> But without grounding myself in genuine experience in the stinky, cruel real world of human interaction, nature, and emotions it’s hollow.
The ability for younger people to actually experience life is fading. Having to work multiple jobs to keep a roof over your head, massive inflation, burnout from everything, covid spikes recently, etc, etc, etc, etc.
Instagram/other social media is free and doesn't require any commitment or planning that real life experiences often require.
I wish, but no. My biggest take away from watching economies and governments get borked by people who don't know what they're doing is that anything I could suggest will probably make matters worse. I'm a software developer, not a specialist in societies.
And in many cases, those votes don’t have a direct impact one way or the other on those broken systems.
In the US, it’s pretty clear now that both parties will keep the private health insurance racket intact (and tied to an employer), education costs will increase and student debt won’t be forgiven, retirement age will increase and social security will remain underfunded, climate change will at most be paid only lip service, military+police funding will increase over any meaningful social programs, the minimum wage will not keep up with cost of living, we will continue to incarcerate rather than rehabilitate, national debt will continue to increase even though none of the above is being meaningfully addressed…
Yes, I’m painting with a very broad brush, but you can probably see why a very large contingent of younger people would be discontent with the state of the world — even if you personally believe these aren’t the government’s issues to fix (or even if you think they’re not issues at all).
Sure, we have two different parties to choose from (once in a blue moon, sometimes a viable third). There’s still a large contingent of 18+ millennials today, even among those who do vote, who are asking: what are we even voting for?
And in many cases, there wasn't a choice but to vote for it.
If you are struggling because your 40 hour workweek won't let you rent apartment and you live in the US, who are you going to vote for to fix it? Probably no one, since you realistically only have a bianary choice and neither side seems to have the will to fix this. (Both major parties in the US have had majorities, yet haven't helped folks. This has been a growing issue for years). Sure, you can run for office, but it'll take years before you are in a position to hopefully help - and even that is going to depend on you having other progressive folks in office to vote with you. Otherwise, you are simply "raising awareness", which does little to help folks pay for their food.
The ability for younger people to actually experience life is fading. Having to work multiple jobs to keep a roof over your head, massive inflation, burnout from everything, covid spikes recently, etc, etc, etc, etc.
Instagram/other social media is free and doesn't require any commitment or planning that real life experiences often require.