@ my fellow millenials
It’s ok to feel the way you do
Our parents’ wake-up call to the world was the end of the Vietnam War. Some soldiers were celebrated as heroes, others condemned as killers, but they came back, and the war was over.
Our wake-up call was 9/11. We saw the deaths of thousands of people on national television as planes crashed into buildings on American soil, and it forever changed the face of the world. Watch Love Actually or Dogma and see the scenes in the airports. People were able to greet each other when they came off the plane, and there was joy in those moments. Now, it’s after customs and baggage claim.
Our parents’ coming of age was the advent of Star Wars, a story of hope and good triumphing over evil, of redemption and the destruction of those that would be called “Wrong” in this world. Their coming of age forever changed culture for the better (arguably), and still resonates to this day.
Our coming of age was a housing crash so massive that the banks that were “too big to fail” needed billions of dollars in bailout. Many were left homeless. There are still foreclosed houses on the market from that time period. We were left reeling, and it’s become a footnote in millenial history.
When our parents were buying houses and settling down with their families, the Berlin Wall fell, signalling an end to an era that their grandparents had seen begin.
While we are supposed to be buying houses and settling down with our families, we’re struggling to make ends meet and dealing with a virus that was deemed dangerous enough to cause fucking Disneyland to shut down.
Sure, our parents had to deal with the Cold War and the raging paranoia that came with it, but they at least had a stable economy that was willing to welcome them.
Conversely, we have to deal with massive amounts of student loan debt, rampant xenophobia, and a literal reality tv star sitting in the most powerful office of the world. But hey, we at least have smartphones and the internet, right? Videogames and Reddit are our consolations prizes.
You’re allowed to feel cynical. You’re allowed to feel helpless, heartbroken, numb, tired, and angry. We came into a world that was full of hope and had that thrown right in our face because of other people’s greed and hatred.
We may be powerless, weak, and have our elders look down at us for being “entitled” when we’re just doing what we can to make ends meet. But you know what?
The world can throw whatever it wants at us. We’re going to tough it out like we always have.
