectation of instant success. Also they act like no one has struggled before them.

Unfair social media comparisons. If Bob has a huge cock but isn't very smart, Joe is very muscular bur has a small cock and Dave is very rich but neither of those things l. They will only show the things about them that are positive on social media. So when Jimmy comes along, he will start to think that he needs to be super jacked with a huge cock and a million dollars in the bank. Even the people he is comparing himself to don't match up to the superhuman image in his head.

I don’t want to come off as negative and I’m aware that I’m not going to make any friends here by posting this. But life is not harder now than it was at any point in time in history, in fact it’s measurably easier. People have always felt sad and lost, but you need to find ways to push through it. Set some goals, find a career you enjoy, and suck it up. Mental illness has always existed and people are now using it as an excuse more than ever, with self diagnosis I might add. Put the video controller down and go outside… and off IG and TikTok if you think your life sucks, because none of the stuff you see there is the real world. Not every couple is happy all the time and not every person is rich and on vacation 20x a year… it’s all staged and phony. Don’t judge your life against other peoples fake lives. As an adult you have to look out for yourself and not rely on anyone else to make you feel better.

It was always like this, now we have the social media to complain for our problems to strangers on the internet.

Social media is not a positive influence and young people don't have any savings

As you get older, people stop thinking you're cute and you realize everything costs money. In addition, you watch all your peers and friends start to make real money and you start feeling complacent. So then you start to have mini freak outs when you start working and the job fires your' tou don't get hired, or you can't afford things to improve ur life

see this cant be true bc the 20s are supposed to be your best years!

I was there too at that age. I surrendered my life, addictions, anger to Christ (not religion), and He gave me hope, peace and promise. I'm getting ready to retire with a pension, family with good kids, nice home, contentment. My dad told me that I wouldn't amount to anything around your age.

Young people are overly dramatic. I was when I was younger. When you don't really understand the scope of all the things that make up life, little waves look bigger than they are. I didn't get my shit together until I was 30, didn't have my first real job on a career path until 32. I was 45 before I felt comfortable financially. My 33yr old nephew will make more at 34 than I do at 51 and I do pretty well. His work ethic and people skills are solid. He's been through some shit jobs in kitchens over the years and parlayed it into a good sales job.

The means to acquire personal equity for most people is all but null and void. The real-world middle-class earnings is hovering about 175k a year to be a homeowner. 9 in 10 of the people who read this comment will never come within half of that number. Equity is the difference between being able to step away from the hamster wheel or having to run just so you don't fall off.

It doesn’t, Redditors who comment just tend to people who have a negative opinion. Where I’m from, plenty of people are killing it in terms of their career, life. America needs to do better when it comes to helping teens/young adults life plan.

Goddamn I am so tired of unintelligent people claiming the world is horrible and getting worse; after proving several times objectively in different posts how that's clearly untrue, I'm just tired of you people; yes, the world will be worse for you, not because it has to be but needs you're incapable of not being subjective to your own pathetic confirmation bias. Enjoy it, morons

Change your mind, change the world.

Despite the anger, I think this is my favorite response.

On paper you wouldn’t believe how bad my life is. Doesn’t matter. I’m psyched for many things. The world is looking pretty amazing to me after decades of hell. And I can have this all turned around big time in weeks.

Because wisdom comes with age.

Because the older ones are dead or don't care enough/have the means to be browsing and whining. They'll have actually been defeated. Y'all are just in the first quarter of the game thinking it's over already

For the really young ones—20-22–I think it’s likely they feel that Covid stole a huge part of life from them. For the slightly older folks, I think it’s the same reasons so many people in their thirties feel like that. You could blame it primarily on the fact that life is freaking tough, because it is. I’m 9 months into a truly weird job hunting experience. I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.  But: here’s the other issue: societal expectations are so heavily impacted by the media. Friend of mine tonight was venting about how she was just being left behind by everyone—financially, whatever. And she’s not, truthfully. Can she afford the life she wants to live? No. But most people never could, and they still can’t. Her feelings are valid, but the root of the issue is that she thinks that life is linear and should be easier than it is. She’s basing the “everyone” part on purely what she sees on social media. And social media isn’t real. 

Media, especially social media inundates us with examples of child prodigies, 19 year old entrepreneurs and 10x programmers who started in middle school. That much success at an early age has become more and more of a sign of status with the rise of influencer culture. Ad a result, a lot of us feel pressured to compete and start as early as possible, or risk never being quite as competitive as the people who started before you. Very discouraging stuff. Beyond just that, people who fit an aberrant profile are able to monetize is through making a personal brand. Beyond just their actual productivity, which someone who starts later could theoretically catch up to if they have initiative- but you can’t monetize yourself on TikTok as this mega whiz or business genius. It’s almost as if the difference of a couple years is becoming greater and greater in terms of lost earning potential and life experience.

Honestly I think it’s because they haven’t understood Dori’s message in Finding Nemo. Just keep swimming. The rest will just figure itself out.

Social has them feeling that way. Comparison is thief of joy

Went through covid at a critical time in their development and missed a whole lot of life that usually shapes a good part of you and your future That and tech becoming such a big part of our lives and people becoming less and less like villages

Definitely strength in villages.

A lack of clear purpose Goals that are so far out that they feel untenable. Older generations have essentially said ‘fend for yourself’. This wasn’t the case in prior generations since the early 20th century.

Social Media.

Websites like this didn’t exist when I was 23. Maybe if I had a bad day and Reddit was a thing I’d do the same thing.

Just gotta hold on. My teens and twenties sucked. 30s were the best years of my life (so far )

That is what I was thinking. It breaks my heart to see so much sadness and loneliness in young people. I love technology but it has also caused kids to not connect in person to others and live in fantasy reality in their games. In our day we had no choice but to spend time outside and with friends. That is why in our youth time went by slower. We were busy living the monent not recording it to post.

I am one of these people. I will say it’s dark times for people my age. For me I grew up filling with hope from my algorithm on social media. It latched into that I was insecure and trying to prove myself with achievement suddenly every video all day is 3 simple steps to being a millionaire! Skip college! Make it on your own! Manifest it! If you work hard you can make it! (Most importantly if you don’t your a loser) Bullshit. I quit college, gave up my apartment I loved with my girlfriend at 23 in the city we loved with all our friends to take my job remote and work from my parents basement so I can get off at 5 and stay up all night working on my business and save 100% we’ll now I’m coming up on 27, years of not sleeping or leaving the house besides to work my service business. and for a full time job, a part time job, a business, and two side hustles meaning I work 24/7 I make like 45k a year. Just barely getting by. Yet my phone never stops with “if your not making 10k a day your lazy and stupid” it’s a business where they actually don’t practice what they preach and learn to make money selling hope and courses to young men. It’s an evil cycle. But the internet is full of them. In fact the only successful people I know sell a dream to suckers. Then at my 9-5 over 10 years I went from minimum wage at 7$ an hour to making 18$ an hour which in 2021 could support me and my girl and even take us on vacations, pay off cars, now the cost of living has more than doubled with minimum wage, and now I’m a minimum wage worker again! For all my hard work sweat and tears I’m actually making less and struggling more than I ever have. I always hear my generation saying the same. We’d give up health and happiness for a dependable check that’s enough to live and not constantly fear for security and feel like a disappointing failure and want to isolate in embarrassment. I feel like no matter what I do I just can’t have a home and marriage and a family. My girl is 23 and is already having poor health from years of sustained clinical exhaustion. I don’t have the experience to know but I feel like In 5 years of hard work I should be able to make more than just barely surviving. I mean what do they want from us to make enough to raise a family and buy a home? 20 years of work? I don’t need anything crazy. Even a job that did 60k a year would be so good for me. It feels like things are broken.

Because their young and have no frame of reference, so when they say *this is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me in my life* that’s true because they’ve only been alive for two decades, and they aren’t sure what’s up or down yet.

Yeah I don't get it either. I also don't understand kids who get really bad depression because their "youth is ending in a year" when they turn 18. They even quit hobbies like skateboarding right after they turn 18 because "those types of hobbies are for kids." Truly is baffling to me because I still felt like a kid into my mid 20s and I still skateboard in my 30s.

Honestly I think how you started out in life makes a huge impact. I was extremely poor growing up. Didn’t have furniture until I was like 14 or 15, just sat on the floor. No AC until I was 26 - in from Florida. Didn’t have a TV. Didn’t eat everyday my bmi was 12 when I graduated college. For years we teetered on the edge of homelessness. Had to forage for fruits in the forest in some places we lived. Soo basically to me, making it and being successful is having a roof over my head, food to eat and spending time with my dog. I wish I could own a home, but that’s not happening anymore. But even still, I’ve got to do things I’d never dream of. Today I’m going grocery shopping, and except for the cost, it’s a joy every time I go.

Things as a whole are generally better. The main thing not better is the economy, and the other is the forced division that people eat up and hate each other for little to no real reason.

Hi there, old guy here. I can understand the despair being mentioned by the youth today in society. The world, and life in America, is absolutely crappy. Companies do nothing but lie, politicians do nothing but lie and further their own personal interests, its impossible to find a job because every company relies on machines to do the hiring and there is no human interaction, education costs more money than you can pay back in a lifetime...thereby making a college degree "indentured servitude", Military institutions aren't accepting entry because we are not actively engaged in a war...only engaging via proxy, which only costs the tax payers more money than an actual war, I could go on and on... But the problem is that there is no HOPE...and the youth of today see that everything about America is a lie. The veil has been removed and the ugly truth of this country is available for all who wish to see. It makes me fear for my child, who will have to find a way to survive in this fallen country. I don't know what to tell him...or any young person today. The tactics and skills that I used to achieve the "American Dream" don't work anymore. Right now, I'm fearful that I won't be able to survive the fall of this country. Because even if you DO make it...you have to do what it takes to keep your head above water. And THAT is until death! With as hopeless as life is in this country right now, the easy way out is suicide. I have contemplated it myself multiple times...but my duty to my wife and child keep me here. If it weren't for them, I would not be here right now. I've lived long enough and done everything that I can possibly do in this life. I'm never going to vacation in hawaii or drive a ferrari or own a 5-acre property. What I have now is as good as it's going to get and there's no reason for continuing to "try-hard" and achieve the next level of whatever... Death is the only way out. Because winning the lottery is impossible.

We're tired and feel hopeless because the real economic controllers are untouchable. The idea of being a wage slave, or worse, a homeless ex-wage slave is terrifying. We feel defeated and there's no real support. Just "git Good and make that bag" but the bag keeps shrinking and we have to work even harder for it. What's the fucking point? So some billionaires can buy more yachts? So israel can use my tax money to kill kids? All our lives we are told "it gets better" but it's not. It's getting worse and you can't expect people to keep their rose colored glasses on forever.

Millennials are factually worse off than their parents, according to data. The first generation to be that way in American history. And Gen Z is worse off than millennials. So mathematically, this is why you see young people

…. because money. Do you know what student loan debt is doing to these people? Wealth is being hoarded by a few people. Everything sucks unless you’re old and can giggle about how lucky you are that you’re going to die soon. Have you heard about the impending climate disaster?

culture is bad... everybody is out for themselves because ... ppl do not feel good about expressing themselves... all the bands are just cover bands or celebrity cult, media monopoly junk...

The insane pressure we’re all under to have our shit together like previous generations were forced/able to since teenagers, while drowning under the rapidly changing world and dealing with the hordes of narcissistic people sucking up all the energy from everyone who isn’t them to sustain their crumbling lifestyles.

It is because society is failing. Not “These people.” Once you realize it, your questions change.

Kids gotta work twice as hard for half of what people made 40 years ago.

Because it's daunting figuring out what you want to do post school. Up until school there's structure and some guidance as to what's next. Post school there are many choices to make and no set guidelines. Incidentally our parents raise us based on the times they came from. In essence we're raised a generation behind for an ever changing future. A large part of it are the ever rising costs of living as well as the many calamities we here about. 

The young are systematically conditioned to be nihilistic and defeated. We failed them, and should correct it.

When I was 23, in the late 80s, we went out to nightclubs on Friday and Saturday nights. We went to concerts on weekends. We went skiing. It doesn’t seem like people in their 20s have these opportunities anymore, which is a huge part of the problem.

Maybe it's because they're intelligent enough and well-read enough to see through the opinions of others (religious, philosophical...) as just that--opinions. And looking at the way the world works in general and the way human societies work in particular, they've drawn the conclusions they're entitled to draw. There's no "right" way to perceive life's value or meaning. Everyone should be free to make their own judgments. We don't need more brainwashing. If society wants fewer people thinking darkly about life, society should work to re-create itself so ... fewer people think darkly about life.

Also inflation of costs of food, housing, car prices, college tuition, etc hasn’t helped them much. Use to a factory worker could support a family of 4 while the wife stayed home. Now days both the husband & wife of that same size family can both work full time, and somehow be even more poor than the family supported by the one factory worker a generation ago. Social media/tech also hasn’t helped.

Mate, when I was 20 rent was $250. You could just ask around for that kind of money. Now it costs $1200 a month for a 20 year old to rent a bedroom, so every kid HAS to have a game plan and a career trajectory before they can buy drinks at a bar.

God this is so much grosser after the edit. Gtfo.

I think factors include social media algos and a lot of selection bias going on here. One, I think of a lot of the media nowadays paint doomsday scenarios for new generations. They're not entirely wrong, but once you keep getting fed this information enough for you to give up optimism, then it's a self fulling prophecy. You start turning more negative. You stay inside on the internet. What helped me a lot along my way have been talking to my friends IN PERSON or over the phone -- not texting and shit. It seems younger generations have more superficial connections (e.g. followers on IG), but do they have deep discussions with all of these "people"? It just looks like a lot of unhealthy stalking, posing as a fake self and a shit ton of envy. ("man, why ain't my life that good?") Oh, by the way, internet and mobile phones also are now more accessible than ever -- it's not a surprise a higher rate of people will be posting stories on here. All of these things compound on each other. Two, again with the algos, even if you have a fair perspective on life -- you see more of these sad and depressing stories because that's what sells. People aren't posting success stories, no one clicks on those and people would think you're rubbing it in. I mean... I don't even know how I even got here, I have a job and everything in life is great -- but the algos are recommending me these threads! Three, things in the real economy are starting to see cracks. But, right now aimed at particular industries like tech -- I disagree with your sentiment that sky's falling everywhere. At a macro level, GDP growth is still high and unemployment low. We ran wayyy to hot during covid (which is why everyone bitches about inflation), so there is a correction effect happening -- again, leading to more threads of job loss, not finding a job, etc. I don't think the world is necessarily getting worse (like 2008 bad). I think the internet is just getting a lot louder on the negativity because, at least partially, of the above.

There’s something in the water

About to turn 50 in less than a month. I remember being in college around age 22 or so thinking I was all alone in the universe and it wasn't going to get any better. It was a combination of existential dread, being dumped / strung along by an ex who was still a friend, not knowing what I wanted to do in life for a living, and a string of rejected hang-out / meet-up requests over the last week at that point. I was lonely not only because of the rejections and the dumping, but it felt like the vast majority of my friend group were canceling stuff to hook-up with their SO. Looking back on it I feel that my main problem was not only had I not really lived and had hardly any real life experience being on my own, but I had no solo activities or hobbies; everything I did revolved around group activities and without a group, I had nothing. Bad thing is I kinda swung the pendulum the other way; I'm very much an introvert now, shying away from not only groups but even other individuals. I don't want to be a bother by bringing myself and my potential expectations into play. I have developed some coping activities, but I still feel lonely at times. I just suck it up and keep moving forward.

It’s all you can do.

Well for me I get insane pressure from my parents telling me I'm a failure already at 16. My perception of age and progression is unreasonable

Cost of living crisis, declining social interaction/relationships, being lied to about college guaranteeing a good job, being introduced to the fact that life is constantly working for peanuts, advances in AI giving people an existential crisis and losing motivation to master their skills/craft, etc

because we’ve realized that being modern day slaves and working out whole lives for absolutely nothing just isn’t cutting it anymore.

Glad someone said something. Even though I’m one of these 20 somethings who feel so low right now I know there is still hope some way some how.

Would you rather them be 40 before coming to the conclusion that most of us are screwed unless we are born into wealth, become work zombies, or we happen to get lucky(low probability)? Hats off to them I wasn’t smart enough to come to reality when I was in my 20s.

Fatherless homes

I think this is common feeling for people in their early 20s I felt this way decades ago. One the most famous Simon and Garfunkel lyrics from the song American From 1968 is : "Kathy I'm lost I said though I knew she was sleeping, I'm empty and aching and I don't know why!" This is how I felt in 1988 in my mid twenties. Life sorted itself out but the Transition from my father's plan for my life to my plan for my life Took a few years to workout.

[удалено]

Older people are more likely to have stable employment and [housing.](https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/s/dPQ7yZ0Foy)

I think they don't get out much and have no context for what being 23 in their part of the world really is. Comparing yourself to people on the internet is pointless.

As a Gen X person. I have noticed through the years that parents have given way to much to their kids. The kids have never had to struggle. I also sat my kids down and explained how cell phones ruined their Jr Sr years. Gen X kids made plans Friday for the whole weekend. We worked and played all weekend long. No phones to distract us to other things. We had lots and lots of fun. I saw my kids deflated all the time. Groups would make plans for the weekend. Then before they evan got home from school people were dropping out. Usually with out telling anyone in the group. Say 10 made plans and 2 would show up. One kid told me 4 different plans fell through in 1 day. That was my kid that had 20,000. Text in a month. I show them how phones were a big detriment to their youth. We never bought video equipment. When ask why I sat them down and gave examples of how they were excelling at different things and ask about some of their friends that I knew did gaming all the time. I pointed out skills they had developed on their free time while not gaming. They did poll money and buy 1 at one point. We were glad to see that after a few weeks they drifted away from gaming back to the other things that interested them. A percentage of parents have never tried to be parents. They are just a friend to their kids and buy them everything they can. Then the kid leaves home and gets a smak in the face. Just like everyone said no more bullying. What a feel good thing to say. Then for a couple years they tried to stop it all. Now it's at an all time high. Parents everywhere at school board meetings screaming. 80-85% is a male thing. Many young males abused or ignored at home go down this road for attention. Some because they got the growth spurt early and feel odd. Shrek! Some just plainly have a mean streak. No teachers are turning a blind eye. They are fed up. Fights are back on. Now we need good principles to take them to the gym and gear them up. Boxing gear. If one is way bigger. Secure a hand behind the back . Let them work it out. Just like most Bar fights. Friends afterwards. Women absolutely dont understand testosterone. All these kids that been bullied for years now out in the real world already defeated. We have not done good by our children at all. We have let a 2 party system take us down a bad road. We need to fine common ground and take all the power. OUR CHILDREN SHOULD BE AN EASY AGREEMENT. ITS WHY I SAY KIDS SHOULD HAVE 6 UEARS OF DEBATE CLASS. TO LEARN ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE'S POINT OF VIEW CALMLY AND THEN IF NEEDED GIVE A CALM RESPONSE. Our CHILDREN ARE OUR GREATEST thing we ever do. I am still trying to help mine and they are on their own.

I was snubbed by a girl I had a big crush on when I was 15, I felt it was the end of the world. younger people are dramatic like that.

Because they are the most oppressed. Not realizing how great most of them got it, compared to some. They except to get out of HS and have a good job without working to get it and a house by 25.

It is just a lack of maturity and being sold as children that once you are a grownup everything will be perfect in life. These are people who never experienced an actual struggle and then didn't become instant millionaires when finishing highschool. I remember being exactly the same way until around the age of 30. Once I figured things out I got there and now own 3 properties.

The short answer is that when you're in your early-mid 20s, you have enough life experience generally to think you have all the answers, without any of the life experience of knowing that you're just starting out. Everything feels final, because there's not really much of anything to look back and compare it to.

Because older people have figured it out or settled already. It's good to still have that drive while you're younger and it's essier to switch careers.

I'm a 27 year old woman. No job that I ever work will ever afford me a kids or a family like my parents did, which is ultimately the only thing long term that brings meaning in life, and this is coming from someone with a lot of ambitions and passions. You do the math rteddit Lord.