In the era of TikTok videos, a haunting trend has emerged: young millennials and Gen Z individuals breaking down in front of the camera, bemoaning the sorry state of their existence. While Gen X and Boomers might scoff at their apparent melodrama, it’s worth considering the validity of their grievances. The truth is, these young voices may just have a point.
The economy, for starters, seems poised to crush the aspirations of the younger generation. Entry-level jobs, once heralded as gateways to success, now seem like traps designed to sap both physical and spiritual vitality. As inflation rears its head, wages stagnate, leaving young workers struggling to make ends meet.
The challenges facing young workers are multifaceted. Long hours and irregular schedules are the norm, leaving little time for rest, let alone personal growth or pursuit of passions. The traditional notion of a healthy work-life balance becomes a distant dream when one’s entire being is consumed by the demands of the job.
What’s particularly galling is the expectation, often perpetuated by older generations, that this soul-crushing existence is not only acceptable but commendable. Conservative commentators, in particular, seem to champion a worldview that reduces individuals to mere economic units, cogs in a relentless machine.
This is where Marx got it right.
It’s a lifestyle that leaves no room for spirituality, personal development, or well-being. In many ways, it’s antithetical to life itself. And yet, proponents of this ethos persist, clinging to an outdated paradigm that prioritizes productivity over humanity.
In truth, the fault lies not with the individuals succumbing to despair but with a culture that glorifies work for work’s sake. The 40-hour workweek, once touted as a symbol of progress, now stands as a monument to the erosion of dignity and fulfillment.
The solution, then, lies in reimagining our relationship with work and embracing a more holistic vision of life. Rather than resigning ourselves to the dictates of a system that devalues our humanity, we must strive to break free from its confines.
Ultimately, the plight of young workers serves as a clarion call for change. It’s a reminder that we were not meant to live in perpetual servitude to the almighty dollar. Instead, we should dare to dream of a world where fulfillment, not financial gain, is the ultimate measure of success.
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CCM: It’s a reminder that we were not meant to live in perpetual servitude to the almighty dollar. Instead, we should dare to dream of a world where fulfillment, not financial gain, is the ultimate measure of success.
ME: I’m over 75 and I have known that for far longer than these young people whining about how hard life is have been alive.
IT IS A MATTER OF CHOICE!
Of course, if you adopt that lifestyle, then you have to do without.
You have to accept poverty, if not embrace it, because when you don’t chase the almighty buck, that is what your lot in life is going to be.
LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT, KIDS!
And if I am not mistaken, it was these same young people on TIK-TOK who put Joe Biden and BIDE-O-NOMICS in office in the first place, so they are learning that choices, and that was a damn poor choice based on a belief old Joe was going to give them a FREE RIDE, just as he is doing canceling the student debt for these same young people that older people like myself had to work to pay off, have consequences.
That is a life lesson they should have learned from Pinocchio and Pleasure Island.
REALLY!
I don’t see this any different from my era
First off ; Online job applications are BS . Here the employer doesn’t meet anyone until after they select whom they want to interview and this us selected by a robo system . And in most cases the employer really doesn’t care about the interview. We had to sell ourselves immediately plus you didn’t necessarily need all of what the online applications are dictating because you and the interviewer or the owner met face to face which allowed for adjustments. One of the most important parts of any job is the willingness to be available, learn their way and be productive which meant working longer hours if asked and extended days . From here you gain recognition, respect which usually led to better pay advancement opportunities etc . If overtime you did not The connections you generated could allow you to move to a company that sees this .
CCM: Conservative commentators, in particular, seem to champion a worldview that reduces individuals to mere economic units, cogs in a relentless machine.
ME: When people rave about CONSUMER CONFIDENCE in America, and there are many, starting with American DICTATOR Joseph Robinette Biden, Junior, and his PROPAGANDA MINISTER Karine Jean-Pierre and CCN Host Phil Mattingly, it is they who are the champions of a worldview that reduces individuals to mere economic units, cogs in a relentless machine, which of course it is, since 75% of the US economy depends on those CUD CHEWERS out there mindlessly consuming for the sake of consuming, hence the term BINGE SHOPPING, an obsession with many here in America, but when those people themselves willingly accept the term CONSUMER applied to themselves as opposed to CITIZEN, it is they who are the champions of a worldview that reduces themselves to mere economic units, cogs in a relentless machine.
Consider that young woman in the TWEET above here who is actually in tears because she says she doesn’t have the cash to enjoy her life outside of work.
Well, young lady, WTF has CASH got to do with enjoying life?
What a warped view on reality that is.
“OH BOO HOO ******* HOO, I DON’T HAVE NO CASH BECAUSE I WANT A TWO-BEDROOM APARTMENT AND A CELL PHONE, SO I CAN’T ENJOY MY LIFE!”
Talk about champions of a worldview that reduces people to mere economic units, cogs in a relentless machine, she is one of them.
CCM: This is where Marx got it right.
ME: As to Marx, if it were not for the largesse and munificence of his dear friend Freddy Engels, who even before he became relatively wealthy, frequently sent Marx as much as £50 a year — equivalent to around $7,500 now, and about a third of the annual allowance he received from his parents.
Later, Engels supported Marx with money he earned in the textile industry.
Engels himself was born into a wealthy family with deep roots in the yarn and cloth industry, with his father owning a textile factory in Barmen, Germany and being a partner in a cottonspinning factory in Manchester, England.
Engels was a factory owner, a capitalist, and who reputedly treated his workers well, while he enjoyed a pretty high-level bourgeois lifestyle as an alleged champagne-drinking womanizer who “frequented boudoirs and brothels” at the same time he was endorsing Communism and sponsoring Marx.
As to work, in Marx/Engels Collected Works (3: 284), Marx held that work had the potential to be something creative and fulfilling.
He consequently rejected the view of work as a necessary evil, denying that the negative character of work is part of our fate, a universal fact about the human condition that no amount of social change could remedy.
Indeed, productive activity, on Marx’s account, is a central element in what it is to be a human being, and self-realisation through work is a vital component of human flourishing.
And personally speaking, I couldn’t agree with him more.
What, she had to work 40 hours a week? Awww. No roommate to help with the cost? What kind of world was this child raised in? Perhaps her parents never told her about life’s realities what with spending all that time at the mall and all.
I hope this was a parity video otherwise I have many questions about Gen Z’s ability to move our society forward.
Cell Phone Addiction and Social Media are the number one sources of their problems. They are as insecure as dogs, whom they worship as family members.
Marx(MHRIH) was able to enjoy…… ‘spirituality, personal development, or well-being’ because the vile POS sponged off Engels his whole sorry life, the lousy, lice filled poisonous shoulda died at birth wish his dad finished on the rug scumbag commie rat crap….honestly? I can’t think of enough insults to hurl at this fecal matter. He has destroyed countless lives and continues to do so.
The continued appeal of communism is all one needs to see to realize the American educational system is infected and needs recision.
Marxists delenda est, for the good of the planet.
Editor’s Note: Comrade Wayne does not agree 🙂