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An Open Letter from Generation Z

The "conceited, lazy, stupid" generation.

By BPublished 5 years ago 4 min read
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There are a lot of opinions on who generation z is, what generation z stands for, and how generation z lives in today’s society. I’m not saying those opinions are wrong because everybody is entitled to their opinion, but I suggest actually talking to someone who is from generation z. Not belittling them or telling them what you were doing when you were their age, actually talking to understand why their head is where it is and why they view the world with such disappointment, anger, and realism. We didn’t grow up hearing that we were going to go to college, have a great job and own a house by the time we were 23 and everything was going to be fine from there. We grew up hearing that it was going to be difficult, we were going to struggle a lot, and college was going to be insanely difficult to pay for. On top of that, we see how much the millennials are struggling with their dreams that came burning to the ground like the Notre Dame. Which isn’t their fault, they’re trying their best with the shitty cards that were dealt by some shitty people.

We’ve been forced into adulthood just like the generations before us. They needed to act like adults when war had started to destroy whole countries, but our war is a fight against old mindsets. We have to fight this war because this war destroys a whole free living and loving generation of talented, smart and inspiring kids. We still suffer from sexism, racism, mental health, gun violence, etc. Why is that? We’re fighting battles older generations have started. We’re invested in the job market/real estate market because they were ruined years ago, as we know… history repeats itself. Children get shot in schools because older generations are too fucking dumb to write some guidelines. Sexism, racism, homophobia, etc were all created a long time ago, yet people still have to hide in the closet to not get judged or even hurt by others, while most of generation z are tolerant and open minded. Those who are not have been taught by their parents and grandparents to think the way they do about women, people of color, people who celebrate different religions and members of the LGBTQ+ community. You know, the same parents and grandparents that give waiters/waitresses a bad tip because the food was bad or yell because the restaurant was busy or yell when their order took a little longer. Yet, generation z gets shit about being “rude” and “disrespectful," but you know who smiles and says “it’s okay”? Generation z. They’re the same people that telling us that generation z can’t take a joke, but we just don’t take racist, homophobic, sexist jokes.

We, as an entire generation, have been labeled disrespectful, lazy, self-centered, impatient, entitled, and so much more because we don’t agree and conform to what older generations think we should be doing or how we should be handling situations. Those labels might be true for some, but not for every single person that belongs in generation z. You don’t see us labeling every single baby boomer and traditionalist a racist, homophobic asshole? We can’t support a 5 person family and owning a home with just a high school diploma like they could in 1960. These days we can have two bachelor’s degrees, a masters, a trade, AND experience, but we’ll still only be qualified for a job at Walmart while being told “at least you don’t live in Somalia or something… also here’s an article by a baby boomer about why your generation is lazy.” We deal with so much shit from older generations, but none of them are actually willing to talk to one of us to actually get the story straight. Sure, we made a yodeling kid famous. We made a lot of people famous who really shouldn’t be famous. We’re obsessed with memes and celebrate Netflix series like religion. We compliment a boys’ makeup skills and don’t give a shit if girls don’t wear any. We also compliment a girls’ makeup skills because we support each other. We strongly believe in making your passion your job, no matter how estranged from “normal” it is. Who are we to expect you to sit at a desk from 9-5 and be genuinely happy with your life and choices? We don’t judge people if they have tattoos or an unnatural hair color or piercings out the wazoo or what they do for income. We speak up about things that are important and actually affect other people. Whether that be saving the sea turtles or discussing how a whole generation who were statistically unlikely to start smoking cigarettes in the first place, have a nicotine addiction thanks to juul’s. We understand dilly dallying about topics that don’t mean anything are pointless and we focus on using our voices for good, like trying to save the planet. Our rooms are messy because we’re too busy fighting for equality. Our grades are dropping because we’re too busy protesting against corrupt systems. We are “sassing” you because we’ve finally learned we have a voice. You only think we’re a “lost” generation because we’ve finally dug ourselves out from the oppression you’ve buried us under. And trust me, we sure as fuck will fight back.

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