> "Most people work jobs they hate, have dreams they’ll never fulfil, and are afraid to say what they think. Social media provides a release valve for all of this. "
I wonder if the first two are any different now than historically - most people work jobs that they hate, and have dreams they'll never fulfil. I suspect that was true of my…
> "Most people work jobs they hate, have dreams they’ll never fulfil, and are afraid to say what they think. Social media provides a release valve for all of this. "
I wonder if the first two are any different now than historically - most people work jobs that they hate, and have dreams they'll never fulfil. I suspect that was true of my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. But today the expectations are higher (not to say entitlement), and many younger folks expect that they should have employment which is well paid, unstressful, meaningful, challenges them only in good ways, in organizations they believe in, with bosses that they love and wonderful co-workers.
I suspect that there is a lot more tension and discontent between expectations and reality today than in earlier generations, and that most of that comes from higher expectations, rather than more degrading working conditions than our ancestors faced. Of course some people have jobs they love, which has always been true, but most people would not do the work they do unless they needed the money.
I do not know what has raised the expectations/entitlement; that's actually an interesting exploration. But social media may have served a role in allowing them to express and reinforce their discontent at not getting what they expected.
The third point in the quote - a widespread fear of speaking what they really believe - may be different. I think a smaller number of my parent's generation were intimidated by the McCarthy era, mainly some folks who had belonged to organizations which wound up being dominated by CPUSA members, and so were afraid they would be found on some list. My own family was working class, and I don't think they experienced any fear of speaking such as you describe. I do think the kind of fear is far more widespread today, and that it affects all levels of society - from rich celebrities to welders and housewives. And I agree that years of feeling intimidated and afraid to speak honestly can cause reactivity in ways that may be understandable but not be laudable, when the dam breaks. (Like the election of Trump, which I see as significantly drawing upon the resentment of that fear).
Alas, I don't see social media serving as a release valve - which allows excess pressure to vent so one can return to safe conditions. It's more like an amplifier of discontent - fostering more resentment, projections of ill will, demonizing of "the other side", and simplistic analyses playing to base emotions.
Here's the thing - while hating one's job and unfulfilled dreams have always been with us, they have co-existed alongside positives, and still do today. We still play sports, watch comedians, gather with friends and family, fall in love, cook & eat good food, form relationships, win prizes, go hiking, create quilts, solve puzzles, build gardens...
But I'm not sure people have the same perspectives as they did, in weighing what they are grateful for, and what they ignore or resent. If we take for granted the things we once would have been grateful for, we may not feel as fulfilled as our ancestors - the subjective balance of perceived good and bad may have shifted even more than the reality.
The other change is that I perceive a shift in terms of our culture's understanding of agency - the degree to which people believe they can shape their own fate, and on the flip side, the degree to which they feel responsible for that. Today I hear a lot more about how everything is the fault of some person or institution, and more concept that the government is supposed to fix every problem. Not exclusively, just relatively more; the concepts of self-responsibility and expecting society/government to fix things are at war today. For an example: to what degree is drug addiction (in general) attribute to a failure of personal agency, like bad decisions, versus treating the addicted person as a near passive victim of society's dysfunctions. Of course, in the real world, there is at least some truth to either perspective, but which perspective is treated as more important to understanding and improving the situation?
I think this (partial yet significant) rejection of agency does not foster a healthy balance of appreciation and resentment. Every problem can be seen as something that management (read other people, "society", or the government) should have already fixed, with our role being to complain loud enough that that outside force fixes it for us. And when they don't (fully), we are being told that we have a grievance to promote, rather than the power and responsibility to change things ourselves.
"I wonder if the first two are any different now than historically - most people work jobs that they hate, and have dreams they'll never fulfil. I suspect that was true of my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents."
Yeah, I think you answered your question in the following sentences. The expectations of happiness and fulfilment are higher, people do certainly seem more entitled, and I'd add, people's mental health in general is in a worse state than in any generation previously. All of this creates new levels of discontent.
Alain De Botton has a great book on this topic (and also this documentary if you have a couple of hours to spare - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1MqJPHxy6g) where he talks about how the ability for any of us to dramatically change our social and economic status, something that was infinitely harder a few generations ago, has led to new feelings of anxiety and guilt for living a "normal" life.
> "Most people work jobs they hate, have dreams they’ll never fulfil, and are afraid to say what they think. Social media provides a release valve for all of this. "
I wonder if the first two are any different now than historically - most people work jobs that they hate, and have dreams they'll never fulfil. I suspect that was true of my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. But today the expectations are higher (not to say entitlement), and many younger folks expect that they should have employment which is well paid, unstressful, meaningful, challenges them only in good ways, in organizations they believe in, with bosses that they love and wonderful co-workers.
I suspect that there is a lot more tension and discontent between expectations and reality today than in earlier generations, and that most of that comes from higher expectations, rather than more degrading working conditions than our ancestors faced. Of course some people have jobs they love, which has always been true, but most people would not do the work they do unless they needed the money.
I do not know what has raised the expectations/entitlement; that's actually an interesting exploration. But social media may have served a role in allowing them to express and reinforce their discontent at not getting what they expected.
The third point in the quote - a widespread fear of speaking what they really believe - may be different. I think a smaller number of my parent's generation were intimidated by the McCarthy era, mainly some folks who had belonged to organizations which wound up being dominated by CPUSA members, and so were afraid they would be found on some list. My own family was working class, and I don't think they experienced any fear of speaking such as you describe. I do think the kind of fear is far more widespread today, and that it affects all levels of society - from rich celebrities to welders and housewives. And I agree that years of feeling intimidated and afraid to speak honestly can cause reactivity in ways that may be understandable but not be laudable, when the dam breaks. (Like the election of Trump, which I see as significantly drawing upon the resentment of that fear).
Alas, I don't see social media serving as a release valve - which allows excess pressure to vent so one can return to safe conditions. It's more like an amplifier of discontent - fostering more resentment, projections of ill will, demonizing of "the other side", and simplistic analyses playing to base emotions.
Here's the thing - while hating one's job and unfulfilled dreams have always been with us, they have co-existed alongside positives, and still do today. We still play sports, watch comedians, gather with friends and family, fall in love, cook & eat good food, form relationships, win prizes, go hiking, create quilts, solve puzzles, build gardens...
But I'm not sure people have the same perspectives as they did, in weighing what they are grateful for, and what they ignore or resent. If we take for granted the things we once would have been grateful for, we may not feel as fulfilled as our ancestors - the subjective balance of perceived good and bad may have shifted even more than the reality.
The other change is that I perceive a shift in terms of our culture's understanding of agency - the degree to which people believe they can shape their own fate, and on the flip side, the degree to which they feel responsible for that. Today I hear a lot more about how everything is the fault of some person or institution, and more concept that the government is supposed to fix every problem. Not exclusively, just relatively more; the concepts of self-responsibility and expecting society/government to fix things are at war today. For an example: to what degree is drug addiction (in general) attribute to a failure of personal agency, like bad decisions, versus treating the addicted person as a near passive victim of society's dysfunctions. Of course, in the real world, there is at least some truth to either perspective, but which perspective is treated as more important to understanding and improving the situation?
I think this (partial yet significant) rejection of agency does not foster a healthy balance of appreciation and resentment. Every problem can be seen as something that management (read other people, "society", or the government) should have already fixed, with our role being to complain loud enough that that outside force fixes it for us. And when they don't (fully), we are being told that we have a grievance to promote, rather than the power and responsibility to change things ourselves.
"I wonder if the first two are any different now than historically - most people work jobs that they hate, and have dreams they'll never fulfil. I suspect that was true of my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents."
Yeah, I think you answered your question in the following sentences. The expectations of happiness and fulfilment are higher, people do certainly seem more entitled, and I'd add, people's mental health in general is in a worse state than in any generation previously. All of this creates new levels of discontent.
Alain De Botton has a great book on this topic (and also this documentary if you have a couple of hours to spare - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1MqJPHxy6g) where he talks about how the ability for any of us to dramatically change our social and economic status, something that was infinitely harder a few generations ago, has led to new feelings of anxiety and guilt for living a "normal" life.