I was scrolling my social media feed when I came across a fascinating content made by an online creator. The title is called “ Choose Your Millennial Coping Mechanism - Part 4”. The creator, apparently, has been getting tractions to have created a series on it.
The quick 15 seconds video shows how she as a millennial, is hilariously doing a certain habit. It can be as simple as excessively buying plants, aggressively cleaning the house while listening to throwback jams, re-watching their favorite episodes for the millionth times and so on.
I am sure it was meant to be a quick skit or parody, but I couldn’t help but be amused and find some truth in the content. And it seems that I’m not the only one that feel the changes happen to fast and overwhelm to adapt to it.
Every Generation And Their Coping Mechanisms
To be fair, it’s not just millennials who have coping mechanisms. It seems that Gen-Z also has a way with using humor, from jokes to memes to address their growing uncertainties with society. Meanwhile, Gen X is known for using smoking and alcohols among other suppressive habits to cope with their daily lives.
Millennials currently account for 27% of global population, making them the largest generation group since 2021. With that statistics and presence, they’re next in line to assume the leadership roles taking over the previous ones. Needless to say, a certain coping mechanism is necessary to help an individual gain some sense of control over the fast paced changes.
But the fact is, millennials are far from ready when it comes to facing changes. To be even more blunt, no one is ready and here’s why.
Change is A Scary Thing
In his 8-minute long YouTube video, Raoul Pal from Only The Savvy, shares his thoughts on why people are scared of changes. And really, can we blame each other when the rate of change we’re facing is simply too fast to wrap our heads around?
Nostalgia is thickening these days, from radio hit songs to popular Netflix series “Stranger Things”, to real lives around us. Almost everyday, you can see people complaining about the good old days and how they want to go back to the politics of nostalgia, to the era of gold and so on. The reason why this is so prevalent is because one thing : We don’t know what’s next and we feel safer to return to the familiar.
But the thing is, there is only so much to fear. Because let’s face it, if there’s one thing that’s not changing is the rate of the change itself - particularly the societal discourse that we’re all experiencing. No matter how much we resist the idea of heading into the unknown future, it’s coming for everyone.
Change is particularly hard for baby boomers, now nearing their 70’s or over, all around the world. But it’s just going to be especially hard for millennials, who are supposed to be the next in line for control and leadership roles. This transition, can’t be good, not when people are still just trying to figure out how to adapt to the ever increasing of changes due to the technology.
Globalization is Relentless
We have been warned before. In the late 70’s when Thatcher had come into power, a new system was introduced and with it a massive societal discord. In the coming years, the UK lost many industries, from the steel, automotive, shipbuilding and more. Those jobs are not coming back.
Globally, the same cycle is just going to repeat itself. With jobs going out the window in the flaring technology modern era, some professions are going to be obsolete. This will cause not only the end of mass employment but also the increase of homeless rates. In short, globalization is relentless.
Raoul Pal further mentioned how Silicon Valley have kind of figured this out, and started conversations on creating basic income among other solutions. This also leads us to cryptocurrencies, NFTs, decentralized systems, digital wallets to Metaverse. Are these helping anyone? We’re not sure, but at least the are talks and actions built around it.
The seamless transition from our offline worlds to virtual is not just coming, it’s happening as we speak. Before you know it, the lines are blurred and somehow, you just might as well embrace it.
BeReady or You’d be Sorry
These days, housing are too expensive and most companies have opted out on retirement plans. The stocks are prominently dominated by the FAANG ( Meta formerly Facebook, Amazon, AAPL, Netflix and Google). These are the things we know and unlikely to change in the next few years.
While you start acquiring tastes for the new digital ways of life, such as decentralization and internet business, it’s also important to equip yourself with knowledge of what’s ahead. This way, you can brace yourself and no longer be the last in the turn of societal discourse.
I will be reviewing my recent read, the book The Fourth Turning : An American Prophecy by Neil Howe and William Strauss. Written in 1997, it’s all about America’s next rendezvous with destiny as told through cycles of history. Stick around if you want the quick review as a part of your getting ready, stay tuned!