In the past ten years it seems that people have become more negative and less community-friendly, especially between age 16-30. What causes these types of social trends?
The answer to this very well might be "you were a child then, now you're older", which I will absolutely accept, but I'd also like to explore a little bit more. I'm also willing to accept that my experience is anecdotal and other people might have different experience. Full disclosure, I am 26 as of last week.
When I was growing up and even into my early 20s, most of my peers and adults I knew were fairly laid back. From when I was 16-19, people hung out at poetry readings and coffeeshops, people played music and talked politics and philosophy at cafes and even just on the beach or while taking a walk, there were house shows every weekend, and every the groups that didn't have a place to hang out would congregate on the town green and play guitar. When I was around that age, most of the 22-26 year olds I knew at the time were pretty content with adult life and the general trajectory, even if they were individually having a personal issue.
Around 2005-2011, if you told someone you wanted to work for a nonprofit or be a baker or farmer for a living, they'd likely tell you you'd chosen a difficult path but if that's what you really wanted, go for it. Nowadays the general response when you tell someone you want to work in a library, be a writer, or bake popovers at a cafe, a majority of the people you talk to will tell you "either study STEM and become a productive member of society, or enjoy being homeless". People 5-10 years ago were more into the idea of "I can generally do what I want, I have unique ideas to offer the world, and even if it turns out I can't, I'm going to have some fun trying".
People today seem pretty closed off in terms of respecting other peoples' hopes and dreams. Many of my friends' high school siblings don't give a rat's ass about the community, or music, or anything I can relate to (yes, I'm aware I sound like an old man). When I drive by the seaside shops where we all used to play guitar and smoke pot on the beach it's like a ghost town, there's not even a single person. I've talked to a few siblings about this, and it turns out there are a ton of people in high school who have the "you are born to work and then you die, it doesn't matter if you like your job or your life, or anything" mentality just as bad as some of the 30 year olds I know.
It worries me because when I was in high school, this kind of thinking never crossed my mind even once, same with most if not all of my friends. I was a depressed little shit but mostly about normal stuff like girls and not being able to see a movie or go out with friends, or fighting off the occasional bully. Being 18 again and talking to most of the kids age 16-25 I know, either in real life or on reddit or elsewhere around the internet, would lead me to believe we've entered some kind of crazy dystopia where we've abolished fun, creativity, and following your dreams.
What the hell happened to people? Were people always like this? Am I just old?
>>17361227
Just shut the fuck up. I'm so sick of hearing how much better things were 5, 10, 50 years ago. Whether it's sports, politeness, narcisissm, just shut the fuck up. Being racist was the norm not long ago, "gay" was a ubiquitous term for anything negative. Women were confined to the kitchen. People haven't changed, but they are more educated, have more opportunities because of globalization. All of your reasons for your opinion are anecdotal.
>>17361304
Jesus christ dude nothing I said was racist or anti-gay. Anger problems much?
Because we have less money and happiness that those before us possessed.
>>17361227
> people have become more negative
If this were true, it'd be good. America's always been too "everything a-ok and perfect! Keep that smile on your face!" We need a bit of negativity in our lives.
>>17361227
Look at the huge changes socially and especially at home. We went from a society chasing dreams to a society being baby sat by technology; and most are content with in-game achievements instead real life achievements. This has inherently bred an entire generation of now-adults who have no social structure whatsoever; and not only that, a down right fear of social situations from Point A to Point Z.
We have more people that are scared of leaving their house to apply for a job or say hello to someone than we have people who are afraid never achieve anything or be remotely productive. We're content with our parents riding our asses and being ashamed of us, because it's so much easier than being seen in public.
>>17361436
Is this really that true ?
It seemed like mostly a 4chan problem
>>17361227
After the crash in 07-08 people have been different.
>>17361436
>most are content with in-game achievements instead real life achievements.
most 4chan NEETs you mean?
> a down right fear of social situations from Point A to Point Z.
This isn't anything new. Every generation has it's social retards. Now we just have a way to socialize we're comfortable with
>We're content with our parents riding our asses and being ashamed of us, because it's so much easier than being seen in public.
Again, this issue is limited to 4chan NEETs
This wave of nihilism started after 9/11. The reason you see it so prominently now is because the young adults of today never knew a world at peace that we had before 9/11.
They didn't have the light hearted movies where the villain is just a harmless jerk and crazy kids set up silly traps to defeat them, they had shit like "edgy" Batman and anti heros.
The worst thing that a president did in the 90s was get his dick sucked, but the presidents of their generations have left us with unmeasurable debt and unwinnable wars and unending surveillance.
The personal problems of the 90s could all be wiped away by moving away and starting over, but today every single cringe picture you've ever taken is meticulously catalogued, peer reviewed, and will follow you wherever you go until the day you die.
These people don't need to explore their neighborhood to find friends because they've got apps. They don't get lost because they've got gps. They don't talk to strangers because they could be rapists. They don't see perspectives outside their own because search engines create profiles on us and give us only content we already agree with.
People are constantly being bombarded by images of terror attacks, of racial injustice, wealth inequality, of health scares. And everyone has collectively agreed NOT knowing about these current events means you're stupid, so people suckle on the teat of media agencies who's efficacy has gotten so out of hand, they've polarizing our country.
The line is very clear. People who were born around 1996 unfortunately, were broken in cynicism like few generations before had been.
>>17361304
globalist shill OUT OUT OUT
