Does Gen Z have it worse?

[coolcow1289]

I'm curious to hear the input from SS users of different generations.

I'm early Gen Z and I feel things are bad now in a way they've never been before. I feel like everything got bad too early for me to be settled in to weather it (own a home, have a family etc), but too late for me to be able to easily adapt and overcome it. Covid came around right when I left HS and everything has been Hell ever since.

We have to deal with a destroyed economy, digital media, loneliness epidemic, dating apps, collapsed birth rate, unaffordable housing, inflation, and now no jobs due to AI.

Maybe this is just me rationalizing why my life sucks. Other people in my generation seem to be fine. I'm happy to hear other perspectives.

 

[franos666]

It depends what things you are comparing but overall our mental health is worse than our parents and grandparents and I think it's most important thing in life

 

[itsgone2]

We have to deal with a destroyed economy, digital media, loneliness epidemic, dating apps, collapsed birth rate, unaffordable housing, inflation, and now no jobs due to AI.

You are correct. Completely agree. Politicians on both sides stood around and watched it all happen. Maybe even encouraged it. I'm sorry. Your generation should want to tear it all down.

It simply wasn't like this before but in hindsight it was slowly building. Coming on. And now it's here. It's coming for everyone but you're getting hit first.

 

[WalmartSoap]

Late Gen Z here, I feel the exact same way :c
For us, COVID took away valuable time for building social skills (middle-high school), and you can feel it. In new situations, the people around me just.. can't hold a conversation. I know we're chalked up to be these brainrotted toddlers with the whole "Gen Z stare" BS, but it's true, at least in part. Talking to anyone my age is like talking to a brick wall, nevermind getting to know them.

"Hanging out" feels like a thing of the past. Malls and public places around us are dying, it feels like you really need a niche (a sport, a specific hobby) to find people out in the wild. And dating culture sucks ass. There's none of that "you'll find the right guy, just get out there!" anymore. People don't talk unless it's over the hottest social media platform, all of which I refuse to download.

Maybe we don't have it the WORST in all of history, but we sure aren't well off. At least socially so.

 

[astaroth81]

We live in a homeostatic, code-driven universe. A multi-threaded computer simulation to put it bluntly.

Events are optimized algorithmic probabilities rather than random happenstance.

The balance of human struggle and joy remains constant across all ages.

[Total Human Experience] = [Challenge/Entropy] + [Joy/Homeostasis]

Essentially, we are localized nodes processing variables within a self-correcting system that always balances its ledger.

Therefore today we deal with the stressors of social media and difficulty with socializing, yesterday it was the Great Depression, World Wars, Black Death, famine etc.

 

[Pluto]

 

[Celerity]

I believe that the doomsayers predicting the collapse of civilization are correct, so every succeeding generation is going to have it worse for some time and maybe into perpetuity. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/25/gaya-herrington-mit-study-the-limits-to-growth

Civilizations, like all species on Earth, are mortal. What's scary about this collapse is how interconnected we are all today vs the societies of the past and how irreversible habitat destruction might be. This means we can and probably will all collapse together, and humans who survive the resulting conflict and famine will have to live on a planet that is less habitable, perhaps far less habitable if some of the runaway climate change scenarios occur.

Even setting aside climate change and ecological collapse, the world is a geopolitical powder keg. The balance of power between the US, Russia, and China provides enough worry for anybody paying attention.

Then you have concerns like pandemics. If societies no longer have the means to support their medical infrastructure and research, what then? COVID looks like a dress rehearsal compared to the bugs of the past and the ones some scientists have predicted could be waiting around the corner for us.

Getting back to Gen Z specifically, at least here in the US, our social cohesion is extremely degraded. I think deaths of despair, including suicide and overdoses, will continue to persist. We are an incredibly lonely society, and many of us turn to our addictions (as I do) to pass the time. Naloxone kits and crisis lines and the like are worthwhile but ultimately a band-aid solution for a fragmented society where alienation is the norm.

The worst among us rise to the top and abuse everyone to make money. The best of us are hampered by the system at every turn. The majority of us are too apathetic and overwhelmed to do anything about it.

Yeah, Gen Z is worse off than preceding generations.

 

[TorturedCerebrum]

Mentally 10000%

 

[fadedghost]

I'm curious to hear the input from SS users of different generations.

I'm early Gen Z and I feel things are bad now in a way they've never been before. I feel like everything got bad too early for me to be settled in to weather it (own a home, have a family etc), but too late for me to be able to easily adapt and overcome it. Covid came around right when I left HS and everything has been Hell ever since.

We have to deal with a destroyed economy, digital media, loneliness epidemic, dating apps, collapsed birth rate, unaffordable housing, inflation, and now no jobs due to AI.

Maybe this is just me rationalizing why my life sucks. Other people in my generation seem to be fine. I'm happy to hear other perspectives.

Yep, Gen Z is fucked. Boomers are to blame. It's just how it is. Boomers won't leave the workforce, made houses more expensive, won't let children live with them (thus driving up housing costs), and Gen Z jobs are being replaced by AI. Like, I guess you are lucky to have AI write all your essays because writing essays was awful. It just costs so much to own a home now... and so many careers are being replaced by AI. It's like why try so hard? But Gen Z can also be influencers and do OnlyFans and like, I guess that's something good for the people who can do that? For everyone else in Gen Z, boomers ruined it.

 

[coolcow1289]

It depends what things you are comparing but overall our mental health is worse than our parents and grandparents and I think it's most important thing in life

It's a huge piece of it. Everyone says we have it good because of modern conveniences/entertainment, but the fact that half of our generation takes antidepressants and has clinical anxiety shows that mentally we are not doing well. It's a misunderstanding of what makes people happy. Cheap entertainment and dopamine aren't "happiness".

You are correct. Completely agree. Politicians on both sides stood around and watched it all happen. Maybe even encouraged it. I'm sorry. Your generation should want to tear it all down.

It simply wasn't like this before but in hindsight it was slowly building. Coming on. And now it's here. It's coming for everyone but you're getting hit first.

The politicians were too busy abusing kids on private islands and sending our money overseas lol. And if it doesn't bottom soon Gen alpha is screwed tenfold

Late Gen Z here, I feel the exact same way :c
For us, COVID took away valuable time for building social skills (middle-high school), and you can feel it. In new situations, the people around me just.. can't hold a conversation. I know we're chalked up to be these brainrotted toddlers with the whole "Gen Z stare" BS, but it's true, at least in part. Talking to anyone my age is like talking to a brick wall, nevermind getting to know them.

"Hanging out" feels like a thing of the past. Malls and public places around us are dying, it feels like you really need a niche (a sport, a specific hobby) to find people out in the wild. And dating culture sucks ass. There's none of that "you'll find the right guy, just get out there!" anymore. People don't talk unless it's over the hottest social media platform, all of which I refuse to download.

Maybe we don't have it the WORST in all of history, but we sure aren't well off. At least socially so.

This is so true. I hang out with millennials at work and I just feel like a fish out of water. It's so easy for them to just chitchat about whatever. Usually trips or travel or movies/TV shows, stuff I have nothing to add. And even if I try and socialize I have no social skills, it's painful.

And they talk about all their friends, and it's like, I have four friends - made none in college during Covid - and we are all borderline autistic. And I know it will get worse with the younger zoomers. The iPad toddlers.

Yep, Gen Z is fucked. Boomers are to blame. It's just how it is. Boomers won't leave the workforce, made houses more expensive, won't let children live with them (thus driving up housing costs), and Gen Z jobs are being replaced by AI. Like, I guess you are lucky to have AI write all your essays because writing essays was awful. It just costs so much to own a home now... and so many careers are being replaced by AI. It's like why try so hard? But Gen Z can also be influencers and do OnlyFans and like, I guess that's something good for the people who can do that? For everyone else in Gen Z, boomers ruined it.

Boomers get a lot of flak, and a lot of it is deserved, but they were also a product of their time. They didn't just decide to cause problems. They've lived their entire lives in the post WW2 information bubble, and now that it's popped, they are too old to adapt to this new reality. Most of them still get their opinions from cable news. So they come across as disconnected and clueless.

I also love that your silver lining is that at least Gen Z women can prostitute themselves lol. That's always been a thing.

 

[abcdefg789]

I'm going to be blunt - but read some history. Life was a lot worse for most of history. If you're in a developed country, your life is better than most people on the planet.

I GET that this does not alter mental suffering. I feel mentally shit and reminding myself of my material comfort doesn't make it go away. E.g. I don't have bed bugs, I don't have to burn coal for heat etc etc.

 

[iguazo falls]

I'm curious to hear the input from SS users of different generations.

I'm early Gen Z and I feel things are bad now in a way they've never been before. I feel like everything got bad too early for me to be settled in to weather it (own a home, have a family etc), but too late for me to be able to easily adapt and overcome it. Covid came around right when I left HS and everything has been Hell ever since.

We have to deal with a destroyed economy, digital media, loneliness epidemic, dating apps, collapsed birth rate, unaffordable housing, inflation, and now no jobs due to AI.

Maybe this is just me rationalizing why my life sucks. Other people in my generation seem to be fine. I'm happy to hear other perspectives.

ill never really claim worse or better because its all a continuation of the same shit + new shit making shit more shit but also better for QOL (also depends wildly on where you live), but COVID and the corporate mass social media shit plus rise of authoritarianism is really getting to me. i'm not really concerned about owning property or being rich, but being so lonely and knowing that speaking to someone your age just at random is basically committing a crime (not insinuating this as cold approaching women, but just wholesome conversation or making friends at random) and the lack of fun available due to not having friends without having to go online or pay alot of money is just depressing. im trying to remember the names of strangers who take the time to have a chat, and i appreciate those moments. theyre 99% older people though and i can't remember if i've met someone who was younger than 30 really be comfortable to have a chat. strangers are better than "constants" as they know they won't see you again so they can be 100% honest and say what is actually important to them as a parting gift to you.

a lot of things can happen in the world but a lack of social skills for a lot of us to connect with eachother without pre-existing school relationships driving it forward just make even the best of times pretty miserable. and tbh i feel like i dont even have time or energy needed to foster it either outside of working my FT job, tending to chores, basic self care and then resting. i lowkey feel like my life is already over before it really began, and any "crazy" life thing ive been through has just been shit like my family not liking me so i do xyz to move out, or a supplemented online version like oh this crazy thing happened but its some guy ages away on a discord server or like i buy a bunch of drugs online and do them alone in my room lol. none of my friends in the past like going out much in social spaces either which i won't judge people for but it makes it a bit difficult when you are the only one with a goal to meet new people if you are out with friends.

these days too "keeping up" requires just spending time to get your data harvested (social media), gambling advertised to you (sports) caring about ai, or spending money on a subscription (netflix etc), and managing to tick off the list of random actors and movies millenials like and i just dont care anymore. so i went a bit more offline and im still depressed just less broke i guess cause im not paying for spotify. im not really helping the issue these days bc i am suspicious 24/7 of everyone but being treated like competition or an obstacle is just exhausting

just like all other restrictions of today though it can be "gamed" and you can try to overcome it but it takes effort and not working a lot. i made 3 irl friends in 2 years in my last town. i'll share what i did, it might not work for you but my goal was to sidestep people who historically want nothign to do with me. first one was super lucky, i just baked biscuits for the people next door and this dude liked fnaf and whatever so yea i lucked out in that i wasnt instntly clocked as weirder than him, it helped that we had a project to renovate a treehouse in the forest. next, i went with that friend to an event and he just decided to talk to his other friends on discord instead but i lucked out because i met someone who also didnt have many friends at all who brought their mother along as company and both of them were nice to talk to. now the third one is where it feels "gamey". because i downloaded hinge, and i set my settings pretty wide in regards to location but filtered out pretty much all the cis straight people. it sounds bad when i put it like that but i find queer ppl are more often looking for friends too there and i don't want to talk to shirtless people. also keep in mind i am lgbt but also not attractive to anyone except idk my partner and then probs just chasers thats it. then i just made my prompts encouraging people to tell how they think apps are flawed so it gave a deep topic to talk about instead of like do u like dogs or dishoenst virtue signalling. most important thing is you dont tlak to more than 2-3 ppl at a time, and that in smaller towns people aren't interested in people geographically closer to them because they realise u didnt go to school with them and their brainchip tells them to disengage lol. also never ever watch someone else scroll on apps because you will get insecure quick. which is why i dont like these apps because it prioritises profiles instead of people so i didnt enjoy using it and my own psychology towards it. i got lucky and made 1 friend there though and we got along then i got rid of the app. one friend decided to try the app too and found a friend. funny enough i saw that persons profile too but again the nature of dating apps made it that we would have avoided eachother if not for the other person finding them. my strat was to narrow down as many ppl as possible so i could have a good conversation with someone who wouldn't be put off by my profile. in contrast a lot of dating advice for apps are about appealing to the biggest audience. but both of these methods are a bit sad anyway.

now with a bunch of ppl my age using apps that turn ppl into profiles and algorithms (and then with paid options/subcriptions...) u see why it just sucks. idk this is probably off topic for the conversation but i think while materially in the west its not like ur throwing shit out of the window still (and i don't think its productive to argue about generations when we are all living in the same world and in a class war), being a young person these days is like having life stuck behind a window, and to break it i think is becoming more literal than metaphorical in how u would disconnect from the norms of society. i think my escape has to be literal instead of just paying so much a week for pilates class with people ill never fit in with.

 

[Forveleth]

View from an Old Millennial. This is just personal observation, I may be way off:

Yes and no. If you look back through history, we have come a long way from having to constantly hunt and living in a cave. The entire sum of human knowledge is available at our fingertips at every moment. If one had the motivation to put effort in to health, it is fairly probable to live for a century. So, in that sense, y'all have it pretty good.

However, if we look at Zs (and even some younger Millennials), they are economically, intellectually, and mentally fucked. The wealth gap is the biggest it has ever been and the relative price of things compared to 50 years ago is absolutely insane. With the rise of AI, kids have elected to cheat their way through school meaning not only are they not learning but they are not learning how to learn. Many do not have basic critical thinking skills, can not reason through an argument, and do not have the mental fortitude to actually handle a challenge. Then there is the damage done by social media. Everyone thinks that everyone else is living the perfect life because for some reason social media is true despite the fact everyone lies on it (oh, the irony). From what I understand, most Zs are incredibly lonely yet are unwilling to go out, make friends, or put effort into keeping friends and it is because they grew up seeing "friends" largely as a number online instead of real people. Everything revolves around propping up a self-image and as soon as there is even the slightest crack in it, Zs can not handle it and fall apart. There is no resilience at all. All this because they were raised by a generation that has no idea how to handle raising kids in this situation because Zs are the first to go through this.

The world is both easier and more difficult than it has ever been. We really thought Zs were going to be this insanely intelligent, strong generation, but they were raised in a way that left them emotionally and mentally crippled to the point where they are less functional than people above them. It is a damn shame.

 

[_Gollum_]

Worse off than their parents, and maybe their grandparents depending on their age? Yes. But they are better off than every other generation before that.

The economy itself is reasonably good and I think it's just a "received narrative" that everyone has to own a house and that your future is ruined if you can't, so I disagree that these are the biggest problems for Gen Z.

I would say their problem is that the "barrier to entry" for most things, including the most important things in life, has gotten excessively high, such that only the "best" can succeed.

In our grandparent's generation, for example, getting an entry-level job was trivially easy. Many didn't even have to interview or make a resume. Nowadays, just to get a job at a fast food restaurant you have to create a well-crafted resume, make a cover letter, submit an online application that will never be read by a human and may even be discarded right off the bat if you don't have certain experience or qualification, take a personality test, etc. And if you do all that, then you might get an interview. Same with dating. You shouldn't have to be a photography and marketing expert just to meet someone, but with dating apps effectively functioning as "marketplaces", that is now the case.

TLDR the Western world hit peak civilization in the 90s

 

[Le temps perdu]

I am part of Gen Z, and I don't think our situation is worse than that of the previous generations. Overall, our material living conditions are relatively better than those of earlier generations.
There have been many periods in human history that were far more difficult.

but existence still functions like a perpetual machine in the sense that, if you want to survive, you have to work and compete, because resources remain limited. In addition, we are facing challenges such as climate change, and many countries still grapple with numerous challenges. So the situation that Gen Z faces isn't exactly great either.

 

[Celerity]

I'm going to be blunt - but read some history. Life was a lot worse for most of history. If you're in a developed country, your life is better than most people on the planet.

I GET that this does not alter mental suffering. I feel mentally shit and reminding myself of my material comfort doesn't make it go away. E.g. I don't have bed bugs, I don't have to burn coal for heat etc etc.

No one is seriously comparing Gen Z to the plight of peasants in the middle ages or to our hunter gatherer ancestors. The question is whether or not they are worse off than Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials. The answer to that is clearly yes in most Anglosphere countries.

 

[EternalShore]

One could probably go over this all day, but I'm at work on my phone, so I don't have all day~ xD
Anyways, from my experience, yes, it's absolutely horrid~ :( We've been able to see everything deteriorating for our entire lives~
Talking to older people is crazy because they just expect things to always get better and throw out stuff that works fine, which is just crazy to me~ >_< but that's because that's all they've known~ meanwhile, every day in the world for nearly my whole life has been worse than the last~ :( ofc, yeahhh, I've had better and worse times (still generally bad ofc), but the world around me in general is always going downhill~ :(
The thing is that decline feels far worse than things just being bad or collapsing all at once~ you never know how bad it will eventually get~ >_< especially since you have to remember when things were better too~ D:

Back in the middle ages, people didn't know that you could just not die of the bubonic plague, so it didn't feel as bad as when you actively see something getting worse today~ plus, I'd much rather die at 30 of that than 90 of Alzheimer's~ >_< especially with how bad things feel~ :(

Also, sure, some things might be better since the 90s, since we have broadband instead of dial-up now, and mobile phones are fine too in some ways... but like over at least the last 6 years, there have only been things getting worse, and frankly, I could do everything I do now (excluding stuff I'm forced via job, taxes, etc. to do) just fine back in 2011 before things became trash~ :(

Also, perhaps, most importantly, I want to have kids one day, preferably soon~ :( and well, that's kinda hard to do without money, social contacts, etc.~ >_< and the internet and the current job market doesn't necessarily make that easier~ >_<
I'd much rather have kids by now in the 1200s than live without now~ :(((

It kinda reminds me of the Great Depression, since one is similarly without work and vividly remember when things used to be good but also without social contacts, relationships, etc. too~ :(

 

[coolcow1289]

No one is seriously comparing Gen Z to the plight of peasants in the middle ages or to our hunter gatherer ancestors. The question is whether or not they are worse off than Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials. The answer to that is clearly yes in most Anglosphere countries.

What's interesting is even some dazzling intellectuals like Ted K would go as far as to say we ARE more miserable than medieval peasants. Because happiness comes from struggle. And modern technological society is designed to be maximally soul sucking.

One could probably go over this all day, but I'm at work on my phone, so I don't have all day~ xD
Anyways, from my experience, yes, it's absolutely horrid~ :( We've been able to see everything deteriorating for our entire lives~
Talking to older people is crazy because they just expect things to always get better and throw out stuff that works fine, which is just crazy to me~ >_< but that's because that's all they've known~ meanwhile, every day in the world for nearly my whole life has been worse than the last~ :( ofc, yeahhh, I've had better and worse times (still generally bad ofc), but the world around me in general is always going downhill~ :(
The thing is that decline feels far worse than things just being bad or collapsing all at once~ you never know how bad it will eventually get~ >_< especially since you have to remember when things were better too~ D:

Back in the middle ages, people didn't know that you could just not die of the bubonic plague, so it didn't feel as bad as when you actively see something getting worse today~ plus, I'd much rather die at 30 of that than 90 of Alzheimer's~ >_< especially with how bad things feel~ :(

Also, sure, some things might be better since the 90s, since we have broadband instead of dial-up now, and mobile phones are fine too in some ways... but like over at least the last 6 years, there have only been things getting worse, and frankly, I could do everything I do now (excluding stuff I'm forced via job, taxes, etc. to do) just fine back in 2011 before things became trash~ :(

Also, perhaps, most importantly, I want to have kids one day, preferably soon~ :( and well, that's kinda hard to do without money, social contacts, etc.~ >_< and the internet and the current job market doesn't necessarily make that easier~ >_<
I'd much rather have kids by now in the 1200s than live without now~ :(((

It kinda reminds me of the Great Depression, since one is similarly without work and vividly remember when things used to be good but also without social contacts, relationships, etc. too~ :(

I too want kids but having no social skills and ridiculous zoomer anxiety kinda dampers my hopes and dreams there.

 

[Celerity]

What's interesting is even some dazzling intellectuals like Ted K would go as far as to say we ARE more miserable than medieval peasants. Because happiness comes from struggle. And modern technological society is designed to be maximally soul sucking.

I too want kids but having no social skills and ridiculous zoomer anxiety kinda dampers my hopes and dreams there.

I mean, sure, the Unabomber. There is also an out-and-proud fascist in my social circle who argues the same. When I said "no one", I guess I meant the vast majority with their head screwed on straight. I can't take seriously anyone who makes the argument earnestly.

 

[Passenger4224]

I am surprised nobody has yet mentioned the spike in neurodivergence being a factor into our generation being completely miserable

Life absolutely sucks for so many of us

 

[coolcow1289]

I mean, sure, the Unabomber. There is also an out-and-proud fascist in my social circle who argues the same. When I said "no one", I guess I meant the vast majority with their head screwed on straight. I can't take seriously anyone who makes the argument earnestly.

"dazzling" was sarcastic. I'm not endorsing the unabomber lol.

But there's truth to it. Humans need things to do. Put someone in a padded cell with all their wants and needs met and they'll go crazy. Nietzche's whole thing is that happiness comes from overcoming struggle. And Nietzche wasn't a fascist.

 

[ctwc]

I get the feeling the world is changing too fast for most people to realistically catch up. GenZ is just feeling the effect mostly because they are the soon-to-be-workforce. Industrialization and social media has been generating a lot of success stories, which also generates peer pressure and solidifies a certain definition of "success" over the rest.

GenZ have it worse but it doesn't necessary mean previous generations have it non-marginally better.

 

[thenextstory]

Late Gen Z here, I feel the exact same way :c
For us, COVID took away valuable time for building social skills (middle-high school), and you can feel it. In new situations, the people around me just.. can't hold a conversation. I know we're chalked up to be these brainrotted toddlers with the whole "Gen Z stare" BS, but it's true, at least in part. Talking to anyone my age is like talking to a brick wall, nevermind getting to know them.

"Hanging out" feels like a thing of the past. Malls and public places around us are dying, it feels like you really need a niche (a sport, a specific hobby) to find people out in the wild. And dating culture sucks ass. There's none of that "you'll find the right guy, just get out there!" anymore. People don't talk unless it's over the hottest social media platform, all of which I refuse to download.

Maybe we don't have it the WORST in all of history, but we sure aren't well off. At least socially so.

The Gen Z stare is so real and I know I do it too. So embarrassing lol

In some places it's less bleak. I lived in Denmark for a year. There's a stereotype that Scandis are more shy/neurotic, but at least among young people, I found the opposite was true. Not many social butterflies, sure, but more confidence, more maturity, less zombie gaze on average.

I recently learned that Denmark has the lowest daily screen-time of all developed countries. imo it explains a lot.

 

[oneirataxia]

But Gen Z can also be influencers and do OnlyFans and like, I guess that's something good for the people who can do that? For everyone else in Gen Z, boomers ruined it.

I kinda love this. Yeah the working class is up in flames and young people might never own houses or live happily, but at LEAST you can whore yourself out on the Internet as a means of economic survival and as a means of having a fighting chance in ever being able to pay off your student loans. What a treat, a real break in the clouds. That's definitely something the younger crowd has going for them, something for them to look forward to.

 

[telekon]

As a millennial I will say Gen Z absolutely has it worse than any of us, but I don't think that is a reason to commit suicide. I really think that if we wait it out a few years some world event is gonna destroy everything, and when the smoke clears the future generations who we thought never had a chance will have it better than anyone else.

 

[fadedghost]

I kinda love this. Yeah the working class is up in flames and young people might never own houses or live happily, but at LEAST you can whore yourself out on the Internet as a means of economic survival and as a means of having a fighting chance in ever being able to pay off your student loans. What a treat, a real break in the clouds. That's definitely something the younger crowd has going for them, something for them to look forward to.

Whoring Yourself Out on the Internet: A Gen Z Treat and Break in the Clouds

This made me laugh so hard, you're right, it's fucking unintentionally hysterical and awful at the same time. I don't know!

 

[Seneca65AD]

I believe _Gollum_ and Forveleth are correct. I am Gex X as is my wife. Our daughter is Gen Z. The primary reason she has a chance at a comparatively good life is because her parents have assets, resources and education....and that is the biggest difference between her generation and mine. I came from a very poor but loving family. They supported me emotionally but I still had to take out student loans and work my ass off to make it where I am. My wife's parents were quite wealthy but perhaps not as loving as mine were. She also did very well.

It feels like the Gen Y/Z's of the world are less likely to be able to own a house, establish a career, and have the general hallmarks of "success". People in my era could find a way to go to school, or work in the oil field, or go fishing and be successful through hard work. Now, without resources behind them, I don't see Gen Z having the same opportunities. Entire industries have moved overseas, the tax structure is set up to draw primarily from the middle class, while at the same time proportionally minimizing tax rates on the ultra-wealthy. The system is now rigged against the non-billionaires. I pay tax on retained earnings in my corporation, but I don't have to pay tax on share purchases until I actually dispose of them - and billionaires can get loans against the shares.

To put a finer point on the rigged system, it is generally accepted that one can make money if the stock market falls or if the stock market rises - one just has to have make the right guess. Now, if you know someone who controls the stock market (i.e. the orange pedo man-child) by making decisions on which country to attack this week, one can literally double or triple their holdings in a few months. For example, it is generally accepted by Wall Street that Jeff Bezo's net wealth has increased by $121 Billion since "he" first came into office. Musk is set to be the world's first trillionaire. The original "Wall Street" with Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas was not a fictional movie but a primer on how to make money. Hell, look at the net worth of the House Reps and Senators; they tend to double during each term they are in office. Forget about the PAC donations, the real money is knowing what is going to happen before it happens - and the problem goes across the aisle but the current Republicans are much more blatant about it.

Reagan's "trickle down economics" was the start of the end. Then compare those times to what happened during Roosevelt's and Truman's terms - yes, I understand WW II had a significant role in priming the economy but think about life in the post WW II era - investment in infrastructure, one job for life with retirement pension, being able to raise a family and send those kids to college, buying a house and being able to go on vacations, unions were at their most powerful while being the least corrupt, and the ultra-wealthy had a highest marginal tax rate of 90%.

Sorry if I got off on a tax and economics rant but prosperity for people is no longer related to the strength of the economy but rather how far down the economic prosperity flows - and the tap shuts off below those worth a few $100 million. So, I feel sorry and am concerned about Gen Z as a whole - the opportunities are no longer there - but hey, the Dow is over 50,000 !!!!

EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm only discussing the relative economic fairness of the 50's and 60's and how it relates to Gen Z not having the opportunities we had. Culturally and socially it was still terrible for women, other races and the LGBTQ+ communities.