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Dear Gen Z,
Omg hey babe! Sorry it’s been so long. I saw you texted me, but I’ve been trying to have better phone boundaries. Plus, between the cost of living crisis, terrifying race riots across the UK, the rise of the racist and Islamophobic far right, an ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the ever-looming threat of climate change, I’ve had a lot on my mind.
But anyway, how are you? Generally, you’ve seemed good – or so I thought, until I found your message from a while back. “Ten things I hate about millennials – from Gen Z”? Excuse me? What’s going on, bestie? Lately it seems like every time you get in touch, it’s to say something sort of petty, and mean. I know we’re not, like, close-close, but I think fondly about you. Yet, I keep hearing about “millennials vs Gen Z” and generational “culture wars”. Someone told me you think I’m “deeply uncool” because of the, um… socks I wear. Imagine: I’m over here minding my own business, and I find out you’ve been calling me names? I don’t know what cheugy means, but, you know – it doesn’t sound good.
It’s weird because, like – I don’t think about you at all?
Don’t take that the wrong way! I just don’t know why I would. I don’t think about Gen X much. We work together, which is fun, but they’re just, I don’t know, there: kind of cool in some ways (sarcastic! cynical! ironic!); kind of lame in others (sarcastic! cynical! ironic!). There’s no tension, no conflict.
I suppose I do think about baby boomers. You know – “OK boomer” and all that. But that’s different, don’t you think? I’ve goaded them a bit, but that’s because they’ve had a very real, very tangible effect on me: baby boomers squatted in jobs I needed, left my career progression to stagnate, and my hopes of owning property dead in the water – then had the audacity to blame me for it, calling me entitled and lazy, wasteful for throwing my money away on, what… avocado toast? They held and continue to hold tremendous political power, and for decades voted over and over for the Tories, who protected their wealth and power. Plus, you know: the environment.
Boomers had stability and economic capital I will never see, even though I did everything I was told to do to get it. Could you blame me for using the only capital I had – social and cultural, derived from being young(-ish) and internet-savvy – to lash out at the world’s main characters?
And – oh. Is that why you’re lashing out, why you seem to derive so much pleasure from mocking me? To you, do I seem like a main character? Someone needing taking down a peg?
I can see how you might have gotten to that conclusion. As the first generation of digital natives, I guess we loomed annoyingly large on the internet. We were the main generation posting on social media – and the main advertising targets. You must have been inundated with ads for rose gold stuff. All I can say is sorry for that. It seemed so chic at the time!
But let me level with you: I don’t have anything you want. I still don’t have economic capital, and it’s become clear that my cultural and social capital is fast on the decline. You’re younger and cooler than me, and while I’m creeping ever closer to irrelevance, I still don’t have the tangible things (Job stability! Property!) that boomers, or even Gen Xers, ended up with. Word has it you’re even wealthier than me!
I keep hearing about whatever new “Gen Z vs millennials” thing is perceived to be happening and I always think… what?! Babe, is this what you want? I feel like we could be collaborating and finding the places where we might learn from each other. Like, I get that you think me “not having boundaries at work” – the very first bit of that aforementioned “10 things I hate” list – is annoying. But if I have bad work boundaries, it’s because I had to take unpaid internships to establish my career, had to “scurry back” from my lunch break or get scolded for it. I’m genuinely happy you “know an hour’s lunch break will save us from burnout”; which generation do you think coined that term?
I guess my point is, think about how much we have in common! We’re both struggling in the same gig economy, all contracts and part-time work, with no benefits or stability. And we believe in the same things; the real things. Research from the US shows that we’re politically aligned on issues regarding race, gender and other aspects of identity. We both value boundaries and see how self-care results in better relationships and a better society. We want queer and trans rights. And we want an end to genocide.
I guess I just feel like we’re more similar than we are different. Together, we could be powerful, but we’re getting mired in petty, meaningless squabbles, instead of focusing on real issues like war, the cost of living crisis and, maybe most globally pressingly, climate change. Have a think and let me know, but I mean, honestly – when our ankles are either on fire or under three feet of seawater, will it matter whether my socks are covering them?
Your friend and ally,
Millennials
