When I think back to attending (public) elementary school, as I think I’ve mentioned before, I had classmates who were “rich” and classmates who were “poor.” There wasn’t really a huge income difference between their parents. It was a significant difference, but not a huge disparity like you might find nowadays — the income gap then and there was maybe 10x at the extreme end. Nowadays, a yawning gulf exists.
I don’t really care about the money itself. Rather, I am bothered by the downstream effects. Before I even rant about that, I think the term “capitalism” is fucking stupid. It must be a holdover from prior to the Industrial Revolution or something. Like “capitalism” implies capital is the main element. I personally have always preferred the term “Free Enterprise,” which I hasten to observe doesn’t refer to capital at all. Capitalism implies capital is central to an economy, yet American history is rife with businesspeople having nothing at various times, yet proceeding nevertheless.
Yet for the nth time recently, I have encountered a scenario I don’t really understand, yet which has related to the others by subject matter. Specifically, a web forum commenter has referred to some aspect of the prevailing economic paradigm, and I have agreed with the essence but suggested that another route must be possible in a comment (foolish to comment online, I know). From there, I have been disparagingly been referred to as “a capitalist” with no further rationale articulated. This sort of thing bugs me cuz there is essentially no substance. The person may as well have said, “You’re a poo-poo head” or like “I know you are but what am I?” There’s simply no way to respond.
I feel this phenomenon is essentially the mark of a growing underclass: people who are compelled to be adults but simply lack the skills required to do so. Indeed, the skill baseline required seems to be continuously increasing, and the skills people have simultaneously seem to be diminishing. And why? I fully believe many adults today essentially see themselves as physically mature children. And I can see why — people who are 30 now were not even in high school when the housing market imploded and rocked the banks. They were like small children and got to see Sept 11 on TV then “wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq, then before they even were in high school, they got to see the housing market collapse. It’s no wonder they don’t want to participate. These folks were told that America has an awesome economy, but they have not gotten much of the awesomeness they’ve heard so much about. Moreover, they were raised in a consumer culture where what’s reinforced is the notion that buying stuff is essential to being happy.
And so, where does this get us?
Well, we have the “Tradwife” as the icon of the monied leisure class: women who are able to subcontract unpleasant labor, in a seeming throwback to the nineteenth century (with digital devices, though). Presumably, a “tradwife” is married to a trad chad, who presumably has some gilded class career that likely serves no legitimate economic purpose. So far, this sounds like a really undesirable society to live in — no wonder younger generations prefer the fantasy of video games to shared reality — at least in video games, the rules are knowable.
In the movie “Titanic” — I have no idea if this scene was historically accurate. As the boat sank, Irish passengers were locked in the lower levels. The idea is that while the wealthy and privileged folks got saved in life boats, the disfavored folks were forced to die scared and trapped. I think about this from time to time because that scene (and/or reality) represents a quite common scenario: I fully believe most people see themselves as “good.” However, when the circumstances arise that they can play on a level playing field or advantage themselves by disadvantaging someone else, I fully believe the vast majority of people will seek the latter.
With that in mind, it makes complete sense — yet again — that younger people today prefer video games to a broadly shared reality. No doubt. But then what? We’re all still here. And electricity uses energy. Not to mention, plastic doesn’t just occur in nature. There are significant contributions from others involved to even make the gamer lifestyle possible. I can understand why folks feel that they’re not valued by society, but like… so what? People applaud professional skateboarders now, but like …now. Where was the applause when they were in obscurity, still skateboarding? If older people did Gen Z wrong with one particular thing, it’s the notion that they should defer to experts. Should you be pleasant and knowledgeable. Absolutely. Does expertise imply there is nothing else to learn? No, it does not.